Just a Quote for Friday

"A babe in the house is a well-spring of pleasure, a messenger of peace and love, a resting place for innocence on earth, a link between angels and men."

~ Martin Farquhar Tupper

A new little person to love

Late last night our family grew by one tiny person.

My new niece, Olivia made her debut, weighing in at 8 lbs. 7 oz.
Mama and baby are awesome.

♥

I have been a bundle of emotions over the arrival of this new niece - my brother’s newest daughter, a new baby sister for Cris, Britny and Tyler, a new cousin for Carrie, and a sweet little granddaughter my mom will never know. So bittersweet, that one, but it’s in the mix of my thoughts, for sure.

And I’ve been thinking about Olivia and the life she’s entered into - how she’ll one day call me Aunt Deb and how I will love her with the same deep adoration that I love my other nieces. She joins the ranks of some amazing young women who also call me Aunt Deb, and I can’t wait to see how her presence changes and shapes and enhances our family.

How lucky is this little girl, to enter a family that loves and celebrates with such passion. We started loving her the day we heard she was a tiny little bean in her mama’s tummy, and we will love her forever and ever now that she has made her appearance into this world and our family.

I’ll be heading to California in a couple of weeks and I can’t wait to get my hands on sweet Miss Olivia. You can bet there will be lots of photos to share once that happens!

Hooray for new babies in the world,

especially for those who call me Aunt Deb.

♥

PS: Pattern for crocheted baby crown can be found here.

Dishwashing Winner!

Thanks so much for all of your comments related to washing dishes last week, and for the entries to win my knitted dishcloth giveaway. It was fun to hear who does the dishwashing in your homes.

At our house I would say that I am the main dishwasher, but Doug is really great about helping out! Here's where my readers fall in the mix:

I also wanted to note that my local friend Judy is the one who graciously taught me how to knit these dishcloths, and in the event that any of you would like to make your own, I'm sure she wouldn't mind me sharing the pattern. Plus, my original piece of paper is starting to wear, so this way I'll have the pattern documented if I ever need to refer back:

Basic Knit Dishcloth 

* Use size 8 needles and cotton yarn
* Cast on 4 stitches
* To increase: knit 2, yarn over, knit to end of the row. Follow this pattern every row until you have 41 stitches.
*To decrease: knit 1, knit 2 together, yarn over, knit 2 together, knit to end of the row. Follow this pattern until you are down to 4 stitches.
*Bind off

These dishcloths can be washed and dried many times over - I just throw them in the wash with my dishtowels and they come out just fine.

And now for the giveaway part of this post!

 

I wrote everyone's name on a slip of paper and randomly drew...

 

Congratulations Mary Ann!

You are the winner of my dishcloth giveaway.

And I'm throwing in a hand-stamped tea towel too. Surprise! 

♥

PS: Thanks to everyone for your sweet comments. They made me want to knit a dishcloth for each and every one of you!
PPS: Mary Ann ~ Since you read my blog through Facebook, please message me with your address, ok? Congratulations! :o)

Washing dishes is fun {a giveaway}

Ok, maybe my post title is a bit of a stretch, but I am serious when I say that if I have to be washing dishes, I'd rather be washing them with a knitted dishcloth.

Have you ever used a knitted or crocheted cloth for washing dishes? A few years ago my friend, Judy, gifted me with a couple of her knitted dishcloths and I was an instant fan! I love the weight and texture of these cloths, and the little ribs on them make for quick work when washing gunk off of dishes.

For the Valentine crop that Carrie and I hosted this past weekend, we did our 5-favorites-gift-exchange again. Everyone brings five of one item they love (with a maximum price limit of $5/item) and we exchange our favorites. Items range from lip balm to candles to frames and notebooks. This year I knitted five dishcloths and bought bottles of my favorite dish detergent to go with them. It was so fun giving them to five of my sweet crafting friends!

And while I was knitting these dish cloths for our Valentine crop favorites exchange, I purposely made an extra one to give away on my blog. I won't be including a bottle of my favorite dish detergent, but I'd love to share a knitted dishcloth with one lucky winner.

A simple little giveaway, true, but I think you'll like washing dishes with this knitted cloth. To enter the drawing, just leave me a comment here on my blog or on Facebook and tell me who washes the dishes at your house.

I'll select a winner by way of a random drawing this weekend and announce the winner next Monday, February 17th, with my weekend recap.

:o) ♥