My thoughts are with Christchurch, NZ

Christchurch, New Zealand has had another big earthquake - 6.3 magnitude - and it has caused at least 65 deaths. I visited Christchurch in April-May of 2003. Here are pictures of the Christchurch cathedral from that trip. The larger earthquake last September damaged the cathedral (and miraculously no one was killed in that quake) but this latest quake toppled the spire and has largely destroyed the building.

My thoughts are with the people of Christchurch. I've visited New Zealand twice and found the people there are incredibly friendly. When we drove around the south island we rarely saw other cars but we knew that if we had a breakdown, when a car did eventually come by, we had no doubt the occupants would come to our aid. So it's especially sad to know they've had such devastation and loss come to them.

Finished Things...part 2

So here's the promised second part of my finished things...sewing! I only just returned to sewing in December after an almost 2 year hiatus, and so far I made a dress, a nightshirt, jeans, a skirt, 2 tops, and a dress. O.K., those last 5 things were very tiny because they're doll clothes for my nieces. I also made a baby hat that was an old UFO. I had made a fleece baby jacket for a friend's daughter and cut out a hat pattern out of the leftovers but never got around to making it up. The little girl is now 11. But my sister just had a baby girl so I thought I'd finally finish the hat and send it to her.

The doll clothes were also the result of a UFO. The light green shirt in the upper right was already cut out. I again used scraps from a garment and probably cut the pattern out right after I'd made it, which was in 2004 according to my review. But I couldn't just send my sister one lonely little doll top, especially because she has two daughters who play with dolls. So I made some more. The green and blue top was already finished years ago and only needed a closure. Full reviews are over on patternreview if you're interested.

I did have fun making the doll clothes, even if they did take a bit longer than I'd planned. Those little clothes can be quite fiddly! I wanted to show the clothes on a doll but I don't have an American Girl type 18" doll. I do have my Kerry doll (and also Crissy) from the 1970's. I dug her out and dressed her up and hand some fun in the backyard.

I think Kerry is the American Girl's skinny cousin. So just like a size 0 model on a photo shoot, out came the binder clips!

And finally, one knitting item that got left off of my last post. Knowing that the fleece hat would be way too big for my sister's newborn, I knitted up a little bonnet. The pattern is from the book Last Minute Knitted Gifts and the yarn is Rowan Baby Alpaca.