a pebble for baby brother

Well, this little pebble vest is officially complete now, after waiting patiently for a good month to receive buttons. I loved this pattern--so fluid and satisfying to knit. And the yarn is lovely--Imperial Yarn (milled from Oregon sheep) worsted in "spring sage." It's soft and lofty, and made for a much bigger vest than planned--more like an 18 month size than the 6 month I was hoping for. But we'll just save it for next year, and in the mean time, maybe I'll cast on for another with less bulky yarn and smaller needles. The second time around, I might leave out all those buttons and just knit it in the round. Buttons on baby clothes always make me nervous about choking, and I wonder if the bulk of the button band might be irritating to baby. It is convenient to be able to put it on without slipping over the head, though. Ravelry notes here.

Reading lately has been a hodgepodge of parenting/child-development/labor prep, and for bed-time--Helen and Scott Nearing's Living The Good Life. I had never read this classic of the self-sufficient, back to the land movement and have really enjoyed it. Lots of practical tidbits as well as food for thought on the personal character and community cooperation required for such a lifestyle. I find myself chuckling affectionately now and then at their eccentricities. Since finishing Middlemarch, I've felt the absence of a really good novel in my life...any suggestions?

And on a completely unrelated note, we ate our first massaged kale salad of the season tonight, with fresh succulent giant leaves of Nero Di Toscana Kale from the garden (we get our seed from here). So delicious and hearty--whenever I eat this salad, I feel that I must be infusing my body with nutritional super-powers, and yet it tastes so good! We had it along side some fabulous nut burgers--both recipes from Feeding the Whole Family, a favorite cookbook of ours. Feeling grateful for the life abounding in the spring garden.

Joining in with Ginny for yarn along...