Giving Thanks

Sort of a preview of what we have to be thankful for this year!

Audrey has joined us, and she's got a loving set of parents and lots of extended family.

In one of those little ironies, she'll be a week old on her first Thanksgiving; her mother was a week old on hers, too.
It took her mom 3 years before she was bigger than the turkey. (Mom was a little bigger than Audrey at birth, 7 lbs 2 oz to Audrey's 6-10.)

More tomorrow. I just wanted to share these pictures, because I just love them! (The pics, and the people too.)

...and there's cooking to be done!

Monday Miscellanies, Tuesday's Too!

Yesterday kind of got away from me so you'll have to bear with a kind of hodgepodge post today. Please?

The Great Stuff Clearout continues with mixed results. Here you see the back of my Purple People Mover, filled with "stuff" that's headed to new homes.
It was a Montrose Monday, and I spent some time Sunday night planning my route to maximize the delivery of the stuff BEFORE knitting, so I could enjoy the day with a clear conscience.
Met up with a friend to hand off those tubs. They are perfectly fine tubs, translucent so you can see what's inside of them--but the wrong size for me, alas. With my tendency to cram stuff in, they just get too heavy for my achy back to handle. So, adios! The rest of the stuff went to the Huntington Collection, which is the thrift store for the Huntington Hospital in Pasadena. Very conveniently on the way to Montrose!

Answering a question from one of the comments: I had shown the Yarn Pirate Merlot and had a question as to how it compares to the STR Lenore. Here they are side by side, and the color is reasonably true. They are both just amazingly deep, rich, winy colors and they make me happy!
We had a surprise visitor--our own Ellen Bloom came to knit with us, as did Slowknitter Wendy. We had a great turnout, including blogless Kille and baby Wyatt, but unfortunately, most of my pics didn't come out very well. You know, it's one thing to have an adult's eyes come out that demonic red, but a sweet little baby? No way!
We had a great lunch at Joselito's, which is turning into one of our Monday hangouts. There's just something about spending the morning hanging out knitting at the coffeehouse, then having a decadent lunch. Makes me feel postively spoiled!

Tuesday's frolics included some heavy-duty returns at the Mall of No Parking (they're redoing the parking lot to put in more shops--but why, oh why, couldn't they wait till after the holiday rush?) and then: quilt class!
Anne does this great Magic Tiles quilt--it's become a specialty of hers--she's taught it several times and keeps making new ones. This one has a Halloween theme, and tonight it got its quilting all done. She says she'll probably bind it on Friday, and she'll most likely use the purple fabric that's in the cornerstones. (Not a quilter? The cornerstones are those little squares in between the blocks.)

Ethel did this great block. It was supposed to be a 12.5" square, and guess what? It finished out to 12.5"! Ta Da! Keeping those triangle points crisp and pointy is a real challege and she did an excellent job!

There were some other great things going on, too. Gail was doing froggy stuff (with purple lily-pads yet), Louise was quilting some Thanksgiving table runners, and Rochelle has been working on a marvelous quilt with dreidls and other Hanukkah motifs in it. I would have taken pictures, but didn't get the camera out till things were almost all put away!

Now on to preparations for the holiday meal--more on that tomorrow!

Sundazed

Warning: this post is 100% free of new-baby (or old-baby) photos. If you want to see the latest and greatest, you can click on my Flickr badge and/or go to D5's blog and click on her Flickr badge.
I'm not boycotting baby pictures, but I thought it might be nice to have some thing else for a change.

Like this:


Which is the yummy and very very lemon-y bundt cake that D4 made for D5's birthday. We sort of have a world-class collection of Bundt pans; this one is tulips, in case you didn't recognize them. The glaze is especially lemony--nothing like stepping outside and picking lemons right off the tree! (Hey, they hang over on our side of the fence, so we're allowed. Besides, when Uncle Eddie* planted the trees, he said it was so my little kids could have fruit.) The recipe is here if you want to try it.
Let's see. How about some camellia shots? The white one on the side of the house is in full bloom now and oh, so pretty. Most white varieties bloom early, I think, at least when we'd be scrounging for white flowers in Feb. for the Camellia Festival floats, we could never find very many.

