Katie Jo Knits

Our New Home

2009-03-06T13:59:00.005-09:00

Well folks, we finally found a lovely house to call our home. Here it is:

The previous owners, and builders, began it's construction in 1969 and worked on it over the subsequent years. It's on a south facing slope, is on over 3.5 acres and has a shed, garden plot, lots of berries, rhubarb, a well (most houses in our neighborhood don't and have to get water hauled or delivered), and an incredible view of the Alaska Range.

the view from our front window, our deck has a picnic table built in

The sunshine coming in the living room is quite lovely, and at this time of year it's quite warm even. Even when it isn't sunny out, our house is quite bright and cheery. I put a bird feeder out near the picnic table and we got birds within an hour. Our birdy visitors are mostly red polls and black capped chickadees. However, we've had a pine grosbeak and a few gray jays come to our yard. We've also had quite a few of these:

it's a spruce grouse!

Hannah gets really excited when she sees the birds, especially the larger ones. The spruce grouse are fun to watch when they are walking through the snow from one tree in our yard to another. They sort of flounder a bit.

Here's another smattering of tracks under our deck. I believe the larger ones belong to a moose, of which we've had a few wander through our property, but I've yet to see one. Crazy, because their was one out there yesterday while I was home. Guess I need to look out my windows more. Other animal tracks and signs that we've seen while walking our driveway (it's somewhat long) are hare and some sort of small rodent. The rodent, probably a vole, left a small hole in the snow burm on the side of the road and you could see their tiny track go across and disappear. While wandering the road and our yard we've seen lots of interesting things, besides animal tracks, and expect to have all sorts of surprises come spring.

I'll leave you all with a shot of one of the things that originally drew me to this house, our wood cook stove.

lovely isn't it

The house has it's quirks, but it grows on us more each day.

Oi, it's time for an update wouldn't you say?

2008-12-23T13:13:00.003-09:00

Well, I guess I'll start with the big news items. We're now in Fairbanks and loving it, and Hannah's going to be a big sister.

Phew, now that we've got that out of the way, some miscellaneous items of note. We went to Sitka in October and I'm not sure that I posted any pictures of that trip. Here's Hannah riding a whale wearing her zip-in-the-back sweater. It's really a very good pic of her and the sweater.

We did get to see some Humpback whales in the distance and through the binocs they have at whale park, so that was cool. On the ferry ride over we saw Orcas. They were much closer, so that was even cooler. Considering we are no longer residents of Southeast Ak, it was nice to get to see all the whales. It's been many years since either Tim or I had seen Orcas so that was extra special. Sitka was a great place to visit and we hope to go again someday. If you haven't been, you should go, it's lovely there, even when it's raining.

So after we got back from Sitka, we found out that Fairbanks Tower needed Tim much sooner. After asking how quickly we could get up here, we settled on the first week of December. Much craziness ensued. We packed, did house repairs, got the house on the market and had an offer within a week. I left, Tim stayed, movers came, Thanksgiving passed, Tim left, Anchorage was snowy and after some time visiting our families, we finally drove up on December 3rd. There have been some hurdles in the house selling process, but God has been faithful in helping us humans work things out and it is still moving forward. So after several weeks in Fairbanks, we've more or less settled into temporary housing and are going to look out houses today! Please pray that we find the right one and that all the buying stuff goes much more smoothly than the selling.

So now it's nearing Christmas and that means a couple of things. One, I'm another year older. Yes indeedy, my birthday was yesterday and I got to bake cookies and visit with a friend from college, while her two and a half year old son played with Hannah. Making cookies was so easy with the kiddos entertaining each other, makes me very thankful that we have #2 on the way. Tim cooked dinner and we had a quiet evening at home. Two, we got a tree! It may be wee, but Hannah really likes it, as you can see.

yes it's blurry, but Hannah is so adorable and the tree is pretty

Along with the tree we have presents, sent by family far and wide. Hannah really likes to play with the presents, as much as we try to keep her out of them. Her favorite is the one sent by her Great Grandma and Grandpa Kritchen. It will probably be the first one she opens. I'm not sure if I'll get around to posting before the new year so...

