5 a.m. -- My Masssachusetts kitchen window on December 27, 2010

We had about a foot and a half of snow; but the drifting makes it seem like more.  The trees were heavy-laden with the wet snow and the branches were bowing down toward the ground.  I noticed that my clothesline rope from a bent tree, was about 3.5 feet off the ground!
We did lose the power for an hour this afternoon.  What's on the outside of my kitchen bow window is the snow that was swirling and whipping around during the night.
This was a great day to stay in!

Christmas, 2010

                                             No explanation necessary!         What a doll my granddaughter is!

December 24th, 2010

Yes, it's true.  We have adopted Ty, who was hanging around our doorstep.  He quietly stepped inside one day when I had the door opened to feed him and another stray.  Upon close inspection, I saw that he had an imbedded  nail in his little pad.  I couldn't free it myself; so I made the appointment at the animal hospital.
Once there, he received his innoculations and had all of his health needs taken care of.

He has a damaged foot (thus, the nail which is growing awkwardly) and a cauliflower ear; but he now has a home and we love him!  He is a very thankful, quiet and sweet cat.  The doctor thinks he is about 9 years old.

A new baby is coming

 

I just finished this baby blanket for a neighbor, who is expecting.  Since I don't know yet whether it's a boy or a girl, I used a combination of white yarn and a yarn that is mostly white, with specks through it in pastel colors.         

I like to use that basket weave design because it's simple enough to do while watching TV and not get off track. It's just K a number of rows, then P a number of rows. (I used 10 rows in these blocks.)  On the edge, and in between the squares I used a seed stitch, which alternates the K and P stitches. When I use two strands of yarn together, I like to use a 10 1/2 needle, to accommodate the extra thickness of the yarn.

I also bought some pale yellow yarn for another blanket; but I can't wait until I can buy other colors to knit for this baby!   I remember waiting for the mother to be born...and now we are waiting for HER baby to be born!  Wow, time sure does fly.

Back to knitting talk

I made this little hat last night for my 2-year-old grandson.  I thought I'd try the rolled brim, which was so simple I wondered why I haven't used it much in the past.
However, I got the pattern online, and the question now is: Will it be the right size...and will he keep it on his head?  LOL
Well, I'll find out today.
I reworked the pattern and just "guessed" at the finished size, so here's what I used:
Size 6 knitting needles
Vanna's Choice baby yarn
4 markers
According to the directions, the rolled brim hat should be long enough to come down low on the forehead.  For a bigger or smaller hat, add or subtract stitches in multiples of 5.
Cast on 80 stitches and work in stockinette stitch (K1 row, P1 row) for approx 6 inches.
On the next row you divide up the stitches as follows: K 16, place a marker and repeat across row, ending with K16.
Purl all even rows.
Decreasing:
Slip one stitch, then knit across until last 2 sts before marker.  Knit those 2 together, then slide marker onto your right hand needle and continue across row.
After about 2 inches of this decreasing, I found that I had to speed up the decreasing before it turned into an elf hat!
After 2 inches, I simply K 2 together across row, purled next row, then continued with decreases in this manner.  When a handful of stitches remained I left a tail of about 8 inches and threaded the yarn through the remaining stitches at the top.
Sew up the back seam.  This is where I put the back seam yarn together with the 8 inch tail yarn.  I then added two more strips of yarn through the top area of the hat so that I had three units of double strands for braiding.  I wanted to add a short braid to finish off the hat, sort of as a little tassle on the top.
I braided those strands, tied a secure knot in the braid, then clipped the ends, making a little tassle.

Jambi's Last Trance, Pee-wee