Squares

Remember this? I finally got around to my mother's suggestion. As she finishes her knitting projects she uses her left over yarn to make woven squares. She then sews the squares together to make a blanket. Because they don't match, the blanket ends up looking like a patchwork quilt. Maybe a patchwork crazy quilt would be a better discription.

When we lived in Hawaii in the 50's and 60's we use to occupy our time with watching Mom endlessly weave on a tiny loom called a Weave-It. It wasn't til I grew older that I remembered those tiny looms that we had. It turns out there were quite a few lying around the house. Where there are now I really don't know. Perhaps Jaigy has one. She use to have at least two until I "stole" one. (I knew she really didn't need two. After all, she only has two hands, although sometimes it seems you need more than two hands when working on one of these things.) I suppose Mom was hoping that we would all get interested in the craft but, alas, none of us really did until we grew up and moved away. Since obtaining a loom I have woven enough squares to put together several blankets. All the squares for each blanket are made of the same yarn. But when I surveyed my growing stash of left over project yarn I remembered Mom's scrap woven blanket. She reminded me of it when she saw Felix playing with the "Monet" yarn. "That would make pretty squares," she said. I agree. So here we go. It will take a long time to finish the project (each square takes about 10-15 minutes to weave) and I still like to knit.

baby bug goes to "meeting" hat

When a mom wants a hat for her little one so that she'll be covered for meeting I get out my knitting needles.



I won't turn that opportunity down. So often little girls' heads get so hot with a wool cap so cotton comes in handy--winter or summer. I don't know how long this will fit or if it will even fit now but I had fun making it and adding on the fringe. You may think it doesn't go. Maybe it doesn't but it does add a little something to an otherwise plain hat. Besides, I was about ready to give up on the thing. The finished product is actually the third try.

The first, finished in no time, was too short from the brim to the crown.

The second try was too long...waaaay too long. It would have covered her ears and her eyes and her nose and her mouth. I could go on. But I ripped. And I finished. And added the burgandy. Dolly modeled it for me tonight and she smiled with glee when I showed her the mirror. She even put it on her dolly and was ready to walk away. Let's just hope BB is as happy.

Snow Again!

Just to let you know...it has snowed again here in the Vancouver area! This is the third major snowfall we've had this season. Although it's not as bad as they expected it will still make getting LJ to school a bear. I was hoping schools would be closed but since they're open I have to go out and clear the "weather" from the car and get it going now.

mexican dinner slideshow

We looked thrilled to be here, don't we? We really are. You see, it's just that in Canada a Mexican meal costs an arm and a leg. It tastes good but the price is a way too high. I think the mind-set is that of an upscale restuarant or that of an "experience" and thus you're charged accordingly. We're in a store on Granville Street in Vancouver and this is as authentic as it gets here in the NorthWest. This is better than we experienced in Kelona where they charged for chips and salsa, gave you white linen napkins and had candles on the table. Actually, we can't get enough of Mexican food and can't wait to get to CA again for a real treat.

felix

I still can't figure out why his ear is green. Is he see-through today? And is the curtain see-through as well? Weird.

Sure Return

I'm finally back! (Much to your joy, I'm sure.) We had a great time in CA but it seemed so short even though we were gone for almost two weeks.

It was our normal CA trip: down to Burbank in a straight shot-- 26 hours, which included a roadside stint of two hours while we tried to figure out how to get chains off our tires. (Arrgh! We had to put on chains for slush that lasted for two miles, maximum. They even had inspectors out to make sure we put them on.)

We took in the Conference for three days...very exercising, encouraging and profitable.

Out to the beach for the day,

and then to Hemet for the rest of the trip.

"Fun" at Target with the sisters.




We stayed at Gramma's this time and were in and out daily before she even had time to catch her breath. It looks like Auntie's had it.

Believe it or not, I had time to finish three projects! The little orange hat is not exactly how I want it so needs a bit more work.

The booties turned out perfectly. I just love to work with variagated yarn.

There really are two of these socks. It's just that I gave them away before I could get a picture of the pair.

When we left CA we were starting to get sick but still had enough energy to "discuss" hot topics and issues with some of the kids. I tell you, 22 hours (the time it took to get home) is enough time to discuss anything under the sun.

The First Day of Sunday School

"Let the children come unto me."

These little girls have never been to Sunday School before and are so excited to be there. They are such a joy to teach with their eagar little faces and happy smiles. Of course, it helps a lot when you are free with the stickers, prizes and candy treats!

Happy Holidays!

To my family everwhere all over the globe:

My hope is to see you all soon--either here, there or in the air!

Have a very happy holiday season and "think on Him, when it is well with thee".


Lots of love,
Knitterykate

What Can a Six-Year Old Do For Jesus?

I found this list in some papers that I was saving.

