There Were Birds

One thing that never fails to amaze me about the whole process of making things is how - usually - what you wind up with becomes so much more than what initially went into it.  As knitters, we know all about that, don't we?  We know that,  given a little time (OK, sometimes a lot) and a whack of patience, a little string can become a sweater.  Quilters know that scraps of fabric, thread, and time can turn into a blanket that will keep future generations feeling warm and safe.  Bakers know that flour, milk and eggs can become a delicious dessert.

Well as of today, my friends, this Mum knows that - given enough time (six days, to be exact) - strips of newspaper, glue, and paint can make a newly minted 5-year old and his friends very, very happy.

 

Red Bird piñata, inspired by this blog post.

Now... chocolate cake mix, food dye, marshmallows and fondant?  With a little time, they make EVERYONE happy!

You know, it has to be said: as much as I love it (and y'all know I do), knitting sweaters ain't got nuthin' on knowing you made something totally awesome for your son on his special day.

 Happy 5th Birthday, Maxime.  I love you.

Wordless Weekend Wrap-up

How was your weekend? Mine looked like this:


Happy Knitting, Everyone!

Random's all I got

I feel so scattered today that I can't even come up with a decent intro to a post about how scattered I feel. I like to set up each blog post just so, and I think I usually do a pretty good job of writing an intro for my posts, but today I just don't have it in me. All I keep coming up with are random tidbits that "could be fun to talk about", so I'm giving up on any pretense of a storyline or whatever and just jumping right in. Let's embrace the random, shall we?

1. I didn't get to take pictures of me wearing Chadwick this week. First there was the bad camera day, then we fell victim to the dreaded "Lost Memory Card" syndrome. I wore it on Wednesday though, and it's pretty fabulous. Perfect accessory for my brown leather jacket. Yum.


2. I'm fighting a pretty devastating urge to drastically enhance the stash. Specifically, I want to buy enough Tanis to make Calligraphy, and enough Quince & Co Tern to make Akoya.


3. I even know which colourways I want for each sweater. That's a bad sign.


4. I'm trying to quell the urge to buy yarn by buying fabric instead. I realize that's still technically stash enhancement, but since my fabric stash is still comparatively wee, I'm choosing to congratulate myself for my maturity and personal growth and leaving it at that.


5. Sewing feels like a daytime activity to me, whereas knitting is totally an evening thing. Weird, eh?


6. I've amped up my training for the half-marathon at the end of the month. I'm up to 60 consecutive minutes at this point.


7. I'd be all "Booyah!" about that, except that the half-marathon will likely take me 120 minutes to run. That makes me want to cry a little bit.


8. Asking yourself "What the f**k was I f***ing thinking, f***ing signing up for a f***ing half-f***ing-marathon, anyway????" isn't actually a great motivator when you're trying to get through a 60-minute run.


9. It's Maxime's birthday tomorrow. Little dude is going to be FOUR. How did that happen?


10. I've got the gifts wrapped, I'm baking the cake tonight, I think that's everything, right?


11. Right?


12. In keeping with the New Rule, after completing Chadwick I immediately cast on a pair of socks (Gentleman's Sock in Railway Stitch, from Knitting Vintage Socks). At first I thought this might be one of those patterns that just flies off the needles, but progress has been super slow lately, so maybe not.


13. It's just dawned on me that progress has been slow because I've been running/wrapping/stressing instead of knitting this week. Maybe those über-fast projects are über-fast because we actually knit on them??

Happy Knitting, Everyone!

The Plan

At the beginning of the week I had 4 active WIPs on the needles: the 2 Woolly Wormhead Mystery hats (pictures to come this weekend, I swear!), the second Aestlight shawl, and Castlegar. Over the last 2 evenings I've finished both hats, and I've decided that, close as I am to the finish line on the shawl, I'm going to concentrate my efforts on the cardi (for now, anyway). Why?

