| Free Patterns |
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Sale Patterns |
- Phlox Socks - the Robyn's Nest June Sock Club
Pattern will be for sale as of October 1 2008
(You can email me or leave a comment and I will notify you when the pattern is available.)
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| I Want to Knit |
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| Wednesday, November 28, 2007 |
| eye+candy |
I'm still not sure what to do about the Marble clapotis. I had made up my mind to rip it out and save the yarn for another project, but when Maaike was over this morning she got me thinking i should keep it and continue. What do do? On the one hand...no it's not as nice as the project I just finished. But on the other...it's not the same thing at all. This isn't silk laceweight. This is dk acrylic in vibrant colors that I do really like. And would it kill me to have a machine washable, workhorse scarf? I think it's just the thought of slogging through another 3 balls of yarn that are getting to me. I'm going to think on it a while and decide- without ripping it back just yet.
 My KnitPicks order arrived! I took advantage of their yarn sale to get a little bit more, and decided to try out some Shimmer (70% alpaca, 30% silk). It is sooooooo soft! I had a hard time deciding the colors I wanted, but I think this brown mix is going to be perfect. I would like to use this yarn to design an oversized, lacy top to wear over a tank top, and since I usually wear jeans or black pants, and a black tank, this will go with the neutrals but will still be dressy if I choose to wear it somewhere dressier. I have a bunch of sketches of this one, but nothing concrete yet.  I got some knitting books too...mostly more stitch pattern books for designing.  Last night the stars aligned and I was able to finally cast on for the Chain Melody socks. I like how the yarn is knitting up, the short repeats make each color last only for 3/4 to 1 row before changing...but when I did my swatch I was able to have each color stripe for a few rows and I have to say...I LOVED that. I almost wish I could get this same colorway but in longer repeats to stripe on my foot. I'll probably have enough left over to add this to the blankie, though, which will be shorter repeats and will stripe the way I like.  10 minutes ago my Ram Wools order arrived. Check this out- 12 knitting magazines for $2 each! With the US/CAD conversion, that comes out to about $1.89 each LOL...and when brand new the mags cost over $7.00. Not a bad sale! I think my favorite part is the plastic zippered bag they came in...perfect for storing a project in. Thanks Ram Wools!  Finally, here is a real treat. My friend JayJay over in LA sent this to me in exchange for the Baby Knits duplicate book I'd recieved. Who do you think got the better end of this exchange? This is Lamb's Pride worsted (85% wool/ 15% mohair) that she dyed herself. Isn't it gorgeous?  She also sent me this HEAVY box of chocolates...which Yannick was very disappointed to find out that we would be savoring it- not devouring it in one night.  Thanks JayJay! Swapping is fun! Labels: Chain Melody Socks, stash enhancing, WIP |
posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:25 am   |
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| Monday, November 26, 2007 |
| the best laid plans... |
Tara, let it be said, is smart. I, not so much. ;)
It never would have occured to me to take photos of my "secret" project and post them on my Ravelry* page, so that crafters could see them, but the gift recipient- my mother- couldn't. Brilliant and simple idea. Totally not something I'd come up with. (Then again, I am the girl who couldn't figure out to just move her garbage can). I would have thought it made more sense to create a flikr account and come up with a password knitters might know that my mom wouldn't (like "amphibious knitting term**" or "the color of the Chibi case EVERYONE wanted a few years ago"***) and send people there to look at them.
I'm crazy like that. I like doing things the hard way, just to prove I can. I rarely take the easy way if the hard way is cooler. There is a card came called Liverpool that I play with my family. It functions in much the same way as Gin Rummy where you go for sets (3 or 4 cards of a kind) or runs (3 or 4 suited cards in a row), only you start with 6 cards dealt and progress each round until the last one has 16 cards dealt, and each hand you have a specific objective you must get in order to win. For example, 6 is 3 + 3 (you need 2 sets), 7 is 3 + 4, 8 is 4 + 4, and so on. Just like in Rummy and the tile game Rummy-Q, once you have the minimum requirement and it is your turn, you can "go down" and lay your cards out on the table. This gives you the advantage of having only a few points in your hand should someone else win (otherwise you'd be stuck adding the total of ALL your points to your score. Oh, and yeah- the lowest score wins). (Also, in Liverpool the last hand is 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 and you can't "go down" early, you can only put your points down if you can win all at once...but that's irrelevant to this story). If you get good cards you can hold them all in your hand and then on your turn when you "go down" if everything fits except that one last card to toss on the discard pile, you can win that round and everyone else will be stuck with all of their points. Well, I've been known to get screwed with all my cards in my hand when I could have gone down earlier, because I was hoping to be able to go down all at once and screw everyone else. (I said I like to make things harder for myself...I didn't say I was always smart about it. It's strange that I sabotage myself like that because I always play to win. Anyways...)
