Monday, December 11, 2006

Christmas Projects



I have been very busy making Christmas items. These are some of my completed projects.

This is the stocking I knitted for Norah. It is the 14th stocking in 10 years. It is the second one this year. I did one for Cory also. I think that is the end of grandchildren!


The sweater and bonnet were also made for Norah (6 mo. old). This Eternity scarf was made for 14 yr. old Haley. There are beads imbedded in the yarn.

I have some incomplete projects that will be finished for the holidays. I will post pictures when I finish.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Prayer shawls


I started a Prayer Shawl Ministry at church this year. Before that I had made a prayer shawl for Roberta when husband Jerry went home to be with the LORD. Then I made one for Amy who went through a very difficult pregnancy. Here are some of the shawls I made this year (don't have pictures of all of them).

This (pink one)was made for Vanessa, my friend in North Carolina. Her mother passed away at the end of the summer after a long and painful fight with cancer.

This shawl was made for my knitting buddy, Jan, whose sister suffered a fatal heart attack. She was in her 50s and it was a huge shock to everyone.

This is one of 2 shawls made for an Amish child in PA following the horrible shootings in a school in Lancaster County. The other shawl is dark burgundy.


I have made many more shawls but handed them out before I took a picture of them.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Norah sits up


Norah has learned to sit up and loves to do it. She has even stopped rolling over. Whenever she is put on the floor, she goes into a sitting position!!

Friday, September 08, 2006

Busy hooks and needles


I have been keeping busy while watching baseball games this summer.
I made this dishcloth for my friend Jan who uses an "oak" theme in her cottage in Luddington. We went there for a weekend and had a great time shopping (best yarn shop I have ever been to), floating down the river on tubes, walking, and of course eating!!












I made this dishcloth for the Dishcloth for Fun KAL for
August. We do 2 different ones each month. This was a bit of a challenge until I was able to get the pattern straight. It is called Garterlac dishcloth.





This candy corn poncho and hat was made for Nina. I just mailed it off today so I am hoping it fits her. I bought the pattern from Maggie's Crochet. She has some of the cutest patterns. Here is a recent picture of Nina.

















I did some "no sew" blankets for Sebastian and Cory for their birthdays. They both got a bunch of camoflauge clothes, so Seb got a blanket to match. Cory got the puppy one to go with their new puppy, Louis. Elise got her blanket in July and Grant has a wolf one. Here is another picture of Cory's blanket. I hope the pink is ok for a boy!!

September


I finally uploaded a bunch of pictures to my computer, so I will be playing catch-up on my blog. I need to do it now because we leave for NC's Outer Banks tomorrow morning and if I wait until we get back, I will have forgotten everything!!

I found this adorable onsie back in July and HAD to get it for Norah!
Isn't she cute!!
Of course her father had to say it wasn't the diaper--she inherited HIS big butt!!

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Happy birthday Mom!


My mother turns 89 on August 5, 2006. I was in Media, PA visiting her for a week. She is living in a nursing home since her stroke last winter. She seems to like it there and loves winning at BINGO! Here are some pictures of her room.





We surprised her with Kelly arriving on Thurs. with Elise and Cory. It was the first time she saw Cory.








She came back "home" for the first time on Sat. for her party. She liked all the changes Jim made to the house.



She can now wear a hat to the Red Hat Society events.
We had cupcakes instead of a cake.
















This is Mom and her sister Chris (sitting) and a friend from Upper Darby (talking to Mom).














Mary Kay, Cory and Kelly


Tommy and Kelly's 3 girls (Haley, Sydney and Lucie) played with Elise during the party. They played in the "ballroom" (Elise's word for basement since they don't have basements in Boise, so it was an unusual concept for her) and on the deck. Here they are eating ice cream.















Mom and the kids (aren't they cute!!)







We can't forget Jim and Bella (dog)!!

There are lots more pictures of those at the party. You can see them here:
http://cards.webshots.com/invite/pickup/119705872wPEn/album/552818832VvPrFi

Crochet Pieces: Delaware Governor & Mary at the State Fair

Sherrie's pictures and write-up about Mary and the Delaware State Fair, 2006 are on her blog. This is
the link:
Crochet Pieces: Delaware Governor & Mary at the State Fair

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Will this trip ever end?