Well, mostly 'cause it's cold. Really, really cold. I wore a long sleeved top and a shawl all day today, and I still couldn't manage to get warm. And if that weren't enough? Today was the first day I wished I had boots on when I was walking outside. And it had nothing to do with there being snow on the ground (yet - there's no snow on the ground YET. It's only a matter of time). No, it was because my feet were cold. I was standing outside in my stylish Fall coat, shivering my arse off and wishing I was wearing boots instead of my cute red pumps, and it hit me: Winter is here. Then I might have used language un-becoming a lady librarian.

All that to say that I feel like a cardigan makes more sense in terms of knitwear production at this time. Yes, that's right. A cardigan for MYSELF makes the most sense 36 days before Christmas. You got a problem with that?

I'll leave you with this picture of my little Maxou, taken last weekend. I think I've mentioned on the blog that he's a bit of a camera hound. He loves having his picture taken, always wants me to snap a few pictures of him whenever I've got my camera out. Not only is it kinda cute, but I found out that it's also pretty useful when you're dealing with an inconsolable Maxime (this particular day, he had shattered a snowglobe he'd gotten when he was baptized, and he was pretty frickin' upset). Turns out that, even if he's crying his eyes out, he'll do his best to smile for the camera, heh.

Happy Knitting Everyone!

The Big Three

Well HI there! Alright, I could give y'all the usual schtick about how busy I've been, how sorry I am that I've been MIA for (gulp) almost 2 weeks, yadayadayada... But I'm not going to. The truth is that, well... I just haven't really felt like blogging lately.

There. I said it. I haven't felt very bloggy, blogish, blog-worthy. But in my infinite wisdom, I've discovered that sometimes you need to get back on the horse to re-discover your love of riding. You need to get back on the treadmill to remember that, hey, this running stuff is actually pretty cool. And you need to put up a blog post, even a mediocre one, to remember why you fell in love with this form of communication in the first place.

So! Today isn't a knit-related post, I'm afraid. No, there's been an event at Casa De Dear that, I think, takes precedence over this love affair I have with string. And that's my little Maxime's third birthday. Yup, my little man turned THREE big ones on Friday. I think it's safe to say that he's now OFFICIALLY not a baby anymore.

The day started out simply enough. It was a work/school day, so we got up at 6, had our usual breakfast, and set about accomplishing our goal for the morning: getting one kid positively giddy with excitement whilst simultaneously reducing the other to tears because "He's getting all the attention and it's NOT FAIR". *Sigh*


They had a lovely party for him at daycare, and that night the four of us enjoyed a wee cake and Maxime got to open a few more gifts.


At this point the fatigue and sugar kicked in for both, and the shrieking commenced, so we put 'em both to bed and tried to gather what little strength we had to get ready for the traditional birthday BBQ we usually have for the kids' birthdays (we don't really do the mega-kid-party until they're 4).

We ate, we enjoyed the company of a few friends we haven't seen in a good long while, and now... I'm positively exhausted! But oh so proud of my 2, beautiful children. We done good, dear.

Happy Knitting Everyone!

I have proof

Well! That didn't work out quite like I had planned, did it? Leave it to me to make a big deal about posting more often, practically writing a mission statement about it, and then, um, not posting for 5 days... (and for my next trick, watch me stick BOTH feet in my mouth!).

Yeah, things have been hectic. But the good kind of hectic (mostly). Work is good, the kids are healthy, and we're just... busy with this crazy thing called life.

So I haven't been blogging. BUT! Rest assured, I HAVE been knitting. And to prove it, I thought I'd share a few finished objects that have yet to make an appearance.

First up, the Zaphod Beeblebrox sox.


Like Zaphod, they're wacky yet incredibly stylish, and of course the left foot doesn't know what the heck the right foot is up to, so they're fraternal twins, not identical. Knit with Crazy Zauberball sock yarn, they may be plain vanilla socks, but they're simply AMAAAAAAAAY-ZING, baby.

