Dancing Sheep

Send in the Sprinkles!!

2011-05-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

But ONLY if they are the non-rainy variety.

Thank goodness we are finally experiencing a few sunny, dare I say, Spring-like days here in Seattle. It has been 196 days since we hit 66 degrees, today's predicted high temperature. A loooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnng time. We haven't hit 66 yet but at least it was a nice enough day to break out some short sleeves (for G at least) and a picnic lunch in the backyard.

Yesterday, while mostly sunny, just wasn't as nice although that might have been due to the bloody noses, migraines, and overall blahness that invaded the house rather than the weather.

The kids and I all needed a pick-me-up and I knew exactly what it should be: Emergency Baking!

G & M both love to assist me in the kitchen and I love baking so I knew a good time would be had by all but I made sure that the recipe added a little silliness to the mix- just in case. I needed to make sure all the resident grumpopotami were kicked to the curb. Luckily I had seen a recipe that fit the bill to a tee only the night before over on Pinterest.

CAKE BATTER BLONDIES.

Ooooooooh yes. A little crazy but we were in dire need of food decorated with rainbow sprinkles.

I gathered up the ingredients. In perfect Murphy's Law fashion the only ingrediant not in my cupboard: the rainbow sprinkles. One quick trip to the market later we were ready to go.

While I don't mind making more complex recipes with the kiddos, this recipe was great because everything could be dumped into one bowl and stirred.

Into the oven for 30 mins. Beware. This deceptively short time frame may feel like 3 hours with some little person asking every two minutes, "Are they ready yet?"

A (very) few hard won minutes for cooling and, Voila!

Cake Batter Blondies. Yum.

If you are interested in making these for yourself, the recipe is here at Girl Meets Life.

You know you want to make some... The 50+ repins I got in under 24 hours when I pinned this on Pinterest says that I am not the only one craving more cake batter and rainbow sprinkles in her life.

More Bright Green Fun. No Fur This Time.

2011-05-05T17:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I committed a Cardinal Sin of Pacific Northwest Parenting. I promised my children an activity without checking the weather forecast first. Overcome by the stunning appearance of the sun and a temperature above 60 degrees, I lost my head and committed to making an afterschool trip to the zoo today so we could see the new dinosaur exhibit.

And then today we woke up to this:

Cold. Dark. Dreary. Drippy.

I love my children as much as the next parent but it has been a long winter and I just could not drag myself outside in this kind of weather again. Nuh uh. No how. No way. Not happening.

Anticipating Dual Meltdowns of Colossal Proportions, I spent the morning brainstorming for something, Anything! that would Distract and Deflect my impending doom.

Thank God for the Interwebs. My bacon was saved (again) by the Crafty Blogosphere.

And so, I acquired this:

Yup. Bright green pool noodle.

And some black duct tape with racing style flame on it.

Perfect combination.

What? You haven't always wanted a bright green pool noodle and flame duct tape? What is wrong with you people?

Okay, okay. What if I... Cut the noodle in half? Lengthwise.

No?

Alright then. Let's take the cut noodle and the duct tape and add

a shoebox
cardstock
double stick tape
bamboo skewers
letter stickers
wrapping paper

---
and heck, some crochet thread for good measure.

Are you with me now?

Well, you should be because this odd jumble produces a pretty cool (and cheap)

MARBLE RACE TRACK!!

My kids always love the marble tracks we see in stores or other places but I don't know if they would ever play with them enough to justify the expense- some of those wooden sets are Expensive!

This is a quick and dirty imitation which happily keeps the kidlets entertained and occupied! Hooray! (I know G doesn't look terribly pleased in that picture but she was intent on digging her marbles out of the little purse she keeps them in and was not at all interested in making nice for the camera)

All the credit for this brilliant idea goes to Amy of Serving Pink Lemonade who posted this craft as part of the Summer Soiree Craft Camp for Kids over on Home-Spun Threads.

I changed the project up a bit, deciding I would duct tape my tracks together- no way MY children were going to be gentle enough to keep the tracks together with just the "flag posts" (and besides, if you are making a race track, you might as well find an excuse to use the crazy flame duct tape). I used bamboo skewers instead of toothpicks for the Start and Finish Banners.

I added some racing flags because I'm crazy like that and seem to have a penchant for adding layers of complexity to things. And lastly, I covered my shoebox in some silver wrapping paper I had lying around to give the whole thing a more finished appearance.

All around winner. The kids are pleased so I'm pleased.

Now I can cook dinner in peace.

Ready. Set. GO!

A Few Days Late and a Frame Short

2011-04-28T15:55:00.000-07:00

When it comes to holidays, I usually have grandiose plans concerning what I am going to do and how I will decorate. My mind's eye creates stunning displays throughout the house and pictures how the whole house will come together in a Martha-esque manifestation of all things festive.

In reality? Not so much.

Oh, I usually get something done but since having kids it is usually more along the lines of: Oh dear! (____fill in the blank holiday___) is 3 days away, I should really dig something out and throw it on the mantel.

I feel terrible about this because G is really into holidays and is always bugging me to decorate for them. Oh, well. One more thing for her therapist to mull over in twenty years.

This Easter was no different. I had plans aplenty but a total lack of execution. Even the wreath I shared with you remains unhung because I cannot find an appropriate home for it. Aside from this minuscule little display on the aforementioned mantel, our house was adornment free.

Which isn't to say I didn't try. I did make the wreath after all.

I also did a little stitching:

This little Peeps inspired pattern is available for free on the DMC website. I did change up the embroidery thread colors somewhat from the recommended ones using the following instead (all DMC numbers):

blues - 799, 3325
yellows - 725, 727
pinks - 603, 605
purples - 208, 209
black - 310

I only got to this point in the project before the actual arrival of Easter

but I went ahead and completed it a couple days ago, a miracle in its own right since normally the unfinished project would have lingered until next year. Go me!

It still needs to be finished and I think I'm going to put it in an embroidery hoop using this tutorial but I'm still debating round versus oval hoops. I'll share it with you when it is all done.

You know, maybe before next Easter.

Bounced Out

2011-04-27T17:33:00.000-07:00

I think I'm still recovering from last weekend. It wasn't too crazy but still feeling like we crammed a lot of things into a little bit of time. I mean, how hard is it to go out to dinner, hunt for eggs, attend a birthday party, go out to dinner, dye eggs, open Easter baskets, go to church, go out to brunch, and then cook a big Easter dinner?

I must be getting soft.

We were lucky enough to have Papa (Todd's father) come visit for the weekend and celebrate Easter with us so that added to the overall excitement level.

Continuing tradition, we went to the Bunny Bounce at the zoo which, due to the gorgeous weather, was crazier than it has ever been since we started going four years ago. I think this was the first year it didn't rain or threaten to rain and the weather certainly seemed to be trying to make up for past ickiness.

The kiddos had a blast and G managed to fill her basket to overflowing

while M was a bit more methodical in his egg gathering.

There was some additional silliness

And even a sneak peek at the soon to be opened dinosaur exhibit.

Given the boy's ~~obsession~~ fascination with dinosaurs, I suspect we might be back at the zoo in the very near future.

Spring in the Kitchen

2011-04-22T16:03:00.000-07:00

This week, G had her snack day at preschool. Translation: I had to come up with a snack food that was: small, portable, not too messy, appealing to G the food snob, had not previously been taken into school for snack by G (see previous food snob comment), and wouldn't cause issues for any major food allergies in the class. Oh, and G wanted it to be "fancy like a treat" because it was almost Easter.

Clearly graham crackers were not going to cut it.

Luckily, I hit upon the idea of making decorated pretzels and G was amenable. Thank goodness because I had nothing in the idea tank if the pretzels were nixed.

The great thing about these candy/chocolate dipped pretzels is that they are very simple to make (though not fast) and the kidlets can help out (to say nothing of my lifelong love of white chocolate covered pretzels though I am sure that played no role in my decision to make these).

After much consideration, G picked a color scheme of white with Spring colored (pastel) sprinkles. The materials were purchased:

pretzel logs, candy melts or chocolate, and sprinkles

And the helpers assembled:

The assembly is pretty straight-forward. Melt the candy coating according to the package directions. Then dip- I use a 2 cup measuring cup so I can easily tilt the coating to get better coverage (I think a bowl is too shallow).

if I make this photo somewhat smaller than the others will it hide the fact that is is blurry?didn't really think so but thought it was worth a try.

And sprinkle (I have a set of breading pans that are great for this kind of thing- I think only a third of the sprinkles ended up on my floor instead to the usual half):

We lay our pretzel outs on wax paper or parchment lined baking sheets to dry. If it is warmish you can tuck them into the freezer or frig to help things along.

Voila! The pretzels were a big hit and G was a very happy camper.

Which means I'm a happy camper.

And now I have 5 weeks to figure out what our next snack will be...

Bright Green Fun Fur. Really.

2011-04-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

So earlier today I put my knitter's cred on the line when I posted this on Twitter:

It's okay, I'll give you a minute to recover.

*
*
*
*

Better?

Good.

What good could possibly come of such a skein of yarn? Actually, quite a lot.

Ack! No! Don't close your browser. Truly, it is Okay...

Provided, of course, that you don't let it within a country mile of your knitting needles. Some background: Earlier this month I went on a lovely retreat with my fellow Purly Girls and I took this picture at Fort Worden, our retreat location, in Port Townsend.

I adore daisies. To me, they are the epitome of Spring. And believe you me, we could use a little Spring here in the Pacific Northwest. I won't bore you with the weather stats but April has been something of a drag.

So, to recap: I love daisies, I need Spring, and there is a horrible skein of novelty yarn involved here somehow. Oh, yes, I almost forgot. I also have an obsession with wreaths at present that is quickly approaching epic proportions.

I know, I know. Where I am going with this?

Right here:

Turns out, Fun Fur might make for dreadful knitting but, in the right colorway, it makes wonderful grass. Which only goes to prove that everything has its place, even eyelash yarn, scary as that is to contemplate.

I wish I could pretend that I am terribly clever and came up with this idea all on my own but alas, I am merely a very good copycat. I found the original over on Capture the Details.

I love the pop of color this very simple project provides but sadly I have no idea where to hang it. I walked around my house for twenty minutes this morning trying to find the Perfect Spot. Didn't even find one that is Merely Adequate. sigh In the end I took down a picture and hung the wreath in its spot just so I could get a picture. This does not bode for the other wreaths I have lined up to make.

I also learned that my house, as much as I like it, is not a Blogger's house. The window placement is not ideal for taking pictures in natural light. Oh well. Photography is hardly my thing anyway. But it would be So Fun to take gorgeous photos of all my wreaths (you know, the ones I'm crafting in my head and then hanging in my fantasy house that is Just Perfect for hanging wreaths).

Do you think I could use my Wreath Adoration to justify a remodel?

Me neither.

Apropos of Nothing...

2011-04-18T18:20:00.000-07:00

When you haven't written anything in... well... forever, there just aren't enough segues in the world to make it less awkward and so today I give you:

PILLOWCASES!

Because really, why not?

As usual, I am late to this sewing trend but I finally jumped on the bandwagon and made four fun pillowcases for the kidlets. Thomas the Tank Engine for M and Princesses for G- no surprises there are there? These match blankets I made for them a year ago Valentine's Day.

I wanted to make some non-character cases as well so I picked up two prints from Kate Spain's Central Park Line (I love this line like a crazy person):

And the super cute Rush Hour from Alexander Henry's Monkey Bizness Line.

Sadly I forget who makes the dot fabric. And also sadly, I forgot to iron the pillowcases before photographing them. Oh well, that's just the kind of two-bit blogging operation we've got here. I should also mention that the Rush Hour and Central Park photos are of the pillowcases folded, so you are not seeing the correct proportions... but, you get the idea.

And yes, for you eagle-eyed sewists out there- I did not take into account the directional nature of the car print before I cut the fabric. Meh. My husband is always telling me to accept good enough and not worry about perfect. I let it go... but I made sure I cut the Thomas fabric correctly!

If you would like to make pillowcases of your own there are an unbelievable number of tutorials out there and I feel like I read them all but in the end I used the technique in this video and I am very pleased with the results. It wasn't a difficult project and not even too time consuming.

Coming Full Circle

2010-09-01T10:59:00.000-07:00

One year ago today as we were driving from the Buffalo airport to my father-in-law's house in Rochester I received a phone call telling me I had breast cancer. It was shocking.

