Trying to Come Back

Well, where to start. Have to say, that we are glad that 2010 is gone. In a lot of ways, it was a really hard year. Things are starting out a little difficult, but will swiftly be returning to a state that will be easier to live in!! I know that all sounds pretty criptic, but there is just too much to even write about. I am trying this blog again, but much of my absence last year were due to computer issues. I will never buy another Dell again. I am on that now, so please be patient, and hopefully soon I will have a new computer and this will be easier. It is quite a task to update this on my current computer. Having said all that, I realize that I have probably lost a lot of my faithful readers, so if your new to my blog, please leave me a message, and if you are an old friend, bless you for sticking around!! :) I have I guess two big things to really talk about, then I will just do a small photo montage, of all my knitting, (which has been quite numerous!). After what happen to our little Mia in August, I really wasn't in a hurry to get another dog, and if you aren't a dog lover you won't get this, but I knew I would know when the right dog came along. Well, Thanksgiving weekend, we welcomed Zoe into our family.(Cute picture that is supposed to be here will have to wait, more computer issues. Did I say how much I hate Dell).



She is half ShizTzu and half Lhasa Apso. She will probably be a little bigger than Mia, but she is adorable, and has fit into our family so well. In fact, I told my DH that if I believed in reincarnation (which I do NOT), I would swear Mia is in there somewhere!! Just some of the little habits she has is eearily like Mia. But we are enjoying her for who she is and she has been a delight!! Plus, she's cute as ever!! :) I have also been knitting up a storm over the holidays. I was asked by several friends to make these cute crocheted hats and the little detachable flowers. I was really "pumpin" them out there for a while. Right now, I have been asked to make a shawl for a charity auction at the end of February. Will post picures and let you know how that all turns out later. For now, thanks for reading and visiting my blog, and here are some photos of the end of our year. Please stop back by. Thanks, Suzanne

Catching Up!

Hi there!! Remember me? Its been a while, but I have lots of busyness to account for my absence. First, I had computer issues most of the summer. I even spent some time this morning visiting most of my favorites, because I couldn't even do that. Anyway, problem seems to be solved, and I will try to catch me up with you all. After the 4th of July, things were just nuts. My Dad had surgery the middle of July, and that turned out wonderfully, I think I did mention that in my last post. We spent a weekend the first of August at my SIL beautiful home,
and did some relaxing.
I pretty much floated in the water and read!! I did stick some knitting in there too. Then on August 13th and 14th, we went to my folks and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary!!! We kept everything pretty low key, they didn't want a big party, so we played games, my neice Lindsay tried on Mom's dress, and then on Saturday night, we had a delicious meal at Tippecanoe Place, which is the old Stutebaker Mansion. Very beautiful place. It was very nice, to just "be" as a family, not have a real mission, and to just hang around, play games, and laugh, which we did!! It really was a fun weekend.
Not to spoil the happiness of that wonderful celebration, but that very same weekend, ended up holding emmense saddness for us. On Friday, our little dog, Mia was fine, and due to a freaky, auto immune disease, she was gone by Monday mornning. For whatever reason, her body started mass producing white blood cells, and killing all her red ones. She kept getting more yellow(due to the lack of oxygen in her blood) and more lethargic as the weekend progressed. I have had other dogs, but I can't even tell you with words, how much I miss her. She was such a true companion, with me everywhere I went, as she has left a huge void in our home, and in my life.

Amazing what 8 pounds of fluffy little dog can do. We miss her very much.
So as not to leave you on a sad note, my garden is in full harvest. My beans are just about done, and the zucchini as well. I harvested quite a few potatoes on Saturday, and have lots of tomatoes still coming. Kids are also gearing up for school. Ashleigh started her second year of college, and the boys start after Labor Day. Eric has already had one football game. Guess that is a wrap up of our busy summer. Hope yours was relaxing. Thanks as always for stopping by.

Update

I just realized that you all saw the very early stages of my new gardens. Well, here are some updates. Thanks to some nice warm spring temperatures, and some nice rainfalls, my garden has just boomed. The first two pictures are of the gardens around early May, the next two are more recent, look at my potatoes, who knew they got so tall? Also, I was very glad that I planted my peas next to a 6 ft fence, because they have well gone up and over!! I have tons of peas! :)





This next picture is of the beautiful sunset at Grand Haven, Michigan over the 4th of July weekend. We spent kind of a quiet one this year. My folks came up, that's them at Grand Haven. They are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this August, and are such a good example of a godly marriage. Also, my Dad will be having surgery next Monday, for an abdominal aortic aneursym. Please pray for him. Thanks!!



