We’d been looking forward to going to the corn maze all week.  This corn maze is part of the Denver Botanical Gardens, and it covers 8 acres.  The weather was beautiful today.  Sunny and in the 60s.

Here we are looking forward to our corn maze adventure.  Except – notice on the right side the sign for “free bubbles”.   Davey quickly noticed the kids and the bubbles.

We promised that we’d play in the bubbles after we finished the maze.  He agreed that that would be fine.  He was ready to explore the maze.

Once he got in there though, all he wanted to do was pick up and play with the ears of corn which were scattered all over the place.

We started trying to make our way through the maze.  We realized that the top of our ticket stub had a small map of the maze.  I really thought it was more of a decorative element on the ticket than anything very useful.  But it was all we had.

We came upon an observation tower and decided to take a look.  Note David’s expression.  Davey is just looking for more corn, and he is starting to talk about those bubbles.

We thought the observation tower would provide a bird’s eye view of the entire maze.  Not sure what we were thinking.  Here’s what we saw:

But we knew we had to venture back in, so off we went.

We wandered around trying to reconcile where we were with our 2 inch square decorative map.   Davey was still looking for corn, and he was becoming pretty adamant about the bubbles.   He also asked us if we were lost.  I tried to reassure him that we were just trying to solve a puzzle, but I am not sure he bought it.  Having a 2 year old following behind us with an armful of corn, demanding bubbles, and asking repeatedly if we were lost was not helping our ability to focus.

Then a group of Boy Scouts with their Leaders passed us.   We heard them say something about having been in the maze for 3 hours.  It was at this point that David started mumbling about making a beeline for the tall fence that bordered the maze.  He figured that he could climb the fence, and then I could lift Davey to him.  And what about me?   I am not much of a fence scaler.  But before David had to resort to leaving me behind, we happened on a group of people who seemed to know what they were doing.

Davey had pretty much given up.

The Boy Scouts came by again and kind of joined up with this group.  We looked diligently at our thumbprint map and thought really hard, and attached ourselves to that group.  Within ten minutes we were here:

As you might imagine, we exited.  Quickly.

Davey was thrilled. He headed straight for the bubbles.

David joined in as well.

Davey had a great time.

So the bubbles were a huge success.  The corn maze?  Well… it was a beautiful afternoon, and it was fun to be together,  but I am not sure that corn mazes are for us.

I finished the Quickie socks last night.   What a fast and fun knit.  These would make great gifts as they do knit up fast, and it’s an easy but interesting knit.  Of course what made it even more fun was using the Springtree Road handspun yarn.   Next, I’d like to try some handspun fingering weight!

David said I should try a different sock pose, so I teetered around on my toes for as long as I could.  I was never a ballet dancer.

Davey sat in the grass with me.  It really warmed up here today.  It may be one of the last warmer days of the year.

Since it might be one of the last warm days, we went outside and had a picnic for lunch.   This afternoon we baked cookies.  Davey helped me tons.  We had to squish each one with a glass dipped in sugar.  He was great at this.

Then he helped decorate.  He was in charge of sprinkles.  He had a very interesting technique.  I call it the two-handed sprinkle.

These cookies are too crumbly good.

So here’s what is up next in socks.   They are called “Toe to Toe”.  More colorwork – with 3 colors this time. I am using a Knit Picks cotton yarn though.  It worked great for the bobble socks, but I am not 100 percent confident how it will be for fair isle.  I’ll soon find out.   Here’s the colors.  I do like them a lot.

Davey is running up and down the hall as fast as he can go.  He’s been funny with his past tense lately.  Life would be easier as far as verbs go if we could just follow the “Davey rule”.  Just put “TED” at the end of a verb if you want to make it past tense.

Here are a few examples:

“Daddy, I break TED it.”

“Mommy, I lost TED it.”

“Mommy, I miss TED you”  (Particularly sweet sounding.)

Happy Weekend!

Today we’ve explored the Red Rocks area in Morrison.  David did his first trail run this morning while Davey and I went to the Red Rocks Amphitheater  and looked around.  I never knew the red rocks were there.  It’s a beautiful area.

Davey and I were driving around the area at first looking for the best place to stop and explore.   There was a parking area up a ways near a geologic marker.  We decided to drive up there.  It was kind of steep and switchbacky and Davey said he was scared and wanted to turn around.  I didn’t tell him, but I totally agreed, and we worked our way back down.  We ended up walking around the amphitheater and went to the trading post.  He enjoyed that.

David met us after his run and we walked around a little more.

This afternoon we went back, and I walked this Red Rock trail while David and Davey played.  It was beautiful.  The trail is open and runs along the foothills.  I couldn’t go on a trail that ran through the woods.  Not by myself.  My imagination would be right there with me scaring the crud out of me.  Open range I can handle.   Davey had fun walking up part of the trail himself.

I love his little shadow!

I am almost halfway done with my second sock, so I thought I’d post a quick little post before I return to my Quickie Socks.

