Easter brunch

Ken and I hosted a little family get-together for Easter.

For the past two years, I've enjoyed making it an Easter brunch rather than an Easter dinner.

I served Asparagus Quiche.

Cheesy Hashbrown Potatoes

Charred Broccoli, Mushroom, and Egg Strata

Bread Machine Cinnamon Buns

My sister brought a coffee cake; my niece brought a fruit salad, and....










We dug in.

Not much

I can't seem to find much of anything to blog about these days. Maybe I'm in a slump. Maybe it's that I know you don't care to hear about my spring cleaning efforts. Maybe I'm just too depressed about the presidential candidates, two in particular, to even think of anything creative to write about.

I have managed to put a rather spring-y decoration on our front door. It's quick and easy. I used an umbrella I bought in China a few years ago, stuck some silk tulips into it, added a bow, and voila!

Now that I've hung a sign of spring on the door, there's talk of a possible Nor'easter headed our way for Monday. Nor'easters mean snow, lots of it.

I've also knitted two more Fuzzy Mitten lambs. I've been making Fuzzy Mitten animals for a few years now. The patterns are well-written and fun.

As you can see, one is a boy, the other a girl.

This particular pattern is a free download on Ravelry.

I found this idea on someone's blog, maybe while wandering through Pinterest. I bought some of those cheap plastic eggs, six for 88¢, mixed some acrylic paint with a bit of Plaster of Paris and a drop or two or three of water to create a "chalk paint," and painted those suckers to look like colorful Easter eggs.

They were more work than I'd intended to get myself into, to be honest, but they're done and they look rather cute on the dining room table.

So that's what I've been up to. Back to cleaning kitchen cupboards....

Another one

My dear friend Margaret, who lives in England, can't knit for her grandchildren. Margaret's an accomplished knitter, so it's not lack of talent that prevents her from knitting for her grandchildren. And it's not lack of motivation.

It's her daughter-in-law. Her daughter-in-law refuses to put hand knits on her children. I guess she thinks that clothing without the "proper" label attached to the inside of the neckband isn't worth wearing.

I find that school of thought quite sad and misguided.

When our good friends Jim and Lynn were about to become blessed with a third grandchild, I knit a pink cardigan for the baby.

Liv was born last May. She's a little doll. Liv's mother posts regular photos of Liv on a Shutterfly page, so I get to see Liv quite regularly.

Recently Liv's mom emailed me and said, "Did you notice Liv is wearing that pink sweater you made her in the latest photo?"

I had, indeed, noticed, and I was pleased. I'm lucky to have friends with little children who will wear the hand knits I make for them.

This newest sweater, an Aran cardigan, will be Liv's birthday present in May. Although Liv will be reaching the ripe old age of one year, I made the sweater in a size 2, hoping she might be able to get more than a few months' wear out of it.

The pattern is an old standby: Child's Aran Sweater by Yankee Knitter. I think this is the ninth Aran sweater I've made from this pattern: children's sizes 1, 2, 2, 4, 6, and 7, two adult size medium and one adult size small.

I enjoy this pattern because it's well-written and has some beautiful classic Aran stitches in it.

The cardigan took from February 10 to February 26 to complete. The back is the most time-consuming, which is understandable. I used Cascade Pacific yarn, in color way #23. Cascade Pacific was a good choice but not my first choice. It's a bit "splitty" compared with Plymouth Encore yarn. I bought the yarn at Mother of Purl yarn shop in Freeport and, unfortunately, this shop doesn't carry Plymouth Encore. Oh, well. The Cascade Pacific is soft, anyway, and it is machine washable, which is essential for a child's cardigan, I'm sure. (Mother of Purl is an excellent yarn shop, by the way. It's one of my two favorite yarn shops in Maine.)

I had about 3/4 of a skein of yarn left over, so I decided a hat to match the cardigan would be a good idea.

Then I had a little yarn left over after finishing the hat, so I decided Liv's doll, which she probably doesn't even have yet, will need a matching cardigan like her "mom's."

So here's the complete set, a little birthday gift for Liv. I don't have enough leftover yarn to make anything else, but that's okay.