The Season of Love

My little Grandson's

Parker

&

Archer

They get so excited when they see each other.

Sisterly Love

My daughters...

Chelsea

 {Parker's Mommy}

&

Hilary

 {Archer's Mommy}

Christmas Party with my Knit Night Girls

Left to Right

Kathy {my cousin}

Erin

Me

Carey

Ashley

And Mary Anne had gone home before we took the picture.

Phoebe and Mack

{and Phoebe's new "Baby"}

on Christmas Eve

Me with my Sweet Mother~In~Law Pat

who has been my next door neighbor for 29 wonderful years.

She's nearly 90 years old.

Isn't she beautiful?!

My Precious Granddaughter Gabby

{Parker's "Sissy"}

Wearing the Fox Cowl/Hood I knitted her for Christmas.

This was FUN to make!

There's just something about 

Little Boys 

in their Christmas Jammies...

From My Family to Yours

We Wish You 

A 

Very Happy 

Christmastide

Xo

    Xo,

Danette

A Cold Winter's Day

Once again

it is a 

Cold Winter's Day.

There's about a foot of snow on the ground

and the temperature is only 5 degrees.

So I have spent part of the day

sitting in my kitchen,

by a sunny window,

knitting a stack of 

heart shaped cloths

and

enjoying a supply of new books,

along with a nice pot of tea.

Since my last post

I have made a couple more cupcakes as well.

I gifted them to my 

Monday night

Knit Night Girls

and they loved them!

I am so thankful I have plenty of yarn on hand

and a good supply of patterns.

It sure helps me get through a long Winter.

Phoebe,

 on the other hand,

prefers a 

Long Winter's 

NAP!

Strawberry Red

We had a beautiful weekend here in Illinois.

Perfect weather for

front porch swinging.

So on Saturday

I gathered up two of my doggies

and my crochet basket

and headed out for some fresh air.

{Miss Sophie ~ the oldest weenie~ cannot come to the porch.

She likes to give chase up and down Main Street.}

Phoebe however is too barrel chested to go up and down steps

so she gets to join Mommy on the porch.

And the little guy~

Jose'

only wants to be where his Mommy is

so he stays put as well.

While enjoying the heavenly breeze

I was able to finish up this darling

 Baby Shell Cardigan.

I chose a gorgeous shade of

Strawberry Red

instead of a typical baby color.

My friend Diane, who lives in Kentucky,

will have a new granddaughter

in early September.

Her daughter, a first time Mommy,

loves

red.

And I figured she will be gifted with plenty of pink.

The pattern can be found in my new favorite book

by

Nicki Trench

If you love to crochet baby things

this book is a

must have.

I promise you will love it!

It was so much fun to crochet.

And as promised ~

cute & easy.

There is no seaming anywhere :)))

The pattern shows darling little flowers

dancing across the front

{which I will add to my next sweater}.

Once I attached these

heart buttons

Hubby and I decided the look was complete.

So I omitted the flowers on this one.

Sorry

Miss Phoebe ~

Although you do look good in red,

this sweater really isn't for YOU.

Cotton Candy Coat

My sweet granddaughter

Gabriella

is turning 6 years old the first week of April.

She told her mommy all she wants is an

American Girl Doll.

She chose

Caroline

because not only does she have a friend with that name,

but this particular doll has

blonde hair & blue eyes...

just like Grammy.

Gabby is brunette with chocolate brown eyes.

I am tickled *pink*

that she wants a doll that looks like me :)

And of course I just have to make her some special clothes for her new doll,

which is tucked safely into hiding

in her mommy's closet

awaiting the Big Day.

I searched

Craftsy

and found this adorable pattern by

Knit N Play for only $2.99.

The pattern is very well written and has great pictures.

The sweater set was quick and easy to knit

&

Oh So Cute

when finished!

I took these buttons off a favorite dress

I used to wear in my banking days.

Aren't they perfect on this pink sweater?

The pattern comes with directions for two style of hats.

This is the beret.

I have enough yarn left to make the second hat as well

and will probably do so.

After all ~ a girl must have accessory options!

And so you know ~

I had a bit of help along the way.

Phoebe could not resist an upclose look

when Mommy went to the kitchen to brew another cup of tea.

If you look closely you will notice

a couple of stitches slipped off the needle

but as you can see the project survived :)

The weekend was perfect for staying tucked up into the house

with a lovely array of yarn and supplies

{and ~ yes ~ my pet menagerie!}.

 

Once again we have been hit by more snow.

This is what my

Spring Flowers

look like at the moment.

They are trying hard to be

jonquils...

eventually....

In the meantime I have more yarn for a new project.

One of my all time favorite yarns ~

Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino...

absoulutely divine!

I have just cast on this morning

&

will give you a peek eventually.

Hint ~

there are more

Bunnies

involved.

 

Have a lovely week,

I will see you all again soon,

With Love

&

Bunny Kisses,

Danette

<3

February Fun

February has been a fun filled month!

And a very busy one.

I cannot believe I have not blogged since

February 1st!!!

I thought I would hit the highlights of my month

with all of you.

I finished this pair of fingerless mitts for my oldest daughter

Hilary

She loves them!

And, of course, there was all kinds of fun for

Valentine's Day

Goodies were made

{tea was sipped}

&

Valentine gifts were recieved.

This darling heart was crocheted for me by my friend Mary Anne.

The hand stamped tag on it says

"gentle thoughts of you"

I LOVE IT!

I  had  the great pleasure of helping my granddaughter

Gabby

make her first

Valentine Box

It was a lot of FUN!

She was so excited to take it to school.

A few days later we celebrated my youngest daughter

Chelsea's

25th Birthday

Gabby & Chelsea

Eric, Chelsea & Jose'

Brandon & Hilary

{a little blurry ~ sorry!}

And today there was enough snow for a

Snow Angel

Grammy's Snow Angel

 

I hope you are all

Happy

Healthy

&

Warm!

 

P.S. I have finally finished my surprise gift for

Sarah

of

Sarahsweethearts

 

I will mail it off to her

ASAP

and then show you what I came up with :)

Roses Abound

No matter how hard I try I just can't stop myself from making

ROSES

They always turn up in my work eventually.

I am drawn to anything with a rose already in the pattern or something that I can adorn with a rose.

They're just so

feminine

I purchased the pattern for this gorgeous cowl

from an etsy shop called the

Frayed Knot

I crocheted it using Debbie Bliss Fez, which is 85% Extrafine Merino Wool and 15% Camel.

It took 2 balls {100m/50g each}

I love this yarn!

I am going back for more today in a soft shade of purple for a custom order.

While I was in rose~ making~ mode, I got a call from a customer who needed a baby girl gift.

So I whipped up my favorite little knitted umbrella stitch hat that is always so much prettier with a little

rose

The hat is made from

Knit Picks Andean Treasure

100% Baby Alpaca

in

Wild Rose

One skein will make two of these hats.

The rose is a soft, fluffy wool angora blend.

And this big crocheted rose?

Well....

it's for a work in progress...

a Christmas Surprise....

Shhhhhh.....

I will show it when I can ;)

I love the

BIG

FLUFFY

RUFFLY ~ NESS

of

CROCHETED ROSES!

Oh ~

And where roses abound, sometimes a little help is needed.

 Afterall, Santa has his Elves.