One reason I love to blog is to preserve my Davey stories.

The other day when I was at school, Davey asked David why I was working.

David told him that I was working to make money to help buy food and clothing and the things we need.

Davey thought about that for a little while and then said, “Daddy, you can have all the money in my piggy bank to help buy food.”

Several times since then he has told me that he wants a job too so that he can help buy food.  It’s these times that he wants to be “big” so badly.  He can turn very quickly though, and suddenly he’s more than ready to say, “Mommy, I want to stay little.”

Tonight we had dinner at a little pizza place.  We were eating our pizza, when Davey suddenly scrunched up his face very expressively and said, “I have to tinkle!”  So David scoops him up to take him to the bathroom.  We are encouraging him, “Yay Davey!  Way to go”, and he very proudly and very loudly exclaimed, “I AM POTTYTRAINED!!!”

Unfortunately, it proved to be a false alarm, but he is getting closer and closer.

Davey’s asleep now as is David.  (David is taking his nightly nap which often happens as he helps Davey get to sleep.  Sometimes we all fall asleep in the process.)  It’s time for me to finish that sock!

I finished my first Quickie Sock last night.  The pattern is aptly named.  This sock went so quickly, and it was really fun to do.  What makes it more fun is the handspun that I am knitting with.  It’s really nice.  I’ve been warned by Maya who spun the yarn, that I better keep these socks far far away from the washer and dryer, because it would be felt city.  We’ve already discussed the alternate plan that they might turn into Davey’s socks!

My photographer is at school this morning, and Davey was not too excited about assisting me, so I was on my own photo wise.  I’ll get better pictures when I am done with both socks.

This sock has a really fun toe.  I always say I like to Kitchener stitch the toe, but on this toe you decreased and then threaded a piece of yarn through the last 8 stitches and pulled it tight.  (It suggested doing this last round with a smaller needle for a neater finish so I did that.)  I really like this toe.  I really like the fit of the short row heel as well.

Davey and I also put together a haunted gingerbread house yesterday.  He has been wanting to do this for months ever since he first saw a kit at his Nanny and Pa’s house.  So we decided to give it a whirl.

So here we have everything out ready to go.  Davey likes studying all the different pieces.

He loved adding all the candies, and he wasn’t afraid to get creative with their placement.

He worked very carefully.

One of his favorite parts was adding the grass.  He loved mixing the green food coloring into the coconut.  I actually did the mixing.  He loved watching the color mix in.  He has a fascination with coconut.  This morning he came out of the kitchen clutching the bag of coconut.

And finally he just enjoyed admiring his handiwork.

He’s already talking about starting the next house.

The Breakfast socks are behind me, and it is time to start the next pair in The Joy of Sox.  This pair is all one color!  They are knitted in worsted weight in size 5 needles (compared to the fingering weight and size 1-2 that most of my other socks are knitted in.)

This yarn is handspun and dyed by Maya of Springtree Road.  It is BFL wool (Bluefaced Leicester) and the colorway is called Haven.  It’s so nice to work with. Of course I am always drawn to greens.  These socks are moving along so fast.  Yesterday I knit the heel and started working into the foot.

Notice the heel?  I am quite proud to share my first attempt at a short row heel.  I looked up a video on youtube about doing a wrap and turn short heel, and I found a great one that walked me right through it.  Easy as pie.  The only downside is that I am not too good at keeping track of my wrapped stitches, so I have to write it down and really count.  When I do a regular heel with the heel flap and gusset, I can see that hole that shows up when I need to turn.  But I imagine that with practice, I will become adept at seeing where I need to turn.

I can’t say yet which one I prefer.  I’ll have to knit a few pairs with short row heels and check out the fit as well.

Now to the Adventure.  On Saturday we went to Castlewood Canyon State Park.  It was beautiful.  It was about an hour south of Denver and a little east, so it was not up in the mountains at all.  There was a canyon and then these big vista views of the mountains.  The park had some nice short trails.  One was a paved trail, and we took Davey on it.  He had a great time.

He liked trying to decipher the map.

He enjoyed the scenic view of the canyon.

He loved getting off the path and “exploring” with Daddy.

David helped him negotiate the more difficult terrain.  They were traveling from big flat rock to big flat rock.

We were also very excited about seeing the first bit of snow on that mountain waaaaayyyyy in the background.

Then the clouds blew in, and it got really chilly!

This didn’t slow Davey down a bit though.

Finally, it was time to head home.

I finished my Breakfast in Bed socks last night.  This morning we took some pictures.  I had great assistance as usual:

I love the way these turned out.

But there is one slight thing which I did not notice until I was knitting the second TOE.

See the birds on my foot?  They are positioned so that I see them right side up when I look down.  However,  the photos of the socks in the The Joy of Sox book all show the birds positioned so a person standing in front of me would see the socks right side up.   My socks show everyone else upside down birds.

