Vacation and Some Bebe Things

We had a wonderful vacation in Door County, WI, our favorite place other than our home. We stayed in a new place for two nights and then on to our usual place. It seems I didn't get as much knitting done this year, although I did finish a prayer shawl. All that remains is adding fringe or tassels.

I also knitted a Baby Shrug from Debbie Bliss Simply Baby. While most of Debbie Bliss' patterns are the dreaded "knit in pieces and sew up seams", this one was largely made in one piece. I had to sew up the side seams, which wasn't too terrible. The snafu was picking up the stitches for the edging. It was practically impossible to pick up the number of stitches required and I lost count of the number of times I ripped the edging out. I ended up using the same size needle for the edging as I did for the body and picking up at every single opportunity. I also added a few stitches where the edging had to bend around curves.

The next project was a pair of baby booties from Erica Knight's Knitting for Two. These booties look so cute in the photo, but I'm telling you, the pattern is needlessly complicated and not at all well explained. After puzzling over the construction for a while I abandoned the project, comforting myself with the myriad of easy bootie patterns out there. There is simply no need to fret over a pair of booties.

Erica Knight redeems herself in this book with the lovely Lacey bonnet. It is a joy to knit, although the first part could be done on a circular needle, thus eliminating a seam at the back of the bonnet. Still, it is a very quick knit and would be a good beginning lace project. I haven't decided how to finish it off. The pattern calls for very large "retro bows" but I've never been very adept at configuring ribbon. The white bonnet is made from Bernat's Soy Natural Blends. It felt quite nice until I spoiled myself by using a raspberry pink Cotsoy (Queensland Bebe), a more pricey cotton and soy blend that I purchased at my local yarn shop. It is so beautiful to work with and will truly pamper a baby.

A grapefruit is the closest thing I could find to the head of a baby around here, so that is what I used to model the bonnets.

Our Saturday Morning Visitor

This fine fellow was preening himself on our deck when we awoke on Saturday morning. I believe this is a male, but I'm not entirely certain. One would think it would be easy to tell the difference.

Turkeys are coming out of the woods regularly to eat the bird seed that falls below the feeders.