Don't know the name of t his variety, or if it's one that was hybridized by the nurseryman who built our house.
It's a pretty one, though!


I love the way the big buds open up. I like the dainty camellias, and the singles, but the big ol' peony-flowered ones are my favorites.

Does this look like November to you?
Yeah, not to me, either.
We're getting another bloom out of the Transvaal daisy that D1 had sent to her grandfather back in April. I took it home, repotted it, and it's been sort of muddling along quietly since then. All of a sudden, this week it's burst forth with a couple of huge blossoms. I think that when I redo the yard, it will go into the ground. Plants like this that have been "forced" into bloom often take a while to revive and thrive, but it looks as if this one has decided to make it. It's a nice reminder of a very sweet man. (Yes, and my very sweet daughter, too!)
Can't go too long w ithout showing this off. It's Yarn Pirate's gorgeous superwash merino, in a special overdyed colorway she calls Merlot. In person it's a little wine-ier and a lot more red, and it's soft and nice. I am thinking shawl--ET ordered two skeins, so that's 960 yards, which ought to be enough to make a respectable shawl.
Yes, I have some Lenore from BMFA, one of the Raven colors. There are some pretty significant differences in the two... and I love them both. I seem to be on a dark-red kick lately, and I'm hoping that I will be able to get it all knitted up without getting really tired of the color! Nah... that won't happen!

This interesting jumble needs some TLC. It's an ebay purchase, 9 skeins of Bartlettyarns 2-ply in a creamy color. I think it will be enough for an aran sweater. This is one of ET's more "stellar" purchases: I was making a square for NETA, if you recall, and ran out halfway through. So ET got helpful and bid on this auction for what she THOUGHT was 2 skeins of the same yarn. Nope. Not the same yarn, and not just 2 skeins, either--although, with shipping, the total cost was under $17 which is almost stealing for yarn of this quality. There is definitely work for my swift and ball winder in the near future! While perusing ebay, ET ran across this: Rowan Yorkshire Tween 4-ply in Desiccated. Used double, this ought to be a good worsted-weight-equivalent, don't you think?

The final bit of ET shopping included this loverly Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in a very pale apricot color. I think this will be very becoming to Audrey and also to any hypothetical cousin-to-be or future sibling.

Okay, off to commune with the ball winder and swift and that cream-colored yarn. Otherwise, the furry ones will be nesting in it. I've already caught them eyeing it...

Home!

Or , how about a few more pictures of the reason I haven't been knitting, or thinking about my knitting much, in the last couple of days? Is this the snuggliest little bundle you could ever want to hold? Grandma Leming thinks so!
Giving the world a kind of wondering look... William James wrote that, to a newborn, the world is like "one great blooming, buzzing confusion." It does look as if she's trying to make some sense of all this sensory overload, doesn't it?
So she's home:

and her closest cousin came to visit. Garrett wasn't too interested in her except to investigate a bit when she cried or made a noise. He really didn't mind when his mom held her new niece for a good long time, either--which is a good sign.

He's at that 17-month-old exploratory stage. Mr. Busy.

Stairs are a wonderful challenge--there are stairs at home, but he's kept gated away from them, so he takes every opportunity that's presented to explore them. Last time I was at his house, we made a couple of trips up and down. He'd have happily made more, but Memere's bum knee didn't want to. Here there are only 3 steps, so it's pretty do-able on his own; and yes, he had plenty of supervision!

Today is the new mom's birthday, which means I now officially have no more kids in their twenties. The milestone is that my oldest grandson will enter his come the end of January. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I guess it's not under my control, either. When Audrey turns 20, I think I'll be Officially Old, and I hope and pray that I'll be around to see that!

Now to go wrangle up some knitting. ET has been busy and there might be something to show you soon, plus there are a couple of projects that have a date with me and either completion or the Frog Pond. (Beginning with CPH and no, I'm not considering frogging THAT!)

