Cardigans and Pullovers

At the beginning of the year I thought I would try to get a sweater done every month. So I finished a wonderful wallaby for Hannah in January. And in February a simplest sweater got done. I almost completed leahs lovely cardigan (shown below) in March but missed it by two days. So that's April and there is no March. May and June saw a hiatus on the sweater knitting front as well since there were oodles of request for objects other than sweaters. Then there is July's project: another simplest-sweater. August and September saw a lot of socks instead since all the sisters got socks this year for birthdays and that's just where the birthdays fall. October was a sweet little cardigan for Camillia - daisy chain. And November was a central park hoodie.That one had been in hibernation for a long time with only part of a sleeve done but I'm glad I got it out and finished it. In December I mustered the energy to finish this little baby pullover. It's okay but I really don't like how the yarn pooled. 

 Now that it's December I realize that I needlessly put myself under pressure. I don't need pressure. Thank you very much. I've had enough of it. So much so that I now roll with the days and just make sure I get in a little knitting. After all, it really is therapy so why would I make it discipline?

At the neck and close to the end!

There's only one problem and I'm not sure I really want to tackle it. I made the body too long and am thinking about making it shorter. That's not as easy as it sounds since it entails taking off the button bands and unraveling about two or three inches from the bottom of the sweater and then reapplying (and re-knitting!) the button bands. See, not all projects work out as projected. Pardon.

With daughter #1

More Wallabys!

Wallaby Again

I didn't get a picture of the latest wallaby before I gave it away. But since you've seen others like it you probably can figure out what it looks like. If not just click on the wallaby link to the right to see others. I've said before that I really like this yarn. Plymoth's Encore is 75% acrylic and 25% wool; just enough wool to make it soft and plenty of acrylic to make it washable. Perfect for a baby sweater. Enjoy, Lisa.

Solo Day Trips

Going over the border just got easier. For me, at least. Yep, finally got that NEXUS card that helps you get over the border faster. Sometimes it's not that much faster but still minutes count when you're living in the fast lane! (Pardon the pun. It really was unintentional.) On Friday I went to Blaine by myself. No one else in the family but Bruce has the pass. Besides they were all working. Heh. One of the benefits of working from home and being your own boss (sort of).

LJ and Heidi wanted me to pick up some horse stuff they had mailed to Hagaan's mail outlet. After paying all the fees (phone calls, storage and collection) for the goods I wonder if it's even worth the trouble make the trip. It is, I've concluded. For one having the NEXUS does make it faster getting over the border. Plus I get an afternoon out by myself and when there is no pressure to get back it's very relaxing. And I get a mocha (Snickers this time) out of the deal. Not bad.

Since there was no pressure for me to get back any time soon I did a little exploring in Blaine to see what had changed since I had been there last. Such a warm sunny day-about 66 degrees F.

There's this little thing about declaring everything you are bringing back. I don't know but I suppose you get charged duty for everything you declare since it's all computerized and computers don't think to give you a break as a real live border official might when you declare things verbally. We'll see about that. It will be interesting to find out.

The line-up coming back to Canada confirmed the wisdom in getting the NEXUS. I forsee a difficulty in the future. What happens when everyone gets NEXUS and they still only have one lane?

Happy Birthday, Dolly! or All Things "Pink"

On Saturday there was a "birthday bash" for Dolly. She received all manner of wondrous girly things. All of which she was totally thrilled. So as not to duplicate any offerings her great aunt gave her a set of blocks. So. There you have it. Nothing girly about blocks but something that the whole family can play with together. I think PC was more interested in them than Dolly. That's to be expected when the girly things were vying for her attention. All I know and remember about blocks is that ALL kids have a hoot of a time playing with them. I might know. We had blocks very similar to these in our house for years and every child visited us had to be torn away from them.


Finally, Emma's Wonderful Wallaby is finished. Even though this is more of a boy's colored sweater I think it suits her. Besides, ioi wanted rainbow colored sweaters for her kids. Now she's got a blue one to go with the red and yellow. Hmm. What's next? Green? Purple? or Orange? Thankfully, ioi's hubby said there was no rush!

These are the greatest baby sweater to make. There's always one on the needles at this house and always one or two in the back of my mind waiting for some free needles.

Note the elastics around Emma's ankles. They're handy for when her hair comes in. Right now she's pretty bald--but really cute anyway!