What Can You Do For Jesus?
By LJ, aged six

1. Pray
2. Obey
3. Obey Mommy and Daddy
4. Read your Bible every day
5. Be good
6. Be nice to people
7. Make people dresses
8. Help people
9. Make a house for someone
10. Put peoples' hats on for them
11. Say, "please"
12. Comb people's hair
13. Make people hats
14. Preach
15. Go to meeting
16. Make meeting rooms
17. Help at weddings (put on dresses on the maids)
18. Set up meeting chairs
19. Sing to the Lord

By LJ, July 1994

I really wish she would have put on there "Clean your room."

Here's to H

We dedicate this page to a brave girl who today has begun anew to practice her driving skills. With many starts and stutters, biting of fingernails, cowerings in corners, stomping of feet and just saying no, the day has finally come that H decided (with strong urgings from her mom!) to get behind the wheel of the car. Someday the streets of Vancouver will be graced with the skill of this fine motorist.

Alas! Said girl skipped the country with nary a driving lesson under her belt...We'll be waiting at the border.

Part of a Normal Day

I had just gotten home from doing errands. I ran around town doing the banking, paying bills, buying CD's to burn an update for our printer's driver (our computer finally died and since it's not hooked up to the internet we had to download an upgrade and thus burn a CD), getting a Starbuck's :), picking up LJ from school, going to the grocery store for a few items for dinner, mailing a parcel to B&P and finally getting home. Does it sound like your day? I suppose it does because we are just normal busy people. (That really was just one hour in the afternoon.) When I walked in the door B asked me, "Do you want to go out to eat tonight or Thursday?" You mean I get a choice? I thought he meant for H's b-day since we planned on taking her to a Greek resturant but he was thinking of using the gift certificate that a very generous friend from CA had mailed to us. Here is where they wanted us to go. We have never been to this kind of a restuarant so we didn't know what to expect. Needless to say, we did not come away disappointed. It was fabulous. A meal fit for a king.

My Daughter the Eccentric (Artist)

She does it for kicks. She likes to see what she can do with the clothes in her closet. Make it as weird as possible. Then she does it for effect. To see what the rest of the family's reaction will be. She got her artist's streak from her dad.

Put me in the zoo?

Anyway, other great news!
Happy Birthday, Tom!

Happy Birthday, Teegee!

My "little boy" turns 20 today. All moms everywhere say, "Where did the time go?" And I can echo that. When he was a baby he was given a pair of size 18 months pants and I cried just thinking that he would one day be big enough to wear them. Those days are long gone and in their place is a pair of pants to fit a 6'3" man. My greatest desire for him today is not that he would grow big and strong but that he would be a man of God. That would be the greatest gift that my son could give in return for the years that I've raised him. That's all I ask.

Brown Wallaby

Poor Prince D will be an old man and too big to wear this sweater by the time I finish it. It's so slow going because there is so much happening in my family's lives that pre-empts knitting time. (Hectic is one word to describe our lifestyle. I sometimes wonder who is going to be home for dinner when I'm cooking at night. I always console myself with the thought of Teegee eating at 10:30PM when he comes home even if no one else has touched the meal. As long as there are no onions. Besides that, if there's any left over someone is apt to take it to work the next day for lunch.)

Well, D will be four months old at the end of this month and this was suppose to be a shower present for a shower that was held before he was born. At least Mom knows it's coming.

post script. Yes, I finished the Wonderful Wallaby on Saturday. Mom was pleased as punch when I gave it to her yesterday. Alas, there is no picture of the finished product. I will try to get one when he wears it.

Coronet hat

The hat that I'm working on has a cabled band around the crown. You start with a provisional cast-on --one that is worked in a different color so that it is easy to pick out later when you knit the two ends together that fit snugly around your brow. Look here for pics of the technique.

The Border's Lined Up

There's a long-standing joke in our family that when we're up to our ears and can take no more we say, "and to top it all off, the border was lined up." It goes back to a friend that had had a horrendous day and at the end he had to wait at the border and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Go figure.

The Wrapper

H's birthday is this week. You'll never guess who has to help wrap the presents. I don't know why I even bother. He could probably do a better job than I can.

One Way to Spend A Day

It took us eight and one half hours to make a three hour trip to the SeaTac Airport. The kids' plane landed at 6:30PM--right on time but we were three hours late picking them up! The roads as well as the border were horrendous. Snow and ice and accidents everywhere! And no one knows how to drive in the snow and no one wants to put snow tires on for one mile, take them off for two and put them back on again for five. It was hopeless. Just to get from North Seattle by the 405 interchange to the airport was three hours. The on-ramp alone took us 30 minutes because someone keep slipping and sliding towards a parked bus and thus refused to budge.

It was a relief to finally pick up the kids. I sure miss them when they are away. We left the airpost at 10:00Pm and got home at 4:15AM--only a little over 6 hours this time. But I would do it again in a heart beat because of who was there.