Little Oak Cardigan: Road Test & Preschooler Extortion Practices

Towards the end of the school year our local public elementary school hosts an amazing art show.

It is combined with an open house event where you can enter your child's classroom and visit with the teacher.

This year the event did not disappoint. 

The children sometimes adopt the theme of a famous artist's work for their own original painting.

This year was not only a feast for the eyes, but included a small dosage of preschooler extortion as well.

I finished knitting the Little Oak sweater, and of course my 4 yr old still refuses to willingly put it on. 

He is very interested in increasing has saving account though, so for 2 dimes and 1 nickel, the sweater was donned and some photos were finally taken.  

Giving in to your pre-schooler's extortion tactics: questionable parenting technique
Getting photos of him wearing your knitwear:  priceless

Olympic knitting, and the continued saga of what not to say to a woman / your mommy

I decided to try and get through a very small new knit project during the summer Olympics this year. 

The games had so many amazing moments.  I think my favorite was when gymnast Aly Raisman got the bronze medal after Bela Karolyi encouraged her coach to protest her erroneously calculated balance beam score.  That was just incredible.  Good thing Bela was watching out for our team!

The cowl I made (if you don't knit, a cowl is bacically a neck warmer!) is from Joelle Hoverson's book "More Last Minute Knitted Gifts" and is called Soft As A Cloud Cowls.  If you knit it out of pure cashmere, as I did, then why yes - it is that soft!

Hoverson's other books are also really super, including one on quilting.

It didn't take too long to make because it is a very small project, but I was glad when it was done.  Working with skinny lace weight yarn makes for slow progress.

My least favorite moment of the Olympics came last night during a conversation with my three year old son who I adore as much as any mother has ever adored her son.

While watching track and field, women getting into the starting blocks for a sprint, he points at one of the runners:

him:  Mommy, I like that one.

me:  Oh yes, I can see why you like her best, she is very pretty.  I wonder if she will win a gold medal.

him:  She's much prettier than you are.

me:  Well, she's certainly at least 10 years younger than I am, and she basically works out all day long, so I can understand why you would think that.  Still, it isn't polite to compare how women look.

Sigh, the acquisition of manners can be a life long process for some. 

To those of you out there who consider yourselves every so slightly less fit than Allyson Felix, you're in good company.

Thank goodness for early bed time! 

Liesl by CoCo Knits: a sweater just in time for fall, and a lesson on what not to say to a woman

I finally finished knitting a sweater for myself, just in time for autumn.

The pattern is by Julie Weisenberger of Coco Knits and is called Liesl.

I used natural dyed sock yarn (super wash Merino) in the Octavia colorway by Verb.

Knitting this sweater was EXTREMELY enjoyable.  Even as somebody who doesn't really know how to knit, it was a piece of cake and I loved every last stitch of it. 

This is the first full sized knit garment I have made for an adult.

When the top of the tank was finally sewn together, I modeled it for my sons and said, "What do you think of this new sweater that I knit?"

The three year old looked up at me with his beautiful blue eyes and said:

 "Oh Mommy I really like it...you look like you have a baby in your belly!"

Alrightythen. 

I'm trying to be objective here (maybe I knit it, so I'm biased?)  I don't think it makes me look any bigger than I am.  Judge for yourself on my project page on ravelry if you dare to see the full photo.  Pls note that I AM NOT pregnant.

We did proceed to have that conversation that stems on the central concept that you should not imply that a woman might be pregnant unless you see an actual dangling head sticking out.

Sigh...I hope he learns a thing or two about women along the way, if only for the sake of my wanting grandchildren in another 30 years.