All of the projects can be posted now....

I wasn't able to post a photo of the little sweater I was making Luke for a Christmas gift because Stef reads my blog and I wanted it to be a surprise for her, so here is the photo I wanted to show you. This is a Debbie Bliss pattern called the Weekend Slouch sweater. Can you see the little pocket on the left sleeve? That's for all of the important things that a baby needs to put in a safe place....ha, ha....I love little pockets on baby clothes.

Just another view..... and a close-up of the basketweave front.

This is my sweater that I finished...I think I posted a photo of the back earlier. This is also a Debbie Bliss pattern named Jeanne (appropriate since that's how my middle name is spelled) from her Winter Essentials book that I rec'd as a Christmas gift last year from a friend. I guess I'm a Debbie Bliss fan. I really like how this sweater fits and especially like the ribbed shawl collar. I hope you can see it. Don't forget that you can click on the photo to see it better.

This is one of Luke's favorite things to do as you can see from that smiley face....his bath is a fun time for him and for me.

Little Jenny is practicing holding Luke. He seems to think she does a good job! What book is this that I want to read?

Oh, yes, it's the Tale of Peter Rabbit.

Luke is sitting on the blanket that his Great Aunt Carol made him and playing with Otto, the Polar Bear I knitted him before he was born.

Maya played Santa this year even though she's wearing reindeer antlers. She did a great job figuring out who the packages were for since we all make up silly names for the tags....To the oldest son-in-law, To the Architect, etc.

Austin wore that Santa hat, but didn't help pass out gifts. He just looked pretty darn cute in his argyle sweater!

One of Luke's gifts since he likes bathtime so much....a set of embroidered towels from me with little whales on them. I made our new granddaughters (new son-in-law's daughters from his first marriage) pillowcases with their names embroidered on them. Taryn loves horses. Morgan is just a cute little 4 yr. old. Here's Luke modeling another hat I made him called Cubba. The pattern is from Woolly Wormhead which is the same company that designed the Buzzbee hat I made him. ....and here's Ivy (on the left) and Lily modeling their Lands' End fleece coats I bought and embroidered their names on. ....so that's alot of projects to throw at you, but I was hording them all until I could post them. Sorry if it's a little boring. From our family to yours.....wishing you good health and a more prosperous New Year in 2010.

We Wish You a Merry Christmas~~~~~and a Happy New Year!!

Look at our 6 month old, Luke....doesn't his crib look like a fun place to be? I have been enjoying watching him every Monday while Stef works a half day for her hubby. We go for walks when it's nice out and shopping at the shops in Mt. Vernon. We've also visited the Art Gallery two times. The downtown area is really cute.

My granddaughter, Maya, made me this clay turkey for Thanksgiving. He's sitting on top of the butter dish with his bead legs crossed at the ankles. I love this little creation and am so proud that she wants to be crafty at the age of 8. She'll actually be 9 on the 20th and we'll celebrate her birthday this Saturday.

Here's the live Kelly tree this year. It's 13' tall and looks much better standing. Mark had it all up (he even puts all the lights and ornaments on by himself) on December 6th. On the 11th it fell over onto that coffee table you see at the bottom of the tree and just missed falling on me and Luke who were to the right of that area rug. It layed there for a day until he came back from his out of town monthly poker trip to Alliance, Ohio. It took Mark 4 hrs. to resurrect the tree, sweep up all the needles, sop up the water and throw away the broken ornaments. He decided my suggestion to wire the tree up to the windowsill was a good idea (which I suggested before the tree fell) and it is now secure. We couldn't even blame the tree falling on any of the pets because they weren't around it when it happened....although Ivy found the catnip container and opened it all over the carpet yesterday....Cosette thought that was a fun idea and rolled all over the carpet on it. Isn't it odd that dogs don't really care about catnip, but cats just love the smell?

I almost have all of the Christmas cards made out and mailed. Most of the gifts are bought. None are wrapped. Cookies will happen next week. All of the knitted gifts are finished and ready to wrap.....awwww, sigh of relief.

Are you ready for Santa's arrival?

We're still enjoying the fall weather here....

This weekend we had our dear friends, Theresa and Brian down from Minerva for some relaxation and good food. Mark and Brian always cook for us on Saturday night which is such a treat for me and Theresa.

Today we went to German Village for lunch at the Mohawk. It was my first time to eat there and I really enjoyed the Black and Blue Burger with homemade kettle chips. After lunch we walked around the neighborhood....I just love looking at all of the old houses. This is a nice arrangement on one of the front porches.

During the day on Saturday the four of us got to go to the Ohio State Stadium Recruiting Room for a party thrown by BNY Mellon. They sure know how to throw a great party! Of course, the best part was that the Bucks beat Michigan!!!! Here's a nice photo of Theresa & Brian.

me and Mark We won the centerpiece on our table which I think is really pretty! Those are live flowers.

The Alumni Band was there too to play and help us cheer on the Bucks.

I just thought I'd throw in a photo of Luke here....who doesn't love to see a baby face?

