Baby Boy (in March)

BAD GRANDMA!!!!!
I really wasn't writing a blog for the several months surrounding the birth of our latest grandchild, but there is really no good excuse for not posting at least a picture of this new beautiful child. Although now that I think about it, his own mother doesn't have him on her near debunked blog either.
(I posted a few pictures of him of Facebook; if that counts for something.)
Alas, here is FORD JAMES. Born March 13, 2013 (3-13-13 looks pretty memorable, right?)

His most distinguishing feature at his birth was his furrowed brow. The cute little newborn sorta, just kinda, looked like a cute little old man.

 Here's his mom and dad giving him his first bath. So gentle she is.

 But he is not feeling it.

20 seconds later he is comfy and cozy. Maybe he's asleep?

His big sisters are just loving him.

He will like this blanket that I made. Little activities all around it.

 GPa came for a visit too.

 Fast forward to the day after S/J wedding and he's all ready for a blessing at church. Almost 3 months old now.

 Reacting to a little hello with a rewarding smile.

 They gave him a name and a blessing in our Los Gatos Ward. My sisters son also had a new baby that was blessed that day. Their family had come for the wedding and since so much family was in town for that, they asked if they could do their blessing too. It was a perfect scenario.

 Kathryn with my parents. This is Sam/Joyce's 33rd great grandchild. They now have 36 and one on the way. Prolific family?

 4 Generations

My cousin and her daughter loving on Aunt Joyce.

 Congrats to my beautiful daughter....

and her adorable family of 5!

Project from 30 Years Ago

When I was recently in Colorado at my sisters home, I noticed al long (too long) skinny baby bunting that sorta looked familiar.

Sure enough, when I looked at it a bit more closely I thought that at one point about 30years ago I remembered staring at this yellow yarn for a few weeks as it passed through my fingers and onto the knitting needles to make this for my new little nephew. 

My first attempt  at  cable stitches and I see a few mistakes. I'm sure I still see plenty of mistakes in my work, but the noticeable ones are now easier to fix than they used to be, as my expertise has increased.

I probably knitted a little tighter then than I do now and I also followed the length guidelines without taking that into account. Hence the longer than wide result. Cute little hood.
I think todays patterns of a bunting would include a little slit near a third of the way up to put a seatbelt thorough, but back then nothing of the sort would have even been thought of yet.
What a nice Aunt I was. ;-)
What a nice sister I have to have kept it for posterity.

Couple More Baby Blankets

These minky blankets are becoming my signature baby gift. Although I never seem to quite learn my little lessons from one month to the next while making these things.
I always look for a creative edging stitch to use around the binding, and by the time I finish I wish I had just used a simple zig zag stitch. For some reason the fancier ones don't stitch as evenly on the satin blanket binding as I would like, so I am always disappointed with the outcome.

 We have a couple of cute new baby boys in the ward. I had never used this monkey alphabet embroidery that I downloaded several months ago, so it was time to try it out.

 I used long minky fur fabric for the beard on this one. Kinda fun.

 And I've been adding these ribbons in different widths around part of one edge for the baby to play with. Also added some crinkle noisy filled fabric on this one. I'll have to ask about that in a few months as baby Spencer starts to become more inquisitive.

These animal inspired fabrics work with the monkey on the front don't you think?

Note to self - use simple zig-zag stitch next time!