A Picture!

This is the Jayne Hat I made for Owen a few weeks ago. I followed this pattern, mostly, though I was sorely tempted to give it a good editing. Not that there are any errors; it's just that it could be expressed quite completely in about one-fourth the space. Owen truly loves this hat.

Edited to add:
Those of you who were at Last Saturday Knitting and are dreading the photo that might appear: rest easy. None of them are flattering enough to most of us to print. I'll try again another day.

My Amazing Son

Owen's had an urge to try his hand at making sushi for a while now. We finally bought the necessary stuff and set him to it.





And the results?


Yum!

I'm impressed!

Valentine

My son Owen was born at 4:44 a.m. February 14, 1995.

He weighed 9 pounds, 15 ounces and was 23.5 inches long. My labor was 43 hours long, which included 4 hours of pushing. You moms out there know what that's about.

And today we launch into a new era: The Teen Years! We're starting to see lots of fun changes (that's not sarcasm, actually). He's interested in Bigger Issues now and asking Bigger Questions. He can follow complex discussions and contribute meaningfully. He's learning about lots of stuff that I don't know (of course, I still know lots of stuff that he doesn't, so it evens out). He's growing into Geekdom with pride.

He's just about eyeball to eyeball with me now, when we're both in bare feet. I'm about 5' 8". He has grown at least 2 inches in the last month or so: not an exaggeration! I predict he will be about 6' 4" or more by the time he's done. He already wears men size 12 shoes. I don't even want to think about what his final shoe size will be!



Happy Birthday Owen!

All The News That Fits in One Post?

The kids went back to their respective schools this week. The Little Emperor went on Tuesday and Owen on Wednesday. While I enjoyed the time that this gave me, I am definitely looking forward to the coming week, which will be a full week of normal length school days.

Yesterday I spent a little time planning my fall projects. I definitely want to finish up some patterns I started last year (including the Kelebek Vest and Morgan Cardigan) and make them available. To that end, I really need to follow through on this website stuff. Then I have knitting ideas to work on and of course, WIPs to finish.

Oh yeah, and I need to spend some time purging our house of stuff we no longer need so that we can live like quasi-normal folks again. I think I can even get the kids in on the plan, because they like the idea of making money at a yard sale and they are both tired of the stress that living in chaos brings to our lives.

Last night I plied some more of the singles from the merino-romney cross.

I'd been noticing that my plied yarns didn't look as nice as others I see on the internet, and decided to ply a bit more aggressively. I'm pleased with the difference this makes and I got a nice balanced skein out of it.


I'm planning to turn most of what's left from that batch (a very large bag full) into three ply yarn, but I have enough done as two-ply to use in a smaller project or two.

Wisconsin Sheep and Wool
I took Owen along and we met up with Kathy and Sue.

I think I'm trying to express some maternal admonition through a gritted-teeth smile here. What do you think?

Kathy and Sue presented me with a wooden swift as a thank you from my fellow campers for organizing the Alternative Knitting Camp last month. What sweeties! My other swift is a metal and plastic one I've had since about 1992. It doesn't hold the larger skeins I'd like to wind on my niddy noddy, and it's a little temperamental. This was so kind of them! Going camping with adults is such a treat for me in and of itself! (But I'll keep the swift and use it with great joy.)
(edited to include Kathy's correction.)


Sue, sorry this one isn't great. But I think it's pretty good.


Kathy, I had a choice between this one or the Dueling Cameras shot. Even though your eyes are closed, you have such a serene smile on your face. Like you're meditating on the perfect piece of pie.

I haven't photographed my loot yet, but I did not come away empty-handed. Owen is a great enabler, even with fiber stuff, and I did buy several items I would not have, had he not been in tow.
I bought:

two bobbins for my wheel, an important purchase.

1 pound bag of 80% natural black Shetland and 20% dark brown alpaca roving. MMMM. I dove right into that once I got home.

Some merino roving to blend with some yak down I bought in NH last summer.

Some other merino roving because Owen liked the color.

Four other balls of generic wool roving, because Owen liked the colors.

That's all folks!

Owen's Day Off

Middle school got today off, so Owen and I got to have fun without The Little Emperor in tow. We went on our never-ending quest for a Wii, striking out at 5 stores, which was completely predictable. Had a nice lunch and then off to Olbrich Gardens to see the glass art in the conservatory.

As we entered the hot steamy conservatory, I realized that I was going to have a fog problem with my camera, and I did. Eventually, the camera warmed up enough for me to get some pictures, but I had to keep wiping the lens and the viewfinder.

Here's Owen standing under a yellow light.

He'll be 12 on Valentine's Day and he's turning into such a nice, reasonable young man, except where his little brother is concerned.

A pitcher plant, looking oh so inviting...


Some of the glass fish...



Two of the resident birds



And of course, some of the tropical plants...




All in all, a nice mother-son outing.