novamade

a tale of sweater woe

While going through my the kids old clothes to store stuff away, I came across a sweater that I knit last year (one that I actually finished!).  I never blogged about it because, the whole episode gave me a sad.  So I went digging through my digital files to find this FO shoot. Again, these pictures, they're  so 2012 (they were taken a little over a year ago, actually).

 

So Mister asked me to make him a sweater of his very own, he wanted it to be green.  He picked out the yarn at Maryland Sheep and Wool (okay, the last one I went to was 2012, so it's been a while).  When he picked the yarn out, I told him, "you are going to think that's itchy when I knit that up, let me find you something else."  But no, someone wanted to be independent, and I am all about raising autonomous and self-reliant kids, so fine. I bought the yarn, I think I even talked about that somewhere, actually...here or flickr.  In any case, I found a great pattern, he said he liked it.  I knit it, and then he tried it on, did a little modeling for the blog...and then said he was taking it off and wouldn't wear it again.  

 

Say what?  Yeah,  it was "itchy," and "tight," and "there's no buttons."  What?! Okay, to be fair, the kid has really bad eczema and is pretty sensitive with the things he wears, but seriously?  I didn't want to be that mom.  So I just said fine, washed the sweater and tucked it away.  I guess I was hoping he would change his mind about it; no.  So I have this cute sweater which I am adding to my gift pile, I guess.  It makes me sad, because my kid looked really cute in this thing.  The neck did stand up a little; but, the yarn is pretty stiff, I think the yarn will relax...with some wear, cleary by someone that is not my kid.

 

pattern :: Soledad

pattern by ::  Annika Barranti

yarn :: Cestari, DK, in Green Heather (2 skeins)

needles :: US5

size ::  4T

 

The pattern was well-written and easy to follow.  The sweet  additions of the cables and their placement add up to all around excellence or rather, magnificence in my book.  If either of my kids would wear a more fitted pullover sweater, I would totally knit this again.  But since they won't and they are bigger, I guess I will have to knit something else.

won't you be my neighbor?

Inside the body of this five year old beats the heart of an eighty year old man.  For all his love of graphic t-shirts with witty phrases, when it comes down to it, Little Sir actually prefers wearing plaid button-up shirts, newsboy hats, ties and, curiously, suspenders (though he hasn't actually worn suspenders yet, though he has expressed not just a little fascination with them lately--honestly, I have no idea).  I am pleased the warmer weather will bring shorts, graphic tees and sandal wear that will make my child appear somewhat normal again (at least until fall rolls around).

After he decided that I should knit him a sweater for his birthday (which yes, was last month for those keeping score), he gave me his criteria.  I was dubious about whether a new handknit sweater would see any love after the first two hours after it was made.  The last sweater I made him went from winner to loser in a day with no explanation.  After I shared this observation with Little Sir, he shared an observation with me: "well, if you asked me what kind of sweater I wanted, I would have told you."  Oh. Or, "oh, snap," as it's said these days.

So I asked him what he wanted, and this is what he told me, as we walked around Webs looking for yarn, much to the delight of Webs staff and other shoppers (my observations/notes in ellipses or brackets--I felt I needed to explain that to you for some reason):

"I want a plain sweater.  I don't want any patterns all over it, no cables or any  curvy things [same thing], just a plain sweater--a smooth one, no bumps [no garter stitch]."

"And I want a collar that opens a little bit so my shirt collars can stick out [v-neck].  But I don't like big collars on sweaters" (the last sweater had a big shawl collar, this is news I can use). 

"Maybe you could make the neck open enough so I can wear a tie or a bow-tie" (I have no idea where this bow-tie thing has come from, if you figure it out, clue me in, please).

"Actually, I am not a fan of sweaters that you pull over your head, I want one that buttons up in front.  So a cardigan.  A cardigan with big buttons (we went with button #1, or the one on the left, if you are curious--it seemed most fitting, and well, it got the most votes).  And long sleeves.  It should have long sleeves" (which is fair considering he has monkey arms and nothing long-sleeved covers his wrists appropriately at the moment).  "I bet you could make that in, like, twenty hours" [twenty days, if we are being reasonable].

"If you make it like I'm telling you, I would love it."

