Alex's First Northeast Corridor Tour!

Two weeks ago, Alex handled his first early morning international conference call like a champ {of course, it was so early that I took the call from bed and kept it on mute 90% of the time so that colleagues wouldn't hear his uber-cute chatter}::

... But before we could let the little guy think life is all work and no play, we decided to take off for a two-week tour of the northeast!

Stop #1 :: Shamokin, PA {the heart of the Northeast Corridor, obv}!

Alex donned his grey Pebble Vest for a day out manning Sarah and Jeff's stand at the town's heritage festival.

This vest and his grey Little Heaume hat were some of the smallest pieces I made, so while the weather was horrible, I was so excited for the chance to dress him in these hand knits at least once before he outgrew them! And of course, having little A around was the perfect distraction that keep everyone smiling as we suffered through the wind and cold.



Stop #2 : Saxis, VA! Saxis was four days of pure relaxation for the whole fam. We gave Alex his first beach day, granted he didn't touch the water and barely saw the sun {he made a valiant effort to kick the blanket off his feet and get some sun on those toes, and there was that trip to the water under C's shirt}.

Cash was treated to his own day of fun in the bay ::

Stop #3 : Philadelphia! We stopped in to visit Chia Krissy and to pick up some Sage {summer cocktail season is here!}.

From there, we did a drive-by of the NYC skyline ::

Stop #4 : Boston, MA!

We had a great time playing tourists in Boston. With beautifully sunny weather on Sunday, we drove through Salem for a day at the beach in Bar Harbor.

On Day 2, Calder and Alex indulged me in a bit of shopping, stopping in those cute shops that can only be found in the city.

And Day 3 was spent picnicking in Boston Common and riding the swan boats!

After close to 24 hours spent in the van for this trip, I have to say that I'm loving the road trip view {Calder and Cash handle driving and navigation while Alex and I hold down the back seat}::

And, those hours spent in the back seat are not wasted! I picked up some yarn during Stop #2 in VA and had plenty of time to start a new project {Little Arrowhead Shawl} while keeping little Alex company.

Baby {Sweater} Watch 2013

No baby yet! And I have to say, I'm glad that it doesn't seem like he has plans to arrive today, although we thought a tax-themed first birthday would be hilarious, I'm sure it would get old by the time he's twenty.

So before you run off to mail your taxes, check out the sweater and socks below. After knitting the other sweaters, I made up this one without a pattern. It has a seamless circular yoke that opens on the left shoulder to fit what I'm assuming is going to be a big head.

The yarn is just a combination of bits from the craft room

Baby {Sweater} Watch 2013 :: Part 3

Pattern :: The Oslo Anorak

Yarn :: Patons Classic Wool

This sweater pattern is a product of the Pickles design team based in Norway. Flossie, do you recognize the buttons? Thank you!

Baby {Sweater} Watch 2013 :: Part 2

Pattern :: Baby Sophisticate
Yarn :: Lion Brand Woolease

And what to do with the extra yarn from this project? Knit our birth class instructor a uterus! Obv.

She already had a model pelvis and the wee baby that slid oh-so-easily {I'm assuming it's going to work just like that on the nugget's birth day!} through the pelvis, but she didn't have a uterus. So I knit her a life-size prop for future classes. The blue lines provide approximate measurements that she can use to discuss growth throughout a pregnancy... and nothing says "running out of yarn" like my awkward decrease near the top {right side}, but I figured that future mama's will be more focused on the stretching that's going on near the bottom than the funny slope of the top!

Baby {Sweater} Watch 2013 :: Update

And the week's goal is coming along nicely ~ although while the sweaters look cute now, I'm sure they will be a million and one times cuter once they're covered in a touch of drool.

Pattern :: Owlet
Yarn :: Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool

Pattern :: Little Heaume
Yarns :: Lorna's Laces Solid Worsted & Lion Brand Woolease

Pattern :: Pebble
Yarn :: Lion Brand Woolease

In the knitting basket ~

Turning sock yarn remnants into baby socks for the nugget... the gratification is so quick, and comes with the added bonus of using up yarn that's been sitting around for quite a while. It's going to be so hard to go back to full-size socks!

Our Cozy Weekend

While we didn't receive as much snow as our northern neighbors, it was exciting to wake up to the carpet of white on Friday and have it last all weekend long. I'm assuming winter as finally arrived, and I'm really {really} hoping that the snow starts to pile up.

Other than going out to a yoga class {resolution #3 :: attend at least 1 yoga class per week. so far so good!}, and running to the craft and grocery store for supplies, we stayed in and embraced the cozy.

A big pot of black bean soup was on the stove {working on my food-photography skills here}::

It was time to polish the wooden spoons and cutting boards. Below's a before shot, and above's the cutting board after it was buffed to a shine. More details about the beeswax/mineral oil wood balm here.

