Hey, baby

It was one year ago, on Thanksgiving Day, that my sister called to tell Mom that she was pregnant.  This year we had a 5-month-old joining us for dinner!  Here he is, post-green bean feast, "riding a motorcycle" on his auntie's lap (she was even making motorcycle noises).

We had a fine non-pureed feast, ourselves, of roast turkey, stuffing with sausage and giblets, steamed vegetables, raspberry fluff, fruit salad, and sweet potatoes.  Thank you, Norma, for the comment/warning/heads-up regarding Jane Brody's sweet potato/apple dish...  I ended up doing my own thing, combining that recipe with one from Joy of Cooking, and adding a dash of this (nutmeg) and a little of that (cinnamon), besides (plus paprika and cloves).  Mmmmm.

Oooh, yeah, look at that!  The last Better Pal package arrived the other day and contained this beautiful skein of Bamboo yarn -- I've been wanting to try this and, well, now I can!  Isn't it gorgeous?  You want a better look, don't you?  The colors are just beautiful. Yet another skein of yarn that I can't wait to work!!  My pal was Jessica of Rose-Kim Knits!  Thank you Jessica, I am dreaming of January and the opportunity to work with some of the lovely fibers you've sent to me.  Oh, and the orange Chibis -- I've seen them around, of course, but didn't realize that they were actually different.  The needles are smaller -- my pal mentioned that they'd work nicely to finish the toes of my socks.  ; )

On the flip-side, I had the pleasure of spoiling Anne of How the West Was Spun these past few months and, of course, being one of the torturing villagers assembled by Margene to mess with Ann a little.  It's been a blast!

Since this photo was taken, I've turned the heel, finished the gusset and am mid-foot -- it's the Log Cabin Sock from Handknit Holidays.  And look at that!  There's a Handknit Holidays Knit-along hosted by my very own Pal!  Sign me up!!!  I'm knitting this, the men's version, in Cascade Pastazza which I happened to have in the stash as the result of a half-price, going out of business sale a few months ago.  I happen to have some Rowan Cork in the stash, also, which I will use to knit the women's size.  I may do a run of these for members of my household as we've turned down the heat a notch and it's just a drafty old house with cold, hardwood floors...

Speaking of the house.  I'm enlisting the design sense and muscle of my girls this weekend to do a major rearranging of our living area.  This is kind of with the Christmas tree in mind, but mostly because it's just time for something different!  Woohoo!

Comments

[Christine]

Glad to hear that you had a good Thanksgiving. That picture of Mack is darling!

You'll love working with the bamboo yarn. I did a Branching Out scarf with one skein and the drape on it is just amazing.
I don't know if I'll be able to give it away as the holiday gift it was intended to be!

It's a small knitting world. Anne was one of my secret pals a while back!

And look at the gorgeous sock. Welcome to the dark side! I knew you'd be a sock knitter after all, muahahah!

[Stephanie]

Mack is so big and adorable!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

(your sock-in-progress looks awesome. I love that book).

[Mary in Boston]

That baby is GORGEOUS! Glad you had a wonderful holiday!

[Stacie]

He is such a adorable little baby!

[Carole]

Mack is so cute! And love the sock! I'm so jealous that you can rearrange furniture. Our house is old and has too many doorways and hearths and windows to ever do any rearranging.

[margene]

I love the sock and might need to buy that book! It was so much fun to do the Better Pal thing as it was a small group who did good work. Happy weekend!

[Bookish Wendy]

Happy T-day Vicki!! I survived (somehow) and I'll have lots of details sometime soon.

Love you!

[Cara]

You're not just a better pal - you're the BEST PAL!

I need one of those orange chibi things. I was just googling it this morning.

Mack is freaking adorable! I got in lots and lots of cuddling time with Eli this weekend. This is definitely one of my favorite ages. They're giggling nonstop but not really moving too much. And they smile so, so big. I miss my babies. Glad you got to spend time with yours!