Happy Easter!

I've had a strange few weeks.  Work has been really busy (with strange projects taking unexpected turns; I've had to wield unexpected skills in areas of public relations, mathematical analysis, and really hard-core negotiations regarding alleged payment defaults).  On the personal side, things have been a bit fraught as well. One of my uncles passed away recently, so my son, Nathan, attended his first funeral this week.  And my mom called at 5:30 AM on Thursday to tell me my dad was in the hospital; he's still there, going through some diagnostic tests while they figure out what is going on.  Lots of time on the phone with my parents' siblings and my siblings, trying to figure out how to convince my parents that it is time they move to Minnesota where their family can take care of them.  Sigh.  What a drag it is getting older, indeed.

More Baby Knits!

I've been working on lots of baby knits during my commute, catching up on the backlog from when I was busy with KOTOTW.

I finished these two little matinee jackets, from Debbie Bliss Cashmerino 2, using Sublime 4-ply Baby Cashmere Silk (that I bought on sale at The Stitching Bee in Chatham NJ when I was visiting my parents in January):

For the second one, instead of increasing at the underarms so that the sleeves and body are knit as one piece, I knitted the back and fronts straight up and then cast on from the shoulder for the sleeves, working them downwards and tapering the sleeve width a bit.  I just think it will fit a bit better this way.

I also made this sweater for a friend's toddler, from a Nicky Epstein pattern originally published in Knit It! Magazine in 2004:

Isn't that a hoot?  There is also a giraffe and an elephant version.  I'm thinking of making two of these for the little girls next door, with the ducks peeking in from the opposite sides.

I made this little vest, also from Debbie Bliss Cashmerino 2, for a friend's 4th child, a little boy:

There are little buttons in the back, to make it go over the baby's head easier.

Then, I made this little bunny for a friend's baby for Easter (also from Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino 2):

And today I made some mousies for Renay's and Eva's kitties, while watching reruns of season 2 of Game of Thrones, to get ready for the first episode of Season 3 tonight:

They are stuffed with both polyfil and catnip, so it should be mighty entertaining to watch the kitties play with these!

I also recently finished a cowl for my friend, Laurie.  When we went on our girls' weekend to Stillwater this February and stopped in at Darn! Knit Anyway, Laurie and Michelle both picked out yarn they liked for cowls.  I have Laurie's done so far, the Pakuna Cowl pattern from Ravelry, but I cast on about twice as many stitches to lengthen it:

It is in colors of orange, brown and royal blue.  I just called her one day to drop by during work to drop it off, and she just happened to be wearing an orange jacket and a royal blue top!  That's what I call fate-- the cowl was meant to be. 

Now I am working on two "baby sophisticate" jackets for little boy babies, a bubblegum baby sweater for Adeline, the baby blogger who is now a toddler, a tiny horse for a newborn boy baby at work, a hoodie for a baby whose little brother just showed up, and some sideways sweaters and daisy hats for the little girls next door, and then I will work on Michele's cowl (it is now officially going to be too warm soon to wear it, alas, but it will be ready for next year).  And THEN I can get going on some knitalongs with my sister and Renay! 

A Funny Picture of Nathan

Nathan and I were in a used bookstore, and he found a record that disturbed him:

 

Seriously -- the song stylings of Spock?  Who knew...

Well, here's hoping for a week that is full of less unexpected surprises; I could use things to get back to normal around here a bit!  I'll leave you with some more shots of San Francisco architecture:

XOXOXO, Mar

 

Comments

[Barb]

Hi Mary! It's so nice to read your blog. As usual, your knitting leaves me in complete awe! There are, obviously, some very stylish, well-dressed babies in the Twin Cities area, and the cowl you knit for your friend is beautiful.

Hope your work settles down a bit, and I especially hope your dad is doing well. It really is difficult to know how to help our aging parents, isn't it? You have the additional problem of them living so far away from you. That just adds to the dilemma.

Thanks, too, for the lovely pix of SF - such a great city,

[Linda]

I'm so sorry to hear that your uncle died and your father is not feeling well. I hope your father gets well soon.

You've been knitting so much and so many fun projects. It's so great to see you back to blogging and knitting. :)