Pants and more

i love these pants. they are too darn cute. i knitted the first pair (the darker of the two) months ago, i fell in love with the picture in the book last minute knitted gifts. i placed the second unwashed pair at its side to illustrate that denim yarn really does shrink in length, not really in width. the dark washed pair faded very little, but feels sturdy and durable, ready to take on the rigors of a rolling baby boy. it is a fun and quick pattern that literally flies of the needles. i did not modify the pattern, but used the magic loop method throughout in order to keep the stitches even with little pulling. i have rarely used multiple needles to knit smaller items, i just seem to lose stitches at the needle junctures.
yesterday was a beautiful day, just a bit crisp and cool with plenty of sunshine liberally dousing my lounge chair. i heave-ho'd myself out onto the lounger for a morning knit session while my mama gardened and meesh chased random airborne items, everything from busy bees to my mom's lavender clippings. i brought the print o' waves piece out with me and knit a bit of sunshine into its panel. in the previous post i abbr. the wip to read pow which seems kinda wrong so i will muster up a different moniker, one not so, um, disturbing.

i love this piece and find knitting it to be soothing and enjoyable. the lace has a good balance of repetition to variation of stitches and, once established, requires little reference to pattern. for those of you out there that think lace too challenging, i highly recommend you rethink your position. the first lace i tackled was at the hem of this piece. i remember staring at the pattern wondering what i was supposed to do. but once you cast on, away you go. lace reveals itself and takes a different type of patience. there is a great beginner project in LMKG (yes, my latest obsession but not my last). it is a pretty and quick piece to get one comfortable with the concept of yo (yarn overs) and decreases, which is really what lace is all about. also check out this tutorial by eunny (i miss eunny, does anyone know if she is out there?). i really recommend it for those of you that want or need a bit of meditation time in life, that is what it has developed into for me.

onto another subject, i had a bit of a discussion/rumination regarding whether i would be including the beans in my posting after their delivery. it did take a little bit of consideration, but i know how much i love to view the blogs from mommies that have their beautiful little ones sporting their handknits or the ones that post those moments of magic, and i decided i want to be a part of them. for the most part, knitting blogs seems like a fairly insulated society and a really appreciative one at that. we are lucky enough to receive a routine 4D ultrasound every four weeks to track the development of the beans. our most recent was about two weeks ago and we met our little boys for the first time. it is amazing (and a little weird) that we can now watch their world inside the womb, meeting them before they ever come breathe our air. here is a little collage of some ultrasound pictures, i love looking at them. it is amazing the fierce rush of maternal feelings that hit when i see them. They have already received their first mama instructions consisting of a firm "babies, stay in!", wish us luck in this endeavor. and thanks to all those who have sent their well wishes our way, we love and cherish them.