Vacation Over

While in Oklahoma, we visited the Round Barn in Arcadia. I believe it's the only round barn on the old Route 66 (and maybe in Oklahoma). There are many round barns in Iowa, Michigan and across the world. This is a tourist attraction of sorts. It's worth a stop if you don't mind visiting with Butch, the barn guy. He's quite a character!

On Sunday evening we said good-bye to Matt. It was bittersweet for us. I'm happy for him and know he will do well at OC, but we will miss him. Our nest is now officially empty.

On Monday we hitched up the trailer to head home. Stopped in Fort Worth for a couple of days to visit with Robyn, our daughter, and James, our son-in-law.

It was so good to see them! They are doing well and settling in to life after college.

One of the things we did while we were there was to visit an antique mall. I didn't really expect to buy anything, but I couldn't pass up this small two ended darner that the antique dealer had labeled "sock darner".

I think it's more likely a darner for gloves, but I haven't researched it. I photographed it next to a typical sock darner so you can get an idea of the size. The wood appears to be maple. It's a nice addition to my collection.

We returned home on Wednesday afternoon and I've been trying to catch up ever since. Think I'm just about there.

Does Anyone Know What This Is?

I bought this mystery treasure at the Comfort Antique Mall thinking it was a sock darner. But, now I'm not sure. You can see that the end comes off revealing a pick, something like a hat pin. I'm not sure what purpose this would serve in darning socks. I don't think the antique dealer I bought this from was exactly sure what it was for either. She had it labeled, "Vintage sewing implement made from horn". It was in the same case with the sock darners, but she had those labeled as such. This "darner" is small, only about 4 1/2 inches long and is made of horn. If anyone knows it's purpose or how to find out, let me know. I've searched, but so far have not found an answer. For now it will join my collection of darners.

Baby Gifts

I finished the diagonal garter stitch baby blanket I was working on. A corner of it is pictured here along with a few of my favorite sock darners. I look for these whenever I get a chance to go antique shopping.

For the blanket, I used two strands of Red Heart Soft Baby (lilac and white) on size 11 needles and just knit the increase side until it seemed to be big enough, then began decreasing. It ended up being about 32" square. You can find a free pattern on the Lion Brand Yarn website. This blanket is soft for baby and easy care for mom...also very affordable.

For my next project, I've started these.

They are for a friend who just had a baby boy. The next picture is of a pair of booties I thought would be good for a boy, but after they were finished I wondered if the cuff was too frilly. What do you think?