 
With such a vote of confidence, and such specificity in request, I (obviously) had to give it a try.  Not wanting to reinvent the wheel (or make up a pattern, because I am lazy like that) I looked at what I already had.  Fortunately, I have a lot of resources...like patterns from 1977 that I paid $1 for at a library book sale (which I am addicted to--library books sales, not patterns from the 1970s).  When I bought this pattern book/pamphlet a few years ago, I had no idea that I would have a small child who would want to emulate Mr. Rogers in fashion.  Funny how things work out.

 
I modified this pattern quite a bit.  I changed needle sizes, I knit the sleeves in the round (which, honestly, why would you knit them flat if you are bothering to go from the top down, or bottom up for that matter?  Reducing the amount of purling necessary to produce a sweater full of win?  Oh, yes, please.), and I used different yarn (because wool, I loves it).  I had to do math (which, always makes my head hurts, it's true) to figure out the stitch counts.  I based all of this on my gauge swatch (which means I actually did one, I know, shocking, right?), which took Little Sir's measurements into consideration.  I have to be honest here, I was totally shocked when this sweater came out exactly as I wanted it to.  Note to future (normal) lazy self: the time, energy and effort to do a gauge swatch and taking good measurements, totally worth it (this is nothing new, but you know, worth mentioning).

And while I had my doubts about the facings that  needed to be sewn together and attached to the back to form the v-neck collar (which can, indeed, accommodate shirt collars, ties and bow-ties), it looks smashing (she said humbly).  And yes, he does love it.  He wore it all weekend and asked to wear it to school today.  High praise, indeed.

I used Cascade 220, one of the Heathers colorways.  Little Sir picked it out, you may not be able to tell, but the blue is heathered with a bright green.  Little Sir liked this particular colorway because he felt that this blue had a "good amount of purple in it."  Okay.  Whatever.

Quirks.  He has them.

five cheers of celebration

 
Hip hip hooray! x 5.  We are really into the hip hips in our household, but I am not typing that out five times.  I am too lazy, and some of you would likely find it obnoxious. 
I have had a good deal to write about, I just haven't done it--that behavior is going to stop immediately.  In the mean time, let me tell you about something big in the novamade household.  Today is my five year anniversary of motherhood!  Or, if you'd rather (and probably more appropriate, Little Sir is five today!  As you can imagine he is very excited about it.  So was his brother.

 
Until he learned that birthdays are more fun when they are your own. 
There has been, as is our way, much celebration over the last week.  But the celebration is extending into Saturday because that's when we will celebrate with friends while bowling (I don't understand this, to be honest, but I guess kids really like the whole bowling thing).  Also, the fact that I have class tonight has pushed cake consumption (and, well, cake baking) to tomorrow (which it's nothing exciting, it's the same cake I always make for birthdays because it's a favorite--the strawberry shortcake one from the Barefoot Contessa)--but who is going to complain about an additional two days of celebration and presents?  Certainly none of my offspring. 
Maybe you are wondering what any of this has to do with crafting.  Well, let me tell you.  See, I do the, "hey, it's a gift-giving occasion, I think I will make you something" thing for my kids.  And I was thinking of something simple like, I don't know, a pillow (I said simple, not fabulous).  On a return trip home from Vermont, we were passing right by Webs, so obviously we had to stop there. 
Let's be honest here, I don't need more yarn.  I don't need anything really (but I am rather want-y over quite a bit these days, if we are being honest).  But it never hurts to look, right?  Little Sir decided to go in with me.  Whilst there, he decided that I really needed to knit him a sweater for his birthday.  I thought it was rather generous of him to give me two weeks notice.  What did I get from Webs?  Nothing.  What did Little Sir get from Webs?  A sweater's worth of yarn. 
The sweater is not done (I know, you are probably as surprised as, well, no one).  I am hoping to finish it this weekend.  It's certainly still cold enough for wool-wear here in New England, after all. 

"the children need hats"

 
Little Sir has taken to referring to himself and his brother as, "the children."  I am not sure why.  While it sounds cute in theory, waking up to a child yelling, "the children are awake" or "the children are hungry!" a few mornings in a row has killed any sort fondness I had for the phrase when it first became part of the vernacular of our house.  The one thing I have learned of late, my "the children" are very needy.  But what they were most in need of, apparently, were hats.