On to some knitted projects.....here's Luke modeling the Buzzbee hat I made him. He loves playing with the i-cord straps that hang down.

Stefy bought me this pattern for this sweater for my birthday and while Mark and I were on our little vacation in Maggie Valley, N.C. I bought this yarn from the Yarn Paradise Shop in Asheville. It's a really pretty color of deep red made by King Tut. So far I have the swatch finished. I'll start this sweater after I finish seaming the Jeanne sweater.

In the meantime, I made the yoke part of a cotton top just because it looked so pretty in the pattern. I don't intend to work on this anytime soon, but I thought you might like to see how pretty it did turn out. The yarn is Eco Organic Cotton and the color is gray with a hint of green.

and last but not least, here's Papa corrupting Luke while watching TV. He's letting Luke hold onto his bottle of beer!

Fall in Ohio plus a trip to the Alum Creek Dog Park.....

This is Lily....tired after chasing her new friend, Gunnar the gray labradoodle.

Ivy isn't too interested in chasing dogs, she's just looking cool.

Lily playing Sherlock Holmes..."Hmmmm, I wonder who peed here"? Lily doing her Forest Gump impersonation...."I was running". Gunnar, the labradoodle and his owner on the left, Lily on the right of the tree and Ivy coming back to me because what she thought looked like fun chasing Lily, wasn't really fun after all. This is the road I drive on when I go to the barn to visit Marshall. Isn't it the best?

Burning bushes I passed on the way to the barn too.

.......and a lovely gold tree.

....and a gold tree with red tips on the gold leaves.

Today I noticed that all of the pear trees near and in our neighborhood are showing off. They are a beautiful deep orange and red. Glorious fall....I love it the bestest!

Lots of photos to look at this time.....

I'm not sure if anyone really looks at my blog because no one posts comments on it. I'll still post to it though.

I believe I made mention that I was working on a baby quilt, but couldn't post the photos yet. I have finished the quilt and mailed it to the recipient, Bailey K. Meyers who lives in Olympia, Washington. I knew she would be a free spirit so created a quilt that I felt would suit her. This first photo is the back with her name appliqued at the bottom.

This is a close up of some of the quilting..... more of the quilting..... and more of the quilting.....

This is the front of the quilt..... This is the label on the back....

Time for some Luke photos! Here he is chillin' in a hat that his mom bought him....isn't he cute? Here he is in a hat that I knitted for him to go with his new Gap Bomber Jacket.....

It's called Retro Flying Helmet from Debbie Bliss's book Sublime 600.

Here are some thumbless mittens I whipped up for him too. I made them before he got his new coat so they don't really match, but they work all the same.

I'll leave it at that as far as things I have made recently.

Back from a week in North Carolina.....

We decided to take a week in October to rent a cabin in North Carolina. We chose a pet friendly cabin so we could take our dogs on their first vacation with us instead of going to doggy camp. We left on October 12th and checked in. The cabin wasn't exactly what we were expecting quality wise, but we made due. Mark built many fires in the woodburning fireplace, made us martinis several nights while I cooked most of our meals....you know, the economy is bad. We did end up not spending much money while there, except for the visit we made to the Biltmore in Asheville. Between the tickets, expensive lunch and a case of wine from the tasting, I would say we helped the economy quite a bit, at least at the Biltmore property! The trees there were about a week or so behind being at peak, but it was pretty all the same. We drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway for awhile and jumped off as soon as we could....too many curves. Our favorite town while there was Waynesville. It was very quaint and filled with friendly folks. Our cabin was in Maggie Valley which wasn't really a town at all. We visited a wonderful yarn shop while in Asheville called Yarn Paradise. Our lunch at Fig in Asheville was also great!

Here we are on a walk for the much awaited day without rain....Friday. We walked the 3 1/2 mile walking track around Lake Junaluska....it was heavenly. People were feeding the many ducks so we stopped to watch. Ivy loved that part.

I caught a photo of a pretty tree.....

The Biltmore on the wet, cold day we went there. Sorry no photos were allowed inside this 70,000 square foot mansion.

This was the view off of the deck on the cabin....

Ivy and Lily enjoyed the view too, but I think they were watching dogs and squirrels....

Luke laughs almost everytime Stef talks to him....she's very entertaining! He's developed quite a personality by now and has found his toes and can reach all of his toys...of course, you know they all go into his mouth....awwww, the tasting game.

Mark took me to a quilt show in Granville, Ohio for my birthday. It was quite cute with several quilts on display that I enjoyed. I thought this one was especially cute with many redwork blocks put together in the center and pieced stars surrounding the redwork. Alot of work was put into it and I appreciate the many hours it must have taken the maker to finish this adorable quilt. Here's just one block.....

Here's the whole quilt.....

I have the front finished on the Jeanne sweater I pictured with the last post of the completed back and am almost finished with both sleeves (I like doing them at the same time so they are both finished). Then all I have to do is knit the collar. I'll just post the finished sweater at the end. Until next time....quilt on or knit on!