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!
and Happy Holidays for other celebrants.

A quick update

2008-11-05T13:31:00.002-09:00

The move to Fairbanks got moved up. We'll be leaving Juneau this month, spend some time with family over Thanksgiving, although Tim will probably be on the road, and drive up to Fairbanks from Anchorage after Thanksgiving. Tim's first day of work at Fairbanks Tower is Dec. 8. We're hoping that by a miracle of God our house in Juneau will sell quickly so we can look for a place to buy when we get up north. It's all happening so quickly.

In knitting news, I finished knitting my big Christmas project. All I need to do now is weave in the ends and give it a good blocking. I plan on posting pics of the finished project after it is received by the recipient. As for other Christmas knitting, it's not going to happen this year. However, I do have a few projects that are nearly finished and plan on starting an EZ Baby Surprise Jacket while en route to our new home.

Sorry there aren't any pictures, I should have some in the next post.

Big News

2008-09-19T10:10:00.003-08:00

Some of you already know, but I thought I would share our news with everyone. No, I'm not pregnant. We are waiting for a few more months before trying for child #2. The reason being is that Tim got a job offer in Fairbanks. If all goes well we expect to be moving there in March. We are excited for the change in scenery, but sad to leave friends that we've made in Juneau. I'm looking forward to returning to the place I spent my undergraduate years.

While it is awefully cold up there, we are looking forward to a decrease in the volume of rain. There have been many times that I've missed the cold of Fairbanks after many days of rain here in Juneau. Besides, it is awefully pretty with all the frost on the trees.

Of course I hope to take Hannah to see these guys, and their neighbors the musk ox. What fun we'll have.

So, we're excited, but there is a whole lot that needs to be done before the move. Things like, fixing safety hazards around the house, bringing some things up to code and finishing other house projects. That's all got to be done before we put the house on the market. We hope it will sell quickly. Then there the packing and moving logistics. God will get us through the next few months. We couldn't do all this without Him. So now it's just one day at a time.

Happy Birthday Punkin!

2008-09-16T16:03:00.004-08:00

My little girl is one!!

Her homemade birthday cake

The year has flown by. Hard to believe she was just a wee thing when she was born. At her one year well baby check up she weighed in at 20+ lbs and was over 28 inches long.

Her birthday was pretty low key. Hannah's Grandma Long came for the weekend and we all had a great time eating cake and opening presents.

Hmm, what do I do with this?

At first Hannah wasn't sure what to do with her piece of yummy birthday cake, but it didn't take long for her to figure it out.

Yummy!!

Opening presents was definitely something new. For most of them Hannah wasn't sure what to think and mostly played with the boxes or tissue paper. However, once the presents were open she has a whole lot of fun playing with them.

Is that a dolly I see?

In addition to having her first birthday this weekend, Hannah started to walk. She is still pretty unsteady on her feet and only takes a few steps unassisted at a time, but it won't be long till she is walking all over the place. It was a pretty exciting weekend for us all.

Am I a big girl now?

Goodbye Summer

2008-08-22T10:09:00.002-08:00

Well, the sun only lasted for 3 days. During those three days in only got up in the 70's once. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. It's been raining since yesterday and the forecast indicates that it'll last until next week. The fireweed is pretty much all bloomed out as well. What a short, cool summer we had. I am so thankful for the trip we took in June to warmer climates. It may have been in the 100's in Cali, but it was nice to not be cold.

Other than that, Hannah has been sick but is much better today. I've been working on Christmas gifts, and they'll be done soon so that's a few items knocked off the list. It would be nice to start knitting a sweater for myself and I have one in mind, but that requires yarn shopping so I should probably look in my stash for something to do a different project. We do need mittens for winter, well, Hannah needs them. I think I may start my second Baudelaire sock so I have a matching pair.

SUN!!

