As promised, here are photos...



Deanna Clark's Chevron Scarf



Here are photos of the Chevron Scarf knitted with bits and pieces of sock yarn.  You can see, it's not finished, but you can't see how much fun it is to knit! 

So little time, so much has happened.  First, the owner of my favorite yarn shop, Betsey Macholz, sold Baskets of Yarn to Patty Frame, who in addition to being a reputable and hardworking CPA is the Crochet Diva of the yarn community in Charlote.  First things first, the shop had to move.  Patty and her husband, Gary, and her mother, Nancy, along with the help of lots of "elves" found a fantastic location in Charlotte with lots of space and light and windows, and I just couldn't be happier.  The store hours have increased to include Tuesday through Saturdays, late on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with 2 knit nights and 2 knit mornings every week.  Rumor has it that the store will be open an occasion Sunday, too! The Grand RE-Opening was Wednesday, December 1, and continues through the week.  The store was crammed with knitters and yarn enthusiasts all day long on Wednesday.  So much fun!  Classes began yesterday with my beaded lace ornaments and will continue through the month of December with quick "little luxuries" for gifting.  Saturday will be a big day with Sue Dial and Patty teaching all day long.  I hope you will take some time and treat yourself to a visit to the new store.  Be sure to say hi from Margaret when you go in.

In the meantime, we've had big news on the family front.  My son Cory and his wife Sandy are expecting a baby in early May!  We already welcome little Tiffany Rose into our family and can't wait for her arrival!  She's already claimed her own space in our hearts and we pray for her healthy development and safe delivery when the time comes.  We anxiously await the arrival of her family here for Christmas later this month.

I'll be publishing a free scarf pattern in the next few days, so please check back often.

Margaret

Knitting Class

Hello again!  It hasn't been all that long this time, right?  I spent the day at Baskets of Yarn in Charlotte attending a class taught by Deanna.  She has created a chevron-style scarf using bits of sock yarn, and it is luscious!  We traded bits of sock yarns (about 20 yards or so), and she taught a join that was new to me, making it much easier to bury ends and not worry about them at the end.  The scarf is colorful and happy looking, makes me smile just to look at it!  Pictures later...

Hello, again....

Has it really been over a year since I last posted?  My, how time does fly.  Let's see, what has happened in the more-than-a-year since I last wrote to you....

Probably the most important event was the first year in our newest granddaughter's life.  Lindley Marie Rose is now 13 months old, walking, talking, laughing, and has the sweetest personality of any one-year old I've ever known.  She is the bright spot in the day, the light of our lives.  Her first birthday celebration was the party of the year, complete with decorations, lots of people, and decorator-style food.  Her mom and dad went all out, and it was definitely a party to remember.  (I hope Lindley remembers it.)  Here is the linen dress I knitted for her first birthday.  You can find more information about it here:  http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Quilter300/baby-dress

Most of our extended family joined us for a week at the Outer Banks of North Carolina last June.  We assigned each family unit a night to prepare dinner, played games, sang our hearts out to Beatles Rock Band and relaxed togther in the heat (and wind) of the beautiful NC coastline.  It was a vacation to remember. 

Soon after returning from our wonderful week together at the beach I had back surgery to remove a bone chip that had seated itself at the base of a nerve which was causing extreme pain and numbness in my foot.   My good friend Diane came to the hospital and helped me prepare for surgery and kept Gordon company while I was "under".  She was definitely our "angel" that day.  I'm still recovering, definitely improving every day, and thankful to God's gift of modern medicine and physical therapy.

Lucas started his Junior year at Lincoln Charter High School in August.  He also played soccer on the school's varsity team.  He has elected to play winter soccer this year, so we anxiously await the schedule for practices and games.  He really keeps us running up and down the roads, following his busy soccer schedule.

