Our Family's Grief

All along you have been reading about the things I have knitted for my precious granddaughter, Eliana, who was due to be born on July 31. Things did not turn out the way we expected.

It was a perfect labor in a caring and loving atmosphere at The Birth Center in Bryn Mawr, PA. Moose and I entered the room just as Eliana was making her appearance and he pointed the flashlight toward her so she could find her way out. At seeing her for the first time he exclaimed "Hey Everybody! I'm a Big Brother now!"

After that, everything else is a blur.

The staff worked furiously to revive little Eliana but she never even took her first breath. Complications from the cord around her neck and aspirating meconium were just too much for her to overcome.

Tomorrow morning we have to say our final goodbyes. It will be impossible to bear but with faith in God and the love of family and friends our family will continue and remember Eliana's beautiful little face.

I want to thank everyone at The Birth Center for their care, compassion and the love they showed all of us. They all wept as much as we did and the hugs were plentiful and comforting.

There are some beautiful photos of our little Eliana and her big brother on:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28124270@N02/sets/72157624618382490

The pain is unbearable but the outpouring of love that my family has been experiencing is wonderful and healing. Thank you to all who have sent messages and food and time.

I know Eliana is in Good Hands and I can see her playing with her Great-Uncle Leo. Someday I will get to play with her too.

Taking a little time off

The Chicks will be taking a few weeks off so here is a picture of my precious ones with my Moose singing his first time with Mom and Dad at their church. He did very well and knew all the words. He even played the percussion egg in time with the music.

Enjoy the summer and I hope you find a cool place to relax so you can knit to your heart's content.

Busy Hands and Spoiler Alert! Amanda don't read this if you want to be surprised!

Karin worked quickly on a pair of Saartjes booties http://members.home.nl/tdpj/Patronen/Bootees/Saartjes%20bootees.pdf using her own hand dyed yarn that was the most beautiful shade of hot pink. Her yarns are available at http://www.etsy.com/shop/franknit

She finished one whole bootie in about an hour. She's a fast knitter to say the least!

Sheila worked diligently on her scarf and is mastering the basketweave pattern. Since it's summer, golf sometimes takes precident over knitting so the scarf is taking a little longer to finish. But who can blame her?! When the weather is nice you have to take advantage of it.

Kathleen took yarn last week and already finished a baby blanket with it. It is called "Plush" and it sure is! By the way, Amy this is the first finished project from your generous donation. All the Chicks thank you again.

Liz filled the inventory with four cute baby caps and bonnets. This little bonnet was the same pattern that Kathleen used last week.

Maureen picked up on Cate's pink baby blanket while Cate is away. The hearts make is so sweet.

My daughter has designed and knitted another pattern to sell on her etsy shop. My grandson loved the baseball buttons and asked his mom to knit him a sweater to go with them. So she did! You can find the pattern for sale at http://www.etsy.com/listing/51448082/raglan-sleeve-mock-neck-sweater-knitting?fref=fb_itemlist

Now here is the part where Amanda should look away!!!

I finished a baby afghan for my new granddaughter, Eliana, who has not yet arrived. I used Plymouth Encore yarn in worsted weight. The pastel pink is set off by a color changing yarn which makes it look like I used multiple colors when it was really only one skein of yarn.

It is a basic entrelac pattern with a finished edge of three rows of single crochet and one row of reverse single crochet to give it a sweet little scalloped finish.

Ok Eliana, we're ready for you anytime now. Just give me a little notice so I can arrive on schedule.

Thirty-three years ago today!

It's been 33 years since Ron and I said our "I do's" and here are some photos to prove it. My Dad, Bill, was Best Man and my sister, Jamie, was Maid of Honor. We were married at the Danbury United Methodist Church on a very hot and sunny Saturday.

Our dear cousins, the late Judy and Paul Petersen, were gracious enough to lend us their home for our reception. It was a great time to celebrate outdoors.
This was then......

and this is now.

Thank you Sweetie for a continuing wonderful ride on the roller coaster of life. I'm looking forward to many more years spent sharing it with you! I love you Ron and Happy Anniversary!

Some "FO's" and "WIP's"

This week we received a goodie bag of beautiful yarns from our friend "Mothergoddyss" aka Amy and the Chicks picked out their favorites. Kathleen took a pretty pastel purple for some baby clothes. The rest of us have staked our claims but have to use some of our stash before we can commit to new yarns. Thank you Amy for thinking of us!

Barbara's expression says it all....yes she is STILL working on the green fuzzy blanket. It's almost putting her over the edge, but I'm sure she will finish it soon.
Elaine chose a pretty yarn for a gift shawl. She spent most of the afternoon hunting around for the missed YO and was aggravated that it couldn't be found. I know you'll fix it Elaine. Or....it could become a "design element".
I finished another orginal pattern from my daughter, aleigh on Ravelry. It's called the Ruffle Sleeve Baby Shrug. She is putting the finishing touches on the pattern AND our new grandbaby, who should be born in the next few weeks, so it might be a little while longer before the pattern goes up for sale.
Kathleen finished a sweet baby bonnet too.

Cate has to work fast on her baby blanket as the baby was born last week. Her Mom, Maureen, might have to help with the end knitting as Cate will be returning to dental school very soon.

And Maureen is catching up on the pink and white baby sweater which had to go into hibernation while she worked on the cute sailboat blanket.

So even though the whole Northeast is sweltering through a heatwave, we Chicks are finding small items to knit to save our sanity. I hope you are staying cool wherever you are and finding time to knit something fun. Keep those needles clicking!

Flowers for you to enjoy!

I had to do that awful job of weeding today, so to cheer myself up afterwards, I decided to take some pictures of my flowers. They seem to be doing nicely this year. I even caught a critter enjoying them too.

My Grandpa's roses always bloom around my birthday.

I even have some lovelies blooming indoors.

Last but not least, I started two tomato plants using those upside down planters. They are growing like weeds! Here's the beefsteak tomato with two teeny fruits just starting out and....

here is my Roma tomato so I can make homemade pasta sauce.

My Grandpa would be so proud! :)