2008-08-20T11:58:00.006-08:00

It has been nice here for the past 3 days! Today it's warming up nicely. Perhaps we'll have a late summer, but better late than never.

proof that it broke 65 degrees

My hubby and I, well mostly my hubby, have been taking advantage of the sunny weather to finish painting the exterior of our house. This is what it looked like when we bought it.

um, pink, I don't care for pink

The door is new. We started painting it 3 summers ago, got it mostly done, but haven't had the weather or the time or the incentive to get it done. Currently we have all 3 of those and have been making the push to finish. The fence we put in last summer and the roof will hopefully be replaced soon, but here's what it looks like today from the street:

blue with dark grey trim, much better methinks

and a closer picture from our front yard, that door is also new and will be painted

There is still some blue paint that needs to be done on one side of the house and some trim work to be painted in the back and on the rental side, but then it'll be done. Yeah! Please pray that God will keep the weather nice and in the 60's or warmer to get this done, and praise Him for the nice weather we're currently having so that this can be done.

In preparation for the cooler weather I finished the yoke sweater for Hannah. It's not perfect, but it is functional.

It's a finished sweater,

and a close-up of the detail.

I sort of made up the design myself, following EZ's instructions for a yoke sweater, and her percentage system. I probably should have made the yoke deeper, because it doesn't fit as well as I'd like it to. Oh well, this was definitely a learning experience. I would definitely use the pattern again. I used Lamb's Pride worsted from my stash, on size 8 addi turbos.

Picked some Nagoonberries yesterday on a rather long walk. What does a person do with a cup of Nagoonberries? I'm hoping to go pick some thimbleberries today after Hannah wakes up from her nap and gets some lunch. Perhaps thimbleberries will go well with Nagoonberries in some jam/jelly. That is, if I get enough. We'll just have to see now won't we.

Discovered: Dirt!

2008-08-17T09:34:00.004-08:00

This last week, on our one somewhat sunny and warm day, Hannah discovered dirt. After playing with it for a while, she decided she wanted to taste it.

mmm, dirt

Then she examined it for a while, wondering what in the world this stuff on her hand is.

huh, how did that get there?

Hannah wasn't too dirty at first, but she proceeded to get the dirt all over herself. She had to make sure that I was watching, of course.

see mommy?

She also spent a great deal of time trying to get the stuff off of her hands, without much success.

see the sun?

Then she tasted it again, while standing I might add. So with the help of the pot of dirt, I finally got a picture of Hannah standing.

She stands for longer and longer stretches, but isn't ready to walk yet.

In other news:

I'm almost finished with my sweater for Hannah, just need to cast off and finish sewing in the ends.

Also, over the next few months you'll be hearing more about a big adventure that will be happening in March. This is going to take a lot of preparation and we're thankful that this is going to occur in March rather than earlier like it should have. No, I'm not pregnant.

Quick update

2008-08-12T13:14:00.004-08:00

I guess it's been a few weeks so thought I should make a quick update. Went to Anchorage the first weekend of August to surprise my MIL for her birthday that was the week before. She was quite surprised. While up there we went and visited my mom and Leela and T-rex and their girls. Unfortunately the older of the Giessel girls was asleep, but that's okay; I got to hold the baby!! During our visit Hannah decided that she wanted to try standing. She did this successfully for brief moments. Since then she has tried many more times and stands for increasingly longer periods of time. Sadly, every time I try to take a picture she plops down and just gives me a strange look, "what, were you trying to take a picture or something?" Totally uncooperative. One of these days I will be successful and post a picture. Possibly in Hannah's sweater that I am trying to finish. I had to frog the neck and redo it because it was too tight.

Anyways, I'm hoping the weather will be decent on Thursday so I can go pick a load of blueberries.

Fibery Fun

2008-07-25T09:58:00.004-08:00

It's been a rather rainy July. We've had a few nice days, but not many, so I've had some time to pursue some knitting and spinning. But first, here's a picture of Hannah in her new sweater. It looks much better on her than off I must say.

No, I don't feel like smiling for the camera.

