Early Morning and Yarn Along

Waking up at 5 am sure makes for a long morning! The stars were still out as I stoked up the fire and got the house warm. A cup of raspberry leaf tea, a few rows of knitting and a few stories read to the babe. We've breakfasted and Aedan is already down for his morning nap. The breakfast dishes are washed, the floors are swept and Aedan's 1st mess of the day has been tidied, ready for the next one. My second cup of tea is steeping on the kitchen counter as I type this at 9 am, and it is only just beginning to lighten out. I'll have to wait another hour for enough sunlight to get a photo for Yarn Along.

I've given up on the Midsummer Night shawl. I think it was perhaps a little too much for my first real attempt at knitting lace. Also, and I hesitate to say this because I am a relative beginner (although I've known HOW to knit for many years), I think there were more errors in the pattern. I got stuck again, it wasn't making any sense...and then I dropped some stitches while unknitting/reknitting a row...and that's when I frogged the whole thing. I'm instead working on a much simpler lace pattern cowl. It's going very well. It's a short and easy repeat and it's knitting quickly.

I'm still making my way through the Harry Potter series; I'm onto the Goblet of Fire now. I do believe I'll give Harry a rest after this one, though. I'm itching to get into a book my friend loaned me called "I was born under a Spruce tree". It is a transcription of the oral history of a local man's life. He passed last winter, but boy has he left an amazing legacy. He photographed much of his life, too, so the book is rich not just with his spoken tale, but with the photos to document his life in the bush, on the creeks and in the gold mines all over this territory. 

What are you knitting and reading? Hop on over to Ginny's blog, Small Things, and yarn along with the rest of us!

Yarn Along: Lace and Harry Potter

Today I'm joining  Ginny's Yarn Along, sharing what I'm knitting and reading.

I've started working on a lace-pattern triangular shawl: "Midsummer Night". I found the pattern on Ravelry, and the author stated that it was a great choice for beginners. A few days ago, I got completely stuck on one of the rows. The pattern just wasn't making sense compared to what I had on the needles. After many attempts at unknitting and reknitting the row, I finally realized that there was an error in the pattern. I added in two knit stitches before the final yarn-over, and everything worked out beautifully. It was such a great feeling when I finally figured it out! Other than that little bump in the road, I'm really enjoying knitting lace. The pattern requires just enough attention to keep it interesting...I definitely wouldn't work on this while watching a movie!

I've been making my way through the Harry Potter series. Can you believe I've never read it? I'm almost finished the 3rd book, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It's an easy and very entertaining read. I'm going through the books quickly...that's one of my favourite things about winter. You don't have to make excuses to sit inside and read. 30 below and a foot of snow: need I say more?

Yarn Along

I'd been planning to do a post about knitting, and thought I might as well Yarn Along with Ginny of Small Things.

My nana taught me to knit when I was younger. It's something I've done off and on throughout my life: I've never been terribly passionate about it. Maybe it's my tendency to never finish something I start. I could fill a closet with all the projects I've cast-on and never completed!

Or maybe it's that I get careless, and rush to complete something, never doing a gauge swatch, making mistakes and knitting on, then never wear it.

Lately, though, I've been knitting again and really enjoying it. I've been taking time to follow patterns carefully and finish them so that I'll actually get use out of what I knit. Right now, I'm knitting the Iced cardigan, from an old edition of Knitty. I'm using some yarn I purchased months ago to knit a different cardigan, that I never actually started. See? Told you I'm terrible at this! But so far it's knitting up rather quickly, and I enjoy having something to relax my mind and my focus in the evenings, after Aedan has gone to bed.

My nana doesn't knit anymore, and her once sharp mind is gradually being decayed by dementia. That makes it even more important to me to carry on with this skill she taught me years ago. Maybe one day Aedan will want to learn, too--he certainly enjoys playing with my yarn!

I started reading "French Kids Eat Everything" last week, and I have to admit, I'm not loving it. It's about a woman who moves with her family to France for a year, and learns a vastly different food culture. There are many interesting points, and the French definitely go to great lengths to ensure their kids learn how to appreciate real, nutritious, beautiful food. There is just something about the rigidity of it all that doesn't sit right with me...kids staying up til midnight at their parents' dinner parties, or the idea that kids should be seen and not heard...there are some great tips to take away from it, though!

Yesterday I dove into "The Hunger Games" (on my e-reader, not a very exciting photo), and I can hardly put it down! The knitting might go on the back burner for a day or two...

Knit Now!

One of the side benefits of having a babe is my renewed interest in knitting. Before Aedan was born, I knit a little sweater for him (which is rather boxy, but I'm sure he doesn't mind), and a baby blanket which I am in love with. I splurged on handpainted merino wool for that one, and although the pattern itself is very simple, the blanket is gorgeous because of the colouring of the fibre.

So now I'm knitting a slouchy hat for myself out of some wool I found at the thrift store a few years ago, I think it's a cotton-wool blend. I'm basically winging the pattern after looking at several patterns for slouchy hats online. I also just got a bunch of cotton yarn, which I've got many plans for. Mainly I'd like to start making some baby-leggings. This means we can dress Aedan in just a diaper shirt and some leggings, making diaper changes and also pottying a breeze.

Speaking of pottying, I feel like I'm ready to take a step forward with it...yesterday Aedan peed twice in the potty, and both times he did it on my cue of "pss pss". Potty exciting, eh? (Mom, you get the credit for that one). It could have been a total coincidence, but I like to think he's started to associate the cue with the action. So I think I'd like to try some more diaper-free time, and also start using cloth diapers. I know P isn't too excited about this, because laundry is solely his chore, but if I can manage to get Aedan on the potty for every poo (and I'm pretty confident that, during the day, as long as he doesn't poo in his sleep, I can), then the cloth diapers really won't be all that gross to deal with! How did I get on to this? Oh yes. Baby-leggings.

I'd also like to knit a few little cardigans for Aedan, and one for myself, too. I have some wool in the mail for that project. I wonder when I'll find the time to do all this knitting? The little projects will be a breeze, I can peck away at them when Aedan is asleep or content in his dad's arms...

But a cardigan for myself?

What was I thinking?!