Baby, it’s cold outside!  Well, those of you in Minnesota and Michigan would probably beg to differ.  It’s been in the teens and twenties at night here.  For us that’s pretty chilly.  The upside is that we’re actually getting a little sunshine.  We haven’t had sunshine in weeks and I had almost forgotten what it looked like.  The answer is, "Bright!"  I feel as if we’re all little moles coming out of our holes and squinting.

My first opera experience was great fun.  My sister and I went to see Pagliacci.  I would definitely go again.  No pictures this time because we were in the audience where, of course, pictures are not allowed.  There was plenty of time to knit over the weekend and I finished a toddler sized gansey (still needs blocking):

And started another:

The pattern is Toddler’s Cable Yoke Guernsey Pullover by Silver Creek, yarn Wool of the Andes in Spruce and Stream, size 5 needles.  Very quick and easy pattern and highly recommended.  I’ve set a goal of two sweaters for the current CIC challenge and I should reach that with no trouble.

I would try to do more little sweaters, but school is in session and taking a fair amount of time.  I think this may be the hardest class I have ever taken.  Not the course work – that seems as if it’s going to be pretty easy.  The hardest part is just staying motivated.  Only 3 months to go – it hardly seems possible!!!  What will I do with myself when I don’t spend part of my evenings studying?  Blog more?  Knit more?  Take a nap? 

Maybe knit and sew more for the grandbabies.  Remember the little white set I made for Ivy that was too big to be a newborn set?  She finally grew into it:

Even Isobel got into the act by modeling the hat:

The jacket is the one I made for her on my sewing getaway.

And lest she be forgotten, my other baby is growing way too fast as well:

I still don’t think I’m done crying for Hester.  Maybe you never get to that point.  I had a bit of a meltdown the other day when I took Maggie out for a walk and ran into someone who did not know about Hester.  I told him, and on the way back through the woods we walked by Hester’s grave.  But Maggie has been such a solace to us.  It’s hard to be sad too long with her puppy antics keeping us entertained.  The one sad thing is that I think Hester would have loved her!  Several days ago Bill took her to coffee with him.  He and his car buddies get together at a boat shop near our home.  One of the other guys brought his dog – an Irish Setter mix about four times as big as Maggie.  They really hit it off and started playing tug-o-war with a toy.  The other dog was so big that he was dragging Maggie all over the floor.  And she was having a blast!