Next we've got Maxime's Blue Dino Hat (aka Roar) which, like each and every hat I've ever knit for him, has proven incredibly difficult to photograph, mainly because he Just. Wouldn't. Wear it. (he does now, but I felt asking him to model a wool hat when it was 25 degrees would be cruel and unusual punishment just so Maman could get a nicer picture for her knitting blog).

Don't believe me? Notice what his right hand is doing in this picture?


Thank GOD the new camera has a fast capture setting, heh...

And last but not least... I finally finished Honeybee :)

OK, I guess it won't really be finished finished until I get the buttons sewed on (still waiting on my order from Jennie the Potter - I can't WAIT!), but the knitting? Done. Bound off, grafted, woven and blocked. DONE!!! It fits great, and it might just be THE finished object I'm most proud of so far in my knitting career. Stay tuned for many artsy fartsy photos in the days to come :)

Happy Knitting Everyone!

What happened?

Goodness me, where did the last 3 days go? Work has been crazy, but I won't complain, since I spent the last 3 months complaining about not having anything interesting to do at work. The kids are in fine spirits, Phil's working steadily on his new kite (I'll post pictures when it's done, it's going to be a beaut!), and it looks as though Spring is finally deciding to make an appearance after all.

All in all, I'd say life is good, wouldn't you?

So let's just skip past the last 2 days of the week, and move right to today, shall we? Trust me, you're not missing much, but if you're dying to know, it goes something like this: get up, commute and knit, work, workout during lunch, work, commute and knit, dinner, bath, knit, bed.

Oh wait, I did finish the first of my Vintage Habs socks, though. That's something!


Pretty cool, huh? These will be for some as-yet undetermined Habs fan in my gift giving circle, and I'm hoping to have enough left over when I'm done to make Maxime some light mittens.

OK, moving on to today. As you know (do you know? have I mentioned it on the blog???), Phil and I have started a Muay Thai class with his brother and girlfriend. This week, with the weather being so fine, I got it in my head to bike to the gym (about a 25 minute ride) rather than drive. I mean, I never get out on my bike, and I was really pumped at the idea of getting 2 workouts in one.

It turns out my ride was a little longer than I'd anticipated (I went to an appointment, then to the local mall in Rosemere to have lunch and putz around for an hour, then to the gym, then home). But it felt great! I think I'm going to try doing that every Saturday, maybe even get Phil to come with me next time!

When we got home Phil was bushed, so I played outside with the kids for a bit. We checked on our strawberries:

They're coming along! I haven't had one yet, but Émilie says they're pretty good.

We played with Maxime's birthday loot. He sure loves his new basketball net!

I like it too, mostly because now I can brag about being able to palm a basketball. :)

The weather was so beautiful, we eventually met with the Enabler clan (Kate, her husband Chris (aka Lemondrop), Aidan and Liam) at the park behind their house for some play and summer refreshment (Beer in the park = Yum!)

And that was the day! We came home, had dinner, gave the kids a bath (they were FILTHY!) and put them to bed. Time to relax!

Happy Knitting Everyone!

My Men

Hot on the heels of Mother's Day, a post about the men in my life.

First up, my Maxime, my little man, turned 2 last week. We had a very laid back BBQ-party for him on Sunday, and it was lots of fun, despite it being freezing cold! I swear, I almost felt bad sending the kids to play outside! Almost :)


I think he did very well in the gift department, as well. We tried to get him mostly toys he can play with outside, like a Little Tikes basketball net and one of those lawnmowers that blow bubbles (that one was a big hit!)

But this is a knitting blog! And guess what? I have a Bona Fide Finished object to share with you! The third in the Miscellaneous Man Sock series, Fratello. Feast your eyes, dear readers...


A lovely pattern, knit with luscious yarn. Who could ask for anything more, right?

OK, I'm off to knit on the couch. Happy Knitting Everyone!

Domestic bliss?

