Convalescing

This past week Gabby and I have been taking in the sunshine like... well, like two people who haven't seen the sun in a long time. We did our usual weekday stuff, like walking down the Drive, seeing our Mommy and Baby friends, eating lunch in the park, and going on the swings. The last few days though Gabs has been under the weather with a runny nose and a bit of a cold. One night the congested nose worsened quite a bit and was bad enough to keep her (and us) for most of the night. We went out the next day and bought a humidifier for her room, and it has been just the best purchase ever. She slept her usual 12 hours, woke up for her usual feedings and she appeared to be breathing a bit easier.


My view from the stroller. Gabby and I do some long walks on some days, and here she is asleep and cuddled under a blanket (Big Bad Baby Blanket from Stitch N Bitch by Debbie Stoller). I whipped out this blankie in her early colicky days, in the first few months of her life, when we spent more time at home. I really enjoyed knitting this blanket. I savoured the few quiet moments I had each day to work away on this, and it was my first project using luxury (non-acrylic) yarn. Koigu, no less.


Gabby managed to squeeze out a few smiles, despite feeling congested and generally crappy. Here she is comforted by some of her favourite things, her sippy cup, Bonne Nuit Bebe book, and a Tupperware container (who says I don't spoil her?). She's outgrowing her newborn socks (Better than Bootie socks by Ann Bush). These gotta-be-a-girl-pink socks were knit up with Sweet Georgia's superwash sock yarn in the Kissed colourway. These socks used to stay on but she's kicking them off now. Time to knit another pair, I guess. My girl's growing up so fast... (snif)

In other knitting news, my knitting time has been on the low side lately. Progress has been slow on the Oak Ribbed Sock because I find it's just too hard to knit while watching The Wire now. (This show is that good). Also I've been working on a new project... Clapotis. I know, I am probably the absolute last person on earth who has not made this yet, but it's good to see that there are other people who are still excited about knitting this shawl/wrap/knitting phenomenon (just google it, i'm not kidding). Pics to come.


I think we'll just be sticking around our 'hood for the rest of the weekend, drinking coffee and resting up. Oh, and playing with our l'il gal.

RIP Rheostatics.

Spring in Vancouver

How can you tell it's spring in Vancouver? The rain... the never-ending rain. Some glimpses of warm sun, and then back to rain. Rain, rain, go away...

I'm inspired to start sewing again. The last time I've done any sewing was in high school in home ec class, and let's just say I wasn't a star pupil or anything. My crowning glory? A cotton top, with wonky stitching and a puckered armhole.

Okay, so I've got some supplies. I have a second hand sewing machine, I have some books and simple patterns, and I have some fabric my mom gave me. I'm in beginner sewer heaven.

My inspirations:

1. Sew U, by by Wendy Mullin, Eviana Hartman, Beci Orpin. Great instructions for a clueless and overenthusiastic hack like me. Plus basic patterns for a skirt, a shirt and pants, and how to modify and embellish each item.


2. Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing: Patterns and How-To for 24 Fresh and Easy Projects, by Lotta Jansdotter. I may never buy an Ikea dishtowel again. (I know, never say never) Clean and simple items for the home... a duvet cover, a cute apron or two.

3. SouleMama's tote bags, aprons, children's clothes, re-using thrifted items... I love it.

4. Wee Wonderfuls. Big Footed Bunny, here I come. I grew up with an Angry Bunny, and she definitely needs some cheering up.

So, Gabby, could you just sit still for a minute? Mama's got some sewing to do.

The weekend buzz

Another FO to report. Here she is, the Child's Rainbow Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. It's knitted up in Noro Kureyon, in all its woolly and bits-of-wood-stuck-in-the-fibre glory. I must have picked up an old skein of this stuff from the LYS, cuz I heard that Noro had fixed this little problem. Oh well, just chalk it up to some knitterly experience. I can tell my grandchildren, "Back in the day, we had to knit with yarn that had bits of wood stuck in the fibre..."

Weekend status: Mat and I are, in the words of one of our friends, exhausti-pated. Gabs is doing her best to keep us on our toes. I can't believe this little toothless wonder can take so much of our energy... and she's not even crawling yet!

