summer in New York

From where I'm sitting now-- a room on the 6th floor of an apartment building in Brooklyn-- I can hear live jazz. This is one of the things I love about living near a cultural institution: there are always things going on, most of them behind the trees but within hearing or smelling distance. Last spring the smell of lilacs wafted over from the Botanical Garden. Tonight it's jazz. My own personal concert.

This summer, it seems that everyone I know is having babies. Though I have yet to meet any of them, there are three (3!) new babies in my life since June 24. Another is due in August. Talk about pressure! I've already discussed the first baby, my nephew Alden, who will someday receive the Buncha Squares Blanket. It's now pieced together and I'm weaving in ends. And then I'll attempt an i-cord edging. Stay tuned.

The second baby, Alexander, belongs to Christopher's cousin. We will meet him in August when we go to Maine. I haven't yet made anything for him. Ideas? (I take suggestions and requests. Hint hint!)

The third baby, Ellery, belongs to my college friend Faye. Faye lives in New York and is the first of my closer friends to have a baby here. Her baby shower was on June 28, and I made a baby tank top for her, since they had been contemplating moving to Texas and I didn't want to risk making something the baby couldn't wear.

I chose Evita, a pattern I found on Ravelry, and used some Brown Sheep Cotton Fine from my stash (yeah, stash buster!) I'm actually not so crazy about pink on a baby girl (too cliche) but perk of using stash yarn outweighed that. The pattern was great, though I had some trouble understanding the lace pattern. The first 2 repeats of it on the bottom were kind of a muddle, so I emailed Sarah (who had just finished the same tank) and she helped me straightened it out. On the other side I tried to make it look similar. I don't think Faye noticed.
One thing I'm not crazy about with this tank is how uneven the stockinette stitch is. I really want to blame it on the yarn (which is 80% cotton and totally unforgiving). I also really want to like this yarn, since it comes in such great colors and is affordable and would be great for more baby things.

And baby number four... I actually made a pair of Elizabeth Zimmernan longies for her back in April, but they are enormous and would probably fit a 2 year old. So I'm regrouping, also with baby pants in mind. A different color, a different pattern... once I get the blanket done I can start on that.

PS. I forgot to mention that I joined the Tour de Fleece. I actually haven't started the challenge yet, which is why it hasn't come up. My goal is to spin the Shetland fleece that Tomo and I dyed back in May. It should be simple, but I have been having so much trouble finding time to spin recently that I kept my goal small.