Baby Things

The babies that are here now ...



See them in action -- with momma and poppa!

and for those still to come ...



Pattern: Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap (free pattern)
Yarn: Rowan Cashsoft 4-ply (blue) and Dale of Norway/Dalegarn Baby Ull
Needles: US 2½ / 3.0 mm and   US 1½ / 2.5 mm

Size: 1-year
Modifications: none

I love this pattern, but had the worst time getting it right at the beginning. I'm sure I ripped out more rows than I knit before I remembered all the M1s.  Maybe knitting in the car had something to do with it.

It used hardly any yarn, and I think it's adorable.  Will be even cuter when I take the stitch marker out of the end. :)  I'm going to make another one for a different neighbor; first I should wash this one and figure out what size it really is.

The robin pictures are from a few days ago and they already have many more feathers.  Mama and Papa have been very attentive.  There are four of them!  The mother doesn't look all that happy about having to sit on them to keep them warm; maybe they're not happy about it either.

Sometimes when the parents aren't around and we open the door to the porch, the babies hear the sound and shoot up out of the nest, mouths wide open, waiting for someone (anyone!) to drop something in.  They're just so stinkin' cute!

A Sweater for Miss Katie's baby

Ready to go, except looking at these pictures I am thinking I might put a white border around the earflaps, too. The ladies at the new Village Yarn Shop persuaded me to get the multi-colored buttons instead of the dark blue ones I was originally going for. I'm not quite sure they work as well with the color of the sweater, but they're pretty cute.

Pattern: Garter Stitch Cardigan from Knitting for Baby by Melanie Falick and Kristin Nicholas
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton, color: sage. About 2 skeins (I used three, so I'm not sure if I could have done it in 2 or not.)
Needles: KnitPicks Options 7 and dpn 5 and 7s for the arms.
Modifications: This yarn was bulkier than the pattern called for so I knit the 3-month size to get the 9-month sweater.

The hat is loosely based on the L'il Devil hat from kittyville. I cast on 60 stitches I don't love the way the stripes and the garter stitch came out.

This sweater took forever to dry, because I was following the directions on the new skein of Organic Cotton I had that said hand wash or dry clean. I just noticed that the old skeins say you can machine wash (on warm!) and tumble dry until damp ... that would have made life a lot easier. I'm giving those directions to Miss Katie!

Ravelry

So I got my Ravelry invite yesterday (think of all the time I will save not obsessively checking the waitlist anymore!)

I have to say, my first reaction is that Ravelry meets all the needs I got a blog for in the first place -- a place to keep track of my projects, stash, project ideas etc. -- and much better than I can do.

But I've become attached to my blog and my many several loyal readers ... I still wish it were more conversational (LiveJournal-ish, but I can't see making a switch now. (Does anyone know if any of the other blog sites offer a feature where you can answer posts right at the blog and the responses get emailed to the posters?)

I also sometimes wish I used this blog/had another blog to work out things I'm thinking about other subjects -- city schools and public education, my parents getting old, books I'm (not) reading. Some people weave that in seamlessly with their knitting, but I'm always so tired and rushed by the time I'm posting that it's all I can do to get out my knitting updates.

Anyway, I'm Hilary at Ravelry ... I haven't figured out how interacting with other people works yet. But I am sure that I will be able to use up all my stash now that I can see how everyone else is using their yarn. Ha ha ha ha.

Here is a horrible picture of my baby sweater in progress. (Progress has stalled somewhat since getting home from vacation, what with the piles of un-put-away JUNK staring accusingly at me. Not to mention our 12-week free trial of the daily New York Times hanging over my head each day!) The picture of course does not capture the best part of the sweater, which is the incredible softness of the Blue Sky Organic Cotton. I am wondering, though, after seeing pretty blue buttons in Virgina Beach, and Kathy's beautiful blue and green baby sweater, if the border should be blue, not white. Could I dye the white Organic Cotton? with Kool-Ade? I have some time to think about it, so flood me with your opinions! :)

Baby Sweater, 2006

First Intarsia!

Pattern: Mickey from Rowan's Pipsqueaks, by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: Stork by Dale of Norway