Today, happily, I am cancer-free (as far as the medical professionals can tell- nothing is ever a sure thing- but I prefer to see the glass as half full). A status that is, in it's own way, shocking. After months of treatment and surgery and everything else associated with a cancer diagnosis, I am now "normal" again, thrown back into the routine of life as if nothing of note happened in the last year. I am grateful for normal. I strive to be nothing but medically boring from this point forward... but it is odd in a way.

One month you are, as they say, battling cancer - in the "fight of your life." And then... just battling the everyday rat race.

Maybe my feeling of oddness is due to my approach to cancer. I tried to see it, not as a battle, but as something I had to do, had to get through, had to check off on the To Do List. I tried very hard (too hard my family might tell you) to keep my life as close to normal as possible despite the chemo and everything else. And so the whole thing feels a bit surreal. Did I really have cancer? Was it only 4 months ago I had surgery?

As I shepherd the kids to their activities, as I go to dance rehearsal or my knitting group, as I do all the mundane little things that make my life, well, mine, cancer is hardly even a thought in my head. Which is, as I said above, a Very Good Thing... I'd hate to have to deal with the alternative and I am thankful every day that I do not.

I am also grateful and thankful beyond what is possible to express with my own meager words for all the love and support that was given to me and my family over the past year. I may not always have responded to all the emails, cards, notes, gifts and whatnot but know that I read them over and over, I appreciated every word and kind gesture.

I had no idea my net was so vast. It is humbling to consider.

I would like to send out a very special thank you to my parents. In addition to all the other support they lent, my mom spent five weeks with us in May & June when I had surgery helping me recuperate and wrangling the kiddos. I know I wasn't an easy patient and I am so thankful you were here. And Daddy, thank you for loaning her to me for so long- I know it was hard for you to be without her for so long (I'm guessing the only other time my parents have been separated for so long was when my father served our country in Vietnam).

I know many of you wanted more blog posts over the past year and I wanted more too but it just wasn't in the cards. At first, treatment seemed boring: had chemo, kinda tired, doing ok- and I didn't want to bore you with it. Then, when things got, um, more interesting I was tired and frankly the details, while medically interesting, really would fall under the TMI category. So I didn't blog.

But here I am. One year later. And I wanted to say something. Mark the day as it were.

So, yes. I am doing very well indeed. I feel healthy and happy. Thank you for helping me get here.

In fact, I feel so good that at the end of the month, in a mere 24 days, I will be participating in the Susan G. Komen 3 Day for the Cure with two of my wonderful friends from MOPS, Wendy and Alisa. That's right, I will be walking 60 miles over three days in order to help raise money to find a cure so that someday, blog posts like this will be a thing of the past. You were all so very supportive over the past year but I am going to push it and ask you, please, to once again support me by donating today. My goal is to raise $3000 and I am 28% of the way there.

My 3 Day Walk Donation Page

Thank you again to everyone- I truly could not have gotten through the past year without you!

Better Lucky Than Good

2009-10-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

Or maybe I should title this post "Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop"...

Since I last wrote, I've had chemo treatment #1 and #2. And I have to say, I feel okay. Shockingly so, all things considered. Now, I by no means feel normal but it certainly could be much worse.

As I sat through my first treatment, my fabulous sister Betsy at my side, every horror story I'd ever heard or read about the side effects of chemotherapy played through my head. I wondered when It would kick in- would I feel bad right away? That night? The next day? How sick would I be? And the honest answer is not yet and not very.

Please note, I just knocked on every wood item in my sewing room.

So far I have been very, very lucky. I'm tired. My appetite is about 2/3 what it normally is (not necessarily a bad thing) and I feel nauseous from time to time but by resting, napping and using the anti-nausea medications my oncologist prescribed I have been able to get through it in an almost normal fashion.

And I am so very grateful. I know the effects of chemotherapy are cumulative, getting worse as treatment progresses so to be able to start in a place that is not-so-bad is definitely something to be thankful for, even if it does, in some monstrously perverse way, make me feel like a bit of a chemo-fraud: "Hey look at her, thinks she's a chemo a patient! Why, she hasn't thrown up once."

I'm weird, I know. But this whole cancer episode has such a feeling of unreality for me I think maybe I am looking for some physical touchstone to say, yes, this is really happening. I don't know... Or maybe I am just weird, worried I don't have the right cancer street cred.

If I do lack cancer cred, I have my wonderful oncologist to thank. He's put me on treatment protocol where I have treatments every week for twelve weeks. Most breast cancer patients have treatments every 2-3 weeks. The thinking is that with more frequent but smaller doses of the drugs, the side effects can be somewhat minimized. So on Fridays I go in and get an infusion of Adriamycin and then I take Cytoxan daily orally (pill form). When I am done with this twelve week treatment I'll do 4-6 treatments of another drug- the name escapes me right now.

You'd think that I could simply be grateful the plan seems to be working and that I feel pretty good so far. But no. I worry. I admit, I'm a worrier. I wonder if I'll wake up tomorrow and just feel horrible. I mean, I have Cancer for goodness sakes!!!!! Shouldn't I feel wretched by now? If you read more than two or three posts on almost any breast cancer forum you'd think so... and so, as I mentioned at the beginning, I am sorta-kinda waiting for the proverbial other shoe to put in an appearance.

Yes, yes, I know. I should avoid the crazy forums. But honestly, even the forums you think are going to be normal and un-alarmist and possibly even educational dissolve before your very eyes into a puddle of crazy. I've lurked on a few breast cancer boards (yes, I know! I shouldn't Google... but really, it's Todd's fault- he Googles and sends me links) and frankly, I can't hang out there much. The Drama! Seriously. I cannot take it. I think this might be my own personal oddity again.

I know many (most?) people see cancer treatment as a battle, a fight for their life and I understand the reasoning behind that- you are after all, trying to save your life. Makes perfect sense. And I think that is where the drama stems from. After all, saving your life might be thought of as a Big Deal.

Me?

I just cannot get that worked up. Treating and beating my cancer has just become another task on my To Do list. A serious task, no doubt. Clearly a bit more pressing than say, taking out the recycling, but not as urgent as feeding my rapidly-descending-into-hunger-induced-crankiness kidlets dinner (and for the record, the last 5-10 minutes before dinner when you are fervently willing the food to Just. Cook. Faster! before your children really do turn into blood sugar deprived demons is clearly the Tenth Circle of Hell that even Dante was to afraid to explore).

Some days I think, What is wrong with me? Shouldn't I be more upset? Impassioned? Pissed? (Insert appropriate entry from the thesaurus here)? But then Matt grabs a toy away from Gwen or someone spills something or Gwen yells from the bathroom that she needs to be wiped for the 400th time that day and I have to get over it and move on with my life.

So yes, this Friday is treatment #3 and I'll probably feel a little (or maybe a lot) worse next week just as I felt not quite as good this weekend after #2 as I did after #1. But that's okay because I'll be able to check off another box on the To Do List. One step closer to checking off the really big box.

Better Living Through Chemistry

2009-10-08T00:46:00.000-07:00

Throughout our marriage, when one or the other of us has been sick and needed to take some medication, Todd and I have always made some joke or statement about "better living through chemistry". I'm not sure where the phrase originated... I have a very vague notion that is was a tagline in a commercial for some chemical conglomerate at some point... you know, one of those ads where they show you all these things you use daily and then at the end there's a tagline and the name of some company you've never heard of that, I guess, makes some component of all those products. I've never really understood the point of that type of ad but whatever- it's their advertising budget.

But reminiscing about commercials of yore is not where I was going with this post.

Sound the trumpets, I finally have a treatment plan! I've actually had it for a couple days but I've been busy trying to get my ducks in a row and so the poor blog has been neglected.

As I believe I mentioned in a previous post, I am going to be bucking the usual breast cancer treatment trend (surgery then chemo or radiation or a combination of the two) and will be having chemotherapy first followed by surgery. For those of you who like to be able to throw around fancy medical terms, this pre-operative chemo is more properly called neoadjuvent chemotherapy.

And I start on Friday. Two days from now.

Cue small freak out.

Do you want all the nitty-gritty details? Hmmmm. I wonder if I can explain all this without heading into novella territory?

I'll try- bear with me.

So, if you were paying attention (see, I told you there would be a pop quiz!) you might have noticed that I called my cancer "triple negative" in an earlier post, but I did not explain what that meant. Let me do that now because it figures prominently in my treatment.

Triple negative means that my cancer is ER, PR, and HER2 negative.

Um, yeah. That makes it clear, thanks Katie...

Here's the translation:
ER - Estrogen receptor
PR - Progesterone receptor
HER2 - Human epidural growth factor receptor

Breast cancer can be positive or negative for each of these receptors. If you have ER+ cancer, for example, estrogen will fuel the growth of the cancer. On the other hand, if you are negative for a certain hormone sensitivity your cancer is unaffected by the presence of that hormone. In recent years, great strides have been made in developing new drugs that target cancers that are positive for these hormones. Drugs exist now which essentially block the cancer cells from getting access to these hormones which encourage them to grow and reproduce. These drugs are far more targeted than older drug therapies which go after any fast growing cells (your hair, the lining of your stomach). As a result, the newer targeted therapies have improved the chemotherapy experience for patients with hormone sensitive cancer (don't get me wrong, it's still unpleasant, it's just not horribly unpleasant).

Following so far? If you are, you might realize that I am negative for all three of these little receptor types. This is fairly uncommon, in fact, only 15% of all breast cancers are triple negative.

So what does that mean? It means, that instead of a "nice" targeted drug therapy I get to have what I like to call Bazooka Chemo. Take out everything in it's path, say buh-bye to your hair, hope you like feeling nauseous chemo.

Wheeeee! Fun!

Can you tell I'm looking forward to this?

Now admittedly, I am being a bit harsh. Even though I will be having some serious toxins pumped through my body these are not the bad ol' days of chemo. There are much better coping mechanisms available to chemo patients: anti-nausea medications for example, and white blood cell boosters to help prevent or lessen fatigue.

In fact, I thought the white blood cell booster sounded pretty fabulous until the nurse explained to me that it is a DAILY INJECTION!!!! Have I mentioned my fear of needles? Yup. Daily. So I can either go to the clinic every day or I can learn to give myself the shots.

Yes. This was the part of the appointment where I wanted to run screaming from the room, bury my head under the nearest pillow, put my fingers in my ears and sing "La la lalalalalalalalalala".

I shocked myself (and, no doubt my poor mother who held my hand through many a teary near fainting experience with needles in my childhood) and learned to do it myself. It took me three or four preps to do it but I did.

Admittedly, there was a third option: have Todd give me the shots but let's be serious, love him though I do, he is a bit of a bull in a china shop. No way in Hell is he getting in the same zip code as me with a needle.

But even armed with all of these helpful things to lessen the side effects, it isn't going to be a picnic. And while I am excited to be making progress toward ridding myself of all the nasty buggers I would lying if I said I wasn't apprehensive about the chemo.

Tomorrow afternoon I go in to have my Port-o-Cath placed. I'll be under conscious sedation for the procedure so I'll be pretty loopy the rest of the day. Hopefully I'll be too fuzzy to dwell on the fact that I'll be pumped full of some nasty chemicals the next day.

So, yeah. Treatment starts in less than 48 hours... kinda' freaky. And this time I'll really pushing the boundaries of better living through chemistry because, let's be brutally honest, for me, it's living through chemistry.

Making Strides...

2009-09-28T22:05:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, I don't mean that I am making strides towards having a definitive treatment plan, you know, the kind with starts dates and that kind of semi-important stuff, although maybe (pretty please with whipped cream on top) more information along that line of things tomorrow.

No, actually I am talking about the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event. I guess events, plural, would be more accurate. Making Strides is a series of walks held across the country by the American Cancer Society to raise money and awareness for breast cancer.

My "baby" sister, Betsy, decided to participate in the walk in Raleigh this coming weekend (October 3rd) as her way to feel she was "doing something." I think it has been really difficult for her, being clear on the other coast and not really feeling like she can help. I know I would would feel much the same way if our places were reversed.

I've heard from many of you back in NC and I know Betsy would love to have some walking partners so I'd like to encourage any of you that have flexible plans for the weekend to consider coming out and walking with her (sorry for the last minute notice- I'm a bad sister and didn't get this written until now... twenty lashes with a wet noodle for me!). There is no registration fee to participate though you are encouraged to make a donation and/or raise funds.

If you cannot participate yourself but would like to make a donation Betsy (and the American Cancer Society) would love that as well.

