Cabled Sweater for Baby L

Today is Baby L’s first birthday! Happy birthday smiley guy. This post is really LATE. These pictures are from December!

His birthday jogged my memory enough to tell you about this sweater I forgot that I had made. Here is Baby L with Big Brother O!

Every stitch of this sweater was a pleasure, as was every moment I spent with Baby L way back in September (it’s hard to live in a different state from your best friends and their children). I miss you, Paul and Shea!

For knitters, the yarn is Swish, from KnitPicks; the color is Dublin. On ravelry, the project is here. It can be found in a book called “60  Quick Baby Knits . I modified the sleeves to have XO cables up the center, for LOVE. I also modified the neck, after making some sort of weird mistake.

Owl Hat

My sister-in-law Julianne asked me to make a hat for Baby D, who is 7 months old. It took me a while to design, make, and send it, but here is a picture of him wearing it!

Before I sent it off, I modeled it on two adorable sisters here in town. Baby O was not terribly impressed with it.

Her sister Miss C really liked it.

I like that, when it is laying about by itself, it has that nervous, hyper-aware look that owls always wear.

For knitters: the body and eyes are Nature Spun sport, the ear tufts are Koigu.  The beak and pupils are scraps from the same ball of Zauberball. I made this pattern up, but will write it out, if you’re interested.

Hot Pink-Purple-Orange Baby Cap

My friend’s adorable daughter, Baby O, is modeling the most recent baby hat I made. There are at least 3 babies on the way among my family and friends right now, so I gotta get cracking on hats! Fortuitously, I made this one ages ago, before any pregnancies were announced.

I was between projects and I had some of this colorific yarn leftover from the amazing mittens I made in Spring of 2010. This is probably my favorite yarn ever, and now it is used up. I might have to buy another ball. The photo above (side view of the hat) is probably the truest for color).

Why am I putting it on my blog before I send it to the new mom? Because I can’t decide who to give it to! So I am going to let them choose. If one of them loves it, they will get it. Otherwise, they can wait and hope for something more….traditional….from me.

That third photo (top view of hat) is included not to show color or construction, but simply for those baby toes!

For knitters, I used the pattern serenaded here by the Yarn Harlot.  The yarn is Zauberball Fuchsienbeet.

April Adventures with an Injured Foot

For months now I have had an injured foot. On my second visit to a foot doctor, I was given some good taping techniques that are finally helping me to heal. Before that, I was sticking REALLY close to home, except when Zach was available to push me on the tricycle. Here are some of the things keeping us busy.

For Baby Claire, born a few weeks ago, I knit a tiny baby chick hat in the softest wool! I hope to have pics of the baby wearing it soon. Hint, Hint, Sunshine!

Boogedy earned a sticker for learning to make his own bed.

A shot of our house gecko before he gets spooked and runs into his hole. Is it a coincidence that this photo has cheerios for scale, or is that why he is here?

Forgetting that mommy is the Red guy and HE is the yellow guy.

The octopus-and-squid-painted stump in my neighborhood.

Watching the man at the softball diamond drive the tractor in ever-widening circles to smooth the red dirt. This activity (includes climbing up and down the bleachers) is good for 15 minutes of entertainment.

A special treat: seaweed salad from Faustos and some pesto tortellini.

Minty Booties

I made these for a co-worker who is expecting her baby boy, like, yesterday already!!

I followed this pattern by Saartje.

I used Koigu and size 2 or 3 needles. I made some silly mistakes.

Homeliest Baby Hat Ever

(I borrowed this photo from the Crystal Palace Website, where you can see all the lovely colorways of Mochi Plus self-striping yarn)

I bought this gorgeous yarn at Black Sheep Wool Co. months ago. I knitted my favorite baby hat design.

It is so hideous that I couldn’t give it to the intended new mommy. I should have used one of their other colors!

I was reminded of this experience when Jane Brocket published this too-true  post about the beauty of handpainted yarn…before it gets knitted up!

Please don’t go saying that this hat is beautiful. SOMEHOW, it is just marvelously photogenic, but I know you’d agree that in real life, it’s atrocious.