I also recently caught the spinning bug. I got some lovely roving as gifts this last December and have been working on some lovely Mountain Colors Roving (in the background) off and on for the last few months, but recently pulled out some Corriedale pencil roving given to me by T-rex (who recently gave birth to her second little girl! Way to go T-rex!)

pencil roving Andean plied on my new Ashford drop spindle

It was a quick bit of spinning and quite fun. After spinning that up I did spin up a little more of the Mountain Colors onto my other spindle, which is slightly broken but still functional. Perhaps I'll do more today, but first I really should set the twist of this corriedale and some other yarns I've spun and plied but haven't washed yet.

the corridale on my lovely Niddy Noddy, poor thing doesn't get used often enough

In addition to doing some spinning I have also started a little sweater for Hannah. I'm knitting from the stash for this one. I'm also using Elizabeth Zimmerman instructions for a seamless yoke sweater, percentage system and all, from The Knitting Workshop. However, I am making up my own details. I've started the second sleeve and hopefully will get to the yoke today. Woohoo!

yoke sweater for Hannah using Lamb's Pride from the stash

In other news, I've been picking some blueberries off our bush every day or so. A couple of evenings ago there was a little black bear in our backyard, I suspect it was getting into our compost and not the blueberries because there were still LOTS of berries on the bush. Then yesterday there were quite a lot of robins in the bushes eating berries, but they must not have eaten many because there were still many berries on the bush when I went out in the rain, while Hannah was sleeping, to pick about a cup of berries. Hmm, I feel as though I'm rambling. Hannah is still very active, I suspect that this will be the norm from now on unless she's sick. Tim made some venison stew in the crock pot the other day and she just loved that. Perhaps someday her Grandpa Kritchen will take her deer hunting, or maybe her Uncle. Hannah's room has also experienced a bit of rearranging and decorating. It's very cute. It is my plan to get the room well organized so she can actually play in there more, instead of the living room all the time.

Now I think I will go pray for some nicer weather so that we can go do something outside, like pick some berries, if there are any ripe besides blueberries, or gather some Alum root, and maybe some mushrooms.

Blueberries

2008-07-18T16:27:00.006-08:00

We have a rather large blueberry bush in our backyard. Nearly every year it is so laden with berries that the branches droop. This year is no exception.

However, the last couple of summers something has been eating nearly all the blueberries before we have had a chance to get to them. Darn those birds. This year we will not be thwarted by those little feathery thieves. Our berries are ripening in stages, some are blue while others are still very green. Just the other day I picked a handful and gave some to Hannah.

At first she wasn't quite sure what they were, but after a few bites she was hooked!

Give me more please!!

Of course the blueberries had an interesting effect on her diapers. It was very interesting to find her BMs to be not only blue, but smelling of blueberry syrup as well. Strange it was.
I have also finished a sweater for her. This has been a year in the making. It is a back-zippered sweater from Fiber Trends. Knit in Lorna's Laces worsted in the colors Devon and uh, a red color (I seem to have lost the tag). The colors are bright. Hmm, that may be a bit of an understatement. It knit up a bit large, washing and blocking might help some, but the yarn is superwash, so we'll see. It should fit Hannah through the fall though which will be great. It does look a lot better in person.

Fire and Ice Sweater

can we say contrast?

The weather is crummy today, windy and rainy. Hopefully it will be nicer tomorrow because we will be going to a picnic. Poor Hubby, work will probably be very interesting today. Either that or it will be very boring. Oh, and I couldn't sleep this morning so am up earlier than usual. Yeah.

Sunny days

2008-07-17T17:16:00.007-08:00

Here are some miscellaneous photos from our vacation last month:

1. Our little family in the Redwoods at Sequoia Natl. Park, it was much cooler there than at Porterville. 2. My great granny with Hannah. 3. Hannah enjoying her lunch in the car. 4. A very tired Hannah in Portland at Tim's Grandma's house. 5. Hannah playing in the yard and her great Aunt J and Uncle E Long's just outside of Portland. 6. A bridge on the old Gorge highway by Horseshoe falls.

It was a good trip. Hannah's little red dress was made for her by her Grandma Long. I think if you click on the pics that you'll get to see a larger version.

Silly

2008-07-11T11:50:00.003-08:00

Who am I?

