Unreserved

I'm not sure if it's because we've done the parenting a newborn thing already, or if it's because the 2nd kid is a "new improved!" model, but this one sleeps better. Imagine the wonder of a child that, at the tender age of four months, actually consents to sleep in her crib! For several hours! Without screaming!
I can hear all you non-parents thinking, "What's so great about a baby sleeping in a crib? Isn't that what they're supposed to do?"
A ha ha ha ha haaaa. Snort.
(All you parents out there who were fortunate enough to have kids that went to sleep placidly in their cribs for 12hr stretches at three weeks old can please sod off.)

The glorious upshot of all this sleepage is that on the rare nights I get both girls down to sleep before 9:00, I get my two hours or so of hands-free-grownup time. This, of course, means knitting. (except when I accidentally manage to get myself off to sleep before 9:00 while lying down with the baby "just for a minute") I've started a new pair of socks. Mmmm, socks.
I also got a ball of Kathmandu DK to swatch for Cromarty. I wanted to start on the hemp baby sweater from "Weekend Knits" (Did I get that title right? I'm not sure, and I'm not checking because someone is going to sleep on my lap as I type.) but I misread the pattern and purchased one skein too few of the All Hemp 6. Am working on getting another, but they're out of that color, so I don't want to start until I find out if I can get more.

Regarding Cromarty swatching - the Kathmandu DK looks like it will work (the yardage is identical to the Rowan DDK originally used) but I had to go down from a size 5 needle to a 3. (and I usually get gauge on the first try) People weren't kidding when they said this has a "bullet proof" gauge. I'm a little concerned because I've read that this yarn grows when washed (washed swatches confirmed this) and I don't want a huge sweater. Particularly since it's a single-size pattern.

Currently listening to: Cake "Comfort Eagle"
Mmm, cake.

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Holidays are great - when they're safely past. Easter kicked my butt this past weekend, what with last minute project finishing attempts, cleaning, fussy babies that may or may not have succumbed to whatever viral contagion has beset our family this week, etc.
First came egg coloring - what color is the orange egg, Uncle Steve?


*Obligatory inside story explanation - when my brother was Anna's age and learning his colors, I was asking him the colors of the eggs we were dying. He turn the tables on me, holding up an orange egg and asking, "What color is the orange egg, Sarah?"*

I finished the girls' dresses in time (at 2 a.m. Friday night/Saturday morning).
Anna's dress:

Claire's dress:



Unfortunately the lace baby sweater that was to go with it didn't make it. It didn't make it for the knitting olympics, either. It's just not a very successful sweater thus far. At this rate by the time I finish it, it won't fit. That's okay, someone else will have a baby girl and they can have a lovely blue sweater that exactly matches my daughter's dress.

You may notice Claire doesn't look very happy in that picture. Claire wasn't very happy all weekend. She was also spittier than usual. Couple that with the fact that DH is upstairs "spitting up" himself, and I'm pretty sure we've got a family virus going. Yum. To make the weekend more fun, Anna decided that she no longer likes sleeping. Calgon, take me away! I'm honestly afraid to go to bed now. There's germs up there.

I'm happy to announce that the terror of last year's "noisy chicken" was not repeated. Anna is very happy with a tiny chirping baby chicken that does not sing and dance.
And now for something completely different - a baptism gown.


Claire's maternal grandmother (who reads this blog - Hi, Mom!) spent many, many hours creating this beautiful heirloom, based on (but modified) a Dale of Norway pattern. I think the hole she wore in her finger has finally healed.

And just in case you fear that the littlest Unreserved family member never cracks a smile:

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In keeping with this blog's focus, which is defined as "fuzzy, but including knitting," I present to you, the internets, a finished object:


And here's a picture of it on a model, for scale of course:


Details: Baby boy raglan cardigan
Yarn: Bernat's Cotton Tots
Pattern: Mine! All mine!

This one was a gift for a coworker, who recently became a parent. We've been having a veritable baby boom at work. I'm not quite satisfied with the spacing of the button holes, but they'll do.
I'm itching to get to work on the next baby gift, but I've got Easter projects on the top of the list. I put Claire's dress together last night, it's all done but the hemming (And I've got to take the zipper out and put it back in to my satisfaction. I hate zippers) and I'm nearing completion on the sweater she will (hopefully) wear over it. Peanut's dress is smocked, cut, and ready for assembly.
I will freely admit that sometimes, to me, the girls are not just children - they are squirmy little manequins that I delight in dressing in impractial clothing. I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts, because too soon they will be fighting to wear whatever inapropriate clothing the teeny-bopper du jour has made popular.

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