Knitting, priorities, and baby cuteness.

I try to keep from turning this into a motherhood blog, but what with constant demands for baby photos, well, it's your own fault.

First, knitting.

I measured the current mohair scarf and it's 52in/114cm long (unblocked - it will grow), and I'm thinking that's long enough, and to hell with how much yarn is left. (Normally I knit to the end of the skein.) So one way or another, this scarf will be done this weekend, and I'll be down to two left. And I think I'm doing the easy one next.

I'm also still working on the Baby Surprise Jacket:

It's about halfway done, and I about halfway understand the construction. There's also a lot of crossing my fingers and just following directions going on. But it's a REALLY easy knit (I've been doing it while reading) and if it turns out the right size, I may make one for my nephew, take it to Ohio as-is, and let everyone puzzle over it for a while before sewing it together, like a party trick. (Yes. I am desperate for entertainment.)

Reality has also settled over me, in terms of the Geometric Star Jacket. Do not be alarmed, I do intend to knit it. But I want to finish the blue-and-black one-armed sweater first. And don't forget, we've got the Steek-Along coming up January 2. What will probably happen is, I'll start the Geometric Star sometime mid-January and that will be my alternate project while working on the Steeked Jacket with youse guys. (This will be my fourth steeked jacket. I can knit one pretty fast, now.)

So, priorities right now are the two scarves, the gauge swatch for the steeked jacket, and the blue and black sweater, with baby surprise jackets thrown in for relaxation. We're broke right now, which means lots of time at home, which means lots of knitting, so I have hope.

There is an unholy amount of yarn sitting around here. (Normally I'm one of those types who buys yarn with a purpose in mind and then knits it up. My 'stash' is 90% leftovers from old projects or odd balls bought for swatching.) I think we're at the lifetime high-water (high-wool?) mark for yarn in the house; three sweaters' worth and another one on the way. I've GOT to knit some of this up.



Anyway, baby cuteness. I know that's really why I have readers.

Last night The Baby was in my office playing and Sekhmet was on my office chair, and I was knitting. The Baby took one of her toys over to the chair and laid it next to the cat. I told The Baby that was very nice of her to share, but kitties play with cat toys, not baby toys. The Baby crawled out of the office and returned a moment later with a catnip mouse, and tucked it in beside the cat.

There is a scary level of smart going on around here.

She's also decided to talk and seems to be picking up a phrase every couple days now. "Bye-bye" with waving around Thursday, and "Hi Mumum" sometime this week. She's also actively looking for animals and calling them all 'kitty'. We went for a walk, she saw a squirrel, and spent the rest of the walk pointing to the side of the road and saying "kitty?", wanting to see another one.