Here is a link to her personal Making Strides page where you can glean a bit more information about the event, sign up to participate, or make a donation:

Betsy's Making Strides Page

For those of you out here in the suddenly rainy PNW with me, there is a walk this weekend in Bellevue which I am considering participating in myself though I won't be making a final decision for a couple days (see above referenced lack of information from medical team making my life difficult to plan *ahem*). And for you Californians, there are several upcoming events during October depending on where you live.

Anyway, just something to consider as we head into Breast Cancer Awareness Month (holy cow! is it really almost October? good grief.)

Not Sick. Sort of.

2009-09-23T23:40:00.000-07:00

Cancer is weird.

In so many ways, I am no different from that person I was four weeks ago when I stood in the shower and felt a lump where there shouldn't be one. Yet so much is different.

Medically speaking, I have a disease.

Disease = Sick

I don't feel sick. I feel perfectly fine. Well, not perfectly fine, I mean, let's be honest- the 30+ extra pounds I've been carrying around since hatching the kidlets isn't exactly making me feel like I can conquer the world but it only is a slight damper on things- I still feel pretty darn good. Certainly not sick. Just like maybe I-should-cut-out-the-late-night-snacking-and-climb-on-my-elliptical-every-now-and-then-for-goodness-sakes fine.

If I had say... bronchitis, could I get up tomorrow and go for a run around Greenlake? Probably not. I have cancer. Could I get up and go for a run around Greenlake tomorrow? Most likely, aforementioned 30 pounds and hatred of running not withstanding.

Cancer is odd in that (in many cases) the disease itself doesn't make you feel debilitated (at least at first, obviously late stage cancers are a whole 'nother kettle of fish). Instead it is the treatment that can make you an "invalid". For just a second, in your mind, imagine a cancer patient.

Got the picture?

Is your patient bald?

I know in my mind she is. Isn't that odd? Cancer doesn't make you bald. Chemotherapy makes you bald. Not everyone who gets cancer has chemo and yet that bald head remains as an icon of cancer.

Where am I going with all this? I don't know... just stuff that's been running around in my head this week. I had 25 minutes to kill yesterday while I was in the MRI machine- the mind wanders.

Ahhhhhhhh... she mentions the MRI. That is why you are all reading this- to see how the MRI went, right?

Well, all of you except for the few poor souls who might actually expect there to be knitting on a knitting blog. For you, hang tight, I'll have something for you in the next post assuming no medical bombshells between now and then. For my sake, I hope there is knitting in the next post. I've had just about all the medical bombshells I can handle for now, thank you very much.

So back to the MRI. My MRI and ultrasound did get moved up a day early- many thanks to all of you who sent cancellation vibes out this way, it worked.

The actual procedures are really very unexciting (MRI- cramped, LOUD, did not like the IV contrast as it felt really cold and icky going through my veins; ultrasound- gooey gel combined with fuzzy pictures you can't understand without silly amounts of school) so I'll spare you the gory details.

The interesting part is the results. And, at least at first glance, the results look good. The ultrasound did not turn up any oddities in my lymph nodes and the initial scan of the MRI images showed no new areas of concern. I still need to get a final read of the MRI but for now I am cautiously optimistic.

I won't lie. I was incredibly nervous going in yesterday. I'm not sure if I've ever been that nervous before... maybe when I auditioned for NC School of the Arts but I'm not sure. Yesterday was the first time in this process where the news was not worse than I expected, and that was a Very Good Thing. I'd like to say I'm excited but since I don't have the final-final read, I'll just go with cautiously optimistic for now.

And so, now I can move on to treatment. To chemo.

I can be that bald person.

Even though the prospect losing my hair Freaks Me Out...

(like a really, crazy all out of proportion freak out: please oh please God- I love my ponytail! you can have my boobs but leave me my hair)

Get a grip, Katie!! It WILL grow back. So I can be that bald person. I can even be sick. Because sick and bald mean I'm making progress and progress is what it is all about.

Patience is Not My Virtue

2009-09-18T02:36:00.000-07:00

I am an impatient person.

Did you hear that? I think I just heard my parents snort in amusement/understatement on the other side of the country.

It's somewhat ironic because I am also a terrible procrastinator. If there is something I need to do, say the dishes or a paper or some other potentially unpleasant task, I'll usually delay before getting around to it. Not so if it is something I want to do. In that case, woe to the person holding me back.

I bring this up because I am now at the end of Day 2 of the Great MRI Wait. As I wrote in the last post, I had hoped to get squeezed in at the end of the day yesterday (Wed.) and as it turned out they did have an appointment for me. Unfortunately, there was a small insurance snafu and the clinic couldn't get authorization for the MRI.

NOW, before someone starts spouting off about the nation's health care system, let me say that this snafu was the result of someone not doing his job and no matter who runs health care: private companies, the government, Lollipop Guild or Martians- there will always be a moron in a cube somewhere not doing his job.

Thankfully everything has been cleared up and I am all authorized to go lay in a big loud tube and hold very still (not my strong suit) while people take pictures of my innards- wheeeeeeeeeeee. good times.

However, the imaging clinic is now fully booked for the week. And so I wait.

Impatiently.

Make that IMPATIENTLY.

Or even IMPATIENTLY.

I am scheduled for my MRI and ultrasound next Wednesday. In the meantime, while I fidget and tap my foot, my coordinator is checking for cancellations every couple hours and will reschedule me if some thing opens up. I really hope there is a cancellation because I'm not sure I can make it to Wednesday.

I guess while we're all sitting around twiddling our thumbs I can bore you with some more medical stuff.

In the last post I told you that I'll be doing chemo first followed by surgery but I was too tired to explain the treatment approach, let me see if I can explain it now. Bear with me, I need to work through some information first...

... and take notes, there may be a pop quiz.

I think almost everyone is familiar with the term "Stage", as in, "She has Stage II breast cancer." Stage is based on the size of your tumor and how far your cancer has progressed or spread in your body starting at Stage 0 (a very small tumor or precancerous mass) to Stage IV (spread to multiple organs). A term you may be less aware of is "Grade."

A quick explanation before I explain Grade: breast cancer can be in Situ which means it is contained within the duct or gland it began in or invasive which means that it has broken through the bounds of its original duct or gland and is spreading into the surrounding tissue. If left untreated, an in Situ cancer can become invasive.

Grade is a term which is used to further describe invasive cancers. It describes how your cancer cells look compared to normal cells when under a microscope. The more closely a cancer cell resembles a normal cell, the less aggressive it is:

Grade 1 - cancer cells appear almost normal, are generally "neatly" arranged and are not growing quickly; my medical oncologist described these as "lazy cancer"
Grade 2 - the cells appear somewhat abnormal but still maintain some semblance or organization
Grade 3 - the cells look abnormal, are disorganized (my medical oncologist described them as chaotic), and tend to spread and grow rapidly

If you remember from my last post, my cancer is Grade 3- lucky me.

As a result, is is probable that there are already cancer cells elsewhere in my body right now. Mind you, these are cells, not tumors (don't freak out) but a few stray cells here and there, kicking back and waiting to be evil. I suppose, if I am honest, there is the possibility that there are other tumors- otherwise we wouldn't be doing the chest MRI and lymph node ultrasound- but for now we'll be cheerfully positive and assume there aren't.

One last key piece of information- have I lost you yet? In my last post I referenced my Ki67 "score". Let me quickly explain this measurement. Ki67 is actually a marker that is present in cells that are actively growing and dividing but is not found in resting cells. A Ki67 percentage or score tells you, if you are looking at 100 cancer cells under a microscope, how many of them are actively trying to duplicate themselves at any given time. In my case, it's 85- anything above 26 is considered high. I'm trying to explain to my cancer that it has no need to be such an overachiever but thus far, it is ignoring me...

As I am sure you have gathered, the combination of an aggressively spreading cancer and a quickly replicating one is not ideal (don't try this at home kids!). Thus, in addition to treating the actual tumor in my breast we also need to address the potential presence of cancer cells in other areas.

The only treatment option that targets cancer cells everywhere in the body is chemotherapy. Radiation and surgery both only target specific areas. In order to make sure all the cancer cells are wiped out, I need to have chemotherapy.

I am choosing to have chemo first because this approach gives any stray cell less time to decide to become active. If the little buggers are floating around I want them eradicated before they decide to join the party.

In addition, postponing surgery until after chemo will actually be helpful in determining if my treatment is effective. By leaving the tumor (for now) my oncologist can actually track it and see if the chemo is working- if it is, the tumor should shrink, or at least not grow. If that doesn't happen, we know the course of treatment isn't effective and we can switch to different drugs. If the tumor is removed, you don't have a benchmark to measure against and you are basically assuming (hoping) the chemo drugs are working. Personally, I'm all for having hard evidence, hence pre-op chemo.

So that's the plan...

OK, I suppose I should go at least pretend to try to sleep even if all I'm really doing is staring at the ceiling while sending cancellation vibes to the MRI gods.

Good night!

A Long Day

2009-09-15T22:30:00.000-07:00

I didn't sleep well last night so forgive me if this post isn't terribly coherent- it was a long day and I am really tired.

Before I jump into some details I just want to express my deepest gratitude to all of you who have expressed your love and support. It means a great deal to me to know that you are all behind me forming a web of support that stretches across the whole country. The fact that some of you offered to get on a plane to come help me blows my mind! As I said to a couple close friends of mine over the weekend, "I love everybody!"

As I mentioned last night, today we met with my treatment team at SCCA: medical oncologist, surgical oncologist, and radiation oncologist. We were there for five hours with a one hour break. It was long and we are awash in information. I'm going to try to keep this relatively short because a) I want to go to sleep and b) I don't want to put you into a medical-ese induced coma.

So to start, the good news is that as it currently appears my long term prognosis is quite good. The bad news is that the next 6 months to a year is going to suck. All things considered, I'll take a crappy year in return for a positive prognosis.

The Medical Details...

If you get your kicks looking at medical terms here are the details (if you don't, just try not to let your eyes glaze over too much):

Cancer type: invasive ductal carcinoma (about 80% of all breast cancers fall into this category)
Cancer grade: Grade 3, unfortunately this is the most aggressive grade of cancer
Cancer stage: as yet unknown (more on this later)
Other info: ER, PR & HER2 negative (also known as a triple negative)
Ki67 Rate (cell proliferation rate): 85, this is really high (scale 1-100) and means my cancer is aggressive and can grow quickly

What It All Means...

Basically I have an aggressive form of cancer but it should be very treatable. It appears that I found the cancer early and given the aggressive nature, that is, as Martha says, A Very Good Thing. I do say "appears" because all the data is not yet in. I still need to have an MRI and an ultrasound of my lymph nodes before they can determine my cancer stage. The physical exams today did not turn up any additional lumps or bumps but the imaging will help determine if there are any additional masses in my breast or if the cancer has spread to additional locations (left breast or lymph nodes). SCCA is trying to squeeze me in for an MRI and ultrasound tomorrow but if that doesn't work out it will definitely be Thursday or Friday. If they find anything odd with the imaging they'll do a needle core biopsy right away. Fingers crossed that that is unnecessary! Once this last bit of information is known the doctors will assign a stage to my cancer.

Moving Ahead...

While decisions are final until all the information is gathered, in terms of treatment, I think will be taking a slightly different approach to things. Instead of having surgery and then chemotherapy, I am opting to have pre-op chemotherapy followed by surgery. I'm also going to have genetic testing done to see if I have any of the three breast cancer mutation markers (they can currently test for) as that might also influence my approach to surgery (the how much to remove question). This will be done this fall while I'm having chemotherapy.

I was going to explain all the how's and why's and what's of my treatment tonight but I find I am fading fast... I need to prop my eyeballs open at this point. Instead, I think I'll say good night for now and get back to explaining tomorrow.

For now, suffice to say that I left my consult with a very positive impression. I feel I am in extremely good hands medically and emotionally I know I have all of you cheering me on... What more could a girl want?

If you want a bit more explanation of the gobbley-gook in the medical details section, here are a couple links:

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance - Breast Cancer Facts
Word List via BreastCancer.org - a mini dictionary
Diagnosis Explanations via BreastCancer.org

Good night!

Unexpected.

2009-09-14T22:57:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure where to begin. I've rewritten these first couple sentences seven or eight times now.

They aren't getting any better with practice.

I wanted a nice lead-in, to break the news gently but words fail me and I can't.

I have breast cancer.

I was diagnosed two weeks ago after finding a lump the week prior.

