...when you're little...

you love to swing,

 and slide,

look for frogs,

and climb,


hold hands,

and ride on a pig train.

 You're not crazy about having your picture taken,

 but you do love to feed goats,

slide in the hay maze,

 and laugh.

 But what you love best is sharing and hanging out with your sister.

...52 weeks of happy (13/52)...

1.  new counter top and back splash in the kitchen.
2.  my favorite soccer player.
3.  new baby sweater design coming soon.
4.  new shawl design in process...
5.  Coming Home!

A week full of remodeling and knitting.  How was your week?

...Mother's Day, part II...

When our girls were growing up we spent a lot of time at various activities.  Between the two of them they danced, tumbled, cheered, golfed, ran, dribbled, shot, spiked and probably a few more things that I am having a hard time recalling.  Well, this weekend I got a glimpse at what Erin and Kris' lives are going to be like for the next 18 years.  

Yes, it was Paytan's first soccer experience and it was absolutely fun!

There is nothing quite like watching a bunch of 2-3 year old kids run around after a soccer ball to make you laugh.  Not that we laughed at them.  This was pretty serious stuff.  All I can say to Erin and Kris is this:  hang on for the ride of your life...

If you missed the post yesterday, I just released Coming Home in honor of Mother's Day.  Go have a look!  It's pretty special!

Elliet and Coming Home...

...Mother's Day...

I am very lucky to be the mother to 2 great daughters.  I am even luckier to be the grandmother to 2 beautiful granddaughters.  When our second granddaughter was on the way I set to designing a baby blanket for her.  Because she was due in July I knew that the blanket needed to be light and lacy.  I started the design process and was busily knitting on it  while we were on our Italy trip in early June.  Image our surprise when Elliet Harper Cook arrived the day after we left for Europe.  

While I had planned to have the blanket

done for her so she could come home from the hospital in it, this just wasn't her plan.  She was on her own time schedule and has been ever since.  

I continued to knit on the blanket while we were traveling around Italy, getting daily updates on the new little girl we would meet when we got back.  There were many photos, videos and skype conversations with our daughter and son-in-law while we were away, but nothing could compare to them meeting us at the airport when we got off the plane.  And so, the blanket is named Coming Home, not so much for the reason I had originally intended but because it was the our coming home that finally got us our introduction to her!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

~ Coming Home ~

Yarn:

600 yards Sport/DK yarn

Suggested yarns:

Valley Yarn Colrain 

(color way:  natural)

Blue Moon Fiber Arts Woobu

(colorway:  china rose)

Knitted Wit Superwash Merino DK

(colorway:  canopy)

Supplies:

US 8/5mm 24" circular needle

or sized to obtain gauge

cable needle

markers

yarn needle

Gauge (after blocking):

3.75 stitches/inch on US 8/5mm needle over stockinette stitch

Finished Measurements:

Length: 34 inches

Width:  34 inches

~ enjoy! ~

...up next...

I have a little surprise coming out on Mother's Day.  Stay tuned!

...52 weeks of happy (12/52)...

1.  a letter from a good friend.
2.  first shipment from the Great White Bale.
3.  happy baby on a big bed!
4.  orange shoes that I wore all weekend while shopping with my daughters.  Great weekend!

My weekend was amazing!  Now looking forward to a little trip!  Where are you traveling to?

...52 weeks of happy (8/52)...

 

1.  Easter egg hunt treasures.

2.  Hunting is hard work.

3.  Should I?

4.  More eggs discovered on Easter.

5.  Picot bind off.

6.  Words to live by.

How was your weekend?

...I think I might be biased...

I literally just finished this...

A sweet blanket for a sweet little one...

Elliet will be here this weekend and we are planning a photo shoot with her new blanket!  Pattern to come!!  I think the blanket is pretty cute but not quite as cute as Elliet is!  What do you think?

...months and months...

Hey!  Here I am.  Boy has this year been a blur.  Six months since my last post!  An awful lot going on here.  New grand baby, wonderful trip to Italy, youngest daughter's wedding, and BAM!  Now it is a week until Christmas.

I know that I owe you a whole whack of posts and believe me I have a lot to tell you.  But those stories are for another day.  (Probably after the 1st of the year).

I did want to share something though that happened this past weekend.  It really warmed my heart.

Every other year we have a Christmas party in our barn.  It's a really fun, relaxed afternoon with many friends and family members.  It's a casual thing, people dress in jeans and warm coats.  The barn has heat but it's a big barn and it takes a long time to heat it up!

Each year that we have this party we ask everyone to bring a toy to be donated to kids in our community that are in need.  This year we chose to work with Tuality Hospital.

They specifically asked for games and toys for kids ages 9-12.  This age range seems to get less donations than other ages.  So when we sent out our invites we asked for game and toys for them and boy did the gifts roll in!

Legos, Sorry, Monopoly, Scrabble!  I think we got 9 Apples to Apples games!  I am so thankful for our friends and family and am especially thankful that they are so generous.  I packed up all of the toys and games yesterday morning and headed to the hospital with them. (My car was jammed!)  The hospital was really happy to see me!  They were so appreciative and it felt so good to deliver this gift.  

In a matter of days we will be heading to our house at Sunriver for the holidays with the entire family.  I am really excited about this!   Can't wait to celebrate the season with the grandkids! I think there will be some sledding in my near future...

 I leave you with a little gift~

Elliet and her first Christmas tree.

Until next year, happy holidays!