Knitting Sampler

After reading a few blogs about knitting, finally getting to spend the afternoon at my favorite yarn shop and sitting diligently at night to complete a few projects, I have a few knit things to show off.

Ruffle Scarf
Free Pattern from local yarn shop
Baby Alpaca Grande by Plymouth Yarn
100% Baby Alpaca

Socks
Lenora's Hybrid Adaptable Sock Pattern (again, local yarn shop)
Cascade 220 Quatro by Cascade Yarns
100% Peruvian Highland Wool

Mock Turtleneck Sweater
Rowan "Ice" from Rowan Mag #27
Royal Tweed by Lana Grossa
100% Merino Wool

The scarf is finished-yay!-and matches nicely with my new wool coat (purchased especially for our upcoming Europe adventure).

Socks are nearly finished and just need one good last session before completion. I don't think I can wear these with shoes, but they sure will keep my feet toasty warm this winter.

As for the sweater, you can see that I haven't even gotten one sleeve done yet. So, this will be a huge process that may take a while. I hope I still like the pattern when it's finished!

And yes, all three of these projects are for me. Hey, I've never knit anything for myself so I think I deserve it.

Elliot Loses His Wings and Other Stories

I should have been in bed hours ago, but the life of a mother denotes that I do all my "me" time activities into the wee hours of the night. Therefore, I am watching tv, looking at my knitting (there are 3 very unfinished pieces staring back at me) and trying to find just the right pictures to upload here...all while trying to eat that yummy root beer popsicle that I couldn't rightly eat in front of my child (oh the horrors of sugar).

Today started out as any other day. Well, ok, the morning was a little special, actually. This morning I woke up with a feeling I have rarely had in the last year and a half: restfulness (is that a word?)! Anyway, Elliot has just begun to sleep in his crib (by himself) all night long! And last night, he slept entirely through the night. Yes, from 8pm to 6am. I couldn't believe it.

The rest of the day was fairly normal. Grocery store. Garden shop. Thrift store. Post office. Quick nap. Yoga. Dinner. Wait, back up to before dinner. And after yoga. In the in between there was a momentous occurrence that seems a mundane happening now-a-days, but is none the less still traumatic the first time it happens.

Elliot has, for the passed few months, had these huge adorable curls billowing out from behind his ears. In the morning, they are unruly and stick straight out, after a bath they may lay down nicely for a while, only to spring into action again as soon as the water evaporates. Any way you slice them, they were cute.

Yes, were. When I got home from yoga class, I was greeted by the hysterical screaming of poor Elliot who was being pinned by his dad... Scissors in one hand and tuft of blond hair in the other.

"What did you do??" I wailed, looking over at Elliot who by now had only one golden wing coming from behind his ear.

"You hold him down while I get the other side." Jeremy cackled manically as he held up the bag of already cut hair.

After a few traumatic moments, Elliot emerged with a great haircut (sans wings) that makes him look so grown up and boyish, I get choked up just thinking about it.

Who knew that losing a few locks of hair could be such a momentous occasion?

The Carnival Came to Town!

In our small town, there are only a few things to do. A few festivals, a parade or two, a classic car show... and the carnival! So, of course we had to go. Myself, I'm not the biggest fan of put-together-by-crack-heads carnivals, but I sucked it up and went.

And guess what? It was a blast!

Elliot could only ride a few of the rides, so we did those. Over and over and over. In the picture above, I know that he looks as if he's not having any fun at all, but really, he's concentrating so hard on having the time of his life, he forgets to smile.

Above, if you look really hard, you can see me in the next horse. Well, I was so nervous that he would fall off, that I was trying to hold on to him. Every time I put my hand on his leg though, he would push it off with a defiant "naaa!". (He survived)

The disappointment of not being allowed on the Zipper is setting in....