Better than a Wonder Bra

Christmas has come and gone so its safe to post the little baby hoodie I made for cousin's daughter's daughter. (Life can be confusing to post about when multiple generations get together!)

Anyway - This cute little hoodie is made from Mexican Wave yarn by Elle. I used 3 skeins to make the small size of the Divi Hoodie.
Baby's Mom and her Grandma (a fellow knitter) were impressed with the sweater and loved the yarn.
Speaking of the Grandma - she made baby the absolutely cutest dress for Christmas. It was red with a white collar and the yoke was ribbed. The hem was so cute. Many little prairie points. The only problem of the day was that I forgot where I put my camera for safe keeping so I didn't get any pictures of it. Maybe cousin will see this post and send me a digital pic (hint-hint).

Being a knitter cousin knows I enjoy a wee bit of yarn. She brought me a fun present.

It's a Yarn Wonder Ball. It came wrapped and obviously "handmade". The little note on the side explains what this is -

"Different yarns of many colours and lengths are manually tied together to create a surprise yarn ball of wool blends, textures, small amounts of cotton, and surprises. Popular in the 1800's, the wonder ball was given as a gift at Christmas. As the person knit, and used up lines of yarn, small gifts inside the ball would surface. The knitter could not fast forward to see what the next trinket, surprise or yarn would be. The ball of yarn embodied the spirit of giving, as the gift continued to reveal presents, and the knitter produced a lasting gift or either a scarf or wrap."

Here's a better look at the side so you can see some of the different yarns. When I took it out of the wrapping to get a picture I could feel some things inside. I can't wait to get knitting on it and see what is hiding inside. I hope I can manage to hold off knitting it until after my surgery Jan 4th and I can have this as a special recovery present.
If you're interested in this fun little present the paper with patterns inside the wrapping says it came from Threads and More. Their website is: www.threadsandmore.com.au

She's an energizer bunny

Today was the baby shower for cousin (actually first cousin once removed, sadly I understand the whole first/second cousin thing). My cousin (Grandma-to-be) is also a knitter. I think from the second she heard the news she started knitting and sewing and didn't stop until 2 minutes before the shower. She made 3 sweaters - one with a bonnet and booties, an afghan, hooded wash blanket, quilt,burp cloth, sewed a tag ball and tag blankie, and I know I'm forgetting much more. Cousin lives in Arizona over the winter as they retired a few years back. All this knitting and quilting from her makes me very anxious to hit the day when I can happily retire and concentrate on the important things like knitting and quilting. Until then I'll just have to be happy with the time I have and not be jealous of my cousin - the energizer bunny of knitting. (Hi Coz! I found out she reads this.)

My knitting for the shower I've talked about without showing many pictures. But Mom-to-be now has the presents so I can show them without wondering if the wrong person see them.

First up - the teddy bear. He came from a Knitting magazine a few months back and the second I saw this cute little gut in his onsie I had to make it. He (or is it a she with the ruffled front) lived around here flat until last week when he got stuffed and ready for his new home. Once he was stuffed I decided he needed a patch on the knee. He's made from Woolease so he'll be strong but washable, babies need that.

Next present - The Hot Pink Sweater.

I love this sweater. The yarn is a nylon ribbon thread Louisa Harding no longer available) with a bit of a shine to it. The pattern is from the Drops website - one of their free ones. I love that web site for find all sorts of nice patterns.

I like the lace border, it's nice without being too delicate. The white buttons are from my Mom's button stash so she could be a part of the present too. Mom absolutely adored babies and children. She would have been all over a new baby coming into the family.

So - the rest of the weekend? This is stacking up to be a good weekend. Last night was a fire pit gathering at a friends house. Today was the baby shower with family. Sunday is a picnic at a friend's house and Monday is a bit of yard work. I took off Tuesday & Wednesday and plan to pretend to go to work. I'll get up regular time (well, maybe a bit later) and head up to the other house to work on it. Work 4 hours - take a lunch break - work 4 hours and call it a day. I NEED to get serious about getting that house ready to get off my hands.

Have a great weekend!

(For some reason the spacing is way off - I've added 2 lines between each paragraph on the top and they still - stick together).