2007 – Page 2 – Sarah's Journal

Happy Ladybug Birthday Cake!

Sarah Carolyn November 4, 2007

Carrie finally got her ladybug cake and her party today. She had a blast playing with her friends – it was basically one big playgroup with pizza and cake.

Lisa and I made Carrie’s ladybug cake using Jenny’s instructions. It was funny – when I searched for pictures of ladybug cakes on google images, out of the thousands upon thousands of cake images, Carrie picked the one that a friend of mine made. Small world, and all that.

After a rousing game of “stick the spot on the ladybug”, during which I learned that 3-year-olds can’t reliably keep their eyes closed, we lit the candles and cut that ladybug into pieces. Delicious ladybug pieces…

This was my favorite cake so far that I’ve made for Carrie. It was so much easier than the others, but she absolutely adored it – probably because she picked it out. And it was fun to learn that I could bake a cake in a pyrex bowl. It had me eyeing my Pampered Chef batter bowl…if Carrie ever requests one of those princess dress cakes – the kind with the doll stuck in the top – that batter bowl is the perfect size and shape for it!

Now, though, I’m so tired I’m ready to fall down. Oh, yeah, that might be because it should really be 11:30 instead of 10:30. Drat that time change!

World’s Biggest Sock

Sarah Carolyn, Knitting November 3, 2007

…world’s smallest knitter!

We’ve been hosting the World’s Biggest Sock Attempt at our shop for the past week, and this morning I sat Carrie on my lap and helped her knit a few stitches on it. She actually really got the hang of how the needles moved, she just had some trouble with wrapping the yarn.

So now, when she’s older and people ask her when she learned to knit, she can legitimately say she learned when she was three! (We chanted the children’s knitting rhyme while she did it: “In through the front door, once around the back, peek through the window, and off jumps Jack”.)

My Little Ballerina

Sarah Carolyn November 2, 2007

I signed Carrie up for a dance class at the YMCA. We needed to buy a leotard, ballet shoes and tap shoes. The only XXS leotard left at our local Target was blue, and thinking Carrie would definitely want pink I asked an employee if they carried them, or could hold one at a different Target. But Carrie spoke up and said, “But Mommy, I want the blue one!”

Doesn’t she look fabulous in her blue leotard? And she had so much fun in her class! I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as cute as those six little 3- and 4-year-old girls doing teeny tiny little pliés and tapping their way across the room heel-toe-heel-toe.

I was worried when I bought the blue leotard that Carrie would see all the other girls in pink (and they all were) and want pink instead. And she did, on the way home in the car, say she wanted a pink leotard like the other girls. But she (I think) accepted that the store was out of pink, that she had chosen blue, and that she looked absolutely beautiful in it, and that maybe when she out-grew it we’d try to find a pink one.

Good thing, too, because I’m most of the way through a blue leg-warmer…

Happy Halloween!

Sarah Carolyn, Holidays October 31, 2007

…from our cute little puppy dog!

Ladybug Cake Postponed

Sarah Carolyn, Knitting October 28, 2007

So we’ve all been sick, all week, and when Carrie woke up at 3:30 AM Saturday with a 102° fever we decided to call off today’s party. I can’t say I wasn’t just a tiny bit relieved, since being sick all week I’ve done nothing around the house.

However, I have done something with my knitting needles! I’ve finished Carrie’s green cabled jacket:

Here’s a bit of detail to show off the fabulous texture and the perfect green buttons:

And a couple of model shots. She likes it, she really, really likes it!

Three Years Old!

Sarah Monthly Updates October 24, 2007

Dear Carolyn,

Today you are three years old! You didn’t quite believe us at first, because you thought you needed to have a party before you could turn three, but I think we managed to convince you by the time Daddy left for work. (You’re still waiting, patiently, for your ladybug cake, though!)

In honor of your birthday, you told your first joke. Your great-grandparents called to sing you Happy Birthday. When your grandpa asked you about it at dinner, he said, “I just want to know one thing, were they on key, or were they flat?” And you replied, “No, they were on the phone!” At least, I think you were trying to be funny.

As I predicted last month, things are much more routine and much less stressful. You’re still having trouble with the transition to preschool, but I’m encouraged by the fact that your teachers think you’re adjusting just fine. Maybe we’ll just be spending the next 15 years with you telling me you don’t want to go to school every day?

Mimi has become quite the alter ego for you. You use her all the time to save face now. I’ll ask you if you want something, like pancakes for breakfast, and you’ll immediately say “No!” But then after a couple of beats you’ll say, “But Mimi thinks I should…” Now Mimi’s Mommy and Daddy apparently live with us too, and if there’s something you think I don’t want you to do, you’ll tell me that Mimi’s Mommy told you not to do it. Hey, whatever encourages you to eat the occasional meal and keeps you from climbing on the back of the couch works for me.

