Heat, nativity sets, and knitting abound

Bet you missed me. ;-) And so I return from my long weekend home. And doing so makes me appreciate my wonderful husband all the more. Our children are a handful, and he has them all day every day. Add to that the fact that we're finally experiencing some summer weather, and being home during the day can be a bit of a challenge.

It doesn't matter how hot Anne is, she does NOT slow down. She has *so* much hair, and she gets totally sweaty because she does nothing but run around and get into things. She also climbs on things. opens drawers and cupboards, and throws her baby dolls around when she's mad. Those long suffering baby dolls. But we're hanging in there.

Despite the heat, I've been knitting like an old lady with a lot of time on her hands. My sister is having twins, and this has sent my knitting into overdrive. It's hard to keep up with this demand! :) But I finally finished the baby knitting (well, almost) and so I moved onto some gift dishcloths. Dishcloths are wonderful summer knits. The cotton doesn't get all sticky when your hands sweat (I know, lovely) and it doesn't stick to my wood needles. I whipped out two this weekend, and am moving on to some new ones for our kitchen. Some of our old dishcloths have seen better days:

"Sweetie, I think there's something terribly wrong with that dishcloth you made."

"What do you mean?"

"Well. Just go into the kitchen."

"Oh, oh my."

Granted, it's the summer, so even the more heroic of dishcloths will start to stink after a time. But this is that the dishcloth is pressed into service for a mere 12 hours and the kitchen smells like someone died in there. Good Lord. I've switched yarn, and the yarn that I use now is much superior in this regard: Knit Picks Dishie. I'm currently knitting this lovely set of reversible dishcloths, and the designer has a free pattern available from this collection. They turn out very pretty and scrubby.

Anyway, I did take Henry to the Christian gift store last week, and we ogled the nativity sets. Naturally, his favorite was the lighted stable with 5" nativity figurines. At the store it was $175, but I see on the Fontanini site that it's $135 (and it includes 2 sheep!). At any rate, expensive. :) I did have a fun time shopping with him in there. He picked out a few of those little St. Joseph booklets and a St. Michael prayer card and we left the $175 nativity set in the store. I would like to explore getting him a set for Christmas. We'll see...

Oh, lol. Poking around on the Fontanini site is very cute and fun. "5" Three Kings Accessories Set: Camels not included."

*snort*

Dishcloths!

I've been knitting up a storm in the evenings lately after the kids go to bed, and my latest obsession is dishcloths. Because they're so very exciting, you know.

I like dishcloths because they're quick and easy, they're practical, they make great gifts, and plus I'm starting to think about spring and cotton is on my mind. We needed some new ones, since our current batch are starting to look raggedy, and so away I went.

I'm using Knit Picks Dishie worsted weight cotton, and I have to say, I love it. It's very tightly spun and has a nice drape to it. AND there are *tons* of dishcloth patterns out there for free. I'm currently making a waffle knit dishcloth and it's creating a nice nubby fabric, perfect for scrubbing dishes.

Oh oh! AND this is my new favorite. :) I found a designer yesterday via Ravelry that I'm terribly excited about. She has a great blog for free cloth and baby bib patterns. Baby bibs are another great use of cotton that I hadn't thought of before! Shazzam! More Anne knitting, plus some gift knitting. I love having new projects. Just use the right menu on her blog to link to the patterns. She has lots of patterns with animals on them, a washcloth with coordinating bib. Monkeys, koalas, baby birds, a seahorse, the possibilities are endless. For Anne, there is a cupcake bib. :) Because I have such a cupcake thing with her. I could knit her cupcakes until she graduates from high school and never tire of it. Although I'm certain that *she * will.

My Knit Picks cart overflowth, and yet I keep adding more cotton. Oh well. My birthday is coming up, and I deserve something nice, no?