I’ve been sick for 3 weeks now.  It’s probably strep throat.  I have some cute Noro baby pants to show off but my throat hurts too much to take a picture.  Yeah, I’m a little pathetic but you probably would be too if you’ve been sick for 3 weeks.

Well folks, I’ve started working full time and I’m almost at the end of week 2.  It’s really hard.  After 8 months of not working and 4 months of working part time, it’s been a difficult adjustment and I miss my little sesame  a ton.  I’m tired and cranky and sesame and I have been sick for almost a week now and it sucks to go to work and not stay home and take care of my little one.  I do like my job, though.

This is the first week of summer camp and so far I’ve had to send home a violent kid, send home a sick kid, deal with some crazy parents, talk to 2 kids who pushed each other into the creek, spend 30 minutes coaxing a sad kid out from under a bench, one of my instructors missed a plane connection and couldn’t make it to the very 1st day of camp, I had a volunteer assistant counselor be a no-show on the first day and a different instructor had to leave at noon today so I needed to fill in.  Being a camp director is hard!  Did I just say that I liked my job?! I’ve also gotten tons of hugs, been gifted several god’s eyes (I mean owl’s eyes), witnessed kids getting excited to learn about the life cycle of salmon, had parents say they wished they’d signed their kid up for more than one week because they like it so much, and I’ve learned a ton of new silly songs from my awesome staff.

I embroidered a beautiful design for Sairshe’s birthday and I really want to show it to you.  I showed you this picture of a section of it earlier.  I want to make a pillowcase out of it.  I bought a great organic cotton pillow just the right size from this etsy seller and Sairshe snuggled on the floor with it when I took it out of the box.  I went to Bolt and bought some great Amy Butler fabric that coordinates with the embroidery.  And then . . . Sairshe lost my embroidery.  She carried it around and I last remember seeing in on the floor near Mike’s guitar case but that was a few weeks ago and I haven’t seen it since!  It has to be somewhere and I hope I find it soon.  Darn baby!

I’ve finally written up a pattern for my eyelet skirty (or is it skirtie?) that I’ve been showing you lately. It’s more of a guide than a pattern but it’s free and I don’t think any of you will have any trouble with it. Happy knitting!

The pattern is below but I’ve also made a pdf that you can download and print. You can get that right here!

I knit this as an addition to a knit soaker (diaper cover) but have included a description of how to adapt it to be just a skirt for your little one.

To knit the skirt attached to a diaper cover:

1. First knit the soaker of your choice. I used the curly purly soaker pattern.

2. Using a circular needle the size that you used for the body of the soaker, pick up a row of stitches just below the ribbing, or about 2 inches below the top of the soaker. (Note: This is much easier if you purl the row after the ribbing when you’re knitting the soaker. Then use the purl bumps as your guide when picking up the stitches.)

3. Row 1: Join to knit in the round and *K1, yo* around. This doubles the number of stitches on your needle and adds fullness to your skirt.

4. Knit for 5 rounds. Next round (eyelet round): *K2tog, yo* around.

5. Repeat these 6 rounds until your skirt measures approximately ½ the desired length.

6. Change to needles one size larger than those you’ve been using. This will add a little more fullness to the bottom portion of the skirt. Continue in pattern until skirt is almost the desired length. End with eyelet round.

7. Knit around

*K2tog, yo* around

Repeat these 2 rounds one more time. (Ending with eyelet rounds close together prevents the hem from rolling)

Bind off.

Note: If desired, knit stripes of a different color as often as you’d like. Also, the frequency of the eyelet row is not essential.

To knit the skirt alone:

1. Knit a gauge swatch with your desired yarn and determine how many stitches per inch you have.

2. Measure around your baby’s waist. Multiply your stitches per inch by the number of inches your baby’s waist measures. Round this number to the nearest multiple of 4. This is the number of stitches you will cast on.

3. Using a needle sized 1-2 sizes smaller than you used on your swatch, cast on desired number of stitches and *K2, P2* around for approximately 2 inches.

4. Switch to main needles and knit skirt, beginning with the K1, yo round in #3 in the above directions.

It’s windy and cold and the weather doesn’t seem like it’ll be summer-like anytime soon. Despite that, I picked a whole lot of strawberries from the plants in my front yard today and that feels like a summer activity to me!

Sesame won’t eat strawberries if I offer them to her at mealtimes while she’s in her high chair, but when she could pick them herself, she tried to eat them all! Despite her face in the last picture, she really liked them and amazingly most of the mess managed to stay off of her clothes.

I made fabulous strawberry shortcakes for dessert tonight. I had some creme fraiche in the fridge so I mixed some brown sugar with it and used that instead of whipped cream. Add some fresh-from-the-oven biscuits and fresh-from-the-garden berries and it was a winner!

I’ve been knitting this mess for a while and I finally have all the pieces done. After knitting this a while back, I didn’t think I’d do it again but, well, a knitted toy is hard to resist. All these pieces will be this cute little crab (Ravelry)! That’s the body, 8 legs, 2 claws and 2 eye stalks that you’re looking at. It’s for baby Lucas, whose mother is Cindy, one of my best friends but they live all the way in El Salvador so I don’t see her often enough. I hope the little cutie likes it.

