Making Hay

Since last we saw each other, my pets, this little life I’m trying to lead has been on fire. I’ve been trying to “keep busy” since Mum died, and I’ve certainly succeeded, though almost all of this was planned before that – it always seems when I’m booking these things that it’s going to be fine if I just keep it together. Stay organized. I tell myself.  Make a list. I tell myself. Well, I am and I do, but it’s still sort of madness over here. The day after I posted last, I hopped on a plane and went to Knit East, I taught for two days – lovely students, good company, hard to beat the Bay of Fundy for a view, and to ice the cake I got to see Denny and Megan. They’ve both moved away from Toronto over the last few years, and it was such a pleasure to be together like the old days.

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I came home and the sweet little owl button’s I’d arranged for Elliot’s sweater had arrived, so our little guy got his finished sweater. Elliot has just learned to sit, so new and exciting poses are possible for this up-and-coming sweater model.  Here, he attempts a thoughtful, pensive approach…

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…then wonders if it’s what I was after?  (Sweater: Gus. Yarn: Regular old Cascade 220, but indigo dyed by Judith on afternoon we were together at Strung Along. Buttons, Jennie the Potter)

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Three days after landed I was out the door again – this time for the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival – and wrapped up another pair of socks.

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They go with all my pants.

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Yarn: Mudpunch in “Ambitious Apiary” Pattern: My Good Plain Sock.

I got home from the Columbia Gorge on Monday night, and since I’m leaving again tonight, I made the 48 hours at home count.  I carved a pumpkin with the (grown-up) kids.

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Meg and Alex dressed him up as an Ewok and we posed him with the pumpkin…

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and the leaves.  Just to be seasonally appropriate. (Meg would like you to know we didn’t let him eat the leaf.)

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I finished a hat for Elliot. (Tiny Lumberjack)

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Then we all had a great big family dinner for Joe, because today is his birthday.

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And now I’m leaving. I’m staying organized, and I have a list.

100 thoughts on “Making Hay

  1. Whew! What a schedule. All your knits look lovely, and it looks like Joe had a fabulous birthday celebration. I’m glad that your plans have been working out, but you’re still enjoying that little one (so adorable)!

  2. You’ve been missed, here on the blog. We (the blog inhabitants) do love you and support you and grieve with you. We miss your insights, peeks at dear Elliot, and knitting mojo, but, since we are in the human race, we DO understand! Carry on and carry yarn!! Hugs from us to you and your dear family! Happy BDay Joe! ~ BoojasMom

  3. you are amazing. simply amazing. you inspire me, make me laugh, make me think, and make me appreciate so many things I might not otherwise.
    someday I hope to be in attendance at one of your events again (only once before, Feb2017, in Vancouver) so that I can really and truly feel your mojo and try to capture a tiny bit of it for my own use.

  4. you have the most adorable model for your items, even if they are all baby! he has got to be the best thing to bring you some joy!!!!!! prayers continue

  5. Good to read you again…and to know you are going along, taking comfort in the light and love of family and friends and knitting. It’s okay not to hold it altogether all the time, though. It’s okay. Sending a hug.

  6. Thank you for the photos, such happiness there, even in the midst of busy. Hope your trip goes well and you get some time to spend at home soon

  7. That is the way to do it … just keep moving. Put one foot in front of the other. Cry in the shower.

    and most importantly, hug that little lovely, beautiful gentleman! He sure is a cutie … and that smile!

  8. Happy Birthday to Joe!
    Isn’t Elliot just a sweetie, I just want to give him a bit squeeze. Maybe nibble his little cheeks…. beautiful little boy 🙂 Keep yourself busy with him when you can and when travelling keep a picture close at hand. Have a safe trip, take many yarns.

  9. OMG, Joe bleached his beard! (Happy Mumblety-Something, Joe!)

    Now that Elliot’s sitting up, Sam is in danger of losing the title “World’s Greatest Knitwear Model.” What is she going to do? And what are you going to do? You no longer have a “World’s Greatest Flat Knit Model!”

    BTW, did Erin get her candy corn for Halloween?

