"Baby Boy" Chester

What a wonderful weekend we had! Stephen and Michelle came to town for a baby shower their friends had for them. Here are the happy parents-to-be standing on our front step.

Here is a photo from the baby shower. Would you believe we didn't get a single photo of Stephen looking at the camera? Here he is holding the cutest stuffed giraffe that I found during my recent stay in Amish country. Michelle is holding one of the 3 hats that my sister-in-law, Julie, knitted.

This little red hat was quite a hit at the shower. Julie knitted the letters "M U" (for Miami University) in the design. Can you see the letters? You may have to squint to see them because they are the same color as the rest of the hat. I think everyone at the baby shower, except for Tom and me, went to Miami University. Julie also knitted a cute striped hat (shown in Michelle's lap in the photo above) and a Boy Scout hat since Stephen was an Eagle Scout.

Earlier today I finished the baby sampler....well, all but the baby's name, birth date, and location. I hid the sampler over the weekend when Stephen and Michelle were here.

At the very bottom, you might be able to see where I backstitched "Stitched with love by Ellen Chester". This information won't show when the sampler is framed.

I'll probably have my framer, Carol, order the frame in another month or two. Then when the baby is born, I can quickly stitch the information for the central cartouche and get the piece framed for the baby's nursery.

I've had to limit the amount of stitching I'm doing during my recovery period. So with the baby sampler almost done, I spent time this afternoon charting a new sampler design that will be released in the fall along with Mrs. Waddelow's basket and the hornbook needlebook.

Tomorrow I have an eye exam. The good news is that the number of eye drops I have each day is down from 9 to 6, and tonight I don't have to wear the eye patch to bed. Of course, starting next Monday, I'll be wearing the patch again and using 15 drops a day between my two eyes. Good thing they gave me a check-list to keep track of things.