Monday, January 20, 2014

catching up

Hope your 2014 is off to a good start! We're a little slow off the mark here, as I'm adjusting to being back at work, navigating the intricacies of daycare, muddling through Erik's first cold (poor pumpkin!), and surviving the polar vortex with a wee one.

More handknits in action!
 Erik keeping warm in his Baby Sophisticate cardigan

 Nothing beats getting wrapped up in a cozy leaf blanket!

Mary from my knitting group made this for him, and it's absolutely darling.

Mama in her Aidez cardigan, Erik in his Puerperium, and Papa in his favorite flannel shirt. Looks like someone needs a handknit sweater. : ) 

Erik pumping iron while wearing his Easy Baby Cardigan (now sadly felted after an accidental trip through the dryer)

 tummy time in his ill-fated cardigan (btw, I was skeptical of this sweater when it came off the needles, but the fit was great and it looked good on him).

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I have been knitting a bit -- the Honey Cowl is the perfect pattern for this tired mama. Not too complicated, easy to pick up or put down when a squawk comes over the baby monitor, and I love how the Briar Rose yarn is knitting up (Celebration, a merino/bamboo blend with a nice sheen).

Cooking, on the other hand, has been going full-force chez Caffeinated Yarn. Some recent favorites:

- split pea soup
- seriously healthy 4-bean chili
- West African peanut soup

9 comments:

krayolakris said...

Love these pics!! Someone is very photogenic :)

barefootrooster said...

Hi! These pictures are wonderful. And oh my goodness, that leaf blanket is the cutest. Hope all is going well with settling into a 2014 routine. And hellos from me and Boh to all of you!

Tracy Altieri said...

Glad to see some updated photos of your little boy! I bet that it is cold there again today!

Hilary said...

Ahhh, what a beautiful family! I love the photo of all of you. And Erik looks like such a Viking baby! :) Going back to work/navigating daycare is SO hard. But you'll get into the swing of things soon. And the colds are the worst! Poor little dude. (In my experience, daycare provides a great workout for little immune systems! :) )

BCGramma said...

Love the pictures, Erik is a cutie, especially in all the handknits!
I make a stew very similar to the African Peanut soup, in fact it's on the stove as I write. Do you think I could leave out the meat out of the 4 bean chili and not have much of a flavor difference? It sounds yummy and I am always on the hunt for vegetarian chili recipes.

Stephanie said...

Erik is one of the best handknit models! It's so hard to get good photos now that Emma runs all over, but is too young to understand posing for the camera.

Best of luck with the transition back to work. It does take some time to get used to a new schedule. IMHO, flexibility is a big key to parenting.

Easy knitting FTW! I'm still mostly in that mode with an almost 19 m old. ;-) (sjn821 on Rav)

Jodi said...

Hey, BCGramma,

The chili is great without the meat! I essentially made the entire recipe vegetarian at first, then added browned ground beef to half the batch and cooked it separately in the crockpot for the meat-eaters. Both versions were good! I added some extra spices, too -- cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, chipotle chile pepper, and ground New Mexico green chile pepper.

Jody said...

Erik is such a cute baby. So nice to see babies in handknits. Look forward to seeing him grow. Glad you have time for a little knitting, just what you need.

peaknits said...

Well 2013 was good, baby Eric is a doll and you guys make a lowly family! I hope 2014 is off toa. Good start, I have been doing lots of knitting, a relief after being unproductive in the yarny sense last year:)