In The Pink

Burple*

One of the things I love about knitting is how I feel like it does have a higher power.  I mean, not as high as say, whiskey or a shirtless Ray Stevenson, but I feel like knitting allows me to make the world what I wish it was.  Lofty of me, I know, but wouldn't it be amazing if every baby was greeted with a handmade gift?  Would that make the world a better place?  Couldn't the wee one feel that handiwork?  I don't know  if I'm convinced, but I'd like to think so.

One of the generosities that really stands out from when Junior was born was two of Mr. Pinks friends buying some preemie clothes for Junior so that he would have some clothes that fit him right away.  It was so thoughtful, and though some people might thing it was small, I will always remember it (and yes, both friends have had babies that were welcomed with handknits- one of whom received the 2 raglans).

A separate friend of Mr. Pink's welcomed a little girl about three weeks ago, having made her entrance about a month early (I don't blame her- I want to experience the full holiday season too!) and I knew what I wanted to do- make some preemie clothes for her.  I found this dress pattern (opens to .pdf) via Ravelry and altered it a little bit to suit her (she's a Californian)- short sleeves and made with cotton, as well as ease of knitting (made in the round).

I'm really happy with how it turned out- if only I could say the same for the accompanying sweater.  I decided to jump headlong into the infamous February Baby Sweater, and instead of modifying the pattern to fit a preemie, I decided to go with the pattern as written and knit it with fingering weight (as opposed to the worsted it calls for) and smaller needles.

While the end result isn't awful, it just wasn't what I was hoping for.  Which I deserve, I suppose, with such poor planning, but I just felt like the proportions were off.  If I were to do it again (which why I chose to knit two baby garments out of fingering can I guess be chalked up to estrogen driven delirium), I would cast on extra stitches at the underarm- maybe as many as 10 extra.  I think it would work alright with that.  With baby knitting, I feel the constant soundtrack of Final Jeopardy playing in the background, the baby adding ounces with each row I finish.  Which is my meager excuse for not ripping and reknitting.

At the very least, hopefully baby Maya will receive these by Friday and have a kicky little outfit to wear for the Black Friday sales.

*You didn't think that I would re-enter blogland without some ridiculous portmanteaux, did you?  Many thanks to Jennifer for jogging my memory on the $10 word.

Kinda blue

I'm still not fully recovered from the shock of last Tuesday.  Not so much because of the historical significance- the word history seems to have lost it's potency with every 'caster of every stripe trying to turn their story into more than mere hyperbole- but more the realization that I live in a blue state.  And not just blue for our President-Elect- Colorado now has a Democratic Governor, 2 Democratic Senators and 5 out of our 7 Reps are Dems as well.  Honestly, I don't see it lasting for long- I'm sure that's the cynical side of me speaking-- but part of me wonders what exactly it was that changed so many hearts and minds.  Unfortunately, I think it was fear- the one saving grace (can it even be that?) is that it wasn't manufactured fear as it was 4 years ago, but instead fear of the unknown future - which is a fickle lover, at best.

As is no secret, though, I have been blue for a long time.  And it's finally reflected in my knitting.

These are just a few of the water colored projects I've been working on in the last few months- from the top left, a Twinkle scarf done in a peacock shade, my feather and fan shawl knit out of Colinette Jitterbug in the Monet colorway, one of my current knits, the Cropped Cardigan from Blue Sky Alpacas knit in Sportweight Capri coughtiffanybluecough, and a garter stitch scarf made last winter using Colinette Point Five in Monet (I'm so over it, I don't need help, I can quit any time).

I'm certainly not ready to give up these blues- and even if the holiday blues creep in a little bit, there are always so many things that chase that blue right away.

Like Pinks.

*I have to say, no matter how deep my blue love goes, I absolutely never rock the jean tuxedo.  I simply love the Twinkle scarf with the jean jacket and was too lazy to change for a pic taken in my backyard.  Please don't send the FP to my house.  It was a momentary lapse in laziness.

Noises off

As if there wasn't reason enough for you Lefties, the old wisdom goes that if the Redskins lose their closest game to the election, the party in power gets  ousted.  So go Steelers!  And, like Maryse, this is totally recycled.  Blog posts never lose their strength, no matter how many times they're used.  Just like aluminum.

And for everyone, as Ava mentioned, if you vote tomorrow and tell your local Starbucks, you get a free tall brewed coffee.  Although do yourself a favor- pay the money to get the salted caramel hot chocolate.  You won't be sorry.

ETA: The Steelers won!  And the new holiday cup at Starbucks is all knitty!  There are also election deals at Krispy Kreme, Kokoro and Ben and Jerry's (and supposedly Chipotle also).So eat, drink and be voty!

La vie en Paris

My obsession with Paris is a well-documented secret- having to introduce your one household pet as Henri kind of blows the lid off of it all.  So when my mom gave me a weeklong trip to Paris for my thirtieth birthday, as Junior Pink so eloquently put it, 'Mom, it's like your dreams are coming true.'

 

Since Mr. Pink didn't want to go, I took Zenifer, my ace in the hole, who not only put up with my incessant 'Way's (the phonetic pronunciation of oui that seems popular in Paris), she is fluent in French and has been to Paris many times.

We stayed in the 14th, that, while not the most popular arondissment, it was a wonderful place to stay- our other choice was on the Champs Elysees, and reminded me of the French version of Hollywood Boulevard- yes, you should go, but it's not really an authentic experience. 

 

We saw most of the main Parisian sights- the Louvre, Musee D'Orsay, Centre Pompidou (my favorite museum, next to Musee Picasso), Sacre Couer, Moulin Rouge, Shakespeare and Company, Notre Dame and Bon Marche.  We even had signature Parisian experiences- listening to an accordion player on the Metro, (knowingly) getting swindled near a main tourist attraction, being told we were too thin to be Americans and service from a rude garcon.  But really, so much of my trip is encapsulated with La Tour.

   

Over 400 of the 600+ photos I took were of the Tower, not only on top and in it, but it seen at different vantage points throughout Paris.  We (and by we, I mean Jenifer) decided to plan our trip around Bastille Day and were able to take in the annual concert and fireworks show that takes place on the champs in front of the Tower.

 

It was the trip of a lifetime, and while our visit was simple and beautiful, I hope that it wasn't the only trip of my lifetime.  Until we meet again, Cite mon Couer, I will console myself with endless listens of Edith and repeated viewings of 2 Days in Paris.

The full set of my (edited) photos can be found here. 

Time has been slippin'

I would say that I can't believe that 11 months have passed since I posted, but I can.  My birthday feels like a lifetime ago, in mostly good ways.  This past year has been full of blessings, including a weeklong trip to Paris and countless memories with the Shrinky Pinks, as well as a few struggles, including the deaths of two family members.

I am so thrilled to be in my thirties, and to be knitting, and to have seen so much- here's to nine more years of the same.