Reading While Knitting

Nothing complicated; nothing too exciting, but yes, I do knit while I read. As well as during many other domestic activities.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

My faith in the post office was rewarded. Pancake Goddess got the package I sent last week, with some knitted thingies for her fourth baby boy. In a completely stunning development, the gifts arrived before the baby. This isn't my usual m.o.

Fortunately, she agrees with me that it's the thought that counts, so is overlooking the -- well, the less-able bits of the presents. A teensy stripy sweater:


Since the babe is going to show up in summer, I went with cotton. This is Foxfire organic cotton, courtesy of a long-ago birthday gift from my sister. I figured it will fit him for about 15 minutes max, anyhow, so a light sweater is the way to go.

Along with the sweater, I broke a personal taboo and knit a little stuffed creature. It began with bunny intentions but sort of . . . well, morphed. After trying to make old cotton diapers into stuffing (trust me, don't. I wont', next time), knitting ears seemed like more than I could face. I thought "bear" for a few minutes (bears have much smaller ears than rabbits, I thought). After I noodled around for a moment, trying to minimize the buttockness of the back, my entire family agreed.


It's Squirrel Nutkin.


So, now I'm going to distract Jen specifically by posting garden pictures. For some reason, it cheers me immensely to think of her shaking bangles among my peas. I even saw some of the exotic basils peeking out of our exotic garden mulch of begged/borrowed/stolen grass clippings. The neighborhood gardening crews see us coming and start setting them aside.


You might notice that the little proto-plum has what look suspiciously like fingerprints on it. Hmmmmm.


On the needles now? The eternal orange vest. Now that I'm back to reminding myself that charts read in two directions, it's going much faster and I have hopes of doing more than two rows in the upcoming week. Because I can't knit on that and think at all, I started the "Cabaret Raglan" from the Summer 2004 Interweave Knits. You can see someone else's version here. I believe (without conclusive evidence) that I have enough of that tobacco-colored Foxfire yarn to make the whole thing. We'll see. I also realize that it contains eyelets, whch are not my friends. I'm knitting the front with them first, so I can relax into the miles of stockinette afterwards.

And the girls want matching cotton tank tops, out of Sugar'n'Cream. Apparently, they have caught the Mason-Dixon knitting bug without me even reading the book. I'll be busy.

Oh, and for Mother's Day? Besides the adorable cards and breakfast orchestrated by Thing 1, Thing 2 announced that she's going to make sure that her (three on three, no goalie, under-6) soccer team wins.

I'll be so proud.

11 Comments:

At 4:17 PM, Blogger Rain said...

The cardi is adorable, I love those colours together.

 
At 5:08 PM, Blogger bfmomma said...

OMG! that cardigan is precious! and I like the squirrel! (and I don't even like squirrels)

I had planned to finish something I'm knitting for someone special this weekend, but it didn't go as planned... :)

 
At 9:27 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

Nice plant photo! And, I liked your stuffed critter.

 
At 1:39 AM, Blogger amanda j said...

What a gorgeous little cardigan. I wish someone around me would have a baby. I am surrounded by non-knitting DINKs! How selfish!

 
At 4:11 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

The sweater IS gorgeous, and they really need to invent some sort of touch-cam so you can feel this cotton. This is not just regular cotton yarn. The baby might have to wear this sweater every single day. Thanks again for the beautiful gift.

(Squirrel is already loved - Ryan spotted it on #4's shelf and has been kissing and snuggling it during diaper changes)

 
At 9:53 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Okay, your Squirrel Nutkin is a riot. With so much personality, who needs bunny ears! As for the sweater, it's adorable. What a nice friend you are.

 
At 6:10 PM, Blogger String Bean said...

You always make me laugh so much! It does look like Squirrel Nutkin. My mom and I were just talking about the Peter Rabbit books today. I asked her if she had read them and she said "Yes, but I had to re-read them to fully understand the many facets of the plot." I love my mom. :)

I like the cabaret top, but I think it looks better in a softer color. What color is the cotton? Brown?

Good luck to Thing 2! I hope she wins.

 
At 9:00 PM, Blogger suzee said...

Gosh, so much beauty in one blog entry. I'm so envious. Lucky Baby S., and yay you for the beautiful, beautiful garden.

Did her team win? (I know, I know - "we don't keep score"...but the kids ALL know the score nonetheless!)

 
At 11:35 AM, Blogger allisonmariecat said...

Gorgeous sweater! And Squirrel Nutkin is fabulous. I think I need to make one for my cats :)

 
At 2:59 PM, Blogger Jennus Interruptus said...

That squirrel is very adorable, and, since it is knitted, has a much higher life expectancy than the squirrels I grew up with - my grandfather, being very much a northern Alberta farmer, used to pay my little brother to shoot them so they couldn't build nests in the granaries.

I am living vicariously through your beautiful pea blossoms, and marvel at how far along your produce is, when up here there's still a very real risk of frost. Keep the photos coming!

 
At 9:05 AM, Blogger Elspeth said...

The sweater and squirrel are so cute!

 

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