Zach, being a preemie, had teeny tiny feet and ankles. He was actually a kinda big preemie, weighing in at 5 lbs. 11 oz., but still there were no socks to fit him. He had a yellow pair that the hospital gave him but needed more. I tried soooooooo many patterns and nothing fit him so I did what I should have done first – I measured him and made socks custom to his foot.



Posted on June 22, 2010 at 12:37 pm - Add a comment
This is a little set I made/bought for Zach for his baby shower.

The colors in the picture do this set no justice. The blanket is crocheted using Hula yarn in the color “limeade”. I big big thanks to Joanie for sending that yarn to me. It’s really beautiful and “limey” but the picture doesn’t show that. The hoodie is made with ILTY (I Love This Yarn) worsted and has crayon buttons. Joanie also addicted me to hoodies, with the Knitting Pure and Simple Easy Baby Cardigan. We will henceforth call her “Joanie, the enabler”.
Here’s a pic from Danielle that shows the limeade a little truer – still it’s brighter in person……….

The jeans were just a sweet little pair of jeans we bought for $1.00 at a resale store. The shirt I bought and then applied this iron-on applique to complete the theme……………

The picture is a little blurry but you can see that it was personalized for Zach. It was all wrapped up and I attached a box of crayons to the package. Really cute, if I do say so myself.
I also made him a t-shirt with Legos, Corey’s favorite toy in the world when he was a child – Keith’s favorite toy too. They played with them constantly – couldn’t get enough Legos in our house. Mark and I always heard “my guy” – “your guy”, as in my guy will do this and you have your guy do that – always my guy your guy.

We bought them the Lego set that goes with that picture – it’s called Lego Ville Baby Zoo.
I switched out the little girl’s face and put Zach’s face on the t-shirt. Cute kid!
In honor of Mark, the magician, I had to make a magician t-shirt for Zach also…………..

It says Caution – Magician in Training.
Here’s a pic of the star of the show – we put his name tag on his back with the cute little monkey on his bum…………

And here’s Zach with Uncle Justin and Uncle Keith after the shower………..

Here’s a cupcake tower I made for Zach’s shower – it has his name and little pics of himself in each cupcake. The flowers are from Corey and Danielle’s yard……….

And finally………..these flowers were another centerpiece………..they are also from Corey and Danielle’s yard – beautiful roses…….

My Thorpe love continues. Here’s a Thorpe I made Danielle for her birthday, with a little Carrie thrown in because she likes to model – she never met a camera she didn’t love.

These are socks I made for Keith in January. I’m wayyyyyyyy behind in posting things since Zach took control of our lives and our hearts.
***Austermann Step – Peat (05)***


Thorpe – what’s not to love? I love this pattern and I love this yarn. This is my second Thorpe – this one is for Justin for his birthday. He picked out the yarn at Joann’s (on sale 2/$5.00 – nice!). The yarn is Deborah Norville Serenity Chunky and the color is Seven Seas. Gorgeous. The pattern doesn’t call for a ball on the top but we all decided we like the ball. I added a ball to mine also. Danielle is getting a Thorpe for her birthday too – hers is nearly done.
This is a little of what we did on Justin’s birthday party weekend. We all went shopping and ended up in the baby clothes department at Meijer. Fun fun. Here’s Keith and Corey looking for baby clothes for Zachary.

And here are Corey and Danielle picking out some outfits.

Posted on March 2, 2010 at 5:33 pm - Add a comment
January 7, 2010
Who better than I? Grandma always used to say that. I don’t think Grandma really did all that much for herself but she always said it to me – so yah, let’s all do something for ourselves. We’re just as important as all the people we take care of. This I made for myself after a brutal two-hour shoveling session during the first big snow storm of the year. I LOVE it. I don’t look great in a hat but it is very effective – very warm – very soft. The pattern is http://throughtheloops.typepad.com/Thorpe.pdf and the yarn is Deborah Norville Serenity Chunky – the color is Golden.

Did I mention that I LOVE THIS HAT?
Update March 2, 2010: When I made Justin’s Thorpe, I added a pom to the top. I liked it so much I added a pom to mine too. Here’s a pic of mine with the pom added…..

Ahhh….much better.
This is Keith taking a picture of himself in his new hat I knitted for him. I wasn’t sure about the color but it’s what he picked out at Hobby Lobby so I went with it.
It’s beautiful. It works on his sweet face. I adapted some other patterns to make it a sportweight, double thick stocking hat – exactly what he ordered.

Posted on January 30, 2010 at 2:36 pm - Add a comment

These socks were made for Danielle for Christmas. I really am not fond of this yarn. Sadly, the two skeins were slightly different so they don’t match perfectly color-wise. I didn’t enjoy working with the yarn. Unfortunately, I have more of it but socks are grand so I’m sure they’ll be fine. Danielle likes them and again………that’s all that really matters.
**Paton’s Kroy – Fern Rose Jacquard**
Posted on January 7, 2010 at 12:45 pm - Add a comment
People were cold – we can’t have that (kidding – they were warm but it adds to the mystery). Here’s what I made for Mom. The yarn is Yarn Bee Soft Delight Extremes – the color is EX brown. This is NICE yarn. It is double-stranded with Regia loden sock yarn. Maybe you can’t tell from the picture, but it is a keyhole scarf and a pair of fingerless gloves – very luxurious.

This hat and gaiter set was made for Dad. The hat is double thick and reversible. The camo yarn is Red Heart (ickkkkkkkkk) and the other yarn is I Love This Yarn (and I do) – the color is coffee.

…that wasn’t Dad…this is Dad…he likes getting his picture taken.


For Aunt Betty, I crocheted a scarf with the Yarn Bee Soft Delight Extremes – again EX brown – the second strand was Simply Soft – a pretty dusty rose color – unsure of the technical color name.

This is my first knit baby sweater. I’ve done plenty of crocheted ones for charity, but with our first grandbaby on the way, I always knew this would be the push I needed to get past my fear. As I am my own worst critic, I know it’s boxy and not perfect but I feel I need to post it anyway just because it’s my first. The upside is……………this was fun…this was easy. This one has been donated to a charity.
The green yarn is just a ball of something from my stash and the white is Bernat Softee Baby.