And to answer your question, I'm okay. I am really doing alright. Shocked? yes. This was not something I really worried about much. Skin cancer I worried about since I am fair skinned and my grandmother had it. Breast cancer was a distant worry after a whole host of other medical conditions. After all, we have no family history of breast cancer and I am, in the breast cancer realm, fairly young. But overall, I am feeling pretty calm.

I had a little meltdown yesterday in church (hence the tweet for those of you who saw it on twitter or facebook) but I am feeling better again. I have been overwhelmed by the expressions support and love I have received, I am so grateful for the kind thoughts and prayers.

I don't yet know the extent of the cancer or what my treatment will be. I find out more information tomorrow (Tuesday) when I go in for a five hour consult with my treatment team.

I anticipate writing more regularly as I go through whatever this journey brings me... after writing a bazillion emails and messages this past week to various family and friends I appreciate the concept of a central location for information dissemination.

Fear not, my crafting friends, that this blog will turn into a medical drama... there is still plenty of knitting and sewing to be had... and, frankly, medical terminology makes me squeamish.

So, yeah. That's my news. Sorry to be a downer. But it's going to be alright. It will.

And ladies? Make sure you are checking the girls!

PS. I know I owe a follow-up post regarding the malaria net fund-raising ($1400!!!!!! Y'all are A-Mazing!) with pictures and the giveaway winners but I was waiting for Father Crispin to return so I could have the whole story. He was supposed to be back two weeks ago but ironically, Fr. Crispin contracted malaria while he was in Kenya so he only just got back. I ask you to be patient for a little while longer and I will share everything about this awesome project soon.

Absolutely Stunning!

2009-07-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

I don't have time for a real post today but I wanted to stop in for a moment to say

THANK YOU!!!!

Our little malaria net fundraiser has been successful beyond our wildest dreams. We have raised $1255.60!!! That is 251 nets. Unbelievable. Our priest was stunned and overjoyed when we saw him on Saturday and we told him the total (at that time "only" $1000).

I am overwhelmed by your generosity and concern. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

More later but right now I have to go intervene before the little ones bring the house down around our ears!

My New WIP: Preventing Malaria

2009-07-17T01:34:00.000-07:00

As you know, I try my best to keep this blog fairly light. I rarely tackle anything remotely hard-hitting preferring instead to attempt pithy comments and amusing banter. However, something has come to my attention recently and so, here, in my first post after a long absence I am going to do something serious, something I actually HATE doing. I am going to ask you for money. Not much money, but money nonetheless. Believe me, I know this is a tough time to open your wallet but I hope the you will read on and you will help. I know it's a long post, please indulge me :)

My husband, Todd, and I are trying to raise $500 in the next week to help our parish priest and native Kenyan provide 100 families in rural Kenya with anti-malarial mosquito nets for their children. Right now, when times are tough economically you can still help, even a small donation of just $5 - roughly your daily triple, non-fat, caramel machiatto - can buy a mosquito net that will keep children safe from malaria carrying mosquitoes.

Much has been made throughout the blogosphere of the generosity of the knitting and crafting community. I am hoping many of you choose to donate $5 for a net (and hopefully more), but please donate what you can, any amount puts us closer to giving a family a life saving tool. It’s important to note that 100% of the money we raise will go directly to buying the nets. No overhead, no wasted donations. Just money to save the lives of poor children in rural, western Kenya from malaria.

Why Are We Doing This? A Little Background

Todd and I belong to St. John’s Parish here in Seattle where a year ago Fr. Crispin Okoth, a village priest from Kenya, became our parish pastor. Fr. Crispin has been a wonderful addition to our lives. Listening to him preach and share stories of his life in Africa has been touching and a powerful reminder of how privileged we are to live in the United States. He is a joyful man, an even humbler priest and a selfless humanitarian. The last is not surprising given that Fr. Crispin hails from the rural, poor village of Bar-Kowino in Western Kenya outside the town of Bondo.

Father Crispin at St. John's School

Bar-Kowino has a little more then 4,000 residents, not a single paved road, and only a simple medical clinic in the nearby town of Bondo without a full time doctor. According to Fr. Crispin, the average “house” is a hut where all the kids of the “house” sleep together on the floor on mats.

This is a poor community that can use all the help it can get and where a little help goes a long way.

The Kenyan Goes Home - to help his Mother and Village

Fr. Crispin’s mother is ill and so he tries to go home as much as he can which, given the cost and distance, is only once or twice a year. When he has the chance to go home, Fr. Crispin likes to not only help his mom, but also do what he can do help his village. Fr. Crispin is well aware that very rural areas are often over-looked by the Kenyan government and international charities due to the logistics of getting to remote locations. So he takes it upon himself to cut through the red-tape to bring whatever assistance he can to his village.

One of the things that is near and dear to his heart is the fight against malaria. Priests are often surrogate care-givers in rural, poor areas of the developing world. And, as such, Fr. Crispin has done his fair share of acting as a medical proxy. Unfortunately that has meant holding way too many children in his arms as they suffered and died from malaria. All told, more then 50,000 (!) children die form malaria in Kenya every year. For comparison, there is a global swine flu epidemic that has dominated news cycles and public attention yet has killed less then a 1,000 world wide. How is it that we yet overlook the tragedy of malaria, horribly deadly but easily preventable? No one should die from malaria.

When the subject of malaria came up in a recent homily, Katie & I were both struck by the horror of so many children needlessly dying. One of the most effective ways to prevent malaria is to have children sleep under medically treated mosquito nets. And even better they are cheap solution- only $5 each! It truly only takes $5 to keep mosquitos form infecting and possibly killing a household of children because, as Fr. Crispin told us when we asked, all the children can sleep together under one large net on their sleeping mats. Both of us had heard of large charitable efforts like the one run by the NBA to help provide malarial nets, why did that not have a greater impact? The answer is two-fold. First is simply the scope of the need for the nets, Africa is, after all, an enormous, highly populous continent. The second reason is logistics. It is simply easier to distribute nets in more urban areas. The further from a population center you are, the less likely your are to have a net. Sadly, you are also far more likely to have less access to health care as well, not a good combination.

After several dinner table discussions, Todd and I agreed that we would try to help Fr. Crispin help his community back home by providing him with money to buy nets for his village. We set a (we hope) reasonable goal of raising $500, enough money to purchase 100 nets. And now we need your help. Your donations will have an immediate impact. Fr. Crispin leaves for Kenya on July 26th and will be distributing the nets to the neediest families as soon as he arrives. We need the donations by the 22nd so Fr. Crispin can order the nets in Nairobi for pickup when he arrives. Again, all the money donated will be used to purchase the nets. So please, help us help the children of Bar-kowino.

Remember, $500 = 100 families protected. $5.00 is not very much money and here is a situation where you can truly get a lot of bang for your buck.

And, if the knowledge that you are saving lives is not enough reward for you, I am sweetening the pot. If you donate, I will put your name into the hat for a yarn giveaway. Not a knitter? Don't worry, non-knitters who win will be gifted a handmade item. Here are the details:

Head over to the little Chipin widget on the right hand side of my blog.
Donate! (THANK YOU!!!!!)
Email me (dancingsheepnw [at] gmail.com, pm me on Ravelry (dancingsheep) or comment and tell me you donated (I'm not sure how much tracking Chipin let's us do so this will let me know who's donated). When you donate, your name goes in the proverbial hat.
After the donations close I will hold a drawing and give away the following:

For Knitters, 4 prizes:

2 skeins ShibuiKnits Sock in Pagoda plus a notions pouch made by me
2 skeins Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton in Sand plus a notions pouch made by me
3 skeins Malabrigo Worsted in Emerald plus a notions pouch made by me
1 skein Malabrigo Lace in Cuarzo plus a One Skein project bag made by me

For Non-Knitters (3 prizes):

a handknit hat and baked goods (TBD based on the winner's preferences)
a pair of fingerless gloves and baked goods
a cosmetic bag made by me and baked goods

I hope you all can help us with this new project.

Thank you for your help and consideration,

Katie & Todd

My Work Table...

2009-05-30T15:12:00.001-07:00

Overfloweth.

Lighthouses and Pink Cadillacs

2009-05-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

What's been on my sewing table recently?

Napkins & Placemats.

I made my mom a set of mix & match napkins and placemats for Mother's Day. I found some fun fabric from Robert Kaufman with lighthouses and another with sailboats on it.

I thought they would be perfect for my parents to use down at the beach condo. I added a coordinating fabric for the backs of the napkins and used tan flannel to back the placemats. I was really pleased with the final product and my mom seemed to really like them. I am a little annoyed with myself for forgetting to take a picture of the lighthouse placement though... oh well.

What else am I making? Bags. Lots of bags. (this is probably self-evident but just in case you've been under a rock for the last few weeks...) Here's one I finished up last night:

I used some stashed Amy Butler Midwest Modern fabric for this bag and while I am not normally a big fan of yellow but I find this quite pretty. (which makes sense since I did purchase the fabric after all) I put this bag up on Etsy this afternoon so hopefully someone else will find it pretty, too.

I have also been lucky of have to have gotten a few commissions from several friends to make some new bags as well. Three of these are still in the planning/cutting stage (to be sewn this weekend) but I have one that is finished. Sort of.

This is a cosmetic pouch I created for a friend of mine who reps Mary Kay and it is only "sort of" finished because I need to make another four. Apparently the bags that MK makes available to its reps are really small and not terribly useful so we came up with this instead.

My friend will be using them in gift baskets and as a gift with purchase- I hope they work well for her. I am happier than I expected with results- I really like the clean lines and the contrast of the hot pink and black and white polka dots. The buttons definitely were needed, it looked a little naked before they were added. Yup. Makes me happy.

But what really makes me happy is the opportunity to work in this way. To have someone say to me, I trust you, here's an idea or some fabric, have at it. I really appreciate being able to exercise my creative muscles. So thanks you guys for giving me the opportunity!

Penguins & Playtime

2009-05-28T15:59:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a fantastic time over the long weekend. We managed to get out and enjoy the sunny weather.

We headed over to Woodland Park Zoo to check out their new Humbolt penguin exhibit. It is really fantastic. The new exhibit represents a coastal fishing village in Chile or Peru and includes tide pools and nesting areas for the birds.

It's no longer just penguins swimming around either, there are all sorts of interactive parts to it:

Here's Gwennie the penguin warming the eggs in her nest.

And the whole thing was built to be green, using geothermal heating & cooling and filtering its own water for reuse.

Did you know there is a little playground at WPZ? I didn't. I must have walked past it a hundred times! Todd and the little ones introduced it to me on Monday. Very cute, all the activities are based on animal homes or habits.

Gwen enjoyed pretending to be a spider.

Both kids channeled their inner turtle for Aunt B.

And much time was devoted to running in, out, through, and over this burrow.

Typically Todd takes Gwen to the zoo while Matt naps on the weekends so it was nice to all get out together.

I Hat Therefore I Am

2009-05-22T20:04:00.000-07:00

A quick perusal of my projects page on Ravelry lead me to an interesting conclusion earlier today: I am not a knitter, I am a Hatter. With a capital H.

Of the 32 projects I've finished this year, a full 12 have been hats (that's 37.5% for those of you who are into math). You might think 12 hats is a full complement for a year. It is after all, one hat per month.

But no.

I have EIGHT (!!!!!!!) more on the needles. There is no other single category of knit items that even comes close to the dominance of the hats. Mitts are a distant second with 3 FO's and 4 WIPs. Or, if I combine scarves & cowls for a Neckwear category I have 2 Fo's and 7 WIPs.

Doesn't really matter. In my world of knitting, Hats Rule.

Ergo, I am a Hatter.

Who knew?

Still with me or did I drive you away with such minutia?

At any rate, I guess I like knitting hats. My kids certainly like wearing them:

Nottingham, Size Medium (Child)
Emerald Blue Malabrigo Merino Worsted
Size 6 Addi Turbos and Prym dpns

Toddler Republic Hat
Blue Surf Malabrigo Merino Worsted
Size 6 Addi Turbos and Prym dpns

I did cast on an extra ten stitches for the Republic hat as I was worried about it being to small.

The kiddos like them well enough. Now to put them away until it's hat season again.

So that's all the knitting for now. I also finished a square for a wedding blanket I am contributing to but I let it leave the house without taking a picture, oh well.

I need to work out some kind of balance between the sewing and knitting. As I do more sewing I get antsy about the knitting I'm not doing. Maybe once the shop is a bit more established I'll be better able to strike that balance.

In the meantime I've made bunches of zippered pouches like these:

And today I added a whole new bag style to the shop.

