blocking woes

The cocoon stole is finally done.



I'm not quite as enamored of it as I was with Twilight, mostly because I don't think the pattern shows up as well as I would like it to. Blocking certainly helped, but I didn't do a very good job. In fact, I think I should re-block it to try and get the waves out of the sides. If I'm going to be knitting more lace, I really ought to invest in some of those blocking wires. I'm thinking of trying the ones from Knitpicks...but in the meantime, I may try the more economic trick of threading a long piece of cotton yarn through the edges during blocking to get them nice and straight. Has anybody tried that? Does it work? Advice, please!



Also, I will have more pictures for you soon, maybe even before re-blocking. It's impossible to take good pictures of a lace project this color (medium sheepy brown) without just modeling it. I don't know how to work the timer on our camera (it's impossibly complicated for some reason and even my tech-savvy husband has to fiddle with it to figure it out), so I'll just have Stubert take some shots this weekend.

I'm taking a quick break from lace to make some socks for Daniel. He picked out the yarn!

Daniel's apron

Daniel loves to "help" me in the kitchen, especially when I'm mixing up some kind of dough for baking. I give him a little hunk of dough with plenty of flour (so it doesn't stick to everything), a rolling pin and a little pan. This usually keeps him entertained for a while. I'll be putting together pizza or kneading bread dough while he works on his own little project, exclaiming "My roll out big dough! Time to cook it!"



Sometimes he wants to wear my apron.



Of course, my apron is much too big for Daniel, and often I need to wear it just when he wants to. One day I asked him, "Daniel, would you like an apron that's just your size?" to which he replied, "Yeah!" This morning, after at least four time-outs in a 45-minute span for various naughty behaviors, most involving Anya (knocking her over, taking her toys, etc), I decided we needed a brief change of venue to clear our heads and improve our moods. I took the kids to a nearby quilt shop (they know us and they have toys, which is two big points in their favor) to choose some fabric for Daniel's apron.

When I asked Daniel what color he wanted, he answered "Pink!" I hesitated a bit, and I'm a little ashamed of it. My son is two and a half. Why shouldn't he like pink? Why shouldn't he have a pink apron if he wants one? So what?* As it turned out, Daniel wasn't as interested in looking at fabric as playing with the toys in the shop (big surprise there), and I found a nice red and white striped print that looked apronly, so that's what I chose.

Our little outing to the quilt shop was just what we needed. Anya fell asleep on the way home and stayed asleep for over an hour (unheard of for her!), and Daniel was curious and interested enough in what I was doing that he actually watched nicely and respectfully without whining or interfering while I cut and sewed and ironed. I finished in about an hour, and I actually did a pretty nice job, which tells you just how simple this project was.

Afterwards, Daniel wanted to wear his new apron and play with the sewing machine, so I let him (after unplugging it, of course.)



He wore it outside to play in the dirt.







Anya woke up and chewed on a bottle of sunscreen.



I didn't use a pattern, but here are a few of the design details, in case you're interested:

1. The apron is fully lined because I didn't want to fuss with lots of hemming.
2. Once I decided on approximate measurements, I cut a big rectangle, then folded it in half and trimmed the corners to make it narrower at the top.
3. I topstitched all the way around the edge for a neat finish.
4. The straps are basically long tubes. Turning them right side out after stitching them up took as long as any other part of the process.

This project makes me happy in so many ways. It was nice to be able to sew with Daniel watching but not interfering; I don't expect I'll be able to do that too often. I was glad to make something start to finish in the space of 90 minutes. Hoorah for instant gratification! Finally, it felt good to make something special for my little guy. I expect he'll get a lot of use out of it. Considering how fast he grows, I may need to make another this winter, and it might even be pink!

*If you read the comments, you'll see that Jenn-Jenn's son (who is 10 and knows all about these things) says that pink is the new color craze for boys. Who knew? I certainly had no idea, but I'm so glad to hear it. Pink is actually a good color for me, but I almost never wear it; this is probably because in my early days as a feminist I rejected pink for being too demure and passive and girly. I have moved quite beyond that, because I know that modern feminism has nothing to do with the colors you wear; it has to do with the ideas you hold and actions you take about treating women as equally valuable members of society as men...but that's a whole different topic. Many shades of pink can be quite nice. Pink is the color of many nice flowers and strawberry milkshakes and healthy cheeks. It can be bright and noticeable (which is probably why Daniel likes it - he also loves orange and yellow). In fact, what's not to like about it?

reprieve

Now that I have this:



happening at the same time as this:



I'm treating myself to a few rows of this:



(Cocoon stole by Fibertrends, the second of my shetland lace projects)

Now, if you'll excuse me, it's a beautiful day out there where my children are sleeping. I dare not move them or leave them alone in the backyard. That means I better go outside and knit until someone wakes up. (I give Anya another 10 minutes.)

kentucky

We've spent the last week visiting my parents in my Kentucky hometown. We're leaving tonight, and I confess I'm not quite ready to go. I haven't lived here since I graduated from high school and went off to college over a decade ago. At the time, I was ready for new places and new adventures (so I went to Kansas of all places--shows you my wild side, huh?), but now I'm starting to feel the pull to come back. This is mostly because of the kids, I am sure. They just won't get to know their Oma and Opa very well while we're a 10-hour drive away from each other.

But there's more. The rolling hills, the old stone fences and black tobacco barns that make up the bluegrass landscape. (There's also the occasional confederate flag, but I can get over that.) The lilting Kentucky accent - not the same as mountain speak, I assure you - but it has its charm, like every time someone gets a glimpse of Anya's red, red hair: "Ohhh, look at that darrrrrrlin' hay-er! Idn't she cyooooote?" Fresh blackberries so sweet you can pop one after another in your mouth like candy. Ditto peaches, all from the farm down the road. The familiar feel of the warm concrete under my feet when I step outside to get the mail. The bright sun shining on my mom's garden. The sound of the attic fan pulling a cool breeze in the house when it's not yet hot enough for the air conditioner. Watching brit-coms with my mom and knitting on my latest lace project (pictures soon, I promise) after the kids are asleep. Drinking cup after cup of coffee.

Yesterday my mom and I took the kids to Magpie Yarn in downtown Lexington. It was a brave move, especially at naptime, but no one drew on the walls or had a diaper accident on the cashmere, so I considered the trip a success. In fact, Daniel was tired enough that he was content to look at a book and scribble on a pad of paper, while Anya chewed on a rattle (and got fussed over just a wee bit by the folks in the shop). If I owned a yarn shop, I would want it to be just like Magpie. It's not especially big, but the selection is very nice (so much Jo Sharp I nearly swooned, and for some reason no one sells that stuff in Madison so I had to work very very hard to leave it on the shelves), the yarn is beautifully arranged, and the space is light and open and beautiful and inviting. There are plenty of places to sit down. And the owner is as nice as nice can be.

(Did I break my resolution not to buy yarn for two years? Er, um, ahem. Maybe. But it's okay. I'm on vacation, and besides, she had Mountain Mohair 40% off. I really had no choice, did I?)