baby j

I'm so sorry that I've been very absent from this blog, I just haven't felt up to taking pictures of finished objects recently!  However, I wanted to commemorate one of my sister's greatest finished objects to date, her son Baby J!

My nephew was born at 10:03PM November 27, at a whopping 8 lbs 14 oz and 21.25"!  My sister had a very difficult delivery, but was so strong through the whole thing.  Her husband stayed with her in the hospital for days before the actual delivery, and they have another couple days still before they'll all be allowed to go home, but Baby J is the sweetest, most perfect little man I've ever seen!  Am I biased?  Of course!

My sister snapped this phone pic of me holding Baby J in the very wee hours of the morning.  I've got the staring in wonder/terrified of breaking the baby look down already!  I'm so, so excited to have many years ahead of me to get to know this wonderful little guy.  This year I am thankful for family, and having a healthy sister and tiny nephew!

wip thursday: the brother hat, take two

Are you ready for the deluge of holiday knitting posts?  Because here they come!

This year my brother gets a hat.  Again.  Last year I knit him essentially the same hat, but in a nice Malabrigo yarn, which he put through the washer and dryer.  Sometimes I just forget that teenage boys don't know anything about proper laundry care.  So this year I'm using Berroco Vintage, and hoping it will last more than a year!

The pattern I'm using is The Boy Hat, and I love it.  The crown shaping is fantastic, everything one could hope for: it looks nice and keeps up the visual pattern until the very end.  Perfect!

what's in my stash?!: part four

Ready for another round of What's In My Stash?!  I sure am after yet another unintentional blogging break.  It's just so hard to get myself to do things as the days get shorter and colder.  Curling up with a book and the dog feels like a great accomplishment these days!

Worst picture first so maybe we'll all forget about it by the end of the post!  I took all these pictures at the same time before I really started fiddling with the settings on my dinky little camera (I had a camera settings epiphany while taking these pictures).

These two skeins of Valley Yarns Huntington are destined to become a pair of stripey socks.  The sea-foam colored skein I've has since August, and the natural skein I've had far longer, though I can't remember exactly when it became mine.  Initially I meant to make a candy-striped set of socks with the natural Huntington and pink Spud & Chloe Fine, but the Huntington wasn't a good match.

These three balls of scrumptious merino are Filatura Di Crosa Zara, bought for four dollars a pop at Webs in the beginning of August.  They will be knit up into a stripey cowl, with a natural-tan, tan-navy, navy-natural kind of pattern.  I'm very excited about this project, but alas, won't be getting to it until all the holiday knitting is done.

The last batch of yarns in this group are my special, I'm-afraid-to-use-this yarns.  I have three skeins of Anzula Squishy that were my holiday present last year.  I'm petrified even thinking about what to make out of this yarn, it is by far the nicest yarn I own.  Do I make a matching set of accessories?  Do I make a cropped sweater??  Do I display it on a shelf and touch it lovingly from time to time???  For now it's staying in my stash until I feel confident enough to use it!