More of these project bags to come as the weekend progresses.

Until next time, enjoy the long weekend and have a fun (and safe) Memorial Day.

Oh, and, Happy Birthday Todd!!! (a day early but he doesn't read this blog anyway... but just in case...)

Le Sigh

2009-05-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to post all week but I live in dread of the Pictureless Post. I mean, who wants to read? We just want pretty/cute/funny or, ok, adequate pictures to gaze at. And for some reason I just have not gotten a photo of Gwen in her new hat... Or of Matt in his newly finished hat either. I have pictures of something but until my mother confirms she received it I cannot reveal it here as I don't want to ruin the surprise... Come on, Mom, tick tock. Baby needs a new blog post. :)

But if I'm honest, it isn't the picture thing that is preventing me from posting, that's just an excuse. The real reason I am suffering from posting ennui is my blog. I very much want to change the layout, the colors, the banner, um, everything. I need to update the sidebars. Have you glanced over there? Dreadful. My project lists are as out of date as a 1968 Farmer's Almanac. And my book list? Yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaah. We've covered a considerable number of works since that was refreshed.

I just need to suck it up and do it but I suffer from Do-It-All-itis. As in, I feel the need to have it all be better, fixed and perfect all at once. Now. Heck, yesterday. I have no patience for taking things one step at a time... so, until I reconcile my personality with my lack of time to devote to beautifying Ye Old Blogge I will just have to be content to grumble.

And while I'm grumbling, let me take on Blogger's comment system for a minute.

I hate it.

There. I said it. It sucks. I love when people comment here and it would be so nice if there was an easy way to respond. But there isn't. Unless you considered stalking easy 'cause that's the only way you can track down some of the commenters.

Blogger? Would it be so difficult to give us an email? Really?

And so, to Becky, who recently commented on an earlier blog post about my Irish Hiking hat and the changes I made: Yes, I will be sharing the info here- soon, I promise. I know I was actually able to recover that file off my hard drive so I'll put it on the list for next week.

Pictures next time, I promise.

Bottom of the Barrel

2009-05-07T15:55:00.000-07:00

I've got nothing today.

Well, that's not exactly true. I've got stuff.

Like this:

Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret (for me)
Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Vaa

Or this:

Deja vu! The second one was for a friend of mine. Still Malabrigo but the colorway is Taureg. This one is blocked, mine isn't. A nice knit. Obviously, or I wouldn't have made it twice no matter how Kristen might have "begged."

But really, the muse? She has left me and I just can't get motivated to try to say anything even remotely clever or amusing.

(note: if you don't feel that I am normally even remotely clever or amusing, please do not burst my bubble... I like my little fantasy world)

I want to share. I have lots of things percolating in the brain but sitting down to type? No appeal. I blame my laptop. It gave up the ghost a week ago and I haven't been the same since. Which is odd. I despised my laptop. It made me crazy (slow and cranky it was!). But. It was mine. And now I am forced to squat on my husband's old MacBook.

sigh

Not the same. I miss you cranky, slow, infuriating HP!

Anyhow. More soon. I made a hat for Gwen which is quite cute- I just have to get her to take a picture in sans that awful Fake Smile she has going right now.

Bleh. No good pictures unless I ambush her and that is hard to do if you want her to model something. She might be three but she's no dummy. "What? Oh, I know it's 65 degrees Sweet Pea, but I think you should wear this new hat Mommy made you anyway..." Uh huh. Like that's gonna fly.

And, Thank you! to everyone who has said nice things about my little enterprise. Everyone has been supportive and I've even managed sell a few things. I'm working on a few things and hope to have some fun new things to share next week. (I wonder if I could work "things" into this paragraph again? Oh look! I just did.)

And (last item I promise) in case I get all wrapped up in life and forget to post before Sunday: Happy Mother's Day to all my mommy friends and most especially,

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

I have no idea how you did it and every day I grow more in more in awe of you (and Daddy, too) for the way you raised the three of us- thank you, thank you, thank you! Love you!

Announcing...

2009-04-28T14:31:00.000-07:00

Anybody been wondering why I've been such a busy little bee of late?

No?

Well, too bad because I'm going to bore you with all the details anyway.

Last Friday I finally opened my very own Etsy shop: dancing sheep (of course!).

Right now I'm featuring a variety of little things but I have much more up my sleeves and hope to continue adding new products as inspiration strikes.

Zippered Pouches

Bookmarks

Magnets (no idea why this photo changed direction, stupid Blogger)

And today I am giddy as school girl to have shipped out my very first order!

So exciting!

Step Away from the Self-Portraits and No One Gets Hurt

2009-04-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

I'll be the first to admit that photography is not my thing. I have been blessed in many areas but holding a camera and making it take the picture I want isn't one of them. Unfortunately, as a knitter and crafter who aspires to have a semi-decent blog, I have to take photographs.

Most of the time I muddle through and by virtue of taking a zillion pictures, I come up with something usable.

This is the Infinite Monkey Theorem approach to photography. It works for me. Mostly. Unless I have an adult item I want modeled. Then I am forced, by virtue of a husband who, love him though I do, would surely roll his eyes at me if I asked him to photograph me wearing a newly completed knit, to employ the Dreaded Self Portrait.

Oh I know. I could set up a tripod and set the little 10-second timer and then I would, perhaps, come out with a picture that is somewhat more, well, photogenic. But let me be honest. Not happening. I barely get photos done as is. The extra steps would prove a barrier and I'd never take any pictures.

Hmmmm... Not really a great deal better.

So imagine my joy when, as I was wandering though Display & Costume a couple weeks ago, I stumbled across a cheap Styrofoam mannequin head! It is a small head, better suited to children's hats but for three bucks who am I to say "no"? I'm keeping my eyes open for a full sized head. No doubt I can easily find one with a quick Google search.

Whew, much better!

Unoriginal Hat by the Yarn Harlot

Malabrigo Chunky in Brisa

Size 10.5 Addi Turbo 16" circulars & dpns

My Daughter, the Tulip Killer

2009-04-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

Over the years there have been times when I've asked my mom a question about my childhood and she's turned to me and said, "It was a good thing you were cute." This statement puzzled me. Huh? What did being cute have to do with anything? I just didn't get it.

Well, Mom, I get it. I understand. It only took the acquisition of two adorable but mischievous (intentionally or otherwise) children before I heard your words playing in my head, "Aaaaaaaarrrgh. It's a good thing you're cute..."

Any mother will tell you that no matter how much you love your children, sometimes they behave in a way that Just. Makes. You. Crazy. And then, indeed, it is a very good thing they are cute.

Case in point:

Gwen loves flowers. To Death.
sigh

I've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my tulips since they were planted last fall. I love tulips and eagerly looked forward to the day when I could step outside, cut a few blooms and bring the colorful vibrancy inside with me. It is not to be. At least in the backyard where Gwennie has shown herself to be even more eager than I am to enjoy the flowers. Poor things were plucked from the ground before they could bloom.

Thank goodness for the fence that prevents her from ravaging the flowers in the front yard.

Successful Hunting

2009-04-14T18:01:00.000-07:00

Egg hunting that is. Saturday we took the little ones to the Bunny Bounce at Woodland Park Zoo.

Gwen moved up from the Toddler area to the "Big Kid" area so I was a bit worried she might have trouble holding her own.

I need not have worried.

Everyone had a good time and we topped off the egg hunting with a turn on the carousel.

I haven't said much about it here but I have been doing a lot of sewing. Here is my favorite creation to date:

Simplicity Pattern 2674

Gwen's Easter dress. Cute blue (her Favorite color) "Baby Bunny" fabric is from Lakehouse Dry Goods.

My only modification was the placement of the ribbon, not a big deal. I thought the pattern was well written and explained. My only criticism would be the lack of detail for setting in the sleeves... That was the hardest part and had virtually no detail... or it could have been my lack of sleep catching up with me. At any rate, I am pleased with the dress and Gwen loves it so all is good.

Even if she is a total goof ball.

But What Exactly am I Doing?

2009-04-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

I don't know about any other moms out there but I feel like I am busy All. The. Time. Which is to be expected, I guess, when you are trying to take care of a couple little ones and yourself and the house and the cats and meet your outside obligations and ~~manage~~ take care of your husband and all the other myriad things we need to do. Busy is okay. What bothers me is that I don't always feel like I have anything to show for it. How can I be so tired at the end of the day and feel like I never stopped and yet, if someone were to ask me, "What were you doing?" I'm not sure I could come up with an answer. I look around, and yes, the kids are fed and (mostly) happy but my house is a mess and I have to scramble to find clean clothes in the morning... I don't know. I'm sure this is a common feeling (don't burst my bubble if it isn't!)... I guess if I gave up knitting, crafting and the other little things that keep me sane I could have an organized house but then I wouldn't be much fun to live with so for now, until a resident house elf moves in I'll just have to deal.

So, yup. Busy, busy, busy. Just don't ask for the details.

Spring has Sprung?

2009-04-02T13:51:00.000-07:00

Mother Nature is ignoring my (not so) silent pleas to end the cold dreariness and bring on the sun, already. Damn her. I am so very ready to don some fresh spring togs and enjoy the sunshine. At least today we have not had any of that lovely slushy mush that greeted us yesterday morning.

It has occurred to me that Mother Nature is perhaps withholding my spring until I perform a Spring Cleaning of some sort. Little does she know who she's playing chicken with... Bring it on Mommy Nature!

In lieu of any real spring I have been trying to manufacture one instead, or at least some springy items.

Cherry Garcia by Adrian Bizilia
Malabrigo Chunky Merino in Brisa
Size 10.5 - 16" Addi Turbo Circular

This was a super quick knit: one day, cast-on to bind off. In the Malabrigo Chunky the cowl is super soft and squishy. It will definitely keep the winter (or spring) chill away.

Zune Cozy by Michelle Mooney
Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Vetiver (green) & Paris Nights (navy)
Size 5 & 7 dpns

So admittedly not as springy as the cowl but it does house my happy pink Zune so that counts right? Another quickie knit (I am clearly in instant gratification mode), I think this took me a couple hours at knit night so under non-distracted circumstances I'm sure it could be cranked out lickety-split.

Now here is something genuinely springy:

Flowers! I adore fresh flowers and wish I could afford to have arrangements in my house all the time but alas... perhaps when I win the lottery. I made the above arrangement yesterday at my MOPS meeting (Mothers of Preschoolers). I had such fun. Normally I indulge in a riot of color when I put together a floral arrangemnet but yesterday green was speaking to me and I decided to try the monochromatic/tone-on-tone look. Pretty darn good if I'm allowed to toot my own horn.

That's Beezer the Cranky One in the background. She is a floweraholic. I have to make sure to put any and all flowers out of her range or they become a kitty snack. And I do mean Any and All. She has been known to consume silk flower arrangements in their entirety. Yup. Silk flowers. Not quite the brightest bulb, our Beezer.

Seeing Double

2009-03-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

I feel like maybe I've used this post title before but a quick perusal of my old posts says I haven't... hmmm. Still feels too familiar. Oh well, I'll get over it.

I know there are knitters out there who bristle at the thought of making the same pattern twice and, for the most part, I am in agreement with this school of thought. But there are a couple patterns that are just so tremendous I have no problems knitting them more than once.

Case in point: Foliage from Knitty. I knit my first one about a year ago and I loved knitting it. The pattern was interesting but not difficult to follow, quick to finish and the hat itself always garners a compliment or two when I wear it.

So when I needed to make a hat as a donation for a fundraising auction this February I pulled out the pattern again and whipped this up:

The yarn for Foliage #2 is also Malabrigo Chunky, this time is Verde Adriana.

The auction raised money for Jerboa Dance, a modern company here in Seattle that is run by one of my very good friends, Jaime. Jaime always admires my knitting so back in the late fall I made this for her:

Dean Street Hat by Nina Dayton. The yarn is, you guessed it, Malabrigo, this time the worsted weight merino in Holly Hock. This is a fantastic pattern. It is also a quick knit and while it looks cabled, it doesn't require a cable needle as it employs a twist stitch instead. I was lucky enough to be a test knitter for this pattern so I was one of the first kids to get to play with it.

I like the pattern so much in fact, that I made another one for the auction:

No, you're not seeing double and I didn't make a mistake and link to the same project twice. I made a second hat in the very same colorway. And, surprisingly, still fun to knit and not boring at all the second time around.

I wanted to offer a "set" for the auction so to go along with the hat I made a pair of Fetching in the Holly Hock Worsted to match.