The pattern isn’t written too well and is quite fiddly, for lack of a better word, but I’ll share more about that later. Speaking of patterns, I’m going to write up my loose pattern for the soaker skirt since several have asked for it. Look for that soon! In other housekeeping news, I’m hoping to add some stuff to my shop soon. With all the birthday madness, and my job starting full time next week (eek!) I have been neglecting it a little.

My little baby is 1! I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since she was born! This has been the most amazing year and little sesame just keeps getting more and more fun!

For the birthday extravaganza Mike and I had 6 out of town relatives come to visit. It was a little crazy but they did not all stay with us so it was manageable. Sesame was a trooper and didn’t even seem to get too overwhelmed!

Here are some pictures.

This is part of her birthday gift. I embroidered a really cool design that I’ll show you more of when it’s washed and ironed. It’s going to be a pillow for her since she has developed a sudden love of carrying pillows around.

This is her cupcake cake! I made 4 dozen cupcakes and made this cute little picnic scene. My mom and Mike made the fondant blanket and I did all the grass piping. My hand got really tired but the effect was worth it. I think they’re the cutest cupcakes I’ve ever made!
The birthday girl modeling her skirt. She had so much fun at her party! I’m so happy that we avoided the overwhelmed, screaming baby syndrome that seems to happen rather frequently at 1st birthday parties.

Proof of all the out-of-towners. This is my stepmom, dad, brother, Mike, me, uncle, cousin and mom. Whew! That’s a lot of visitors for 1 short weekend!

This is how we all felt after the party. I think that finally today I am caught up on sleep. I haven’t knitted in over a week and I have a lot to catch up on but for now, I’m just happy and thankful for a truly blessed year with my little one.

It has been so hot lately! It’s been in the 90s and for a while there I thought I was going to melt. It’s only May and it’s been gray and rainy for so long that I am really not adjusted to the sunshine!

My knitting has taken a bit of a back seat since it’s been so warm but I’ve been doing some other crafting (not just for my shop) and I do have some knitting to show.

I’m still working on Mike’s sweater. It’s coming along but I’m not in a big hurry to finish it since this is the wrong season for wearing a wool sweater. It’s been in the planning stages for so long (a year!) that I just want to get it done so I’ll keep at it.

I’m knitting Avast from Knitty but neither Mike nor I liked the cable at the bottom so he picked this one out instead. Well, if I’m being honest, this was his second choice but I like it better than his first choice and since I’m the one who has to knit it, well, you know the story.

I have been sewing too! I’m really proud of this project.

Now that sesame is getting bigger, I can no longer fit all her shoes, socks, hats, pants and pajamas all in one dresser drawer! Her clothes are getting bigger right along with her. Shocking, I know. So I’ve had to do some rearranging and her room needs more storage space. I have this hanging organizer for her diapers and I really like it so I set out to recreate it in way cooler fabrics.

It was a lot of work to figure it out but It turned out great! I took a lot of notes and pictures along the way so I’m hoping to write up a tutorial for it. Let me know if you’d be interested and I’ll do it sooner rather than later.

Also on the sesame front, I made her the cutest little skirtie! It’s a wool diaper cover with a ruffly skirt knitted onto it.

The soaker pattern I used was the curly purly pattern. After it was done, I picked up a row of stitches about 2 inches below the top and knitted the skirt part.

The pink yarn is Lambs Pride Worsted and the grey is a combination of Eco Wool left over from my Hemlock Ring Blanket and some grey Wool of the Andes that I had laying around.

This is for Brooke, Nate and little Adele. In rememberence of the beautiful hour they spent with their son, Phyneas.

Many tears and prayers for them went into the knitting of this blanket and I hope it brings them some comfort when sadness comes in it’s sudden waves. While knitting it, I also thought of the bible verse “for I was knit together in my mother’s womb” and how true that is. Little Fyn was knit together, perfect as far as anyone could see, just as this blanket seems perfect. There are some mistakes in the blanket, but who will look for them? The error that occurred in the knitting together of Fyn didn’t detract from his perfect little face, his perfect little soul, the perfect hour spent in the arms of his parents.

The pattern is, of course, the popular Hemlock Ring Blanket knit with the lovely Cascade Eco Wool. I did 2 more repeats of the feather and fan pattern than the original pattern and used almost 2 skeins.

I think of the flower in the middle as a symbol of life and hope, the fans radiating outward as waves of sadness and of joy- coming at different times, but merging together into one complex emotion.

Nate wrote a beautiful poem a few hours after Fyn left the world. They want the world to know that he was loved so I don’t think they’d mind if I posted some of it here.

i would have torn down mountains for just that hour,
but You gave it, You just gave it,
the most beautiful gift,
the last thing i wanted,
so much i was afraid to ask.
but You knew.
oh my God, You knew!
that fear i had,
prowling about my heart,
terrifying in its strength and closeness;
that beast you slayed for me
when they placed him in my wife’s loving arms
to die so near the hearts of us
who loved him most and knew him best,
save only You.

