A few moments of your time please?

I'm going to hijack my blog for some shameless begging.

McKenna is in a Model Search for the Three Little Princesses company. She is just a few votes away from first place in her age group at this time, and voting ends tomorrow (Monday June 28) at 7 pm.

I am going to ask for anyone who has a Facebook account to go to the Three Little Princesses Facebook page. The first thing you have to do is click the "LIKE" button at the top of their page, and then click on "LIKE" on McKenna's photo in the 0-18 Months Album.

The prize is a custom made outfit from Three Little Princesses, and photos of her wearing it featured on their website. Please help us put McKenna in the spotlight. Thank you so much! It just takes a few seconds to vote!

Can you even believe that her first birthday is just over a month away? How far she has come from the day she was born...

March For Babies

It's finally here, the Weekend of Walking! Please consider a donation (large or small, every dollar helps the babies!) in honor and celebration of McKenna, born 10 weeks early at 2 lb. 5 oz. You can donate by clicking on the banner below. There is more information in the post below.

With many thanks to all of my readers, and a huge thank you to all donations to Team McKenna Faith. We are closing in on $6,000 for our team, and hope to surpass it by day's end. Can you help?

They are still forecasting rain for both days (BOO! HISS!) but we are still planning on having a powerful (and I'm sure emotional) experience. Here's hoping for a miracle that keeps the rain away! (Many families of premature babies have experienced miracles already... let's help many more with our donations)

Hugs,
Trish

(update: I will walk part of the time and be pushed in a wheel chair when I've had enough... thankfully physical therapy over the past month has done wonders for my sciatica and I am feeling 97% better! I don't want to overdo it and have a relapse. That would not be good)

Another message from McKenna

Hi everyone, it's me again. I asked Grandma to put up another post on her blog to remind everyone that we could still use a some help if you are able.... Please help us help the little babies! The March of Dimes March for Babies walk is coming up in 2 weeks. Grandma is very sad that she is not going to be able to walk for the babies, because of that dumb sciatica stuff... it makes her leg hurt a LOT when she is on her feet for very long at all. It would make her feel a little better though, if she could get a few more donations for the M.O.D.

To remind you, my mommy, Kim, has done the March of Dimes walk the last few years. She had no way of knowing then that I, her very own baby, would be one of the babies born prematurely... one of the babies that she was walking for and didn't even realize it.

As you can imagine, the March of Dimes has now become even more important to Mommy and Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa, and our whole entire family and circle of friends. My mommy has gathered a big team of family and friends to raise money and walk in the March for Babies. I will be in my stroller, which will be all decorated with balloons and signs. It's going to be a fun weekend (we will walk two different events in one weekend in 2 different locations) It's a lot of walking, but it will be great! Don'tcha think?

anyway.... since we all went through the experience of me being born before I was done cookin' in the oven, we definitely want to help prevent other families from going through the turmoil and emotional struggle that premature birth can cause, as well as the added financial burden, possible birth defects, etc. (Grandma put those words in... my vocabulary is not quite THAT good yet!)

Some of those babies in the NICU with me were not doing as well as I was. I wish every one of them could be as strong and healthy as I am now. I wish all of us could have stayed in our mommy's wombs a little longer so we could grow inside and not in the NICU. It was not a fun place to be for any of us, but those wonderful angels (nurses and doctors) helped me get bigger and stronger so I could go home to be with my mommy and daddy.

We have already had a team fundraiser, and everyone on the team has been working very hard on their own to raise as much money as possible for the preemies. Our team has raised well over $4,000.00 so far and I am not shy about asking for more! We only have 2 weeks left to get more donations and we are hoping to make that number grow even bigger! (for the babies! for the babies!)

I know you can't come walk with us, but please consider a donation for our team, for a very worthy cause, in honor and celebration of ME! Just click on the banner below. Easy-peasy!

Every donation, big or small, is appreciated SO much and I will be so happy that you helped us help the babies!
Thanks a bunch!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO,
McKenna
(my grandma, the Bloomin' Knitiot, thanks you too!) Mwah!

