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Knitting

On my needles: Fort sweater

July 26, 2014
brooklyn tweed fort sweater

Back in May some my favorite knitting friends on Instagram (@byannieclaire and @karentempler) began putting together a KAL (knit-along) centered around knitting a sweater for your man, deemed #knittingforhimalong. Karen wrote a lovely post here and here about the KAL as well as some really helpful sweater knitting tips and tricks.

I recently finished my first adult sized sweater which also happened to be only the second thing I’ve ever knitted for myself. Similarly, I have never knit something for my husband David, though have wanted to for a long time, but struggled with finding something he really liked the design and style of. With the start of this KAL, we spent several nights looking over patterns and finally settled on Fort, a Brooklyn Tweed pattern and chose a gorgeous dark blue shade of Brooklyn Tweed’s Shelter.

My initial plan was to begin this sweater as I was working to complete my own sweater, but I just couldn’t make myself do it. I know it sounds funny to many, but I’ve always been a monogamous knitter for fear I’ll lose interest in one of the projects and not finish them. (In recent weeks I’ve taken a leap and started a second WIP…more on this later.) So I got a little late start, but on a recent road trip I managed to swatch and make some progress on this lovely beast of a sweater (K2, P2 x 1 million rows). 🙂 It’s going excellent so far, I’m in love with Shelter and the stitch definition is really beautiful. David approves wholeheartedly and we’re excited for those freezing San Francisco Winters when he can wear it. Totally kidding, but surely there will be plenty of opportunities in this sweater’s life for loving wear. 🙂

Make sure to follow along on our KAL journey on Instagram, #knittingforhimalong

Brooklyn Tweed Shelter old world

KAL knittingforhimalong brooklyn tweed swatch

KAL knittingforhimalong brooklyn tweed fort sweater

 

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Finger foods: Dining with a toddler

April 12, 2014

finger-foods
Dining with a baby, now almost toddler has been enlightening. I often like to say that having Coltrane actually saves us money, because if he weren’t here, chances are we would be eating out nearly every night like we used to. We cook a lot more at home now than we ever have before and it’s been better on the budget and our buns.

When Coltrane was about 4 or 5 months he became a challenge at restaurants. Where he would have previously just slept or snacked his way through dinner, he became increasingly harder to entertain and often overstimulated. Until he was about 9 months, we rarely if ever ate out. Nowadays we get out a little more often, and when we do we have our routine down to a science. It’s a tag team circus of sorts.

Here are a few tips…

1. Ditch the gargantuan stroller. Nobody like a stroller in a restaurant. Opt for wearing your little one in a carrier or getting a stroller that folds down very small. We have the Quinny Zapp and it is amazing how small it folds down. We usually just tuck it away at the entrance or under our table.

2. Order a bowl of fruit or steamed veggies when they ask for drink orders. This ensures you have finger food and entertainment for them asap. It’s always smart to have snacks in your bag I guess, but so often he would get bored with those. It helps if you’re familiar with baby led weaning as well. We did BLW and so finger foods worked great at a younger age.

3. Spoons are your friend. Watch them carefully of course, but don’t underestimate the entertainment a spoon can give.

It doesn’t work perfectly all the time, but it has allowed us to explore some of the great restaurants San Francisco has to offer. I started this “Finger Foods” photo series because I adore his chunky little fingers and wrists and hope never to forget them. It’s also incredible to watch a little human discover and enjoy so many different foods for the first time.

Bon Appétit!