And, in case you're wondering if the theme would continue, yes, this was the second time around for this pattern as well. Here is my original set, made for me last year:

Yes, they are incomplete at the time of the photograph, but you get the idea. The yarn is... wait for it... Malabrigo Worsted in Dusty (yes, I do occasionally use other yarns... just not very often). I am much happier with the more recent set. I learned the first time that I don't like the picot bind off (floppy and loose, just not neat looking) so the second time I opted for a decrease bind off instead.

Much better!

In non-knitting news, Matt continues to grow so that I get more and more questions from strangers asking if the kiddos are twins. (See, brought it back to the theme- clutch writing I tell you.) I started getting this question from people a year ago and thought t was completely ridiculous at the time. Now? Not so much. Poor little Gwen "towers" over her baby brother by a mere inch and I think he now has an ounce or two on her in the weight department. And there is no denying that they are very similar looks-wise:

Um, yes, this last little section is to indulge the grandparents... ;)

Happy First Day of Spring!

Pooh. What Happened to the Sun?

2009-03-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

Looking outside today it is hard to believe that just a little while ago it looked like this:

Glorious!

This was a couple Fridays ago and I took advantage of a babysitter to steal a little time for myself during the day. I grabbed my lunch and headed down to Golden Gardens to enjoy the sunshine. It was still pretty cool temperature-wise but I could feel Spring waiting in the wings.

I think Spring got stage fright because it is nowhere to be seen now. Oh well. At least I got to indulge for a couple hours...

And what did I do with those hours? I worked on this:

This is Thermis by Kristen Patay.

And here it is completed:

I used Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Natural (unbelievably soft!!!) and my trusty Addi Turbos in size 6. The buttons came from The Fiber Gallery.

I love it! And really, if it isn't going to be Spring- could it be just a little colder so I can use this? I hate to think I'm going to have to put it away until the fall :(

And just to spite me for maligning it, the sun has come out as I put the final touches on this post. Go figure.

New Year, New FO

2009-01-06T20:05:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd start the year with some knitting content.

I'll pause while you all stand back up from the floor...

OK, here it is:

This was a Christmas gift for Todd and I am inordinately pleased with it. The pattern is VERY loosely based on an Irish Hiking Hat (Ravelry link). Loosely as in, "I cast on the 96 stitches the pattern called for and did a cable and rib patterned hat." Everything else I changed: order of the ribs and cables, width of the cables, height of the cables, the decreases... you get the idea.

The yarn is Malabrigo Worsted in Pearl Ten and I knit the hat on a size 8 Addi Turbo 16" circular and dpns.

I like the hat a lot but mostly I am pleased as punch with the way I worked out the decreases:

They make a fun, swirly pattern!

Should anyone be interested in the alterations I made, let me know- I actually took copious notes (shocking) so I know what I did.

It cannot possibly be the end of the year!

2008-12-31T21:04:00.000-08:00

Hi all!

I am madly trying to finish up what feels like a billion things so no real post tonight, just a quick one to say:

Happy New Year! Wishing you all love and happiness in 2009!

They'll Turn on You So Fast...

2008-12-22T12:38:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my last post, it has been quite snowy. Gwen has enthusiastically embraced all the frozen goodness, happily romping in yard and sledding down the street.

Until now. I'm thinking a case of housitosis is setting in:

G: Mommy, is it still cold?

Me: Yup. Still cold and snowy.

G: Mommy... is spring almost here?

Winter Wonderland

2008-12-21T19:55:00.000-08:00

There is much knitting here at Chez Sheep: a beep for [censored] for example, but I'm afraid I will have to wait to share those projects with you until the items arrive at their intended destinations.

It has been cold enough here this past week that I have actually had opportunity to wear some of my hand knits- very exciting! And cozy :)

Now I admit that my decade here in Seattle has made me a skeptic, winter weather-wise. I hear the little weather dude earnestly predict snow for our area and I see the local news reporters go through their song & dance, touting the latest "Snowpocalypse" but my brain? It says, "Meh. Not happening. Not a snowball's chance in hell." (If you'll pardon the awful pun.) 99.7% of the time the predictions are wrong. No snow. Or at least not enough to alter my plans in any serious way. At most, we get something like this:

My backyard, earlier in the week.

And, the forecasts were wrong again this weekend. But... this time they were wrong in the opposite direction. Our snowfall was supposed to taper off late last night or earlier today changing to snow showers or freezing rain.

Um..... Not snow much:

This was my back porch almost three hours ago. Our most recent snowfall (the third this week!) is still going strong more than 24 hours after it started. Now some of you who live in hardier climes may scoff that a mere 7"-10" can be a serious Snow Event. But let me remind you that I live in Seattle. A city of many BIG hills, drivers with little to no experience driving in snow (heck, they can't even drive in the rain and it rains all the time) and woefully little snow removal equipment.

Snowpocalypse indeed.

Retrograde

2008-12-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that there are only two and half weeks until Christmas- where has the time gone? I think the late Thanksgiving and the resulting shorter pre-Christmas run up really has my brain flummoxed (love that word- I think we should bring back into regular use, it so precised describes that sort of baffled "what the heck?" feeling I experience so frequently these days).

I think I'm making progress. Gifts have been purchased. Gifts have been made, not all are done but I'm getting there. I am slowly getting the house decorated...

And... my children are slowly un-decorating it for me. My main accomplishment thus far was decorating the tree. Gwen's big accomplishment?

Removing the ornaments.

"But Mama, I liiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-iiiiiiiiiiiiiiike holding them."

well. Who can argue with that kind of logic?

sigh

I'm an Auntie!!

2008-12-03T13:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my sister in law (hubby's brother's wife) gave birth to a beautiful little boy making me an aunt for the first time (I'm not posting a photo because I don't know how they'd feel about it).

Guess I'd better buckle down and finish up the knitted gifts... I'm working on the trio from the original Mason-Dixon Knitting

Baby Bib o' Love, still needs a button...

Heartbreakingly Cute Baby Kimono. I'm now considerably further along than this, the back & left sleeve are completed and I have about ten more rows to go on the left side.

The Baby Genius Burp Cloth - done. Thank goodness something is done.

If you are wondering about the massive quantities of yellow for a baby boy I'd like to point out that the sex of the little one was a surprise until yesterday. This is actually why I am still knitting at this late date (no, it was just my natural tendency to procrastinate this time). I was all excited to knit cute little boy or girl things- had lists of them in my mind- but then my brother-in-law told us they weren't going to find out what they were having.

Plbbbbbbbbbbt.

All the air left my balloon of baby knitting happiness. I just couldn't get excited to knit unisex baby things. No idea why. It was terribly irrational. But then a week ago I realized that the due date was RAPIDLY approaching and some knitting must be done, so here you have it. Hopefully I'll have it all finished it the next couple days...

PS. I know. Two posts in a week. Try not to faint.

December?

2008-12-01T15:45:00.001-08:00

Um, what happened to November? I swear I was just dressing the kiddos up in Halloween costumes yesterday.

I hope you all had scrumptious Thanksgiving dinners and survived the madness that was our retail establishments this past weekend. For our part we had a quiet turkey dinner at home with all the fixins'...

...and pie of course!

And we limited our post-Thanksgiving shopping to getting a Christmas tree so we have nary a stubbed toe to show for the Black Friday craziness.

I have been knitting up a storm recently but many of the items will be winging their way to rest beneath Christmas trees so I cannot share them here yet.

So instead I'll share one of my favorite projects from this past year that I haven't shown you here yet.

Pattern: Faberge Cowl by Nina Machlin Dayton (pattern available on Ravelry)

Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Vetiver

Needles: Size 7 Addi Turbos (20" I think, maybe 16")

Beads: Size 6/0 Japanese Seed Beads

I knit this as a test knit for Nina and I love it. The beads add just the right touch (they are place with a crochet hook instead of pre-stringing the beads). This is a fantastic pattern: clear instructions, a fun, interesting knit, and beautiful result.

A Little Math

2008-10-21T14:04:00.000-07:00

So looking over things I discovered some disturbing math. I've only posted here 11 time in 2008. That's 1.1 posts per month but that isn't what disturbed me (although maybe it should).

You might think that no posts on a knitting blog might mean no knitting:

0 p = 0 FO

But that isn't the case. In fact, the opposite is true. Since the beginning of the year I've completed 23 knitted items.

11 p = 23 FO

Even if I had managed to put a finished object in each of my paltry posts (I didn't) I still would be 12 FO's behind when it comes to sharing. In reality, I think I have 18 or so FO's to share.

That's a lot. Daunting almost.

But I shall not be defeated.

As I have nothing clever or profound to add I'll just get straight to it. I was going to do this chronologically but I am missing some pictures so it'll have to be haphazard.

Last week I decided the kiddos needed Pumpkin Hats and so, voila!

Pumpkin hats. This is the Little Pumpkin hat (Ravelry link) from Itty-Bitty Hats.
.
I used Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Glazed Carrot, Sapphire Green, and Marron Oscuro and knit them on my trusty size 7 Addi Turbos and dpns. The pattern goes up to a 1-2 year size but my little ones have not so little heads so I opted to use a worsted weight yarn instead of the called for DK weight. The hats are a little big but they'll fit for several years- better big than too small :) This is a quick knit, each hat took me less than two days to knit so I'm sure some of you speedier knitters out there could crank these out in no time. Overall, I am very happy with the results and hope that the weather this fall is cool enough that they get lots of use.

And while we're on the subject of hats, a while back (April!!?) I did a test knit for a friend of mine from Ravelry.

This is the Warwick Hat by Nina Machlin Dayton.

I made the child's small size but Matt has since outgrown it so I guess I need to make another one (in a solid color this time). The yarn is Malabrigo worsted again, the main color is Lime-Blue and the contrast color is Lettuce. And once again I used my Addi Turbos (size 8) and dpns. The hat is knot from the top down and has this cool contrast braid detail at the top and down at the brim. I'm bummed it's too small now...

So that's it for today. I don't want to over-do it. See you soon with more FOs and if I ever get caught up with those maybe I'll show you what I'm working on now... what a concept.

Fully Vested

2008-09-04T20:19:00.000-07:00

I finished my gift for Todd just in the nick of time, threw a ribbon around it and handed it over to him minutes before our anniversary ended.

This is the Subtle Stripe Vest by Lara Killian. The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash in a Green/Blue/Grey with flecks of gold (#867 I think- it is a great color). I used my trusty Addi Turbos in size 5.

This was my largest garment project to date and I am pretty happy with the results. The vest is exactly what I wanted: simple, but with just enough detail to keep it from being boring. If I make this vest again I will pick up more stitches along the armholes and neck than the instructions indicate because I felt the ribbing was not as “dense” as I would have liked in an ideal world.

I also need to add that I liked the yarn more than I thought I would. While I would never call it soft it never bothered my hands and was quite tolerable. I anticipate using it again in the future. I feel like I am the last one on the Cascade 220 bandwagon but better late than never, right?

I'm just a Jamaican Bobsledder

2008-08-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

For so many athletes the joy of the Olympics is in the participation. The accomplishment is merely making it to the Games perhaps setting a new personal best if they are lucky.

And so it is for me in the Ravelympics. I will not be completing my event, the Shawl Relay. Let's just say I am emulating the US track & field relay teams and I fumbled the baton hand-off.

Actually, the hand-off is the problem. Instead of attacking my Clementine Shawlette with single-minded focus and determination a la Michael Phelps, I spread myself too thin, taking on another large project at virtually the same time, the vest for Todd.

That's not to say I haven't tried. I've made a good effort, putting in the time and doing the training. I felt good going in but it just didn't happen for me this time. The Clementine will not be done before the closing ceremonies. Here are my results:

The shawl has passed the halfway point. The first half is complete and looks great. I'm just into Chart B for the second half, a few more rows than shown above. I am only working on the Clementine when Todd is around because I need to dedicate every free moment when he isn't present to this:

The Anniversary Vest. I am half a row away from dividing for the front and back (two more inches than pictured). FINALLY! It is going to be really hard to finish it by the 31st but I am going to go out there, stick to my game plan, and give 110%.

Hopefully I'll be back with a finished vest and fewer sports cliches next week. Have a great weekend!

Ravelry Killed My Blogging Star...

2008-08-13T16:12:00.000-07:00

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Hi everyone! I hope you are all having lovely summers... I haven't been reading any blogs lately so I'm a bit behind- hopefully everything's groovy.

