An unexpected hat

I have lost Ada's sunhat. I discovered this at 9 o'clock in the evening the day before our trip to Toronto which was supposed to include a day at the zoo. I also couldn't find the spare for the life of me.

While contemplating what I would do about this I finally had the epiphany that I had some brown cotton yarn that would make a lovely hat and that I could probably jut make one on the drive down to Toronto. Normally when I'm making a pattern I search and do a bunch of math first but this time I grabbed needles that would work and just started knitting. It turned out remarkably well, it's really sweet and I'm thrilled with it.

We had an awesome day at the zoo, Caleb has told my parents we saw rafs high up (tall giraffs), the bear made a big jump ( the polar bear jumped into the water), and Pat (his stuffed penguin is named Pat).  It really is amazing to see the things that make an impression on him and to watch him enjoy himself.

velcro baby

I am sitting here with Ada on my knee.  She is generally happy if she's being held, she will only nap at home in someone's arms (miraculously she sleeps through the night in her own room). I've never really been much of a touchy person but I have to admit the snuggles are nice.  She's a happy little girl and I'm enjoying getting to know her. She woke up a few minutes ago when I got up to do laundry so now we're snuggling and I'm typing with one hand and she's eating one of her hands and I can smell my mother's perfume on her little head from when she came over earlier in the day.  Since we switched to a sent free laundry soap I'm constantly surprised by how much I notice smells.  Laundry is currently impossible with my sleepy little girl so perhaps I'll go outside with a book, sit on my new patio furniture and eat a chocolate bar.  I am blessed.

The Dress

I am knitting Ada a dress, it is a raglan made out of leftover blue and grey yarn and has stripes of varying widths, and I love it.  I just have one problem:  when doing the math I accidentally substituted the length from the armpits to the hem for the total length of the dress and now the stripe pattern is all messed up and I'm not sure I have enough yarn for the whole thing.

I suppose that's two problems.

I've thought about it, though, and I have a plan.  First, I'm going to go back and finish the arms, this will ensure they match each other and the dress (I need the stripes on the arms to match the body so I don't go bonkers).  This will mean that, aside from a little yarn I'll need for the finishing that all of the yarn that's left is available for the body of the dress.

Secondly, if I make the rest of the stripes a mirror image of the stripes that are already there it doesn't totally mess up the pattern (I've decided starting the pattern over again would look wonky).  Now I just need to find time in this incredibly busy week to work on it before our trip this weekend.  (I don't want to be trouble-shooting in the car, once I'm back on the body it should be smooth sailing).

I really hope it turns out.  Also, I now want to buy more yarn to make the dress I'd pictured instead of this dress, which I'm fairly confident will be acceptable.

"Help"

Caleb loves to help.  When I make lunch he often takes out a pan and spoon (or "poon" as he calls them) and makes lunch along side me.  I had to buy him his own broom so he'd stop trying to take mine while I slept and he's wonderful at helping me take the laundry from the washer and put it in the dryer.

I'm currently knitting a dress for Ada and he knows it.  He'll point to it and say "Ada.  Dress!  Yarn!"  But earlier this week he added "help" to the end of the sentence.  He brought it to me and insisted on sitting in my lap and helping with the dress.  We sat there and knit, and with my right hand over his he "helped" me wrap the yarn around the needle as I explained what we were doing.

That little boy melts my heart.

Flying along

I've almost finished Ada's sweater. I still need the buttons, but I don't know where to buy them. I used to get all my buttons at a lovely shop downtown but since we've moved (and had two kids) it's much harder to get there. I wasn't in love with the selection at the yarn shop closest to me the last time I was there. I'll have to enquire about where other people at buttons at my knitting group this week.

I've been going through projects at break neck speed, mostly because I'm knitting for a two month old. Her sweater took less than 100g of yarn. I made it out of leftovers. I wasn't sure how much I'd need but now I'm sure I have enough to make a matching dress. That and mittens for Caleb are my two next projects and I think the blanket might see some action as after that I'll need to do some math and yarn buying before I make a sweater for Caleb for the winter. I'm thinking cables in emerald green but we'll have to see.

One of my favourite sounds

Caleb was "helping" me do laundry earlier, mostly he was distributing the hangers all over my bedroom while I sorted, but it's nice to have company.  Recently he's gotten really good at jumping, he'll count to three and jump, usually when Joshua and I are each holding one of his hands and we'll swing him up.  I was folding the laundry on the bed and he climbed up, grinned at me, counted "three, two, three!" then launched himself into my arms.  I caught him and he scrambled down to do it again.  We laughed and laughed, and it was the most unproductive and best laundry folding session ever.

Plans

Earlier this year I submitted one of my patterns to a magazine for the first time.  It was rejected, and that's okay.  I don't really have time to apply to other magazines this year, but sometimes it's good to have time to think.  So I've been thinking, I've been thinking about what sorts of patterns submit and for what sessions.

I've decided to start gathering ideas for next fall and winter and creating the sketches for each as well as a list of information such as yarn requirements, gauge, etc.  Then, next year I'll be able to create the submissions when I see a call that matches what I have.  Admittedly this limits the number of submissions I can make as I'll only be applying when there's a good fit rather than creating something in response to a particular call but I think it's a good next step.  I'm well on my way to achieving my goal of publishing four patterns this year, I like having something to work towards.  It gives me a nice feeling of accomplishment because there's a moment of "ahh, it is done" which is a fantastic contrast to things like laundry or keeping the kitchen floor clean which are never-ending,