Berkshires

After spending Passover in the city, we drove up to the Berkshires to stay with Neil's parents. Lindsay is on Spring Break until the 12th. Rather than stay in Brooklyn and get caught in a rut, we decided to go to the country.

We visited friends who moved up there from Brooklyn. They have a daughter Ruby, who is one of Lindsay's good friends. We all had a nice time catching up with them. After leaving their home in Ashley Falls, MA, we drove for a minute or so out of town and saw a bobcat flying across the road. It was an amazing animal, running full speed a la National Geographic special. It did stop a second to glare at our car heading right towards it. Absolutely majestic animal. Although it was incredible to see such a beautiful animal, it was out of place where it was, which was a sad reminder of how all of the houses being built up there are displacing its habitat. I hope it finds a good new home. I think it was eating a chicken before we so rudely interrupted it.

I was talking about unusual animals with the owner of a pet store here in Brooklyn. He mentioned that there are colonies of wild parrots in Brooklyn. I can't wait to look for those guys. There's a colony at Greenwood cemetery, which is a gorgeous park-like place that I have never gone to.

Z hat

It's been a fun knitting week. On Thursday, I went out in the great world of grown-ups to see Stephanie Pearl-McPhee aka The Yarn Harlot speak at FIT. She was launching her book tour here in NYC. As usual, she was lovely and hilariously funny.





I also finished a little hat for baby Zach. The first one was kind of awful. I tried to do the Z with intarsia and it came out really lumpy and uneven. I might have tried to overlook that if it weren't for the fact that the hat almost fit my 3 year-old. Don't know what's happened to my knitting mojo since the shawl, but I think it has more to do with the fact that I haven't been able to sleep well lately.

Anyway, I think this hat is suitably cute for a newborn. It will get packed up with some nice kids music, some wonderful organic baby shampoo and lotion and sent off to Zach.

I have friends who had a baby 2 months premature. I think that little baby needs a hat. I just have to figure out how small to make it.

When in doubt, spin

Since finishing the shawl in VLT, I have had a hard time starting a new project. I made a little hat for Zach, but I can't say it was a success, so it's going to the frog pond.

During this phase of floundering, I have been doing some spinning. Nothing like the simple act of spinning to soothe the soul. This skein is 80% merino and 20% mohair. There's just enough mohair to have a beautiful sheen, and take the dye beautifully. The merino keeps it soft. The color is beautifully gradated shades of dark blue. It wasn't until I plyed and tied the skein that I noticed the color choice being similar to my blog colors. Funny how that works without one realizing it.

I am now spinning some yak fiber I got at Rhinebeck. It's unbelievably soft. Makes you just want to roll around in the roving. The fibers are extremely short, so it lends itself to a fine highly spun yarn. Ruth if you are reading this....this might be harder than the cormo.

Zach is in the house

Little Zachary was born in Santa Cruz this morning weighing in at just over 8 lbs. Mom and baby are doing well. Lindsay is a cousin and I am an aunt. Does that mean I can crash people's picnics?

Shawl with #20 edging

Yippee. This shawl has been finished for some time, but not blocked. I couldn't find my t-pins. I figure that Lindsay was peeking in my knitting notions bag and came across the pins. I probably put them safely out of her reach and then promptly forgot that I did that. I guess some day I will be dusting up high (ha ha ha) and find them. I decided to bite the bullet and buy some new ones. And now, voila!

So I should have been smiling and jumping for joy in the photo you say?? Lindsay was mad that both her parents were outside doing something other than entertaining her. So she was having a tantrum at the back door. I thought I did an admirable job of hiding the blood vessels that were ready to pop, but I guess not.

Specs:
Victorian Lace Today, Shawl with #20 Edging
Kid Silk Haze
Size 7 needles

Dentist

Today was Lindsay's first visit to the dentist. I was concerned about her two upper molars looking odd, but fortunately everything was absolutely fine. She has two-tone molars. How original.

But it got me thinking about how parenting has changed since I was a kid. Parents are told to bring their children in to the dentist between age 2 and 3. That seems extremely early to me. I can't imagine that my parents brought me into the dentist before the age of 6, when my baby teeth started falling out.

There seems to be more information for parents these days, but I've come to the realization that there are too many opinions. Instead of giving parents information that is useful, which would calm many fears, there is so much information (mostly alarmist) flying around from thousands of "experts" it has the opposite effect. It can make you downright neurotic about making a decision.

The news just loves to scare the crap out of the general public. Consumer Reports just came out with a story showing babies flying out of car seats. They were trying to say that car seats are normally tested with the vehicle going 30 mph. But now look what happens when you get into an accident going 35mph. Cue the flying baby footage. It had parents flipping out. Turns out that in their great salivating desire to show baby carnage, they jumped the gun and didn't perform the test correctly. I think the cars were really going over 70mph. Bastards!

Turning 3

Yesterday was my daughter's 3rd birthday party. We went to see a puppet show of Alice in Wonderland. The cupcakes reflect the Alice theme. She's growing up so quickly, she doesn't need to eat or drink anything to make her bigger.

The recipe is from Magnolia bakery and is wonderful. I cut the frosting recipe in 1/2 and still had extra.