Turning it around

Well mommyhood has really been kicking me in the tushie lately. Life is great. My son is 9 months old and as curious as our favorite little monkey! But the crafts have certainly not taken a back seat. I'm trying as hard as I can to squeeze in a stitch here and there. Here's what's in progress at the moment:

1. R2D2 beanie from Ravelry
2. Scrappy quilt
3. Embroidery project
4. finishing up a knitted necktie for my hubby
5. more knitted olives?
6. someday finishing Martha from Rowan

Hello

Well I purposely made that little red hat (see last post) too small for comic effect. You can see the results now just a month or two later. Time to knit a new one, as we're still having some chilly days here and there.

I'm a bit obsessed by the idea of Martha Stewart Kids magazines, and I'm checking out ebay for any good past issues. I had an old Halloween issue from a year or two ago with that cool mummy cupcake, but I think I convinced myself to get rid of it during one of our moves.

I am making the baby a cowboy and horse doll from Claire Garland's Dream Toys. I can't seem to stay focused for very long on the knits these days. A quilt is also in the works. Happy times.

Weekend

Here we are last weekend at the Silverlake Farmer's Market. And this is a knitting post -- so please have a look at the baby's knitted hat a la Steve Zissou in "The Life Aquatic."

We bought butternut squash for the baby!

Up next...Swirling Lace Anklets from Heart Strings Fiber Arts.

Woo hoo

Finally my first finished knit since the baby! Behold the Jaywalkers...

It's such a great feeling to finish something. Now what next?

What's new?

Well...I ended up frogging the embossed leaves sock. The top part of the cuff was too tight for my leg. I got the sense that a lot of people had the same problem with this sock. Hmmm...bummer. So instead I am making a pair of jaywalkers with trekking xxl 100. I am on the foot part of sock number 2, so I am closing in on it!

I decided not to sign up for any Stitches West (2008) classes this time around because the selection for Saturday wasn't too appealing to me. Maybe I'll try again next year.

I am back at work one day a week, which is a hard transition with the baby. I mean one day isn't hard, but switching gears for one day and then back again is the hard part.

Here is the jaywalker and here is the little tot!

Also, I didn't participate in sockapalooza 4 this year because it happened right about the time the baby was born. I didn't hear much on people's blogs about it, but it seemed to be a great success. Again, maybe next year!

I hope everyone is well...I guess everyone is hanging out in ravelry except me.

Rejoining the living

Well, hello, if anyone's still out there reading. I doubt I have any readers left considering how infrequently I've been posting, but this time I have a legitimate excuse. See photo below!

Life is great. I've just gotten back into knitting about two weeks ago. The baby is now 10 weeks old, so he's sleeping more at night, and I feel less zombie-like.

I am working on the Embossed Leaves socks from Interweave Knits (I think Winter 2005). Here is progress so far.

Just wanted to say hello, and that I'm still here. Hope you're great!

Cutesie Onesie

The stork is making his delivery on Friday (2 days from now)! So I am hoping we will remember to post something here during all the excitement. I have been doing a bit of embroidery as of late, and I stitched on a onesie on Sunday. Here's a picture below. See you all soon!

Baby Shower!

My friends Katie and Sharyn threw a small baby shower luncheon for me yesterday at the Grove. It was just perfect! I had my close girlfriends there with me while chatting and dining on Italian food. And they all gave me such beautiful gifts. I feel lucky to have such great friends. More photos to follow, but here are some great ones courtesy of my friend Mary Jo:

New Year

The holidays were great this year! It will be hard to go back to the normal routine. This year I'm looking forward to:
1. exercising a little more
2. finishing more knitting projects - no more languishing in the WIP basket

But mostly I'm looking forward to the baby...for those of you out there reading
IT'S A BOY!

I have some holiday knits to show finally. Here are my new felted house slippers from "Knit 2 Together."

My secret holiday knit was the Backyard Leaves Scarf from "Scarf Style," which I gave to my brother's girlfriend, Leslie. We never had a proper photo shoot, but this will give you a good idea:

Today I'm working on the knitted necktie from Interweave Knits that I started a year ago. This is also the year that I want to try fair isle. I received "Norsk Strikkedesign" last week, which is inspiring me to try out color work.

Hope everyone is looking forward to a wonderful 2007! It's going to be a great year.

Happy Holidays

I'm enjoying a bit of time off until after the new year. I finished my one gift knit, but decided not to post a photo until after it's given away. I became sick with a cold last week and laid around for 4 days. Normally I would absolutely treasure 4 days of nothing (but hopefully knitting!), but as we all know, when you're sick, you'd rather be anything else.

I am about to take stock of knitting projects in the WIP basket. I have several unfinished things that are just dying a slow death. Honestly, when I let things linger too long, I may as well just unravel them. I suspect I'm not the only one with this problem.

Sorry I have no photos to share right now, but I'm hoping to have something new to show soon. By the way, I received confirmation from Stitches West - I'm taking "Knitting Vintage Socks" with Nancy Bush. I am super excited to have the opportunity to meet such a fascinating lady.

Here's an old photo to show you that I've been a crafter for about as long as I can remember...cross stitching at about 10 years old.

Stitches West

Is anyone out there going to Stitches West? This will be my first time attending, and I can't wait! I registered this morning, hoping to get my first choice classes. I won't reveal which ones yet -- I'll wait til I get confirmation.

I'm working on a secret holiday gift right now. I'm not crazy enough to try and make all of my gifts, but I will approach them one at a time and see what happens. Maybe I will give you all a sneak peek next time. Hmmm...I think the recipient may read this blog on occasion.

Not much going on with the baby knits yet. I think I am subconsciously waiting to find out the sex before embarking on too many projects. So maybe in a few more weeks...

2 socks

Better-than-Booties Baby Socks from Interweave Summer 2005