  10. Lovely update, the baby is just so adorable.
    I agree with the other comments – I love your pants!!! Can you give source info on the pants?

  11. OMG, I want one of those grandbabies! He is the cutest thing ever, Stephanie. And growing so fast–how can he be sitting up when he was just born a few days ago?

    I’m the lady with the grey fisherman sweater with the BIG mistake up the front from CGFF. I took it home and dropped the center panel off and raveled it down, and then started back up. After 8 rows, looked just like before I raveled. Thought about Scotch at that point. Tried dropping a few more rows back–same results. WHAT? So I looked at the stitch dictionary and my notes–no help there. Until I read the directions for M3 in the front of the stitch dictionary. Who would have thought that P1K1P1 would look so different from K1K1K1 as a M3? But what you said in class about no standard abbreviations saved me. Thanks!

  12. He is every kind of adorable! And the knitwear model legacy lives on. Quite expressive for a newbie!
    And all his knits are just perfect.
    Love the socks-and how they look like a different pair with each fabric print.
    Glad you got to connect with friends and make some new ones.
    What a great birthday pic…full of love and happiness. The best way to start a new year.
    I’m still giggling at “the many moods of Eliott.”

  13. From that first baby-model photo on, I can’t stop grinning! Such a sweetie!! Birthdays & busy-ness… some of that here too (happy birthday to Joe!) though never on your scale! Soo envy you CGFF, every year their email flyers wind me up but it’s half a continent away so I’ve never made it yet, much as PDX is my go-to happy place. And I too love those pants!! (Also the sox to match!)

  14. wonderful happy photos. I am making NouveauNe for the coming baby of the daughter of, well, a very much missed friend; he died 8 years ago. Still hard, but we all keep going.

  15. Stories and photos of your sweet family make me smile.. How wonderful to have so many loved ones around to celebrate with…I have a very small family, and most are scattered now, and family gatherings are something I miss. Thanks for sharing yours.

  16. First – Happy birthday to Joe! Next – Lists are wonderful and I need them on a daily basis. Finally – your grandson is SO adorable that I would rank him right next to mine! What a coup – incredibly awesome grandboys that we have. Hugs to you, mostly because well, you’re YOU, and because you’ll need them even if they are virtual.

  17. That baby’s smile makes my heart sing!!! Thank you for sharing these photos. And Happy Birthday to Joe! Don’t panic. and always carry a towel! Happy travels!!

  18. What a cute Ewok!

    Mum mode on:

    As for you, I know you’re a grownup and can look after yourself, and I know that you thrive on activity– but I feel moved to say this anyway: Please look after yourself and don’t burn yourself out.

    OK, Mum mode is off now!

    I’m so glad you got to see Megan and Denny and that you had a fabulous time at Knit East! I would love to get there one of these years…

  19. What She said! ^

    And….well, you can’t outrun it, or even out knit it. Just take it as it comes. Although with Christmas season, I mean, manic-knitting-season, approaching, you might not see much of a slow down.

    Then again, there’s always the after-Christmas vacation, eh? 😉

  20. Happy Birthday to the amazing Joe – giving “Dude” more depth and meaning than even Jeff could.

    And I want your paisley pants.

  21. Had to look up “ewok”—great costume. Where did you get those pants? I’m thinking the flowery ones would look good on my legs………
    Baby hugs are the best panacea, I know from experience. Grandchildren just keep on giving with every breath they take.

  22. So where did you find your pants? Those are gorgeous!! (And the matching socks don’t hurt, either ;-))

    Congrats, too, on hanging in there, and on having the cutest knitwear and Ewok costume model EVER!! Not even a year old and the ladies are swooning….

  23. Did I tell you lately how much I love reading your blog. It puts some sunshine in my day. And in Ottawa today, it’s cold and wet.

    Adorable little knits for the little guy!

    Happy belated birthday Joe!

  24. Happy birthday to Joe. You are doing an admirable job staying busy since your Mum died. I find sometimes it’s a bearable loss and you feel they are there ‘but just in the next room’ as the poem says, and sometimes it will catch you as if it’s just happened. But I tell myself it’s inevitable and grief is the price we pay for love. Blessings to you lovely Steph.

