Grandchildren Photos

I have been away for about ten days, traveling with my husband to Maine and then on to Ontario to visit our daughter Elena and her family.
Some photos of the grandchildren:

Jacob is the second from the right, right in front of the priest; Hannah is third from the left in the front row

Joseph, Elena's second youngest child; he is 3 1/2, full of mischief and a real delight; even when he cries, his eyes are laughing

Ben, who just turned five, is the serious child and he wants to be a farmer when he grows up! hence the John Deere cap

The two boys together; they are inseparable and Ben said he wished they were twins too, just like Jacob and Hannah

After a short visit with Elena's family, Nick headed out to do some work and he took the dog. He is a professor of geology and in the summers, he goes out into the field, mapping rock outcrops in Ontario. Algonquin Park, which is a huge national park, has never been mapped for its rocks and it is Nick's intention to get this done before he retires. I flew on to Fredericton, where I spent two days, as I had been asked to be the keynote speaker at their March for Life rally this past Thursday. I got much more out of this event than I gave to it, and I was grateful to meet the wonderful New Brunswick people who welcomed me. We were fortunate to have a break from all the rainy weather and the sun actually came out and shone and it felt warm. You have to know the Maritime provinces to realise that is something we relish when it comes - sun and warmth - all too infrequent, I'm afraid.

No sewing done these past two weeks, but I have been knitting. And in Maine, I visited a delightful little yarn shop in Orono. It is Fiberphilia, a lovely shop and the lady working there was very helpful. Although I learned to knit as a teen, I haven't really done much for years and the new yarns are a mystery to me. She helped me pick out a lovely purple wool for a simple sweater I saw in the Vogue knitting magazine.

This shouldn't be too hard, it is all garter stitch done on circular needles (which surprised me) but what really attracted me to the pattern was the basketweave ribbing.

My husband remarked that I always have some knitting on the go, but he never sees a completed sweater. That's true, and the reason is that they always turn out way too big. Either my tension or the wrong yarn, but they are massive and for some reason, I can't judge this as I knit. With sewing, I know how to measure and alter the pattern, but somehow knitting and the fit escapes me. But I like to have something to do with my hands while watching a movie (Nick and I never watch TV, just interesting British serials) so I make about one sweater per year. And when I sew it up, I find it massive so I give it away.

Which is why I never say I will knit a sweater for anyone, because then they would simply be disappointed. This way, someone gets a sweater that they weren't expecting. Not that I make a lot, but there have been a couple of garments donated to a larger person.

Hopefully, this new one will fit as the lady in the store assured me the yarn was the right one for the gauge indicated in the pattern.