The beauty of nature

Took the Girl to the Butterfly Place yesterday, where we got to see moths; (this guy was gigantic!)



butterflies;


(actually I think this one may have been a moth too)

and flowers;



I was unable to take a good picture of my favorite butterfly, it was mostly black with bright pink on its wings. It was fast too.

Here is a blurry approximation;



In knitting news, the Boy's wallaby is finally done. I'm so glad. I was getting really tired of this heavy cotton yarn. I love how it looks on him.



Details:

Pattern: The Wonderful Wallaby by Cottage Creations
Yarn: Plymouth Yarns Fantasy Naturale in color 9939
Started: 8/10/07
Finished: 9/27/07
Mods: I used a heavier worsted for this and ended up knitting the smaller size (4) on size 7 needles, and it's sized for a 6-7 year old.

FO; Children of the Lir

I finally finished the Children of the Lir stole, and I really love it.



I have to admit though, I'm not thrilled with the color. It's just not one I would have chosen, but it matches the dress I'll be wearing.

It also blocked out longer than I expected, but that's probably a good thing.



Wings of the Swan:



Specs:
Pattern: Children of the Lir Stole from Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls by Martha Waterman
Yarn: Indiecita Alpaca Sport
Needle size: 10
Started: July 2007
Finished: September 2007
Modifications: I didn't knit from the middle out, but end-to-end.

I'll post the action shots after the wedding.

Fait Accompli

Just a real quick FO: This adorable beret for the girl:

Pattern: Child's Play Beret by Laura Brown
Size: Child
Yarn: Moda Dea Silk 'n Wool Blend
Started: September 7
Finished: September 8

If I had it all to do again, I'd probably make it a bit bigger. The 8s were still in the Wallaby so I had to use some size 7s. I blocked it, and it seemed to fit, but I think it's still a bit small (she's got a wicked big head). I'm going to try and block it out bigger.

Still on the needles, the aforementioned Wallaby for the boy. I've attached the arms, and I'm on the raglan decreases. I haven't been knitting this one much. *yawn*

Also OTN, the Children of the Lir Stole for the October wedding. I'm trying to give this one my complete attention since it's less than a month away at this point. I'm about halfway done. I'll start really working it now. Here's an updated picture (I really hated that dark photo):

This color is all wrong, it's much darker in person.

And lastly, surprisingly this is my "mindless" knitting project. I never thought I'd consider Entrelac mindless, but it kind of is, once you're on one section. You can zone out and do that one section till it's done and you don't need to look at the pattern.



I'm using the Danica pattern from the Winter '05 Knitty, only I'm not changing colors. I'll let the yarn do that, thank you very much.

Or should I say merci beaucoup?

Oui.

She did it!

I rolled the dice and put the girl to bed last night for the first time without a pull-up on. She had been staying dry at night for a while, so I figured that it was time. This morning we ran errands for a couple of hours with no accidents. My girl is officially potty trained. I wish I could take some credit, but she did it all on her own. I guess girls really are easier.

I also gave her a haircut for the first time. Here she is rockin' the Shirley Temple look.



Knitting? Yeah, I still knit. I'm at the point in the Boy's wallaby where I wish someone would just come over and knit it for me. This is when the project gets super boring, but before the point where you know that you're almost finished and get a surge of knitting for the homestretch. I have a great idea for a new reality show; WIP Swap. You trade a boring ongoing project with another knitter, knit on their boring-ass project for a while, then you realize that the project you loved is the one that was right in front of you the whole time and you just took it for granted. No? Maybe Fox would air it. They put a whole lotta crap on television.