beautiful things

Oh bliss!

I am sitting on a blanket in the park with my knitting while the boys
do loops around the park on their bikes. Well, on my husband's bike.
He pedals, our 15mo son says "go!"

I'm still working on the Cardigan for Merry. Fronts and back are done
and I've just started the first sleeve. It's slow going... mostly I
knit while waiting for my computer to do stuff. Gone are the days of
knitting all evening - now I work. Did you know I started my own baby,
child and family photography business? It's hard work but I'm loving
it, and the flexibility it gives me to mostly be home with the kiddo.

And the kiddo... oh he's at such a fun age right now, toddling around,
going and down and talking - so many words, many of them babble but an
increasing number are crystal clear. Almost every day he says a new
word, clearly, in context, and repeats several others.

I'm loving being a mother more than I thought possible and really,
there's very little from my "old life" that I don't have anymore that
I miss.

Except, of course, the knitting time. So today - today is bliss.

It's been a long long time I know...

So, for the first time in a long time, I started a new knitting project... a Cardigan for Merry in Sundara sport merino. Hopefully this is a sign of more sanity and balance in my life to come!

Things have been good, very very good, just very very busy.

Blocks

I don't get too much time to knit these days. I'll be back though.
Here's an iPhone photo I took today in the meantime...

Weaving in ends for Vivian

I've been working very slowly on the hood for Vivian and finally
finished it a week or two ago. Now I'm weaving in ends! And still
polarizing everything in sight!

Beautiful day in the park

And yes, I am polarizing everything in sight! Am using ShakeItPhoto
on my new iPhone!

Happy 4th!

Yes, I'm still here, still mothering and STILL KNITTING!!! The baby
is great, doing really well, and we're by the lake for the 4th. In
fact, he is napping right now which means I get to sit on the terrace
and work on Elijah. Everyone else is down by the lake and we'll rejoin
them when he wakes up.

And guess what? IT ISN'T RAINING!!! It's a beautiful day actually,
yippee!

Happy July 4th America!

It's starting to look like a cardigan!

Knitting the second sleeve of Vivian was not the most exciting thing ever, having knitted the first one of course, but now I have joined the sleeves and body and am working on the yoke decreases... very exciting!

Happy Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day and I couldn't be happier. It's a gorgeous day and we are in Baltimore - my husband has a conference and we are tagging along. I'm sitting outside right now by the harbor typing this on my iPhone while the baby sleeps and hubby is in a seminar. We had a lovely breakfast and lunch together, the three of us, and he'll meet us here for an early dinner. Like I said, I couldn't be happier.

Motherhood is amazing. It's been three months and yes, it is challenging and tiring an stressful and repetitive and frustrating but, and maybe my memory is already blurring things into a rosy haze, but it has never felt hard. I know it is hard for some so I am endlessly grateful that it hasn't felt hard for us yet, also knowing that could change at any time as well. But it hasn't felt hard, mostly because we have a great baby who is easy to take care of, but also because I have a great husband, abundant family support, super supportive and helpful friends, both parents and non-parents, the means to buy the things we need and the extras that make things easier, the luxury of being able to take extra time off, a fantastic, kid-friendly, stroller accessible neighborhood, a wonderful group of other new mom's that I've been lucky enough to meet... the list is endless. I understand the "it takes a village" cliché a lot better now.

Mothers are amazing (fathers are too, but they get their own day). When I look around at the new moms I've been meeting I think how each one is struggling and triumphing in their own ways, all to give the best to their little bundle of joy. Most of us had mothers who did the same.

So Happy Mother's Day to mothers everywhere, past, present and future, and to all those who mother and who make mothering possible.

Beautiful neighborhood blossoms

Vivian resolved

Well, resolved for now.  I ended up going with a lazy version of option 2, that's to say I ripped out the second skein and reknit with a different skein that looked lighter and like a better match.  I did not rip out any of the first skein to alternate the new second skein in, which was kind of stupid as it wouldn't have been that much more work to do so, but it worked out pretty well.  Here we have "before" and after":

I think you can still see a little bit of a line, but not more than you might see in the middle of a skein, so I am trying not to obsess about it!  I will definitely alternate rows to transition to all the rest of the skeins but I don't want to alternate throughout the whole thing (although I may change my mind on that, I don't know).

Of course, now I'm worried that I overestimated the stretchiness of this thing and it's going to be too tight, but I'm trying not to obsess about that either. 

Onward I go!