I don't remember why this story was supposed to lead into my reason for writing, but pretend it made sense and smile and nod and play along, okay? It's late, and I'm tired.
I was only going to write to complain. I didn't get anything done all day today, but finally managed to finish my mom's thing around 10:00 tonight (those knots I'd mentioned earlier). I wanted to finish my Fibonacci socks so I could start a new pair with a clear sock concience, but the pattern for those socks is on my Palm and I am having issues with the program I use to read the pattern, so I can't access that right now. I went downstairs and through all my packed knitting stuff and pulled out my Marble Clapotis. I sat down with it and in about 2 minutes decided it will be frogged. I don't know why it seems so "eh" to me right now. I still love the Clapotis pattern, but it needs a better yarn than the Marble. I still like the Marble yarn, but it needs a pattern that makes more sense for it than the Clapotis. The scarf I've been working on for almost 2 years now is going to be frogged once I can find my ball winder. (Plus I've got some Noro Silk Garden waiting to become a scarf that I'd rather work on).
Then I decided I'd jump ahead and work on Mona's Mystery Socks. I searched my office but after doing a quick tidy for Yannick's parents who slept over all weekend (in my office/spare bedroom) I must have tucked the pattern somewhere and couldn't find it. No matter, I decided I'd choose my yarn first. I dragged Yannick upstairs to show him the in progress photo of the sock on Karine's blog and the snippet on Mona's. I then dragged him downstairs to help me find the right box with all my sock yarn from before the move. After 20 minutes (and getting into a stupid fight about something completely unrelated) I gave up on finding the box, and remembered I had 2 skeins of non-project-specific sock yarn upstairs; the Socks that Rock in Chapman Springs, and Colinette Jitterbug in Jewel.
I dragged myself back up to the computer to Google finished items with these yarns to see which would knit up best for the pattern. After 15 minutes I realized that I'd have to swatch it 'cus both are really busy and it would depend on how the pattern knit up. I took both yarns in hand, found the right size needles and parked myself on the couch...only to realize that a) I still didn't know where the pattern was and b) both yarns are still in skein form and my ballwinder is still missing.
Enough was enough. I was going to just give up and go to bed, but I really wanted to knit. I remembered Robyn's September Sock Club kit. I liked the idea of using the yarn with the pattern it came with, and I'd already wound the yarn into a cake. Finally- something that would work!
Or not. The pattern calls for a US 1 needle with a gauge of 17 sts to 2". I 99% of the time use a 2.5mm needle for socks, which is also referred to on some packaging as a US 1. Except...it's not. A US 1 is closer to 2.25mm. I swatched with my 2.5mm and got 14.5 sts to 2". I forced myself to get off the couch after all this and got up, went to my needle bag and took out what I thought was a 2.25mm. I swatched again and handed it off to Yannick to count for me (I was too irritated). This time there were only 11.5 sts. He looked as confused as I was until we looked closer and realize I'd grabbed a set of 2.75mm needles. I went back to my needle bag...
I don't own a set of 2.25mm needles.
I'm going to bed. I can't take any more of this tonight.
*Link coming soon...I want to put more stuff up first.
**frog
***pink |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 11:47 pm |
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| call me crazy. "hello crazy" |
I keep doing this to myself. Every time I take on a project that has a deadline (the charity affair, gift knitting, etc...) I tell myself "no more!". Sure, I enjoy the ones I get paid for, but the ones I do for gifts usually end up causing me more grief than anything else, because I never think of doing them in advance. If I could plan out my year in January (except for stuff due in Jan/Feb) things would be fine. Instead I decide to knit for someone a few weeks (if I'm lucky!) before the warranted occasion.
