Yarn Along

Yet again, it's been far too long since I posted here, but blogging ideas are starting to fill my head again so I'm going to try to start out slow with a Yarn Along post, joining with Ginny of Small Things.

I think in my last post I mentioned that we have a baby coming in October.  That was months ago. In many ways this pregnancy has been really hard on me both physically and emotionally, but things are really looking up again. My health is pretty good now and somehow now that I'm in my third trimester, most days my energy is way up (this may have something to do with some major dietary changes on my part). I finally have a wonderful birth team in place with a wonderful midwife and doula and if all things go according to play we'll get the homebirth that DH and I have so desperately wanted this time around.  It's amazing how finding the right care provider changed  so much of my view of this pregnancy.  My original midwives were a very poor fit for me personally and many tears were shed on my part over how things went there.  The past two weeks, since I found my new midwife I finally feel like I can move forward and really plan for this birth.

One of the benefits of having had such a hard first half of this pregnancy is that I had lots and lots of time where the only thing I felt up to doing was knitting.  I can't wait to see this baby all snuggly in mama-knit wooly goodness.  Here is a sampling of a few of the things I've made for this baby.  I still have lots of items to block and photograph.

I've also made several items for big brother W as he gets ready for school this year.  He especially requested that I make him an owl Milo vest (and one for "his" baby to match) along with a sweater (he also wants "his baby" to have a matching one again but I need more yarn for that).  I still need to work on some rain boot liners and socks for him as well as those were his other requests.  I'm delighted that he loves wearing mama-made items so much!  It's very sweet and makes it a pleasure to knit for him.  Sometime soon I'll have to get his sweaters blocked and photographed as well.  Just maybe he'll agree to model them for me.

So, onto this Yarn Along....

I'm currently making a Buttercup Baby Cardigan.  It's such a simple and quick little sweater made from worsted weight yarn which is a nice change from all the fingerling and sport weight yarns I've been working with lately.  It's almost done.  I just have to knit the cuff on the second sleeve and make the i-cord ties.  Seems like maybe a  project I can finish this evening.

Right now I am taking a break from the books on childbirth I've recently been reading so that I can read Phillipa Gregory's The Kingmaker's Daughter.  Phillipa Gregory books are totally my not-so guilty pleasure.  I love them and eagerly await each one, so no surprise I'm over half way through this one after starting it last night.  I'll probably finish it this evening too while I work on the sweater for the baby.

Checking In

I haven't been to regular on here for a while.  Honestly, I haven't even been keeping up with reading blogs like I used to.  Today I took a few minutes to catch up on a few favorites and it feels like I've been really out of the loop for a while...lots of reading to do.  So fun to see what others have been doing and creating.  So, it seems like it's time for me to just check in quickly, share some big news and maybe  some photos of our spring so far.

We've been busy with lots of school and other commitments.  I've also been doing a good bit creatively, just not always documenting what we've been doing either in writing or in photographs.  I need to get better about that again. I really do miss blogging and the community around it.

W is continuing to grow into quite an amazing little guy and is such a blessing.  Our family is expecting another blessing this fall as W is going to be a big brother.  I had a really rough first trimester (good for getting some knitting done, but not much else) and I am slowly starting to feel more like myself so maybe I'll actually be up to   writing and photographing what we have going on in our lives more now.

Here are a few photos of our Easter and  a recent trip to Mount Vernon.

Simple Joys - A Simple Dinning Room Makeover

So often in life we forget to slow down and observe and appreciate the Simple Joys that come to us.  It might be a child's smile, some flowers on the dining room table, a walk in nature, or whatever little simple thing that brings you joy.  My goal is to acknowledge and document one of my Simple Joys each Friday and share it with you.  I hope you will add a your blog link to the simple little things that have brought joy to your life this week.

Recently, our family dinning room has been really getting to me.  We eat dinner in the dining room each evening and sometimes eat breakfast or lunch there too, though more often those meals are easier for us to eat in the kitchen.  Our dining room table often also seems to have become a catchall for whatever anyone wants to set down during the day.  Cleaning it off and setting the table was becoming quite a big job.  So, yesterday I decided a change is in order.  I fished this tray off of the top of the refrigerator where it was collecting dust. I lined it with a place mat, got a vase out and bought some inexpensive flowers and put our meal candle, salt and pepper shaker and my teapot on it.

I put some clean place mats on the table and the room perked up considerably.  I have set a goal that things are not to just collect on the table anymore.  It's fine if each person would like to leave a glass of water or a cup of tea, but nothing else is to be left sitting on the dining room table except the items on the tray.

I'm looking forward to keeping this going and keeping some fresh flowers on the table.

Yarn Along

I'm joining with Ginnny of Small Things again for the Yarn along.  My current projects on the needles/hook are a rag rug I am crocheting from old clothes and a set of  liners for W's rainboots.  Here is the pattern I am adapting to fit rainboots with a tab in the back instead of the handles on the sides.  I feel like I've been working on these liners for a really really long time given that they are just simple in the round knitting of stockinette with a few decreases periodically.  Not difficult knitting, and perhaps not the most attention grabbing either.  Maybe that's why I keep setting them when other projects come up.   I'll be happy if I finish them for W's rainboots this spring.  I do think they will be very practical for him to have for playgroup and school and they make the boots look so cute!  In terms of reading, I've been a bit all over the place.  I have been re-reading Little Women again on my Kindle.  It's easy night reading that doesn't keep me up since I've read it so many times in the past, but is cozy and comforting like a visit with old friends.  It's definitely one of my all time favorites.

I've finished two other projects since my last Yarn Along.  The first is this scrappy hat for W.  He had a lovely hat with a long floppy point that I had made for him last year.  It was causing some issues on the playground at school however since all of his friends wanted to pull on it, so we decided he needed a new hat.  I had also been thinking about knitting a cowl for him but decided to make him  this instead.  He loves it and was so happy wearing it at school today.

The other project  I finished was this "ranger cowl" for my park ranger husband.  He wanted a brown scarf to wear with his uniform.  I didn't have enough of this yarn for a scarf so I made him this cowl instead.  It's kind of nice knowing that on a cold day at work he can wear something made with love to help him stay nice and warm. 

I want to make W a pair of felted mittens to match his scrappy hat.  Also I'm thinking that it's time the mama in this family makes herself a hat and cowl to help her stay warm this winter too.

For more "wooly" goodness, please stop by my photography project Wool365.  Often these days things I am making are posted there before I manage to post the here at Under The Old Oak Tree.