September brought its usual hectic activity with Lindley's first birthday, Lucas's 16th birthday, Gordon's and my wedding anniversary, and a knitting retreat thrown in for good measure!  Baskets of Yarn celebrated it's first fall retreat the last weekend of September this year.  It was great fun seeing good friends after many months and learning some new knitting techniques.  My good friend Maggie Farrell and I "tag teamed", teaching a sweater class together, and I taught a beaded lace scarf.  The hot, hot summer finally began to cool off that weekend, making it much more comfortable to be working with wool.

The first weekend of October started the annual quilting retreat at Beech Mountain.  Eleven quilters lived for an entire week in a 5-bedroom cabin atop Beech Mountain.  We participated in 10 different classes during the week, learning new techniques and interesting projects while working on quilts that we brought with us, too.  We took turns preparing meals and enjoyed the mountain air and changing leaves.  Here are some of the projects we completed: 

 

The next "big event" for me was the Southeastern Animal Fiber Festival (SAFF) last weekend in Asheville.  http://saffsite.org/ is an annual festival of all things fiber including animal competition, fiber artists, vendors and classes.  Sue Dial of Harvest Moon/Clay Cat Designs allows me to help out in her booth where we sell her hand-dyed roving, handspun yarn, polymer clay jewelry and stitch markers, and wet and needle-felted items.  The "Popular Girls" make it a weekend, too, and we have a great time every year.

The highlight of the SAFF weekend this year came during a phone call from my oldest son, Cory, on Saturday morning.  He called from his home in Orlando to tell me that he and his wife Sandy are expecting a baby!  This will make 14 grandchildren for us!  We are absolutely thrilled, and they are "over the moon" with excitement and happiness.  This will be their 2nd child; their son Jesus Alfredo is 12 years old and is very happy to welcome a new baby into their family.  Can you imagine how much love there is for this unborn baby already?  I've already started knitting a blanket, even though it will be several weeks before we know the gender of this baby.  But between you and me, I can't wait to find out the baby's sex so I can start knitting dresses or rompers.

I think that pretty much brings you up to date.  I'll try to do a better job with this blog for those who enjoy reading about my chaos that I call life.    On the docket now is the Myrtle Beach Quilt Party in January 2011, and the 2011 Winter Knitting Retreat with Baskets of Yarn.  Of course, you can expect to be reading about babies for awhile, too.

Life and Times of Sheba the Kitty

The adventures of Sheba the Cat continue. She came into our lives as a kitten about a year ago and immediately stole our hearts away. She's much bigger than these pictures show because they were taken immediately after she arrived, but she still retains that kitten curiosity that will be a part of her forever, we hope.

After several trips to Raleigh to visit Lindley Marie to make sure she really is here and really is ours to keep, we decided to relax a little.

Ok, so I was knitting a cute little dress for Lindley Marie Rose, and the guys decided they wanted to go to the beach. After all, we had a 3-day weekend because teachers at the school needed a “work day” (don’t they work every day?), and it was our wedding anniversary and sort of close to son’s birthday. He wanted to invite a friend and celebrate his 15th birthday. Our ‘cat sitter’ friend, Sonja, was also out of town for the weekend, so we decided to be brave and leave the kitty locked inside the house with her litter box, food and water for the 3 days and 2 nights we would be gone. She usually has to fend off raccoons and other critters in order to eat her catfood when we're away, and then Sonja rescues her and gives her more food every day anyway. So this time we felt we were doing her justice so she wouldn’t have to fight the raccoons for her food.

She decided, left to her wits, to be very brave and kill one of the other critters who lived in our house, too. The critter was (and I do mean WAS) a skein of yarn that I planned to use in the dress I was knitting for Lindley Marie. I’m certain the skein of yarn attacked her first because she really had to fight it hard to persevere. I say that because the untorn label was on the top step of the stairs along with the largest wad of yarn (looked a lot like over-cooked spaghetti), but the yarn had literally been strung down the stairs, around the corner into the dining room, around all 4 legs of the table and all 16 legs of the dining room chairs, back up the stairs and around the legs of the bed in my bedroom. She must have also been fearing for her life, because she had bitten through it in one place. It took me over 2 hours to untangle it and wind it into balls (yes, plural). Thank you, Sheba, for protecting us from that killer yarn animal! And, no, I didn't take any pictures. I was too frantic to rescue my yarn before it really was "dead".

