For My Baby Sister

OK, your card is in the mail - honest! But I figured I'd give everyone a chance to see you in your glory.

Notice, she could wear her hair in pigtails before she could crawl. It took me many years to get that much hair!

And we have the elegant chignon for bathing.

Like the evil sister I am, I tried to sell you but there were no takers.

You were quite the party animal in your youth.

Then we had to have an intervention.

And your table manners left a little to be desired.

Of course, I had to include the cow picture for you.

I'm not sure who made a better pilgrim, you had a nicer collar and cuffs, but I have the solemn look down pat.



HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROM YOUR NEXT BIGGEST SISTER

Auntie Wendelene returns

Hello, remember me? I was checking my google analytics account and see that someone in Maryland keeps checking in here almost everyday. Hello Sarah, Sam and Paula! (I'm taking a wild guess that Dave probably spend much time reading knitting blogs, but pass along my greetings).

So what have I been doing in the last few months? Not a whole lot that's interesting, which explains the lack of posts. I did start AND finish a stole from Victorian Lace Today. It has the unforgettable name of Scarf with No. 20 edging.
Unfortunately this is the only photo I have of it because I took it to ward off the AC. I'll try to remember to bring it home again to get a real picture. It turned out pretty nice if I do say so myself.




The big fun last month was the Middelton Place Sheep and Wool Days. The guild was asked to demonstrate spinning and weaving. We decided to do a sheep to shawl and raffle off the two shawls we wove. I was only able to attend Sunday, but we had a lot of fun. It was so nice to sit under the trees and spend the day talking about fiber with people.



Another thing I've been working on is a sweater for a friend who is having her first. They are fairly certain it's a girl, so I've taken a chance and am knitting this. I found the pattern on Ravelry. The woman who posted it has modified a pattern she got from Dale of Norway. Unfortunately, it seems she didn't write down exactly how she modified or else she has even worse problems with math than I do, because none of her numbers worked out, so I had to do a lot of figuring and ripping. Also for some reason she made this pretty lace sweater with the button holes set for a boy. Of course being directionally challenged, I didn't realize this until I was finished with the body. So know I'm having to rip out the button bands and switch the button holes to the other side. And of course knit the second sleeve. And be done by next Sunday.

This wouldn't be a problem except that this is also happening next Saturday. That means rehearsals Monday and Thursday evenings. And oh yeah, I have to go to work too. I am taking off next Friday though because we will be rehearsing in downtown Charleston on Thursday night with the orchestra and by the time we finish, and drive back to Summerville I'm going to be way too tired to get up at 5:15 Friday morn. Besides, that way I can finish the sweater.

Finally, it looks like I'm going to have to stay in this house a little while longer. My brother Tom (Hi Tom) gave me this gardenia as a congrats for getting a new job. Soon after I decided to buy the house and claimed it was because I needed a place to plant the gardenia. One of the first things I did after moving in was to plant it beside my back door. Amazingly enough, it's gotten a few blooms every year. I thought it might have gotten too cold this winter, but the other day I came out to find this.

My plant, I think I'll keep it.

The Obligatory New Year Post

So, it's 2008. Big Whoop. OK, I'm not quite that cynical, but New Year's really doesn't do much for me. However, my Christmas vacation was pretty interesting this year.

It started out with the flight to Wisconsin. In extreme winds and turbulence. And oh yes, I forgot to bring a coat. I mean really, it was in the 60's when I left my house at about 4:45 am. Why would I want a coat? Temperature in Milwaukee was in the high 20's I believe with a wind chill well below 0. Oh, THAT'S why I wanted a coat! Luckily my brother has a collection of odd coats in his closet, and one of them fit me.

Christmas Eve brought a real houseload to my parents. All told we had my parents, 4 brothers and sisters, 2 spouses, 6 nieces and nephews, 1 great niece, 1 great nephew, and me. One spouse had to work and one nephew is in China. Add the fact that few of us know how to speak with inside voices and you get massive chaos. And I wouldn't have it any other way. Ok, maybe we could use the inside voices to keep my head from exploding, but you can't have everything! Here are a few of the nieces and nephews and one great niece

I presented my younger sister with the Mediterranean Lace shawl. No photo, too many people in the way. She has been a great support for me through the years and especially since Paul died. When I started knitting the shawl Paul challenged me to finish it in time for a big night out for our un-anniversary in January. After he died, I let it lay for quite a while then decided I had to finish it. But I really didn't want the reminder of what should have been laying around the house. This was the perfect solution. I got to thank her for all she's done with a beautiful piece of lace and exorcised the ghost at the same time. Now I just hope her husband takes her somewhere really special to show it off. That's a hint Dave!

To keep myself sane in a houseload of people, I knit. I managed to knit 1 entire Monkey and about 3/4's of it's mate. Here's a really bad photo. I keep forgetting to take pictures when it's still light. The yarn is Trekking Pro Natura 75% wool, 25% bamboo. So far they're holding up well, they've been on my feet quite a bit in the last 2 weeks. I think I'll definitely try it again.

The biggest fun was the 7+ inches of snow that fell the day we travelled home; or tried to travel home. I kept checking the airline website during the day. They were cancelling flights right and left, but mine was still on. So we started the 90 mile journey through the snow. I'm sure glad I wasn't driving. It's been way too many years since I've done real winter driving. We got there exactly on time, to see my flight had been cancelled. However, my sister and her family did get out and home right on time. I ended up in a hotel for the evening, and flew out the next morning.

I think next year I'll drive.