Tag Archives: baby quilt

Sunday (with a very little sun)

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Sunday, May 18, 2025

We had thunderstorms and heavy rain overnight and more rain this morning but by late morning it had cleared up enough for us to take our coffee outside on the porch. Through the day we have had more rain showers (hubby got drenched on the way back from getting his paper) but it’s not been a bad day.

I went up to my atelier to get some knitting to bring down to the porch and got sidetracked … as I often do. I gathered my knitting – a hat that I’m working on for a customer – and headed to the porch. I finished the hat and didn’t have a needle to thread the yarn through the last few stitches at the end. Up the stairs I trotted again for a needle and the next ball of yarn to make an identical hat, well it’s a different color but the same pattern, and thought … I have to sew the binding on Sylvie’s quilt. So, I sat down to sew the binding on. I had to go downstairs for breakfast but I got it all sewn on and then brought the quilt, my quilt clips AND the rest of the knitting stuff I needed.

I got the quilt binding clipped all around and cast on the second hat for my customer. I was feeling so good about it … and it was only noon!

So, my dear hubby has one or two more parts to play in creating a space for our granddaughter to sleep when they come up this summer. Today’s task was to attach the shelf system to the wall just in case she decides to climb it in the middle of the night or during her nap. He cut away the baseboard trim and we slipped the bookshelf into place and he screwed it to the studs so it won’t be going anywhere. AND then (he helped) I painted the space … at least I got the first coat of paint on the walls. Tomorrow I’ll get a second coat on and then I can buy the mattress and put the bed in place. It’s a tiny little nook behind the bookshelf in my atelier but it’s going to be cozy and I think she’ll love it. I would have loved it as a kid. Heck, I love it now (and you may find me napping there in the future.) Of course, all the storage boxes that fit into the shelf had to be removed so the atelier’s a mess again but I am excited to have this project finished. It is very purple (her color choice).

I have finished her purple cardigan. I got the buttons sewed on last night while we were watching “stupid tv” and I think she’s going to love it. She chose the mismatched buttons and I think they’re perfect. I also sewed the buttons on the Steek This Coffee Cosy that I made when I was teaching my colorwork workshop at the store. Two more finished objects for 2025. You can finally see that the cardigan, which doesn’t photograph well indoors, is purple. Do you see a theme here?

I am so thrilled with the Little Tern blanket that I am knitting for our future Denver grand-baby who I am calling the Nugget. I’ve written about if before but it keeps making me happy so I am going to keep on writing about it. The yarn is gorgeous and so wonderfully squishy and the pattern is engaging and requires just enough thought so that it never gets boring. I’m nearly done with the first end’s lace edging. AND I think it will be a perfect addition to the baby’s room!

Little Tern by TIn Can Knits

I’m also continuing work on a pair of Hermione’s Everyday Socks in On the Round yarn. This is another pattern that I find very engaging and it makes me so happy. It’s a free Ravelry pattern but it’s not a vanilla sock. The 4-row pattern repeat is easy to memorize and it produces a very satisfying texture … and I love the heel! This is the third (?) time I’ve used this pattern and it always makes me happy. The yarn is fabulous, too. This has been stashed for a long time. I bought it specifically to make a pair of baby socks for one of my daughter’s friends who was in Wicked on Broadway and the colorway is aptly named, “Wicked”. I have leftover yarn because baby socks.

So, now that I’ve been so productive, it’s time to sit down and work on knitting the black hat for my customer. I’m trying to get all the things that I “have” to knit done so I can have some fun and knit an animal or two out of the book Knitted Animal Friends by Louise Crowther. I have the yarn for three of her designs. So, the two hats and two Love and Light fairy light hearts need to be finished first – and none of these projects takes a long time to complete so I just need to prioritize them. (I probably have enough knitting projects and yarn in my atelier to knit for a good little while. And that good little while could be the rest of my life.)

Gone knitting.

Mother’s Day

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Sunday, May 11, 2025

Yesterday was a perfect day! We had nothing on our schedule so we had coffee on the porch in the sunshine, I wrote the store newsletter, hubby made blueberry pancakes for breakfast and we went to Lowe’s to get some supplies for building the little “nook” for our granddaughter’s visit this summer. I spoke to all of our kids and got a chance to knit a little, too, before a lobster dinner (what a treat! The price of lobster is crazy right now.) I took this photo of our first humming birds who have arrived back in Maine for the summer. I love these little birds so much … and pray that their navigation skills as they zip around the house are top notch … when we sit outside we can feel their wings pass by our ears. They’re miraculous.

