Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Emma's socks

I'm doing another happy dance this week . Emma's socks from my last post are finished . I didn't quite make my Sunday night deadline as I had hoped , but they were completed yesterday and ready for their photo shoot today .

 
These are the Baby Cable Rib socks from Sensational Knitted socks . I use this book often when I have to knit children's socks .  You are limited when you have to knit for small feet and there are a number of patterns in this book that look great with just about any sock yarn . I'm not worried about the fit because I was given Emma's shoe size and with the sizing charts in this book you can just about knit custom socks . I hope she likes them ...
 
Up next ...
 
 
Baby Tea Leaves cardigan . It's coming along nicely , more on that another time .
 

Friday, July 19, 2013

Happy dancing !


I finished  the latest baby blanket yesterday and I absolutely love it ! The yarn , the pattern and the colour which is the exact shade of pink I was looking for .To my surprise Stef chose to decorate the baby's room in lilac , but there is pink in the duvet cover , so it matches pretty well . The Ruffled Ridges pattern by Bev Galeskas is a joy to knit . I used Berocco Vintage because in my experience it has the perfect combination of easy care acrylic content with the warmth of wool .

 It speaks volumes for the pattern that I continued knitting despite the fact that we , along with much of the eastern and central part of the continent are experiencing a heat wave with temperatures in the mid thirties Celsius and the humidex reaching the mid forties Celsius . We are lucky that while we don't have central air conditioning , we do have a pool . It has finally been getting some use after our  rainy spring and beginning of summer .

 
This is the perfect time to work on a small project  . I have one of Emma's socks done and hope to get the second one off the needles by Monday  . I'm just itching to cast on another baby cardigan  .

Have a wonderful weekend and stay cool !

Thursday, July 4, 2013

July ,already

Time just flies when you're retired , it's almost scary . First , I'd like to wish our American family and friends a happy Independence Day ! I know there's bound to be lots of parades , family gatherings , barbecues and fireworks ! I hope you get sunny skies and warm weather wherever you are .

We celebrated Canada Day by spending the long weekend  at Max and Stef 's cottage in the Laurentians . The weather didn't really cooperate as per usual this summer , but we had fun anyways with walks in the woods and campfires to keep the mosquitos away . It was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and just kick back and relax . I had brought some knitting and in the quiet afternoon while Mason napped I started this baby blanket his expected baby sister.

 
I've been working on it monogamously for this whole week and I have about a third done . It occurred to me that Stef doesn't have that much longer in her pregnancy and  since I am notoriously slow at knitting blankets I thought that I'd better get a move on ! She's only due in mid September , but if this baby is anything like Mason , she just might show up a little early .
 
 I would have  accomplished more on the blanket had I not started this book yesterday . I just haven't been able to put it aside . It would fall into the romance category , but it is so much more . I think that I first came across it on Goodreads where it had quite a few glowing reviews . Broadly told it's the story of a young man left as a quadriplegic following an accident and the woman who is hired as his caregiver  and the relationship that develops between them . The underlying theme of  assisted suicide and the right of a person to make that choice is what makes this such a compelling read . It is such an emotional and complex issue , especially with all the advances in medicine and the ability of doctors to prolong life , I think that it will be a long time before we can come to any legislative solution . As far as I can tell so far the author hasn't come down on any particular side of the debate , maybe she's just bringing us on this journey and telling us a love story .