All the gifts I made throughout the year and stored for Christmas seemed to be appreciated and loved by all recipients.  We had Christmas dinner and desert with the parental units on Christmas Eve and I made these.

Christmas Day we shared with the kids in Colorado via FaceTime.

We were able to open presents with them and visit for a while, which was really nice.  It was still not anything like having them here, where I could hug them and enjoy their extended company, but it will have to do for now.  I started thinking about it and realized that I saw Luke the day he was born, and I won’t see (touch) him again until he is walking.  Life…

As far as I can tell, EVERYONE liked what I made for them for Christmas.  Everything fit every recipient, which was a plus!  I think I am going to continue to make or (in rare cases) purchase Christmas gifts throughout the year.  It really saved a lot of stress and $$ at the end of the year.  So, if you are (or want to be, I’m happy to make gifts for those who will cherish them) on my list, please make sure I have your sizes and pertinent information so that I can make you something that fits.

Christmas for me was pretty cool this year, in terms of gifts, also.  I pooled my saving stash with my Christmas gift money (and Scott’s) and picked out this baby.

She is a Janome 9500 and is totally awesome!  I haven’t done any embroidery on her yet, but I will very soon.  Over the Christmas holidays I was able to finish up one of the two wine colored dresses that had been commissioned last year before I went into the hospital.  Unfortunately, I had to refund the deposit to the customer because of the hospital and recovery issue, but I still want to finish the two dresses for Arwen’s Child.  Here is the first one of the pair.  This dress is called Hope and is available.  The dress is size 6 and would make a wonderful special occasion dress for a lovely little girl.  If you visit my shop, please make it one of your favorites.  I would appreciate it!

The second gift I received was an Amazon gift card.  Yep, it is spent!  Those things don’t survive long in my hands.  Here is what I procured with it.

Finally, I did finish one other project over the holiday.  In 1995, I stitched “Blueberry Homecoming” and now I have, framed, it’s twin piece “Raspberry Homecoming.”  Sixteen years between the two but I can cross them off the bucket list.

Here’s hoping everyone who reads this has a super 2012.

DKF

Second on the list is a gift I made for a friend who is having a baby shower this week.  Since I saw how much my kids keep my grandson in his sleep sack that I made for him, I decided to make one for my friend.  She is a Bama fan, so, the addition of a patch to the front of the sack was a special added touch.  I hope she likes it.

The third gift I would like to mention is the gift of doctors, friends, and pastors who care about me and were there for me this last time I was hospitalized.  During my absence from blog posting, I was hospitalized again for sepsis and it was anything but fun.  This time was not as life threatening as the last, because we caught it sooner, but going to the hospital once a year is not something I am interested in doing.  The sepsis is an issue that, if caught quickly enough, can be treated at home with the appropriate antibiotics.  I just have to make sure and watch closely for the signs.  This is a learning process.  This time, like last time, I really thought I had the flu or something viral.  A few days into it, when we figured out that it was not viral and it was similar to last year, it was too late to treat at home and off to the hospital I went.  Ugh!  I am feeling much better now and back to sewing up a storm!

That brings me to the fourth gift.  I have been teaching a friend to sew for the past few weeks and this week she made an absolutely adorable sleeper for a gift for a friend.  The sleeper was made of fleece and went together so quickly that I decided my grandsons really needed to have one, too.  So, I located some fleece on sale and a couple of patterns and have been whipping these things out like mad.  I think they may be finished in time to get to them as additional Christmas gifts.  Whoot!!

There is much more to post about, but it will have to wait till the next installment.  For now I leave you with this quote:

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” ~ Douglas Adams

Let’s start with the most important news first.

We had another grand-baby in September. The trip out to Colorado was quick, but full of wonderful memories. Baby Luke Alan Fillmer was born on September 17, 2011, at 10:07 am, in Longmont, Colorado. His hats and socks fit him reasonably well, but his momma and daddy really like the sleep sack that I made for him. He is in it constantly and it keeps him so warm. Important thing to have in Colorado in the Fall.  Here are the four Fillmer Boys (3 generations) within an hour or so of the birth.

Last time I posted, Scott was in Uganda on his first mission trip.  He has since gone back there again and the two trips could not have been more different.  Our church does mission work in such a unique way.  The focus is a personal connection with individuals, not church planting.  Therefore, the last trip Scott went on was an all male, soccer oriented trip.  The guys connected with individuals and, more importantly, the community, by going over and “hanging out” or spending time with those who shared the same interests.  Through this connection, the guys were able to share the love of Christ with many from the community who might not have been touched otherwise.