Audrey Marie

Little sweetheart has her very own name now. It's quite suitable for the petite little lady she turned out to be! And Memere is in love. Totally, completely. Hmmm... last time I was this besotted, it was with a certain little darling boy (her cousin Garrett). Aww--I can get misty-eyed thinking of the cousins. One thing my kids never had!
Welcome to the world, Audrey! You have a big family and a big world to get to know! Luckily you have a great mom and dad to guide you through it--as well as a couple of grandmothers, a grandfather, a great-grandmother and 10 cousins!

Meet Sweet Pea

Age in these pictures: about 4 hours.
No name yet.
She's tiny (not that 6-10 is a low birth weight, but she's sooo little!) and has a great set of lungs.

We'll have better pictures soon, but in the meantime, here you go!

She's Here!

No pictures yet--but soon! Little Miss Leming arrived today at 3:54 pm, weighing in at 6 lbs 10 oz. Baby is beautiful and healthy, mom did really really well, dad was great--happy little family! Both grandmothers survived, too!

Baby Watch

So tonight is Sweet Pea's last chance to come out on her own--we'll see if she makes it! I do plan to go visit as soon as it's feasible, and I'll bring my laptop for quick blogging! Must remember to bring the camera cord as well as the laptop and the knitting. Is this the modern grandmother's new-baby kit?

Today was a knitty day, and a good time was had by all. I spent the time working on Lady E III, and didn't think it was particularly blogworthy. Madgik was going to help me with my Felted Clog sole, but I left the pattern at home. Dim Sum Mary was working on finishing her adorable grey booties by sewing on snaps. Let's just say that snaps are a royal pain and leave it at that. Patty had socks, and Barbara is almost done with a wonderful grey SWS scarf. I'll let them show the pictures, though!

We finished up with a trip out to Unraveled to check out their Malabrigo and other goodies--they are having a sale this weekend, so it was good to make a scouting trip. You might want to check them out if, of course, you are within driving distance of Monrovia!

I spent the evening watching Project Runway and Kitchen Nightmares (so good to know there are kitchens worse than mine!) and sorting magazines into bags. Got a whole lot more ready to move out, and while I will miss my old friends, I really do need the room. I've got a couple more "nests" to go through, and then I'll take a picture of the whole batch as they move on out.

I will leave you with this darling picture, which comes courtesy of Jigzone.com. They will even email you a new puzzle every day, or you can go to the website to work puzzles. I have to admit, I'm addicted. I keep trying to convince myself that they're good practice for keeping the ol' brain from turning into complete jelly--and much much easier to handle around cats! I do love doing jigsaw puzzles--and, I'm sure you'll be surprised to know, I have a great many of them--but there's something very frustrating about getting 1000 pieces laid out on the table all ready to go, and having a large fluffy dervish come up and roll around in them for attention! With the online ones, they do bat at the pieces but nothing happens!

Snow?

Not here! We're having a recrudescence of the devil winds--hot, dry, laden with dust and pollen--here, but apparently it's not that way in other parts of the country.

D1, aka Foosh, sent me photos of her girls enjoying their first snowfall. Apparently their new parkas and snow gear worked just fine!

If you hear about me moving to Denver, here's one illustration of why! Well, two or three really--family, and SNOW!!

Results

Oh, look! Shredding! At least this is the last of the big shreddy project, for a while.

Oh, that bag? The one hanging on the doorknob? Doesn't every knitter have a bag like this one--miscellaneous yarns and frogged projects and hopeful bits and pieces?
The bag is a tote from one of the Empty Spools Seminars at Asilomar, 2002 I think. I like a clear tote--except that everyone can see what you're toting around!

This one has a little pocket and, as I recall, I had put a picture of Simon in it. We'd just gotten him. I guess that was his first turn as a cat avatar (catvatar?). That's some blue laceweight, and some light blue KSH, and some KnitPicks wool for a beanie for my son-in-law, and some pink and lavender laceweight that was frogged about four times.

On to more pleasant things! Even though there was no mail delivery today, UPS was busy. My Webs order came! I guess, since I love everything in it, I'll have to forgive ET. This time.

The mystery yarn is Queensland Rustic Wool in a pretty shaded-red combo. It's got a strong hint of rose, but then that's what happens when you add white to red! It's a good blue-red, no yellow undertones at all.

