one

 

Today we are celebrating Jude's first year. He is one! Already! I have become one of those people who says everything is going too fast. All my life time felt like it dragged on; I couldn't wait for the next thing to happen. But now I just want time to slow to a snail's pace so I can soak it all in. 

And there is a lot to soak in. On St. Patrick's Day, Jude learned to give kisses. Irish boy that he is, that seemed about right. Two days later he took his first toddling steps. He does a sideways shuffle because he's used to holding on to walls and furniture. 

He's such a sweetheart and a cuddlebug. K and I both feel incredibly lucky to be his parents! It's a hard, exhausting, and completely wonderful job. 

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Have a good weekend!

P.S. Notes on the birthday crown are here.

carving

Walk your own path.

Write your own story.

Carve your own spoon.

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I had my first (but hopefully not last) spoon-carving lesson with my father-in-law over the weekend. It was difficult, but such a fun and productive way to spend a morning! My favorite part was getting into a rhythm with the chisel and watching the spoon bowl and curves of the handle emerge from the birch wood. 

I am already gathering ideas for my next carving session.

everywhere a milo

Milo vests have been flying off my needles lately. I loved making these and, just from looking at the photos, I feel the urge to cast on another. There's a bit of magic each time those rounds of garter stitch suddenly become shoulder straps. It's the same feeling I get when I turn a heel in sock-making. Do you know what I mean?

Milo is a sweet, classic-looking vest and is endlessly customizable. For the larger, gray one I added a small cable down each side, and I could see trying out a different cable design for each Milo I make. Except that I love this vest plain, too. The yarn I used for the teal one is a Merino-bamboo blend, and it felt too slippery to cable without a cable needle, so I just knitted round after round of stockinette for the body.

I made the gray one first in the 18-month size, but it was much too big for my boy to wear this spring. So I cast on the little teal one in the 12-month size and made it significantly shorter than the pattern called for to fit my pint-size toddler. It is perfect for him to wear right now, and that makes me one happy knitting mama. Only I keep thinking how great it would be if he had two Milo vests that fit him right now. Hmm. Maybe I do need to cast on another.

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Have a great weekend! 

P.S. I officially changed my Ravelry name to match up with my blog, so you can now find me as fieldwonderful on Ravelry. 

mornings

After breakfast and teeth brushing, we play. There is peekaboo and castle-building and naming everything, especially the bunny picture in his bedroom. "Dat," Jude exclaims, pointing at the bunny once again and looking at me for an answer. He bounces his approval when I correctly identify it.

There's always lots of reading too. He usually cleans off his bookshelf first, throwing all the books on the floor, and then he chooses one to read. The Snowy Day has been in heavy rotation lately because we've got snow on the ground here again. He also wants to read any book that includes dogs, cats, or pigs. He likes to point at the dogs the most and one particular pig on a dinghy. I have no idea why.

This morning I pulled out a Vanilla soaker I've been working on and knitted a few stitches while Jude pulled every toy out of the toy box. He quickly realized I wasn't paying attention to only him anymore and came to investigate my yarn!

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I'm joining the yarn along with Ginny and many others today.

P.S. Thanks for the suggestions on what to knit with my pink and gray handspun!