I am finally back up on my feet! Steve always says he can precisely quantify my energy level by the amount of time I spend knitting in a weekend. I finally finished the assembly of this jacket and Mom kindly sew the buttons on it.

My sweet sister Julie and her daughter, Vicky, visited me a couple weeks ago during the darkest phase of my postpartum recovery. Vicky is only 3 and half years old, but she demonstrated the meaning of instinctual love. Her actions and words showed how her devotion to her little baby cousin. Every morning after she woke up, the first thing she wanted to do was visiting Tommy. She is just too cute…

My original plan was to finish this jacket before their visit. Unfortunately there are always complications in life so I didn’t get to finish. Thank god there is Chinese New Year so this has now become a CNY present!

I bought the yarn for this sweater during the Maryland Alaca and Fleece Festival directly from the farm. I was soooo pregnant back then! Sweetie Steve had to literally carry me through the exhibit, and he sat in a “Dyeing yarn with natural dye” class with me, haha, after waiting in line in blustery weather to get me some fries so I don’t starve during the class.

The alpaca that produced the fleece for this jacket is named “Survivor”. When he was born he was not breathing. The owner tirelessly performed CPR on him for half an hour, and successfully revived him. He has gone on to become a thriving, happy alpaca that produces beautiful fleece!