When I read a fair isle pattern, I start at the bottom.  That’s what I did here.  So now I have “Christina and her amazing upside down bird socks”.  Now – I am the one who will probably look at my socks the most, so maybe that’s ok.  Makes me look like the ultimate Sock Narcissist maybe, but I do like seeing those birds!

Here’s my view of the socks:

I don’t know if this is a problem with the pattern.  I think it is more a problem with my powers of planning and observation.   It’s not much of a problem in the whole scheme of things.

It’s Saturday morning.  Oh and to be clear, the friends are imaginary, not the socks.    Davey has been so busy with his imaginary friends.  Lucy is the primary friend.  She is a purple (sometimes white) dog.  Kevin the dog has also made an appearance a few times.  Then Davey became concerned that I didn’t have an imaginary pet friend, so that’s when Pete showed up. (Lucy loves mangos.  Kevin likes peanut butter and jelly and chips.  Pete loves potato chips.)

Yesterday Davey and I went out to run errands.  The dogs came too.  We went out to eat for lunch, and this great server brought water for Davey’s dogs.  Unfortunately, Lucy didn’t know what her afternoon held in store.  I took Davey to the doctor.  As we were waiting in line to check in, Davey kept complaining that Lucy was stepping on his feet.

Davey told me that Lucy needed a doctor’s appointment too.  Not only that, but Davey had to have a flu shot.  So did Lucy.

Last night though, as we were getting Davey tucked in, I asked him where Lucy was.  David started acting like Lucy was under his shirt.  Davey looked at David and said, “Daddy, you know,  Lucy is just PRETEND!”

My non-imaginary sock is almost done.  I am almost to the beginning of decreasing the toe!  Not that I am in a hurry, but the foot has gone much faster without twisty twining.  I am planning to finish that sock today.

I am already excited about the new pair I will be starting.  I am going to be using some handspun and hand-dyed yarn that I bought from Springtree Road.  I ordered and received it before we moved and have been dying to knit with it ever since.  It’s a worsted weight.  So these will be a heavier weight – nice for house socks is what I am hoping.  The sock has something new for me to learn as well.  Short-row heel.  I’ve always just done the standard heel flap.  That’s going to be interesting.  Short rows involve this whole “wrap and turn” thing which I have yet to get the hang of.  (Of which I have yet to get the hang? :))

I think we are going to go check out some trails at a state park today.  Debating on picnic or no picnic.  I am thinking snack-nic.  Davey tends to be too excited to sit down and eat when we are out somewhere.  A snack might work out better.

Happy Saturday!

Davey wants to bake sugar cookies today.  I am thinking we need to pick up a couple of Halloween themed cookie cutters.  A ghost for sure.

We decorated the balcony yesterday.  I’d say David did the bulk of the work.  It was fun though, and Davey likes it.  We hung up some of that black spider web stuff.  We stretched it all out across part of the balcony.  Davey was very worried that it was going to blow away.  It may yet, but so far so good.

Davey was so excited to help Daddy.  He asked me to bring him his tools:

He worked very hard to get everything just so.

I am also marching along on my second sock.  I am about done with the gusset and am working on the foot.  I am not twining on the foot either.  I just can not take anymore twining.  I don’t think that I will be able to tell any difference.  There were a couple of sections on the first sock where I did not twine, and I couldn’t really see the difference.  Of course, that does not mean there is not a difference.  Apparently twining makes the socks sturdier and have a nicer stretch to them.  So I will consider this an experiment.  I can study the wear of twined vs non-twined.  (I can tell from the wrong side which is twined and which is not.)  So there is my confession.  I feel a little guilty for not “following the directions”, but I am also saying “yay no more twining!”

So it is about time to get the day going with Davey!

David is off today and I don’t have class until this evening.  It’s going to be a beautiful day outside.  It is time to get ready for Halloween.   Several people have already decorated their balconies for Halloween.  We’ve never been too good about decorating outside when we’ve lived in houses, but an apartment balcony seems to be a nice manageable area.  Davey is very excited.  We are playing “Monster Mash” right now to better get into the Halloween mode.  (Although I think we are pretty well there.)

We ate breakfast out this morning.  David had to get his annual bloodwork done, and so we met him at Perkin’s afterwards.  It’s like Tippins?  (Isn’t that what it was called in Tulsa?)  Place that has lots of pies.  Davey had Rainbow Pancakes.  It does not get much better for him than a pancake with sprinkles and whipped cream.

I am knitting more again.   I am on the heel flap of my second sock.  The heel flap requires twining, so it is going kind of slow.  I got the bright idea to take a picture with Davey holding the sock for me.

Can you tell already that this might not be a good idea?

When I handed him my sock, there were 3 needles in the sock and 1 needle that was for knitting.

All of a sudden there were 2 bare needles in his hand.  (I had to really lighten up this picture – it was terrible and dark.)

It was time to act fast.    See all the lonely loops in need of a needle? I was left with a little repair work, but not a stitch was dropped and all was well.

Happy Thursday!  It is time to decorate!