Greetings from Life as a Working Mom!

Hello again! Such a lag in my postings, I know, I know... but what can I say, being a mom keeps you busy! I've now been back at work for 3 weeks. In some ways it seems like I never left! But in most ways, it seems like my old life lies years in the past.... the baby is doing great at daycare - I think it was a tougher transition for me than for him! But the highlight of my day, every day is going to pick him up. I can't wait to scoop him up in my arms and kiss his smiling little face! I could go on and on forever about him, but let me re-focus on knitting.

One project I did complete on my maternity leave was DS (dear son)'s Christmas stocking. This is the Ancestral Christmas Stocking pattern, or at least a modern variation of it published in Mason Dixon knitting. This was my first attempt at Fair Isle, so I did have some trepidation doing the snowflake portion of it, but I am very pleased with how it came out.


I did have a couple variations from the written pattern. First, I was knitting using DPNs and the instructions called for circular needles. So I did have to do some re-arranging of stitches on my DPNs, but if you've knit a sock before, it's pretty easy to do. Next, The red diamond field is supposed to be argyle, but when I put in the green stripes via duplicate stitching, they didn't come out looking even, so I just took it out. Third, I didn't knit the Fair Isle portions inside out, per instructions. That direction just seemed shady to me. And finally, I didn't block the stocking. I'm scared to! Even though this is Cascade 220 superwash, I spent so much time on this, I don't know what I'd do if I blocked it and it.... I don't know.... got pulled out of shape...? Or... the Fair Isle got twisted and ruined the diamond field or the snow flake? I think if this was a smaller project, or didn't have so much sentimental meaning to me, sure, I'd block it. But... I just can't. Do I need someone to hold my hand when blocking it, literally? Yes. So we'll just wait-list that activity.


This stocking is LONG in length! Not long like the toe pools up on the floor when hanging from our mantle, but long enough where DH and I will have to work to fill it! DS probably won't care that his mommy made this for him when he's a little boy or even a teen, but maybe later on he'll feel good about it. Regardless, it means a lot to me. The top of the stocking has his name on one side and the year of his birth on the other.

I plan to make Jason and me Christmas stockings as well, but no time soon. I'm instituting a "one stocking per year" knitting policy!

On to more projects - finishing a simple scarf I started for myself some time ago, and maybe a few Christmas gifts for friends and family. I definitely don't have as much time to knit as I used to, but I still try to take even just 10 min or so each night to knit a little. It makes me feel like I'm still making progress, even if it's baby steps!!! (Get it? Baby Steps????).

Greetings from Maternity Leave

Well, I'm about 4.5 months into my 6 month maternity leave. Time has been FLYING! Our little boy is getting big - he's 17 lbs now! He's got 2 teeth coming in, with a third one on the way. He is amazing.

Since this is my knitting blog, I won't gush too much about the baby or motherhood. But I will say that it's been a fantastic experience so far and I think I've been learning a lot. Not just about how to change a diaper or get a baby's arm thru a onesie, but I've learned a lot about selflessness, patience, and the ability to love someone more and more every day, even when you think you can't possibly love them any more already.

Enough of the mushy stuff. Check out this Christmas stocking I'm working on for the baby. It's my first expereince with Fair Isle. It wasn't as difficult as I thought, but I'm sure that I'm not knitting with two colors as efficiently as possible. For the snowflake and diamond (which is soon to be argyle) portions, I just kept twisting and switching the strands, which did result in a lot of twisted lead yarn (I didn't use bobbins). Next time I'll likely try to carry both colors in my left hand.

So the baby's name will be "duplicate stitched" on the top white band, and green stripes will be added to the diamonds to create the argyle pattern. Is duplicate stitching cheating? I don't care, considering the Fair Isle was enough of a challenge for me this time around!

The pattern came from the Mason Dixon series of books. The pattern calls for knitting the stocking with 2 circular needles, but I just used DPNs. So I had to re-arrange the instructions for the heel gusset. It all worked out. I'll be working on the toe tonight. I basically knit for 30 min or so every other night after the baby goes to bed. So I should be done with this stocking... by Christmas. ;)