Another Afghan

The pattern came from a book titled "7 Day Knits". I spent 3 months basically knitting a hour a day. This is the equivalent of approximately 90 hrs. Yes it would be technically possible to knit it in 7 days. Knitting however is more fun if you stop before your eyes glaze over. My biggest achievement in this afghan is that I taught myself to knit while breast feeding. My biggest error is a yarn miscalculation ~ it's actually two different whites. I may try later to do something about that. I will keep you posted.
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Gloworm

Introduced in 1982 and still a success. Babygirl loves it and I do to. My only complaint is the trip I will have to make to the hardware store with the toy to find the tool to remove the screw for the battery compartment. Gosh this is mama~proofing.
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I will take care of you

If your wondering why my blog entries are so short it's quite simple. I've got 18 years and 8 months to go and I want to keep you reading. Single parenting is a path I'm learning to accept. And it looks like I may be in it for the long haul. If a blended family didn't work it would be my daughter who would suffer. There is probably a good reason why a man my age doesn't have a child. That leaves two options: 1. Rob the cradle. 2. Find an old man. The younger man will probably want his own child and I wanted mine to share the same father. The older man is probably impossible to live with and that is why he is alone in the first place. I will not let my own unmet needs override what is in my daughter's best interest.
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You know your tired when:

1. Your not sure if your walking backwards or forwards. 2. You think please spelled backwards is sleep. 3. You mistake a diaper for your hat.
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Parenting as a single mother

I read Jan Reynolds Mother & Child: Visions of Parenting from Indigenous Cultures. This small book discusses the relationship of a mother and child within the sphere of a nomadic existence. Some of the people groups discussed are the Sherpas in the himalaya's and the Yanomama of the amazon. These women carried on with there work with their babies attached to them. They nursed uninhibited and unapologetic. The bond they had with their way of life and with the natural world was transferred to the child within the context of daily life. They raised children that were independent, self~reliant and self~confident. Since Babygirl was 2 days old I have carried her in the snugli. When she was 2 weeks I returned to work carrying her. She is now four months. I feel inspired by this book to continue on with what I feel is the best for her. The only thing I would have liked to ask any or all of these woman is how they managed when baby was teething?
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I will not break

any more 2mm bamboo double points. I will remember when packing my knitting for traveling: socks are small but the needles are smaller.
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What is it like being a single parent?

Days are measured in degrees of how tired I am. Super means I don't know which is up or down. Extremely means I don't know which day of the week it is. Sorta means I will say full when I mean empty and non tired is something that doesn't exist.
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An old knitting term

Last night I spent a delightful evening reading vintage knitting booklet number 117 titled Baby Styles. There was no date but in its day it retailed for 1.25. It was filled with beautiful babydoll layette patterns including one which Babygirl has. Its name popcorn ridge does it little justice as it is much more delicate than popcorn and more reminiscent of seed beads. The yarn I am going to use knits up nice at 6sts to an inch and most of the patterns called for 8.5sts except for a cape done in a variation of cats paw lace. All of these patterns had a term I did not recognize. I looked in the back under abbreviations and it wasn't there or anywhere else in the booklet. The term was wl.fwd. Because of the typeset I wasn't sure if it was a 1 or a l. According to a google search it is a l and its an old British term for saying yon (yarn over) or in Brit terms wool forward. Yon is apparently american. Brits use yfwd, yrn, yon, and yfm. And yes they all mean a different way to do a yon. My question: Why complicate something as straight forward as a yarn over?
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Ok I will admit it

we co~sleep. I have a crib somewhere...
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Pink Perfection

In the morning babygirl likes to lean against my still shrinking tummy. Her hands clutch the sheets as she pulls them to her mouth and twists them around. Periodically she stretches out her soft, pink legs and gives them a quick kick. She chatters simple syllables, grunts and squeals as she pulls and twists on the flowered sheet. I watch her and contemplate my life which has become our life and my role as a parent. I hope that from my reflective state I will come to some universal understanding. Through the milky, white light that comes through the lace curtains I look through the window that needs washing and beyond to the dark silhouettes of the trees who have watched my life unfold. I consider where I have come and wonder where I am going. My attention turns back to my daughter. Her grunts are emphatic now and I realize she wants milk. I pick her up and place her to my breast. Her mouth is open, like a baby birds, anticipating and she latches on. She is pink perfection. I realize I can only give what I have. Parenting is really about self~realization.
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Baby Girls Mittens

Here is my pattern: Size 4mm circular needles with baby sportweight yarn. Cast on 28 sts. And join into a circle. K1 p1 for 1.5 inches. Next row make eyelets for ribbon k2tog,yon, repeat to end of round. Knit until mitten is 4 inches from edge. To shape top of mitten: Round 1; k1, k2tog repeat till end of round. Round 2; knit. Round 3; k1, k2tog repeat till end of round. Round 4; knit (12 sts). Break yarn. Thread end of yarn through remaining sts. Draw up and fasten securely. Thread ribbon through eyelets at wrist. Baby Girl is 3.5 months old and they still fit her hand although now that it is finally summer she doesn't need them anymore. So we will see how they fit in the fall.
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Way down in the buttercup meadow

Way down in the buttercup meadow I saw a white ba sheep one day. And close by her side in the meadow a dear little white lamb was at play. Does the sheep mama love her white lambkin just as you love me say mama say? Does the sheep mama love her white lambkin just as you love me say mama say? In the orchard out in the old pear tree there are five little birds in the nest. Willie says they belong to the robin who wears a red bib on her breast. In all this great wide world of birdies does she love her own birdie the best? In all this great wide world of birdies does she love her own birdie the best? Last night as I looked out my window before I repeated my prayers the moon with the stars close beside her were walking way up in the sky. Did God make the little star babies cause the moon was so lonely up there? Did God make the little star babies cause the moon was so lonely up there? I did a google search on this lullaby and was unable to find any history. I do know that my darling baby girl is the sixth generation to hear it sung by her mama. Now that she knows it I get a smile of recognition whenever I sing it.
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