Our New Arrival

Obviously I haven't posted for quite a while. Things have been quite hectic here, with the latest big development being the arrival of our baby boy, Harald. He was a big boy: 9 pounds, 11 ounces. And that was nearly two weeks early, so we're glad for that. I was worried that his going-home outfit would be too big for a new baby, but I had nothing to worry about. I had made a hat and booties out of Baby Cashmerino, and he also wore a Baby J Jacket I knit for the store a few years ago. But given his rather big, long feet, the wearing of the booties going home is going to be the only wearing (I'm not going to force his poor feet in them again). The hat and booties will work for a while. I just have a moment to post a couple of photos of him (which are knitting-related, of course). The blanket is a Noro blanket Mom made, and she's making a vest for big brother Carl out of the same yarn.

Knitting, Airplanes, and the Stomach Flu

I'm in Spokane for the weekend to visit the shop and teach some classes. Actually, as it turned out, I taught only one class because I came down with the stomach flu on Thursday night. I caught this bug from my dear Carl, who, sadly, got horribly sick on the flight over here. I won't go into all the details, but let's just say it was like a scene out of a movie. Everything just kept getting worse. And as I was dealing with his emergency diaper situation as the plane was descending and the flight attendant (who was very nice) was urging me to get a diaper on him as quickly as possible so we could make it to our seats in time, all I could think was that at any moment my water would break and I would go into labor. It just felt like an appropriately disastrous time. Thankfully, it didn't happen, and I am still pregnant. But even though there wasn't that cherry on top, I'm sure I gave the other passengers and the flight attendants an entertaining story to tell their friends.

This morning I taught the Coco Knits Prairie Boots, which was fun. All the students did just great. Yesterday I was supposed to teach the Norwegian Baby Cap, but Mom had to take over that one. On my personal knitting front, I just finished off a big felted tote to use as a diaper bag. I'll have to post a photo when I get back home. It's simple, but I really love it. I'm also working on a Debbie Bliss cable and seed stitch hat for the baby to wear home from the hospital. Plus, I need to finish a little striped blanket for him. So much to knit, and time is running short...

Carl's Horse

Again, it's been ages since I've posted. The holidays are partly to blame, as is the fact that I still seem to be taking a lot of naps when I have a chance (now not because of first-trimester pregnancy fatigue but because of second-trimester belly-keeping-me-from-getting-a-good-night's-sleep fatigue). Since I last posted, we found out we're having another boy. We are very excited. But, of course, that means I can't knit all those girly patterns I had selected just in case. It's back to boy patterns.

Really the only Christmas gift I made this year (those blasted naps!) was Carl's hobby horse from Knitted Gifts. Here he is pictured on Christmas morning shortly after opening it up. He instantly loved the horse, who we have now named Blue. The only thing was that we got everything set up to watch him open the present, including having Andrew poised with the video camera. Carl opened the bag, got the most delighted look on his face, hopped on the horse, and began riding around. We were all so thrilled with how he took to the horse right away. Then after a minute or two, Andrew realized that he had forgotten to hit the "record" button. And, of course, at that point, Carl was finished riding and was ready to move on to the next thing. Oh, well. We got a couple of pictures. Since Christmas, he occassionally rides Blue, but more often than not he turns him upside down and pushed him around like a broom. I don't mind, though. It was so much fun to knit and put together, and I'm sure it will get good use over the years. I can certainly vouch for the pattern (and the book, for that matter). The only modification I made was to eliminate the stitch pattern in the cream part. I just stuck with plain stockinette since I figured the felting would obscure the pattern a lot anyway.

I'm headed to Spokane this weekend to teach a couple of classes, which will be fun. Plus, shortly we'll be announcing our next shop KAL, which I really want to take part in. So much knitting to do, yet so much napping...

Catching Up...