Speaking of balms, it was time to get serious about keeping my skin nourished. My hands are always a mess, and it just gets worse in winter. Basic hand lotions are too light, so I go straight for a heavier salves and balms. Some people don't like them because they're heavy, sticky, and can come with an odor {C thinks I smell like cigars when I use Bag Balm}, but I can't get enough of their sking-protecting powers. I love Burt's Bees cuticle cream and hand salve {they come in nice small containers that can be thrown in any bag}, but I started using Bag Balm last year and now I'm hooked:: Bag balm comes in a large tin that you really don't want to carry around, unless a heavy purse is your thing. I buy a tin and then divvy it up into smaller containers ~ the Weck jar above sits on my desk in my office. The Weck jars without their metal closures are perfect for a job like this because there's no lid to pry off or unscrew. I also refill empty containers {think cuticle cream, etc.} from other cosmetics and throw those into my bags.

When my hands weren't sticky/balmy, I was busy knitting up a sweater for a friend's baby that should arrive any moment now. Since this little one is arriving in January in Boston, I thought a cozy cabled sweater was just right.

How do you know you've spent more than enough time inside? When you upload your photos and see just how many cups of coffee were photographed over the course of the weekend. C's back life plan? A barista. I'm more than happy to be his taste tester, especially when he makes a candy-cane special for drinking while taking down the christmas tree.

So that was our cozy, winter weekend. How was yours?

For a Summer Baby

This is the sweater that I gave you a sneak peak of at the end of May.
As I mentioned, it was my first time skipping buttons in lieu of ribbon. I love how it turned out ~ the green ribbon with the white yarn is perfect for a summer baby named Charlotte! Although I admit, as I tied and re-tied the ribbon, trying to get it just right, I realized that buttons may be the quicker and more practical choice for dressing a baby.
I'm sure no one will be thinking about practicality when they see the new baby in her lacy sweater!

A few details::

Needle size ~ US 5 {note to self, I'm 98% sure they were fives, but should double check~}
Yarn ~ Lane Cervinia Calzetteria, a sock yarn from Italy via Flossie {thanks!}. It's a great, washable sock yarn.
Modifications ~ I knit the body in one piece, when I get to the arms, I put these stitches on holders and continue knitting the body in one piece until the end. I then pick up the stitches for the arms and knit them in the round. No seams to sew!

Summer Stuff for a Sunny Day

After months, and months of rain. Oh? It's only been days? Well it feels like months.

Anyway, how to spend a Friday evening::

1. Make your new favorite sandwich for dinner on the deck. Mine's egg salad with diced radishes and a bit of Maille mustard.


2. After the sandwich is reduced to crumbs, stay out on the deck and work on a little knitting:: This is the famous February Baby Sweater from EZ {found in the Knitter's Almanac}. It's my go-to baby sweater. I tried to spread my wings and find another lacy baby sweater that I liked, but in the end went back to my fav. This time I'm mixing it up and rather than using buttons, I made little eyelets in the second increase row and am going to weave a ribbon through for a closure.

3. No picture for this. BEFORE going home, remember to stop by your favorite liquor store and pick up the supplies for sidecars.

enjoy*

Dear Friends and Family,

No, it's not snowing in Boston. It's raining.

It's been raining for days. While I enjoy your emails, texts, and phone calls, both asking about the weather here and telling me about your piles of snow, I'm a bit jealous. I stopped checking the weather weeks ago, what's the point? But you had me intrigued; maybe we'd get some snow! So I looked:And I highlighted a few key points. Rain, and more rain. I didn't even scroll down the screen, so I don't know where the record 30 inches of snow will fall, but I assure you, it's not falling here.

Let me introduce you to the Pacific Northwest of the East::

So what's a knitter to do? Embrace the gray and surround myself with it::
It's the famous Owl sweater by Kate Davies of Needled. I wanted a sweatshirt type sweater, something I could throw on anytime and immediately be cozy. This was the perfect choice. My only modifications were to move the waist shaping to the sides, and I added a few more short rows to bring the back of the neck up higher. Yarn was Lamb's Wool Bulky using size 10 and 10.5 needles.

I didn't include the button eyes. I like seeing them on other sweaters, but I knew that having the buttons all around would take away from the cozy-ness I craved. Although, after I received a package full of fantastic vintage buttons from Seraphina Firenze, I knew that I'd have to include at least one pair of owl eyes, but which to ones? any preferences?

Bonus shot with the fun yarn charm I received for Christmas::

The owl sweaters are too awesome to just be knit once, and mine was actually the second one I made. The first was for this little lady::


I made it for her first birthday and gave it to her just a wee bit early so it'd get some extra wear before the season ends. This is Kate's Owlet pattern. I knit the baby size 5, with Lion Brand Woolease.

Check out the book in this next photo, you know her mama's raising some girls with good taste. And it's becoming a trend ~ the Schwartz girls come for a visit and we're lucky enough to capture another family portrait::

Well, that's the news, rain and owls. They go exceptionally well together*