Snow!

We woke up under a blanket of snow this morning and it's been pretty steadily snowing since then (3 hours). It's pretty stunning and very unlike the Willamette Valley, especially at this time of year. The blueberries have already started getting their leaf buds for this season. I hope this doesn't set them back.

The first baby knitting is done. It became a bit of an imperative urge last week so I rooted around in the stash and the patterns. Having an infant born at the end of summer does put a little cramp into a mommy knitter's potential plans...

This is Debbie Bliss' Hooded Kaftan knit in Touche by Berocco. It's knit using the stitch count for the smallest size (3-6 mo.) but my gauge made it fit the measurements for the 6-9 mo. size, which was what I was after. I'm hoping that a late August Oregonian baby will be able to wear it at least some point during his/her first winter/spring. Since it's a cotton rayon blend it won't be very warm, which allows it to be a layer in our rare super cold weather but also stretches its season out to spring and fall.

Knitters, if you ever make this pattern I found that I was very pleased by the results of avoiding seams by

1) Knitting the body in the round (after the bottoms were done up to the slit)

2) Not casting off shoulder stitches but using Kitchener stitch to weave them together

3) Not casting off the back hood stitches but keeping them on a holder and picking up the additional 10 stitches at the back when I started hood knitting

4) Not casting off the top of the hood but using my old friend Kitchener stitch to weave the two sides together

5) Knitting the sleeves in the round

With these simple modifications to the simple pattern, I only ended up having to sew armhole seams. To me, avoiding seams (which I do find extremely tedious to sew) also makes garments more comfortable because they aren't as bumpy.

And speaking of bumps, here's mine. I'm only at 13 1/2 weeks and I know I "shouldn't" be showing but, there you have it. :) I hope this doesn't portend too much "big as a house-ness" later on.