Mother’s Day is typically a sad-ish day for me and is often fraught with conflict in my head and heart because my mother died in 2008 which means I’ve had sixteen mother’s days without having a mother to celebrate with. All of my kiddos were already out of the house by then and having adult children living lives of their own is another strange way to experience Mother’s Day. So, I’ve spent many years being sad and having expectations about what would happen and being disappointed and lonely. SO … I’m coming around to the belief that Mother’s Day is hard when you don’t have a mother and that expectations lead to disappointment so it’s better to consider this another day that I choose to make a good day. And yesterday was a good day.

I am knitting away on several projects and have several more in the wings (that’s lined up on the shelf in my atelier). I’m working on my Hermione’s Everyday Socks in On the Round “Wicked” sock yarn. I am loving these socks. The colorway is spectacular and the pattern is soothing. (It’s also free on Ravelry!) They’re what I go to when I need something small to throw into my purse.

I worked my way down the second sleeve of my granddaughter’s purple cardigan (Knitting Pure & Simple yesterday and got the neck ribbing done. I picked up the stitches on the first front band which is the button hole band and have pinned the spots where I’ll make the holes. That means that I am so close … maybe today?

I’m almost to the part where I bind off the Little Tern blanket for our Denver Nugget and start the lace edging. I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed this blanket project again! I love the squishy yarn – Fyberspates Vivacious DK – and I love the pattern. I am so excited to gift this one (as I was excited to gift the first one. This is a family heirloom knit. Exquisite, if I do say so myself.

I have twelve projects lined up on my shelf. Twelve! And that doesn’t include my WIPS that I’m not really working on right now. LOL.

In this line-up are two tams for a customer, a cotton summer dress for Sylvie, two knitted hearts made with fairy lights, a pair of fingerless mitts for my daughter if the first one fits properly, a bulky sweater for Sylvie, more little chicken friends for Ernie, a blueberry hat for the Nugget and Sylvie, the Fair Isle bag I started in a class, my Patty tank, and another Arne & Carlos Christmas stocking. I also have yarn for a Petite Knits Slipover. AND all the animals I want to make. Good grief, I need to quit my job and quit volunteering and just spend my time knitting. (NOT!)

I also have the baby quilt to finish. I did buy some cotton flannel to back it with and I have the batting. I just have to wash the backing and put it all together. I doubt I’ll have time to take it to Candy for machine quilting on the long arm but I’ll give her a call to see. Otherwise, I’ll be quilting this myself on the machine or by hand … I haven’t decided which yet.

We bought the paneling and paint for Sylvie’s “nook” yesterday. The paneling is up on the IKEA storage unit and needs a bit of tweaking and filling in holes and then I’ll paint the whole space purple (her request) before I get the picture hung, the wallpaper up and build a mattress support so she won’t be sleeping on the floor – although she’d probably like that, too. I have a pillow cover to sew, and I hope I have enough flannel so I can make her a pillowcase. I only need to find a little book shelf for the wall and get it all done.

My next house project is to paint our guest bathroom and guest room. We’ve been in the house 10 years around Thanksgiving and we’ve not even painted all the walls yet. The primer has served us well but it’s time! I’m taking on the project hoping to energize my hubby so he will get the stairway and third floor done, too. We are also renovating our guest cottage space. We’ve torn out the bathroom from 1950 red indoor-outdoor carpet and all and we are rebuilding a bathroom that will be a little bit lighter and brighter with new shower stall and flooring. Once that’s done, we will outfit the living room with a counter (likely a buffet) and storage for the kitchen area to include a refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, electric kettle and toaster oven so that our renters can fix themselves something to eat. A new coat of paint on the outside of the cottage and it’ll be gorgeous. WE loved living up there while we built the house – until it was November and cold. It’ll be a good additional revenue stream for us and a great spot for creatives to create or for couples or singles to call home as they explore Maine. When we’ve made some progress, I’ll post about this, too.

We are busy and contented and life is good. We are so grateful to call this place home.

Gone knitting.