Our Weekend

Hayden had an exciting weekend. His Grandpa, Patrick's dad Len, flew down to visit on Friday and Saturday. Hayden wasn't as nearly as shy with him as he tends to be with other people.

On Saturday, we went to Dauset Trails Nature Center. Hayden had a blast. We had never been there before and didn't realize how close it is to home. I foresee many more trips in the future. They have feed, either dog food or corn, at many of the exhibits. It's in gumball machines and you pay a quarter to get a handful of feed. Hayden loved feeding the animals, especially the ducks, geese and turtles.

We did have one small tragedy though. Hayden was trying to squeeze through the railing on the bridge and I grabbed his arm to pull him back. When I did this, it caused his beloved pap (pacifier) and keeper to fall into the pond. Of course, we have plenty of back-up paps but no back-up keepers. The only ones that we can keep attached are the ones from Babys-r-us so it's not simple to run out and get one. I came home and made a length of I-cord to attach it to. I don't have any diaper pins though and he pulls hard enough on the safety pin that it pops open, so this has not been a great solution.

Instead of knitting the instant gratification dish cloth on Thursday, I spend most the day plotting out dyeing some sock yarn. I ordered some Knitpicks Bare some time ago with the intention of dyeing it match my teal green scrubs. Shortly after that, I found Regia Crazy in the colors that I wanted so I ordered that instead. Then I decided that I would dye it match my orange scrubs. Of couse, after that I found some Opal Neon that's the perfect colors to match that so I ordered it instead. Now I have no idea what colors I want to dye which is why I abandoned the idea of dyeing for now.

Thursday afternoon I started on Hayden's Crayons and Chalkboard sweater vest. I had been putting it off because, honestly. the thought of Fair Isle terrified me. However, I have found it to be incredibly simple so far. Of course the thought of steeking is still terrifying but I'm not to that point yet so all is well. I am almost to the armholes.

It almost looks like a hat in the photo but it's to gauge. It's just 192 stitches packed onto a 16" circ! I'm using a KP US#3 which is sooooo sharp. I had to borrow a thimble from my mom because I tend to push on the tip of the left needle and it was wearing my finger tip out.

The best thing about this Fair Isle is that it has forced me to knit Continental, which I knew how to do but I throw so fast I felt like Continental was slowing me down. Now that I've had to do it, I've gotten much faster with it and I think I will likely switch to it permanently.

Friday, my Opal Neon arrived from The Loopy Ewe . This is the first time I've ordered from Sheri and her service is great! I ordered late Wednesday afternoon and my yarn arrived on Friday. You just can't beat that. Plus, she includes all these great gifts and samples. She sent a sample of Regia Bamboo and I think that will probably be my next purchase!

I immediately cast on Cookie A.'s Pomatomus Socks from Knitty, which is a great pattern for variegated yarn.

After taking these photos, I declared that I must have a new camera. I have two digital cameras. One usually takes good pics but the flash doesn't always work so photos come out dark and underexposed. Plus, Hayden dropped it and now you have to hold the battery compartment closed while you use it. The other camera doesn't have zoom and the flash overexposes everything. So I'm off to buy a new one today. Look for better pics coming soon!