The sunsets at Grand Haven were especially beautiful this weekend, and we finished the weekend back at Grand Haven with our friends Dale and Marisol!! Yes, lest you think I would have no mention of knitting. I have several things in the works. A pair of summer socks, a dishrag, always a dishrag, and I am test crocheting a summer totebag for Yasmin from Kuwait, on Ravelry!! How fun!! Pictures of all that, will probably have to wait until after my Dad's surgery. Until then!! God bless, and thanks as always for visiting!!
Suzanne

Let the Gardening Begin!

Hi Everybody!!
I am so excited that gardening season is upon us!! We have had a very interesting, but nice spring here in Michigan. On March 31 and April 1st, we actually slept with our windows open!! It was 80 degrees!! I don't believe I've ever done that!! However nice, I do know that it was too hot too fast, and would not last. It didn't, but it did give way to a nice spring with lots of blooming going on!. I also have added (thanks to my DH and Son #2) three more gardens!! They are raised beds, two are 12x4's and one is 6x4. I would have liked them 12x6's but there was a little miss communication(translated, they didn't really listen to me!!). Shhhh don't tell them I said that!! :) My sons Greg and Eric built them for me, and actually shoveled in all the dirt while I was at work. Thanks to all my guys!! :) Having these extra beds allows me to plant some things that I simply have not had room for, also will allow me some crop rotation in the coming years.
I planted peas, garlic, shallots and brussel sprouts for the first time, oh, and potatoes. These are already in the ground. I will also have room for beans, and Swiss chard, which I am very anxious to try. I will have more room for more herbs, like Basil that I use a lot of!! Here are some pictures of me and my DH laying out the grids with string.

I also got lots of lettuces planted!!
I have been knitting. Made some more of those baby bell bottom pants, but can't find the pictures. Made them in a pretty chocolate brown with a cute little pink onesie. Made a nice little gift. Our church seems to be a baby factory!! I'm sure not drinking the water!! :) I finally finished my Circle Socks. Last August, DH and I went to Wisconsin and found a beautiful yarn shop in an old bank. I found some Ty Dy Sock yarn by Knit 1 Crochet Two, in the color mineral. I love it!! Wanted to do Jaywalkers, but I think this yarn was too splitty so I saw these Circle Socks on Ravelry and thought that would work better. I do like this pattern, and modified the instep with a diamond decrease. Not original idea, Lilia on Ravelry came up with it and it works out beautifully!! Thanks Lilia!! I also modified the toe, not sure what you call it, but you end with the kitchner stitch, which I love. The original pattern calls for the Star Toe, which I do not love. So, I am all in all very happy with these.
If you read my Ravelry project page, you will see the many issues I have had with these socks. Knitter problem, not the pattern!! :)
Onto the other sock!! Might actually make a little pair of flip flop socks, (see Ravelry). We attend a church family camp in June, and they might just be the thing for those early morning trips to the bath house!! Hope you all are having a wonderful spring!! More knitting and gardening pictures as they come!! Thanks as always for visiting. Please leave a comment!! I love to hear from you!! Blessings, Suzanne.

I have no idea!!