Take last night. I was in the finishing stages of my recent project. I can say it is for my mom, 'cus she knows I was making her something for her birthday (last Thursday but we're not giving her gifts until the dinner this coming weekend), but she occassionally reads this blog so I can't post photos yet. In any case, I was excited about the fact that I was almost done. Finishing a project opens up the whole world of new projects I get to start. Don't get me started on my Ravelry que, but yeah- there are a TON of things I'd like to do. I also took on a huge family project yesterday, plus I want to finish a pair of socks that have been stalled at 1 completed for over a year, then get to Mona's November Mystery Socks, then...then...then... (you get the point).
So why in the love of all things pointy did I open my mouth to ask my sister and her boyfriend if they'd like knitted gifts for Hanukkah this year? You know, that holiday which starts, oh, NEXT WEEK.
I think I like to please too much.
*&#!
Oh well. Out of the two I think I'll only be knitting for her boyfriend Mike (T.O.M.) and I came up with a kick-ass gift that he will absolutely flip out over. I need to get some info from him first, but I think this will be one gift that will be really loved. Plus he's not Jewish so I technically have until Christmas to knit it! I'll provide more details on that as I get to it.
I have news though! And no, it's not that Jakob LOVES sweet potatoes. (Although he does. So much so, that he will cry after he's eaten the last spoonful because he wants more). Nope- the big news is that I finished my mom's project. It's done, and it's gorgeous! I love it so much that I want one for myself, but I can't bear the thought of knitting this again right now. (Oops- I've said too much!)
Photos and other random stuff later when I remember to bring my camera upstairs. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:40 am |
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| Thursday, November 22, 2007 |
| all kinds of stuff |
I hope you're not on dial-up, 'cus there are a ton of photos in this post!
Last Sunday Robyn, Sean, my aunt (Robyn's mom), Jakob and I went to a local craft fair. Like Robyn, I haven't been there in ages. There was some cute stuff, some WAY overpriced stuff and some fun stuff. It's a shame though...with the exception of some really original stuff (one silver or tinsmith table comes to mind that had wind chimes and jewelry made out of cutlery), it almost seemed like there were duplicate tables. Or at least, yet another table with your name written on a felt snowman ornament, or whatever.
There was enough interesting stuff to keep us walking around for a while, and I did end up buying from 3 stands.
One stand hand wooden items. Not the same type of wooden items as another stand I purchased from...the latter one had detailed, polished wood toys and items. The former was more cutesy tole-painted wooden signs and figurines. Robyn got a cute Laundry Room Lady. I picked up these two eyeglass holders for my dad (an optician) to put in his store.
 The pink sunglasses are mine. Say what you will...they're DKNY, plastic and silly...and although I can have my pick of any frame in existance (practically) and I get to try them all on when the reps come by...my night-time glasses are still an old pair of Ralph Laurens circa 1996, and these are my only pair of sunglasses. And yes, they are almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea- uh I mean almost, but not quite Barbie pink. (So you CAN say I see the world through rose-colored glasses!)
I was wearing Jakob in a Snugli because I figured it would be easier than pushing a stroller around. Many people came up to us and commented on him, and, being his usual self (even though he was exhausted) he treated them all to giggles and grin. As we passed one booth selling African items, the Kenyan lady manning the booth called out to Jakob and asked him to smile for her. I couldn't see his face but I'm guessing he did smile because the next thing I knew she took a hand-carved wooden giraffe off her table and gave it to him! He is really cute and probably about 3 inches tall, and I couldn't believe she just gave it to him like that! I browsed her table for a bit because I wanted to buy something as a "thank you" and her daughter came out from behind the table to play with Jakob. She was an adorable little girl, probably about 8 with the most adorable accent, and when she started playing with this zebra tam-tam Jakob went nuts! He was laughing and shaking...he loves music and I guess any noise-maker too. So I bought the tam-tam. You hold the stick in your hand and roll it back and forth, and the two little wooden bits swing back and forth on their strings and hit the center "drum". It makes a loud tock-tock noise and though I thought it would scare him, Jakob loves it.
