Mama trying to lose the baby flab and boys joining me as I do Winsor Pilates. They love to mimic the phrases they hear: "squeeze your tushy", etc. Doing the "roll-up" is dangerous as we roll over each other. The 8-yr old never fails to bark like a seal when we clap our heels together at the end. I'm lucky if I can finish the program from laughing so hard! (Can you see baby on the couch?)
What is with Blogger? Has anyone had a picture that refused to go the right direction? In my files, this picture is a horizontal picture. Why is Blogger making it vertical? WEIRD!!!
Anyway, there's Pollywog wearing booties and hat. I actually have some unfinished booties that match the hat that need to be finished. Trying to get the stripes to match on the booties was too difficult and I gave up. I'm just going to finish them and be done with it.
Today I think I would rather focus on successful accomplishments, like these cute little booties. I'm pretty sure these were made 3 babies ago. They are 100% cotton and the pattern is the infamous Stay-On Baby booties pattern that has been around since at least the Civil War era.
What I don't want to talk about is the little yellow sweater, but I will. Turns out when calculating the number of buttonholes, I forgot to account for the buttonhole in the neckline ribbing. I bought 6 yellow buttons, but need 7 - there were no more on the shelf. So do I rip out the buttonhole band and reknit for 6 buttons or go to the store and get 7 new buttons? There's no real rush since it doesn't fit my big baby. It will be a gift for another lucky baby (a "normal-sized" baby). So, in the meantime, I will reflect on this as a learning experience and will try to remember to account for ALL buttonholes next time. ho hum
I hit a stumbling block with the little yellow sweater. First of all, it may not fit my little guy very well around the chest because he is so big!! That's not the pattern's problem. Dh says it's okay if the stitches stretch a little. I wish it had an inch of give, but oh well. Secondly, I am not pleased by the looks of the buttonband and buttonholes. The white yarn appears to be bigger than the yellow overall, so I think I am going to rip out the buttonbands and re-knit using smaller needles. I will also try to make the buttonholes a bit tighter (notice how the buttonhole side is bigger than the other side). This was the first time making one-row buttonholes from Nancy Wiseman's book, The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques. It took a few minutes of uninterrupted time to figure it out, but now it makes sense. What I don't understand is why the ribbing on the bottom looks fine, but the ribbing on the buttonbands seem to be bigger. Oh well. It shouldn't take too long since this is such a small sweater.
This project is good for me, though. I now know how to pick up stitches evenly for buttonbands. Before, I would just pick up stitches wherever it looked good, but Nancy's book makes it very clear and easy. It looks so much more professional when doing things the right way! I did not understand the formula she used for buttonhole placement. I need my engineer husband to walk with me through the steps. This is not the first time I have struggled with directions. Usually when I read them aloud to him, I end up figuring it out without his input. Is anyone else like this? LOL
Two brothers with two puppy dogs snuggling together
Here's the back of the new baby sweater using the RAK yarn mentioned in the previous post. The back and sleeves are done. I had both front pieces finished, but then realized I did not add the correct amount of stitches. Not sure how the cardigan will look with dropped shoulder seams, but I'm still going to go for it. Making this into a cardigan also means I have to figure out how to space the buttonholes - oh boy.
And to top that off, there is a baby shower for my little guy on Sunday and I'd love for him to be able to wear it with this little outfit, so the race is on. I also have little ducky slipper/shoes that someone gave me 3 yrs ago with my then newborn that match this outfit. How ducky can you get?
Despite the lack of knitting posts, I have actually been knitting since the birth of PJ. I am using this Sirdar 3180 pattern, but will revise it to make a cardigan with contrasting ribbing instead. A fellow knitter gave me a RAK of this yarn (handpainted yarn Colonia 140, colorway Polen, but I wasn't sure if it would be enough for an infant sweater, so I added Koala in white for the ribbing and it looks great together so far (back and one front piece is done). I will post pictures of the work in progress soon.
There is something precious about children when they lose their first teeth and right before the new permanent teeth come in all the way. It's almost as if you are getting one last chance to savor the idea of having a young child before they take on the new mature look when their new big teeth fully arrive. This little guy is growing up - it's bittersweet. But at least I have captured this moment because tomorrow it will be gone!
PJ is twelve days old and has finally lost most of the bruising by his cheeks and eyes from the rough delivery. There's still a bit of red in the whites of his eyes, but it has improved daily. He's nursing like a champ and gaining about 2.5 oz per day and surpassed his birth weight within 1 week of birth. I couldn't be happier.
