High Fiber--Goodbye Baby Soren, Hello Oregon Highways!

New baby Soren's arrival put a crimp in my Tour de Fleece spinning. Here's where I was at the beginning of the TdF:

Here's where I was with my spinning when Soren was born:

This is what I have now. I'm nearly done with the first bump (of two) of Mountain Colors Targhee in "Crazy Woman." Not much spinning getting done, though.

I've spent a lot of time holding baby Soren, cooking and doing laundry, so the new parents can sleep. It has all been enjoyable!

Just to show what Soren has been up to, here is a recent photo of him at eight days old.

Is that cute, or what? He has already had several outings, including a visit to Chatterbox Coffee, where I got to hold him while everyone worked on a crossword puzzle.

I was hoping to have his Jasper Diamond Hoodie finished before leaving on Sunday, but as of the time I'm writing this, this is what I had done. Maybe I finished it. 

I won't have internet on Monday when this gets posted, so I had to write the blog early. I'll let you know next week whether I finished it before leaving town. There is mostly just the sewing up and the buttons to sew on.

The pattern is from Kristen Rengren's Vintage Baby Knits. The yarn is KP's Stroll Sport in Stream Heather. This is one of my favorite yarns for baby knitting. You never need to worry that it might end up in the dryer. It will be OK.

Now we're heading down the Oregon coast for a few days R&R before heading home. I'll read any comments when I have Internet.

What's on my needles: Dogwood Blossoms cardigan for me, Fiji Socks.

What's on my wheel: Still the Targhee from Mountain Colors.

What's on my iPad: Listening to KP Podcasts, Dean Koontz's Watchers from Audible

What's my lesson of the month: If you want to get a baby with lots of hair on his head, make him lots of warm hats before he's born!

What's in my wine glass: Still enjoying Trader Joe's "Two-buck Chuck" Charles Shaw, this time in Merlot. Soon we will be out of reach of Trader Joe's, so we're enjoying the best wine buy we know while we can.

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.

High Fiber--BS Arrives at Last!

You might as well skip this blog post if you don't like baby pictures!

BS finally arrived, and we learned that his name is Soren Hendrick Stuart. They wanted something Scandinavian to balance off the Scottish surname, I guess. Soren is the Swedish version of Thor, God of Thunder. This baby is mostly Norwegian/Finnish/Swedish, with a little Anglo-Saxon and some other stuff thrown in.

Here he is meeting his daddy for the first time. ("So this is the voice behind Goodnight Moon and all my favorite Dr. Seuss stories!")

Everyone is impressed with his fine head of hair. Baby Soren has a "faux hawk." You can see it better in this photo:

 

We thought he would be born on July 4th, which would have been a nice match to Zachary, our Easter baby and other grandson, but he actually arrived at 12:54 on July 5th, which was his great-grandfather's birthday. DH's father would have been thrilled to have the first grandchild who will carry on his Stuart name arrive on his birthday! (Those things mattered to him.) Here's DH with his second grandson to arrive within three months.

 

Our younger son, Soren's daddy, has been reading to him for nine months already. (If I had known Soren was trying to see the book, I would have held him up more.)

 

Soren got off to an exciting start, including some concerns that landed him in NICU for a short time. Soon he was back with the rest of his family, though, and ready to go home the next day. Life had become...well, ho hum!

 

More adventures of Soren...and maybe some knitting and spinning...in next week's blog. Stay tuned! For my quilting friends, I'll try to get a photo of Soren with his Dragon Quilt for next week's blog post.

What's on my needles: Finishing up the Jasper Diamond Hoodie. It should go fast, now that the excitement is over

What's on my wheel: Still the Mountain Colors Targhee in "Crazy Woman." It should go faster now, too.

What's on my iPad: Same as last week.

What's my app of the week: Handy Convert. We used it to calculate how much weight Soren had lost since birth. His birth weight was in lbs and oz and his weight in NICU was in Kilos. Turns out, he didn't lose too much.

What's in my wine glass:Panilonco Chardonnay Viognier 2011. Very nice! Whites are usually my second choice, but this one is like a very dry Riesling.

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.

High Fiber--Waiting for Stork. Again! Still! Part III

I can't believe this baby is nearly a week overdue! Well, surely something will happen this week.

I'm not sitting idle, though. I'm working on this little cardigan for BS while we're waiting for him to decide to appear. It's the Jasper Diamond Hoodie from Vintage Baby Knits by Kristen Rengren. (Links in my last week's post.) The yarn is Stroll Sport in Stream Heather. I have one sleeve about half done. It looks pretty much like the body. Same diamonds and seed st border.

Since I can't show you a photo of the new baby yet, here's a recent photo of Zachary enjoying his train quilt.

Daphne likes to get out her farm animals and play in the center of Zachary's quilt. She's getting to be a big girl. She can sit on a chair like a big person to eat her meals. 

Zachary will be needing the high chair. We're missing them both, but will soon have another grand baby to fuss over. Waiting patiently....

In the meantime, we're enjoying being in an area that has nice dog parks. This one is just a short drive away from the house.

