New Munchkin!

Wee Boy was born at home on Wednesday, August 20th at 7:03am after 3.5 hours of labor. He looks a lot like JCC but with slightly wider spaced eyes.



Being weighed -- 7lbs, 14oz



6 days later

Blessingway Pics and One Monkey

I can see why people love to make Monkeys! These are super quick to knit and a lot of fun. I thought these were oh so pretty until I asked Chris his opinion and I could tell by the look on his face that he thought they were pretty much the ugliest socks ever. Oh well, not everyone can appreciate very loud striped lace socks. The mate to this one is on hold as I'm working on a vest for the Little Man as my Olympics project.







These three pics are from a Mother's Blessing that my friends threw for me on Saturday. It was lovely and I came out feeling very loved and strong. (I only had to wear the wreath for the pic.)

As I'm sure you can guess, no babe yet. Due date is tomorrow. I'm ready!

The Candy Fairy Visits

In our house the Candy Fairy visits Halloween night and removes all candy and leaves a present for each child. This year they each got a cape plus one wee one for a dolly. A local homeschooling mama made them and while they weren't cheap I am happy to support her and not have to worry about the conditions in which they were made or when they're going to fall apart.


My own bit of happiness -- Hanna Andersson Mary-Janes

There has been a bit of knitting. I'm working on a hat for Little Man out of some of my handspun. I finished the hat but it is a little too small (Is there anyone who can just knit a project without having to rip back? I am envious!) However this is my first project with my handspun that looks good! I'm so happy. And then today I did some spinning and was able to get a nice lace weight that I could ply. Little Man also spun his first lumpy bumpy skein. Sniff sniff. Hopefully the first of many. Pics of the hat coming soon.

Update with Cute Pics

Still here. Still not knitting. Actually that was true until the other night when I couldn't stand watching another game without something on the needles. For fear of being cursed if I worked on my Jaywalkers (sox you know) I started this cute little baby hat for a friend's three week old daughter. I think this is my 5th or so baby hat out of the Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted. My gosh is that nice yarn. The pattern is a cute little cable that's not so easy to see in this pic.




Halloween is sure to be cute this year!



Finished Jaywalker. The mate due sometime next year, sigh.

And in exciting news, I'm going back to work. Well, not really, but sorta. I'll be working a few hours a week for Chris over here DashCommerce. I'll mainly be on the forums and working support. There has been talk of database work but I'm not sure if that's just a carrot to get me over to the dark side. :)

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome be Dammned

I'm knitting. And it hurts. My arm aches and aches. Which really sucks as I have a whole lot of work to do. I've taken to wearing a splint while online and knitting and hopefully this will provide some relief. I had taken a summer break hoping the pain would go away with some rest but it's back in full force.



I'm halfway done one sleeve on the SKB.



I'm progressing down my Jaywalker again -- this is going to be a 3-balls of yarn pair of socks. Luckily the LYS had another ball and in the same dyelot too. I swear these are the slowest going socks ever. I knit and I knit and I always have two more inches until I can start the toe decreases. If I were not so in love with the colors and striping I would rip out and start something else.



Next I've started a pair of sidewinders. I've only knit the first part and it is remarkably unremarkable. These will be fun just to see how the sock takes shape.


This morning I cast on for another dishcloth. One can never have enough of these. Knitting on size 6 needles feels like quite a treat after the 0s and 1s for the socks. Even the SKB is on a 4.

Lastly I'm going to cast on a pair of longies out of the Mystic Creations yarn from a few years ago. A friend has asked me to be at her birth (a homebirth) and as they're a cloth diapering family I'm thinking these will be a nice addition to the babe's winter wardrobe.



Little Man is turning 5 this week and on Saturday we're having our last party of the season. They don't really stress me out too much anymore but it will be nice to have it out of the way. Next week begins our Waldorf class (We need more kids! If you're in the area and know of anyone interested please let me know) and I'm hoping to get the Enki curriculum in the next few months with any birthday money I can scrape together.

Cleveland is a great town for local eating this summer. Between our CSA share, the City Fresh share and the farmer's market we've had pretty much all local produce this season. As I mainly cook vegan we're doing pretty good on keeping our food money close to home. I'm not sure how the fall/winter scene is going to look as I haven't canned (next year!) but hopefully Whole Foods won't consume too much of our food budget. Tonight I'm going to try this tomato sauce recipe in hopes of making a ton next week and freezing it for winter.

Unfortunately the running has not been so great. With the mugginess of August I decided it would be best to run in the morning before the kids awake. Unfortunately almost every time I wake so does wee girl. Here's hoping the coolness of fall will let me run in the evening. Now I have to go knit. . .

JCC's Self Portrait and a Tended Yard

No knitting updates (it continues on much the same) but we did get our brush pile ground up this week and I am thrilled with the results. JCC had to take some pics after I did mine and his are priceless.





These are the after photos -- just imagine piles of brush throughout the ravine and you'll appreciate my joy at their absence.



The epitome of a 4.5 year old boy.

Knitting on the SNB (and it's huge size 5 needles) has wounded me -- I have a hole in my finger. Ouch. So instead of knitting I am spending my evening uploading pics of my stash. Fun fun.

For Dad

Post haircut


Now with bangs!

I'm working on a Harry Potter scarf for Chris right now, I'm almost finished. I have a few gifts to knit and a bunch of new fiber to spin. Still doing well on our vegan eating plan. Still blah about February. I'll be a better blogger next month. . .

Boring Socks are Done and Little Girl is One!

From this. . .


to this. . .


And one goofy brother. . .


What a quick year that was! Not much knitting, but a wee girl is a good reason for that. She's really started communicating in the past week or two -- some signs (eat, more and book) and new words (bath and ball). She's had that moving thing down pat for a while but added climbing onto the couch and going backwards down the stairs to her repertoire.



For the knitting update -- the boring socks are finished. The yarn is some cheapo Knitpicks stuff that I don't really like (they feel rough and the yarn split a lot) and I even took off a recommended inch in length but they still feel too big. Apparently I like my shoes big. I buy size 9 shoes but when I put that in the sock wizard pattern generator it comes out with socks much too big for my feet. Anyway, these were fun to make and I have more sock yarn on the way for birthday gifts.

And lastly, I found a boo boo in the SnB Kitchner instructions. They have the four main steps but leave out those two preliminary steps (yarn into front stitch as if to purl, yarn into back stitch as if to knit) to get you ready to Kitchner. Laura, I wonder if this is why you are an unhappy kitchner-er?