Groovy? Really? Man, I am out of practice.

Anyway, we're doing well here at Chez Sheep. A quick catch up:

The littles are still cute.

Matt turned one!!!

Gwen now thinks everything is a balance beam (even before the Olympics).

And I am still knitting...

gasp

This is my main Ravelympics project, the Clementine Shawlette from Interweave Knits (that's a Ravelry link, if you aren't signed up, MOM, get over there and do it). The yarn is Malabrigo Silky Merino in Camote and it is just delightful.

I'm not as far along as I'd like to be and I'm starting to think I won't finish before the closing ceremonies because I am also working on this:

The Subtle Stripe Vest by Lara Killian. This is going to be a gift for Todd for our anniversary at the end of the month so it has a definite deadline. (And I really hope that he doesn't read my blog... he says he doesn't so if he lied, well... too bad. No surprise for you.) The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash which I like more than I thought I would. As much as I would have like to use Malabrigo Worsted for this vest Todd would felt it faster than you can say "Handknit."

That's it for now... I don't want to over do it- I might pull something as I work my way back into blogging shape.

Still more crazy weather!

2008-04-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

We went out to brunch this morning and as we sat there big fat flakes started pouring from the sky... Insane. Did Mother Nature lose her calendar?

The kids were sick all week:noses running like faucets, huge hacking coughs, ear infections, and yes, throwing up. Good times. I'm a little worn out from all the associated tasks and the increased crankiness so I'll apologize for my incoherent post ahead of time.

Since the little ones were sick, I was stuck in the house most of the week so I am suffering from cabin fever and I am really looking forward to getting out to see the Yarn Harlot tomorrow night at Third Place Books. I haven't picked up her new book yet but I plan on getting it tomorrow as well. I'm excited to reading the book since her books always make me laugh out loud. Unfortunately, I realized tonight that I do not have any socks on the needles... Going to see the Harlot without a sock to work on. Yikes. Possible heresy. I may have to rectify the situation before tomorrow night. Hmmmm.... what to do? What to do?

When last we talked knitting I was stalled on the cardigan I was knitting for Gwen. I'm still stalled. I guess I have Second Sleeve Syndrome. My goal is to get the sleeve cast on this week. We'll see how that goes, I'm not holding out any great hope...

I think I had also just cast on for my Foliage. I am happy to say that that particular piece of knitting is no longer a WIP but a lovely Finished Object! Hooray!

Foliage from Knitty knit in Malabrigo Chunky on Size 9 & 10 Addi Turbo circulars and a set of size 10 dpns.Finally, a hat for me. ::happy dance::

Global Warming??

2008-04-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhh.... April in Seattle.

Really. This was the view from my front porch this evening. Craziness personified. And let me ask, if April showers bring May flowers, what the hell does April snow bring you?

More blogging soon. Have actually been knitting. At least when the littles ones are not spewing snot and spit up on me. Good times.

More later.

And... the return of cupcakes (da-da-daaaaaaaa).

Definition

2008-03-07T17:25:00.000-08:00

In the wake out the latest pathetic disaster from the publishing world, allow me a moment to provide a little public service to all you wanna-be memoirists out there:

From the American Heritage Dictionary:

mem·oir (měm'wär', -wôr') n.
1. An account of the personal experiences of an author.
2. An autobiography. Often used in the plural.
3. A biography or biographical sketch.

In other words, if it didn't happen to you (for reals) it's fiction. Sell it as such.

A Knitting Update

2008-03-04T16:25:00.000-08:00

I have been plugging along on a project for Gwen but I have yet to share it with you so allow me to rectify the situation.

This is the Lace Edge Cardigan from Debbie Bliss Simply Baby. I am using Baby Cashmerino in Chocolate and I had to go down a needle size (#2) to get gauge. I know the picture doesn't really show you anything but right now the cardigan is pretty much a brown blob of garter stitch so trust me, a picture of it all laid out is even less interesting.

So far I have finished the body (fronts & back are knit as one piece) and the above sleeve is now finished.

I need to cast on for the second sleeve but I am a bit bored with all the brown garter stitch so I did this instead:

Yes, I have finally jumped on the Foliage hat bandwagon. Goodness knows I have enough Malabrigo in my stash, I need to start using some of it. (I uploaded all my Malabrigo to Ravelry last night so now I know exactly how much of the yummy stuff I have been, ahem, collecting.) I am using Malabrigo Chunky in Lettuce and so far I am very happy with the project (I'm a little further along than in than in the photo). The pattern is easy but interesting. I found the beginning of the hat a little fiddly with the dpn's but I have switched to a circular now so that is behind me and really, it wasn't annoying enough to prevent me from making another hat in this pattern. I think part of the problem is also that I have been using small needles so much (see brown garter stitch blob above for example) that I find that the 10.5's feel like tree trunks!

Hopefully I'll get some pictures taken in the next couple days so I can show you everything I have on the needles. I have a shocking number of WIPs right now... Which is not good because I feel I case of cast-on-itis coming on, the downfall of documenting my delicious Malabrigo stash and reminding myself of what I could be making instead of what I am making... because you know, the grass is always greener when it is Lettuce Malabrigo.

Today's Post is Brought to You by the Number 2

2008-02-29T00:04:00.001-08:00

I've got a lot going on right now and most of it is irking me so let's get straight down to business because if I get off topic, well, let's just say War & Peace might start looking like a novella. So not a lot of chit chat, just the bare bones of a post.

The theme for the day is things that come in pairs...

First up, Socks!
Try to ignore the bin of awful acrylic craft yarn in the background. It's left over from my pre-knitting days when I "crafted" and didn't care (or know) about 100% merino and such. It was hard enough to get the picture while bending over and hanging upside down, I decided not to retake the photo to edit out my past yarn indiscretions...

These are my finished Toe Up Socks from Shibui Knits. I used Shuibui Sock in Orchid and I used a variety of Lantern Moon Sox Stix (#2 for the main body of the sock, #1 for around the ankles, and # 3 for around the calf). I shortened the leg length because I usually wear short socks and I don't really like having stuff around the middle of my leg. If I had to do it again I would use #1 needles for everywhere but the calf because they are bit looser than I would like. Overall I am very pleased... I admit I was a bit worried at first since these are 100% merino wool and I have a wool sensitivity but I am happy to report that Sock is so soft that I have worn them for whole days with nary a twitch or itch!

And next, Mittens!

Baby mittens - which means they are automatically cute (the Second Law of Babydynamics). I made these using a free pattern I found on Ravelry (surprise) "Baby Mittens" designed by Kaitlyn Wong. The yarn is Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in a light blue, #202 I think but the ball band is upstairs and I'm lazy. I knit these on my fabulous Addi Laces, US #3. The pattern was really clear and well written but if you are looking to make mittens for a really small baby you might want to use something else, these are a bit big on Matt now (almost eight months!) and also fit just fine on Gwen (two). My gauge was a little larger than called for but not that much. I tried two new techniques in this project: two strands held together and magic loop. Neither was difficult but I found magic loop to be pretty fiddly with such a small item. The two strands makes for a nice tight fabric that keeps Matt's little mitts warm and toasty.

So a pair of finished objects! I was going to show you my Lace Edge Cardigan (Debbie Bliss, Simply Baby)- I've finished the body and moved onto the sleeves (another pair) but I think I will save that for next time.

I'll leave you with my favorite pair because Grandma reads the blog and we like to keep Grandma happy, even if she just lurks and never comments...

Matt being Matt, which in my book equals adorable but I'm biased.

And Gwen, checking out the spring Interweave Knits. Of her own accord. Can you stand it? We'll have her hooked on fiber before she knows what hit her.

Knitting galore on Martha!

2008-02-21T16:59:00.000-08:00

If you are a Martha Stewart fan, you might want to set your DVR for next Monday, 2/25, which is "Homemade Knitwear Day" featuring an audience of knitters and a knitting inspired show lineup.

She Still Knits!

2008-02-12T00:48:00.000-08:00

Hey, check it out, I'm posting twice within eight days- that must be some kind of new land-blog speed record... or something.

I feel so out of practice, I'm not sure I even have any command of grammar anymore... in fact, I was trying to multi-task and watch Barefoot Contessa while I typed this up but I'm having a really hard time concentrating so I had to put BC on hold. Sorry Ina!

On Sunday I went to a baby shower given for my good friend from dance, Jen, and I gave her this:

It's the Geordie Stripe Yoke Jacket from my favorite knitting book (everyone say it with me now) Natural Knits for Babies and Moms. I used Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton in Periwinkle (2 skeins) and Pickle (1 skein) and Crystal Palace Bamboo Straights (5's and 6's). I adore the buttons... I got them at Acorn Street Yarn.

Love how this sweater turned out, I'll definitely be making another one at some point. It was not difficult at all but was not boring to knit. It took me forever but only because I did not work on it for a couple months at all and then once I had the knitting done it sat around for another month before I seamed it.

I was thrilled when she opened it and the whole party ground to a halt for several minutes with everyone ohhhhhing and ahhhhhhing over it and asking me to make one for them- it is so gratifying when a handmade gift is appreciated :)

I also had a little crafty fit the day before the shower in which I produced this:

A diaper cake! I have seen them before at showers and what-not and I had some newborn diapers lying around so I made a quick run out for some blue tulle and brown ribbon (Jen's theme colors). The cakes I've seen before featured diapers that were rolled up individually and then taped together but that struck me as being difficult to take apart so I experimented... not bad for a first attempt if I do say so myself.

So that's it for now, I have a couple more things to share so you might be seeing me a bit more regularly... and for those of you who might worry that my copy of Natural Knits might get lonely now that the Geordie is done- never fear! I already have another project on the needles... It's almost like a Julie and Julia thing for me with this book- I just feel this compunction to make (almost) everything in it.... too bad "Katie & Louisa" doesn't have a better ring to it...

**note: Blogger's spell check seems to have already gone to bed for the night so I apologize for any spelling errors! I tried to proof but, well, it is past my bedtime**

The Knitting is Coming, The Knitting is Coming

2008-02-03T13:34:00.000-08:00

As is the, um, posting... I just remembered how to hit these little buttons with my fingers in order to form these really cool things called words and paragraphs.

But for your effort to come here and read this I give you this:

An adorable just-turned seven month old in the Cutest outfit ever courtesy of Grandma and get this, the overalls are completely reversible!!! Turn 'em inside out and you have adorable plaid overalls with a truck. I love a good two-for-one...

It's fourth down, she'll have to punt...

2007-12-29T01:05:00.000-08:00

Um, so that was me with regards to my handmade Christmas gifts. It just didn't work out this year, but I was in serious denial until the 20th or so of December, madly knitting while a tiny voice in the back of my head whispered that there wasn't enough time. Oh, sorry. That was actually my husband in his loud voice telling me to give up and get some sleep already!

And so, I did. I gave up. It was hard. I'm not ashamed to say that there were tears. You know how it is, with visions of perfect knitted gifts in just the right color, yarn, pattern all amazingly wrapped in your handmade, hand painted/stamped whatever paper with exquisite handmade card attached. While I never wrote about it here (because that would, you know, require me to actually write) I had in my head taken a "semi-handmade" Christmas pledge... not to be confused with anything related to Sandra Lee- how does she have a show on Food Network? I'm sorry but those tablescapes? Sometimes less is more. And have you ever noticed how the decor in her kitchen changes almost every show to match the theme? I once caught about five minutes of a lemon themed show, I swear the whole kitchen looked like a lemon meringue had exploded. She scares me and the food? yikes. I don't ever intend to watch her show but sometimes I'll be flipping through the channels and I get sucked in - I think it is the train wreck factor - what is she going to do next?

Um. Where was I? (but I do feel better, getting that off my chest)

I wanted to make as many presents as possible this year. I really had a bee up my butt about it. It is really tough for me to not be perfect when it comes to things like this. But, in the end, my sanity, what little I have left, was more important (thank you amazon! while you may be the total opposite of the handmade Christmas pledge you do come through for those of us with a last minute present crisis... ).

At least now I am, for the moment, ahead of the game for next year's Christmas gift knitting. I'd say I was ahead for birthday knitting but my family (with the exception of my daughter and my father) has inconveniently decided to be born in the warmer months when a wool whatever just wouldn't go over too well.

And in some totally unrelated, technology-makes-no-sense news, my card reader has decided to function again, just out of the blue. I didn't change anything, it just worked when my husband gave it a go. Unfortunately I don't have any current knitting pics in the photos I'm uploading to flickr but I'll try to get some in the next couple days and give you a year-end wrap up of my works in progress (too many). In the meantime, here is a little cuteness from "backstage" at my brother-in-law's wedding back in October (man, I have a lot of catching up to do), Gwen was the flower girl:

Grrrrrr....