I just returned from a trip to Philadelphia to visit my Mom and attend her 89th birthday party. The actual visit went very well; the party was a success and I got to see friends and relatives. (see next entry about the party!)
BUT (there is always a “but”) getting there and back was AWFUL!! I flew from Flint to Atlanta (I booked the flights so long ago that I don’t remember my rationale for doing that, except it must have saved me $$). Flint to Atlanta went just fine. The flight from Atlanta to Philadelphia was delayed 2 hours (a sign of things to come). So it was very late when I arrived at my brother’s house where I was staying. I got there on Sat. night. He left for a conference on Mon. morning.
I spent Wednesday with my friend Mary and her daughter Summer. First we met at Bob Evans for a late breakfast and then went to the Delaware State Fair. Mary entered numerous crocheted items and won gobs of blue ribbons, some 2nd place ribbons and a 3rd place ribbon. And this was the first time she ever entered items in the fair!! Having received things from her, I can vouch for the judges—she does wonderful work, and almost all of it is done in thread!! She even received an award for the best entry at the Fair which included a presentation by Delaware’s governor! Here are some pictures of a few of her winning entries.










Our mutual friend Sherrie did a great job telling about Mary's Fair experience. You can read about it on her blog. There is a link in the above message. (thanks Sherrie).
After ohhing and ahhing over her work, we walked around the fair grounds, rode on the ferris wheel, played a shooting game (with water—Mary won a stuffed seal which she gave to me and I gave to my grandson Cory. Summer played a dart and balloon game and won a cute stuffed lady bug! We went into where the slot machines were, but didn’t bother wasting our coins! It was very hot. We (Summer and I) shared a “fried Snicker’s” candy bar—very yum!! After leaving the fair we went to a great seafood place where we had steamed crabs and shrimp. It was a very casual place (my kind of restaurant) where they covered the table with a large piece of brown paper and served the food in plastic bowls! I needed a refresher course on how to pull apart the crabs (I’ve been gone from the East coast for over 30 years). They were sooo good. Each time I get together with Mary we have such a great time. We have already planned what we are going to do the next time I am in the area!

