Slow Crawl Into the Holidays

I really need to get in gear. My house is a mess, my UFOs list is expanding, and I'm not sleeping well. That last one might have something to do with a toddler who wakes up around 4 or 5 am singing songs, proclaiming "Alleluias!", and requesting yogurt. Not to mention the fact that my mommy ears can hear every sniffle, snort, cough in the night.

Visiting family for the Thanksgiving holiday should be interesting. It's not easy traveling with little man but if we don't commit to doing this, the east coast grandparents would never see him. I may try to visit some friends while I'm there. It seems each time I travel back home to NY I get stuck in the house and don't enjoy the city at all. I'm hoping this time will be different. We'll see.

Back from Vacation. Need a Vacation.

We were gone for 10 days: Michigan to NYC, NYC to CT, CT to NH, NH to ME for the 4th of July celebrations then back to NYC for one night to break up the drive and home again Monday. Our little man was a wonderful and patient traveler considering how many hours he spent in his car seat and how many different homes he slept in. The trip was fun but exhausting.
I did get to visit the Harrisville Designs shop. It was a total surprise. I didn't realize that we were in that Harrisville. The shop is very nice.

My knitting has been slow; very slow. I still haven't finished my Lacy Rib Socks.
I did however finish spinning my 8oz of Polwarth fiber. It yeilded 586 yds of 2ply (prior to washing). It turned out very nice and I will post pics soon.

Holiday Knitting in Transit

I did some holiday knitting over Thanksgiving while my dear partner drove, and drove, and drove. He did all the driving and I did all the rest stop diaper changing. Not so bad since baby boy did cooperate.
He is the best traveling baby. Doesn't complain at all. Next time we go for a long road trip I will have to be more organized with his food. He did not eat well on the road. None of us did really. You know how that goes. But in the rush to pack all the necessities: pushy toy, pack-n-play, diapers I didn't bring his favorite steamed veggies. BAD MOMMY. Next time I'm on it.

So while baby boy slept (we affectionately call him Chooku) and daddy drove, I did some knitting. Here's a sneak peek at my first Baby Kimono. I had to frog back because I had misread the pattern. But now I'm on track. So far it's looking pretty good. I want to finish this first one and knit one more for my newborn niece and another for her big sister.

Another project that I'm determined to finish and gift to myself for Christmas are the Bacchus Socks from Fall IK 2008. I've been struggling with the Turkish Cast On but Allison from Ravelry was a huge help as was Ericka from knitting group and now the socks are cast on and moving along.

Way Behind on Work and Knitting - What's New?!

Last week the whole family traveled to Detroit for business. It was a balmy 10 degrees and we basically had to rush the baby into and out of the car because it was so brutally cold. The week before we left was a challenge since we all had really bad colds and the baby reverted to his old nursing every 2 hrs schedule. Needless to say I was tired. He's back on track now and sleep training in going really well. If we watch for his sleep signals and quickly get him to bed he goes down easily and naps for up to 2 hrs during the day and for 3-4 hr stints at night. Hopefully this will last.

Sickness, travel, and holiday have kept me from my Monday work meetings. I have some serious catching up to do on that front.

As for knitting . . . . Grandma Andrea gave me some beautiful yarns from her stash since she's too busy to knit these days. Three hanks are hand-dyed wool from Scotland along with matching wool fabric. I'm thinking a nice skirt and sweater/jacket. First step is freshening up the yarn. I've looked online and the popular suggestions are white vinegar and/or Febreeze. I will try both and see which works best.

I'm still working on the second Monkey sock for my very patient sock pal. I'm almost at the toe so I'm hoping to mail them out on Saturday. Also on the needles are the New York Scarf for my husband and I just cast on a baby earflap hat since we've had some chilly mornings and evenings and I can't find warm hats in stores anymore.

I will post some pics as soon as I get my camera to work. It's been acting up lately.

I hope everyone out there is knitting happily especially now that we have more hours of daylight. Bye for now.