Any Day Now!

Our family is anxiously awaiting the arrival of Adalei Grace, due to join us any day now! She is our third grand child and we are just as excited about her arrival as we were the first two. I can hardly wait to hold her and tell her I love her; to bond with her as I did with Bradyn and Layla and to watch her grow. Don't little ones grow so fast!
I knitted a blanket to bundle Adalei in and a cap and socks to keep her warm. It gives me great joy to knit for my grands and already have a sweet little sweater pattern picked out to knit for Adalei ... looking forward to getting started on it as soon as I finish some Christmas projects in the works.
If you would like to have a sneak peak of Adalei, please visit Lindsey's blog at www.lindseybroere.blogspot.com. There you will see some recent ultra sound pics of Adalei. It is amazing at the details you can see! She has the sweetest little mouth and the shape of her eyes are so pretty.
We also have maternity pics of Lindsey on our blog at www.autumnsongphotography.com so check them out. Rodney wrote the sweetest article too. Make sure you have a tissue handy, you will need it!

A new baby is like the beginning of all things - wonder, hope, a dream of possibilities.
~ Eda J Leshan ~

"Baby in the Basket!"

Rejoice in the Lord always, delight
yourselves in Him; again I say, Rejoice!
Philippians 4:4

We have a baby on the way due to arrive the first of December! Our daughter and her husband are expecting their second child. We are so very excited and are so thankful for God's many blessings in our lives.

Here is the little lace baby blanket I am knitting. Can you guess what we are having? Not very difficult when you see the pink..... a sure give away! Her name is Adalei Grace. Isn't it a sweet, pretty name? Very feminine and elegant. I saw the pattern and thought it was so fitting for Adalei.

The pattern is a Feathered Baby Blanket by Kaye Smith and was shared with me by my friend Leslie. She blogs at http://whitehorsedesigns.blogspot.com/.

Layla is so excited about being a big sister. She has picked out a special stuffed animal for her baby sister. Layla talks about baby Adalei often. Bradyn is looking forward to having another cousin, although, he was pretty blunt in saying he really wanted a boy cousin to play with. Kids are so open and honest, don't you just love'em!

A baby girl is a treasure rare;
A sweet pink angel, a little doll,
Nothing else can quite compare. Her smiles and coos will bring you joy;
She'll fill your hearts with love and pleasure;
So cherish these special infant times,
With your little girl, your precious treasure. By Joanna Fuchs

Summertime!

One of our favorite things about summer is dining outside. We had an evening recently that was perfect...... a light breeze, clear skies and the birds singing..... our meal was so yummy....... you can't beat a nice aged Angus beef tenderloin on the grill with a few veggies on the side(and, of course, a glass of wine). It was wonderful!

Rod and I sat outside for a while and just savored the time. This time of year we usually just grab a salad or sandwich or eat on the run..... you may wonder why.....mostly because of the nature of our business.... this is our busy "season".

....another thing about summer...... flowers, flowers, flowers..... nice to go out early in the morning to see what is happening in the yard. Here's whats blooming in our perennial bed.....

Oh..... yes, that's Beau..... my garden companion....

Next to bloom are the cone flowers, garden phlox, monarda and delphiniums...... can't wait!

Here is the brown bear I knitted for Bradyn last weekend. He was staying with us while his parents were away. Bradyn was really sick...he ask me to knit him a bear and, of course, I started on it immediately. He ask me to give his bear a "mean" face..... couldn't quite bring myself to make a face any meaner than this! Stuffed animals are supposed to have happy faces, right? (Bradyn is all in to super heroes......)



I am working on a sweet little top for Layla from Sublime patterns..... there are so many cute things to knit for little girls..... and big girls too!






"I want to have fun. I want to shine like the sun. I want to be the one that you want to see. I want to knit you a sweater. I want to write you a love letter. I want to make you feel better. I want to make you feel free."
Joni Mitchell

Knitting for the kids

Well, I am finally getting around to posting some pics of the sun top I knitted for Layla that I promised a while back. Sorry for the delay! We have been really busy with our photography business, Autumn Song Photography, of which I am so glad.... weddings, children's portraits, engagement sessions, etc.... I have also been busy doing a little gardening, running, hiking with Beau and playing with the kids; a little of this, that and the other....

Layla's sun top was knitted from a pattern a friend shared with me and is also a free pattern on the internet. Below is a link for the pattern.

Sun top knit pattern
www.lionbrand.com

type in sun top and it will take you straight to the pattern

I also knitted Layla a floppy-earred bunny with a sun top too....wish I had some pics to share of the bunny....Layla was so eager to take it with her before I had a chance to snap a few pics. She has already put in a request for a bear so I will be knitting two bears, one for Bradyn and one for Layla. They both ask for a bear.... I love it when they enjoy the handmade knits...... knitted with lots of love!

The sun top and bunny were both such fun and easy projects I finished in just about 6 to 8 hours each. There are many variations you can make with this pattern which is another thing that makes it fun to knit. I love to knit a quick and easy project ever so often. My plans are to knit another sun top for Layla with a few changes to the pattern. The next one will be green with a rib of bright pink along the bottom with bright pink flowers on the bodice.

Hope it want be so long before I post again. Enjoy your summer.... a good time to head to the beach.... I am counting down the days! I love summer time, don't you? What plans do you have?

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these."

George Washington Carver

The Gift of Friendship

I recently reconnected with a friend from 30 years ago and it has been great catching up. Honestly, it is like we picked right up where we left off and haven't missed a beat! It has been so much fun talking, knitting, sharing plants and laughing; speaking of which, my friend makes me laugh more than anyone else I know or have ever known! My friend's name is Carol.