 The last item I'll show you is the first one I'd actually bought. How cute is this? It's a toy wooden truck, hand made with real turning wheels. The best part- it's a crayon holder! We are a very crafty family (duh...this IS a knitting/craft blog) and I think it is so cool that I can encourage my son to color or draw by letting him "drive" his crayons to the paper. It came with a free coloring book and I picked the 101 Dalmations one because the pages are heavy enough for paint, and they are perforated to tear out easily.  In other news, yesterday Jakob started zucchini for the first time.  He's quite happy with it. :)  I did notice a bit of a rash on him today, but I've never heard of anyone having a zucchini allergy. Luckily tomorrow morning we are going to his doctor for his 6 month vaccinations and a flu shot, so I will be able to ask him about the rash. I haven't done much knitting this week...mainly because I feel like I haven't left the kitchen. We did some grocery shopping on Saturday, and I picked up yet more stuff to become baby food.  Everything in this photo is for Jakob to eat. From the center top you've got 4 turkey breasts, pears, apples, sweet potatoes, carrots, a can of peaches in water, 2 chicken breasts, and celery and carrots to be used when cooking the poultry.  On Tuesday I cooked up the turkey and chicken and pureed those, plus I made the peaches. I think I mentioned previously that the peaches taste "eh". I know fresh peaches will be better, but the store didn't have any. I know, Maaike, that I could have waited until they did have some, but at least this way I can get Jakob to taste them for the 3 days to eliminate an allergy and then give him fresh ones once they have them.  Yesterday I made the sweet potatoe and the pears. I confess to reserving a bit of the cooking liquid and pre-pureed, but cooked pears for myself, and I will do the same with the apples once I make them. I hear they're good on yogurt...  Remember the Hallowe'en pumkins? Well the baby one was stolen that night. Today I cooked up the lumpy Mama pumpkin. I swear I didn't leave my kitchen all day! I spent nearly half the day cooking up, then pureeing 12 pounds of farshtinkener pumpkin. I filled 2 ice-cube trays for Jakob, and 5 sandwich bags with 1 or 2 cup servings of puree to freeze for myself in case I ever get the urge to cook with pumkin puree again. I reserved 2 cups to bake with, and made these:  That's pumpkin bread with walnuts, and pumpkin cookies with walnuts and corrinthian raisins (currants). I haven't tasted the bread yet, but I imagine it will taste very similar to the cookies since the ingredients were almost the same. And finally, if you're still here...a reward for the eyes:
 Last Thursday Maaike and I went down to Effiloche and I bought her some yarn as a thank you for a project she helped me out with. They had received a new shipment of recycled sari silk, and I decided that I needed me some. I already had the two top skeins which were a gift from my secret pal that one time I played along. I had a feeling, though, that whatever I would ultimately decide to do with it would require more, so I brought mine with to find a skein to match. Well. Mine don't have labels, so heaven help us to know if they are "twisted", "original", "washed", or any other variety of sari silk. In the end we narrowed it down to "twisted" or "original", then set about finding a matching color. Some were too "tomato", others didn't have the very intelligent shade of the color blue ( Hooloovoo). You should have seen us with all the skeins untwisted and laid open! Ginette was very patient with me, and in the end I think we found one that will match perfectly. Maaike also got some, but we're still waiting for her to post photos... *I feel like this is a Where's Waldo post. Can you spot the two references to h2g2? Labels: stash enhancing |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:42 pm |
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| Wednesday, November 21, 2007 |
| a boy in knits |
Does anyone remember me talking about the Cabaret for the Cure? My friend's leukemia fundraiser? Well, it is next week, so last weekend I got my tushie in gear and fixed the Montego Bay Scarf I'd knit for her.
Yeah. Um, no.
We won't speak of that scarf again. I wove in the edge that got caught, and I spent 1.5 %&$^ hours carefully unpicking the part that had torn and ripped (of course it wasn't the side that would unravel easily), and used new yarn to bind off, and wove in all the ends. Then I looked at it.
I had to admit that it was now a) a good 2 feet shorter, and b) still looked really fuzzy from getting attacked in the washing machine by some stray velcro. I did the only thing I could think of to tame the fuzz...I let it soak in Eucalan for 10 minutes, rinsed then gave it fresh water and a squirt of hair conditioner. I worked the conditioner through then put it in the dryer. Much of the fuzz was flattened, but even at this new, softer feel I had to admit that it still wasn't good enough to be a charity-auctioned scarf. Hell, it wasn't good enough to be a raffle prize!
