Big Softie meet Big Pooey

I've discovered that Indianapolis harbors two great knit shops.  And I take this time to confess the envy I have for my friends who live there!  Knit Stop and Mass Ave Knit Shop.  The websites articulate their differences quite well.  These two shops are night & day in comparison with eachother.  However, each has it's treasures to share!  After a brief sojourn in the city, I am thankful to have experienced both of these shops alongside my Martha Stewart friend :)  And I aim to make the trip again! 

At Mass Ave Knit Shop, Heather and I were bombarded with everything knitting.   The place was a lovely mess of yarn, knitters, patterns, and crates.   We took our time to soak in all that it had to offer and took  great delight in the quirkiness of it's owner--a spiky-haired woman in her fifties who spoke above her glasses and knew exactly where to dig up a pattern we were looking for.  Perhaps tackily, we left with free patterns & no purchases ;)

The pattern we were most excited about is called Baby Born.  It is a sweater that appeared in the 2001-2002 Winter issue of Interweave Knits.   Mass Ave. had it knit up and placed on a mannequin in their front window just above what appeared to be the baby section of yarn.   {Heather and I giggled about the organization of yarn in this shop...}  It's a cardigan sweater knit up in chunky yarn.   It caught my attention, knowing how quickly it would knit up {a matching hat is also included in the pattern}.  Plus, it looked super cute!

The yarn I've chosen is a periwinkle shade of big softie by Sirdar.  It is half wool, half acrylic--making it warm, durable, breathable and wearable.  Heather and I joked about having to choose a yarn that wouldn't result in a sweaty baby.  The last sweater I knit for Lily was done in 100% acrylic yarn, and she sweats like a marathon runner when wearing it...

So far I have completed the back, and the two front panels.  I am getting nervous because I only have 1 1/2 skeins left and two sleeves & a collar yet to complete.  Hmmm.....this may end up being sweater vest!  

What skills have I gained from working on this sweater?  I have learned how to bind off stitches in the middle of a row :)  This is not as scary as I once imagined, by the way!

And what is new in motherhood?

I've discovered that Lily is not ready for potty training :)  I figured as much, but have been testing her awareness lately.   Last night shed some light on the issue for us.   We have a training potty in the bathroom that she likes to sit on.  After sitting on it for awhile, I took her off and pulled up her pants [minus a diaper].  I then scooted her off to her nightly bath.  While drawing the water, Lily wandered in: she had pooed in her jeans.  The little angel had been waddling around like nothing happened, all the while pooing in her pants. And it was literally like 2 minutes after taking her off the potty! The most disgusting/amusing part is that I wasn't even aware until I stripped her down for the tub and noticed brown shmears on her legs.  Not only did she poo, but her momma dragged her through it as I removed her pants!    Clearly she is not ready to be potty trained as she was clueless to the stuffing between her cheeks ;)