Flying by

Just flying by - time that is and well, I suppose me too given my intermittent posting.  Work, I am happy to say, has finally calmed down.  Or maybe work hasn't but I have.  I am feeling much more relaxed and comfortable with what I'm doing now.  While I enjoyed the challenge of being the acting manager, I am not sure it was good for me mentally or physically.  Having a couple of weeks off certainly didn't hurt.  I spent about a week at home and then a week in Michigan.  My sister and I spent a couple of days at Mom's and it was really enjoyable having some together time.  Also got a good dose of "Jack time".  He is, in my opinion (and those of my family), absolutely adorable in every way.  I got a Snapchat video this morning of him pulling himself to a standing position.  He's working on crawling.  It looks like he gets a bit excited when he finally starts moving and that causes a lapse in concentration and then things go a bit wrong.  I suspect he's going to have it figured out pretty soon.  Here's a picture of him practicing:

And I finally finished-finished his birth sampler.  DNiece requested a pillow and I found a really nice dark blue leaf print for the piping and backing:

It really is square - the angle for the photo is throwing it off.

I even put a zipper in it.  I haven't put in a zipper in years and never in a pillow and certainly not one with piping.  I found a really good video on You Tube on how to the piping and zipper and I am really happy with the results.

As with last month, I have been crocheting more than I have been stitching.  I finally finished the second baby blanket for my Sister-in-Law's boys.  If she doesn't have them before, she is scheduled for a c-section on the 15th.  I can't wait to meet Vance and Calder and I'm sure Mom will be very happy to see her feet again. 

Here's the second blanket:

and an up close so you can see the fun texture:

and here are both of them:

The colors in the picture are a little darker and a bit bluer than in person.

I found a pattern and a nice neutral yarn and got started on a blanket for DNiece's baby:

Here's a close up of the different textures and the bobbles:

The yarn is a Caron Cakes in "White Truffle" - it is totally washed out in this picture so hopefully I can get a better picture soon.  The pattern is called Hugs & Kisses.  I love the texture and really enjoy doing the bobbles.  I am definitely going to have to block this one.  Fortunately, there's some wool in the yarn so it may stay better than the others that I've done that are all acrylic.

All my time hasn't been spent crocheting.  I have done a bit on Jack's Christmas stocking.

A bit of background there on the left, the snowman's body and the toe are all that's left for the body of the stocking to be done.  I need to add his name and there's a fair amount of back stitching and some snowflakes to add before the stitching is done.  I bought a skein of the new DMC with the sparkle in it and may use that rather than the plain white from the kit.

I'm sure there's loads more, but this is pretty long already.  Hope the summer is treating everyone well.