We did sneak a couple of peeks at the new baby on our way to and from the beach (wasn't that convenient??), and she's just as gorgeous as ever!
Smartest, cutest, most loved, certainly the most photographed child ever, I'm convinced!

But the thing that makes me most proud is the way her parents have both stepped up to the plate for her. She is the center of their universe, never out of their sight, and meeting her every need is their only desire. The most fulfilling part of parenthood for me has been to watch my own son experience all the feelings I felt for him when he was born, and knowing how happy it makes him to be a father. And Ashley is a natural-born mother, so instinctive, persistent, and tender. She appears to be calm in the face of every storm, and I commend her for taking the drama out of motherhood (so far). I'm sure that Lindley Marie will put some of that drama back into their lives as soon as she is able. Little girls have a way with drama, after all.

Let me introduce you...

...to our new granddaughter, Lindley Marie Rose. Her name is as beautiful as she is! She was born on September 15, weighing in at 10.5 lbs. and was 22.5" long! WOW!! You'll be reading more about her here in my blog as she grows and steals more of our hearts away.

Anticipating...

Waiting and anticipating the birth of a grandchild reminds me of the stories of the Jews awaiting the arrival of the Messiah. As Christians we are taught not to anticipate, but to experience the moment and enjoy the process. Still, it is very hard not to anticipate the birth of our baby granddaughter; we are so excited about her arrival and look forward to every second with her, holding her, hugging her, watching her grow. Being parents, we know the wonder of the moment we first lay eyes on our own children and the immediate emotional response to that magical realization when the myth becomes real, the dream comes true, the waiting is over.

We pray for Lindley Marie Rose, that she will be born healthy, that her birth process will be easy for her and her dear mother, that her mother's suffering will be mercifully shortlived and not unbearable. We pray that God in His infinite wisdom, compassion and love will wrap His comforting arms around all 3 of them, Ashley, David, and Lindley, keeping them safe and pull them through the storm, and that they will feel His presence in that moment when Lindley finally greets her worldly parents face-to-face. Amen.

A baby is coming!!!

It's only weeks or even days before the arrival of our new granddaughter, Lindley Marie Rose. Isn't that just the most beautiful name? Just rolls off your tongue, Lindley Marie. I wonder what she'll be called? Her father called me this morning to report that she weighs 7 lbs. 12 ozs. ( in the womb) and will gain 1/2 lb. each week before she is born. With her due date still 3 weeks away, she's liable to rival her daddy's birthweight when she arrives.

The excitement is building! A shower will be held on Saturday in Graham at the home of David & Kim King, son & daughter-in-law. I hope to sneak a peak at the decorated nursery on Friday and maybe make a trip to the hospital in Raleigh where Lindley will be born. It will be a "trial run" before the actual event.

While the new parents are busy nesting and resting (while they have a chance), I'm knitting and sewing up a storm. I told someone that I've been preparing for the birth of this little girl all my life! It's so true. After bearing 3 sons myself and marrying into a family dominated by males, and even having 3 granddaughters that were already walking and talking , it's a gift to have a newborn baby girl join the family! Here is a sweater I knitted in a little little larger size so she can wear it next winter (2010):

This is a small "lovey" blanket for her to squeeze next to her face as she falls asleep for naps:
It's made with the Plymouth Yarn "Poppin" and looks like a string of pom poms. It was interesting to knit with, and I love the texture that results!

While making a special tote bag for Ashley to use as a diaper bag, I wondered if David would carry a feminine pink and brown diaper bag, which is what Ashley requested for herself. I didn't think he would, so while I was making her bag I decided to make him his very own. I call them their "His & Hers" diaper bags. Ashley's has an "R" monogrammed on one side and a rose on the other. I think they turned out great. What do you think?