The next day was not so much fun! Kelly was arriving from Boise, Idaho with 2 of her kids (4 yr. old Elise and 1 yr. old Cory). She was surprising her grandmother who did not know they were coming. She was due to arrive at the Phila. Airport at 10:45 p.m. I checked with the airlines before going and saw a delay. Every time I checked the delay was later. Finally at 11:30 p.m. she called. Her flight went from Boise to Chicago. She called from Chicago. There were MANY storms in the area and they circled and circled and circled Chicago and finally went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to get more fuel.. They sat on the ground there for 2 hours. Once in Chicago they kept delaying take-off, then they CANCELLED the flight!! Everyone was lined up to get another flight. A United Airlines person felt sorry for her with the 2 kids and brought her into the VIP room where she tried to help find her a flight. The next flight they could get her on to Phila. was on Sunday (the birthday party was on Sat.), so that didn’t work. They found a flight to LaGuardia Airport in NY (Long Island) that was getting ready to depart. She took it and I then had to drive there to get them! I didn’t even know how to get there from Phila. (thank goodness for Map Quest). Off I went in the midst of heavy rain and thunderstorms via the NJ Turnpike which had numerous sections of the highway that were semi-flooded---made for very slow driving—and lots of trucks. I kept stopping at rest areas to make sure I knew where to get off, etc. I made it through the Lincoln Tunnel ok, but then I made a wrong turn and ended up in the theater district of NYC! Found a policeman who directed me to the Midtown Tunnel and I was ok until I made another wrong turn. By this time Kelly was calling me via the cell phone asking where I was (wandering around aquestionable section of the Bronx or maybe it was Brooklyn--who knows, I was lost! I finally got her and the kids, but no luggage around 3:00 a.m. and headed back to Phila. Going back was much easier because the rain had stopped and I had a navigator. We got “home” around 6:30 a.m. and went right to bed! Made a trip to the Phila. airport later that day to pick up luggage. The rest of the visit was uneventful. Here is the family (part of it--there are 2 more kids and a husband, Craig who were back in Idaho on a camping trip with their new puppy Louis (they lived in St. Louis when they met), a French Brittany Spaniel. This my my brother in the picture. It's not a great shot, but the only one I have with the 2 kids and Kelly.
Then came Sunday and the return flights!! We had departure times that were close, but different airlines. I dropped off Kelly, kids, stroller and luggage and returned the rental car. Then I checked-in. The first sign of “complications” came when I saw the security line weaving down the hall!! It took 20 minutes to get through. Once at the gate I found out that the first flight was delayed about 30 minutes which wasn’t bad (in hind sight). The airport was very crowded and once we boarded it took a long time to take off. I was a bit concerned because I only had 45 minutes between flights in Atlanta. But the pilot made up the time and we actually landed early. I was fortunate that the gates were close enough together that it was just a short walk and I didn’t have to take the train. I went to the posted gate, but it was not the right one. I found the “right” gate and immediately noticed a delay, but it wasn’t too bad. Then it kept getting later. Then the flight disappeared from the board!! I went up to the counter and asked about it—the person in charge hadn’t even noticed, but she checked and announced that the gate had been changed. I don’t know how long they would have kept us there if I hadn’t asked!! We were originally scheduled to depart at 8:54. We boarded at 10:30 and sat and sat on the plane. First we had to wait for luggage to be loaded. Then we had to wait a VERY long time for them to fuel the plane (did they think we could fly without it and then realized NO). The person sitting behind me had some medical issues, so they changed my seat. We finally departed at 12:00 midnight! I talked to Keith several times since he was picking me up in Flint (and has to go to work Monday morning) and just told him to keep calling the airlines for departure and arrival times. We finally got to Flint at 2:00 a.m.—3 hours late. A bright spot--my luggage was the first to come through on the belt! This was my first experience with Delta Airlines. I don’t think I will be flying with them again. It was good to be home and sleep in my own bed. Chester and Oscar were VERY glad to have me home.

Friday, July 07, 2006

June crochet exchange

I was in a crochet exchange with Sherrie in Colorado for the month of June. The theme was "mostly white" so I made her a white shawl to keep away the Colorado chills. She sent me a gorgeous doily. I love it when someone else makes me a doily since I don't like to work with thread. She also included a BUNCH of great Mary Englebreit stuff (journal, magnets, bookmark, note pads, etc.) in the package. I love ME stuff, so it was great. Sherrie takes better pictures than I do, so here is a link to her blog where she posted pictures of the exchange items. http://my-blogpieces.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Fathers Day

Father’s Day started out just great. We heard a wonderful message at church, came home and had grilled burgers for lunch then went about doing stuff. I was next door visiting when I was called home. Keith had been grooming Oscar and was trying to cut out a knot of hair under his ear. He accidentally cut off a large chunk of skin. Oscar didn’t even yelp—just a small cry. No blood, but a nasty looking wound. We took him to the “doggie” ER where we had to leave him for surgery (he didn’t want the local, so they had to knock him out). 4 hours later we picked him up. He has 9 stitches and a shaved 2” diameter circle! He has to take amoxicillin for a week. He was very groggy for the rest of the day. On Mon. he started to feel better. On Tuesday he was much better. On Wed. he had pulled out 2 of his stitches, so it was a trip to our vet who stitched him right up again (no meds) and put an e-collar on him. He sure does look silly with it on.

I was assured that he would adjust in 2 days, but that I may never adjust—the vet was right!! So now Oscar goes crashing into things all the time—he still wants to be first. Here is another picture of his new attire. Chester doesn’t know what is going on!!


