STILL working on the longies!

Joining in the Yarn Along today!

As you can see, I'm still working on the Osprey longies.  It has been slow going because the baby is sleeping so restlessly these days... but they have also been a huge learning experience for me.  I've made a bunch of mistakes, probably because I work on them late at night when I'm tired, and I've learned how to fix so many of them!

I've learned how to rip out rows without dropping stitches, and I've learned how to pick up stitches that I accidentally dropped a row before, and I've learned how to begin a new ball of yarn mid-project, among other things.

I'm very happy with how these are coming out and can't wait to finish!  I only have one leg to go so I know that I'll be finished in a few days.  I didn't do a gauge so they're coming out a little big but I'm hopeful that it won't be too bad and that the baby will still be able to wear them this fall and winter.

I'm reading Buddha in the Attic.  I picked it up spur of the moment the other day and I'm very happy I did.  It's a really quick read (I only have a chapter to go) and its fascinating to think of how hard life must have been for the "picture brides" from Japan a century ago.  It's a little depressing, too.  Still, well worth the read!



Yarn Along

(Belatedly) joining Ginny Jonny (ha!) for the Yarn Along.

I'm still working on my Osprey pants for the baby.  The body went quickly but I've had a couple setbacks with the legs.  They're going nicely now but I'm not a fan of double pointeds, at least not yet.  They're so awkward to hold.

The knitting would be going faster if the baby was sleeping better.  He has been very restless this week so it's kind of 'knit a row, nurse baby, knit a row, nurse baby.'

Still, I'm hopeful that I'll finish them by next week.

I'm currently reading the patchwork chapters of this beautiful copy of The Sewing Encyclopedia that my mother lent me. I'm starting my very first patchwork quilt and I'd like it to be finished by this winter. So far the book has been very helpful... though it's a bit overwhelming. The 'encyclopedia' part is right. It has everything!

How about what I'm watching, too? I don't have cable hooked up yet so I usually pop a DVD in and play it on low to keep me entertained while I knit. The volume has to stay pretty low because the baby is sleeping only a few feet away but it still makes good background noise.

So these days I alternate between watching NCIS Season 3 (I love that show! It's by far the classiest crime drama on television.) and watching Jane Austen movies (Pride & Prejudice and Persuasion.) The weird thing is that I can switch between them in a single night.

My mood changes easily, apparently.



Yarn Along

Joining Ginny's Yarn Along today.

We were on vacation last week so I didn't work on a project per se, I just knitted a quick I-cord for the baby's wool soaker and also knit up another square for the patchwork blanket I'm (slowly) working on.

A couple days ago, however, I began my new project... a pair of longies out of the new Osprey yarn I just received.  I really like this yarn!  I love the color (marsh) and I love the texture and the fact that it never splits.  This is my first time knitting on circular needles and so far I love them.  They're so much easier and the project is going so quickly!  I hope to get them finished by next week... that is, if I don't get distracted by the pair of bamboo shorties I want to make.  Or the other five things.

I'm still finishing up The Wet Nurse's Tale so today I took a picture of a book I'm not so much reading as glancing at now and then when I walk by.  My mother gave it to me and once in a while a quote from it catches me and makes me think.

Yarn Along

Something about a new baby makes me extremely crafty.  I'm not sure why.  Something about trying to make the home cozy for him, probably.  Either way, I have an incredible To Do list, among them three or four knitting projects. 

Yes, I've found the knitting habit.  I'm just learning and having tremendous fun.  So I decided to play along with the Small Things Yarn Along - since I so enjoy reading everyone elses WIPs.

It's not very romantic looking with a Nook, is it?

Technically I took these photos last week and the project has already come off the needles.  It's a wool diaper cover.  It's all stitched up but I do still have a couple rows of ribbing to knit for the leg holes.  It was fun and didn't take terribly long... I think about two weeks from start to finish?  (Assuming I finish the legs by the end of this week.)  My mother helped me pick out the wool.  It's a worsted weight malabrigo and very soft. 

Right now I'm reading (or trying to -- who has the time with all this knitting?) The Wet Nurse's Tale by Erica Eisdorfer.  It might not sound like a terribly fascinating topic but it's remarkably entertaining!  Very well written, with a warm, engaging heroine who is chubby and good hearted and matter-of-fact.  I get the sense that the author did a lot of research to make it historically accurate... and I appreciate a book that writes about the Regency period through a point of view other than the aristocracy.  It's fun to read about what life was like for the lower-middle class.

And in other news, I'm making this for dinner:

Spicy Corn Cheese soup. 

I hope it turns out as good as it smells!