Knitting with a baby, part one...

Those of you who are mothers may or may not have gone through this, but with a new baby I've found I usually have three different types of days:

1. Frozen to my rocking chair, not dressed until lunch, one disaster after another until I am left a sniveling and exausted mess. (Wednesday was one of those days)

2. Super-mommy-goddess in which I manage to cook real food ( not just re-heat) do laundry and GET STUFF DONE, all while my baby sleeps or nurses in my sling. (Today, so far, has been one of those days).

3. The usual day, which is a little bit of both.

Of course, with two kids now I'm more likely to get a #1 and less likely to get a #2, but it sure was nice to have a #2 kind of day today, especially with today's rain!

On my goddess days (or moments) here's how I knit:

Thank God for baby-slings. Frankly, I'm mystified about mothers who don't use these. Knittybaby spends many happy hours sleeping or nursing in here, and then I get both hands to eat, do laundry, vaccuum, entertain Little Man, and yes, even knit!

My sling is a Zolo Sling. I love this thing! Not only is it cute (they have lots of fabric choices) but it is light and even has pocket for your keys, wallet, or of course, a sock-in-progress. Girls, if you plan to have a baby (or just had one) get a sling! There are lots of different types (just search for baby slings or baby wearing) and it does take a good week to get used to them, but stick with it. You will get the hang of it and it makes for much happier baby and mama. My hubby even has one.

So what have I knit?

Squares for Warming Grace. If you haven't visited Cynthia's site yet, be sure to see what she is doing to help her niece, who is ill with lukemia.


These are 5 inch squares, knit in a cotton/angora blend by Artful Yarns. I'm sending them off this weekend.

I also finished up Knittybaby's socks, but need to re-take a picture, so I'll get that up another day.

My Little Meanie Greenie

So I make this smoothie for Little Man and myself that we call "Meanie Greenies." I have no idea why we call it that other than the fact that all the spirulina I throw in turns it bright green. So we each have a glass and we're sitting at the table enjoying our drinks and Little Man starts to get a little playful with his beverage, blowing bubbles and the like, spattering all over the place. Then he decides that he needs to pour it back and fourth into two glasses. My motherly powers sense disaster from this activity, so I go to intervene and end up spilling it myself, all over the table.

At this point Knittybaby decides he was mistaken and really wasn't sleepy after all, so I go to pick him up and find a dishrag and I hear Little Man yell, "I can lick it up, Mom!" I come back to see my dear son covered in green smoothie: face, shirt and his long hair, with bits of flaxseed stuck all over him. All with Grandma and Gomme due in just a few hours and an already trashed house. I have to say, he looked so funny that my sense of humor took over and I was unable to get mad, so I just threw him in the tub.

Knitting content? While Little Man was soaking his green stuff off, I was able to peruse the 2005 Spring Knits all while nursing Knittybaby in the bathroom. I need a real chair in there. Do you know how uncomfortable it is to nurse a baby when the only place to sit is the toilet seat cover? Anyway, I re-read the article on brioche stitch. Has anyone tried a project using that? I haven't tried it with needles yet, but everytime I read about it my mind gets all twisty.

Another contest

Another contest, this time by Kat: five places you've knit other than home or a knitting store. See if you can guess the theme...

1. Walking up and down, up and down the flightline at EAA's Airventure.
2. In the hayfield behind my in-law's farm, watching Hubby and Little Man fly model airplanes.
3. At our campsite at Airventure. (We go every year, by the way).
4. At numerous small airports, watching airplanes with Hubby and Little Man.
5. Not to be too theme oriented, at parent-teacher conferences, while waiting for parents to talk to me. Since no one usually talks to the music teacher, I tend to get a lot done.

Did you figure it out? Hubby loves airplanes (small aircraft and homebuilts) as much as I love knitting. While I find airplanes interesting , I can only look at them for about 20 minutes before I start to get figetity. Having knitting means we are both happy.

Moving on from the contest, Knittybaby is one month old today!!! I forgot to say thanks before to those who left me notes of congratulations, I appreciated it. I can hardly believe it's been a month. He already has changed so much already, and is starting to have more awake time now, which is fun. I'm starting to feel a little more settled in. Thank goodness for all the friends who have brought us meals, and that the weather has been beautiful so Little Man can play outside. Spring is a great time to have a baby!

Also, thanks for the SP8 advice. I think I'm going to give it a try!!

To SP8 or not SP8?

Not much knitting action here....Knittybaby seems to be going through his first growth spurt and Little Man is having a hard time sharing his mommy. I've been spending a lot of time nursing my baby and trying to keep my Little Man from feeling left out. Needless to say, I could use a couple of extra arms! (And a lap) Luckily, the warm weather is helping in that we can get outside. I don't know what I'd do if it was January.