He has to wear this until the stitches come out, which will be after we get back from St. Louis (July 4). He even tries to scratch his wound. So I rub it for him (healing stuff always itches). He can still catch the frisbee with his collar on. Eating is an "event"--I have to hold the dish to his mouth under the collar and then lower it to the floor so he can eat.
Here’s Chester.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Baby Norah

This is baby Norah Evans Woodman, our 7th grandchild, who was born on May 23, 2006. I got to spend a week with her when I helped Momma and Poppa with 2 yr. old big sister Nina. I had help from biggest sister, Haley, who is 14. They live in St. Louis County. We will go back again over the July 4th weekend. Grandpa will get to go and meet Norah then.













I am in my pjs here, but Norah sure is a cutie!


I made this hat for Norah. Now Nina wants one also. There are pink and yellow stripes at the top, but the yellow doesn't show up very well. I see lots of knitting and crocheting (and sewing) in my future!!

Friday, June 09, 2006

Felting Disaster

I was in a "picnic basket" exchange in May (Christmas Crochet group of wonderful friends)where I had to send knitted/crocheted items to Nell and she would do the same for me. I chose to make her a crocheted purse which I would felt. I bought 100% hand-dyed wool yarn in a colorway called "watermelon." This is the purse I crocheted. It was quite large when finished, but that was ok because it was going to be felted. I put it in the washer, used HOT water and waited. Imagine my surprise (to put it mildly) when , after 4 tries, it was still the same large size. I sent off an email to the company in Canada and got a quick response. I was told the yarn does not felt and that info was on a piece of paper that was included (supposedly--I never saw it) with the yarn. So now it was panic time. My package had to be mailed within several days and I didn't have the purse done. I had everything else ready. So I made a quick trip and to get some Simply Soft yarn in colors that were almost watermelony (except for the green) and made a smaller version of the purse. I found some terrific fabric that looks like watermelon rind and used it as the lining. I found the button at a quilt shop. The lining doesn't show in the picture, but it is cute.
This is a picture of the other things I included with the exchange package. Nell took it after she got it (she is better at picture taking than I am). I crocheted and knitted some "condiments" for her--catsup, mayo, mustard, and salt and pepper! They are really dishcloths.


This is what she sent to me . It was a wonderful exchange. I decorate my house in red, white and blue for the summer, so what she sent is perfect!! The red, white and blue saltshakers are lighthouses!!

Secret Pal update

I bought yarn for my secret pal when I was in St. Louis. I mailed it from there. She should get it any day now. My favorite yarn shop is in St. Louis and I've been going there for years. I first found it when I went with Roberta. There is a quilt/fabric shop downstairs and yarn upstairs. They even have a knitting machine dept. in the red barn where there is also a restaurant. The place has changed names several times, so I'm not even sure what it is called now. At one time it was The Hen House and Heritage House. It is just offf I-270 at Graham Rd.
I also heard from the person who has me for a secret pal. She had sent several emails but I thought they were spam because of the name she used. We finally connected. Here's the crazy part--she lives in St. Louis County in Ballwin, right next to where we lived before moving to Michigan! Can't wait to find out her name (have to wait until August).
I will be going to visit my Mom next month and found a yarn shop in Lima right near my brother's house. I will have to investigate it and buy the next skein of yarn from there. If that doesn't work, I know there is a great shop in Chadd's Ford on Route 202.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

One Skein Secret Pal exchange

I signed up to participate in this secret pal exchange. It goes from June-August and is based on the book _OneSkein, 30 Quick Projects to Knit and Crochet_. I had to wait for my book to arrive (took longer to come since it was backordered) and I finally have it! It's a great book, I have my partner's name, know what I am going to make for her and am ready to send off the first skein come June 1! This should be lots of fun. The hardest part was trying a to find an anonymous way to communicate with her, so I set up a Hotmail account for this. There are over 700 people from around the world participating in this.....

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Boston

We are off (again!) to Boston for a long weekend. Our niece/godchild, Christine is getting married on April 22. It is always fun to connect with family again. It is hard to stay in touch when there is such a distance between families. Clark can't go -- he' s working on a major movie production. Kelly can't go with 4 little kids at home and being clear across the country from Boston. We will be staying with friends who moved from Clarkston to the Boston area last December. I am staying an extra 2 days so Jane and I can "play" (go shopping!).

