I finished something!

Here is my complete beach tote. I am quite pleased!

And here's a pic of my half-felted swatch of Elann's Pure Alpaca for Laura's viewing pleasure. Oh, if only I could take a decent, not-blurry photo.

Another sewing project?

Not quite yet. I am going to finish some things first, I promise. But I do want to make one of these baby carriers. I mean, look how happy that little baby is! It looks so lightweight, too, and I have all the fabric and batting in my stash... I bet I could finish it in a Saturday... FOCUS, Woman!

I'm ba-ack!

Wow, it's been a little while since I've posted. There's been so much going on lately.

I had Friday and Monday off from work, so I went on a little trip to the beach in France this weekend with the baby and a girl friend. I was really looking forward to some sunshine and relaxation with perhaps some knitting thrown in. Sadly, it was cool and drizzly and unpleasant, so instead, we spent most of the time gorging ourselves with French food. Not a total loss, then... We also went to this really awesome aquarium that had big tanks you could see sharks and fish swimming in, and it had a petting tank to feel fish and rays. Pretty cool. It would have been great if Paul were a few years older. As it is, we did get pictures of him with the sharks and by the English Channel.

I also finally got my Mommy-Mobile. We ordered a station wagon almost two months ago and it finally came. I love it!!! It's a Saab and blue (that's all the stats I really care about). I had never even ridden in a Saab before, but I really like mine. I've had it a grand total of five days and have put over 1000 miles on it (thanks to France).

Update on the knitting club: not everyone showed up who said they would come, but the three of us there had a really great time! Two of us are already knitters, and we were able to teach the third. Her three kids also wanted to learn how to knit. They're young (4, 6, and 8), so I figured rather than tell them they're too little, I'd give it a shot and thought they'd give up pretty quickly. The 8 and 6-year-olds did give up after about five minutes, but the 4-year-old kept plugging away and made probably two knit stitches in 20 minutes before throwing in the towel. :-) So cute! Baby Paul also got to play with his little baby friend who is a month younger. Of course, playing for them consisted of laying on a blanket together, kicking and poking each other, and grabbing at each others' feet.

I received a big box of yarn last week from Elann and have made a promise to myself not to buy any more yarn until it is at least time to knit Paul a Christmas sweater (I know, that's like a month away). Anyway, I am already going to break that pact. We are going to baptize Paul when we vist the U.S. in a few weeks, and I am making him a little blanket/wrap for the church. Here's what I have completed so far:

This is Elann's Pegasus yarn - 52.5% mercerized cotton / 47.5 Viscose. So far I like the yarn and the pattern, but I only have two skeins of the color, so I need to buy more, like, now. The pattern is an adaptation of "Madli's Shawl" by Nancy Bush from Interweave Knits Magazine Summer 2004. Instead of making a long shawl, it will be square and I will knit the edging last and sew it around the edge. I hope it comes out well. The yarn is a nice light cotton and the viscose gives it a nice little shine.

I know, I know... I'm starting another new project and nothing finished to show for my labors.

Oh, and I put the straps and a lining on my tote. Just have to sew on the bottom and I'll post the directions.

Well, this is what I'm working on now: matching cardis for my son and his cousin (13 months old). Well, are they considered matching if they're different colors? The yarn is Knit Picks Swish DK. The pattern is from Debbie Bliss's SimpyBaby book - Cable Yoke Jacket. Obviously, I haven't gotten to the cabble yoke part yet. Still working plain old stockinette. The green I am working on is for Christopher, Paul's cousin. I will make Paul's out of the Terra Cotta color.

I got my Vogue Knitting magazine Thursday or Friday and was less then impressed. After much browsing through and reading others' thoughts out in blogland, I am only really interested in making these two (for now at least):

I want to make this scarf out of different colors of mohair I have floating around. We'll see how the flowers look in mohair.






I have this Knit Picks CotLin that just arrived. The color is darker than I thought it would be and I'm a bit afriad it'll be too close to my skin tone (not so flattering) but it might work for a hoodie/cardi. Have to swatch and see.

And here is Paul looking cute as ever. This is his first day wearing something size 6-9 months. He's getting so big!!

Now, I am off to a new knitting club/group/circle thing of friends. Only one of the four other women going actually knows how to knit, so I don't think I'll be getting much knitting done. This should be fun, though... Gotta pass on the craft!

Teething??

First, let me say that Paul is the perfect baby. Seriously, he hardly every cries. If he cries, it means he needs something, and I can usually figure out what that need is pretty quickly. That said, he cried - no, screamed - for two hours straight on Saturday. Once he calmed down, he would start up again if I tried to put him down. My husband and I tried everything - feeding, pacifier, changing diaper and clothes, rocking, walking, cuddling, playing, examining his little body for bee stings or hernias. Eventually, it was a lot of singing that calmed him down. I still don't know what the problem was. Today, he was back to his happy-go-lucky self, which kind of kills my theory that he is starting to feel tooth pain. I have no clue...

I am one of those knitters who is easily seduced by variagated yarn but never actually likes the look when knit. I have found an exception, though. This is beautiful. The yarn is Araucania Atacama in color #501. It's 100% alpace and is gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. I only bought one skein but am thinking of buying a few more for a hat/scarf/gloves combo. That would be nice - very cute with a denim jacket.

Here it is, fresh off the skein:

...And wound in a ball:

...And knit into a little swatch:

On a different note...

When I first started knitting, I made my husband a sweater (he was my boyfriend at the time - the boyfriend knitting curse didn't apply to me, I guess). We were both so happy with the results, I'm afaid I won't be able to top it and haven't made him anything else. Five years later (Wow, time flies), I really need to make the man another sweater! I've been promising a gray vest for a while and had gone through a couple different yarn option and pattern rejects before settling on Elann's Peruvian Pure Alpaca and (surprise surprise) my own design. It's a simple allover woven-type cable. It's subtle because the background stitches are also knit as opposed to the more common purl. Here it is so far. I'm not sure how long I've had this in progress, but I know I started it before Paul was born. I just pulled it out again this weekend.

I also just ordered some Filatura di Crosa 501 for a turtleneck for him, hopefully for Christmas. We'll see how this turns out...

Busy snuggling

Nothing to blog about today. This evening, I've been waaaaay too busy watching this little man sleep. He's so snuggly!!