In Which the Pirate Takes a Preliminary Picture.

You wanted a picture, you get a picture! Here is the Shapeless Amoeba Baby Surprise Jacket just after the buttonhole row. I have five more rows to knit. The color is about right, I think, but the dark pink may be showing up a little more vibrant than it is in real life. I may have to invest in a better camera if I want to keep showing off my work, or maybe build a lightbox. Despite my frustrations with garter stitch, this is actually an easy knit and a cute little sweater. I’ll have enough yarn left over to knit a matching hat – the questions are 1) how big is a baby hat supposed to be and 2) will I have the time to get it done?

I do plan to knit the Baby Surprise Jacket again, and this is the next colorway, “Amarillo y Verde.” It’s more of the 100purewool worsted merino. Ideally, I’ll knit this up before I know that anyone’s expecting. It’s a nice, neutral baby color and then I’ll have it ready to give at a moment’s notice! (Not that anyone’s ever had a baby at a moment’s notice, really, but you know what I mean.) Also, I might enjoy knitting it up more if I’m not working with a deadline.

I’ve also got two skeins of this colorway, “Winter Joy.” I wasn’t expecting the green in it; the picture on the website only showed blue and brown. But I really like it and think it would be great for a baby boy, even with the green. The gauge I’m getting makes this a sweater for a 9-month old, so I guess these will only be good presents for a baby who’s born between March and May. That means if someone has an out-of-season baby, I’m going to have to come up with a totally different project to knit. Maybe a pair of cute pants? I’m not sure I ever want to knit a baby blanket again, unless it’s a really interesting pattern and a quick knit.

Because I’m showing off pictures already, here’s a long exposure of the moonrise from my front porch. I took a dozen of these pictures and this was the best one of the bunch. (Again, I may have to invest in a better camera.) You can’t quite see it in this picture because it’s out of frame to the left, but on a very clear night I’m able to see the Washington Monument on the horizon, about 40 miles away.