Monday, April 17, 2006

Boise, Idaho grandkids


The end of March we went to visit our grandkids (and their parents) in Boise. There are 4 of them aged 6 and under! It was a wonderful week with lots going on. Keith helped rebuild a swing/gym set for the kids to use in the backyard. Grant can even climb to the top of the "monkey stars"!! (he's 2). Elise took her first ski lessons. Sebastian had an "advanced" ski lesson so he could learn to turn without snow plowing. They have had lots of rain (Boise) and snow (Bogus Basin ski area) this year and the slopes remained open until April 15. Just a short distance away in McCall the slopes will be open until Mother's Day! I took one of Kelly's spinning classes at the Y and actually enjoyed it!

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Outfit from the past


I knit this baby outfit back in 1964 for my friend's first baby. Back then you didn't know the baby's sex until birth, so I used neutral colors. When Rick was born, I used blue ribbons for the ties. Last fall my friend's mother went home to be with the Lord and when Lois cleaned out her Mom's stuff she found this outfit that Rick had worn. She sent it to me (what a great friend) for our grandchild that is coming in May! Since we know SHE is a girl, I changed the ribbons and sent them on to the waiting parents. I don't know if Norah will ever wear the outfit, but it is great to be able to pass things on. (Rick never had children. He got married for the first time a few years ago).
Thanks Lois!!

Friday, March 24, 2006

Sewing for Grandkids


I did some sewing this week. Since I will be going to see the grandkids, I can't go empty handed!! I made the pillowcase for Elise. I love the colors in the fabric--perfect for a 4 year old! I made the fabric book for Grant. He LOVES to be read to. I will probably be doing a lot of reading to him next week. He also loves to eat, so the title of the book is perfect for him. I will take lots of pictures so I can post some when we get back.

Another felted purse


I made this purse for Summer. We saw it in a shop in Pennsylvania and she loved it. Her Mom, Mary, doesn't knit so I volunteered to make it for her. She bought the yarn--aren't the colors great. Well, it's hard to see the true colors from this picture, but they are an apple green, purple, rosey-red, yellow and dark green. The shape is very unusual. The pattern is from Family Circle Easy Knitting magazine (no longer being published), Fall, 2002. The directions leave a lot to be desired. I don't think anyone new to knitting would be able to follow them. But it was fun to do. I would make the handles longer if I were to do another one.

More snow

I am sitting here watching MORE snow fall from the sky. I "think" it will just be a snow shower, but I am ready for spring! We leave for New York City in a few hours. I will be walking/running the MORE half-marathon with Kelly on Sunday morning. The forecast is for rain/snow showers (can't escape it). It should be fun--I've never been all the wall through Central Park. I need to do one more training walk today, so I guess it will have to be on the treadmill with the weather what it is outside. I'll report on how the race went when we get back home. We're off to Boise for a week after NY>

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Felted purse for me


I crocheted a purse and then felted it. I made it just for me from yarn I bought while in Pennsylvania. It is a great yarn shop very close to the Delaware border. The shop has expanded since I was there last and it is even more wonderful than before. The light stripes are a pale yellow and the one dark one is purple (almost an Easter egg purse!).
I am now working on a knitted purse that will be felted. It is for a friend who was with me at the yarn shop. She loved the purse on display, but doesn't knit so I said I would do it for her. She bought beautiful yarn (from a different shop in Rehobath, DE).

Friday, March 03, 2006

felted purse


I decided to try making a small purse and felting it and adding beads to it. I found a crochet pattern I liked and used some 100% wood to make it. I took some before and after pictures, but somehow they got erased from my camera. I really enjoyed making this. I don't think I left it in the washer long enough--I did it through 2 wash cycles, but it still seems to show the stitches a bit. But the fabric is dense and things won't fall through. I have never tried a beaded project like this, so it was a learning experience as I tried to find the beads called for in the instructions. I discovered (thanks to a friend) a bead shop 5 miles from home and had a great time there. I am definitely going to take some classes there. I used my sewing machine to attach the zipper and sew the purse together. This was sent to my internet friend Marge as part of an exchange package.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Charity donations


I've been working on charity donations for Lil' Troopers (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lil_troopers/). I love making baby hats.