I kept looking at another project I'm doing with the proper yarn, and realizing that I should never have skimped on the yarn for that project. Well, I didn't really skimp to save money. I just honestly thought the sock yarn would be cute, since there was one in my LYS that was made with sock yarn and it was great. I should have realized that particular sock yarn was Regia Bamboo, which had a much silkier hand and feel than plain old sock yarn.
I didn't want to leave my friend empty-handed or renege on my offer of knitted goods, so I looked around to see what I could offer. In the end I am giving them 3 sets of knitted goodies: all stuff I'd knit for Jakob. I don't feel bad because a) I missed the boat on some articles that are already too small for Jakob, b) they have never been worn, c) they were knit with love, and d) they will go to make someone else's child warm and happy, and that is much better than staying here and sitting in a bag.
Since they WERE originally knit for Jakob I took some photos of him wearing them, just to have for my records, and I will show them to you here.
This is the "Ice Cream Cardigan and Hat" knit from 2 balls of Regia Canadian Colors- Ottawa. I used my leftovers to knit "Christine's Baby Booties" to match.
 Jakob was all giggles that day and I can't help but crack up when I see these photos!
 I think this one (below) was my favorite of his silly grins. He looks like a roly-poly little toy and I just want to pinch his cheeks!
 I will be giving away the Just Ducky Hat and Socks set. It is still too big for him, and I think by the time it would fit he would be too old to wear it.
 I'm sorry...I think I'm going to gush here...but I LOVE this boy's face!
 The last set I will be giving away is the Froggy Hat and Socks set. I don't know why but the hat is way too small but the socks are too big...it would have been cute when he was smaller but that would have been May and too warm...all in all I feel quite comfortable with giving it away.
 More of his favorite face...sucking in his lip. (He didn't stay that way for long, I think I tickle-bombed him right after this photo was taken).
 Finally, some other knit photos to share. This is the Baby Cabled Cardigan I finally got around to finishing last week. I don't know if this photo properly shows it, but the cardi is baggy and the sleeves are too long, which means it should fit for another 3-6 months- or until the Winter is over. But you can clearly see that the length is too short. Every time he moves his arms it rises, and since it has a hood the weight of it pulls the back down and the front rises up to about his mid-chest.
 I'm going to fix it once I finish my secret project.
The hood however...let's not go there.
 Cute elfin look- yes. Practical and useful hood- no. In theory the hood would fit a normal head, but the cables pull it in too much. I really don't feel like knitting a border, and I can't pick up more sts at the neckline and work up since the hood already grows up from the front edges of the cardi. So the hood will be purely decorative. I'm ok with that.
Labels: baby booties-Regia, Baby Cabled Hoodie, Cabaret for the Cure, FO, Froggy Hat and Socks, Ice Cream Cardigan and Hat, Just Ducky Hat and Socks, Montego Bay Scarf |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:42 pm |
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| he rolled! |
/begin mommy talk
I'm so proud! Jakob was on his playmat on the floor while I ate lunch. I looked down to check on him, and he was on his back, trying to get the toys I'd put out of reach. I glanced at the TV, ate a bite or two, and when I looked back at him he was on his stomach playing with the toy!
He's done a complete 180 roll two or three times while he was sleeping, but while awake (and, I'm assuming, deliberate) he's tried to turn but gotten stuck at the armpits because he didn't know how to get his arms out of the way. So he'd wind up with his belly and legs face-down but his chest twisted and his head back.
This was the first time I've ever seen him do a 180 while awake! Not on only that, but a few minutes later once he was back on his back, he was playing with a toy and rolled over again, while I watched and still holding the toy!
I know this means a step closer to crawling and any chance I have to knit while he's awake will go right out the window, but it's still a milestone for him and I'm so proud!
/end mommy talk
Regular knitting stuff will resume in the next post. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 12:55 pm |
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| Tuesday, November 20, 2007 |
| cruising along? |
I wanted to upload those photos I talked about yesterday. I tried, even. For some reason Blogger is having issues and won't let me upload anything, so they will have to wait for tomorrow.