It takes my breath away to see how much you’ve grown since the day I met you. There are days that feel like years all on their own, but when I look back at the years it feels like it’s been just a few days. It’s so cliché, whenever anyone says how quickly it goes by, but it’s so very true. You’re three now, and you’ve learned how to open the refrigerator door, get dressed and undressed, and use the potty pretty much independently, and I’m worried it won’t be much longer before you don’t really need me for much of anything. But, I promise, I will always be here when you do need me. Happy Birthday, baby!

Love, Mommy

Rhinebeck, How I Love Thee!

Sarah Knitting October 23, 2007

I always go to festivals with a dollar amount firmly fixed in my mind that I will not go over. And then, of course, there’s one or two things I can’t leave without and that number goes *way* out the window. (Luckily, I know this, so I set my dollar amount much lower than it should be!)

At least I didn’t come home with the Kromski Symphony I tried. It was close though, because that wheel was really, really nice. But I have my Minstrel and I’m going to research and try out other portable wheels before I commit to anything new.

So what did I come home with?

Part one:

Clockwise from the upper left: wool from Spinner’s Hill, Carrie’s pink & purple wool from (I can’t remember where), a green cabled sock kit (for St. Patty’s day, of course), and two ounces each of bamboo and ingeo to try spinning.

Part two:

Clockwise starting from the big green-ish ball: some green merino (I think Ashland Bay?) that I was talked into buying by my enabling aunt (it’s 1 lb, 3 oz, enough for a big shawl or a vest?), an ounce of sinfully soft camel down, a felted ball (Carrie picked that out), a color of Trekking XXL I don’t have in my stash yet, and some girly bamboo/cotton sock yarn like the gray I bought for Denis at Hemlock. (No I haven’t started the gray socks yet.)

Um, I think that’s it. Oh, wait, I bought a pair of needles too, but they’re already buried in a project.

For more pictures of what Carrie & I did at Rhinebeck (I inexplicably didn’t end up with any pictures of my Mom, my aunt, or Van…) here’s an album. (Kodak EasyShare Gallery, requires sign-in.)

Weekend Recap…

Sarah Family, Knitting October 22, 2007

Let’s see…

We drove to Denis’ parents’ place on Thursday. First long car trip with a potty-trained toddler = the longest car trip ever. But we arrived with a dry kid and a dry car, so we did good. Of course, we also arrived with a sleeping kid who promptly woke up and wouldn’t go back to sleep until 1 AM. Sigh.

Friday we had a wedding to attend. We missed the ceremony because it was raining cats and dogs and traffic was crawling along at about 10 miles per hour. But we did make it to the reception, which was as interesting as all Long Island receptions are. (I’ll never understand the dancing during dinner thing…) This time we managed to pick up a sleeping kid from one house, put her in the car, put her in bed, and get away with it.

Saturday was spent at Denis’ sister Mary’s house. Carrie had such incredible fun with her cousins that she was begging to stay longer. It reminded me of all the times I’d hide in my cousin’s closet thinking that if my parents couldn’t find me they’d just leave without me when it was time to go. As if! And despite being in PJs and a night diaper, she didn’t fall asleep in the car, and in fact not until sometime after I finally fell asleep myself.

Sunday we got up bright and early, had breakfast and took an incredibly scenic route to Rhinebeck! Between the foliage, the wool, the llamas, and did I mention the wool?, I was in heaven. Carrie seemed to really enjoy it too, especially when we happened upon some jugglers and when I dragged myself away from the wool and took her on all the kiddie rides. More about Rhinebeck tomorrow when I take pictures of all my new goodies!

Sunday night was spent in a hotel where…guess what? The kid didn’t sleep. Well, she did, but not until 11:00. At least it was better than previous nights, right?

And we finally got home today after a nice scenic trip home, during which the kid (finally) slept. The dogs are happy to see us, and are very lucky not to be listed on Ebay today. Apparently one of them got into my ~~half-~~ quarter-finished Mystery Lace Stole and did quite a job on it, but my Mom and Van spent hours earlier today re-winding the yarn and picking dog fur out of it, and miraculously it’s unharmed. Lucky dogs.

Must. Knit. Faster.

Sarah Knitting October 17, 2007

Carrie and I are going to Rhinebeck this Sunday, and I really want to have her cabled jacket done. I have all but half of one sleeve knit and then just assembly and the collar. I could manage all that in the car, right?

Alien Influences

Sarah Knitting October 15, 2007

Knitting Daily had a poll about the number of UFOs we each had. I had to try to do a physical count, and I came up with 18. That counts everything from things I know I’ll never finish to socks without mates.

Don’t ask me about sewing, quilting, spinning or anything else. That was just knitting UFOs.