Now that's a title!! Could that possibly mean that I haven't done this in sooooo long, that I totally forgot how? Well, hopefully not totally!! I have really been doing a lot, much of which you'll see in a moment, but life is just too busy. Besides working, and family, I am teaching a Precept Bible Study class, which really takes a lot of study time, and then I am also doing Beth Moore's Esther bible study in my Sunday School class. I have been participating in a reading program (I work at a library, and no we don't get to read a work!! :) ). All that takes a lot of time, and it seems I am a bit tired all the time!! But alas, I have been knitting. There is always time to squeeze that in!! I started the beginning of the year all excited, that I could pump out a few socks for me!! And maybe even a new purse. Then I found out a dear friend of ours, who served in Iraq during one of the more difficult times, is expecting. Well, that put me into full baby mode!! I searched and searched for the cutest things, and I think, thanks to Ravelry, found quite a few!! Here we go. First, are the cutest little baby pants on the planet. I will be making lots more of these, they are really quite simple, and fast to make. The pattern is well written
I used some Caron simply soft, and they turned out quite well. The next item is a little thing the book calls a singlet. I call it a vest. I got it from the Luxury Yarn One Skein Wonders book. The pattern looks like it has a lot of steps, but is super easy and quick. I used Patons Baby Bamboo, and the look of the finished project is very professional looking. I will make this again as well. The little flower, which you saw on the pants, this vest, and will see again, is actually from this pattern. Then I made the cutest little rattle EVER!! I(remember I work at a library) saw a new book at work, and sort of quickly glanced at it. I saw this bunny rattle, and having made some toys before thought they are often a little harder and very time involved. Well, this is not. The book is latest by Erika Knight, and is called Natural Nursery Knits!! I have several of Erika's books, and this one will be next. This rattle was so easy and quick, and the patterns are so well written. She has some adorable things in this book. You really should check it out!! Lastly, are the little shoes. The pattern is by a french gal named Pruline. I found the pattern on Ravelry, and it was totally in french, but so simply written, that it is easy to translate. She did her shoes with a really fine gauge yarn, but I used a size 8 needle and CottonTots yarn for mine, and again the flower from the singlet pattern and VIOLE. The cutest shoes!! These really are simple. I also made a couple of hats, the pattern was found through Ravelry, but was from the Crochetville Forums. It is a simple crochet construction, I made two, one(ivory) using the Patons Bamboo again, and the other using some Yarn Bee Sweet Delight because it was in pink camo.
The whole gift package looks like this;
I hope she likes it. I sure had fun knitting and crocheting every stitch. As always, I thank you for visiting, and hope you come back soon. I will try not to take so long to post.
Suzanne

Happy New Year!!

I know, better late than never!! What a whirlwind!! I hope each one of you had a blessed holiday season with family, friends, and celebrating the birth of Christ!! I decided since I have been so bad at posting, I would give you some eye candy!! I realized that I haven't put all my recent projects on this blog. I have had more computer issues this fall, which makes it difficult to post pictures, but I will try to catch you up. As for upcoming events, I am excited to be starting two new things in the coming weeks, I am taking a Beth Moore study on Esther!! Should be an excellent study, as it always is with Beth!! Then in February, I will begin teaching Ephesians in Precepts, which if you don't know is a Kay Arthur study. The Precept study is a lot more work than the Beth Moore study, not only because I am teaching, but it is just very detailed and goes back to the original Greek and Hebrew!! I love it, eventhough it requires many early mornings of study time. I learn so much!! I will keep you all updated, and if you've never done either study, I would challenge you to try one or the other or hey....BOTH!!! :)
We had a delightful Christmas season, with family, and friends. Alex and Anna returned from their honeymoon in Maui, and are doing great in their new apartment. She has it decorated so cute!!
Alex is officially off deployment!!! And received a special commendation while in Iraq. We, of course, are very proud of him and are grateful to the USMC for recognizing some of his unique abilities!! This is one of the Christmas presents this year, its a felted tote for my Mom. She wanted something to carry her Bible in, and it fits perfectly!! I used the Falling Leaves Pattern from Classic Elite, and the yarn was Cascade 220!! Love both. The pattern is real easy, and by pulling the new color yarn underneath the stitch, it creates that real straight line!! Very cool!! I also did a scarf for mom.
I used an Alpaca in ivory. The yarn is on my Ravelry notebook, sorry, I can't remember what is was now, but it was very soft and nice to work with. I haven't done a lot of lace work, but this was a fairly quick knit!! I also made a quick crocheted hat for my neice. She looks so cute in hats!! Made a different one for my nephew too, but not sure that picture is loaded. If it is, I'll post it. I am going to leave you with several pictures from the past month. As always thanks for visiting. I do visit your blogs, but have been real behind in lots of things due to all these computer issues. Happy 2010! Hope to hear from you!!
Suzanne

This is a cowl that I finally finished, started it over a year ago!! I love the color and the pattern is linked on my Ravelry page.

Wedding

Well, the big day finally arrived on November 28.2009. Everything went very well, and everyone looked beautiful. We were blessed with a 50 degree and sunny day, which in Michigan in late November, rarely happens. The kids are off to Hawaii for their honeymoon. I think I will let the pictures speak for themselves. Enjoy!!