I spent the day doing yet more laundry, trying to knit when I could, but for the most part I was making baby food again. I boiled up some chicken and turkey breasts (separately) and pureed them, and also made a batch of peaches. I really wanted to make the peaches from scratch but the grocery store we were at didn't have a single fresh peach, so I bought a can of peach slices in water (no sugar added) and pureed that up. I taste all the purees as I make them (and I'll admit to licking the edge of the spoon when feeding Jakob the squash) and I'm really not happy with how the canned peaches taste when pureed. They definately don't taste as fresh or "real" as the other stuff does. I'm trying to get all my purees done and the freezer stocked so I can forget about it for a little while, so from the fresh ingredients I've still got sweet potato, carrots, apples and pears to make, and from frozen stuff I'll be cooking up some peas and green beans.
Hey- if you have, or if you know someone who has traveled with a baby, or ideally has taken a cruise with a baby, can you email me? I need some tips/advice. Thank you! |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 8:42 pm |
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| Monday, November 19, 2007 |
| 2 new foods + 1 baby = 8 cute photos |
I'm having a hard time blogging lately. Time-wise I feel like there is always something going on, so when I could be blogging, I should be doing something else. Lately that something else has been everything from cooking and cleaning to doing a crossword puzzle or three before bed to unwind. I have been doing tons of knitting but I can't show it off yet because it is a gift and the person it is for occassionally reads my blog. Plus it is one of those projects that looks the same after a little bit so it would be a bunch of boring "look more inches!" posts anyways.
That leaves me with Jakob. For those of you who aren't into the baby stuff, please check back tomorrow. There will be more baby photos, but the baby will be wearing a ton of hand knits, so that should appease you.
For those of you who ARE into the baby stuff, here are some cute food photos. I had wanted to wait until he was 6 months old to start any fruits or veggies, but to be as vague as possible...what was going in wasn't coming out. When it had been almost a week I called his doctor, and he suggested starting him on some prunes.
I'm eating this so WHAT will happen? Are you sure this is food? 
If you say so...  Sucess! I can definitely say that prunes are not one of his favorite foods (you know, of the 3 foods he's ever eaten) but he will eat them. Before you worry- no he didn't eat all of the prunes in that bowl! We only had him eat two spoonfuls once a day for two days before they kicked in. On his 6 month (birth)day we introduced him to squash.
 Having no idea what was in store for him...
...the first taste... 
...not sure... 
And the verdict is? Contrary to what this photo shows, he really loves squash. Each frozen cube is equal to 2 tablespoons of puree and he will happily eat an entire cube. Ever since Saturday he's had squash alone for lunch (after breastfeeding) and with cereal (after feeding) for supper, and tonight he barely touched his cereal and had no interest in eating but once I brought out the squash he started laughing and talking and opening his mouth up big for each spoonful. After watching him eat 3 different kinds of cereal, prunes and now the squash I can clearly see that he has a preference and really does "like" squash, as opposed to just eating it because I give it to him. Up for tomorrow...those photos I promised with knitting in them. For tonight I'm going to do another few puzzles then crash before this headache turns into a migraine. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:08 pm |
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| Saturday, November 17, 2007 |
| six months |
Before I forget, here's our weekly photo for this past week...Mommy with Jakob at 26 weeks. I have to go back to work in 14 weeks! Ugh...I want to stay home forever.
 Our little monster is 6 months old today. I say this every month, but time is going by SO fast! Every Thursday we have playgroup, then I look forwards to the weekends because Yannick will be home. I just finish getting through a weekend, when whoops it's already time for the next playgroup! I'm going to *blink* and be at his wedding, I just know it.
 See that thing he's doing with his mouth? That's his new favorite thing. He started doing it a few days ago, and now every time there's nothing in his mouth (finger, toes, shoes, etc) he's got his lower lip sucked in like that.
