Knit Sweater: Check

I previewed earlier my first attempt at knitting sweater. And I am happy to report back my success! The sweater turned out as perfect as could be, and Jessica looked absolutely adorable. But before I unveil our star-baby for this evening, I will first take you on a trip down the path of The Pale Gardener's brain to see how I managed to creatively see how the sweater would fit just right.

I had the whole cute little thing done but it was hard to imagine what it would look like on the little one and I wanted to make sure one size wasn't sticking out all weirdly or that one arm wasn't shorter than the other. So I thought about it and realized Walter, my stuffed turtle, would do just fine as a stand in model for Jessica.

Now Walter, don't be shy...

I was so happy! It fit Walter perfectly...and I was pretty sure he was about the same size as the human baby Jessica. Let's see...

Even if it only fits her for two weeks, it looks so awesome! This little girl was so fabulous in her new sweater. It was particular helpful when we went to San Francisco where it was a bit windy and chilly.

Overall, the sweater was not too terribly difficult. I knit the entire back and then the two front pieces. Then I bound them together at the shoulder and began the hood off the back piece. Then with some clever understanding of the instructions I knit the sleeves directly off the back piece and the front piece and tada! Lastly I knitted a really neat button and I crocheted a buttonhole and attached those to the sweater:


The button was quite simple, I just knit a 4" long and 1/2" wide strip and then tightened it back on itself and secured the back. I did a simple slip stitch? (I believe that's what it was, this was my very first time crotcheting and I'm still a bit shaky on terminology) for the buttonhole latch and then sewed it onto the sweater. Very simple, and easy to maneuver with a small, wiggly child.

So obviously it wasn't all bing-bang-boom here's your sweater. There were many frustrations, and removing of stitches. I think the hardest part was trying to decipher the pattern directions. Every book and every author writes patterns differently and many times, at least to me, it seems written in a totally foreign language. And because I am so new to knitting, I haven't quite pinned down the typical patterns so I find it difficult to visualize the finished product after reading the sometimes quite bizarre instructions. Fortunately for me, I had my knitting professional, (AKA Mom), at hand to show me exactly what the heck was going on. I learn better by watching someone do it, and not by reading the technique.

So here I am! Full fledge into the knitting world. I'm not too sure what my next project will be. The Boy's roommate knits a lot and she told me about a hat that does not involve knitting in the round. I know I will have to eventually learn how to do that scary task, but I'm one of those dip my feet into the pool-type people so I may try this first before diving into the deep end. Plus, it will give me a chance to work on neat patterns and ribbings.

Check out some more pictures from my trip to California. It has been frigid here in New York so take a look at these to warm up your bones.

Thank You For Flying With Us Today...

Sadly, I am back from my adventure out to beautiful Napa, California. To say the trip was absolutely wonderful would obviously be an understatement.
While I get over jet lag, being on a plane for six hours, and having to eat nothing but those 100 calorie Nabisco snacks (that's what happens when you fly the cheap airline, my friends) - here is a little preview of what's to come:


There is some of this...


and some of this...


and of course lots of this...

A New Future Gardener Joins the Family!

Here is the newest part of our family, my beautiful niece! (So weird to say that! I am a first time aunt, if you couldn't tell.)
She was born July 28th (the day I predicted, by the way!) and very happy and healthy. Momma and Poppa are doing great as well!
We had a great time out in the western part of the U.S. I had never been to the upper midwest and we were able to drive right through it. Very nice. Here's a taste of some of the great views we had as we drove my little Scion xD across the ol' USA.

North Dakota

Enchanted Highway, North Dakota

rest stop in Montana

Coeur D'Alene, Idaho

Coeur D'Alene, Idaho - sunset

And one more picture of that little cutie:

one of my favorite pictures of the little girlie

So there is a little taste of how I spent six days in a car and five days in a two bedroom house with an infant. Oh wait, that may have sounded bad...

Head over to my Flickr to see some more pictures of the little cutie.

So right now I am still living out of boxes, pretty much living in two different places, trying to sign up for a class that I probably won't be able to get into because I slacked on the whole matriculation thing, cats and dogs are living together. It's just insanity, really.
This all means, blog time has become non-existent at the moment so bare with me as I piece my world back together. I promise, when I am bored this winter and not taking classes because everyone and their mom is going to community colleges - I'll be blogging up this whole world wide web, yo! Yeah!


Nerd...


Til' next time, my blogger buddies.

Back from the West!

Hello fellow readers!

I am back from my journey across the U.S.!
My new niece is a wonderful, adorable, poopin' machine and, hey, she's named after me, so she's on the right track so far! ;)

I'll post a picture of the little cutie soon and I will update everyone on what has been going on in the garden this past...month...yikes!

In the meantime, I'm sure you're all aware of the horrendous amounts of rain we've received here in the Northeast. It has been terrible, really. We have gone from rain almost everyday to upper 90's and humid. So the exact opposite of what makes happy little plants. It has been a rough year, but we'll gather up some highlights, I promise it's not all bad!

While you wait, here's an interesting article about the blight and how the "Walmarts" of the world are contributing to the problem.

Road Trip!

Today is the due date of my first niece! (It is also my brother's birthday and my uncle's birthday, weird)
Though, little Jessica will probably wait another few days...
I however, cannot wait, so let's get here already!

Meanwhile, this is what I will be doing soon...


View Larger Map


And boy am I excited for a road trip. My Mama and I will be taking a few days and hopefully enjoying some sights along the way.
I could be gone any day now so wish us luck and hope for a happy, healthy, little baby girl!

What's That Saying About Losing Your Head if it Wasn't Attached to Your Neck?

Alright I'm just going to get it all out there...

Blogs will be few and far between the next few weeks. Many a things are taking up my life these days:

1) I moved.
2) I now live in a house so this blog's theme could get a little tricky.
3) I do not have a computer at my new home yet and who knows when that will happen. (I'm holding out for a Mac so we'll see when I can get myself one of those expensive little devices.)
4) I am going to be Aunt Jessica in t-minus any day now!
5) The above means I will be driving 2,000 miles across the country any day now.
6) The above two mean this here blog will be the least of my brain waves for a while! (Sorry Blog World)

What else?

Well as far as the Apartment Garden goes it is now taking up residence over at my new house, joining its friends in the E.S. Garden. My tomato plant ripened its first tomato! My big mouth was halfway into the delicious, little morsel when The Boy kindly asked if I wanted to document this occasion with a picture. It was too late. The tomato was heading towards its fate. I promise I will restrain myself the next time.
Everything else will be planted in the ground to enjoy the second half of its life being able to stretch their roots a bit more.
I'll do a round-up of the Apartment Garden successes and failures when I return from the land of...hmmm not sure quite yet. I'll let you know that one too.