Adina's Welcome

I finished another baby sweater. This one is for my cousin's daughter, Adina. I really love making baby stuff. You can get all the details and interesting construction of an adult garment but the nearly instant gratification of doing it on a much smaller scale.


I love so many things about this sweater, staring with the yarn. I used KP Swish DK in Tidepool Heather and I'd use it again. I chose it because it was superwash and offered many colors. I'm very into nontraditional colors for baby gifts and I think this fits. The blue-green is really nice but the heathering makes it truly lovely and soft. Speaking of soft, this yarn is really, really soft. It was perfect for the purpose.



The pattern is Baby Ferris by Norah Gaughan and it's been in my favorites for a really long time. When I finally started on it I was surprised to see that more knitters hadn't made it yet because it's vey cute. Then I started working on it and I'm thinking that the amount of finishing may be a turn off for many. This knits up in six pieces including 2 for the back. That's a lot of finishing and then there are the bands that get knitted on. I think the finishing took almost as long as the knitting.

But when the results are this cute isn't it worth it? Look at the shaping on the back. So sweet.



I really enjoyed knitting - and even finishing - this sweater. I think that the end result is worth any fiddliness and the instructions were very clear. There were only 2 places that I ran into trouble and I think that it has to do with sizing the pattern down (it was originally published as a child sweater). The sleeves are wrong. The pattern says to cast on using the larger needles and knit for 5 inches before picking up 50 stitches and knitting the sleeve. I couldn't do it. I tried. I wound up casting on with the smaller needles (I switched to the larger ones for the rest of the sleeves) and knitting a 6 inch strip. That allowed me to pick up the requisite 50 stitches and knit on happily. The other issue was seaming the sides. It just didn't match up quite right but I made it work.

Ten on Tuesday - 10 Favorite Easter/Passover Traditions

Once again Carole has come up with the pefect topic for a Tuesday - 10 Favorite Easter/Passover Traditions. It's all the more perfect for me because, for the first time in memory, I'm not doing any seders at my house at all. I was so gratified to have more than a few people express regret that they won't be coming to a seder at our house this year. It's nice to be missed. I'll need to remember this next year when I'm making myself crazy with preparations.

My family is actually having a completely non-traditional holiday in ways I'm not quite ready to share. It feels weird not to be busy changing my dishes and preparing a feast.

1. Filling the house with friends and family


2. Preparing the festive meal


3. Reading the haguddah around the table. There is lot's of giggling and discussion and it's all wonderful.


4. Spicing up the celebration with little extras like props, masks, articles, and atories


5. Setting the huge table with all the crystal and flowers and pretty things.


6. The stealing of the afikomen. The bargaining and the wheeling and dealing for a gift in exchange for it later.


7. The wine - 4 glasses. Make mine 4 full glasses please.


8. Making the charoses - wine and honey and apples and nuts. Yum!


9. The hard boiled eggs with salt water. - Yum again.


10. Really, all the food makes me smile. It's not until day 4 or 5 that the dietary restrictions of the holiday start to wear on me.

I can't wait to hear you're favorite holiday traditions.

Know Your Own Strength

Here was my husband Bruce last August wearing his new vest. Quite a bit has changed since then.


In January of this year my husband was selected from over 750 applicants to be one of 6 contestants in the Know Your Own Strength Challenge sponsored by Gold's Gym and the Washington Post. He was assigned to a trainer named Antonio (below left next to Jim Snow, the President of Gold's Gym) who worked him hard for 12 weeks.

It was a little weird because his progress and that of the other challengers has been appearing in the Tuesday issues of The Express. The first week caught me totally off guard when someone told me they saw my husband in the paper. I hadn't realized it was such a big deal.



Last Thursday night was the big reveal. All six of the contestants were given spa days and new clothes for the big day. Bruce got an amazing custom suit from Geoffrey Lewis Ltd. that he loves. We all gathered at the Washington Post offices for a lovely dinner and a celebration. Unfortunately my husband didn't take home the oversized check for $5000. He came in second and got a small gift from Gold's.

He is still a winner though because he lost 56 lbs during the challenge. 56! It's a big deal because he's still out of work and without the challenge he could easily have been sitting at home watching TV (more than he did anyway) and gaining weight. I call that a win.



Happily, although his pants are barely staying up - even with a belt, the vest still fits. It would truly suck if, after years on the needles, I finished it only to find it's way too big. That could change though because Gold's gave each contestant a year membership to continue their workouts.