A Sunday School Treat

A recital of many, many verses. (The most I have ever heard any one recite!)
"Dorcas Had a Needle, David Had a Sling"

Bethany, Abby, Morgan, Tara, Josiah

"This Little Light of Mine"

Hannah, Melissa, and Chloe

Just a few pictures from our Sunday School Treat. As you can tell it's not only for the kids! I think the parents had fun too.

Snowed In!

I really, really, really like snow. For me, it's better than spending a week on the beach of Waikiki.

When we woke up yesterday morning there was at least 10 inches of snow on the roof ofTeegee's car. We live where 10cm (8 inches) was predicted but we got much more than that. It started to snow on Saturday afternoon at 2PM but it didn't look very promising; it was so faint But within 24 hours we were very well cover. We thought of attempting the drive in to meeting but decided against it. We may have made it there but it was still snowing pretty heavily and to get home may have been a problem. G and D stopped by on their way in and we made them coffee to have along with her cookies. (Sort of like a pit stop on the Pony Express.) They were debating on whether to go in or not and finally decided to go. LK went with them (carrying two blankets, just in case!) and called us on the road to let us know the roads were not as good as some had led them to believe. So we stayed home. It never let up.

Later that morning B and I both heard what we thought were the cats upstairs playing but knew it couldn't be so because they were both sleeping peacefully. We looked out the back window and noticed that the fence had been knocked down by a branch of the neighbor's huge tree. (I guess that tells you how rambunctious our cats are when they play!)












 
The afternoon meeting had been moved up a half hour and the gospel meeting cancelled. We were called and persuaded to go to the C house but there was no way B was going to drive! G offered to come and get us and SC brought us back(twice because B forgot his Biblecase). Was I glad I wasn't driving. There are some pretty crazy people with SUV's that think they are invinsible and thus drive like there is no tomorrow. We actually saw someone spin out just turning the corner. Others were barrelling down the road as if they were the only ones there. S tried to stay as far away from other cars as possible, especially those kinds.


My Wallaby models wearing the sweaters I made them.











When we went to bed it was still snowing! The power went off several times in the night and there were more strange sounds. I always get up when I am rudely awakened just to see what it is that's woken me up or maybe it's just a reaction to the sudden jolt. Poor B. I'm always leaping out of bed. This time it was another branch from the neighbor's tree! Hopefully, the tree stays standing and doesn't ever fall on our house. It's probably 100 feet tall.

The "kids" are flying in to Seattle tonight and we plan to go pick them up. From what I hear the border is horrendous. It took Char hours just to get through the Nexus Lane at Peace Arch yesterday afternoon. And that's the fast lane! Maybe we should leave now. Some kind soul left this link a while back for me to check the borders and to give me peace of mind. It will certainly come in handy today.

Teegee called last night at 10:00PM. He asked me if we were in bed yet. I asked him why he wasn't in bed yet. (It's one am in NJ.) "It's the last night of the conference," he said. Pat answer. They had just been at Chelly's house and just got back to the motel. I doubt any of the kids got much sleep while they were away. It's very hard for two of them to get up early in the first place and NJ is three hours ahead of us. I had wondered if they had made it to any 9AM meetings when their bodies said 6AM. Hmmm.

What Life is Made of

The air conditioner in our van broke while we were on holidays (Brit Speak). No problem since it wasn't too hot on the Oregon Coast. We took it in to the dealership yesterday-on probably the hottest day on record in BC It was close to 40 degrees Celsius ( about 100 F for those of you who don't convert). When we went to pick it up we turned it on. No go. Arrgh!
B.C. rarely gets hot so heat is one thing we cannot tolerate. To console ourselves we went to Starbucks where things didn't go so well there either. They charged LK $1.50 too much. They ran out of cafe con leche mix and couldn't make the coffee I asked for. They almost gave me two oat fudge bars when I only ordered one. (!) Poor Felix had to stay home and sweat it out on the couch.

Well, I brought back the van this AM and walked home. And now they just called with an update. Which usually means more money. And it did! Another $105!!! But that's another looong story. Very frustrating, to say the least. Another test of Christian graces displayed!!

Thought I would give you an update on the latest Wallaby. I'm a little further along than this because while we were at Aunt Ruth and Gran's visiting I was able to knit up a storm. The arms are now attached and the shoulders are shaping up. That means there are few mistakes. Notice I did not say there were no mistakes! At least they are not glaring enough for me to frog.

Aunt Ruth is not doing too well. She went in for a CT scan yesterday to find out why her arm is paining her so much. No info yet.