So I've been trying to decide whether or not to do Secret Pal 8. I've never done one before, but I have to say I've been coveting all those great boxes I see people get. The whole thing just seems fun, and I'm a sucker for getting anything in the mail. But here's my hang-up: every time I do a secret pal (usually a Secret Santa) I end up with the lousiest one. In 6th grade, everyone else was getting cool things like neon jelly bracelets. What did I get? A half melted, squished box of Junior Mints from some boy I didn't even know:-( Then there was the time in college when the accountant in my office was my Secret Santa, but didn't get the whole concept of it and didn't understand he was supposed to get me anything. So everytime I sign up for something I have fun buying for my pal but usually come up short on my end. As I write this I'm thinking I sound like a greedy girl! I'm really not, it's just a bummer when it seems to happen every time. I had actually given up on these until Secret Pal came along.

So what I'd love to hear is about your experiences. Have you done a Secret Pal? How was it? If not, why? Should I try it out or go snag a "Not a Secret Pal" button and go drop $60 at the Yarnery sale this weekend? Right now, I'm leaning towards trying it out. After all, these are knitters here, not 6th grade boys, right?

A Rare Moment of Quiet

The boys, including Hubby, are all asleep upstairs, and I have my first moment of real quiet since Knittybaby has been born. I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself, so I thought I'd get out the heaps of pictures I've been saving up. Despite the fact that Knittybaby is not quite three weeks old, we have had actual knitting going on, because what could be more perfect than snuggling with your sweet baby, asleep on your lap, and knitting a sock for him? You can't beat that!

I love these early weeks, when you get to spend so much time just nursing, rocking, and enjoying this new little person. It is much different this time, as Little Man wants to share my lap too, but we all manage to fit into the rocker together and overall we are all doing well.

So first, my knitting: The garter stitch booties. Way too small, for starters, (I never checked the guage, I know...) and I'm not convinced they are the most practical item. They will be frogged for a pair of Knittybaby socks.

Next we have socks that I started for Little Man back in January. Since then he seems to have grown about two inches and gained about five pounds (or maybe it's having a new baby but he seems HUGE lately!). There is no way these will fit him, so Knittybaby can grow into them istead. These have been my nursing knitting. How does one nurse a baby and knit? We'll get to that another day.

Next, a quick hat I knitted up for my friend's baby. She had her son a little over a month before me, and I missed her shower the other weekend. So this will be going to her next time I see her. I use Knitpicks Andean Silk for this one.


This is the Garter Stitch Jacket from the Debbie Bliss "Baby Knits" book. I started this before Knittybaby was born, and although it is supposed to fit three to six months, it seems huge. I got gauge, so I'm not sure what is going on. I'm ready to start the sleeves so I'm going to do some measuring and see what changes I might make first. I'm using the Rowan Baby Soft I picked up last month. I like it; it feels like I'm knitting with fleece.



Moving on from my knitting, these are gifts that Knittybaby received from my grandmother. Aren't they lovely? My grandma is the one who taught me how to knit. She made sure that I got a good start, making me practice my knits and purls until I got them right. I credit her with the fact that I typically get nice, even stitches and a steady guage. She has given me a gift by teaching me to knit, and she has given both my boys some beautiful sweaters that I will save to pass on to them once they have children of their own.




These are the icing on the cake: crocheted booties from my Great-Grandmother. She passed away about 12 years ago, and these booties are a legacy of hers. I'm sure that she churned out hundreds of these booties. I've inherited about 8 pairs myself from family members who saved them. She made them for anyone she encountered who had a new baby, even if she barely knew them. She loved babies and loved making these for people, and I have fond memories of watching her make them. She is the reason I still would like to learn more about crochet than the basic potholders she taught me to make. She was a wonderful, loving woman and I miss her very much. She would have gone crazy over Little Man and Knittybaby!



Finally, something just for fun. I came across this contest at
Kate's website and thought it was a hoot. So here is my "cupboard over the fridge:"


It isn't really over the fridge. We have a pre-fridge house, so instead I just have "the incredibly high cupboard" that I need a stool to reach. So what do we have? First, all the vitamins and herbal remedies that need to be kept out of reach from Little Man, but since they are so high we often forget to take them. They are the only thing that actually comes in and out. Otherwise I've got old tupperwear flour containers (I HOPE they are empty!) the dogs toothbrush, a piece of pottery with a wolf on top, and my old asthma measurer (I can't remember the actual name of it, and my asthma rarely bothers me anymore). Oh, and some rice flour from when I planned on making dog biscuits.

The side view has the popcorn popper that we do actually use, a neti pot, and the espresso maker that makes such bad espresso now that we never use it. I'm sure there is more behind it but I am afraid to look!

This is by far the longest post I've done, and Knittybaby is up again and nursing, so I'd better stop here. One thing I am not good at is nursing and typing! So I'm off to snuggle with my little guy and enjoy a relaxing Sunday evening.