Holiday Finery

Filbertina has a holiday dress,

Addy and Rachel have Santa hats.

Must be almost time to go home again.

 

 

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Getting Stuff Done

We've been relaxing in Colorado, but I'm also getting projects finished. The thing of which I'm most proud though is helping oldest daughter pick out a sewing machine and teaching her to make t-shirt dresses.

The skirt on the first one turned out a little short,

but the second one is perfect,

especially after Rachel added a fabric flower and button necklace.

Can you tell Addy loves it?

I finished a Santa hat for Addy.

and have 2 more on the hook; a small one for Travis, at his mom's request, and a sparkly one for Rachel, who might have been just a little jealous that Addy got the first one.

The infinity ripple scarf

- from a pattern I made up as I went and hope I can duplicate -

just needs to be blocked and the final seam sewn. Please to admire the charming model and ignore the unwoven ends . . .

Last but definitely not least, the Christmas tree quilt is absolutely, positively finished.

Binding hand-sewn, hanging sleeve attached, and Santa label (which Addy picked out at the quilt store) filled in.

And in a genius moment, I had Addy write her name on the label.

I'm imagining the fun Addy will have, years from now, looking back at her 6-year-old writing. And, just maybe, remembering all the fun she had with Grandma and PopPop.

 

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Birthday Girl

Addy had a full day of celebrating her 6th birthday. She got to open one present when she woke up and loved the Barbie slugbug her daddy got her.

Then we went to lunch in downtown Loveland - great food at Henry's Pub - and visited a few stores before it was time to head home and change for Addy's horseriding lesson.

Addy's been taking lessons, on and off, for about a year, and she loves it. Big surprise that a 6-year-old girl loves horses, right?

And she bosses that horse around like nobody's business. I love that the lesson isn't just about riding, but about taking care of the horse before and after her ride.

Then we were home again and Addy got to open one more present, this time from PopPop and me. I thought it was a safe bet that she'd like a Brave bow and arrow set, and I was right. Big hit!

She'll need a bit more practice before she's as good as her dad, but practicing can be fun too!

Pizza, yummy blue cake (with M&M topping!),

opening the rest of her gifts,

and modeling Merida hair

along with Mom

completed the big day.

Happy, happy birthday, Addison. And may you have many, many more!

 

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Can You Hear Me Now?

I'm experimenting with a new blogging app while we're visiting Colorado. Trying to blog directly into Blogger was a royal PITA on our last trip, so I'm giving Blogsy a spin at oldest daughter's recommendation. Cross your fingers that this works for me . . . .

Sunday was a travel day. Fortunately, we didn't have the b*mb scares that seemed to follow us on the last trip. Addy met us at the airport and insisted on trying on her new dress immediately.

She also loved her sock monkey, tentatively named Filbert until Addy decided it was a girl, whereupon we renamed her Filbertina.

The little pink butt was a big hit with Addy, just like it was with Leia's Minky.

Addy also loved the nightgown I made her - and best of all, it actually fit her.

This was my first effort at following a pattern. I'm pleased with how it turned out, but it was a long 8-hour slog getting here.

 

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Addy Dress

Finished this about 12:30 a.m. - and we have to be up at 4 to catch our flight to Denver.
  
Can you read what it says?
  
Hope Addy likes it!

(Not) Helpful

Thursday's task was to iron the wrinkles out of 8 yards of backing fabric so I could cut and (mis)sew* it together, then give it to the friend who is going to long-arm quilt this for me.
 
I didn't realize until I was almost done that I had a little helper, who was putting the wrinkles back in as fast I was taking them out.
 
Lily Kitty was very happy with the warm, toasty fabric I kept piling up for her. Me? Not so happy.


* I measured each panel three times, just to make sure I had it right, the proceeded to cut two of them on the wrong line. And there's no more since I bought all the fabric on the bolt. Can you say "pieced back"?

Yarn Turkey

Leia came home from daycare with the outline of a turkey on a big piece of paper and instructions to embellish it any way she wanted before returning it for display until Thanksgiving.

  

Leia takes her artwork very seriously, so we talked for a day or so about what she might want to do. Leia decided she wanted to paint the turkey and then glue on some yarn.

 

The painting portion was over pretty quickly, in part because it was slow going with a small brush and a big turkey. But mainly because the next part involved SCISSORS! Leia was very excited that she got to cut the yarn by herself (with close supervision by granma.)

  
Three kinds of glue later, she was satisfied. All that was left was to sign her art - and try, unsuccessfully, to get all the adhesive off both our hands. 
 
Again, I'm biased, but I think it's a darn nice turkey. And that she's a very silly 4 year old.

Color Me Thrilled

I sent oldest daughter a picture of some yarn - yummy Madelinetosh Pashmina, wool, cashmere and silk, in gorgeous shades of teal - asking if she'd like a scarf. She said 'no'. . . . 
  
She'd rather have a shawl. I quickly emailed some links - before she could change her mind - and started work that night on her new wrap, using my favorite pattern. 

 

Four days later, after about 10 hours of work (the benefits of having made this pattern once or twice or more before), it was done and will be on its way to Colorado shortly.

 
Can you tell I'm just a little bit happy about converted Rach to the shawl side? (Hey, current fashion may have had something to do with it, but I'm still taking credit. It's a mother's crocheter's prerogative.)

 
I also finished a set of fingerless mitts - finished, I might add, on the day the temps hit 90+ in November. Timing is everything, right?

These are made with Pagewood Farm's 'Tundra', 165-yards of camel and silk lusciousness that I spotted at Loop and Leaf and had to have. 

I made up this pattern as I went along, including the between-finger connections that should keep these from sliding off my hands.
 
I was trying to use up all 165 yards, without running out before I finished. I needn't have worried about the running out part - I still had 20 of the 50 grams when these were done. 
 
I'm thinking maybe another pair of mitts . . . without the wrist ribbing . . . long and lacy . . . maybe Tunisian . . .  Stay tuned. . . .

Weekly Wrap-Up

Stuff that didn't make the blog this week . . . 

Baby pictures!

 

Travis celebrated his first pumpkin hunt and his first Halloween. 
 

Isn't he just the cutest 10-month old?? And yeah, I might be a little biased . . .

 
Finished up more pillowcases. These are semi-matching ones for Leia and Leanne to use at nap-time.
 
I'm loving how easy these are to make; so bright and cheerful, and the little girls love them.

Date Day Thursday found us at the J. Paul Getty Museum,
 
wandering the gardens and exhibits
  
with Bill and Carolyn, who were visiting from Idaho. 
 
Check out what is being used to 'sculpt' these trees (click photo to enlarge) - 
 
Best use of rebar ever.