Two Cute ~

One of the most delightful parts of our vacation was seeing our wee Connor. Born in May, he is adorable.

My sweetie, born in July (15 years before Connor) is also adorable - major adorable. Together they are a bundle of cuteness, sweetness and joy!

Stepping ahead ~

I knit more on the intarsia stocking, and so far I have not ripped back again. I am thinking of changing the little border below the snowman, as I am not sure what the picture is supposed to be. I thought they were bells, and my sister-in-law thought they were candles.... so I might have to find a pattern that really looks like something.

Also interesting to be knitting this flat, from the cuff down. Not my usual pattern for socks, so this is all a total learning curve... Yikes! I hope to have this done by Thanksgiving!!!!

Small steps ~

So far, so good.... as I can read the name on this Christmas stocking. Also, let me say that I am grateful that his name is not Alexander or Benjamin or Winchester, as they are lovely names but I am not sure how I would fit such names on a Christmas stocking!

After much discussion with several of my closest advisors, the votes are in and the snowman motif has been chosen for this Christmas stocking. Since his mom went through this pregnancy during one of the record-breaking snow fall seasons in Detroit, there should be a snowman on his stocking. Another good memory for this stocking!

Intarsia Time ~

Now that I know the name of our new baby, I need to get started on this project. If you were trying to guess what project it is, well, I can tell you now - it is a Christmas stocking for dear Connor. I am using two different patterns, one like my kids have and one that is similar in that traditional way.

 

I have never knit intarsia, and I admit to be a little terrified. Not the same terror as learning brioche with the brioche goddess, but a terror that goes with trying to knit a family heirloom that this baby might still have when he has babies of his own.

In other words, my Christmas stocking was knit by my grandma Agnes, an amazing knitter, and it is as beautiful and perfect as when she gave it to me before my first Christmas...many, many, many years ago..... what if Connor is about 7 years old and notices that his Christmas stocking appears to have been knitting by someone his own age?  No pressure, right?

Great Grandma Time ~

Another wonder for our family is that my mom is now a great-grandma.  Of course she is thrilled, and we can all see that in their first picture together.

Such joy and love and delight!  These two are going to have a lot of fun together!

Wee sweetie and hat ~

Another miracle has arrived for our family, and on his wonderful mother's birthday.  I remember when his sweet mother was born, the first baby in our family, my brother and his wife's first child. The first grand baby for my mom and dad. Rather amazing to think about the miracle of babies, and the hope, joy and love that surround them. As surrounded his mom all those years ago, so the hope, joy and love surrounds this wee one as well.

Born just after midnight, to be sure he arrived as a birthday gift to his mother, already showing himself to be a clever one as now they share a birthday and hopefully two cakes to celebrate their shared day!  At 3:00 that same day, this sweet picture of our new baby and one of the sweet hats I knit arrived with this note, "Great Aunt, I love my hat and can't wait to meet you!"  What a clever boy that he can send pictures and write messages already!

Two guesses ~

Finally, all the pieces are in place.  I have the pattern(s) and I have a baby-mac coming in May, and some of the yarn appeared at our Fiber Frenzy.  The rest of the yarn was purchased at the Webs sale.  I could cast on soon, except I could not finish it until I know the real name of baby-mac...but I do have a few months before it needs to be finished.

Can you guess what this project will be? (I do not think you will need two guesses)

Ready for Baby Mac ~

I finished this ginormous baby blanket for our first grand baby (in which I will be the great auntie), due in May. I cast on as many stitches as the pattern called for, yet I could never knit enough to make the blanket a square. As it turned out, the blanket is very very long....and wide enough.

Since the daddy of Baby Mac is very very tall, this baby may need all the length in this blanket. Certainly there is enough love knitting into this blanket for many many growing years.

Debbie Doo's Twins ~

Happy Birthday to Debbie Doo's grand baby twins!  Here she is with little Ben, and big sister Lucy.

Debbie Doo knitted the hats, too, of course!  P.S.  Debbie Doo is my friend from kindergarten and continues to be such a blessing in my life!

Michigan Yarn ~

There was a bright spot in our Michigan trip, and that was finding out that our first grand-baby is due in May. To me, this meant that I needed to start some baby knitting, and I had an idea that I should start baby knitting with Michigan yarn.

Although I did find this yarn at their local yarn shop, it was not super wash so I didn't think it would work well for anything to do with babies...but I loved the crazy colors and it made me smile so I thought it would help brighten up the Michigan trip.

So I went to another local yarn shop and found this yarn and this yarn from Italy and a favorite pattern from my past, and had to start knitting....and the hat is so cute!!!!

Steph in Seattle ~

Celebrity siting in Seattle this week. We were again lucky that Stephanie appeared at a local book store for her book tour. Unfortunately I had a night meeting I had to attend, so I missed it. Our group was represented beautifully with babies, knitwear and three generations of knitters (well, we're sure baby Annika will soon be a knitter)You many recognize Marion as she has two very lucky grand kids that you've met before. You met Sawyer here and here and here and here and here, and Annika here. Many thanks to the Yarn Harlot and her blog for documenting the event so well that I almost felt like I was there. This picture is from her blog, too. Did you hear that her book began at #24 on the New York Bestseller list?!!!

Annika is lucky ~

Remember Annika? She's Sawyer's sister. Remember Sawyer? He's lucky to have a sweetie sister, and also lucky to have Grandma Marion that knits for him here and here.

Annika is very lucky too ~ check out this beautiful sweater and hat knit by Grandma Marion! Lucky kiddo!!

Sawyer is still lucky ~

Remember Sawyer of here, and here..... He is still very very lucky, as his grandma still knits him treasures.

His birthday was Saturday, and she knit him this lovely hat! He's so lucky!!!

Sawyer's still lucky ~

Remember Sawyer of the "very lucky" fame of this and this and this?

Yup, he's still lucky as his sweetie Grandma M knit this darling monkey sweater for him.

What a lucky guy!!!

Lucky Sawyer ~

You remember Sawyer, right? The very cute lad lucky enough to have a grandma and mom that knit for him...remember the pumpkin hat and the beautiful sweater with the truck on the front... well, his luck continues, as looky looky what is coming his way soon.... are these about the cutest socks you ever saw? Grandma is making them out of Cascade Fixation and the colors are just too cute. The pattern she is using has a big stinkin' error with the heel, but she has valiantly overcome this....

What a lucky guy!!!

Meet Sawyer ~

Here is Sawyer, the lucky guy who has a mom & grandma that knit for him. Yup, one lucky guy! Plus, he is oh~so~cute and his blue eyes are the perfect compliment to this amazing sweater knit by his grandma. Looking closely, you can still see the aura of love and blessings knit into each stitch of this intarsia masterpiece. It is easy to see that lucky Sawyer can feel all the love and blessings!

He is so darn cute!!!

Sawyer is so lucky ~

I cannot express how amazing this sweater is. The glow you see around it is made from the angels hovering around it, singing praises to this beautifully done intarsia masterpiece. Wee Sawyer is going to be the lucky owner of this sweater, and he is a lucky boy. Here's a secret for you... do you know what you find when you look on the inside of this sweater? There is love ~ strands and strands of beautiful love, so very neatly and thoughtfully woven in between the knitted stitches, holding those thoughts and prayers of his dear and delightful Grandma so close to his heart ~ wearing a constant hug of love and Karma....P.S. Grandma has enough left over yarn to make "truck sweaters" for many years to come.... Rumor has it that Sawyer will be wearing a Truck Sweater in his High School Graduation photo!