PS... just a little reminder....

this is me on the day I was born. I only weighed 2 lbs. 5 oz.

and me now, at 8 months, about 12 pounds, and doing great!

It's been a while....

I fell off the face of the blog-world (as I've been known to do numerous times before) This time I basically was removed from life as I normally live it by a horrible case of sciatica that left me unable to walk or stand, and sometimes even sit, for the better part of 5 weeks. I spent so many hours laying on (only) my right side that I thought I might develop bedsores. Ugh. Finally after stronger and stronger painkillers, muscle relaxers, and starting physical therapy, I am finally on the mend and can see that there is hope I may one day be healed!

Luckily the 3 sessions of PT last week started me along my way enough that I was able to enjoy the weekend of Easter festivities. McKenna was making her spring debut after a winter of isolation, and the family was so happy to see her and be able to interact with her after all these months. We wondered if she would be overwhelmed by so many people after having such a quiet first 8 months of her life, but she took it all in and entertained everyone with her cuteness.

Saturday we spent with Mike's family, and then had brunch with my family on Sunday morning. Here are a few photos from the weekend. I whipped up the ducky in about a day, and McKenna liked chewing on it.

My big girl with her little girl

Me and my little hunny bunny

McKenna and her new ducky

McKenna trying on Auntie Kait's Ugg boots.

Maybe next year she can borrow them :-)

McKenna and her Uncle Jake

4 Generations:

Great Grandma, McKenna, Mommy and Grandma

Aunt Kaitlyn and McKenna

We're not sure, but these might just be

the longest eyelashes in North America!

OMG!

The Easter Bunny brought me PEACHES?!?!?

My FAVORITE!

OMG!

2010 Olympics, I will miss you

I love the Olympics. I'm sad they are over, but sure did enjoy the thrills of victory, and the agony of defeat (especially that hockey game... but what an exciting nail biting game it was)

I took part in the Knitting Olympics this year, and squeaked in my last bind off stitch mere moments before the Olympic torch was extinguished. I thought I had til 10:30, so good thing I went gangbusters for that last hour or so. Here are the Skew sox that don't fit me, so Kaitlyn is modeling them, and will hopefully enjoy them. I want to make another pair, for me, once the math is figured out for my size. What a fun knit! It really boggles my mind that Lana came up with this very unusual construction!

Here are my gold-medal socks

Here a mitten, there a mitten, everywhere a mitten mitten

Here is what I've been sewing on the old Singer treadle machine. It's got the "get up and go" needed to get through all the layers of felted wool. I've got a few more pairs almost done.

I've bought so many thrift store sweaters lately that I keep saying I may need an intervention. It's fun to find just the right ones for the mitten tops, and then pick from the many plain sweaters for coordinating palms, and cuffs. I am using cashmere for the linings.... yummy... and warm!

PS... how cute is this face?

Sewing

On the last day of 2009, I brought this Centennial (1951) edition Singer treadle sewing machine home.



A local lady had it on Craigslist for a price I couldn't pass up. My Kenmore sewing machine was a gift from Mike for our first Christmas as husband and wife. It has been giving me trouble lately, and I went on Craigslist to see what I could find. I had no intention of buying a vintage treadle machine, but the price was right, it was local, and It works great. It only sews a straight stitch, so I will still need to get my Kenmore fixed or get another machine for other sewing purposes. But for now I'm treadling away. It did come with a ruffler attachment and a few others that I will have to play around with. I'm still getting used to the treadle and some of the quirks of this older beauty, but here's the play mat top that I've put together for McKenna.


There are a few loops of ribbon inserted into some of the seams. She can finger those (as babies love to play with ribbon tags on their toys, etc) or they will be used to hook toys onto the mat with those plastic rings. I just got the backing material on Thursday so need to sandwich everything together with the batting, etc and decide if I'm just going to tack it at the corners of the pieces or do more quilting on it. For now it's been draped over the back of the couch where I feed and play with McKenna a lot and she loves looking at it.

I bought the "workhorse" Singer for a purpose which will be shared here soon, after the recipients of my labors have gotten their items. I don't want to ruin the surprise here.