So, it looks like it's been since September that I last posted. Why? Well, my normal routine is to post while Carl is down for a nap. But I've had a hitch the last couple of months, which is that I'm pregnant and have been incredibly fatigued. Carl's naptime has also turned into Ingrid's naptime. Now I am through the first trimester, though, so I'm now past the nausea (thank heavens) and somewhat past the fatigue (I'm napping only a few times a week now). So now I have a lot of catching up to do, considering that naptime is when I get just about everything done. I've managed to get some knitting done, though. I made a Santa hat for Carl from Handknit Holidays. The idea was that he would wear it for a Christmas card photo, but as it turned out, he wouldn't wear it long enough for the perfect photo. (I have a couple fun ones here, though.) I'm finishing up the hobby horse from Knitted Gifts and plan to felt it tonight. As for the store goings on, we had our second knitting retreat at Camp Lutherhaven over Halloween weekend. That was just fabulous. We're starting to work on the class schedule for the New Year (which is hard to believe). There's a really fun free demo on December 12th of two simple one-row scarves. Given the proximity to Christmas, it would be nice to think that meant one row of knitting and your scarf is done, but it just means there's only one row that you repeat over and over. That's still nice. Anyway, I must continue with my cramming in as much catching up as possible while Carl is asleep and I'm not.

Welcome, Rain!

The last couple of days have definitely been rainy and fall-like, which I don't mind one bit, what with being able to start using the cool-weather knitted item. Case in point: yesterday we awoke to pretty cool temperatures so it seemed like the perfect time for Carl's inaugural wearing of a darling blue sweater Gerda knit for the baby shower. That's Carl sporting the sweater while exploring the cardboard playhouse my parents helped me make while they were here for a short visit. As of late last night, it is a white house with a blue door, blue shutters, and a black roof, thanks to some posterboard and several rolls of colored duct tape. Of course, I must add that the door handle is a loop of chunky i-cord, courtesy of my mom's knitting. Anyway, Carl seems to love the house and the sweater. What you can't see in the photo is that the front of the sweater has a stockinette diamond for the child's first initial done in duplicate stitch or embroidery. Since we were keeping the name a secret, Gerda gave a little bit of a contrasting light blue yarn with the sweater so I could apply the initial later. Carl has been so named nearly 17 months now, and there's still no C on the sweater. It fits just perfectly, so I better get that baby on.

The little felted boots are a model for a class I'll be teaching in October (Lace 'Em Up Felted Boot Slippers, October 17). The pattern is Fiber Trends CH-7 (Children's Felt Boot Slippers), and there's also an adult version. I knit these ones out of Cascade 220, and I have to say I just had a blast knitting them. I'm going to have to knit a pair for Carl...and myself...and who knows who else.

When my parents were here on their visit, I saw that Mom was nearly finished with the back of a seed stitch jacket out of Rowan Big Wool. Love it. The pattern is from Mac & Me, and at market the designer said it was just one of those things that you love to wear and end up knitting several times in different colors. I can see why.

Time to go. Later I'll have to post about this Mia sweater I'm working on that I'm totally crazy about. Crazy, I tell you.

Where Have You Been the Last Month?

So it looks like it has been exactly a month since I last posted, which I can't believe. We have been out of town a lot, and I don't always have the easiest access to a computer. Last week was the AGY Annual Summer Sale. I heard it was great fun. Wish I could have been there. I was in Spokane over the 4th, though, and had a lot of fun popping into the shop, if only for a little bit. I saw those new cute little Namaste accessory cases -- The Buddy Case. Love those. I also saw Melanie had just finished the Baktus scarf, a garter stitch triangular scarf that looks like tons of fun to knit. We've talked about that one as a possible fall class. It's hard to believe that the fireworks have barely gone off when it's already time to start working on our fall class list, but that's exactly what we're doing. Actually, the weather has been pretty dismal the last few days here in Tacoma, so thinking about fall doesn't feel all that strange...

At Market!

Here we are at TNNA market in Columbus, Ohio. I'm at the little cyber cafe in the middle of the show floor and thought I'd say a quick hello. We're having a great time, absorbing as much information as possible about trends, new yarns, new patterns, and the like. I'll have to report all about it when we return. Thi s computer is having troubles and continually erasing what I just wrote. So I have to sign off before I go nuts. More later!