It seems to me that other people's blogs have lovely pictures of gardens in bloom, children laughing and playing, mouth-watering food, and yarn. Do let us not forget yarn. Most knit blogs have actual knitting content. Well, if that's what you were hoping for with today's post: Git along, little doggy.

I haven't got any pictures of the garden. The weather has been awful, and even if it weren't, my garden is still in such awful shape that I'd never dream of subjecting it to a photo shoot.

I have children, and they do on occasion laugh and play, sometimes even with each other, but I never seem to have my wits about me to take a picture...

Oh wait, I've got this one, taken a few days ago, on Maxime's birthday. Émilie is becoming quite the little poser, isn't she?
Mouth-watering food? Ummmm.... how about a shot of the giant pot-o-spaghetti sauce I made today. Does that count?

Or wait, a preview of mouth-watering food to come. I picked up my new 7-quart Slow Cooker today.

For those of you used to the metric system, 7 quarts translates to "Holy Crap, that's a big damn slow cooker!!!!".

I'm late to get on the slow cooker band wagon, but I've gotten a few recipes from friends (I'm going to try your meatballs this week, Kerry!), and I figured it was time. Besides, I was able to get this baby with my HBC Rewards points. Sweeeeet...

As for yarn... well you're fresh out of luck. No new yarn in the house, not much knitting progress to report either. I'm working on it.

Phil got home from Paris last night, and we're all happy to have him home. We're having Maxime's official birthday BBQ-bash tomorrow, so let's hope the weather cooperates! I don't mind if it's on the cooler side, but please, no rain!!!

OK, Phil's waiting for me so we can watch the finale of Lost. I'm not spoiled, but from what I've read, it was quite the episode! Hmmm, perhaps I won't work on anything too complex tonight.

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Getting embarrassing

I'd say I meant to post last night, but that would be a bold-faced lie. Phil got home from the Pinball Wizards convention at a little past 6 last night (pictures can be found here, if you're interested in about a zillion shots of pinball playfields, backglasses, and assorted gizmos and doohickies). The kids and I were at Kate-the-Enabler's house by then (they took pity on us, God bless and keep them for ever and ever). We had a very impromptu dinner with them (thanks again guys!), and by the time we got home and the kids were in bed I was so tired that I could barely focus on my knitting. I eventually gave up, invited our dog J-B to come up on the couch with me for a snuggle, and promptly fell asleep on the couch.

So how was everyone's weekend? Didja knit? Garden? Read? I was full of good intentions in the gardening department, but time just got away from me, you know? I did manage to clear out the vegetable patch yesterday afternoon, put in some compost and more earth, so that'll be ready for seeds next weekend. Working in the garden with the kids is actually pretty easy if, you know, messy. They just sit right there with me, preferably next to the dirt as opposed to right IN it, and dig away, happy as clams. I enjoy it, despite the messy.

We also planted some alpine strawberries in a flower box, and I'm very excited to see how they turn out. I've still got 6 plants left, so I'll either get another box, or I'll plant them in the front yard. There's an area next to the steps that I think would be great for strawberries, it's contained and gets good sun exposure. But 2 things have got me worried, the first being a chipmunk that has set up shop right in that spot, underneath the steps. Will he eat all the berries? Dig them up? I'm also worried about the bands of pre-adolescents that roam our streets during lunchtime in our neighbourhood (there's a junior highschool not far from my house). They can be pretty rambunctious, and I don't think they'd feel any qualms about stripping my precious strawberry plants of all their fruit.

*Sigh* Every year I hatch all these grandiose plans for my small vegetable garden and flower beds, and never quite manage to follow them through to the end. Small bites, right? That's what I need to do, focus on little, manageable, attainable goals.

I'll leave you with this picture of my little man, Maxime, taken by his grandfather this weekend (he's an awesome photoggrapher, you can check out some of his other work here).

Émilie likes to play with balloons, and she'd rather blow them up herself then get them already inflated. And of course Maxime, the little monkey that he is, has to do everything the way she does it, right? (I don't let him play with them unsupervised, don't worry!).

