Plum Stitches

Cisco

Pattern:  Cisco, from Berroco
Yarn:  Colinette, Cadenza 100% merino wool, purchased at Downtown Yarns
Needles:  Size 8
Size:  fits 3 year old

Notes:  Originally I thought it would be too small for Phoebe's head (6 month old), so I bumped up the needle size.  At the end of the day it just made the hat too big - it fits a three year old much better.  I did follow Jared's omission of the ridge down the front, but I also did the whole hat in garter with i-cord ties.  This was a fun, quick knit and, best of all, seamless.  Gotta love that. 

One suggestion I would make is to mark the stitches for the shaping in the front of the hat.  I found it too confusing not to mark them and ended up frogging a few times.

 

exploring

On Wednesday I get a well-deserved (at least I think so) break from both kids.  Lately, I've been heading into the city, drinking coffee and reading, running errands and exploring, or maybe it's re-exploring the city. 

I broke down and bought Weekend Sewing (which looks great!) and then here's a glimpse of some yarn in the stash.

I went to the East Village to check out Jane's Exchange.  A maternity and children's consignment shop.  I was a little disappointed, or maybe I was just tired.  It was a bit chaotic in there and nothing caught me eye. 

Chloe has sprouted recently and all her pants are suddenly too short.  Some I can get away with rolling up to try and look fashionable, others just look like floods.  If the weather was a bit warmer they might look cropped, but right now they just look too short.  Anyway, I think I'll be sticking to the consignment shop Duck, Duck Goose that's just a few blocks away from us in Jersey City.

My parenting skills have been a little weak recently.  I think I'm just burned out.  Frankly, I'm jealous of my friends who have kids Chloe's age that are in school for six hours a day.  She'll be switching to the morning program next fall and will be in summer camp in the morning, so I'm hoping that will improve my attitude.  I'm feeling like the things that used to keep me sane staying at home (knitting, sewing, gardening, etc.) I just don't have the time for anymore.  As I told a friend of mine recently when I drop Chloe off at school all I want to do is come home and turn on the tv and watch Law & Order. 

I did manage to convince Jim to let me go to San Francisco to visit friends for count them, FIVE days!  I leave next week.  How lucky am I?  Believe it or not  the airfare was downright cheap.

I'm so excited.  I lived in San Franciso when I finished college for about 7 years.  Sometimes I miss living there so much it hurts.  I miss the smell of the ocean, the cloudless skies, the clean windows (because all the pollution gets sucked into the east bay), golden gate park, Cole Valley, the N-Judah, my friends and sometimes I even miss the fog.  But most of all I just miss the lifestyle - riding my bike and hiking and being able to ski, but not having to live day-to-day in the snow.  I would move back there in a heartbeat if we could, but for now it looks like we're on the east coast for awhile.  Hoping this trip re-energizes me.

playtime

I really shouldn't have encouraged Chloe to climb in to this thing with Phoebe, but I couldn't resist.  We're having an afternoon of doing nothing but hanging out at home for once.

And, how cute is this little hat...

Expensive Week

You know those week's that you have where everything seems to go wrong and all you get at the end is a bill that keeps piling up?  Well, we're having one of them. 

We ran into some car troubles at the end of last week, which resulted in our car being towed to the dealership.  In theory, this isn't such a big deal, but the dealership is 45 miles away.  Now normally, we can survive a few days without a car, but this weekend was an exception, so we had to spring for the rental. 

Sadie's breath has been stin-ky for quite awhile.  After a visit to the Vet a week or so ago, we resolved that issue yesterday.  Of course, that came a cost as well.  The pulled three of her teeth.  The poor pup has sweet smelling breath, but she's wimpering around.

And, hopefully the last thing to go wrong - the pump on our boiler died this morning.  The plumber is here replacing it.  Ouch.  When it rains it pours.

I love this gadget, really not necessary, but completely cool.  I'm a sucker for a cool gadget.  It's a steamer, blender, warmer and defroster for making baby food.  Yep, we're almost on to that stage.  It went so fast!  Anyone out there have/used one of these?

I'm dreaming again of a new career, just not, as usual, sure what that will be.  I went to a friend's bridal shower over the weekend.  A few of the women were in the process of going back to school for something completely different than their current careers; personal training and interior decorating.  I was very envious that they seemed to have a clear vision of what they wanted.- at least,i t seemed that way.