One of the things we have in common is a love for knitting, though she is way far more advanced than I am. She has been knitting since she was nine years old and me, only for five years; still such a beginner!
Carol showed me a little sun top and a teddy bear with a matching sun top she knitted for one of her grands. Both were so adorable and, of course, I wanted to knit the same for Layla. (I will, hopefully, share a photo of the sun top on my next blog post). The yarn Carol used was yarn recycled from a nice sweater she purchased from a local thrift store. I expressed to her my interest in using recycled yarn, especially with the economy and my need to restrain from spending.
This past week Carol brought over two great sweater finds from the thrift shop for the cost of a whopping $1.00. We took the sweaters apart and wound the yarn, not wasting very much at all. We had so much fun! I learned how to recycle yarn and now have "new" yarn for another project for a small investment of $1.00
















The next project I would like to learn is how to dye yarns with kool-aid. She dyed some yarn that looks so cool and knitted a pair of socks with it. Check out her blog at www.taddiebeeknitting.blogspot.com to see her recycled, dyed yarn AND her, way too cool pair of socks!

Friendship is a blessing and I look forward to sharing more special times with my friend Carol.

"God never loved me in so
sweet a way before.
'Tis He alone who can
such blessings send.
And when His love would
new expressions find,
He brought thee to me
and said.....

Behold a friend"

The Juliet

Oh how I love thee, let me count the ways.......

Yes, I do love the Juliet, as fun to knit as it is to wear and I do wear mine often. Every time I wear it I get compliments and have been asked where I found such a unique cami. A friend even ask if it was a boutique purchase..... gloat, gloat, gloat.
I knitted my daughter one and it tickles me pink when she wears hers. Who knows, I may even knit sis one; she's been asking for one since last fall! (obviously she doesn't knit and doesn't even want to learn to knit)

If you are interested in the pattern, check out the Juliet on ravelry.com. There are lots of posts from knitters who have knitted the Juliet. Here is a link if you would like to purchase the pattern.

www.zephyrstyle.com

"Good night, good night, parting is such sweet sorrow,
That I shall say good night till it be morrow."
Shakespeare

INTERWEAVE KNITS

The new Interweave Knits Spring 2009 magazine is out and it is rockin'! I am so excited about it and have already picked out at least a half a dozen projects.



Some of my favs in the magazine are:
Silk Cocoon Cardigan on pg 28
Petal Halter on pg. 32
Diminishing Rib Cardigan on pg. 36
Soap Bubble Wrap on pg. 37
Hannah Fettig's Whisper Cardigan on pg. 41
Sculptured Lace Scarf on pg. 42
And, oh my goodness, can't believe I almost overlooked the Delphine Lacy Cap-Sleeve Top on pg 20! My absolute favorite in the magazine! This pattern is from the new knit book called "French Girl Knits" of which I do not own yet but it is on my wish list. I am sort of a knit book and cook book junkie so I am practicing self-restraint; at least this week.
The pattern is knitted with #2 Sportweight yarn like Blue Skys Alpacas Silk and is knitted on sizes US 2,3, and 4 needles. This is a must for me to knit and would look so amazing on my daughter!
I love, love lace knitting; it is so feminine so of course I am attracted to any article or pattern that has lace. That being said, there is a good little article in Interweave Knits called "Shaping Lace with Short-Rows" by Kristin Omdahl. She offers some good info beyond the basics of lace knitting.

The ads in the magazine for new yarns and patterns are pretty awesome too. I am itching to go to the yarn shop and lust after some of those luxurious yarns; so trying not to spend any more money for yarn or books, for now! Can't wait for this stinking economy to turn around for more reasons than one. Now that is an issue we could spends hours discussing OR debating so let's just leave it at that.

You know, there are only so many hours in a day to do all you want or need to do and it never seems like the day is long enough. I am sure many of you feel the same way. Too, too much on my list to do and too many "extras" I like to do like knitting, cooking, gardening, hiking, running, etc.... I have gone three days without a chance to touch my needles and I am going in to DTS! Gotta go, picking up my needles to knit a row or two.

Have a great week and check out Interweave Knits!

.....He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair..." Isaiah 61:3

Knitting for the joy of it!

I love to knit! It is totally my favorite pass time and I can't seem to get enough of it. I love the feel of the yarn through my fingers and of course, seeing the finished product. (even with the minor mistakes).

One of my favorite blogs to visit as a knitter is www.whitehorsedesigns.blogspot.com. Check it out. Leslie is my teacher in knitting. She is a master at what she does! If you are new at knitting or just enjoy knitting I encourage you to find a mentor or a knitting group to join. You would be surprised at how much you can learn from talking and listening to others in a group and it is part of building relationships. I love the group I knit with on Wednesdays. It is such a fun and diverse group! I look forward to Wednesdays every week; not always the same group and some may miss a couple of weeks but you pick right back up where you left off. You share things about life, dreams, family, problems, etc...

I love knitting most anything with a lace pattern. Yarns I like to work with are Noro, Blue Sky Alpaca, Rowan and Mission Falls. Knitting for Bradyn and Layla has been so much fun!
A great book to have as a "knitting bible" is:

Vogue Knitting. It is a great resource and I can't tell you have many times I have used the book over the course of the last three or four years. It is a good investment for your knitting library.

Let me know what you are working on and what you like about knitting. I would love to hear from you. Hope to have photos posted soon of recent knits.

Happy knitting!


"Kindness in words creates confidence.
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love."
Lao Tzu