And, my Kathmandu Aran arrived too. I got the darkish Sea Green and it will make a lovely sweater.
I'm all about the tweed lately.

Got an email from my friend Gail today that I thought I would share with you, this being Veterans' Day and all:

Happy Veteran's Day to all the vets I know and the families and friends who support them. If you have a moment, go to the website Xerox is sponsoring and send a free postcard note to a member of our armed services. It's quick and free so come on now...get to it! The link to it is http://www.letssaythanks.com/ . The site isn't political...not about whether you are for the war or against the war, but about your support of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. Again, thanks to all who have served, who are serving, and the families and friends who support them, and a special thanks to Jon, Jessica and Joe...I love you all and I'm so proud of your service. Love, Gail/Mom

Thanks for sharing, Gail!

Veterans' Day

Back in the Dark Ages when I was growing up, this holiday was called Armistice Day. That was because the Armistice for WWI was signed on November 11--and that was called The War to End All Wars.

Ha.

So after WWII, and the Korean Conflict, the name was changed to honor all of the veterans of all of the services.

Today my son, my daughters-in-law, and the Conn. grandkids went up to visit my Dad (US Army, WWII) at the Soldiers' Home in Holyoke, where they honor our veterans every day of the year. My brother (Navy, Vietnam--he was a medic) and my son (Navy, 20 years in subs) are in my thoughts today too.

Someone sent me this idea, which I thought was great, so I'm passing it on. When you are making out your holiday card list this year,also include one for the following address:
A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20307-5001
If you approve of the idea, please pass it on. If you know of another address for recovering personnel, please let me know, and I'll put it out here. Regardless of how you feel about the war, or the current administration, our troops are doing the best they can for all of us, and they deserve to be remembered.

(Climbs down from the podium and shakes herself.)

So what, you may ask, did I do today, since I'm about 3000 miles from Holyoke?

I went to the Barbie Doll Show. I even took some pictures, so you could share the wonders.


Barbie has a great wardrobe, and there are seamstresses and stylists out there who love to design for her. There are people who collect only t he newest Barbies in their boxes, and keep them pristine; there are people who only collect vintage Barbies; and there is a whole range in between.

There is something for everyone at the show.

There's even good people-watching if, like me, you don't collect Barbies. (I bring a friend, who doesn't drive much, and wouldn't make it that far unless I drove.) The vendors are friendly and knowledgeable, and there are always the folks who like to dress (and style their hair and makeup) to look like Barbie. Yeah, me not so much.

PS: ET was trolling eBay--I keep telling her and telling her to avoid the occasions of sin, but she doesn't listen--and scored some Skye Tweed in Tapestry! Yeah, ummm, she also found some other goodies...but today all she got was the Skye Tweed.
Honest. Would ET lie to me?

Saturdazed

The shredder has been going quite a bit this weekend. Part of my cleanout includes going through old files and shredding whatever needs it. This includes old medical bills and EOBs--some from the 80's!--because they used to use Social Security numbers as ID numbers.
Not gonna do that any more, and not going to put that info in the trash can, either, at least not till it's all shredded into bits.
The Simon-cat loves the shredder, partly because it lets him sit next to me when I'm on the computer and thus he's handy for head-skritches. But on these chilly days, he really likes it because it gets warm and he can bake his tummy on it. I keep worrying that he'll get some of that long hair caught in the blades, but so far so good.

In case you've wondered how Padua is doing, here's a shot of him looking rather annoyed that I'm taking his picture. Again. He's doing quite well, eats up a storm, is very active, and I will probably take him back to the vet early next week for a checkup. He's not pudgy yet, but he is definitely putting on weight, and his fur is nice and glossy. He's very good about eating his K/D (kidney diet) food, but he also scarfs down anything else that's available. He likes kibble, pushes Simon away from his food bowl, and begs for kitty milk as well. (I sneak the antibiotic drops into the catmilk, which hasn't put him off at all and at least makes sure they get inside him.)

Just so his feelings don't get hurt, here's a recent shot of Highland. He's just fine, and very diligent in his duty of keeping me warm at night. I just love his little face and those pretty white paws!