This second trip had nine members (4 guys and 5 gals) and was all about clean water and the kids.  The story of the trip can be found here: http://www.scottfillmer.com and the photos, as always, are astonishing!  Here are a couple of my favorites.

There are so many awesome photos from this trip that it is worth a jump over to Scott’s blog just to look at the photos.

Ok, SERIOUSLY?  I have to take a minor break here….my computer just bit the dust and the hard drive is DEAD, so this post will be continued when I am back up and running…stay tuned…

In addition to casting on a couple more Christmas gifts, the big accomplishment for the week was completing the new rabbit outfits for Mom’s four rabbits.  I think they turned out so awesome!  Unfortunately, I cannot show you the surprise that is on two of them since they are gifts (it’s covered up in the photo, no peeking).  But, I think the recipients will really like having a part of mom’s past in their home.  When I was redressing the two smaller, older rabbits, I found my signature on the backside and the date “1990.”  That means that the two oldest rabbits are 21 years old.  Gracious!

So, all in all, it was a very productive week here at the house and a truly amazing week over in Buloba, Uganda.  Scott was able to post a few times to his blog and the photos are amazing.  Please wander over there and have a look.  It is truly amazing what a common interest can do to bring people together.  People who don’t speak the same language or that live on the opposite side of the world from each other can come together and fellowship around a shared interest in a game.  I am so in awe of what the team accomplished over there on this trip and am really ready for him to be back home.

Quote of the week: “The rules of soccer are very simple, basically it is this: if it moves, kick it. If it doesn’t move, kick it until it does.” ~ Phil Woosman

The soccer ball is more than just for effect.  They are going over to Buloba on this trip primarily to conduct a soccer camp with the kids.  They will also be helping with installing rain catches on houses and various other tasks that they are led to do while there.  One never really knows what our mission teams will actually get themselves into until they are there and see the need.  If you would like to read more about their trip as they progress through the week, or would like to see Scott’s awesome photos, please visit his site here.  He is also still accepting donations to pay for his part of the trip, as everyone has to raise their own money in order to go.  If interested, you can make a donation right on his site as well.  Every amount helps!

Back at home, I actually finished a Christmas present this past week!

These gloves are “Strata” from the book “Knitting New Mittens & Gloves.”  They are actually two pair of gloves, one fingered, and one fingerless.  They can be worn together or separately.  The person they are for lives where it snows, so hopefully they will be well loved.  The brown yarn is Knitpicks Gloss Fingering and the pink is Knitpicks Stroll.

These were a quick knit (about three weeks) and it was a very basic pattern.  The book has a few more patterns that I would like to try.  I would recommend the book if you don’t already have it.  I have several more projects nearing completion and with Scott gone all week, I should have a few of them to post about for this upcoming week.  Stay tuned.

Quote of the week: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” ~ Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

So, back to the story of Jonita’s rabbit.  I don’t know if Jonita is one of these “fascinated” children or not, but I certainly can not send over a stark white rabbit for her.  She needs to have a rabbit more like her and I am seriously ashamed to say that this is actually the first rabbit of color that I have ever made.  It was fun, but a challenge.  I had to rethink the facial features, since the traditional black eyes would not show up on her.  I think she turned out pretty good.  I really hope Jonita will like her.  What say you?

Quote of the week: “All my possessions for a moment of time.” ~ Queen Elizabeth I

Remember when these “Country Rabbits” were all the rage in the 80′s and 90′s?  I made so many of them for sale back then that I lost count.  These two pair were made for my mother back then.  She specifically requested these and seemed to cherish them greatly.  She had me make one pair for her home and one pair for her motor home.  Now that she has passed, they have been given back to me and they mean so much more to me now.  So, I have decided to make new clothing for them and pass them on to a family who I hope will love them as much as mother did.  I just love creating special gifts for each individual person or family.  There is so much commercialization today that time is the only thing you can give that is truly a gift.  When we take the time to make or do something specifically for another because we know it will make them happy it means so much.  Sometimes, a special gift is something that the person wants that can be commercially purchased (iPad, car, etc…), but sometimes, it is more special when we give something that only we can create and we use our time and talent to do so.

I’ll post updated photos of these guys when I get them done.

