Relisted....

I relisted the Christmas set at Ebay.I hope it goes better this time....

How was your Monday?

Mine not so great. At least no one got hurt. The cars didn't fare as well.
The weekend was a little better anyway.
I started cutting for a little rag quilt to donate at church. With a little help from my friend.

And I finished the knitting on my first knitted project. Lets just say I need a little more practice. I'm not even sure I am going to dignify it with the buttons it calls for and it is definitely remaining in my home as doll attire. Maybe I should make her a matching dress. LOL. I wound up with extra stitches so the front is not exactly straight. In fact it isn't even CLOSE to straight on one side. LOL. The picture hides it pretty well. :0) I will try this pattern again, however and maybe I will have learned a thing or two and it will turn out better next time.


Thanks for the help with my question from the previous post. I purchased some worsted weight yarn for my next attempt at knitting something. If it turns out ok it will be my niece, Alexa's Christmas gift. So far, I am having a tough time with gague turning out right. The size 10 needles are turning out too small, so I am going to try some 10.5 needles that I have. Maybe that will help.

Knitting is hard.....

especially when the cat is trying to attack your yarn. But I am learning. I haven't dropped any stitches yet. Pretty close, but not yet.
On that note, I need help from some of you yarn gurus! I would like to find an economical yarn of the same weight as this, but something less pricey and that I don't have to order from Europe. It doesn't have to be wool, just something of comparable weight so that the gage would be the same. Anyone?

Hmmm...

I must not be so good at my calculations...
I started cutting fabric last night only to come up short on fabric for this little quilt. I think I might just make it a little smaller. Is 28 x 38.5 inches too small?
It is for a girl at work who is having a baby boy in January. They aren't telling anyone what names they have picked out, so right now the baby has been dubbed "Edgar", lol!
Here are "Edgar's" fishies.

Claire's Birthday Outfit

I whipped up this little outfit from my stash for my niece Claire's birthday (except for the t-shirt, had to buy that). She will be 7 in a couple of weeks. The applique is raw edge and will fray and soften up with washing.

Traditions handed down... 3 generations

Today is the 110th anniversary of my grandmother's birth. I have been thinking a lot about my grandmother and my mother lately. I have been doing some crocheting as I have mentioned in past posts. Crochet is a tradition that has been passed down in my family. My grandmother taught me the basics when I was in about the 5th grade or so. I made a yellow potholder. :0) My grandmother could crochet faster than anyone I have ever seen. You literally could hardly see the hook moving, her hands would just fly. She even continued to crochet by feel after her eyesight was nearly completely gone. I remember her making countless afghans, thread table cloths and bedspreads, doilies and even crochet bead necklaces like the ones in this Etsy shop. I was always fascinated by these necklaces. When I was in about the second grade, she made a small dolly blanket for my doll. My niece, Allison (great grand-daughter), now has this blanket with her collectable dolls, which makes me happy. My grandmother passed away in November of 1987 during my freshman year of college. Less than a year later my niece, Kayla was born. I know she would have loved to have seen her.

My mother has also enjoyed crochet. She has made many, many baby gifts for friends and family among many other things as well. On my recent visit to Illinois, my mother passed many of her patterns and a good deal of her yarn and cotton thread, and even some unfinished projects on to me. My mother's health is failing and she doesn't foresee doing much more crocheting ever again. Although it makes me sad that she no longer can enjoy this hobby, I am glad to have some of her things. There is a connection there, you know?

Lately I have been working on a dress that I started for my niece Allison when she was a baby 17 years ago. I didn't get it done before she outgrew the size it was intended to be and at the time I felt like it was pointless to finish it. Now for whatever reason, I feel the need to get it done. The pattern comes from the same book that contains the pattern that my grandmother used to make a sweater set for me when I was born. The pages are worn and yellowed and the pictures are all black and white. I can almost imagine my grandmother's hands holding that book nearly 40 years ago and it strikes a chord that resonates deep within me someplace.

I am a little saddened by the fact that I do not have a daughter to pass these traditions and memories along to. Maybe someday.

The pictures at the top of this post are representative of the three generations. The book is the one that belonged to my grandmother, opened to the page with the pattern she used for my sweater set. The blue and pink set is one of my mother's unfinished projects, and the white is the dress I started 17 years ago.

Now, on a completely different note.... There is cause for celebration at our house! Most of you are unaware that my husband quit his job at the end of August. It was a difficult situation, and his resignation was really the best thing for everyone involved. It required a real test of our faith in God as he was walking away from that job with no new job to go to. Today, God was more than faithful to us. My husband accepted a job offer! He will be working in the field for which he earned his Associates degree two years ago. On top of that he will actually be making just slightly more money than he was making previously. This is a huge blessing because we were afraid that taking an entry level position in this field would require a SERIOUS pay cut. We were prepared for one or both of us to have to look for a second job. Now we do not have to do that and we will be able to make ends meet with out that added struggle. God is truly amazing! The timing is perfect, the job is exactly what he was looking for and something he is sort of uniquely qualified for, the pay is right, the benefits are good, and all of this in tough economic times. This is just a real blessing for us. We went out to dinner to celebrate tonight. :0)