A sunshiney weekend is happy.

So are buttons- lots and lots of buttons. I bought these from an etsy seller and got them in the mail yesterday. Who knew buttons would make me so happy? Why does the simple act of sorting little buttons make me so happy? I loved sorting them and happy to find another use for my cute deviled egg tray. It makes a fabulous button tray! They can’t stay there forever but for now they make a nice centerpiece on the table. Or they would if there weren’t so much other stuff on the table right now. Look for them soon on my coin purses in my etsy shop!

Another happy thing on my dining room table are my little seedlings! This cute little guy (girl?) is a baby cucumber. I also have tomatoes and basil sprouting. I can’t wait to get my garden planted! It hailed last weekend, though, so it’ll take some time for the ground to warm up. In the meantime, they’re happy on the table.

My next happy thing to share is also a little sad. Sesame stated walking!! She’s not too proficient yet but she definitely prefers it to crawling. She’s not even 11 months old and I’m a little sad that she’s growing up so fast. She seems so big (yet tiny at the same time!) when she’s walking across the room.

I’m also really happy that I’m done knitting my Hemlock Ring Blanket. I thought I was going to die of boredom while I was binding off but I survived. It just needs a little embellishing and then I can give it away. It’s gorgeous but I’ll be glad to be finished with it.

I was on the front page of Etsy a week ago! I missed seeing it but luckily someone put up a screen capture on Flickr so I was able to see it. There’s my coffee sleeve in the top right corner! It’s like I’m famous. Or was for an hour or so.

That’s it for now. I hope you all have lots of happy things too!

I love the spring!

We had a fabulous weekend full of sunshine and fresh air. Also a million weeds that needed pulling but it was really nice to get my hands in the dirt and get something done.

The Hemlock Ring Blanket is coming along nicely, no thanks to a big mistake and the ripping back of 9, yes 9, rows. I was quite cranky for a good hour following that event but I’m over it and I’m almost back to where I was pre-ripping. It still looks like a ball of mush in a photo. I also started a sweater for Mike but the stockinette sleeve of a man’s sweater is pretty boring in a picture too. I’ll show it off when it gets a little more interesting.

Woolies tagged me for a meme. I don’t do these very often but here goes:

4 JOBS
Nature Day Camp Director (super fun!!), Guide Dog trainer in training (the total opposite of fun), Biology Lab Instructor,Naturalist for an outdoor school
FAVORITE MOVIES …
I’m not really a movie person and I rarely watch a movie more than once, even if I really like it. I don’t think I have 4 favorites.
4 PLACES I’VE BEEN..
El Salvador, Japan, Europe (I know it’s not really one place), Guatemala
4 PLACES I’VE LIVED…
Portland, Placerville, CA, Napa, CA and Sevilla, Spain
4 FAVORITE TELEVISION SHOWS…
Six Feet Under, House, Project Runway, The Gilmore Girls
4 FAVORITE RADIO PROGRAMS …
I’m an NPR junkie and that’s pretty much all I listen to. I love This American Life and Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me the most although you can’t go wrong with Morning Edition or All Things Considered. Oh, and I love Science Friday on Talk of the Nation too. That’s 5, isn’t it? I’m not good at staying in the lines.
4 FAVORITE FOODS…
Apple pie but only if it’s homemade, curry with rice, veggies and tofu, pesto made with basil from my garden and homemade ice cream. Of course, not all at once. Well, actually, apple pie ice cream is pretty darn good.
4PLACES I’D RATHER BE….
I’m really happy where I am, physically and emotionally. I really wouldn’t rather be anywhere else. Of course, a vacation would always be welcome but I’m not one to just sit on a beach somewhere.

For making it this far, I’ll leave you with a picture of my succulant that is finally flowering after 2 years. It makes me happy.

I’ve had a rough few weeks. Some good things happened- we’ve had some beautiful sunny days, Mike had a birthday, Sesame is saying mama and dada a lot more, Mike’s mom and brother came to visit and we all had a good time despite some rain and Voodoo selling out of all their donuts.

On March 15, my friends Brooke and Nate celebrated the birth of their baby boy, Fyn, but they only spent one precious hour with him before he died. His service was last weekend and it was horrible and beautiful. Gut wrenchingly sad but full of joy and hope as well. I’m really sad for them and I’ve cried a lot and tried to wrap my head around the horrible details but I really can’t. The only thing left to do is to knit something.

Before my baby was born, I had a miscarriage that left me really sad. Afterwards, I really wanted to knit something for a baby even though I didn’t have one of my own. I decided to knit the frost flowers and leaves shawl, but with dk yarn and make it a blanket. It would be about the size of a baby blanket but I could use it too. Knitting it helped me look to the future when I would have a baby and I took it to the hospital when sesame was born and I love snuggling us up in it when I’m nursing her.

Because of that experience, I want to knit Nate and Brooke, and their daughter, Adele, a blanket. I don’t want it to take forever (like my FF&L seemed to) so I’m knitting the Hemlock Ring Blanket (ravelry). I hope that it brings them some comfort and knitting it helps me feel like I’m doing something, even though there’s nothing really to do other than be sad.