Sweet Pea is still nestled in her pod. I did a few more rows on her blanket last night--I do hope she's not planning to wait till it's done before she makes her appearance, though!

Friday Cat Follies

This is a very interesting pile o' cat. Instead of curling up on my lap, Simon curled up on the sofa and wound up in this sort of pretzel-pose. He was so deeply asleep he never even noticed the flash going off.

Today his favorite spot has been the top of the shredder. I have been cleaning out a filing cabinet and found tons of stuff to shred, so the shredder has been busy a good part of the day. It overheats and shuts itself off, which means it makes a nice warm spot for a kitty tummy. Of course, it also means that the shredder doesn't cool off quite as quickly, but after all, what's important here anyway?
I mean, the trash cans are full--well, the four "good" cans are. Am I the only one who has "good" trash cans--that have wheels, and handles, and lids--plus an assortment of old ratty ones with no handles, lids that don't fit, and holes in the bottom?
On those days when we've been doing a lot of cleaning and the sidewalk is lined with 11 or 12 cans, I guess it's a good thing to have that "second string" of not-so-good cans.

Meet the latest inhabitant of the Moose Lodge. Himself liked the scrawny little moose who used to show up in the beginning of Northern Exposure.
With this family, it isn't safe to pick a "theme" unless you want lots and lots of them. To this day, this corner of the living room houses the moose collection, affectionately known as the Moose Lodge. Most of the moose (meese? mooses? nah, moose!) are stuffed animals, but this guy is rusty metal. I got him in Pacific Grove on the last trip up there. I'm not sure exactly why, but it just seemed as if he needed to come home with me.

Nothing happening with Sweet Pea, yet. There's a restaurant in L.A. somewhere that serves a salad which, 99 times out of 100, results in labor--it's gotten quite a reputation. I think D5 and spouse are planning a visit to that restaurant this weekend. Yeah, I know it smacks of an urban legend, but since it's generally utilized by women who are past their due dates, there could be something in it. I'm just sayin'!

Wanna See?

Couple of things I'm currently working on. First of all is the baby blankie for Sweet Pea, which will not be done by the time she arrives. However, it will be done some time before too long. (Said in a hopeful, optimistic tone of voice, with a bit of wistfulness there too.) The pattern is from the latest Knitty and the yarn is from Lotus Knits--it's called Lullabye, and while I know the song doesn't have anything to do with babies, the color will be perfect with Sweet Pea's nursery and I am enjoying the play on words.


Next up is Lady Eleanor III. I just love this pattern and this yarn--it's Rowan Tapestry in Rainbow. I'm working it on a pair of elderly, ie original, Balene needles and while the cable is rather stiff, the needles themselves are just perfect for this project. Slick but not too slick, nice points with just a bit of "scoop" and the white stands out against the colorful yarn.
I've gotten a lot of this done this week just hanging out at doctors' offices, in addition to OOPS-ing and Montrose Monday-ing. I'm going to be interested to see if that blue blob gets repeated anywhere else--I'm still not sure if it's bothering me or not, so it's staying. I mean, this stuff is murder to frog! A dream to spit-splice, though.



Paris scarf, still plugging away. It's now on some Suzanne's rosewood needles, which I think gives it that certain oooh-la-lah that it lacked when it was on a broken Bryspun or a French version of a Boye cheapie.
If you see any mistakes in this thing, please don't tell me! It will get a bath and a good blocking when it's done. Which, at the rate I'm going, will be some time in the next millenium.




Then there's my sorta-stalled second square. I'm doing the Enchanted Cottage block from the second Barbara Walker Treasury--there is more yarn on its way to me (I hope--no word yet from the seller, uh-oh!) so I'll be able to get this one done and mailed off too.



When I was looking for my Ab Fab yesterday, I ran across this bag. This is the Ab Fab That Isn't Started Yet.
The colorway is called Mushroom. If I can't find the pinky Sorbet one, I may go ahead and cast on for this one. Must have a nice warm project for these slightly-chilly late fall nights! I mean, it's already down to 60 degrees here and it's not even 6 pm yet. (The time notation is for Simon's benefit. He seems to think it's dinnertime and is doing his best to erase this post so I'll go feed him.)

