Babysitting and New Discoveries

    I know I've been lax and haven't written in a few days. But I was kind of busy. Wednesday, Kim H. thought that since it would be just the two of us for Stitch n Bitch, she proposed a road trip, not just breakfast. So we went to Out of the Loop yarn shop, a LYS down in the Fishkill area. I frequented this shop when we lived down that way.


   I found some absolutely luscious yarn that I had to buy, and of course I had to use it right away! I wound it up after I got home, and started my third Pi Shawl by Elizabeth Zimmermann. It's so pretty! I will take photos another day.


    I babysat all day for little OG Thursday and today. It still amazes me that I get so freaking tired just hanging out with a 3 month old baby! It's not like I'm chasing him around or anything. He just lays there! Granted, it's awesome now that he is laughing and smiling.


    The other day, as I was reacquainting myself with the directions for the Pi Shawl, I was flipping through the book Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Almanac. This copy is special, as it was a gift from a friend. So there I was reading her stories, and something caught my eye. It was a little ditty about double knitting, and how it makes a light yet cozy blanket.


    Now, I have done some double knitting, and while it's do-able, it's not easy. But as I read her instructions, it occurred to me that she is talking about doing the whole thing with only ONE yarn strand. Every other time I've seen it, it's always with two strands of yarn. I read it, and couldn't wait to try it. I had some heavy-ish weight yarn and grabbed my size 11 bamboo circulars and set to work. And guess what? It works! I am making a small sample as she suggests, and it works!


    The resulting fabric is soft and extra cushiony just as she said! I will take photos soon, so you can see what I'm talking about. Can you blame me for being excited? I am bursting with plans to make a blanket for my favorite son-in-law, as well as a wee one for his son.

My first day with Owen

    Last Friday, my daughter Sara went back to work, after having her adorable little son Owen. She was understandably distraught. I got to be Owen's first all day babysitter. I'll be taking Thursdays and Fridays, while his other grandma is taking Mondays and Tuesdays. His daddy is off on Wednesdays.


    He was asleep when I got there. I really hoped he'd stay asleep until after mommy left, I thought it might make it a bit easier for her. He decided to wake up just before she left. So mommy got to supervise my warming his bottle, and we were settled into having it when she left.


    The little guy was pretty good. He complained most of the morning, I think he missed his mommy. At one point he looked right at me, and started to cry. I didn't take it personally. We had some good talks, and after his noon time bottle, he passed right out. He was still asleep when his daddy got home 3 1/2 hours later!


   I kept busy watching a show on Hulu that Sara thought I might like. It's called The Misfits. I watched all of season 1, and a couple shows from season 2.  Just before daddy was due home, I turned the show off, and put the baby tunes on.


    My biggest question is this: I didn't do much all day, why was I so exhausted?  Perhaps it was because I didn't get to have my usual morning coffee. I did bring some of the chocolate chai tea I had found, but only had one cup. I can't wait to see how it goes this week.