Christmas Knitting

After a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family we received news that my grandmother (who had been admitted to the hospital earlier that week) was not going to be with us very much longer. My parents had already jumped in the car very early Friday morning and were able to be there with her for a few hours before she passed away.

She has had cancer for a long while now and even made it past original predictions. But the last few weeks have seen more difficulties with treatment, and she told my grandfather she was ready to be done.

So we ran off to Indiana and Ohio last week, land of slow hotel internet connections. We spent many hours in the car, far more than our crawling/pulling up/busy, busy, BUSY little girl was interested in. But everyone did far better than we could have expected. Thank goodness for empty soda bottles and mama's bracelets and any other non-baby toy that could pass as entertainment during those many hours!

We're home now, and I realized that it's December 2 and I don't have nearly as much time for crafting Christmas gifts as I had once hoped. We haven't even put up a tree yet.

I did manage to finish another Christmas knit for Ellie on the trip: a Lacy Julian Hat in a larger size made from the leftover yarn from her cardigan. I promise an actual "completed" photo to come soon, modeled by a super cute little girl.

I also cast on mittens for one of the boys on the trip, but keeping the baby happy took a lot more attention than I had expected. The other finished Christmas knit for Ellie is the Helena Cardigan that I finished earlier this month. I'm hoping to also make her a pair or two of thumbless mitts for this winter if I get the boys' knitted gifts finished in time.