Day 850-Bike ride

Zach would like me to title this post: “Two and a quarter years after giving birth, Sara feels ready to hitch up the baby and ride”. Last Friday, I decided that I could take the burden from Zach, the Boogedy’s usual bicycle chauffer, and hitch the trailer to my bike frame to go for a 2-mile ride. It was easy. Piece of Cake. Of course, it was a fairly flat trail along the Jordan River. But now I’m sure I’ll be asked to do it more often.

I have carried the Boogedy in a maya wrap, a sling, dangling in a carseat, in my arms, in a backpack, on my hip, or on my shoulders for a large portion of his waking hours. I have done this even while pushing his stroller or a laden grocery cart because I have a snuggly boy who prefers to “HUGGY”.

Last week I gave my stripy red sling to a friend who just had her baby. As I was demonstrating it with the Boogedy, I was pleased to feel my toddler relax and curve against me again (we haven’t used the sling since last autumn). It was a bittersweet moment when I kissed my heavy baby’s big head, which used to tuck under my chin, and I realized that pretty soon, I won’t want to carry him anymore, and after that comes something worse: he won’t want me to carry him. Then I sighed and put him down, and helped my friend negotiate the wrapping and tucking of her 7.5-p0und treasure, whose head will someday bump against her cheek.

Hyperbolic sunset pants!

What an embarassing dust cloud lurking beneath my sofa. Don’t look.

How cool are these pants?! My sister-in-law Natalie gave me the pattern last year for the Boogedy’s first b-day. She originally saw the pants in Craft: Magazine, but my boy was already too big for the published pattern, so she bought me the book. She gave me money to buy yarn, which I purchased in cream and dyed using kool-aid (see previous post).

The pattern was really easy. I had one tiny question and emailed the author, who assured me that I was doing it right. Before I seamed them, I handed them to all sorts of people to puzzle over, including these two teachers at my school, who wondered on what planet this “thing” would be a pair of pants (and possibly why I thought “sunset” was an appropriate “boy” color scheme).

The Boogedy was impatient with photography while I was snapping these photos, and got grouchy, but you need to see the difference between the front and back of these pants. Plus, you get to see Nat, the gifter of said pants.

First Haircut

The Boogedy is almost 18 months old. I’ve had to cut his bangs many times to keep them out of his eyes, but I’ve never been able to cut the curls. Finally, in the heat of the summer (and due to his latest trick of smearing food in his hair when angry), I gave him his first haircut. I looked up how to cut a kid’s hair, decided that he’s not old enough to do that, and put him to bed and waited until he was out cold.

Before:

I turned him from side to side, trying to get it all even. Then I went downstairs and told Zach “I cut his hair.” Zach flipped out just a little, saying “you probably butchered it”, “I bet it looks like you used a bowl”, and “We never agreed that it was time to cut his hair!!”

I tossed and turned all night, hoping that I hadn’t made a horrible mistake and turned our beautiful baby into a doofus. When I awoke the next morning, I was looking at the cutest “big boy” on the planet.

Big Boy

So grown up! I told him I’m expecting complete sentences any day now.

I saved most of the locks. What I’ll do with the hair, I do not know. Put it in an acid-free envelope and file it after “umbilical cord stump” probably.

Progress Has Been Made

As a knitting teacher, I’m just about the worst example ever set. I DID follow my own advice and make a gauge swatch. I got 6 stitches instead of 5.5 to the inch, not such a big deal, but I totally failed to think all the way through how that would impact my finished project. I knitted the first sleeve to 8 inches long before I thought to measure it against my boy. Lo and behold, it would not go around his little hand. I had to rip it out and start over!!

But, here are the finished pieces, pinned and blocked. That feels good. They’ve been held up to a squirmy little guy and it appears the cardigan will indeed fit. (You’ll forgive my stained ironing board…no matter how careful I am, it always looks like I’ve been eating ham sandwiches while doing my domestic chores.)

I made another not-so-obvious mistake in the sleeves, which I chose to forgive and forget. I am including side-by-side photos of the sleeves and will send a prize to the reader who spots the mistake and writes me a comment that doesn’t hurt my feelings horribly.

Today I brought the sleeves with me on the bus and managed to seam one completely. The commute back should produce a second sleeve. Home stretch here. I’m still accepting good luck wishes on the setting in of sleeves and the sewing in of zipper!

8/12/08 Update: An observant reader (Allysha) saw an error I hadn’t noticed, and upon closer inspection, I saw yet another!! I’m NOT redoing that green sleeve. No Way.