 
Little Sir mentioned on several occasions that he "could really use a a hat, maybe one that was handknit."  He further piqued my interest by appealing to the fiber-crafter in me by saying that "it would be nice if it was made from handspun yarn, too." So obviously, he was going to get what he wanted, at least in this regard . 
I let him go through all of my handspun and he picked out his favorite.  I really nice blue-sy superwash merino dyed by Traveling Rhinos in the Baron colorway that I spun up ages ago (you remember back when I decided to spin a rainbow ? I know it was a really long time ago).  I did want to start doing something with my handspun, afterall, so this worked out well. 

 
And you can't knit a hat for one child and not the other, well, you could, I guess, but that would be mean.  So I picked some of the Ashland Bay merino (in English Garden) that I spun to knit a hat for Little Mister.

 
While he normally eschews anything that covers his head, Little Mister has taken a shine (I have no idea where this phrase come from, but I think it's funny) to wearing this hat.  He loves it.  Which I, of course, think is awesome.

 
The best thing about these hats are the fact that I just cast on and knit.  Okay, reverse that, I took the measurements for the circumference of their heads (they're both huge) and did a small swatch (I know, it was an OMG moment for me, too).  I ripped out the swatch (I wanted to make sure I had enough yarn--I did), I did a little bit of math and cast on and knit.  Knitting on the fly.  I know, it's just a hat (or two, actually), but it was the first time I had this thought of "pattern?  I don't need no stinkin' pattern," and was, well, right!  Yes, I do feel terribly clever.

 
So now "the children"  have hats. Knit with handspun, no less.

sophisticated gentlemen

 
Cute sweater patterns for babies are always the rage in the knitting world, aren't they?  I love a good sweater pattern, and I like a cute baby knit; but, I am going to be honest here, I don't like knitting sweaters for babies.  I have done it a few times, and while there is a certain amount of instant gratification that comes with being able to say "I finished a sweater!" Lilliputian size aside, I just don't find the activity overly productive.

  
Babies do not know the intrinsic value of a handknit sweater made with good quality fibers.  They just don't.  I would like to think my kids are pretty smart, but until Little Sir could actually say "merino" I didn't feel overly compelled to make him anything with said fiber.  And I don't like the idea of knitting baby things with synthetics because they don't really breathe well.  An overheated baby is a sad sight.

 
Babies drool alot (or, are otherwise wet...constantly).  Little Mister (though technically no longer a baby) generates drool at an exponential rate throughout the day.  I will not knit him a pullover sweater until he can demonstrate that he will not felt the top of a sweater with his excessive drooling.  I love you kiddo, but Momma's time is valuable.

Babies, in general, are hard to dress.  Making a pullover sweater for a baby between the ages of 0-4 months is just cruel.  The parents have to contort the baby into the thing, and if you didn't knit it seamlessly, it's going to be uncomfortable and they will likely cry about it (the baby and the parents).  I know this from experience.  If you are going to make a baby sweater, do the baby (and said baby's parental units) a favor and make a cardigan.

 
And lastly, but probably primarily (for me), babies are sometimes bigger than you think and they grow really fast.  Knitters who are not around babies don't always realize that the size "newborn" is actually kind of relative (and I am not trying to be mean, before I had kids, I was clueless, I had no idea how big babies were, as a rule...I still don't know and I have had two!).  Both of my kids entered the world needing to wear clothes sized for 3 month olds because they were just big babies. Generally, "newborn" in the commercial world means up to 7 pounds.  Um, yeah, my kids were born with 8 pounds (almost 9, really) of loving.  So that cute baby sweater knit with one skein?  It might fit...the day after the baby is born (if it fits at all).

But all that being said, I do love a cute pattern, particularly if it's functional.  And Linden's Baby Sophisticate pattern is awesome (and she is generously offering is for free on her website and Ravelry).  I liked the look of it and figured that it would be a good pattern to size up for my littles, because they are nothing if not sophisticated, right?
 

The pattern is really easy to knit and easy to resize because of the genius of the construction and design.  It's top down, so you can have your kid try it on as you go, which is reason enough to only ever knit top-down sweaters, as far as I am concerned.  For Little Mister's I cast on 40 stitches and for Little Sir's 48 (with bulky yarn and size 10 needles)and used the pattern as a general guide.  With Little Mister's sweater, I just used his measurements and my gauge as a guide.  For Little Sir's, I had him try on the sweater constantly.   I am really pleased with the way the sweaters turned out.  The boys seem to be pretty satisfied as well.

I suppose if you did want to knit a sweater for a baby, this would probably be a good one to do; you know, if you are into that sort of thing.  Otherwise, knit it for a kid who would look terribly dapper and handsome, or, if you'd prefer, sophisticated.

autumn on the horizon

Summer, auf wiedersehen. Bonjour, Autumn.