Rocky and Sunny made some new friends, human and canine.

The Tour de France started Saturday, which means my spinning wheel has now seen some action with the Mountain Colors Targhee in "Crazy Woman." This was Saturday's spinning.

 

I have more than twice that much on the bobbin now, now that Sunday's spinning has been finished.

Surely BS will arrive before my next blog post. I will note it in a comment when that happens.

What's on my needles: Not counting the UFO's and hibernating projects, the above-mentioned Jasper Diamond Hoodie.

What's on my wheel: The Mountain colors Targhee in "Crazy Woman."
What's on my iPad: Listening to Knit Picks Podcast and the Padcast Podcast.
What's my app of the week: DogGoes Dog Parks App.
What's in my wine glass: Flying Heart Cellars red 2011, which we found at Trader Joe's. The "Fearless Flyer" describes it as "a big red blend (Merlot, P.S., Zin, Syrah, Cab Sauv & Cab Franc) with a not-so-common addition that may surprise you--Chardonnay." We found it a little sweet for our taste, probably because of the Chardonnay, but we found it quite nice served chilled.

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.

High Fiber—Waiting for Baby. Again. Still! Part II

Still no appearance from Baby Stuart, but we're getting knitting done for him.

I improvised this owl hat from the Knitculture Wise Old Owl Hat pattern and the rolled-brim hats I've been making. The yarn is Swish Worsted in "Allspice." This color and the "Gulfstream" I used for the blue hat are both on sale right now. This is the largest of the hat collection. I used a squash to block it, although I've used balloons in the past.

I finished the third soaker in the graduated set, which should get BS off to a good start. (He will be wearing cloth diapers, so soakers are handy and prevent diaper rash.)

The pattern is the Milo Soakers from Vintage Baby Knits by Kristen Rengren. The yarn is Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in "Bare."

With those done, I decided to CO the Jasper Diamond Hoodie from the same book.

The two fronts and the back are worked together, so I already have a great start. The yarn is Stroll Sport in Stream Heather.

We have been busy here. DDIL's aunt had a big birthday, and we went to the party Friday night. A friend made her this beautiful quilt:

The back is almost as beautiful:

I love pieced backs but seldom find myself making them.

Somehow, I finally managed to come up with the time to set up my wheel:

The Tour de Fleece starts on June 30th, and I want to get some spinning done for it, although I'm sure Baby Stuart will make his appearance in time to be a major distraction! My goal will be to spin all of this during the Tour de Fleece this year. I have 8 oz of fiber.

I've been wondering if the Tour de Fleece will have the same problem as the Ravelympics over on Ravelry. So far, there have been no complaints. (If you have been out of the loop and haven't heard about it, the USOC has demanded that Ravelry stop using the term "Ravelympics" for the event they hold in conjunction with the Olympic Games. The letter to Ravelry was rather insulting to knitters and crocheters and has caused quite a stir. The Ravelympics will go on, but likely with a different name. Our own Mitts of Steal group will have a team.

What's on my needles: Besides the Dogwood Blossoms Cardigan and Fiji Socks, the Jasper Diamond Hoodie described above.
What's on my iPad: Finished Celia's House from Audible. Trying to decide what to put on next. Still reading The League of the Scarlet Pimpernell on iBooks.
What's my app of the week: Redownloaded Zite. I've been reading about the USOC/Ravelry controversy.
What's in my wine glass: Trader Joe's own Charles Shaw (Two-Buck-Chuck) Merlot 2010. So nice to be in Trader Joe's country!

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.

High Fiber--Waiting for Stork...Again...Still!

Still no sign of BS, but some of his layette is completed:

The Baby Surprise Jacket (BSJ) is made from Swish DK in Grain Heather and Cinnamon (discontinued). The little hats are made from Stroll Sport in cork and Bare, Swish DK in Grain Heather and Swish Worsted in Hollyberry. The booties are in Stroll Sport in cork. The buttons on the BSJ are little duckies. I have since finished another baby hat in Swish Worsted Gulfstream:

It's a simple pattern. CO about 78 sts, join in the end, K until you have 5.5-6.5 sts, depending on size, do a round of K1, K2tog, then K2tog until you have about five sts left. Work I-cord for a few inches and tie in a knot, or just run the yarn through the sts on the needle and tie off. The brim rolls up, and you and roll it up or down to make it larger or smaller. I started the hat Friday evening when we were out for dinner, so I could participate in "Knit In Public" Day/Week.

Earlier in the week I finished the first of several soakers for new Baby Stuart, who will be using primarily cloth diapers, and the environmentally friendlier choice.

The pattern came from Vintage Baby Knits by Kristen Rengren. I'm using WotA in Bare and making one in each of the sizes in the book, plus one in newborn, which is easy to do by just casting on 4 fewer sts than for the 3-6 month size. It's a quick, easy knit. The soakers will need to be treated with lanolin to be leakproof. (Directions are in the book.) Ravelry also has patterns for soakers, and I saw one in Piecework Magazine, Nov/Dec 2008. 