  25. What an adorable Ewok! Happy Birthday, Joe . Hope it is a fantastic day. Elliot is growing so quickly! Love your knittef goodies and hoped all was well. Knew you were chasing planes. Don’t forget to breathe! I didn’t know that Denny and Megan 2 had moved. Time certainly changes everything! Hope you are doing well. I promise it will get easier as time goes by. Take care, The Blog missed you.

  26. Stephanie, I just want you to know I still make the Three Sisters Soup recipe you gave me ions ago for my blog request, waaaay back when. We have it every Hallowe’en. My “kids” have fond memories of having it every October 31st! And Denny!

  27. I think my ovaries just spontaneously re-activated from all the baby cuteness. My word, that is an adorable wee person.

  28. A few thoughts:
    Happy Birthday to Joe, belatedly.

    Elliott is perhaps the cutest baby I’ve seen in 23 years. (That was when my last was an infant.)

    I’m so envious you got to go to the Columbia Gorge because it’s so beautiful there even though you were very busy and occupied with yarn. (Maybe that should be “especially though”, actually.)

    Love the baby sweater and hat. Mind you, it’s hard not to love stuff for babies, though I can think of one slipper sock pattern that still gives me hives.

    Keep on keeping on and try to have a good time while doing so.

  29. Thank goodness that the cycle of life continues to mix celebrations in to our challenge!
    And is it just me, or does beautiful Elliot look like Megan?

  30. 1. HB2 Joe!
    2. Totally understand that you are too crazy busy to blog. However, how about posts just full of pictures of that adorable baby and his beautiful knitwear? That would be wonderful!

  31. Sending love, condolences and wishes for local comfort and lots of determination/strength AND time for hygge/fika.
    Your words make me wish I could give you a big hug… but not in a creepy way.
    Blessed be.

  32. Oh my, Elliot is adorable. That neck is begging for noisy kisses. Cutest Ewok costume I’ve seen.
    Happy Birthday Joe!
    Hugs & prayers, I love you like family even though I’ve only met you a handful of times.

  33. In addition to the cutest baby pictures ever, it was so nice to hear an update about Denny. I loved what you wrote about her hands in one of your books, and I sometimes wondered what had happened to her. Glad to read she is doing well.

  34. Elliot is just adorable–so expressive!! Keep those knits coming for him—it will be a long winter—grandchildren are such a precious gift! Happy Birthday Joe!!!

  35. Just to warn you, that if those owl buttons are the same as the ones I used on my grandson’s owligan, they are not chew proof. Apparently it took a lot of determined work when parents weren’t watching, but they can lose the owl picture.

  36. I saw you were at the Guggenheim . My son, Philip, was the curator of the Art in China exhibit. It was 5 years in the making and while it is controversial, we are very proud of him! On another note, very cute Ewok!

  37. Maybe someone has already asked, but where do you get your pants? Even though they aren’t my colors, I love the prints, so I’m hoping that where ever you bought them has something similar in other colorways. Thanks in advance!

  38. Eliot is an objectively cute baby. We used to wonder if my daughter was an objectively cute baby, or if we just thought she was cute because we were biased, and objectively, she was just average or below and we had no idea. Eliot is objectively cute. Seriously objectively cute.

  39. I must say, in the picture where Elliot is sitting up smiling, the very first thought I had was “Oh! He looks like Hank!” I am curious if anyone else had that thought? I always think of Hank as still being about 6 years old, enamored of yarn winders and too cute for words. I imagine he is all grown up by now.

  40. seven days late but nevertheless from the bottom of my heart: happy birthday joe and all my best wishes
    and elliot is such a cute wool modell
    never seen a sweeter ewok
    heartmelting
    lg birgit

  41. So nice to see Denny and Megan! I used to live in Erin ON, and frequented Lettuce Knit from time to time! Did a mitten workshop just to hang out with knitters! I had my youngest stepdaughter take a beginner knit class there! I was in TO June 2016, and new Kensington Market, was so very sad that the yarn shop had closed Thank you for posting the photo!
    Your grandson is adorable!

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