It was a warm morning for November, so we wore sweaters instead of coats:
Perhaps, after all of this practicing, we'll get really good at appreciating things and will stop wallowing in stupid stuff.
Two years ago, I knit the Baby Surprise Jacket that Adrian is wearing (an Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern) when I was pregnant with Adrian. I knit a toddler size, hoping that he would get to wear it a lot. He was 1.5 years old on Sunday (Happy Birthday, Adrian!), and although the sleeves are a little long, he'll definitely wear it this winter. Next winter, we'll unroll the sleeves, and he'll wear it again.
To make this jacket, I used some store-bought worsted-weight wool (the cream color) and a skein of my own handspun--a dappled icelandic fleece that I dyed purple and then spun into a two-ply.
(One note on spinning Icelandic: I'm not a huge fan of the outer scratchy stuff. The inner fuzzy stuff is AMAZING. Think angel wings, kitten fur, and baby bottom all mixed together.)
Check out Baby Surprise on Ravelry.
For those of you familiar with the Baby Surprise pattern, adding stripes really emphasize the nifty construction. Here's the back view:
I made this one a little longer than usual by picking up and adding the band of cream stitches at the bottom of the coat.
Adrian took to wearing it right away, which allayed my concerns about babies and wool. He didn't care at all that it wasn't superwash or cotton blend or (urg) acrylic "baby yarn."
For those of you who've had more practice than me appreciating the small things in life and ignoring stupid $h!t, care to share how you got there? I've heard about yoga (daytime classes, anyone? Mom's can't go to yoga classes at 6pm, duh), acupuncture (love it!), and therapy (doing that, too). What else? In these rather desperate times I'm getting, well, desperate.
(Raptwithfiber, you could always come visit and let your chill rub off on me. That ALWAYS works.)
Still working on the knitting book, and still hoping to have it out before Christmas. We'll see.
--Katie Rose
3 comments:
As if you didn't have enough on your plate right now, here is what you absolutely must do: when your friends, colleagues, neighbors say "let me know if I can help in any way," you must let them know. That neighbor who makes the fabulous casseroles would love to bring one over for your family; your colleague would be glad to take over one of your tasks (grading papers, maybe); that family at church will be over Saturday afternoon to clean your yard for the autumn. The guy at the hair salon would be glad to make a house call and pamper M-I-L with new hair/manicure. (Not to sound flip, but we've been there with one tragedy after another between 1991 and 2007. Letting my friends help was a kindness to them, to ourselves, and strengthened relationships in a very real way.)
There is that coffee/meal you and I need to have.
I would LOVE to come spread some of my chillax (is that a word?) around. a visit with the fam in d-town is in order!
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