If there is one thing a contest or giveaway is good for, it's learning that you are not alone in your insanity.  Some of you have some crazy long lists; and, I totally respect that.  My plans for fall seemed ready, and then a friend gave me a request that might push a ton of my fall projects into winter (as opposed to the few projects I was previously expecting).

So I think this is all of the fall knitting that I have planned.  The grey (back left) is some Beaverslide Dy Goods McTaggert Tweed destined to be a sweater.  I have no idea which one since I have changed my mind about the pattern no less than 6 times between taking it out of the cabinet and winding the cakes.  The orange yarn next to the grey is going to be a shawl, very fall, no?  The taupe/brown yarn next to the orange is going to be a Wallaby,  I think it's time that Little Sir had one that was easy care and cotton.  Below that is some dyed Perrendale wool that is going to be spun up and knit into a sweater for Little Mister.  Next to the blue roving and underneath the orange yarn is a sweater that has been in progress since last fall--it needs sleeves, that's doable.  A skein of Cherry Tree Supersock in birches for socks.  Some Louet sport...maybe another sweater for Little Mister, clearly one who gets so happy about fall needs fall sweaters?  And then the single sock with the remainder of sock yarn for a sock that has been mateless for two years.  So sad.

I was all set with the knitting plans; and, then a friend who bought a house in Costa Rica last year asked if I would make two afghans for her new piece of paradise to brighten things up.  Um, how could I say no?  I could not.  So I am going to be crocheting two afghan throws; but, I need to finish them so she can take them along to her new place in November.  So that is likely going to be where my efforts get concentrated first.  I haven't gotten the yarn yet (and can I just freely admit how giddy I am to be ordering new yarn?  It's so exciting to looks at the colors and imagine what the yarn can be turned into!  I wish I could be a personal shopper for yarn types, I would be so good at that.  Really.).

And then there are the quilts.  I wants to make tons, but I have to finish the log cabin quilt. Little Sir is very interested in helping me.  I think the hold up for this quilt is the fact that I decided to quilt it myself, when the sensible solution would be to send it out to a professional quilter with a longarm machine.  But deep down, there is some part of me that wants to be able to say, "oh, quilt a queen-sized quilt, I've done that, it's not so bad."  That is also the part me that I refer to as my naive and stupid side, so there you are.)

And then there is this autumnal stack for a kid's quilt.

And don't even get me started on my weaving plans.  I don't know what they are, but I know I have plans to weave...

In case you were wondering, I wasn't as successful on the summer finishing front, the red scarf is done (needs wet blocking); and, I am super close to finishing the lacey shawl...I should be able to get things from the summer list done this week though (with the exception of the sweater vest, never have I felt so plagued by such a simple project).  I don't feel so bad about it, I had a nice and restful weekend with my boys, and that was where my priorities were for the holiday.

And as for the contest/giveaway, I used a random number generator to "pick" a winner, and that would be Ali who blogs at Skeins Her Way.  Thanks for playing everyone, good luck with finishing your summer projects and getting through your fall knitting list!

end of year knits

Now that January is half done, it only seems sensible to talk about the knits that I finished last month in December, you know in 2008.  I finished two knits that I am really happy with.  The first knit was another Baby Surprise Jacket.     

I wasn't too impressed with the first one  that I knit, but the second one is great.  I think I just needed to put my kid in a bigger BSJ, as he is a big kid. 

The sleeves were the right length--they were not too short-- and the yarn was pure joy to knit and the end result is a really cute sweater for a pretty cute boy (there is obvious bias here, of course).

The other knit was a pair of socks.  For whatever reason, I don't do so great with the sock knitting, I get bored with it for some reason (second sock syndrome, anyone?).  But I managed to get a pair of Nutkins knit for myself.  The yarn was a birthday gift last year from a knitblogging birthday twin (thank you Rangsiwan!). 

 

I really like the way the socks turned out, the pattern was well written and you can't go wrong with Koigu.  I did a knit/purl cuff instead of the cuff prescribed and I mirrored the pattern for the second sock, an idea I totally stole from Maritza.  I am really happy with the socks, mostly because of the modification I made to the heels--eye of partridge heels, what is not to love?

