If You're Irish...

If you're Irish, come into the parlor,

There's a Welcome here for you
Well, it wasn't too easy getting Finn and Tess to sit still and smile for a little Irish picture, but here they are. They are spending the night with us, while their parents are out celebrating the holiday in the grand old Irish way.

Finn has the greatest hat. Underneath his shamrock jacket, his green shirt says "Wee Little

Troublemaker", and he showed up ringing my doorbell early this morning wearing his green frog wellies. Tess's shamrock bow didn't stay in her hair very long.

My husband's family is pure and total Irish. I'm only a little bit Irish, but our children and grands all turned out 100% green. So this is a big holiday around here. Funny thing is, we're the ones who stay home now, while everyone else goes out to party.

Still Knitting

I am still enthralled with double pointed needles, so I have to show my finished items! The little bag is called a miser's purse. The brass rings in the middle slide to open and close each little bag at the ends. It is a very old style and I love it.

I got the baby hat pattern from my knitting group, but you can find it here. It's a great little hat for practicing cables. I've started another in green, so I don't forget how to do it! Just in case you are too impressed with all my color changes-I've used varigated yarn. The bag is done with a sock yarn and I just love the colors. Very VictorianGypsy, don'tcha think?

Look What I Can Do!

For the past few Monday nights I have been going to Knitting, gathering with a few of my co-workers who are much more skilled than I will ever be, and learning to knit with double pointed needles! Like this sweet lady in the picture, I can now knit in the round with 4 needles. I've finished my first project, a miser's purse, and am now working on a small hat with cables. I am so excited to have finally learned how to do this. For you experienced knitters, this may seem like a minor accomplishment, but I never thought I would be able to do anything more complicated than scarves and dishcloths. Oh my, I may even be seeing mittens and socks in my future. Actually, I think my next project will be a tea cozy. Thank you, dear Gateway Knitters, for your patience and good company.