1. Breakfast with Katie and Zellie 2. chocolate cake 3. Houston brush fire 4. green scenery 5. Don't have one 6. Spot of tea, anyone 7. Sheep and castle 8. I see cake 9. Homemaking 10. Family time 11. Crafty corner 12. Katie Jo

This is a mosaic made using the following:

The rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Got this idea from purling swine.

Couldn't Take the Heat

2008-06-25T12:38:00.003-08:00

We've just returned from a family vacation down and up the west coast. Will post some pictures later, but thought I would make a quick update. California was HOT! However it was a nice change from the coolness of Juneau. Visited the Hubbard side of my family (my mom's side), and boy were there a lot of people. The occasion was my great grandma's 95th birthday. It was the second time I visited her, the last time I was a wee thing and don't remember a bit of it, but this time I will take with me many memories. What a great lady my great granny is. She's got a lot of spunk and just loves everyone. Tim and I had a great time getting to know more of my family. It was neat for me to get a better picture of who I am as a person based on where my mom came from.

After several scorching days in Porterville, CA we headed north to Portland, OR. Relieved to be in a cooler climate, but still warmer than Juneau, we enjoyed a few days exploring the city and surrounding country and visiting with Tim's Grandma Walter, his mom's mom, and his aunt and uncle Long (his mom's sister and his dad's cousin who are indeed married). We had a lovely time, for the most part. We mostly just went with the flow and that was nice.

Lastly we made our way to Seattle. Drove up with Hannah's Grandparents Sunday morning, visited with Tim's Grandma Long that afternoon, ate dinner and checked into a Travelodge not too far from the airport. I wouldn't recommend the Travelodge, btw. Monday morning we visited with our friend Brian while he gave us a quick tour of Seattle. Did a little bit of shopping at Pike's Market as well. After lunch we got to the airport and made our way home.

All in all it was a good trip and we're glad we did it, but we are very thankful to be home. How did Hannah do with all the traveling? Remarkably well, she's a real trooper. Good thing she likes people. Also, she really liked all the french fries.

A Brighter, Larger Room

2008-06-11T15:48:00.007-08:00

In my last post I said I would show pictures of the newly remodeled kitchen. Please forgive the clutter. We are currently in the process of putting everything away and getting ready for a trip. If you look behind my wacky french inpersonating husband you will see the old cabinets and the dishwasher behind his legs. Makes for a dark kitchen, especially in the winter.

In the following picture one may notice the lack of upper cabinets. These were replace with shelve, and the soffet that held them up was removed. This makes for a much more open and brighter space. The dishwasher was also moved and can be seen in the lower right hand corner. This spot makes more sense to me. Now someone can cook and load the dishwasher simultaneously. (Please forgive the poor quality photos, it's cloudy outside)

We also got a new stove and a micro-hood to go with it. It is very nice to have the microwave not take up counter space, but perform a valuable function. Also, it totally kicks toosh in the heating and cooking department. Case in point, it has settings for both melting and softening butter, a baker's dream. Above the microwave is a handy place for my cookbooks. Then there's the new stove, it has a window, which I desired greatly, and works very nicely. It really doesn't look like the same kitchen.

To finish, Hannah wants to let you all see that she has serious faces too. Oh yeah, I should probably add that not only is Hannah crawling quite well, but she discovered how to pull herself up to standing as well.

Actually, she has a cold and isn't on top of her game.

Summer's here and yes I'm still alive...

2008-06-02T11:07:00.004-08:00

Wow, it's been like 6 months since my last post. I could say that I've been really busy taking care of my daughter and home and just haven't had time, but that isn't entirely true. I do have a few minutes every day to sit and write something, but alas I have been preoccupied doing other things. Like knitting a sweater for my husband.

Cobblestone sweater from Interweave Knits Fall 2007. Knit with Cascade Ecological Wool in a gray color on size 8 needles. It turned out a little big, but better too big than too little. Hubby likes it and will wear it a lot this winter. This was probably what I spent the majority of my free time during naps while Hubby was at work. Didn't quite have it done for his birthday, but did get it finished shortly after.
I also knit myself a pair of wristwarmers out of Noro Cash Iroha. Love them and will wear them lots in the fall and spring.