...should be able to:
-keep head level with body when pulled to sitting CHECK -say "ah-goo" or similar vowel-consonant combination CHECK ...will probably be able to: -roll over (one way) CHECK -bear some weight on legs when held upright CHECK
-sit without support CHECK (for 10 seconds or so) -turn in the direction of a voice CHECK -razz (make a wet razzing sound) CHECK ...may possibly be able to: -stand holding on to someone or something CHECK -object if you try to take a toy away NO- but he's not possessive yet -work to get a toy out of reach CHECK -pass a cube or other object from one hand to another CHECK -look for dropped objects I'M NOT SURE -rake with fingers a tiny object and pick it up in fist I'M NOT SURE -babble, combining vowels and consonants such as ga-ga-ga, ba-ba-ba, ma-ma-ma, da-da-da -feed self cracker or other finger food I'M NOT SURE- we've never given him any, but everything he grabs goes into his mouth, so "probably" ...may even be able to: -creep or crawl NO -pull up to standing position from sitting WITH HELP -get into a sitting position from stomach NO -pick up tiny objects with any part of thumb and finger I'M NOT SURE -say "mama" or "dada" indiscriminately ALL THE TIME!  Here's a side-by-side of his first month chair photo compared to his six month chair photo. I'm so used to him looking the way he does that I almost can't recognize him as the little, squirmy baby he used to be. He's such a "boy" already! (Note: as always, you can click on the photos for larger versions). I don't have a good photo of him in the cabled cardigan, but I plan on taking one tomorrow so I can get started on my alterations. The sweater is adorable on him, but I'm really irked at the pattern- the sleeves are about 3" too long, but the body is about 3" too short! I should have expected the sleeves to be a bit long since it is a drop-shouldered pattern, but for the body? Come on! I spend the entire time he's wearing it pulling it down so he doesn't look like he's wearing something too small. Unfortunately the zipper is not going to be ripped and/or a longer one put in, but I have more of the dark brown so I will pick up along the bottom edge and knit down for as long as I can before I run out of yarn. There will be a gap at the bottom where the zipper won't go all the way down, but I'm hoping it will look deliberate. |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:22 pm |
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| Thursday, November 15, 2007 |
| fo report: baby cabled cardigan |
Amazing thing, how time works. It hit me yesterday that Jakob is growing up. He'll be 6 months old on Saturday. Already! And while he is getting bigger...knitting doesn't. Especially knitting that remains unfinished in a Ziploc bag hidden away in the basement. And if I wanted Jakob to wear said knitting, I'd have to get a wee bit of a move on in finishing it.
So while Jakob did this
 I turned this
 into this.
 The sweater had been sitting in a bag just waiting for the ends to be woven in and the zipper sewn in. To be honest, I rushed it. I realized AFTER sewing in all the ends that I think I'd left them unwoven last time because I wasn't happy with how I'd seamed the sleeves on, but I hadn't time to fix it then. Now it is too late, and I can only hope it doesn't look as strange or boxy on Jakob. Not my best work, but at this point it will fit him for a few weeks and then get washed and packed away, so I'll forgive myself.
 I'm really happy with the zipper! It took a long time because I wanted it to be done properly (this was BEFORE I realized the problem with the wonky sleeves). First I pinned it then basted it in place. I sewed the selvage stitch down to the edge of the zipper, then used a small backstitch to sew down the other inside edge of the zipper so it wouldn't catch on anything.
I'll try to get some photos of Jakob in the sweater for my next post.
Labels: Baby Cabled Hoodie, FO |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 12:40 pm |
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| Monday, November 12, 2007 |
| ...a little bit of that... |
Hey, look- it's a vest!
 I finished it just in time. All the knitting was actually finished on Thursday night, but I was too tired to stay up and weave in all the ends. I had some time to kill in St-Laurent on Friday morning before meeting Debbie for lunch, so I parked Jakob's stroller at a cafe and wove in all the ends there (ignoring the strange looks from passers-by). I think it is so cute! I keep calling it his Oxford vest...I can just picture him strolling along a college campus somewhere...you know, all 26 inches of him. With his thesis notes and a well-worn leather knapsack. Yes, I am overtired, how did you know?
 The vest was knit in one piece up to the armpits (I think I said that in my last post). It was a really, really fast knit.
 I had a bit of trouble with the V-neck in trying to get that nice, straight line down the center of the V. I think it worked in the end, although you can't tell, but the ribbing on either side of it is a bit wonky.
I will be publishing the pattern as soon as I can get around to calculating a few other sizes and typing it up.
I know, I know, I forgot the most important part. How does Jakob LOOK in his vest?
Adorable, if I do say so myself. I had made it a bit big on purpose to get wear out of it during the winter. Ignore the striped socks, I changed him quickly before leaving just to make sure everything fit. The photos at the Bar Mitzvah itself weren't clear enough to show off the vest properly.