The baby shower for young Master Stuart was held Saturday at the home of the other grandparents. He got lots of goodies. The knitted and quilted items from me were all in this diaper bag:

The diaper bag is made from the Tahki Stacy Charles Eco Tote pattern using Knit Picks WotA Bulky in Porcini and Navy, felted (fulled) and then lined with a coordinating dinosaur fabric that has pockets for smaller items.

My friend Joanie sent a lovely articulated teddy bear, and another friend, Ilene, an avid quilter, send this cute baby quilt:

A friend of the new Mommy-to-be knitted this cute sweater out of a color named "Pond Scum." The color is much lovelier than the name would indicate!

Now that the baby shower is over, I will be knitting up more of the soakers, maybe some baby socks and booties, and another hat. However, my spinning is calling to me, and since I have my wheel, Stanzi, along with me in the trailer, I plan on working on this lovely fiber:

It's the Mountain Colors' "Crazy Woman" Targhee. I've been looking forward to trying it out. 

What's on my needles: Newborn soaker from Vintage Baby Knits.
What's on my iPad: Celia's House by D. E. Stevenson from Audible and The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel from iBooks.
What's my app of the week: DogGoes Dog Parks, find a dog park near your location.
What's in my wine glass: Enjoying some Two-buck Chuck (Charles Shaw) Shiraz, normally Three-buck-Chuck outside of CA, but just $2.49 in Hillsboro, OR.

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.

High Fiber--Travel

We arrived in Beaverton, OR, yesterday. Lots of knitting time in the car!

The BSJ is turning out well. I haven't decided on the buttons yet. Will have to look around for some nice ones.

The hat I made last week was so much fun, I decided to make a couple more. Here are the two little ones, for newborn, and I've started a bigger one. The red one will have a button or something. The white one is Stroll Sport in Bare. The red one is Swish Worsted in Cranberry. The tan one is Swish worsted in Doe.

I love traveling by car! Lots of knitting time!

We stopped in some interesting places on our trip. One was a winery--a real one, that has its own vineyard. That was Idaho. In spite of a wicked headwind, we reached OR Saturday and stayed at a nice place campground. I don't want to know what the gas bill was! I think it cost us double because of the headwind!

It was exciting to see Mt. Hood, because it meant that we were almost there! We were overjoyed to arrive in Beaverton before BS put in his appearance.

In quilting news, Julie finished quilting my Sparkling Gemstones quilt just before we left. I will put on the binding when I get back home. She used a pantograph and wool batting. It will crinkle up nicely after I wash it in hot water.

Stay tuned! We may have a baby by next week. I'll add a comment if the stork arrives this week.

What's on my needles: BSJ, Dogwood Blossoms, Fiji socks, various baby projects.
What's on my iPad: We just finished listening to Dean Koontz's The Good Guy. Very entertaining.
What's my app of the week: Fireplace. It's so realistic, and it kept me feeling cozy in the trailer.
What's in my wine glass: Old Moon Zinfandel, 2011. Very nice!

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the MacBook. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.

High Fiber--Odds and Ends

We're still at home, since BS hasn't put in his appearance this early, but we'll be taking off soon, regardless.

One of my projects this week was to finish the baby hat DGD1 started when she was here. I used it to teach her how to knit in the round, and then I continued it, but it has been on the back burner, with all the other things going on.

I topped it off with a little I-cord tied in a knot. The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Sport in Bare. It's 75% superwash merino and 25% nylon, so it can be washed in the washing machine. Perfect for baby things.

I finally got back to my spinning and finished plying my Caramel Full Circle wool roving. It still needs to be washed, though. 

Spring has finally arrived at the higher altitudes, and friends are having parties on their decks. This party was at a neighbor's house. At this party, DH and I met a couple who own llamas. Guess what? They neither spin, nor do they reap the fiber from these lovely fiber beasties, but just give it away! Uncarded fleece, of course, but do I not own a hackle? Do I not own a drum carder? Yes, I do! We will be gone when the lovely creatures are shorn, but they will save me some. I can hardly wait! It will be a nice welcome-home present for moi!

On the baby front, little Zachary is gaining weight and doing well. Daphne is turning into a little mother, helping look after baby brother when he needs something.

Daphne is turning into a real little girl. She now (finally) has enough hair to have ponytails! Soon it will be time to teach her cat's cradle, and then knitting, spinning and quilting! What fun!

My next blog post will probably be from the road. I'll try to take lots of photos to share.

What's on my needles: BS's BSJ, Dogwood Blossoms Cardigan, Fiji socks. Some of these projects are already packed away for the trip.
What's at the quilter's: The Sparkling Gemstones quilt. It may be ready before we leave town!
What's on my iPad: Celia's House by D. E. Stevenson from Audible, and The Scarlet Pimpernell by Baroness Orczy from iBooks.
What's my app of the week: Trail Explorer, from the Sierra Club, in case we want to do some hiking during our trip.
What's in my wine glass: Roccalta Sangiovese 2010. Nice! (DH picks the wines. I have to say, I haven't had a bad one since about 1996.)

Note: This blog post was produced entirely on the iPad. (I used the Notes app to write it.) No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for or cleaned.