Other than knitting I have been watching Hannah grow, start eating solids, roll over and now she is just about crawling.

We recently returned from a trip to Cordova to visit Grandparents and extended family on my side. She was much loved and adored and they would have loved to keep her there, but she did return home to her Daddy with me. We arrived home to a very messy and dysfunctional home due to a kitchen remodel that was started and mostly completed while we were away. It's mostly finished now, just a few details left. Luckily it's done enough that I'm able to put kitchen stuff back where it goes. More to come on the kitchen soon.
Time to go see what Hannah is getting into.

The New Year

2008-01-02T12:21:00.000-09:00

It's 2008 and what are my goals for this year:

1. Be the best mother that I can be to my little girl.
2. Be a better wife to my husband.
3. Save up money for a spinning wheel.
4. Improve my skills with a drop spindle.
5. Use up some of my modest stash of yarn (this will help achieve #3)

And most importantly -
6. Spend more time reading the Bible and praying in order to get a more intimate knowledge of God.

It's my birthday!

2007-12-22T12:19:00.000-09:00

I am no longer in my twenties!! Woohoo! Thirties here I come! So glad to have that decade over with. It was fun, a lot of changes in my life. Graduated college, got married, had a daughter, and grew in my relationship with Christ. I have so much more growing to do and look forward to the new adventures of being a wife and mother. Wow!! I'm a mother, how crazy is that?

Speaking of being a mother, my little girl is now over 3 months old. She also has pinkeye, which she got from me. It's viral so I have to just, "wait it out." So frustrating, but it's really not bothersome, except my poor hands are so dry from all the washing they've been getting.

This is one of my favorite photos of her... so far... It is such a joy to watch her grow and develop. Lately she's been discovering her hands and grabbing things: clothes, blankets, knees and mommy's hair. She loves her baths and will happily splash away while the water gets colder and colder. She's also babbling and making raspberries. So cute!!

I've finished some knitting too, but you'll have to wait until after Christmas to see it. It was a gift and I love the way it turned out... pictures to come.

Good Company

2007-12-04T13:14:00.001-09:00

Last night we had our good friends the Wehrley's over for dinner. They are in town visiting and raising support to go to Bolivia as missionaries. Mr. Wehrley will be teaching Greek classes at Hebron University and is very excited about it. Dear Hubby and I really miss the Wehrleys, who are now living in Oregon until they get the support they need to head south. However, they aren't sure they'll be able to get home as planned next week due to some rather nasty weather that caused the roads home to be flooded.

Anyhow, we had a lot of fun with them and their lovely children. After dinner we visited and played Settler's of Catan while the Wehrley children watched Cars. Here's a picture of almost 5 year old Natasha.

She's playing with one of Hannah's gifts from the Giessels, a snail puzzle. Good times.

Hannah's been getting closer to rolling over on her own. Here she is on the couch, closely monitored by her parental units, very close to making it that last bit of the roll. She didn't make it this time and started to cry so I helped get her to her back.

Hannah is such a sweet girl and loves having her diaper changed. Can you tell?

She is also quite in awe of the camera and when she sees it stops smiling and just stares... Makes it hard to get the wonderful grin she has when she sees her pa or I. Oh well, one of these days I'll get it.

Surf's Up

2007-11-29T11:33:00.000-09:00

She's our little surfer girl. She's very focused on the task at hand, our little Hannah is. She can last longer on her tummy using this wonderful device. One of these days I will have to put some water in with the fishes and turtle so that she can push them around.

You can see the beginnings of new growth on our little girl's head. Much of her hair fell out within the first month. Hannah has some nice fringe around the back, but not much more than that.

I do have to say that dear Hubby and I are super blessed with this child. She's already sleeping through the night. By this I don't refer to the 6 hours that many books say is sleeping through the night. She's been sleeping 6 hour shifts about every other night or so since birth. No sirree, our little wonder is sleeping 8 hours, sometimes 9, straight through the night. Granted she gets up earlier than I may want to get up, but it's worth not having to rouse myself in the middle of the night.