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Dangly Parts

Recently on Facebook I posted that in my next life, I wanted to be the man, even if that meant I had to put up with dangly parts. Phil was away, and I had had a particularly rough evening with the cherubs (Émilie had had a half-our long screaming fit of rage around dinner time and after their bath, Maxime had tripped and hit his head on Émilie's dresser, so hard that he actually passed out for a few seconds - he's fine now). When I got into the office the next morning, I read an email that Phil had sent me from work the previous afternoon, after I had already left. It said that the people he was training were a hoot and a half, they were having a blast, and he was heading off for a bite to eat before hooking up with a pinball friend.

........

And now, Phil's in Paris, and here I am again, Super Mom, Wonder Woman extraordinaire, holding down the fort. I'm trying very hard not to be bitter. Knitting helps with the not bitter. So does alcohol.

I only mention the Facebook dangly parts thing because a) I think it's funny to use the term "dangly parts" and try to insert it into my daily conversation whenever I can (this also holds true for words like "mosey" and "hootenanny"), and b) it seems that even my knitting lately has had protrusions of one kind or another.


The completed Snowball Hat. I can't believe this was the best picture I took of myself (thanks to all of you who assured me that the pics in the last post were actually kind of cute, you're too kind), but there you go. I'd been standing in the bathroom with Passe-Partout on in the background for about 5 minutes, and I was just goofing off. (Oh, and by the way? I loooooved making the pom pom! The tutorial was very helpful, and I finally got it. The whole thing took about 3 minutes [and alot of yarn! I had no idea pom poms ate up that much yardage!]. Very exciting. Look for more pom poms in my future knitting projects.)

Another project that's got dangly parts is the Fleece Artist Thrum Sock I cast on for on Thursday night.Allright, obviously my thrums are waaaaay too long, right? Because honestly? I'm having trouble believing that any human foot will ever be able to fit in there...

I got gauge. I cast on for the medium size sock. The intended recipient has medium size female feet. It should be fine, and yet I'm really sceptical at this point that it's all going to work out in the end. Oh well, who knew knitting could be such a high risk activity?

What else has been going on here lately? Well, Friday I took the day off. I've been sick for about 2 weeks, and with Phil about to head off again, I figured I should just take a day to try and rest as much as possible before the madness started all over again. I read and knit and watched 2 movies (OK, and I did about 7 loads of laundry). It was bliss (except for the constant coughing, of course). Saturday was spent with the usual running around, doing groceries, taking Émilie to her skating lessons, taking her for a haircut, making food...

Today the kids were up bright and early (at the butt crack of dawn, actually). After breakfast and the usual morning cartoons, we headed out to meet with Auntie Jessica!

She knew Phil was going to be away and graciously offered to come over and help out in any way she could. Since I was desperate to get out of the house, we agreed to meet at the Biodôme at 9:30.

Maxime was quite fascinated by the St-Lawrence Maritime Exhibit.

So was Émilie!

Fun was had, and after a brief panick when Jessica realized her Bird in Hand mittens weren't in her sleeve (a good Samaritan had found them and they were at the front desk), we headed back to the burbs. Jessica and I were able to have a nice long chat while Maxime had his nap and Émilie watched a movie, then it was time to run a few more errands before driving Jessica to the metro and heading home for the night.

So thanks for a lovely day, Jessica! It's always such a pleasure to spend time with you ... :) And don't worry: we're so totally ON for a night of dancing when Phil comes home!

The evening went fairly well, I think. Maxime did his own cooking while I made dinner and Émilie played games on the computer...

See the bumps he has on his head? He took a header off the living room couch yesterday. And he walked into a door right before bed tonight, after this picture was taken. *Sigh*

And now I'm sitting here enjoying a glass of wine and blogging. In short, the kids are alive, the house is still standing... I done good.

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Tidbits

It's been such an appallingly long time since my last post (is 4 days appalling?) that I've got no real narrative flow for today. I'm just going to throw it out there as it comes to me, all right?

