Rainbow Blanket

Here is the rainbow baby blanket that was orginally supposed to be for our new grandbaby that was due in August. Sadly, our grandbaby was born to Heaven on January 27. It was another one of my UFO's...tucked way back in the closet since the day my step-son called to tell us the sad news. I'm not sure why I decided to finish it except that I'm considering donating it to the baby shower our church is holding for new mothers in need. My husband thinks that I should save it for when the kids have another baby, but I'm not so sure. My daughter, Chelsea, is modelling it. The pattern is a simple one; the same one that I used for all of the dish cloths I gave away as presents last Christmas.

I'm not sure why, but when I edited the pic in PictureIt!, the purple band in the middle showed up dark blue. So, I had to tweak it a little bit in order for the colors to look somewhat like they do.

The good news today is that my daughter, Kirstin, was recognized at the Awards Ceremony for grades 7 - 12. She received a Superior rating at State/Region for her singing solo and was presented with a certificate and medal. The kids all had a pretty good day; no major incidents for which I am grateful. I think Chelsea is getting a bit worried about her big day tomorrow, but she will be, or should be okay. Our 6th graders are all going 30 miles down the shore for "the big track meet"; our town vs. another. She is excited about wearing her flaming pink t-shirt :-)

"Live one day at a time and do the best you can with what you have."

Finished up another UFO

And finally...another UFO is finished. This is my oldest daughter Kirstin modelling the top I crocheted for her using Cotton Ease (in Sage). The bodice is 5 dc scallops and the part below the tie is an 8 row petal pattern stitch. The bottom and straps have a triple pecot edging. I absolutely loved working with the Cotton Ease! For anyone who hasn't tried it, I would highly recommend that you do. It is soft, has a nice sheen to it, and works up beautifully. One drawback is that it snags easily. I will definitely be hand-washing this top. Or maybe I will teach Kirstin how to do it...my hands aren't exactly soft and smooth any more lol. Off the top of my head, I can't remember which pattern magazine I found this in. (It's in my bag upstairs and I'm too lazy to go check lol) When I was working on it, I noticed that the top of the bodice was just as wide as the bottom. The top edge was a good 8" to large. I went back to look at the photo and noticed that the top that the model was wearing had been tweaked. So...I made some adjustments at the back. Instead of having the consistent shell stitch last row, I gathered it and it turned out okay.

It may seem like I've just been going great guns with the knitting and crocheting, but all I had to do in order to finish up this one was to sew on a strap. And now that it's done, I'm not happy with how low the neckline is, so if I have time tomorrow, I'm going to remove the straps and raise the neckline a good 3 inches or so.

I think today was a good day. In addition to finishing this top, I mowed my parents' lawn, helped hubby with our yard, and made 5# of potato salad (Dh grilled chicken). We ended up having 10 for dinner. In addition to our 6, we had our son's respite care provider and our friend Angie and her two kidlets come over. Clean up was easy as I only have 7 plates...we used paper plates. And, there were no left overs to put away. Tomorrow...I babysit Jake. Hopefully the rain will hold off long enough for me to take him on a nice long walk in his stroller. Then after lunch...maybe he will take a nap and I can get out my knitting needles again. I think it's about time to finish up the brighly colored rainbow baby blanket I started 5 months ago.

The Purple Blanket

I finally finished The Purple Blanket. Yay! and *big sigh LOL! The finished dimensions are approximately 48" x 60". It is made holding 2 strands of Red Heart worsted weight together. The dark purple squares are SS, the medium purple squares are moss stitch, and the lavender squares are a double cable which if you use a little imagination, you might just be able to see in this pic. My daughters helped display the blanket (L to R: Chelsea, Becca and Kirstin). I was so happy to have it finally done that I quickly took a few pics and delivered it to its intended recipient, my friend Angie. She was expecting the babysitter when we knocked on her door at 9:30 p.m. this evening, but was happily surprised to receive her gift. Tomorrow...I think maybe I'll clean some house...or pay bills...or paint...or knit? Oh yea...I'll definitely knit.

I forgot!!!

I almost forgot something here. "KaerligMor" (Kaerlig Mor) is probably unfamiliar to most people. It is Danish for Loving Mom.

This is me.

I'm Dee, married mom of 6; well, 7 if you count my hubby of 18 years. We have a 25 year old son (he's actually my son by hubby's first marriage), and his 24 year old wife. At home we have a 16 yo son who has autism and adhd. We also have a 15 yo daughter who is typical, a 12 yo daughter who has anxiety disorder and ITP, and a 9 yo daughter who has asthma. Oh yes...we also have a 108# 4 year old lab/newfoundland named Early. Life is never dull...sometimes I wish it would be.

I'm very proud of my family. My step-son has grown into a wonderful young man who called to wish me a Happy Mother's Day on the 13th. His wife is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. She's currently visiting family in Peru. My 16 yo son...I learned from Ben that what might seem like something really small to someone who doesn't understand the challenges a person with autism faces is in reality, something really amazing! My 15 yo daughter...she makes me smile. I learned from Kirstin that it's okay to play...no matter how old you are. My 12 yo daughter can be amazingly frustrating and unbelievably amazing. Chelsea makes me laugh. My littlest one...Becca taught me...she really showed how to see the world through the eyes of a child. There really is no greater magic than that. Oh yea...like the graphic here says "If you think I have my hands full, you should see my heart."

I have a BA in Child Development, but right now, I'm a SAHM. I keep active working on committees and councils that benefit people with different abilities. Advocacy is my passion...advocacy for everyone but especially for children. My hobbies include knitting and crochet (you'll probably see some of my stuff here eventually), reading (love Sherlynn Kenyon sp? and Christine Feehan), writing and...messing around with the computer. My hubby works nights as a nursing assistant, but he will hopefully be starting school in the next week or two to become an LPN. Yay for him!!