The lady I bought it from also had a few other treadle machines for sale. They were much older, and had beautiful oak cabinets with lots of flair. But the machines themselves used weird barbell-shaped bobbins that fit into a bullet-shaped case, the needles needed to be longer than what you can normally find these days, etc. While I would have loved one of the more beautiful looking cabinets, I wanted something I would feel more comfortable with, since I was going to be using it and not just looking at it.

I haven't decided where it will end up in the house, but for now it's in the family room where I can sit down and sew a bit when I have a few minutes while McKenna sleeps or plays.

Wow, an actual FO!

I am happy these socks are done, but none too proud of the fact that they took me 18 months to knit! I started them to take to a Stitch 'n Pitch game (in 2008!) and made quite a bit of progress on them for a while... then they got ignored for a very long time. These are the Socks of Kindness, and I used Jojoland Melody yarn.

My first FO of 2010. Now, what to put on the needles next?

ps.... Jake was the photographer for this shot.

Message from McKenna

Hi everyone,

Thanks for stopping by my grandma's blog!

I hope you had a great Christmas, and that the New Year is off to a good start!

My grandma has just finished working on her personal page for "Team McKenna Faith" (that's me) for the March of Dimes walk coming up soon. Well.... when it gets warmer, that's for sure! My mommy has done the March of Dimes walk the last few years. Who knew I would be one of the babies born prematurely... one of the babies that she was walking for and didn't even know it.

As you can imagine, this cause has become even more important to Mommy and Daddy, Grandma and Grandpa, and our whole entire family and circle of friends (and there are a lot of them! Have you heard about those crazy parties in our family? Whew, I'm going to have to get used to all that commotion! So far I've led a very sheltered life!) .

anyway.... since we all had the experience of me being born before I was done cookin' in the oven, we definitely want to help prevent other families from going through the turmoil and emotional struggle that premature birth can cause, as well as the added financial burden, possible birth defects, etc. (Grandma put those words in... my vocabulary is not quite THAT good yet!)

Some of those babies in the NICU with me were not doing as well as I was. I wish every one of them could be as strong and healthy as I am now. I wish all of us could have stayed in our mommy's wombs a little longer so we could grow inside and not in the NICU. It was not a fun place to be for any of us, but those wonderful angels (nurses and doctors) helped me get bigger and stronger so I could go home to be with my mommy and daddy.

All the big people in the family are trying to get a really big team of local friends and family to walk with us. I will be in my stroller, which will be all decorated with balloons and signs. It's going to be a fun weekend (we will walk two different events in one weekend in 2 different locations) It's a lot of walking, but it will be great! Don'tcha think?

I know you can't come walk with us, but please consider a donation for our team, for a very worthy cause, in honor and celebration of ME! Just click on the banner. Easy-peasy!

Thanks a bunch!

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO,
McKenna

(my grandma, the Bloomin' Knitiot, thanks you too!) Mwah!

PS... just a little reminder.... this is me on the day I was born. I only weighed 2 lbs. 5 oz.


and look at me now! 5 months old, almost 10 lbs. Yay!

10 Things

Inspired by my friend Maria's recent post, here are 10 things I am most looking forward to in 2010:

1: Watching McKenna continue to grow stronger and seeing her develop so many new skills during this next year.

2. Getting rid of the UGLY wallpaper in our family room and hopefully getting new furniture too. I'd like to maybe get rid of the mantle and put tile around the fireplace instead. We'll see.

3. A vacation? I didn't get one last year....

4. Swimming in our new pool. Please let there be a summer this year!

5. Being more active, being more careful with my eating, and losing some weight.

6. Adding sewing back into my leisure pastimes. Knitting kind of took over for a while, and will not go away, but I'll be doing more sewing this year.

7. McKenna being able to spend more time with the family, as RSV season ends, and her lungs become more developed. Hurry spring!

8. The March Of Dimes Walk for Babies in April. Supporting the March of Dimes in their battle against premature birth has taken on a whole new meaning in our lives. We are hoping to gather a huge team to walk in honor and celebration of McKenna, our little miracle.

