More Weekend, Please

This is a delightful time of year to me. The weather is perfect--warm during the day but cooling off at night. The sun is hanging around longer and longer -- last night I read on the porch until nearly 9. Humidity is creeping up, but it's not unbearable yet. Windows are open, letting in lots of fresh air. The pollen has died down. If only it could be May forever. Yay outside time.

I had two fun events this weekend, both involving being outside and both involving alcohol with lunch. Even the furious thunderstorms on Saturday afternoon didn't deter too much fun! Not when there's a baby shower to be had. I busted out some craftiness and whipped up some freezer-paper onesies:

The baby's gender is uncertain, so I stayed away from flowers or anything that could be construed as gender-specific. Kansas (bottom center) represents the parents' home state, and a turtle to represent their new state (Maryland terrapin). Plus some farm animals because the new mom grew up in a very rural setting. The onesies were well-received and I look forward to seeing the baby in them!

But because babies grow up so fast, I also wanted to clothe the baby in the winter. A little stash-diving and some pattern research yielded this:

Baby Wedge Sweater
Pattern: Bo from Rowan Babies
Yarn: Jaeger Aqua, less than 3 skeins of blue and about a half-skein of brown
Size: 6-12 months (second size)
Needles: US4 for ribbing and US5 for body
Modifications: I modified the neck partly, extending the ribbing all the way up instead of switching to stockinette for a rollneck. Also, the pattern is written for one color, but I wanted to throw in some stripe action. (And blue/brown is a favorite combo of the mom-to-be, so I figured it would be okay for a girl or a boy.)

Other than that, I knit the pattern as written, but in a cotton yarn. (It's written for Rowan Wool Cotton). The mom-to-be is sensitive to some wools, so I wanted to make sure that this would be wearable by baby. Plus, this way it's machine washable and dryable.

On Sunday, after a gathering, we took Sam for a long walk and then puttered outside a bit. He's getting so big (and he's ALL leg). This week marked a couple of new milestones for him. He jumped up onto the couch without help (and then looked startled that he'd actually done it!). He also slept TEN hours on Friday night, not waking up until he heard us at nearly 10. (Thanks puppy!) We've made great strides in fetch, and he now will retrieve the tennis ball and bring it back four or five times before he gets too tired. Evening fetch is a great habit we've gotten into.

Here are some gratuitous Sam pictures.

Laying waste to a box (cheap and easy puppy toys!):

And then, when done, eyeing me warily to make sure he wasn't going to get in trouble: