A little Busy

Well, as I said, still trying to figure out this new computer, but I did manage to download all my new pictures, so I figured it was time to change the ole' blog. Thanks to all my (few) faithfuls (you know who you are). I miss hearing from you and I do so appreciate your comments!! I have been busy in the...well actually, more crochet right now than knitting. I am in the process of knitting that Moderne Blanket for Alex and Anna. Wow what a huge project. I will take pictures soon, but I feel guilty knitting anything else, when I have so far to go on that. So, what is a knitter to do? .... Crochet of course... that doesn't count!! :) I made some real fast projects though that were great stash busters! First, is the Stitchy Scrubbie I found in the latest issue of Crochet Today. Isn't this fabulous!! The directions were a little strange sounding, but if you follow them then you get this. Just great. I will definitely be making more of these.
The only thing is that the yarn needs to be doubled. I hate that, cuz that means making two balls instead of one, and I will avoid one if I can. I need a ball winder!! Hum!! The next project was a tote.
I did find this pattern somewhere, but simply took the basic directions out of a crochet instruction book for a flat circular bottom. I think I did 7 rounds, then you crochet through the back loop with you first color, and then every color, I used a different stitch, which in crochet means a different length. Make the thing as tall as you want, do the same for the handle, and Viola' instant great summer tote. I have gotten a lot of compliments on this.
Just makes me think summer. I like it!!
I have made a couple dishrags, but they are for swap, and I haven't sent them out yet, so next post I will show you those. Maybe I will have more scrubbies made by then. Guess that is all for now. This is going to be a whirlwind month, our daughter is graduating, every concert and piano and voice recital is scheculed for this month, plus one son in track, not to mention getting ready for her open house. Whew! I'm tired already! :) As usual, thanks for stopping and hopefully I can post soon. Should have lots to share! :) Have a great day!
Suzanne

I'm Back!!!!!!

Praise the Lord!! I have a new computer!!! I'm sure you all thought I dropped off the planet, and there were times when I felt like I did! :) I was able to use my husbands old laptop, but lets just say all I could do was lurk and check emails. It wouldn't even let me leave comments!! I have been knittiing. I'm not sure though if I have any new pictures. I will soon, but alas, that part of this computer system isn't quite finished. Here are some updates:
Alex is on a long mission, please pray for him. He just in the last month, had two wisdom teeth pulled, and suffered through a bought of dehydration, that had us a little concerned. He also has lost @ 30 pounds. I asked him if they had a fat Marine Mom weight loss program. I'd be right over! :)
Daughter Ashleigh (the senior) is counting down days, now that spring break is over. She will be done on May 15th!! Whoa, quess I better get going on her open house plans...yikes!!
The Boys are boys... :) trying to keep ones grades up, and one is running track. Hopefully have some pictures of that soon.
Well, it seems to be spring sort of here in Michigan. No blooms yet, but everything is budded. Just waiting for 60 degree weather. Then I am sure everything will pop!!!
I did get out in my yard last week, got the garden beds already, and hope to plant seeds in my garden on Saturday. I guess thats really all. Oh Wedding plans are really in full swing. We went with Anna last week to the place where the reception will be for a taste testing dinner. That was fun, and I think she got the menu set. Today, I am off to meet my brother and his family at the Bridal shop, so my neice Lydia (who is in the wedding) can pick out her dress. Talk about excitement for a 6 year old.... getting to pick out a princess dress. Her only two questions were... what color.... and do I get to carry flowers like Anna!! Very important things you know!! I went a couple weeks ago with Anna and Ashleigh, so Ashleigh could order her dress. That was fun. I got to see Anna's dress. Wow, she will make a beautiful bride. The dress is beautiful, but she makes the dress!! Sappy, but true!! :) I guess that is it for now, I just wanted you to know that I was still here, and have missed being in blogland!! Thanks for visiting, and I hope to hear from you!!
Thanks,
Suzanne

Computer Issues

Okay, I am sick of things being sick. I have been sick since, like, forever, Mid January, and then my computer gets sick. Is there a connection?? I think not, but thanks for letting me have my 3 second pity party! :) I have been doing some knitting. Made my mom a pair of fingerless gloves, they were from my Knitting Calendar 2008, with the ruffle. If you have the calendar, you;ll find them. I am bad, and didn't get a picture! I also made her a dishcloth and a mug rug. I still need to make myself one of those. I have been working on Alex and Anna's afghan. I don't know if I posted this, but I am doing the Moderne Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting (Book 1). The pattern is simple enough, but this thing will be huge. It is all knit, which is nice, but a tad boring. I am finishing up another neck cowl, I will post pictures here when I'm done.
Just also wanted to share some personal stuff. I am currently going through Beth Moore's Study, A Psalm of Ascent. It is based on Psalms 120 - 134. It is a pilgrimage. I have read the Psalms many, many times, but Beth takes a closer look at these 15 psalms, like only Beth could. Also, the Lord's timing, as usual, is perfect, and why am I surprised when He gives me just what I need when I need it? I was having one of my bad days, missing Alex, and I sat down to do one of the lessons, and it was Psalm 121.
"I lift my eyes up to the hills, From where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber. Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep. The Lord protects you; the Lord is a shelter right by your side. The sun will not stike you by day,, or the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all harm; He will protect your life. The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever!
Can I just say... Amen!! I needed that, and knew that not only is God talking to me, to settle me, but I knew I needed to pray that for Alex.
Then, about a week later, we found out that Alex was going on a mission, and I was in Psalm 125. "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion. It cannot be shaken; it remains forever." I just love the way God is using the Sunday School lesson to quiet a mothers heart. Giving me what I need, when I need it!! Our God is so good!!
Thanks for stopping by. Hopefully I'll have some new pictures next post!!
Suzanne

More Catching Up!!

Hi all!! Boy I am sure not liking this new average I seem to have with blogging. Only once a month, I feel so out of touch. I do visit your sites though, and some fo my faithful few (you know who you are :)) Continue to leave me comments!! I sure do appreciate it. On the Alex front, he is at his sandbox destination. Arrived safely. We have had the opportunity to talk with him a few times. We got a webcam for Christmas, and then you get onto Skype. What a wonderful thing!!! Last Wednesday, we talked for about an hour with VIDEO!!! The movements are a little delayed, but clear!! He was cleaning his rifle. We got a tour of his "can" that's what they call their "house." The conversation takes a little longer, b/c of the delay, but he sounds and looks good. He has already lost 20 pounds!! Hope he doesn't loose too much more, he'll fit back into the dress blues he came out of boot camp with. Skype also allows you to take snapshots. Which I did, but I have no idea where on my computer they went. I tried to find them this afternoon, and I can't. I will try to find them, or take another one and post it here. Thank you to all those who are faithfully praying for him. He truely is in God's hands, not that he never wasn't!!
Knitting has slowed down, however I was sick last week, and did some things for my mom. However, since they sometimes read this blog, I will have to wait on those pictures. I will put on here some of the items I did from Christmas. (yes, I'm still playing catch up!!). First up are the scarves I did for my neices. The first one, is a crochet pattern from my LYS. It is what is called a "Mock Cable Stitch". Very cool, funky, but easy!! I even made one for myself. My beautiful neice Liberty
and then Lydia are modeling those scarves. I used Encore for the pink one, and Patons wool for the redder one.
The other scarf, modeled by the beautiful and wonderful cook, Lindsay, was the One Skein Scarf from the Happy Hooker Book. Also very simple, and I like the flowery looking motif. All very simple, but fun to make!! Thanks to Lindsay for taking pictures for her old aunt, as I forgot. Oh she is also a wonderful and talented photographer!!! Thanks, Lindsay!!
THe other two are dishclothes. Both are snowflakes, The white one is a little hard to see, but I thought the blue one turned out nice. Both were easy patterns (see my Ravelry page under Zandersmom), but I liked the pattern and the motif better on the blue one. The white one, actually had two yarn overs in the middle, which if your a knitter, you will know leaves a hole. So, eventhough hard to see, there are two holes in the middle of the snowflake. Kind of different!! :) I guess that's it, I just wanted to catch up. I am involved in a new Bible Study, but we have just started, but I am learning soooo much, I'm not sure I even know where to start. I will save that for a post by itself. It is Beth Moore's "Psalm of Ascent." It is very different, but by far the most spiritually challenging one of hers I have done. I will be teaching in the spring, until the end of the year, so that will keep me busy as well. I am reviewing curriculm right now. Well, I guess I'm done, for now, thanks as always for visiting. Please come back!!
Suzanne

