What sound does Shamu make?

Doctor's visit today to check on the progress of the baby. The little one is healthy and growing strong.

Do not attempt to adjust your monitor! No, I have not swallowed a basketball! That's all me and the newbie.

A successful trip to the yarn shop today yielded three lovely skeins of fluffy cuddly cotton by Classic Elite Yarns called "Sprout" (Ravelry link). I liked the texture and thought it would be a nice baby sweater yarn. I don't usually enjoy working with cottons, but I couldn't find a wool at the store that I thought was both soft and sweet enough for a bebe and durable too. So cotton it is! It's a little bit heavier than I was looking for, but I can work with that.


I chose pale grey and cheerful persimmon to work. Since I've never really bought awesome buttons and that's a shame, I splurged for six cream colored antler buttons for this little piece of awesome. They are round and sensible but kind of wild in a subtle way. Perfect for spring toddles through the woods with Mom and Dad. When he outgrows the little version, I will feel no qualms about salvaging the buttons for a new "big boy" sweater.


I want him to have a nice sturdy sweater for his first fall and into his first spring, so I'll probably make a 6-9 month size. It should have classic lines and be easy to get into and out of. What does the peanut gallery think about the Baby Sophisticate? The main body would be the grey and the collar, button band, garter hem and cuffs would be the persimmon color.

I've been chugging away at the Tamarix blanket since finding out about the baby and am a little over half way. The yarn is the lovely Serendipity Tweed from Brown Sheep. They make such nice stuff! It's a mostly cotton yarn plied with a strand of wool for a little extra warmth and softness. It's starting to wear on my hands.


The pattern I'm using is graphic and neat. Unfortunately it was a little bit confusing at the beginning. Definitely the kind of technique you need to see to understand. The written instructions in the magazine on how to join each new mitered square while working are unclear and leave out pretty key information. I looked for help online and found some videos that the pattern's author posted but I don't think you could perform the technique with the directions as written.

I'm at the point in the project where the charm has dissipated. The yarn is nice, but not as sexy as it was when I fondled it at the yarn store. The first blush of casting on and getting to know the ins and outs of the new pattern has faded. Even the pleasure of working through the difficulties has come and gone. Now I'm slogging through lots and lots and lots of garter stitch. At least there are frequent color changes to keep things interesting.

As much as I like the color changes, I have decided I'm no longer really digging on the color combos. I'm going to try overdying the whole thing, probably with a blue. Dyeing the cotton may prove interesting. I'll practice on some yarn samples before I drop the whole giant thing into a dye bath.