Knots, Stash, and a Birthday Bash

The rayon shawls are progressing nicely, thanks to the wonderful Lia, who put aside her knitting for an entire evening to untangle a very ugly mess of Rick-Rack yarn. The yarn is gorgeous, but sooo very tangly! It was not the first time the yarn had snarled, which is not surprising considering it is a big project stuffed repeatedly into a little bag. Thank you Lia, it was very kind of you!

The shawls are now taller than me, which was my goal, but I just can't stop. Since I started to Stash Along, I want to use up as much yarn as possible. I don't want to leave a small ball of yarn without mates, or a project. I'm trying to use as much of it as possible. RickRack comes in one big ball, which is great, because I haven't had to weave in any ends yet, but it means that whatever is left, is, well, leftover. I figure that an extra few inches on the shawl is more preferable to a sad little ball of leftover yarn. I'm gonna see how close I can cut it...

The Stash Along is having side-effects. I started reading my stash of knitting books! They aren't just picture books! There's writing in them! Pretty interesting writing, as it turns out. Currently reading Wendy Knits, which is Wendy's knitting adventures interspiced with knitting patterns in increasing difficulty. Lia, Margie and I met Wendy, who was very friendly and lovely and signed my book before her talk so I could sneak out with the baby if I needed to, at her book signing at Loop in Philadelphia sometime last year. (I don't remember exactly when, because last year is still mostly a baby-induced blur.) I do remember eating some darn good Dim Sum beforehand in Chinatown, then a nice walk to the store.

We celebrated the Monkey's first birthday yesterday, with a mess of family and lots of noise. He was a little overwhelmed, and fell asleep instead of digging in to his birthday cake. A few hours later, we tried again. Success! His Grandmother made, not one, not two, but FOUR birthday cakes. One vanilla in the shape of a tractor, one chocolate Mickey Mouse, and two very beautifully decorated applesauce cakes with no eggs, as the Monkey has issues with eggs right now. He's working on the little applesauce cake (with blue icing) in the photo.

He was very tired from all the excitement, and slept, well, like a baby last night. That wouldn't be a big deal except this kid is not a sleeper. I think it was at least two months after he was born that he slept more than a couple hours at a time, and he had to be cuddled on his Daddy's chest to accomplish that. Currently, It is still the majority of nights that he sleeps awhile then is up to eat or play. Right now, he's on his second nap of the day, which most likely means we'll be eating more cake at midnight...

Well, I can't top a cute pic like that with talk of after-party cleaning (ugh!) so I just won't.