Things I'm liking these days:

1. The Wire. A cops n' robbers show, kinda like Law and Order Criminal Intent when it was good (ooh, burn!). A brilliant show where there are no forensics teams and no genius detectives, just regular Joes (& Jills) who slum it like the rest of us.

2. Reading How To Be Free by Tom Hodgkinson. Saw this book on yarnstorm, and its a fun read. A little rant-y, but I like the idea of living simply.

3. Organic pears and bananas, Gabby's new favourites. She'll happily suck on these and gum away at them. Not sure she's really getting any down into her gullet but she just hates the cereal, or anything else we try and introduce to her via spoon.

Trellis is done, Spring is sprung

Trellis is done. Yippee! Gabs tried it on and the verdict is... too big. Double Yippee! There's lots of room for her to grow into. I fancy that it will make a rather nice Spring time sweater. The buttons are still to come, but technically all the knitting and major sewing up is done, so I think I'm officially allowed to start a new project. (Yippee!)

Here's the Gabs sitting up with her sweater on. Notice the massive pile o' pillows behind her. What, me? An overprotective mom? She's doing pretty well sitting up, but does tend to keel over if she's reaching for the next yummy thing to put in her mouth. So, just humour me, kay? I feel better knowing those pillows are there.

Sweater details:
Pattern: Trellis, from Knitty
Yarn: Feeling... I think? It's a wool blend and very soft. Lost the ball bands awhile back.



The weather was gorgeous today. I met up with another mommy at Trout Lake for a stroll and we bumped into two other mommies with babes in tow, also taking in the cold but sunny weather. If this weather keeps up, we'll have to test drive the sweater with a walk in the park and Gabs in the swings. Weeeee...

Rainy day knitting

Today, Mat and I ran away to the local coffee shop while saviours Shell and Shimmer came over to hold the Gabster. I brought some knitting along, and naively thought I could breeze through the seaming and finishing of Trellis. One hour later, I had attached one set-in sleeve. Two sleeves are attached, which means just the side seams, sleeve edges, and a few bazillion ends to weave in. Here's the baby-sized sweater pinned and ready to be seamed up the side. Slow going... I'm really hoping to get this done before Gabs outgrows the sweater!



We got home, and the babysitters were doing their best to keep our baby happy, but Gabs had cried pretty much the whole time we were gone. Yikes. Poor girl had only one nap all day and it was already 3:30pm. We shifted gears, and got suited up to brave the rain again, which was coming down like a m@#$f$# at this point, put Gabs in the stroller and... zzzz... sweet sleepy silence. We crept quietly out of the room and retreated to the back, happy for some more downtime. Did we mention that she'd been up several times last night?

So, what to do when one is tired, cranky, needing to keep their hands busy but also ready to drop everything once the baby wakes up from her nap? Why, knit a colour-happy scarf of course, in a no-brainer mistake rib. Here it is so far... it's kind of ascot-sized...mmmm... about half-way done. I like watching the colours change with this scarf (ya, i know... simple pleasures) but I have to say that I find the Kureyon wool a bit itchy to work with. Imagine how this would knit up in a Noro Silk Garden. oooh, I think I hear the yarn store calling...



One thing keeping me sane in all this is listening to this new album. Oh, save me, miroir noir.

Happy Daylight Savings y'all.

Confession

I love knitting. More than that, I love starting new projects. But the thrill of a new project soon wears off, and sooner or later I get bored or irritated with what's currently on the needles. This is the state of affairs, as it is:

1. Trellis, from Knitty. Just needs seaming and some buttons.

2. Baby Shrug, from Debbie Bliss Simply Baby. Knitting the edging, then it's all done. Anyone else found an error in the number of stitches to be picked up around the neckline? This project's in Stall City.

3. We Call Them Pirates hat, from hello yarn. Almost finished, again, but has reached the crown decreasing. This hat was meant to be my husband's winter hat (er, next winter maybe?) but when I tried it on, it barely fit my head. Hmm... I guess I should have swatched. Oops.

4. Child's rainbow scarf from Last minute knitted gifts, in Kureyon.

5. Child's first sock (shell pattern) from Knitting Vintage Socks in Koigu. Made one sock and second sock syndrome has hit me bad. That's okay, cuz I started on...

6. Oak sock from Knitting Vintage Socks. Made in Trekking... beautiful stuff. great colours. My current favourite.

Pics to come. Hopefully sooner than next winter.