OH MY !

Oh, my, it's been a long time since I've been here.

And another "Oh my": I was so proud of myself to finally have all of the January birthday sweaters completed in time, but "Oh my" these grandchildren are growing too fast.

Not a problem for this one. (Sorry it's a little whopper-jawed in the photo.) It fits her just right.

I guess I should warn those in her household, though, that it will not fit very long if it finds its way into the dryer.

Washing instructions are "Hand wash; Dry flat". (I do typically wash in the machine on delicate cycle, but do NOT put in the dryer.) Hope you're reading this Anna Maria!

Somehow, I knew when I looked at this sweater after it was all put together that it would not fit. Sure enough, it needs more length in both body and sleeves. Bless his heart, though, the recipient liked it well enough that he really didn't want me to take it back to fix it.

At my insistence, though, he let me have it. Luckily it's a "top-down" knit, so I took out the side seams to just above the ribbing and then could frog the bind off and ribbing rows and add to it, then redo the ribbing. (For those of you who are not familiar with the term "frog" it means to rip it out: "rip-it; rip it")

I must admit, it's a little cumbersome to knit with all the pieces sewn together, but that sure is better than taking the WHOLE THING apart!

The neck is too loose, but I think I can just make the seams on the neck ribbing a little deeper without even being noticed. (Since it's raglan sleeves, there are four seams in the neck ribbing.)

Well, I guess he'll have his birthday sweater in time for MY birthday next month! I'll keep you posted.

Oh, I do have a couple quilts to show you too, but I'll save that for another day.

SO THIS IS IT !

Well, I guess it's about time I come around and let you know a little about my trip to Greece. Not a lot of photos. We typically don't do a lot of sight-seeing--been there, done that quite some time ago. Although we did do a bit more this year when our daughter and son-in-law were with us for a few days. They have the sight see-er photos.

So I guess I'll just show you how we spent a bit of our time. My husband is quite pleased that he planted a lemon and orange tree. Now for those of you and the west and Gulf coasts, this is no biggie. But for this Midwest implant to East Tennessee, it's a bit of a novelty. He's planted several times before and (since we're not there much of the year to care for them) has lost the trees to frost or draught. This time, though, they are in front of the house instead of in back, so they'll have much more protection. Additionally he says that he is "going to insist" that they make it. Sure hope so!

That's the lemon tree on the left (already a couple little lemons on it) and the orange tree barely visible on the other side of the roses.

Yes, I did do some quilting while I was there. Most days it was done on our front veranda -- with this view. Well, OK, the sheep weren't always there, just occasionally in the afternoons when the shepherd brought them by before taking them to their shed for the night. I must admit that this my favorite part of the day; being beckoned outside by the sound of the bells that the several of the sheep wear around their necks.

And to prove that I did finish the quilt (a block exchange) , here it is:

I used flower stencils on the large squares. First time I had used stencils. The powder I had was white. Now you know why I did most of the quilting OUTSIDE. I needed the light. White pouncing powder on cream fabric is NOT the easiest way to go!

That's our olive grove in the background. The olives were already harvested and oil milled by the time I got there, so no work for me involved there. My only work was to enjoy cooking with the best, freshest olive oil ever.

So fresh, in fact, it smiles back at you when you pour it in the pan!

And now to get back to some January birthday knitting!

CHRIST IS BORN

GLORIFY HIM !

CHECK LIST

Bills paid -- check;

Mail stopped -- check;

Paper stopped -- check;

Suitcase packed -- check;

The above includes, ticket, passport, and cash -- check;

Tomorrow morning's ride arranged -- check;

Key to house sitter -- check.

Bid farewell to my blog friends -- check.

Looking forward to:

the beautiful Greek countryside -- check

freshly milled extra virgin olive oil -- check

brother-in-law's wine -- check

Thanksgiving visit from daughter and son-in-law -- check, check, and double check!

See you soon!

WINTER'S COMING !

At least I think winter is coming. We had subfreezing temps here in East Tennessee last night, but it's predicted to be 72 again tomorrow. Go figure.

Well, at any rate, my college freshman granddaughter will have a little something to keep her ears (and neck and head) warm this winter. And since the cold comes to New York a bit sooner than to Tennessee, I'm not waiting for her January birthday to send this little goodie: a hooded scarf, with pockets--no less. It's going in the mail tomorrow. Along with some biscotti -- what's a Nani to do?

And no I won't get bored with no knitting just because I'm sending hers early. She had two siblings whose birthdays fall the same week. This is the start of her little sister's sweater.

Phooey, though, I've already gift wrapped the 3 baby quilts that are going in the mail too -- so no photos of them completed. I did post photos of the piecing portion a few weeks ago.

So now it's time to get back to the sewing machine and work on the Christmas PJs. At least some of them are completed and all of them are cut out and ready to stitch. Better get busy!

GUESS WHERE I'VE BEEN

To HOUSTON QUILT MARKET !

With fabric designer daughter, Anna Maria .

What a great time! Got to see all the quilts hanging for this week's quilt festival too. Wonderful!

FYI

In case you are wondering:

He chose the check. So the circles will be for his art school freshman older sister!

Be back another day with some more current projects.