Well, first and foremost, Halloween!

My little bug. I say bug because his hood (which you can't really see well in this picture) was meant to look like a spider, but there were only 6 feet on the costume, and we all know spiders have 8 legs, so he's just a bug.

This is supposed to be a "one size fits ages 0-6" costume, and all I can say to that is : NOT!!! I barely got it on him on Friday morning, and I was a bit worried that he'd freak out, but all for naught, apparently. He started running around, laughing and making "Grrrr!" noises. It was awesome.My little unicorn. I know you've seen this picture before, but all the pictures we took of her on Halloween turned out blurry! It is HARD to take a picture of an over-excited 4 year-old, let me tell you!

Trick or Treating was a barrel o' fun, as usual. Kate-the-Enabler and I took the kids once around the block (don't laugh, that took almost an hour), marvelling that Émilie and Aidan were old enough to make it up and down the stairs of each house on their own (Maxime and Liam were mostly there in an observation capacity). Our men stayed home and handed out candy. Phil even put a pinball machine out in the street for the kids (and grownups too!) to play with!

It was pretty funny, watching the kids walk up to it and asking their parents what it was. Pre-playstation entertainment! A few parents actually thanked us for introducing these machines to their kids. And Phil even got to meet a buddy from one of his online forums! Turns out he lives just down the street. Small world...

And here's the loot, after we filtered out all the stuff we don't want the kids eating (like gum and unwrapped candy). I'm happy to report that I've managed to avoid the candy for now, because...

I finally fit into my jeans!!! Remember when I started on this Health and Fitness kick, I said my goal was to be able to fit into these? Well, yesterday I realized that I could pull off my old jeans without unbuttoning and unzipping them, so I took these out of the guilt drawer (that's also where I keep my pre-pregnancies bikini) and tried them on, and they FIT! And I can walk in them and EVERYTHING! Next step: to get THESE off without unbuttoning or unzipping. LOL!

ALL my clothes are starting to feel a bit frumpy, actually. But I also got my visa bill with all the Rhinebeck follies on it this week, so no shopping for me! Grumble grumble...

Finally, a finished object! Yes friends, the Good ole cabled scarf, which I cast on in November 2007, is finally done.
Knit with Malabrigo worsted using 5.0 mm straights, this was a very easy knit. It could be a smidge longer, but I didn't want to have to wind another skein of yarn :) I have to check the stash to see if I've got enough yarn for a matching hat, now (I'm thinking the Snowball Hat from the Fall 2007 IK).

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Always Read the Fine Print

I'm starting this post from the office, during my lunch hour, and I hope to be able to publish it this evening. Phil is out of town on business this weekend, leaving me with the kids and the house and the Life. My evenings have been so busy that what little down time I actually have left by day's end, I've devoted to knitting, as I'm sure you'll understand.

First things first, today is Maxime's birthday! It's hard to believe that in just one short year he could go from this:

to this:

But that's life for you! It was a year ago today (actually right this minute, I'm typing this at 12:34 PM) that I underwent an emergency C-section and Maxime was born. I had been experiencing some pretty serious pain over the past few days, and on my scheduled doctor's appointment that day, my physician had trouble finding Maxime's heartbeat, which was considerably slower than normal. So off I went to the hospital, and by the time I got there they wanted him out ASAP! So under the knife I went, for the second time (Émilie was a breech baby). He had a few minor complications, but in the everything worked out for the best, and I've got a healthy, happy baby. I'm so proud of my little big man!

Since Daddy is out of town, we'll be having a small dinner with my parents to celebrate tonight, and we'll be having a barbecue with immediate family on Sunday, where the bulk of the gifts will be opened. I didn't want to have another huge shindig this time around, because Émilie really freaked out at HER first birthday party (I think it was all the people at once in our small house - she was NOT amused!), and I don't want to risk going through all that again! Besides, weekends are busy enough around here as it is! :)

(Maxime enjoying his cake, about 2 hours ago!)