PJ wearing an infant hat I knit several months ago. I still need to finish the booties - better get to that quickly before he outgrows them! The pattern was a free pattern from my LYS.
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3-yr old brother talking to baby in the womb, "Baby, it's time to come out now".
Two more projects completed.
First is this little infant hat. I ran out of the pink yarn, so added a white stripe. It'll work.
Second is the Irish Hiking Scarf. I love this pattern - classic style and the Lamb's Pride worked beautifully. It took 2 skeins on 5.0 mm needles.
No baby news to report. I am presently 10 days overdue and it's getting old!
Okay - this post is for my benefit. Everybody knows that the Pacific Northwest has a reputation for rain. Well, it has most definitely rained - 35 out of the last 36 days - pretty close to Noah-size in length of time. There have been lots of mudslides, flooding, etc. Yesterday, as I was sitting at the computer, I looked outside the window and saw something blue in the sky. I had to take a picture to document it. I quickly yelled at the boys to GET OUTSIDE AND PLAY even though we could have been doing schoolwork. This day was too good to be true and we were going to take advantage of it.
Sure enough, today it is back to dismal grey and rain. I need to have this picture to remind me there is something above those clouds and it is blue! Now if I can only find something as convincing to tell me that this baby will decide to be born! 40 wks 3 days but who is counting?!
My daughter made this to give to a friend and I love it. Glad to see my scrapbooking/stamping supplies finally put to use.
The patterened papers are from a little stack of papers in a pad you can get at Michael's. My daughter didn't like these particular colors and didn't want them, so I gave her what I thought would go well together and had her make this for me. Not bad for rejects, huh?
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I spent a lot of time on my feet today running errands, shopping, etc. Tonight I was exhausted wouldn't you know it started contracting for about 6 hours. Here are my daughter's scribble (and doodles) notes timing the contractions. And then things fizzled. Oh well. No baby yet.
I got tagged again. I think this will be my last "tag" - yeah, I know - party pooper!
Ground Rules: The first player of this "game" starts with the topic "5 Guilty Pleasures" and people who get tagged need to write an blog entry about their 5 Guilty Pleasures as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and list their names.
My 5 Guilty Pleasures
1. New recipe I found for a rich hot chocolate
2. Spitz sunflower seeds. I discovered these while on a trip in Alberta, Canada. They taste sooo much better than any brand I have tasted in the US. I recently found they have them at Plaid Pantry and now I'm in heaven again.
3. Internet/blogging/pregnancy board
4. Knitting - it's such a wonderful, relaxing craft to do
5. Having a family singing time :)
Sorry, I don't have time to find 5 people. If you have not been tagged, go ahead and consider yourself tagged :)
I was finally able to give this poncho to my good friend's cute little princess. Isn't she adorable? It's Sirdar Pattern 1513.
On to knitting - just started this Irish Hiking Scarf
I'm using Lamb's Pride worsted in the Roasted Coffee colorway. It's an easy knit while watching television. With this yarn, it's pretty easy to knit cables without cable needles.
Earlier in the year, Grandma saw H's poncho she made and got the same yarn to crochet one for herself. She got through most of the way and then saw that she didn't have enough yarn. She called all over the place only to discover that it was discontinued! We got the idea to rip it out and then have H knit it because knitting takes less yarn than crocheting. Here is Grandma wearing the poncho knitted by her 19-yr old grand-daughter. There was just enough yarn to complete the project!
M. practically gets glued in Grandpa's lap whenever they are together. There is nothing more fun than cuddling with Grandpa, playing with his beard, and wearing his hat.
Pearly (11-yrs) made a table runner - pieced it and machine-quilted it for Grandma for Christmas. Here is Grandma with her present! Grandma will be using it as a wall hanging and already has the perfect spot to display it.
I found 2 balls of Jaeger Matchmaker 100% wool yarn in my stash - just the perfect amount for this infant sweater. The yarn is wonderful - and machine washable! The pattern is easy to pick up and is knitting fairly quickly. Pattern comes from an old Beehive booklet called "Tiny Toppers" and is called "Cozy Cardi".
My 11-yr old daughter just completed her first skirt by herself (minus hemming). It's a great easy pattern. I'll have to get more fabric for her to make another one.
Here's a new little hat for a baby boy. I love the yarn: Dalegarn Sisik - so soft: 30% wool, 30% mohair, 34% acrylic, 6% viscose The pattern is simple k1, p1 rib, stockinette and then i-cord at the top. Very easy and quick to make for a newborn.
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