And finally, a little "us" time

While Lucas was participating in a mission trip with the youth from our church, we decided to take a few days for ourselves and follow him to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Although we were technically in the same area (though Lucas could never tell us where he was), we didn't ever see him (didn't even really talk to him), and were only able to communicate with him via text messaging on our cell phones. When we finally accepted the fact that he didn't "need" us, we relaxed and completely enjoyed ourselves.

We really didn't DO anything, and that's hard for us. Gordon sat on the deck overlooking one of the majestic scenes in the Great Smokey Mountains and caught up on some reading while I spread out several layers of beautiful batik fabrics and cut, cut, cut. It rained a lot, but the wet weather didn't damped our spirits at all. Relaxing in a log cabin atop a mountain in the Smokeys and listening to the rain hit the metal roof is my idea of "heaven on earth." We did make one short trip to a fabric store where I was able to find pink and brown fabrics for the new granddaughter's "Welcome Home Quilt", and we attended a craft show at the convention center in Gatlinburg. Aside from that we did no shopping or sightseeing and just enjoyed our own company.

When I checked my email after returning home, there was a photo from David showing the curtains I made hanging in Lindley Marie's bedroom. I am so pleased! I can't wait for her arrival!

Projects, Projects, Projects

Cody's Quilt
The graduation quilt I made for my nephew Cody who lives in California was named "Guitar Hero". I chose the name "Guitar Hero" because he plays guitar and because he is a real "hero" in my book. He has struggled to overcome some learning difficulties and has conquered! He's a very special young man and I hope all his dreams come true.

The original quilt design just included the stars moving in all directions, and then I appliqued the musical symbols in a black batik cotton on top of the stars. It's symbolic of harmony in the universe, which is my hope for his future.

It has been the season of many graduations and new beginnings. My friend Diane's youngest son Mark graduated from high school in June and will be attending the University of Alabama in the fall. This is the quilt I made for him:

This quilt was made from Ellenor Burns newest book, "Day and Night". It was lots of fun to make and resulted in enough leftover blocks to make 2 more exciting quilts that look completely different! I love surprises like that!

In addition to quilting and graduations, we've celebrated our son David's Commissioning at Methodist Conference in Greenville, NC, in June. He graduated from Duke Divinity School in May and has been appointed to Concord United Methodist Church in Eli Whitney, NC. It is a wonderful, generous, loving congregation and he and Kim and very blessed to be there.

And we continue to await the birth of our newest granddaughter, Lindley Marie Rose, who is due in September. Baby showers galore, knitting, quilting, sewing, painting, hanging of curtains, decorating the nursery...what fun we are all having, preparing to welcome another special child into this world and our family.

These photos were taken at my house at the first baby shower.

Here are some photos taken yesterday at the home of Ashley's "bff" in Clayton, NC:


I hope to post again before the baby comes, but I'm not making any promises. You can bet that I'll be posting lots of photos of Lindley when she arrives.

Wedding!

What a wedding it was! Beautiful down to the very finest detail! And the bride was gorgeous and gushing; the groom was very handsome indeed!

I don't have access to photos yet, but will post some as soon as I can. The happy couple has returned safely from their honeymoon in the Caymen Islands, and things are settling down for them as they adjust to living together in one house while trying to sell another. Even the cat is adjusting!

And now it's time to concentrate on the new baby. We are traveling east today to help with the delivery and assembly of some furniture for the baby's room. How exciting! And we are planning a small baby shower on Saturday, June 13, here at the lake house. The new mommy and daddy are interviewing and touring possible day care facilities--boohoo! Oh that we lived close enough to take care of her ourselves! My heart breaks to think about a stranger holding and cuddling with my new granddaughter. Such is life...

Our other son David, graduated from Duke Divinity the weekend following the wedding. We are so proud! He will remain in Eli Whitney, NC, at Concord UMC as their pastor. He and Kim are very happy there and the congregation is pleased to be able to keep him for awhile longer.

More to come....