So that is it for the 2008 crafting.  I am not going to do a summary of the year, if you want to see the past knits (and other projects), feel free to look in the gallery of 2008 projects ortake a look over in flickr.  I haven't the energy to be redundant today.  I do however have the energy to start plotting some 2009 crafts, I am pretty excited, because, as you all know, I have copious amounts of free time now.  Heh.  With some of that copious free time, I will update the gallery and include the specs for these last two projects (socks and bsj), I will also post the info in Ravelry, of course.

And there is still time to toss your name in the hat for the "it's not a resolution" contest, just leave a comment onthis post (the post below).

cuteness for christmas

 

I am aware that you do not all celebrate Christmas; but I do, and I am thinking that Little Mister (hi, Elinor!) is probably the best Christmas present ever. 

It took some work getting him here (there was a problem with lost records at the hospital's records storage facility--all of my archivist friends totally recognize the irony of this happening to me, I am sure), there were no allergic reactions on my part this time around--because they actually did find my records (there was with Little Sir, but, moving on); but, I think I was entirely too cavalier about the second c-section delivery and my ability to recover from it.  The good news: I am no longer swollen to an unfortunate degree; the bad news: the swelling has caused constant numbness in my right hand.  The worst news: I am right handed, of course. Apparently, cuteness comes at a price...

 

Fortunately for me (and, really, all parties involved) I knit Little Mister's Christmas sweater prior to his arrival.  I opted not to go too matchy-matchy with the Christmas sweaters (I am thinking that the boys--I am thinking I will never tire of saying, writing and thinking this phrase-- will thank me for this in the future) and knit LM a dark brown BSJ with white stripes.  Julie gave me the the brown Koigu earlier in the year and suggested that I use it to knit a Baby Surprise Jacket or BSJ, so that is what I did.

I know that there are people who think this is the cutest sweater ever, and I may be a heretic for saying so, but I don't really think it's any great shakes, to be honest.  I recognize that the engineering of the sweater is genius and everything; but, seriously, what is with the sleeves?  Sure, my kid has long arms, but, come on!  When the sleeves on wool sweater are this short, what purpose do they serve?  Um, that would be none.

But I still got a Christmas picture out of the deal, so I am not really going to complain too much about it (not now anyways, I knit another BSJ, yet to be modeled, and reserve the right to kvetch in a later post).  So yes, if you are a celebrater of Christmas, I hope yours is merry and that you and yours find ways to bring about the jolly. Ho ho ho. 

have gnome, will travel; and, eat pie

So it's Halloween.  Boo.  Special K and I aren't usually celebrators of said day of ghoulish extravagance; but, when you have a kid who actually "gets" it, you really don't have much of a choice, do you?

My kid wanted to be the Travelocity Roaming Gnome for Halloween (thank you Travelocity and your incessant advertising during the Amazing Race--what, you don't consider The Amazing Race "educational TV?!"  Hello?  Travel and culture!  And the snarky banter of dysfuntional couples, I mean there is so much to learn!).  So because I decided to be Supermom this week, that's what he dressed up has for Halloween.  Sort of, he had no interest in wearing the belt (the belt that took an hour of my precious crafting time, but there you are).  I will put the details for the costumery in the gallery, but most of my trials and tribulations are going to be covered in this post, for those who are interested in such things.

The gnome hat was the easiest thing.  1) Measure head circumference (in this case, 21 inches--yes, he's got a big noggin).  Take red (or any color you like, but I needed to use red) felt sew a 2 inch hem for the base of the hat (it gives it that "finished" look), 3) measure off the head circumference at that base and add whatever you like for a seam allowance (I did an inch extra for a half inch seam allowance, do whatever makes you happy). 4) Decide how tall you want the hat (I opted to use the head circumference as my guide, it came out pretty tall, again do what makes you happy).  5) Center your height measurement from the base and draw a triangle.  6) Cut and sew, 7)  turn hat inside out. 8) Smile, with tons of self-satisfaction because you just made an uber cute gnome hat.

The jacket, was not as easy.  Granted, this jacket was the first article of clothing I have ever sewn.  Clearly, I was not thinking rationally when I decided that this would be a good project to cut my teeth on garment sewing.  I mean really, collars, facings, buttonholes?  Oh, and pattern modification because the pattern was for a short-sleeved shirt and not a jacket...right.

