ME !! Holding My Perfect Great Nephew (world's second-cutest baby boy ever born, I might add ;-) ... and surrounded by adoring family (seated around my mother's dining room table, of course). He's looking at the camera, likely wondering how his great-grandmother could ever think she's small enough to hide behind such a little thing as a camera. Notice Great-Aunty's gorgeous dark brown hair ... (I do more than my share of gloating) ... 50 and still no hair colouring in my life! 

My mother and her family; At the top in the blue and black striped shirt is my brother-in-law, and to his left, my sister (they're the ones with the Lily of the Valley tablecloth); to his right is my other sister. Mother's in the middle in the pink top, I'm on her left and my niece is on her right. In front is my nephew-in-law, holding My Perfect Great Nephew, and beside him is my mother's partner in life and bridge ;-) ... what a handsome family we are! My son is missing from the pic because he's in France until the end of July! 

The runner I made for my mother's 70th birthday; she's on the right end and I'm on the left end (left is better ... heheh). Took about 2 months to make, from the "muestras y motivos" book,with help from a friend in The Big Apple who took Spanish as her minor in university. Thanks, Glenda! Mother loved it. The handsome dude in the white shirt is my nephew-in-law, aka "Father of My Perfect Great Nephew." The lampshade on the upper right corner is on a lamp my grandfather made nearly a century ago, including the beaded shade with beaded fringe. 

My gorgeous mother on her 70th birthday (I should look so good now!). Note the Balmoral Thistle in the lower right of the pic (unashamed braggart, I am!). The Old Girl (my sisters and I lovingly call her) looked positively ravishing. Those are palazzo pants and an absolutely stunning blouse. She's been following the Atkin's plan for about a year and a half now, and has PERFECT BMI, according to her doctor. Sigh. I'm starting the South Beach diet (modified Atkins, sorta) next week, hoping to get to the point one day where I can borrow my mother's clothes . 

The almost-smooshed Bridal Veil, with a wonderful, tall Gin and Tonic in the top right corner (for size definition, of course). My mother makes the BEST G&Ts!! Viewers will wish to scroll down to the pic of the little girl wearing the tam; this was made from the Bridal Veil pattern, then adapted into a tam for her little head. 

Sorry it's blurry, but even digital photography has its limits! (taken with my mother's dig cam, not my cheapie ). May I present to you the "almost" perfect belly-button start! Wayyyyyy better than that lumpy crochet start I used to do! 

Funny how it looks like some undulating sea creature ... wet and graceful (ok, so I wax poetic every now and then). I had sprayed it with warm water before I started "smooshing" it. When about 1/2 dry, I sprayed it generously with heavy-duty spray starch, at my mother's request (not being a starch fan myself, but it's her property, not mine!). 

The Bridal Veil table centre, knit in 2001? while I was in Massachusetts, also now the property of my mother. This came from a pamphlet of ruffled doily patterns (and I mean those HUGE starched ruffles that wave up and down like a tsunami!). Needless to say, this old girl doesn't do RUFFLES like that, and particularly on items that I actually wish people to enjoy using, so I faked the edging on this one, too. Below are a couple more pics, with a close up on this cloth's wonderful little belly button . 

Two doilies I knit for my mother, way back in the beginning of my lace knitting career. I did not do a close-up on the centres as they are nasty ucky lumpy crochet starts, back before I knew how to do the perfect little belly buttons. The round doily I made from the oval pattern, so faked the edging and cast off (rather than crochet off). I rather like the way it turned out, considering it was long before I really had much expertise in knitting lace! 

Hardly proud of my (almost) perfect little bellybutton on this cloth. I loved knitting it, although the tedium of the filler stitches occassionally made my mind wander (ahem, tink tink tink). 

My Balmoral Thistle, the abbreviated version. It is the property of my mother, and I dressed it out for her the weekend of her birthday. I don't use pins, just "smoosh" it out by hand until I like the way it looks. This wasn't quite finished being "smooshed", but still looks pretty darned good (modesty being one of my many qualities ). 

More bookmarks! The purple one is from my buddy Max (xoxox!!), the pink one is mine, and if there is one thing I really regret, it's not having kept better track of who sent me what! I just LOVE the green one across the top (I've tried that pattern, and it beat me ... someday I'll try again!). 

More bookmarks received, other than the ecru one beneath the purple one; that's another one of my early attempts at knitting bookmarks. 

More bookmarks received. The green one is from Nurhanne, and was the first one I ever got. She knit the pine tree patterns to remind me of home, back in Canada (I was living in MA by that time). 

Bookmarks received, other than the large ecru one, I knit it as an experiment. 

The runner I knit for my mother,although this is someone else's knitting. I'll post of pic of my runner (with some minor adaptations) once I have some to post! Approx 1.5 metres long and .75 metres wide. 

Bathmat I knit for one of my sisters. CottonTots yarn, and I think that's the Imperial Branch pattern, framed with seed stitch (adds stability to the piece). The mat was about 75 cm wide (2.5 feet) by 105 cm (3.5 feet) long when finished. 

Another bookmark, Lotus (?) pattern also, with a couple of rows of plain knitting left out. I think it's much prettier without (artistic license? ;-) 

Hmm, trying to remember which pattern this is ... I think it's the Lotus out of one of Walker's books, knit with three strands of very fine silk thread. MTM is an ex-boyfriend from high school, we reconnected online in 2003, and I knit him this bookmark. He lives in BC now. One of the problems with this particular silk thread is that it's very soft and doesn't hold it's shape very well (and I was in a hurry when I scanned it). The other obvious problem is that I didn't make both "M"s the same. I like the lower one better. 

Bookmark I knit for one of my exchange partners. That's the Tiger Eye pattern out of Barbara Walker's Treasury. As it turns out, when I knit the bookmark, my exchange partner was very far away from me (I was in Massachusetts, and she was in Alberta). Now, however, I am happy to report that she and I live close enough to each other to get together for lunch (which we still haven't done, but shall soon, I'm sure!). Oh, I'm the one that moved, not her (big grin). 

Another Rose Trellis bookmark, knit with some very stiff linen thread. Old Canadian pennies are the large ones, smaller ones are modern size, just for size reference on the bookmark. 

Initialled bookmarks I knit for my family for Christmas 1999, my first Christmas away from my son and the rest of my family, after moving to Massachusetts. 

Merino wool scarf, hand-dyed and hand-spun for me. Lace pattern is from a sweater I saw in a magazine, and when I remember which one, I'll let everyone know! Beautiful wool and fabulous lace pattern, but for future reference, any time I knit with a multi-coloured wool, it'll be a plain pattern, because the colours and the lace get lost in each other. That's a real shame, because both are too beautiful! 

My Rose Trellis bookmark, with a rose on the end. I knit this for one of my bookmark exchange partners ... Size 50 thread and I think I used my .5mm dp needles. The recipient loved it, and it was fun to knit. 

My Balmoral Thistle, knit with finer thread and smaller needles than Kinzel's pattern called for, but I loved the results. That's one of Kinzel's Books of Modern Lace Knitting beside it, just to give an idea of dimension. Also is the beginning of the Blanket on Snow, pictured below. The thistle was completed in April of 2000, while I was in Massachusetts.