A Belated Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-28T10:57:00.000-09:00

I have so many things to be thankful for that I shall sare you the long list. Top on my list are my wonderful Savior, loving husband, and healthy daughter. I really don't think I need to go beyond that.

In other news... I've been doing some knitting... Here's a bonnet I made for Hannah. Pattern's Marshmallow from Itty Bitty Knits. It's very cute on her.

I felted the slippers. Very cozy. T-rex asked if the malibrigo had issues with pilling. The regular did pill quite a bit. It can kind of be seen in this photo. The malabrigo chunky that I used for the sole and trim hardly pilled at all, it felted very nicely. However, the pilling really doesn't bother me. I just wanted something warm on my feet and these work great for that. Very comfy on bare feet as well.

Here's a photo of Hannah in her bonnet. Her daddy liked this one.

...and taking pictures...
Last Thursday was Hannah's first Thanksgiving. We went to dinner at one of the Hubby's coworkers'. Great food and a friendly cat named Snoopy. Hannah said, "hello kitty."

Not really but you get the picture.

Our little girl is now about 2 and a half months old and she has grown a fair bit. This photo was taken last night. The one after it was taken her first week home and is one of my favorites. Enjoy.

PS. Hope all these Hannah photos satisfy you folks asking for more pics.

Snow Come, Snow Go

2007-11-15T11:40:00.000-09:00

Well, it was nice to have the snow for a while. It's nearly all gone now. Just a bit in our front yard. This bodes well for some repairs that Tim needs to do on the roof. Now if the rain could just hold off for a bit. It's still chilly out though. Freezing at night and just above freezing during the day. Finished my slippers and a bonnet for Hannah. Will post pics later. The batteries died on our camera once again. Good thing we have lots of AA batteries to use. They were all cheap ones, so it's nice to use them up.

Hannah is holding her head up more and more everyday. She can hold it up higher than she is in this photo. It's pretty exciting to watch her develop her strength and motor control. It's also a reminder to cherish these days of her needing her parents. She'll be independent all too soon as my friend T-rex reminds me.

Snow and Slippers

2007-11-09T13:33:00.000-09:00

It's snowed!! This means my feet are colder than usual. As such I've been doing some knitting. Here's a pair of slippers in need of a couple of soles sewn up, ends woven in and some felting.
Knit up in just a few days with malabrigo in little lovely (1 skein) for the instep and malabrigo chunky in brilliance (about a skein and a half) for the sole and cuff. Here's my foot for comparison.

And now for a few photos of Hannah. My has she grown. Almost 2 months old and she's over nine lbs, likely close to ten by now. Here she is in a cardigan made by Grandma Long. It's a wool/bamboo blend. Lovely cables on it. Just love it. Sorry the photo isn't better.

She's laying on the quilt also made by Grandma Long.

Next up is Hannah is a lovely purple crocheted dress with matching booties. The photo doesn't do it justice. This was knit by Delaine who works out at the Cannery Creek Hatchery with Nettie and Neil.
Sent to us by Nettie and Neil and will be passed around to future Kritchen great grandchildren. I'm looking forward to seeing those future great grandchildren. In the same package we got a lovely quilt made by my Grandma Kritchen, Hannah's great grandma. I'll have to try to get pictures of that as well.

Here's a final picture of her about to smile. She's a very happy child and I need to go get her up to feed her. Ta ta.

Daddy's Little Girl

2007-09-16T20:28:00.001-08:00

Here's the proud papa with little Hannah. She really is so tiny. The hat is one I knit with Alpaca worsted, pattern from One Skein. The tie-dye blanky is from her Great Aunt Carly.

In other news. My milk is coming in and making my breast rather tender. Much fun that is... it's a good thing Hannah is so adorable when she nurses. It makes it much more enjoyable.

The Stork has arrived!!

2007-09-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

And delivered a beautiful baby girl. Hannah Mae Long is now a part of our lives. You can see pictures at itsalongstory.net. She weighed 6 lbs and is 19 1/4" long. She came on Friday Sept. 14 in the wee hours of the morning. Mommy is tired and has orders to stay in bed for a week to recover from stitches in those sensitive parts. I will update more later, as I need to get some rest.