I also want to share a knitting misshap with you. As you know, I'm working on making the Good Stripe Dress from the Spring '08 IK for Émilie, and I'm using KnitPicks CotLin. Now, I swear, I was a good knitter. Yes, I was substituting (I can't afford Euroflax at 20$ a skein!). But I calculated, I ordered, and I swatched. I SHOULD have enough yarn. I mean seriously, I've got 2 Masters' degrees, for Pete's sake, I can handle simple math.

Turns out I can't handle simple READING. I made my yardage calculations using Ravelry's description for Euroflax, which at the time was based on 50 gr hanks at 135 yards per hank. The pattern says you need 2 hanks of the MC, which would be 270 yards worth. Still with me? CotLin has 123 yards per ball, so to be on the safe side, I ordered 3 balls. 123 x 3 = 369 yards. More than enough. No brainer. Right?

Well, as it turns out, the yardage for Euroflax on the PATTERN is 270 yards for a 100 gr hank (and apparently Ravelry has corrected it's mistake since I ordered, their description is now for 100 gr hanks). So I would in fact have needed to order 5 balls of my MC. Also for my main contrasting colour, but it looks like I'm going to make it by the skin of my teeth on that one.

Frantic, I called KnitPicks and asked if they had any left in my dye lot. They didn't. What now????? I've only got one stripe to go!!!!

I decided to check out if other people had any CotLin in Royal Plum from lot 4017 in their stash, and 3 people did. I've contacted them all, and Deborah has graciously offered to trade me her ball of CotLin. Thank you Deborah! You're a queen among knitters.

So let this be a lesson to you all. Even if you think you're doing everything right, the Knitting Goddess, fickle bitch that she can be, can smote you down just for shits and giggles. Beware.

Happy Knitting Everyone! And a Happy Birthday to my son Maxime. I love you, little man. I hope you had a great day.

Fun Filled Days

Maxime had a great first day at daycare on Tuesday. Émilie was apparently very helpful (perhaps too helpful!), and our daycare lady, Isabelle, thinks they're both going to do just fine. I wasn't really too worried, but it was good to hear nonetheless.

So Tuesday I had the entire day to myself. I did wind up doing some "productive" things (I finished preparing Phil's and my provincial income tax returns - ooh baby I live on the edge!), but I also managed to squeeze in some quality "us" time as well. For instance, we met up for a picnic at a local park, and flew his new kite.

This design is called a French Military kite (if I'm not mistaken), hence the blue, white and red colour scheme. It flew reasonably well for it's first time out. There are still a few line adjustments to be made, but considering that there was in fact NO wind that day, it did pretty well. It was nice to spend some time outside with Phil!

Yesterday I decided to take a page from Robyn's book and dressed Maxime in his one and only Habs T-shirt (I didn't even buy it, it was a gift from my nephew). I was trying to get a picture to post on the blog, but as you'll see, getting a picture of an almost one-year old can sometimes be tricky.

Maxime:"Huh? You talkin' to me?"

Maxime: "Heeey! What's that in your hand there? Can I see?" (Yes, I was still in my pajamas at this point.)


Maxime: "Wow! Looks like a camera!!! Let me try!!!"

He's a cutie!

Last night I went to the LavalKnits knit night, and while I only had 14 rows left on Cluaranach (I may have enabled Sandra into purchasing the pattern, I'm not sure), lace isn't really suited for social knitting, so I cast on for Émilie's Good Stripe Dress instead (I finally got the replacement colours in the mail yesterday). I really like the colour combo so far, and since it's mostly stockinette, I think it'll go fairly quickly. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

I've got another "Get Out of Jail Free" day today (Maxime is in daycare all day), so here's today's plan: finish Cluaranach, graft and block!!! I also promised my Mom I'd take her out for lunch and a movie (either 21 or Smart People, we'll see).

Happy Knitting!