Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

(Insert standardized statement re: how long it has been since last post, how I've been so busy, where has time gone?, "bad blogger" guilt, blah, blah, blah... you know the drill)

Y'all didn't want to read all that crap anyway and I don't want to type it :)

So. What do you want to know about more? The little kiddo or the knitting?

Aw... that is so sweet, putting my baby ahead of the knitting... though you may simply surmise that there is not much knitting going on- not far from the truth- or you may REALLY want to see the knitting but you're sparing my feelings. For those of you not at all interested in seeing my little guy [heartless meanies ;) ] scroll down- I promise there is knitting.

Either way, allow me to present the obligatory baby photos:

Cute kid but how about that fabulous blanket he's lying on? Yes folks, that is the Albatross!

Does he look like he's appreciating the softness of his organic cotton hand knit blanket? Hmmmm...

Hooray! Mom's done making me model her knitting projects...

All joking aside, it is hard to believe Matthew is already two months old.

Yes. His name is Matthew... I just can't come up with a good nickname for him for the blog so I'll just use his name. And my daughter shall cease to be called Pooh Bear and will be referred to as Gwen from now on (she's a Gwendolyn... Pooh Bear arose from our calling her Gwennie and singing the Winnie the Pooh song to her as a wee baby: Gwennie the Pooh, Gwennie the Pooh, silly willy nilly little girl... yup. we were clearly sleep deprived!)

Anyway, Matthew is growing like a weed- Hubby and I are already placing bets on when Matthew will pass Gwen in terms of height and weight. At two months he already weighs what she weighed at six. Crazy. In his defense she is small for her age but still!

He is adorable and I love him like crazy even if I am counting the days until he sleeps through the night, I can wean him from breastfeeding, etc. It is so much harder to breast feed a second child- you just don't have the "free" time you had with the first to do nothing but sit on the couch and nurse- Gwen always chooses to do something potentially dangerous and/or extremely messy just as I have settled into nursing Matthew. *sigh* Hubby thinks I won't nurse Matt as long as I nursed Gwen because of the time/attention contraints. (I nursed Gwen at least part-time until she was eleven months old- then the double drain of being pregnant and nursing was just too my fo the ol' bod) I explained to him that mommy guilt requires me to nurse Matthew at least as long as I nursed Gwen.

And now Mommy guilt is making me share these:

Diva in training?

But Mom, I need the car to escape my paparazzi!

Helping?

Onward to the knitting!

I am knitting but progress is veeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyy slow. You just don't get much accomplished at a 2 row per day pace. I have a few things on the needles but I'll get to those in a day or two, right now I want to reveal the finished objects that have languished in my photo file, just waiting to be seen.

And yes, they are baby knits: two pairs of booties and two hats.

These are the Angora Booties from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

Obviously not in angora. I made these using Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in Baby Blue (#202). Here they are in action:

Unfortunately, this blue pair is now too small for not-so-little Matthew. So I made another, slightly larger pair but no picutres yet so someday you might see those. Maybe. I actually like the second pair better because the toes are not quite so square looking. This problem wouldn't show up so badly if you used the called for fuzzy angora but I can't quite justify a non-washable yarn for a baby knit so I guess I have to deal with the square toe, don't I?

Next up, Simple Hat #1 from Itty Bitty Hats.

This was knit from Rowan Hand Knit Cotton in Linen. As you can see, Matthew's not terribly itty bitty head has already outgrown this hat. Not a problem though. I actually knit this hat twice. The original one was bigger- too big for a newborn, so I knit the second one. I'll try to get a picture of the larger version. It really won't be very exciting or different. I knit it in a different yarn (DB Baby Cashmerino) but the same basic tan color.

Big sister Gwen thinks the hat is hers...

And then I have another project from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms which I have decided is my favorite knitting book (at least for now)- I've knit five projects from it so far (I think, maybe I missed one), I have one more on the needles, and I have the yarn to make three more- I'm obsessed, it seems. But I digress...

The Beanie Hat and Boy's Booties! Knit from Louisa Harding's Nautical Cotton which I really liked. The braided quality of the yarn gives the finished knits a nubby texture that adds to the visual interest of the piece. The colors are Chocolate and Sand. Love 'em! So cute. If I had more knitting time I'd make several more pairs in different color combinations but alas, minimal knitting time at present so I'm moving on to other things.

This hat and the booties were my hospital knitting projects. I finished the hat while in labor (about half of the hat)- my doctors and nurses thought I was nuts. I figured it was the last free time I would have for a while. Besides, I had an epidural... I was just waiting to get to the magic 10 cm mark. The booties I knit while recovering. Since I had a c-section I was there for a couple days.

You know, I really need to get Matthew to model more of his knits... I got so used to photographing things sans baby before he was born I didn't even think about taking a picture of him in the hat and booties. Duh.

Oh, that reminds me. Remember the bonnet I knit for Gwen that she refused to wear? Now that it is summer and really too warm for a wool blend hat? On her head, every time she sees it. If it is in her line of sight? Much pointing and "Ha! Ha! Ha!" (she has issues with final consonants- what do you want from a nineteen month old?). I'll have to snap a picture sometime... it requires stealth right now. If she sees you with the camera she comes running over and points at it, wanting to play with it. Consequently I have many pictures of her index finger or thumb. It's a cute thumb, but still...