 

Photo Mojo

I haven't been taking that many pictures of Phoebe, or at least not like I did when Chloe was first born.  That's how it goes with number two right?  And if you have three kids, forget it, no pictures of that one

I kind of figured out the sleeves on The First Coat.  Well, actually I just decided to knit them as per the pattern, instead of in the round.  Wouldn't you know it, I'm almost finished and ran out of yarn! 

Over the weekend Chloe and I planted seeds - basil, black-eyed susan vine, cosmos and zinnia's.  I stumbled onto Urban Garden Hoe.  Check out how she uses the toilet paper rolls for starting seeds.  Worked like a charm for us.

My parents were here for the weekend and helped us out with a few projects in our backyard.  I never got around to cleaning everything up in the fall - with Phoebe and a c-section, it just wasn't going to happen.  Now it's like a new place out there.

Bulbs are coming up, but unfortunately the one's I bought on fire-sale at Target in the fall didn't get planted.  Maybe they'll still come up and just not flower.  I had visions of Alliums for this year back there, but I doubt they'll bloom now.

Also on the gardening front - I bought a book on tree trimming/pruning.  Who knew I would need this living in the city.  We trimmed all the trees, but I still think they need a few more snips.  I'm finding now that I've read (or really skimmed) the book all I'm noticing is trees in our neighborhood that have been neglected and never trimmed.  Funny how that works.  Here's a little video if I've sparked your interest.

Cupcake Love

What is it about a cupcake that makes me smile?  No doubt it's the taste, if they're good.  But also, I find them absolutely irresistible on children's clothing.




 

And then these just make me smile, what is it about those little faces all over the Haba Toys?

I love these little shoes - I waited and waited until they went on sale to buy them for Chloe.  I have a pair that we bought on our honeymoon, but mine are tomatoes, slightly different.  Now if they only made them with cupcakes!

challenged

First off, I opened the Thursday Styles section of the NY Times today and there's an article on toddler skis.   They reviewed four pairs of toddler skis, the ones we bought were included, but the reviewed liked the Apple Rise Kid-Ski Happy skis the best.

Now here's my challenge. 

I've managed to knit the First Coat in one piece (back, two fronts), but now I'm finding I need to figure out exactly how many stitches to pick up along the arms. 

Last night I started on one of the sleeves, but ended up with too few stitches.  My issue is that I used a different yarn than the pattern called for, so my sizing is slightly off.  I'm knitting from the first size direction, but  getting the second size, which is fine.

I'm also knitting them from the top down, so translating the instruction is somewhat confusing.  I need to read up on how to do this or maybe someone out there has a suggestion? Do I just count the rows and that's how I end up with the number of picked up stitches?  I'm sure I'm being dense here, but if anyone has a suggestion that would be great!

A new favorite toy at our house that's providing for hours of distraction from the TV!

snow day!

Chloe had a snow day today.  Hard to believe she's old enough to have one of these.  I remember having them when I was growing up and they were great!  Lots of fun. 

We (Chloe, Phoebe and I ) trekked over to the park this morning to try out her new skis, which she managed to stay on for a loop around the park.  Although, I did find it a bit cumbersome to walk over there carrying her skis, holding her hand and having Phoebe in a carrier. 

The big lore of a snow day in our neighborhood is that all of the Dad's come out of hiding with their shovels and build a snow 'hill' off the gazebo in the middle of the park.  Ah, city living.  It does the trick and the older kids love the hill.

Chloe took a pizza making class yesterday at Made with Love.  This balloon creation was a little treat included with the class.  Like the cookie/cake decorating class, she loved this one as well.  In fact she told me to 'go away' when I came into the kitchen with her.  I took the hint and hung out in the cafe for the remainder of the class.



We've finally moved Phoebe downstairs into the room with Chloe to sleep through the night.  Well, not exactly sleeping through the night, but that's where she's living now, at night, instead of our room.  Two nights so far, and we're sleeping much better.  Of course now I have to stumble down the stairs to feed her, but it's worth it.  I also dusted off all the sleep books that I used with Chloe - Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Child and Sleeping Through the Night.  These were the two that I found the most helpful, although I'm finding much of it more difficult to implement when you have an older child and when two are sharing a room.