Willow and I spent last weekend in Whangamata with Mum and Coco-the-dog. To be honest I spent a lot of the time lounging about reading and taking naps – I hate the sun! – but Mum and Wil did lots of splashy water play and sandy beach play and doggy ball games and playground jaunts.

Babies in elephant-print ruffled swimming togs: TOO CUTE.

Today is JSR’s second day of a new job. He hasn’t been working since a prolonged illness last September, and Willow and I have loved having him home so much, but of course months without income have been stressful. His first day seemed to go well, and I really hope he enjoys the work.

I decided this was a good opportunity to reboot my daily schedule, so now we are all getting up with JSR’s alarm at 7.30am, as opposed to the, er, 10-11am rising Willow and I have been doing lately. We’ll have to see how this changes her sleep times, but I’m hoping for either a return to afternoon naps or an earlier bedtime. I know a time shift doesn’t really affect how many hours I have in the day, but I do feel much more productive when I get through all the laundry and chores before lunchtime!

I cast on for another toddler sweater this morning. I’m making Knitty pattern L’illo for Willow in a bright red wool. Perhaps I will call it W’illow! It’s quite a complex textured saddle-shoulder cardigan and I’m looking forward to the challenge. So far I’ve just got a little piece of sleeve but the stitch patterns are fun already. The only change I plan to make to the pattern is an alteration to the grafting at the centre back, since the half-stitch jog in alignment is rather obvious and looks sloppy to my eyes. I’ll see what other kind of join I can make when I get there – either a tidy seam, or a little strip of stockinette which will graft neatly.