Dreaming of Florida Sunshine

First off – Rest In Peace, Michael Jackson. You may have taken a really creepy turn in the mid ‘90’s but you were still a pop culture icon and will be missed.

So check out my shiny new sock:

It’s the Sunshine pattern from the Cookie A book, Sock Innovations, knit out of Destination Yarn colorway Tampa, Florida (only one skein left and I don’t know when I’ll dye this colorway again!).

I just couldn’t resist the whole Florida/Sunshine connection:

Because, really, the Sunshine sock should be knit out of the Sunshine State colorway.

The only problem at this point is that there is only one. And… well… I kindof fell down a Ravelry knit along rabbit hole. And it ends on June 30. So to be eligible for many fabulous prizes I need to get the second sock done in 4 days. It’s possible, right? Especially since I’m just sitting around eating bon bons since I’m still on leave… (HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAAAAAHA. HA.)

In baby news teething can bite me. It’s not like she’s going to bust out a tooth tomorrow or anything but the process has started and it’s pretty awful. Baby tylonol is my new BFF but it’s a fine line. While I don’t want her to be in pain I also don’t want to drug my child when she’s just fussing because she’s bored. That won’t lead to good things during her teenage years.

Baby Tylonol is a gateway drug.

Also daddy day was adorable:

And speaking of teeth – and because it’s Friday and I love me some random pop culture business on Fridays – I share with you this bit of AWESOME:

Buffy & Edward:

Best clip ever. Buffy is SO a better teenage role model than Bella or whatever her name is. So is Sookie according to this amazing article:

Bella no match for Sookie

And that’s all I got. Have a good weekend!

Big Bird

Yeah so life moves so quickly with an infant that by the time I get my act together to post something it's old news. I have to give up the dream of being witty and interesting or I'll never post again. Instead I will embrace this new probably boring to everyone but me Life in Cleveland and just show you some real time baby captions. Brought to you by my cell phone camera.


I wonder if I could get this big bird into my mouth?


Almost...


I really want to do this, mom.


This is tough!


So close...


Success!

Yup. That's all I got.

Fun things

A list of super fun things:

1.) New baby firsts. She’s discovered her hands.


And they really are the best of things to play with.

2.) Destination Yarn - I’ve dyed over 30 skeins in the last week. Including some old favorites such as Copenhagen (we'll see how long that link lasts. this colorway sells out QUICK):

And Tuscany:

Plus a few fun new colorways such as Vienna:

Which is dyed to look like a pastry shop window.

And National Cherry Blossom Festival:

Because sometimes it’s not the where but the when that matters.

3.) Starting new projects. I’ve abandoned the baby knits in favor of a simple lace scarf:

The pattern is the Strangling Vines Lace Scarf and the yarn is Destination Yarn in Paris Night.

4.) Stitch ‘n Pitch. It’s tonight! This year I’m going with the Cleveland Knits West group so funtimes are sure to be had. I’m going to bring some of my yarn so if you want to check it out in person feel free to find me! I look something like this:

Pic from the Baptism. Which is a post I’ve been meaning to write for about 3 weeks now.

Only I won’t have a baby on me. She’s hanging out with her dad for the evening.

Hope to see some of you tonight!

Festival Weekend

So last weekend was the weekend of Festivals. First up was the Great Lakes Fiber Festival (not rows of bowls of Cherrios like my dad pictured, but animal fiber). I went to the Ravelry meetup but it was really more of a Cleveland Knits West meetup. That was more than ok, though, since it was so nice to see everyone! And even though I was tempted by all of the wonderful yarn and surrounded by the best of enablers I stuck to my budget. Which was literally an envelope full of my husband’s poker winnings from the night before. Here’s how much yarn a night of poker can get you:

6 skeins of Lamb’s Pride Bulky in Avacado (will probably become this):



And one 8oz braid of Creatively Dyed Wool/Seacell roving:

And while I had a great deal of self-control at the festival I’ve had none since I’ve been home:

Yeah. I’m halfway through that roving and it’s only been a week.

Next up was the Greek Festival:


The baby had a ball – she hung out in her little carrier and people watched while we ate gyros and honey balls (really should find out the real name for those).

Mmmmm gyro baby.

She even posed for a family picture:

This weekend is going to be much more subdued. Big plans include playing basketball, going for a walk, dying yarn (my new base yarn? Is AWESOME. Sucks up dye like you wouldn’t believe), watching the Cavs game, and thinking that my friend Sarah made the right decision.

Coming out of the fog

So I’m finally starting to feel like the baby fog is lifting a little bit. Between her sleeping through the night more consistently and the big Baptism party we threw being over I’m actually starting to get my life back. Or something to that effect. Signs things are returning to “normal”:

1.) This is my second blog post this week.

2.) I did this the other day:

It’s just some random fiber that I got for Christmas one year. I don’t know what it is but it has a really short staple length and it’s really bouncy.

I’m just rockin’ the only type of spinning that I really know how to do. Basic two ply. Someday I’ll learn how to do something else… someday…


3.) We are having a little cookout/cavs party tonight. It’s not the barhopping of days past but chilling with the group and a glass of wine is going to feel really good.

4.) I have two finished objects to show you:

Granted they are just washcloths and they still need to be blocked but still – I finished something! They are both for my friend who is doing the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3 Day walk. She needed some door prizes for one of her fundraisers and I thought these would be kindof fun:

The pattern is the Awareness Ribbon Washcloth (Ravelry link here) and the yarn is some random cotton I’ve had forever.


5.) I did inventory today:


Yeah remember that Destination Yarn thing? Where I started up this really cool business and then couldn’t do it anymore because I got all pregnant and sick and then had a baby?


It’s time to revisit that.


So far I’ve only listed some old favorites (Copenhagen, anyone?) but stay tuned – there’s some very fun new colorways coming soon.


6.) I went on a bike ride. The last time I was on the bike I was about 12 weeks pregnant and it resulted in me puking in the street, in a neighbor’s yard, in my back yard, and finally in my kitchen sink. So I may have only gone a few miles but I didn’t puke so WIN.

7.) I’m going to the Great Lakes Fiber Festival tomorrow. Without the baby. I’ve left her both with Matt and with my mom for a few hours before… but not for nearly this long. Honestly I’m not really nervous. Matt’s great with her and a full day of “daddy time” will be good for both of them. Plus I’m super excited about the Ravelry meetup. I’ve been so out of the knitting loop lately (Cookie came out with a book? Really? Totally didn’t know that until last night.) that it will be good to catch up with everyone.

So yeah. I know things have changed forever and I’m fine with that. And I know I smell like spitup about 90% of the time and I’m also fine with that. But I have to admit – it feels nice to reclaim a little bit of my pre-baby world.

Does this mean you’re actually going to finish one of my sweaters?

Blurry

So I have meant to post – and started posts – so many times I can’t even count. But the bottom line is the past month or so has basically been this:

Or this:


And then this happened:

And I have to be honest – baby smiles are even more amusing than yarn.

See what I mean?

But now that she’s starting to (knock on wood) sleep a little bit more I have big fiber-related plans. Lots of knitting content coming soon. Until then here’s another smile:

So fun