In other catly news, Padua is doing fine. I was able to get his antibiotics in a liquid form, which he will take (as long as they're disguised in a splash of cat milk). I've got to take him back in for a checkup to see how his numbers look, but I've been preoccupied with workmen here and with getting myself into the various doctor offices. I do, however, now have clean teeth and a flu shot. The nurse who can't put a needle in my hand without crossing herself and saying a prayer or two managed to get enough blood out this morning to run a CBC on, so I'll find out in the next few days if my hemoglobin count has come up enough.

That's all the news that's fit to print for today. So far so good on NaBloPoMo! (Have you fallen asleep yet?)

The Boy Who Came to Knitting

We had a visitor today--meet Wyatt!
He's such a sweetie--6 weeks old. Mom is thoroughly delighted with him, and he was really good--slept most of the time.
Of course, Mom didn't get much knitting done...

I did get some knitting done, as did most of the rest of us. I hope that Fresh Noodle Beth takes pictures of her creation and posts them--she's doing something really amazing with free-floating cables. You have to see it to believe it.

Okay, here are the pictures from yesterday's post:
Sky shots--sorry about the traffic lights, but that's what happens when you are taking pictures through an open car window while stopped at a traffic light.
At the top of a hill.

On a state highway! I tried to get some more shots, but they didn't come out this well. Once I got to my destination, the buildings hid the sky.
So much for civilization! I did think it was a spectacular sunset--even though the colors look more like dawn to me.
Photos from class--it was a busy session and there was a lot of activity going on, so I didn't get too many chances to haul out the camera and snap away.

These two pieces didn't move as fast as the rest!

Judy is hand-quilting a Flower Garden quilt. She started several years ago to finish some quilts that her grandmother and great-aunt had made but not completed. It's involved some piecing and a whole lot of quilting. Luckily, there are some wonderful 30's repro fabrics available, so she's been able to match the look of the older blocks. For instance, in this square, the purple is old fabric and the greens are new. The red checks are originals. I love that she's working away at this and preserving her heirlooms for the next generation! (She has a son and a daughter. I don't think her cat, Cleo, is too interested in anything but the nap possibilities!)

This is Charlotte's project. She did the embroidery herself, and is finishing the square as a pillow for a wedding gift to a young friend of hers. She used a "vintage" fabric to put a border on the square, and it will be backed with a black print. I think the recipient will be quite charmed!

Okay, here's a frustrating experience that you may, or if you're better organized than I am may not, relate to. I wanted to work on a particular UFO today and went to grab it. Hah! The bag I thought it lived in? Had a similar, but very different, project in it! The original project? Nowhere to be found! I've looked again after I came home from knitting today, and I think it's vanished. I do know that it didn't go into the sale--it's a Colinette Ab Fab in the Sorbet colorway--but it's not in any of the "usual" haunts. I know it was nearly completed, too, just had been put away since I can't bear to knit on 10 pounds of wool and mohair when it's hot out.

So that's one of tomorrow's projects, finding the Ab Fab. I also have some medical unpleasantries (blood draw, teeth cleaning, chatting w/ the dentist) to face, so I hope I can at least locate the missing UFO to salvage the day!

Bad Blogger

...won't let me post pictures right now. And a post without pictures is, well, sorta boring.

Of course, D5 posted her latest news to her blog, and didn't have any pictures either. You can head over there if you'd like to hear her latest news, or stay here and I'll natter about my day.

Which was uneventful, mostly, except for a doctor visit (got my flu shot, found out my cholesterol is perfect but the triglycerides still need work) and then my quilting class tonight. We had a good session of quilting--lots of fun, good projects, and I even took pictures of a couple of them but naturally you can't see them.

I'll try to upload them later. Right now, I'm going to go catch up on The Biggest Loser and Dancing With the Stars. My pathetic addiction to reality TV is really getting a fix with these shows. Which, considering that the Writers Guild is on strike, means that there will probably be a lot more of that in the near future!