Quote of the week: “But it is a cold, lifeless business when you go to the shops to buy something, which does not represent your life and talent, but a goldsmith’s.”  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Gifts,” Essays, Second Series, 1844

While the kids were at Disney, I had the opportunity to make my son a kilt, which I did not get a photo of…darn it!  I also was able to put the borders on a quilt that William’s Mimi and I are collaborating on.  His Mimi is doing the cross stitch and I am doing the borders and putting the quilt together.

This week I was able to get back to Christmas knitting and completed this uber cute hat for someone special.  The hat pattern is Dead or Alive? by Knitty.  It was a really quick knit and is modeled below by my niece, Martha.  After modeling for these photos, she announced that she would like an octopus hat.  Oh boy…

The Flower Power test sock knit is no more.  Although I really liked the pattern, the socks were not turning out as I had hoped, so frogged they are.  I am using the yarn from the socks for another Christmas present, though, a pair of gloves, and they are turning out much more to my liking.  Photos when they are done.

Finally, Scott was able to take some wonderful photos of Sara, Bryan, William and Baby Luke while they were here.  Below is a sample, but you can see more from the shoot here.

On a fun side note, we (the family when they were here), got to talking about old, favorite movies and who would have them on disc.  I have always wanted to secure a copy of a cheesy movie made in 1981 called Excalibur.  We checked out the local Hastings and sure enough, they had it.  Awesome!

That is about it for now.  We are headed out to the Auburn 4th of July fireworks tonight.  Scott should get some awesome photos of them, as he does every year!  I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July!!

Quote of the week: “It is a lonely life, the way of the necromancer… oh, yes. Lacrimae Mundi – the tears of the world.” ~ Merlin, Excalibur (1981)

Bryan was so excited about a present that he has had for me for a month or so.  He said that I would never guess what it was and then he shipped it to me to have it arrive here at the same time they did.  I opened the box and was so excited.  While cleaning out the in-law’s cabin in Colorado, Bryan found this OLD (that is a relative term) sewing machine and he cleaned it up and saved it for me. From what I understand, it was going to be thrown out with the garbage.

I believe the machine works and will be checking it out in the next few weeks.  The best thing about the surprise was that my son thought enough about me to know what would mean so much to me.  When someone knows enough about you to give you a gift that you will cherish, rather than a gift that they would like, it means so much.  But that is fodder for another post entirely.  This week, with my current modern machine,  I will be making Bryan’s kilt, putting a border on William’s quilt, and fixing a few items that the kids needed fixed (hemming a dress and sock repair) before they come back through here on their way home.  So far, the sock is fixed and the kilt is almost finished.

Finally, the visit to the oral surgeon went swimmingly.  The nurse stated, when the tooth was extracted, “I would have bled more than that!”  LOL  The extraction was pretty simple and the hardest thing about it all is having to keep this flipper thing in my mouth.  I will get used to it, I know, but it is so foreign right now that I feel like I have a permanent tootsie roll attached to the roof of my mouth and the spot where the tooth was extracted hurts (boo).  When I have it in you cannot tell which teeth are mine and which are not.  That is the nice part.  That is it for the dental work for a while, save a filling coming up in a few weeks.  Thank goodness!  I will be happy to stay away from doctors for a while now.

Quote of the week:

“Why are you so petrified of silence
Here can you handle this?

Did you think about your bills, your ex, your deadlines
Or when you think you’re gonna die
Or did you long for the next distraction” ~ Alanis Morrissette (All I Really Want)

I also realized that the holiday knitting I have started was going to have to remain a secret until Christmas.  This just won’t do.  I have to share what I am working on, or else, why blog?  LOL  So, I figured out that if I just show them on my blog without any specific recipient details, it may keep those potential recipients who read my blog from knowing who they are for.  This is the best solution I could come up with for this dilemma.  Of course, the baby and kid items are going to be obvious, but the socks, mittens, etc. shouldn’t be so obvious.

On the health front, my doctor, called me on Thursday and wanted to know why the oral surgeon had me come to his (my doctor’s) office for blood work.  Without my requesting it, he said I shouldn’t need a transfusion before I have the tooth extracted and said he would contact the oral surgeon on Monday to let him know.  I am thrilled to report that they hashed it out and I will not have to have a transfusion before the tooth extraction.  I do have to agree that if it looks like I am about to bleed to death that I will go to the ER for platelets right away…duhhhhhh….  I love my doctor!  He just made my Christmas gift list!!

This week, the kids come to visit us on their way to Disney World.  It will be great to see them and spend some time with them without being in the hospital.  I am really looking forward to that!

Quote of the day: “The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.”  ~Voltaire