Spring Stuff...

I bought a new sewing machine...I have a good one that just needs to be cleaned and serviced, but this one was only fifty dollars, and it would cost me at least that much to have the other one worked on. It's called a "Pixie II" and is made by Singer.  It's slow and loud and I think a bit temperamental.  We'll see if it makes the grade.  Since most of my sewing stuff is still MIA in packing boxes, I picked up a few doodads and gizmos and patterns and fabrics, too.  I'm going to do some sewing for the grandkids, and maybe for myself, as well.

I sewed a valance for Robby's room. It goes well with the quilt, I think.

I've done some knitting...finished up this long-languishing pair of socks.  I think this is Fortissima Socka.

And this pair. I started these while Rich was in the hospital recovering from his motorcycle wreck.  Need to find the ball band. I can't remember what the yarn was but it's lovely stuff.

I made some progress on Ms. Nina's socks. I hope to have them done in time to deliver them to her at the Tennessee Lunch Run in April.

I found this yummy sock pattern in this book, Easy Knitted Socks by Jeanette Trotman. I mentioned the pattern in a previous post.  They used Kidsilk Haze for the model, but I think I'll try something a little more affordable.









The job at Hobby Lobby proved to be a mistake, both for me and for the company.  I am going back to my old job in Shipshewana, beginning this Thursday.  I am very sad to have failed at this, but glad that my former employers want me back. 

We had the granddaughters over for the night last Saturday, for the first time.  All I can say is girls are really, really different from boys! 

Dude!
I have the BEST big brother!  Greg has lived in Canada for nearly thirty years.  I asked him about the wonderful Olympic Flame-Bearers' mittens from the recent Olympic Games in Vancouver, BC, Canada.  I had tried to order some online, but the Internet source I found was sold out.  A few days later, I got these in the mail!  
He sent me a package of five pair of the wonderful mittens, three adult-sized and two child-sized.  They are beautiful, fleece-lined, and warm.  I love them, and I love my big brother...but then, I love him whether he sends me mittens or not.

Dang, that's a lot of red in that picture! = )
 

FAIL :-(

I didn't quite manage to finish my KnitOlympics socks...the cuffs are done, and I got maybe a third of the way down the legs before the Olympic flame was extinguished last evening.  A weekend full of company (while wonderful) and the loss of pages one and two of the pattern (which is not such a good thing, when it's your own original pattern and the digital file for it is lost on your crashed hard drive) slowed me down just a bit. I had to go back to Barbara Walker for the pattern stitch, then figure out how I altered it to work in the round.  Then I ripped back my first attempt at figuring it out and tried again. Much better the second time!  So here is what I have finished. They're going to be lovely, and I know Ms. Nina will be very happy with them. I'm going to have to try to find another ball of the Red Heart sock yarn. I think I may run a little short of the cream color.

This is the hat I knitted for our friend John, for his visit here from Louisiana last weekend.  You will note that I still HAVE said hat...John didn't make it here.  He has a few cracked ribs and didn't feel up to making the trip.  He will tell you that he injured his ribs while rescuing a woman and her child from the crashed and flaming wreckage of her car.  Don't believe it.  The truth involves a fairly large quantity of Maker's Mark bourbon, a Mardi gras parade, and a wrecker that stopped moving in the parade just before John walked into it.  That's a lovely cashmere scarf under the hat. It would have been John's, too.  I'm just sayin'... = )

We had a nice weekend without him, but it would have been great if he could have joined us. Friends from Indiana were here to celebrate their 37th anniversary, as well as my sister and her husband to celebrate her birthday, and our son and daughter-in-law and grandsons, too.  The friends spent the night, as did Robby, and we had a wonderful time! 

We missed you, John.  Hope those ribs heal quickly and that you'll make it up here the next time.