Introducing Hannah!

Today I had the great pleasure of meeting and holding my newest great-niece, Hannah. She's only 5 days old and, as you can see, quite perfect!

I was tickled pink to give her a little toque and glad it's a bit big so she has room to grow.

Isn't she beautiful? Her mom, Lindsay, is beautiful too!

I don't think I could ever get tired of being around a new baby.

All the best,

Judy Ann

Ruffles scarf

Along with being addicted to knitting little baby caps, I also love knitting scarves. Caps and scarves are often fairly quick to knit so I guess that's why I like making them so much. Both are great for gift-giving too, an added bonus. The pattern I used for this scarf is called "just enough ruffles" by Laura Chau, and it's available on her website as well as many yarn shops. I used pure merino superwash Malabrigo yarn which is also available at lots of great yarn shops. This yarn is such a treat to knit! In the photo below, you'll have to pretend that the newel post is my head;-)

It's warm and cosy to wear this scarf scrunched around your neck, but it can also be opened out and worn shawl-style.

I'm looking forward to a day cold enough to wear it!

All the best,

Judy Ann

30!

What a glorious weekend this has been! Jeff and I celebrated Thanksgiving and our 30th wedding anniversary all weekend long. Thirty years ago on our wedding day it was chilly, cloudy, and breezy, nothing like this week's almost hot and non-stop sunny weather! Yesterday we had a delightful family celebration with our kids, in-laws, parents, siblings and other family members too. Great company, fantastic food and even a fun, fast bike ride! It's amazing to think about how our family has grown over the years from the two of us to this wonderful gang:

Carly baked us a delicious chocolate-

cinnamon-buttermilk cake and decorated it beautifully!

Today the two of us took off for Fergus, Ontario, and had lunch at the Breadalbane Inn where we stayed one night on our honeymoon. We haven't been back in 30 years! It was lovely to be there and the drive was scenic and so pleasant, a real trip down memory lane. We've been so blessed all these years and feel so grateful we could almost burst! We're ever hopeful that we'll have many, many more wonderful years together.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Judy Ann

Spool Buddies

Jeff and I had the pleasure of looking after our 5 year-old niece, Marie, for the weekend. She loves being crafty as much as I do! Here are photos of the funny little spool characters we made together. To make them, bend a long pipe cleaner in half and thread on a two-hole button for a hat. Thread on the head bead, then an empty (or full!) thread spool. (I have a bag full of lovely old wooden spools that I dip into regularly for crafty projects.) Thread on another button and twist the leg pipe cleaners so the spool won't fall off. Wrap a short pipe cleaner under the head to make arms. Bend over the ends of the pipe cleaners to make hands and feet. Decorate the spool by wrapping it with variegated yarn (glue the yarn ends in place) or glue on a piece of fabric. Tie three strands of yarn under the button hat to make hair. Finish the spool buddy by drawing on a face.

Sweet Marie decided this one needed a necklace so she patiently threaded little beads onto waxed dental floss. So cute! We separated the strands of yarn to make wavy hair. (You can also braid the yarn hair.)

She trimmed this buddy's hair.

Loads of fun!

Enjoy your day,

Judy Ann