I had wanted to finally post about the baby sweater I've been working on for my friends Sarah and Shawn, whose baby Max was born just about 2 weeks ago.

I didn't want it to be this:

This might seem fine, but it's for a baby. Babies aren't quite the same as adults. Their bodies are still developing, and they don't quite know what to do with their hands. Sleeves are better if they stay out of the way a little, and rolling them up is not the look I was going for. The post-its for scale, if that helps.

The thing is, the body has been done for awhile now. I have had trouble with the sleeves because after the first one, I thought they wouldn't be wide enough. But this is worse, in a way, because there's no quick fix.

Well, I did think about just cutting the sleeves and picking up the stitches for the cuff, but I want this to be a nice sweater, not a sloppy hack job.

The sleeves are now converted to this:

I have some more knitting to do. Fortunately, it's fewer rows. Ah, there's a bright side if you look hard enough.

Well, I finished the first of my Sockapalooza Socks and cast on for the second:

Okay, this works for me. It's not the fastest pair of socks ever knit, but I'm just used to knitting such relatively small socks. My feet are size 9-1/2 and Walker wears a size 12, so all the socks I knit are pretty big. I also like a long cuff, but my pal requested cuffs not more than 4 inches.

I've actually knit a little more than this picture shows. I've started the pattern on the leg, so just about 3 inches before I start the second heel flap! I could finish these before the end of May. I have some"secret" (not for blogging) projects I would like to work on, but I will try to have things I can share going on, too.

I haven't really blogged about it, but I have been working on a baby sweater for my friend whose due date was Saturday. I finished the knitting, I just need to sew it up. Look for that maybe during the holiday weekend ahead.

Last weekend was my birthday, and we went up to the Muir Woods in Marin County. It was really nice to get out and spend some time in nature.

So it's a national park, but we saw so many people who were dressed for shopping in the city. I even saw a woman wearing high heels! There is a nice flat, paved path but still, it's not a mall. I was wearing jeans, a flannel shirt, and sneakers. But that's not such a stretch for me. Heh.

It was great to see nice big trees. My family did a lot of hiking and camping stuff when we were growing up, in forests similar to this one (without the paved paths). Moss and mushrooms and decaying trees ... makes me a little homesick for the Pacific Northwest.

Then there's this guy:

The pamphlet we got at the entrance had little blurbs about the plant and animal life, and I was looking all over for a Banana Slug. It was fairly warm, so I didn't think we'd see one. Yeah, I've seen slugs before, and I know they don't help in the garden, but out in the woods is just the place for them.

More sock comes forth.

I have been knitting this on the bus, crossing the Bay Bridge. I look out at the water, and I have waves in my knitting too.

My sock pal has smaller feet than me, so I'll finish this sock very soon!

I'm excited to be participating in Sockapalooza 4. I do have a stash of sock yarn, but my swap recipient deserves something special. I had wanted to try Lisa Souza's yarns, especially since she is local. The colors I wanted were in stock, and I got them just 2 days later!

The pattern is Child's First Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by the revered Nancy Bush. I love her sock books! This pattern is easy to memorize. I admit I adjusted the number of stitches I'm using to work on size 0 needles. I think this will make the socks a little more hard wearing. My sock pal asked for cuffs no more than 4 inches, so I'm already at the heel flap! Sweet!

A little more about the yarn; my pal prefers superwash, and this is a superwash wool & nylon blend with a little more overt color variation than Lorna's Laces. I think the weight of the two yarns is the same, but Lisa's is a little softer. I had to get another skein for myself as well. I love the Ginger Peach color, even though I'm not normally a "peach" kind of girl.