New Baby Road Trip

The sweet momma I had the baby shower for last month delivered the little buckaroo last week. We were eager to meet him, so YD and I took a day trip into the mountains yesterday to do just that and take the momma and grandma out to lunch.

It was a pretty drive ...

saguaros on a hill

scrub brush and cactus

tree shadows

Here's a sign you'll never see in Phoenix ...

and finally, here is the new baby with his knitted horsie blanket ...

Look at that thick head of hair. He is tiny and adorable and perfect! What a fun day!!!

A Little of Knit, a Little of That

My baby sister toured the Pittock Mansion in Portland, Oregon, recently and sent me a special photo ...



A lovely knitting display with yarn and needles on a beautiful quilt. The Lion Brand book is from 1916! I use Lion Brand yarn and patterns all the time. Aren't we glad they're still around?

Speaking of knitting, here is the completed Horsie Blanket with an edge crocheted in each of the 3 colors. Finished size is 38" by 42" and I am very pleased with the way it turned out. The baby shower is on Saturday and I am really looking forward to it! I would just like to thank Amy-lynne Mitchell for the free Giddy-Up Cloth dishcloth pattern that inspired this blanket. The beige and dark brown squares are the horse's head design.



And speaking of babies, this item was in an article written by a terrific columnist from The Arizona Republic, Clay Thompson. His column is called "Valley 101" and he answers questions from readers, usually with a note of hilarity.

Question from reader: I was reading that a baby was born on a Southwest Airlines plane recently that was then diverted to Denver. What would be the place of birth on the certificate, the place the aircraft was flying over or the city it landed in?

I did not know the answer to this -- do you?

Clay Thompson's answer: I'm glad this happened on a domestic flight because if it had been an international flight it would have involved complicated stuff called jus soli and jus sanguinis. If you think I am going to try to explain those to you for 75 cents, much less spell them again, you are sadly mistaken.

As far as I can tell, in general, when a baby is born on an airplane or some other public conveyance, the birth is registered in the state in which the plane first lands or the bus or train stops.

If you ask me, this is another good reason to stay off airplanes. And to stay away from airports. I hate airports. It's not the birth-certificate thing but rather the idea of some baby being born on your flight. Aren't there enough babies on airplanes as it is?

Thanks, Clay Thompson, for the info -- and the laugh!

Meatballs, Stuffed Shells and a Horsie Blanket Update

So I'm getting ready for a baby shower this weekend and I've been testing recipes, much to the delight of the family. Have hit on several absolute keepers that I would highly recommend.

First, Pioneer Woman's Comfort Meatballs. They are just plain delicious, simple to make and the sauce that goes over them is mouth-watering.

My photo is not the best, but I can guarantee they taste incredible. I have her lovely cookbook but have included the link for this recipe from her website.

Next, the Stuffed Shells from my "Cook Yourself Thin" cookbook. This one is more work and more time intensive because you're cooking with a lot of fresh ingredients like garlic, onion, zucchini and spinach. You sauté a pound of fresh spinach, drain it, squeeze the excess water out and then chop it before mixing it with the ricotta and other ingredients.

Of course, hubby walked by while I was chopping the spinach and I could tell he thought he wasn't going to like this dish. But he loved it -- everyone loved it -- and the results are so worth the effort. And it makes a lot so will feed a crowd. The baking dish shown in the photo is my smaller Pyrex dish. The recipe made another 9" x 13" dish of shells as well. Both of these dishes are delicious reheated, which is always a bonus.

Finally finished knitting and blocking all of the squares for the horsie blanket. Now I'll start seaming the pieces together. It's going to be so cute. I wish you could see the horse's head in the dark brown squares, but they just don't want to photograph well for me. I hope this blankie is something the little guy will drag around with him for years.

Horsie Blanket

Note: D, if you don't want to know what your baby shower gift is, don't read this!

So my sweet friend that is having a baby boy soon is doing a western theme for the baby's room. I decided I wanted to knit her a baby blanket and I've started three and ripped them out, not happy with what I was seeing. Then I found a horse head pattern (Giddy-Up Cloth designed by Amy-lynne Mitchell) through the dishcloth section of Knitting Pattern Central.com and started by making two horse squares, one brown, one beige. I am using worsted weight yarn with size 7 needles.



It seemed a little drab so I got a bright yellow skein of yarn and made a textured square with my favorite moss stitch. Then to tie them all together, I used all three colors and made a striped square that makes me think of a horse blanket that goes under a saddle. Here are the first four squares being blocked, although this is not the way they'll be sewn together.



A total of 16 squares, four of each design/color, should be just right. I need to have this completed for her shower in December so I have a month to get it all knitted, seamed together and edged. I think it's going to be so cute!