I modified a child's camouflage shirt pattern for the jacket because it had the length and basic look (style, not the fabric itself) that I was going for (I liked the collars...before I started sewing the jacket).  I figured the sleeves could just be lengthened.  And really a jacket is just a collared shirt made of heavier fabric with a lot more ease.....right?  It seemed to work out okay, but don't look to closely at the collar, it is, as the kids like to say these days, jacked up.  I had no idea what I was doing, the step-by-step directions may have skipped a few steps so I just sort of made things up as I went along.  And seriously, I need a foot attachment to make buttonholes, because the three buttonholes in this jacket almost made me gouge my own eyes out (thank you Christina for helping me decipher the directions in the big book of sewing).

The boots were some funny green rain boots purchased at the local target that I covered with black electrical tape.  Little Sir thought the eyes were weird, so he wouldn't wear them before.

There was a belt too.  A cardboard buckle painted metallic silver with black felt cut to size.  Little Sir had very strong feelings about the belt.  Namely, he wasn't having it.  Take a look for yourself.  This look of mortification is the same look I sometimes get when asking for a hug now (usually accompanying the statment, "no mommy, you are too big."  Lovely).

 

In the midst of the Halloween madness I made a pie, because, you know, Pushing Daisies was on on Wednesday night...and that is what I do...make pie while watching said show.  Chocolate Mousse Pie. 

 

This chocolate awesomeness was a really easy recipe (a lot of dirty dishes though).  I didn't feel like messing about with a spring foam pan (who is lazy and pregnant?!) and just used a large tart pan with a removable bottom (a method I would recommend to you, should you decide to make this easy and tasty pie/tart treat).  The side benefit is a few ramekins of chocolate mousse to enjoy later.

And then I made festive cupcakes. I guess my anti-Halloween days are over.  Maybe next year I will make myself a costume.  Because, you know, I am all about the garment sewing now.

nutty, of the macadamia variety

Hi.  So it's been a long week, here's a quick run-down:

 

I went to a seminar on photographic copyright (for archives) in Albany last Friday.  Look at me, being all studious.

Albany is only an hour away from Rhinebck, NY, so obviously I had to go.

So yes, I went to Rhinebeck on Saturday.  I met a blog reader named Victoria (thank you for saying hi!), Little Sir tried fried dough for the first time and now refers to it as "dough with snow." 

It was fun, but when you are almost 8 months pregnant, nothing that involves much walking  (or any physical activity, really) is going to be all that exciting.  We got there late and left early, but I managed to purchase exactly what I was hoping to.  I sweater's worth of grey aran weight yarn (for a sweater for Special K) and 3 silk caps because I have no idea what to do with them, but I thought it would be fun to try and figure out (this is the way most disasters start, of course).

Modest; but, sufficient, all the same.

I started working on a plethora of wip's I'd left sitting in various project bags.  They were all brown or predominantly brown and sort of sad and depressing, I didn't even bother taking photos because it would have been a parade of brown--not so visually appealing when viewed en masse.  In need of color, I started (or rather, restarted) a baby garment with jubilant blasts of color.  It should be finished soon, so that's something.

And last night, while watching Pushing Daisies, I made pie (of course).

 

Chocolate - Macadamia Nut Tart courtesy of Martha.  I thought it was just okay, but the pie was gone within 15 minutes of my setting it out at work and the dishes washed and dried, so I guess others thought it pretty tasty. 

 

That or they found that splash of bourbon in the pie appealing, I have no idea.  I think my taste buds are all wonky right now, what with the hormones (or whatever), so my taste assessments probably shouldn't be trusted at this time.

I didn't have unsalted butter, so I substituted regular butter (salted) and eliminated the salt prescribed by the recipe.  Also, there was no way 2.5 cups of macadamia nuts was going to fit in my tart pan.  Martha called for an 11 inch tart pan, mine was ten.  I only used a cup of nuts, so I have enough to make another tart...which I might do since I have more patee sucree dough in my fridge (the dough recipe was pulled from Joy of Cooking, 1972 reprint,  natch).

Aside from all that, work is crazy right now (I am moving into a new space after a major renovation) with it being a celebratory weekend of sorts, fall reuninon, homecoming, etcetera.  Oh, and yes, I am 33 weeks pregnant.  So, you know, I'm not tired at all.

If you are into picture peeping, there is a smallish (so you won't be overwhelmed and because I am lazy) Rhinebeck set of pictures over in my flickr world, knock yourselves out.  Otherwise, see you soon with a cute and colorful FO!