Christmas in Effingham?

Which is a town in Illinois, I promise! 

As it turns out, Effingham is pretty nearly halfway between where we live and where our son's family is stationed, so we made a plan to meet up after First Christmas on Dec 25th 

for a second celebration! 

A hotel stay with some rooms adjoining meant that the cousins could play, 

and we could all exchange gifts (the sweaters!)...

and just hang out together for a couple days, which was way fun! We made stops at a trampoline park, 

Andi, Aaron, Aiden and Allen, and
some random girl in purple...

we played in the pool, 

some of us napped, 

and some of us poked the [Pop Pop] bear while others took pictures!

There was eating (and waiting for food),

and playing (and knitting) and loafing, 

and fun, and a couple of cousins got to know each other a bit better even. 

All in all, a great couple of days with 10 of our favorite people!

Note: hotel employees thought we had so much fun, they even tried to get [their thumb] into the pictures! (Still a great pic, though we cropped out Diane's thumb!)

Today, we are on our way home, and the Christmas vibes are still pretty strong! (But we miss the rest of us...)

I hope you are also still having fun! What was your favorite gift this season (if you have/received gifts, that is)? Whatever it is, I hope it hasn't broken yet! 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health! 

Busy, But Loved

This past week has been a bit of a blur. It started with a 3-day trip to see the Ark Encounter in Williamstown, KY, and also the Creation Museum in Petersburg.

Then back to the office to prepare for the end of week madness of two worship services, a funeral and a large meeting, all taking place over the next two days. #churchlife 

For what it's worth, church life can be a very good life. ☺ I am happy to work and worship in the places that I do those things, and visiting KY this week has reinforced that for me. There are challenges, as there are with any group of people, because we are often not all on the same page about everything.

What we are on the same page about is Jesus. God's Son, and our Lord and Savior, he is the basis of our faith. Visiting the Ark and Museum reminded me that Jesus doesn't mean much if we don't first believe in God and his creation. It also reminded me that there are many who do not start there, and many who start there and then take some questionable turns...including myself, from time to time.

I know that some of you reading, if you are still reading, have very different beliefs than I do. I would venture to guess that we start at different places, and it might be difficult for us to be on the same page ever. I'm ok with that, and I promise to never force my beliefs on you, because I love Jesus. He did not say, "Force this down your neighbor's throat, in the name of God!" Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God...and love your neighbor as yourself." That's what I'm about, and I hope that you know that you are loved, by me at least. I don't ever want anyone to feel that they are unloved or unlovable...so, always know that you've got a friend in me. 

Besides, I don't typically blog about all of that. This is a blog about knitting, and yarn, and family...right?!? Right!!! So, what am I knitting (besides frogs)?

Well, there are the purple socks, which are coming right along! (After all, I had, like 10 hours of car knitting this week!)

And I'm working on a Farm Doodle Cowl as a test knit for Pacific Knit Co!

Just for fun, my pretty, knitty brain decided that we would like to do this double-knit (or two-sided), which has slowed me down considerably...but wow! Check this out!

Super-fun! After the cowl is finished, and perhaps after the socks are finished also, I am most likely going to go back to make a few more pieces for the frog's wardrobe, and perhaps a frog-friend as well. After all, what's better than a knitted frog?

TWO knitted frogs! Lolz...well, it's better to me at least! 

What's going on in your world this week? I hope that whatever it is, you are finding time to spend with the people who mean the most to you, and that you are feeling the love that is all around you. 

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Oh!, and my morning glory
seeds have sprouted!

Round, Round Getaround! 🎵🎶

Not really even my era of music, except that my parents always listened to the "oldies" station on the radio while I was growing up! Now my era of music is on that same station...but I digress...this is about how Pretty "gets around!"

A couple weeks ago, I blogged that I was headed on a ROAD TRIP!, and I am soon headed on another. This time, it's a getaway from the office to do some planning trip, and I'm a little sad that Mr Pretty will not be tagging along. This is my first of three planned trips without him this year, but I will be with good friends. We will be doing some exploring, and I am excited to go. 🤗

Plus, there will be knitting time! Since I have a couple of projects on the needles, including purple socks to wear to an upcoming Donny Osmond concert!!!

With a combined 10 hours of car-knitting along the way, these should be finished before I get home! Other projects coming with me include some double knitting (a test knit for a farm-themed cowl) 

and, depending on how much time I actually end up with, perhaps another fun pair of socks. I have some self-striping, sock yarn and a polka-dot pattern all lined up for this trip! I thought about bringing the current frog-project, but there are just too many loose ends that one must pack for a tiny-toy-knit! 

Yes, he's cute. He is also a model for future-frog-togs for the blog-frogs of my September 2023 post, Frog Lips. But he, and any other frogs that fall off my needles before I leave, will be staying home with Mr Pretty. I doubt they will pay each other any mind. Lol... 😜

I'm looking forward to this tiny respite from the everyday. April has been a busy month already, and although I have enjoyed the birthday parties,

Middle kid, Pappy, Uncle and Birthday Boy!

All the boys like the Brown Bear Buddies!

He can climb Pop Pop!

This kid can [almost] flyyyyy!

time with littles and bigger grandkids, 

Snuggles with cousins...

Hide and Seek ⬆️
Mario ⬇️

I am quite looking forward to a bit of quiet time away also. Maybe I can even talk my crew into finding a yarn store along the way. (FYI, this is unlikely, which is totally ok. I have no shortage of yarn in my life...or in my house...and at least two yarn adventures planned for this summer!)

So, I suppose that's what's going on with me. How about you? Are you getting around at all? Any plans for the upcoming summer (or winter, depending on your hemisphere)? Wherever you go, whatever you do, don't forget your knitting!

Thanks for stopping by, and Knit in Good Health!

Gnomes, decked out for Spring!