While I did mention the Bar Mitzvah before, I hadn't mentioned that it was in Toronto. So Jakob took his very first road-trip to Toronto this weekend. We left bright and early around 8am on Saturday and made it to one of my friend's places around 3:30. We did have to stop twice though, once to feed Jakob and once to feed all 3 of us. Here's a cute photo of Yannick and Jakob in a Harvey's restaurant in Port Hope, Ontario.
 Jakob is sporting his lovely pirate pyjamas and the Moss Block Cardigan I'd made.
It was a fun weekend, but a long drive to do in a car with a baby who wants. out. of. his. carseat. NOW. He did sleep most of the trip(s) but when he was awake...whoo boy. As a treat I'm not taking him ANYWHERE today so he doesn't have to get strapped in for a change. As a treat for me, I'm going to do nothing but veg and maybe knit.
Labels: FO, Jakob's Gray Vest, Moss Block Cardigan |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 10:41 am |
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| ...a bit of this... |
I think I forgot to post a photo of Mommy with Jakob at 24 weeks, so here it is. I still haven't figured out how to take good weekly shots, like Robyn does. If I use a flash we get stuff like this: If I skip the flash, even in well lit areas, I get blurry photos. On November 1st when this was taken, no one was home to take the photo for me, so this flashy photo is what you get! As I mentioned in the last post, I liked the idea of "whipping up" a vest for Jakob to wear to the Bar Mitzvah we had this past weekend. I know it meant putting off my other projects for a bit, and one of them does have a deadline, but I figured it wouldn't hurt too much to squeeze in a quickie. I don't remember if this yarn is considered a worsted or a bulky, but boy did it knit up fast! On Tuesday afternoon at Robyn's I had only the ribbing done, remember? Well this photo was taken on Wednesday morning, when I had intended on posting.  Not bad huh? That's all of the sweater to the armpits, then the front completed and waiting for a 3-Ndl BO on the shoulders. The back was done up to that spot you see on the right. I would have liked to have finished the vest on Wednesday, but instead I spent part of the day making this:
 That's 3 Ziploc bags of baby food ready to pop into the freezer for when Jakob starts his fruits and veggies. From the left, there is banana, butternut squash, and zucchini. I couldn't believe how easy it was to make! First I measured my ice cube trays and found out that each cube holds 2 tbsp of liquid. I know I could have just mashed the bananas fresh for him but it would be lumpy and I didn't want to always have to have bananas on hand and hope they'd be ripe enough, so I took a few I had and pureed them up, and that was it. The squash took about 20 minutes in the microwave, sliced in half and cut-side-down in a baking dish with some water. It got so tender it practically fell out of the skin and into my food processor, although I did quite a bit more of the cooking water than the booklet I have said (about 2/3 of a cup v.s. 1/3 of a cup) because I found it very gloppy and thick and hard for even me to swallow, so I wanted it more liquid for Jakob. The zucchini was also super simple, just boil the peeled rounds for 5 min then puree without adding any extra water. I had all 3 batches done in about 2 hours, and that was WITH cleaning my supplies and food processor in between each batch! I put them in ice cube trays (covered in saran wrap) in the fridge to cool down, and a few hours later put those trays in the freezer for over night. The next morning I popped them out and into labelled Ziploc Freezer Bags and now I have food that will last for 6-8 months, with no chemicals or preservatives. Cool.
Here's Mommy with Jakob at 25 weeks. He was being so snuggly at playgroup and I thought he was sleeping. Turns out he wasn't, he was just enjoying resting on me. I had no idea what he looked like so when one of the other moms took this photo I couldn't believe that look on his face!
 I love my mommy. I'll leave you now with my favorite photo from last Thursday. I had done Jakob's laundry and found an outfit that I didn't realize before was for up to 3 months. He had never worn it, so he wore it to playgroup just to get some use out of it. The shirt might still fit him with jeans, but the pants are way too short for him. I liked what it said, though, "Junior Mechanic", since Yannick does construction and renos for a living, and wanted to have a photo of him in the outfit in case he never wore it again. So I parked my little guy on the couch to practice his sitting, and I snapped a few quick photos. I did a bunch in a row because every so often the flash would make his eyes close, and when I checked the photos later I was stunned to find this one:  I love that face. I love this boy.Labels: Jakob's Gray Vest, WIP |
| posted by Jennifer Lori @ 9:21 am |
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