New Things

Back to knitting!! I've actually been pretty busy on the knitting front, just not on the getting pictures from hubby front. However, he did get them to me yesterday, so I will try to catch up, but I will do it in small doses. First are the two helmetliners that I did for our Marine and his buddy, Ben.
I made Alex the black one, which is being modeled by my youngest son, Eric.
This was made from Shepherd's Wool, made right here in northern Michigan at Stonehedge Fiber Mill.This yarn was just simply "Yummy."
It was just buttery soft, and it worked up like a dream. It is 100% wool, which is required by our military. I am trying to think of something to make for me out of it. I made Ben's out of Cascade 220.
It is being modeled by my son Greg. I wanted to see how the two compared. The Cascade is a great yarn, but the Shepherd's Wool won handsdown for softness.
They both turned out great and the pattern was different than anything I've ever done, but not hard at all. It is a very well written pattern. Check out my Ravelry notebook for all the details.
The blue scarf was a quick gift for a friend at church. I had some leftover yarn from this... A beautiful flower motif scarf that I made for Anna for Christmas.
It was crocheted and quick to make. It looks longer than it is. Anyway, back to the blue scarf....sorry. I used the leftover Lion Brand Wool Ease Chunky and size 17 needles. Turned out nice and long, enough to wrap around several times. I made her a dishcloth too, but don't seem to have that picture yet. I'll share when I do. I guess that's it for now, I have lots more to share, but I don't want to bore you all in one post. As usual, thanks for taking the time to read my blog, and I hope you visit again soon.
Suzanne

Sad, sad, sad

No not me, but about what I'm going to show you. My father-in-law grew up in a small farming town in southern Michigan. He lived out in the country, about two miles from his grandparents, who owned a beautiful fruit farm. Grandma and Grandpa Nightliner bought the farm in 1917. They have since passed on, and Grandma sold the farm to a young couple back in 1988. Twenty years ago. We have driven by many times over the years, and watched it go from an old house that was totally fixable, (maybe a new roof at the time and a few TLC cosmetic things) to this today.
Very, very sad indeed. This fall, before our son left for the sandbox, and gets married, by DH decided to take the whole family, including his folks, and visit the farm his dad grew up on (sorry don't have the pics for that yet ). Anyway, on a beautiful day this past fall, we got permission from the new owners, and went and walked the entire property. It was very fun to hear George tell of old stories, where the pigs used to be, where they got in trouble for this and that (there was a lot of that, with 4 boys :). Then on a whim, we drove the couple miles to this farm. There happened to be someone there, doing a few things. We stopped, Jeff explained who we were, and then we got permission to look around.
Unfortunately, because of all the overgrowth, we couldn't go very far into the orchards, but if you looked close, you could tell the different kinds of fruits that they had... cherries, peaches, apples, plums. THe raspberries were long buried by brush. Unfortunatley, the house didn't fair well either. Not sure why someone would buy a house, property, and then for twenty years do nothing. As you can see from these pictures the house was now in disrepair We just found out that it was torn down by the township in December of 2008. The barn and the help houses are in better shape. The side of the house that is collapsing the most, used to be the dining room, and the kitchen was in the back.. They even fought the tearing down of the house, saying that they were going to do something with it. Hadn't done anything for 20 years, why now. I simply don't understand that. Jeff and I almost wish we would have bought it, but you can't go back can you??
Did take this sweet picture of all my kids in the huge, and I mean huge tree in the side yard.
All 3 of the big trees look like this, and Jeff said its because Grandma never let Grandpa trim them. She knew she wanted big, beautiful trees. We were glad we had the time to spend even a few hours there and that we got some nice pictures. Truely the end of an era. Sad.....

New Year

Hi all! Thought I would take a mintue and change everything up for the new year. First up, our son is off. It was a long night of getting him to where he needed to be, saying "Goodbye" and finally falling into bed at 5:00 am this morning. He is truely in God's hands now, not that he never wasn't! Your prayers as always are appreciated.
I'm also trying to recover from a bad fall yesterday. We went out to dinner after church, Alex was still home, so it was a nice time for our family to be together, we had ice yesterday morning, and down I went. I think I wretched my entire body! Everything hurts on every side, most concerned about my left arm. Actually, I had a herniated disk in my neck two years ago,but my arm felt just like this. I have some permanent nerve damage in my left arm, and since yesterday, it feels just like it did two years ago. So, am trying to take it easy today, and maybe tomorrow, and hopefully this disk is not the problem!!
Did a lot of knitting for Christmas, pics still need to come from hubby, maybe I should deny food :) till I get them!! Only kidding! I see from many of your blogs that I am not the only one who is busy. I was so busy over the holidays, I forgot about my blogaversary! It was December 27th! I had great plans, but maybe I'll do something soon!
Guess that is it for now. I don't want to ramble!:) I hope to be posting some pics soon. Thanks for you visit, your patience, and as always I welcome your comments!!
Suzanne