9. Getting back into the habit of reading. I've spent very little time with my nose in a book lately, and I miss it!

10. I vow to be a better blogger this year!

Blue Moon

Happy New Year everyone! Tonight there is a "Blue Moon" which I feel I must mention, since my company name is Once In A Bloomoon Creations. A Blue Moon comes every 2-1/2 years, but only about every 19 years on New Years Eve . So, now that you know that piece of info......

Let me just say, 2009 had its share of moments, that's for darned sure...

The highlights:

~Kaitlyn graduated from high school with high honors

~Kaitlyn got her drivers license and a car (THANK THE HEAVENS ABOVE I am done carting that girl's butt around!)

~Kaitlyn started college

~Kim and Drew announced that Mike and I would become grandparents!

~McKenna was born

~I became a very proud grandma!!

Some of the challenges:

~Insomnia came to visit and didn't want to leave... I still have sleepless nights at times but things are somewhat better. That was a struggle for quite a few months. There have been several other health worries, some of which are still unresolved. Other family members have had their share of health issues as well.

~McKenna's birth was 9 weeks early, due to Kim developing severe pre-eclampsia. McKenna's 45 day stay in the NICU downtown was emotionally, logistically, and basically in all ways challenging. We all got through it... I am humbled by Kim and Drew's strength and perseverance during this time to do everything they could for their tiny preemie daughter. Happily things have only improved over time and she is doing so well now!

~The timing of McKenna's birth coincided with my planned trip to Portland to go to the Sock Summit. While disappointed about missing the SS, I was also going to be able to visit with my sister who lives too far away for me to see more than once a year if we're lucky. And I was going to finally meet my dear online friend Maria. We have "known" each other online for 12 years and we were so looking forward to a face-to-face visit (and some sock knitting together). But I needed to be here to support Kim and Drew as they learned to cope with the situation and help them get through it to the prize at the end....

~Mike worked about a million hours (slight exaggeration, I think... but I'm not sure) this year... way more overtime than he would like at this point in his life. I try hard to not complain, considering the rate of unemployment, especially in Michigan. And considering a couple of family members lost their jobs this year, we do consider ourselves fortunate to not have faced the prospect of Mike looking for a new job (again). But really, 70+ hours a week when you're in your 50s gets a little hard on the body (and mind). Give the man a bit of a break. We'd all be a little happier and less stressed, that's for sure.

My business was very slow this year, but I am going to take part of the blame for that. My focus was definitely elsewhere, and the lack of extra time to devote to promoting my patterns was just something I had no control over.

I spent a very huge portion of the spring, summer and fall planning and executing a graduation party, a baby shower (that came after the baby!), then caring for McKenna when Kim went back to work...I was devoting my attention to everything (it seemed) but Jake. Guilt overpowered me at times... I felt like he spent way too much time at the bottom of the totem pole this year, and I tried very hard to make special times with him, but it just felt like I was throwing him a bone. I am hoping to somehow make it up to him. He was a trooper, thank goodness. I hope he doesn't resent the lack of attention compared to everything else that happened this year.

Jake didn't really have any huge milestones, but I will report he is doing great in 7th grade, and loves being "Uncle Jake" to McKenna. So many days he rushes in from school, scrubs his hands, and comes to say hello to her. Such a good boy :-)

So that was 2009, and I think we are all ready for a New Year. Here's to the hopes and expectations and dreams... may they all come true!

Dodecahedron---I just call it Pointy Ball!

What's this? Another blog post so soon? Another FO so soon? In the midst of the holiday chaos?

I finished up McKenna's ball last night. Knitting the last point after stuffing it was pretty tedious, but I'm happy with the results. I put a cat toy (bell in a cage) in the middle of the stuffing for a little jingly fun. I hope McKenna enjoys her dodecahedron for years to come.

click for pattern

Oh heck, let's just add one more photo here. I made this Pretty Thing cowl for my good friend Tamara. I used alpaca, (because Tam loves her some alpaca) but it kind of hid the stitch pattern. Next time I make a Pretty Thing (and I will do this project again) I will use a less fuzzy yarn. It's a pretty thing indeed!

Pattern available on Ravelry