Knitting Today

 A couple of months ago I put the Harbin Sweater Test Knit aside for a variety of smaller knitting projects.  Here are two of them:

This is the front of the mini Nordic sweater for great-grandchild number two and family member number twenty-five!

Here is the back of that sweater.  I kind of like the pattern.  It was a bit of an accident. I forgot to start a pattern at the right time so this was the best design I could come up it.  As I say, I sort of like it.

This is my rendition of the Swaddle Pals Volume 1 bunny.  Not great but the baby will not care.  I did not block it.

The tail is not ideal but it does look like a tail, I guess.  The bunny is supposed to be flat rather than round.

Here we have the actual swaddle blanket with the loop and button showing.

Little Bun is ready to be swaddled!  If I make another of these swaddle pals and blanket, I will make the blanket square instead of rectangular as the pattern specifies.

 

Little Bun is ready to be held. I hope the new baby will want to snuggle with this little creature.  My guess is that it will not happen. I feel like the yarn is a little scratchy.  Still it was fun to make.

Now...back to the Harbin Sweater.  With good fortune it will be complete by the end of the month and a report and photos sent to the designer.

 

Look What Came In The Mail!

 One of my favorite things is to hear the doorbell ring.  I wish it would ring because people come to visit, but this is not the time for that to happen.  Instead, when the doorbell rings, it is a carrier dropping a parcel of some kind on our front step.  In the past week we have had two unexpected calls to the door.

The plant on the left arrived first.  It is in a beautiful ceramic pot and, while I cannot report its name because I have forgotten, I do remember that Dear One looked it up and said it can grow to seven feet tall!  I like that idea.  The possibility that it will do this makes me smile.  The probability that I will kill it within the year makes me sad. I hope not to do that!

The cheese cutter on the right really makes me smile, too.  There was no note in the box to tell me who sent it, but I suspect my sister.  She is so wonderful in every way.  I think we may have been slicing cheese when we were at her house and I mentioned that I could not find the cheese slicer we had had while we were in Vermont.  For all I know I left it there on purpose since at that time we were off dairy.  Well, SOME of us were off dairy.  No, we were both off dairy at that time, but that has sort of gone by the board for some of us. (I wish we could actually see inside our bodies the results of not eating dairy and then the results of going back on dairy.  It might make it easier to stick to this resolution.)

Anyway, you can probably see that the cheese slicer was put to IMMEDIATE use!!!  And continues to be uses regularly.  If the giver was not my sister, many thanks.  Even if it was my sister, I am so grateful. It works perfectly and makes me smile at your thoughtfulness.  Makes me want to go and do likewise...

Christmas Zone Conference

Christmas celebrating in the mission is different from last year.  All the Christmas packages are supposed to go to the missionaries in their own apartments, though I have my doubts as to how that will go judging by the number of boxes that have already arrived in the mission office....

Last year we had an all-mission Christmas gathering.  This year we had two zone conferences with half of the missionaries in each conference.  I got to pack up the gifts for the missionaries from the President and his family...a small job.  I also got to prepare and preside over a hot chocolate bar.

Here is a picture of the Christmas packages that were put in the back of the mission pickup truck.

Don't you just love apple boxes?!!  They are sturdy and tall enough for gift bags without mashing the handles.

The hot chocolate bar was mostly a success.  The first day I had plugged the two hot water urns into a power strip.  I did not learn until the activity was almost complete that the water was only lukewarm.  It had been hot at the beginning, but apparently the power strip was tripped by the two urns and shut off. I did not notice this and no one mentioned the water was not hot to me.  However, the second day I move the table close enough to the wall that we could plug directly into the outlet.  This time the issue was the opposite:  I was concerned the water would be boiling hot, so I unplugged for fifteen minutes.

For toppings we had canned whipped cream-very popular, also mini marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, evaporated milk, hazelnut creamer, mini candy canes, and peanut butter.  Almost everyone was flabbergasted to have peanut butter but everyone who tried it seemed to like it.

The sacred program of music and speakers was touching and inspiring.