2007-12-13T12:10:00.000-08:00

OK, so I'm feeling just a teensy bit frustrated.

As stated before, my computer won't recognize it's internal card reader so no pictures.

I tried an external card reader (we have one lying around- and I know it is functional because it works with my husband's laptop). No good. Still no pictures.

Per my last post, I tried sending pics from my phone and guess what? My phone is in on the conspiracy. I attempted to email photos directly to my Flickr account- never showed up. Tested sending them to my personal email account- nope, nothing. Tried multi-media messaging them to my husband's phone so he could then upload them- uh-uh. Now, I have a Blackjack so it should be perfectly capable of any or all of these functions... in fact, I have in the past successfully sent pictures to my husband. But now? Now that I need to use the photo functionality? Um, no.

So as a last ditch effort I gave my memory card to my husband to upload. Hmmm, you say, why not do that in the first place, seems perfectly reasonable. Patience, my friends, all will be revealed. Gave the Hubster the card so he could upload to his laptop and then transfer them to our network hard-drive so I could access them. Watched him plug the card into the reader and begin the process. Happily tripped back down the stairs to draft some posts related to the pictures confident that I would soon have pictures to share. Soon. A couple hours later I checked the hard-drive location where we keep the pictures- nothing new. No big deal, he was working and probably got distracted. So apparently he has been distracted for 14 days!!!!! I keep nagging and he keeps saying, I haven't had a chance. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.... HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO DRAG AND DROP AND FREAKING FOLDER FROM ONE LOCATION TO ANOTHER???!!!!!! THE PICS ARE ALREADY UPLOADED TO HIS LAPTOP!

ahem. sorry. Just really aggravated. I even tried doing it myself, as I am, after all, perfectly self-sufficient, but I can't figure out where the original file is on his laptop.

And so I am just so exasperated by the whole thing that I want nothing to do with blogging... but at the same time I miss it. Did I mention "grrrrrrrrrrr..."?

Obviously I am supposed to have a picture-free blog and I just failed to get the memo. *sigh*

biting the proverbial bullet

2007-11-28T15:18:00.000-08:00

Alright. Enough. This no blogging thing just sucks. I'll be doing something and think to myself, "Hey, I should take a picture and blog about this." Then I remember that I cannot upload pictures to my laptop and then it just seems like too much work to take a picture, give the camera to the Hubster, hope that he uploads them to our network hard drive sometime this century, and then, once that is done, hope that I remember what it was I wanted to write about at the time I took the picture. *sigh*

So, no more. I'm just going to post sans photos. Sorry if it is boring. I am going to figure out how to send pictures directly from my phone to my Flickr account as soon as I catch up on the work for my math class. The photo quality will suck but I'm no photography wizard anyway and you know the thing about beggars and choosing... A photo on the blog is worth two in the Canon. Or something.

Anyway.

It is time to pay off the cupcake contest. Yup. FINALLY. Bet you thought I forgot ;)

And the winner, picked via my very own, written by me, random number generating program, is....

Jessica! (love the Laila sock btw)

Send me your snail mail address (email or pm on ravelry) and I'll ~~tee-pee your house~~ send you a little box of cupcake goodies! Also, let me know: snowmen or polar bears & penguins.

Okay, enough procrastinating while trying to avoid homework. Back to Conic Sections. Oh, yeah, the fun never ends. You know you envy me.

Mouths of Babes

2007-11-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

So I hosted a dinner here at Chez Sheep last night and my guests consumed a fair quantity of beer and wine. When my daughter came down for breakfast this morning she looked at the bottles lined up in the counter waiting to be recycled. Pointing to all the bottles, she chirped, "Mommy juice!!" Hmmmmm.... maybe we should have taken a different approach a couple weeks ago when we were explaining why she couldn't have the wine I was drinking?

IK Winter

2007-11-06T14:13:00.000-08:00

The Interweave Knits Winter Preview is up!

I think I see a Henley Perfected in my future... ohhhhhh... and a Logan River Wrap.... and...

I'll just stop looking right now otherwise I'll never get back to my homework.

But one last thing: the Tilting Cable Socks....

... and the El Sol Pullover...

....stopping, really...

at least until it shows up on the shelves next Tuesday :)

Um, I feel like a slacker...

2007-11-04T21:54:00.000-08:00

Holy cow! Did you guys see this? Have a baby, ten months later, win the NYC Marathon! I thought I was doing well because I go walk around Greenlake at least once a week.

So not only am I behind in the fitness department but I am waaaaaaayyyyy behind the eight ball in almost every aspect of my life. Yikes. Too much to do, not enough hours. You guys know the drill.

I have a zillion posts to do here but I can't get my pictures uploaded (my laptop won't recognize an external element- I've tried several combinations but it is being rather stubborn- I'll have to wait until the Hubster is back and I can commandeer his laptop... I thought I had the solution which is why I let him leave town without uploading the photos first).

I also need to announce the winner of my cupcake inspired contest but I am in the middle of writing a random number generating program for my programming class (fairly easy to do, I just need to find the time to sit down and finish it- see Paragraph 2 above) and I'd like to use it to pick my contest winner as a way of testing my program... so look for the winner to be announced later this week.

So yeah, someday there may be knitting content, and some more cupcake reviews, and some recipe reviews and my thoughts on learning to sew. See how much you have to look forward to? Really, I'm just putting it all off until the Writer's Guild goes on strike and there is nothing to watch on tv... then you will be dying to read whatever I write here from sheer rerun tv induced boredom.

Until later then, I need to go study the absolutely fascinating concepts involved with logarithmic properties. Positively scintillating.

Halftime

2007-10-21T15:01:00.000-07:00

Taking a quick break from watching our Seahawks to remind you that today is the last day to send e-cupcakes at Cupcakes for a Cause. Remember, if you send me one (glides4fun AT yahoo DOT com) I'll enter you in a drawing for some cupcake-ity goodness.

OK, second half kick-off, gotta run...

Pushing Daisies!

2007-10-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

Are any of you watching Pushing Daisies? Because if you are not, you should. Not only is it well written, clever, cute without being too saccharine, quirky and fun to watch there is KNITTING involved!!

That's right. One of the four main characters, the tough-talking-all-business-I'm-just-in-it-for-the-money PI, Emerson Cod, knits to relieve stress. In last week's episode, which I just watched courtesy of my DVR, they showed him knitting cables in his office which was replete with knit desk accessories: file holders, pencil cup, etc. He also knits a vest and 2 "gun cozies" during the episode. The knitting content isn't accurate per se but it is fun to see it included. Not often that you see a non-stereotypical person knitting in a tv show (one wonders how C.H.O.K.E. could allow this to happen!) No idea if the knitting will continue to show up or if this was a single episode quirk of a character's personality feature...

Even if they never mention it again I got a giggle out of the gun cozies and the show is well worth your time regardless of knitting content.

Cupcakes for a Cause

2007-10-16T15:41:00.000-07:00

Those of you who have read this blog for a while know I love a good cupcake so imagine how delighted I was to learn about Cupcakes for a Cause earlier today. This is a week-long (October 15-21) national campaign that has participating bakeries donating profits from cupcake sales to Cancercare for Kids.

I was on this like buttercream on chocolate cake. Unfortunately, despite the plethora of cupcake stores and bakeries here in Seattle there is not a single participating shop in the entire state of Washington. Shame on you. Someone should have stepped up to the, um, plate. Our neighbors to the south do have a bakery taking part: Saint Cupcake in Portland. If you live down there stop by, have a little something sweet ans support a good cause.

All is not lost for us in Seattle (and elsewhere) however! You can create and send e-cupcakes to you friends and for every e-cupcake sent, the sponsors of Cupcakes for a Cause will donate $1.oo!!!!

In fact, I will enter everyone who sends me (glides4funATyahooDOTcom) an e-cupcake by the of the campaign (10/21) in a drawing for a fun, cupcake related prize! And I will also send you a cupake in return, thus doubling the donation.

So head on over to Cupcakes for a Cause and pipe yourself some virtual icing, it's a sweet thing that won't add to your waistline!

The Problem with Please

2007-10-16T00:43:00.000-07:00

So it's another picture free post. Sorry. My laptop doesn't want to play nicely with my memory card. I'm working on it... LOTS of pictures and picture-related posts eager to show themselves on this here blog.

And now, on to the topic at hand: The Problem with Please

What's that you say?

How can something as polite as please cause a problem?

I know. It seems ridiculous. If anything, our society needs to be more polite and less demanding. More please, less gimmee.

Unless you have a cute little toddler under the age of two in your house. Then please can be a problem.

And it is all my fault.

I taught her that please is the "magic word."

When she wants something, I prompt, "What do you say?"

Which is all well and good until there is something she wants that I don't want her to have or do and I say "No."

Then she looks up at me with those big blue eyes, the faint traces of her dimples showing as she lisps out, "Peeeeeeaaaaaasssseeee."

"No," I say.

"Pease. Pease. Pease."

"No, Pooh Bear"

"pease?"

*sigh* What's a mommy to do?

Math is Hard.

2007-10-12T14:51:00.000-07:00

I'm back. Literally and figuratively.

The family spent last week in Rochester, NY celebrating the nuptials of my brother-in-law. I'd love to tell you that the ceremony was beautiful but I honestly don't know what the ceremony was like. Gwen, who was the flower girl, had a meltdown as soon as she walked down the aisle. Note to future brides: don't schedule the ceremony at your flower girl's nap time- no good can come from it. I whisked her out of the church with what I hope was a minimum of fuss. Predictably, Matt followed us out in the arms of Hubby's cousin less than five minutes later. So I was in the back room of the church trying to keep Gwen calm and while feeding Matt- Hubby was unavailable as he was a groomsman. Fun for Mommy. Luckily there was a two hour break between the ceremony and dinner so we were able to head back to my father-in-law's house and sneak in a nap for the very grouchy Pooh Bear. Unfortunately, that meant we missed the cocktail hour and I really could have used one after the child wrestling during the ceremony. *sigh* The reception was lovely and Gwen was much happier. She was quite the little dancing queen- bopping around on the dance floor with anyone and everyone until we dragged her off at ten o'clock that night!! I have pictures but they aren't uploaded yet so look for them at a later date.

I'll have a knitting update for you guys soonish... I'm not going to promise any time lines as I am up to my eyeballs in homework! This fall I decided it was time to finally make a real effort to finish my degree so I am taking a couple classes at a local community college. One of the classes is Pre-calculus which I took eons ago as a junior in high school. I need several quarters of calculus for my degree and even though I took calculus in high school and college I decided to back track a bit to limit the brain strain. Good thing because I remember nothing! Well, not nothing but not enough... I'll stare at a problem and thinking that I need to do some step in order to get to the next part of the problem only I have merely the vaguest recollection of what that thing is... It is slowly starting to come back but at the moment it is taking a lot of time but the little flashes of insight when I remember something (oh right. factoring. that's what I need to do...) are pretty gratifying. I occasionally even feel smart. Scary.

So that's my story for now. Posting will no doubt be sporadic as I try to figure out how to fit everything into my day (starting to do math at ten each night is not the best idea in the world- you'd be amazed at how many dumb mistakes you can make- if I forget to carry an exponent or negative sign down through a problem one more time I'm going to go crazy). I also have a couple of projects that I have been trying to get to for a couple months that I need to get going on... Way too much stuff. Way too little time. Never ends does it?

Follow the yellow brick road...

2007-09-14T16:09:00.000-07:00

OK. So I already live in the Emerald City and technically I will be leaving Seattle to go to a suburb but I really feel like I am off to see the Wizard...

Hmmmmmm... Maybe the Pied Piper would be a better analogy?

At any rate, this evening I am going to see Her.

The Harlot.

She of the books that have made me snarf my grande, non-fat, decaf, not too hot, two Splenda latte (why yes, I do live in Seattle) on several occasions when I was taken unawares by a particularly funny turn of phrase. Really, by the time I read the fourth book you would think I knew better. Put down the coffee when reading Harlotry.

So excited. I was decimated earlier this summer when I was too preggers to travel to Portland or Vancouver to see her.

Hmmmm? What's that? Melodramatic? Me? I don't think so though Hubby is prone to mumbling about drama queens and martyrdom sometimes... But, I think he must just have a secret soap opera fetish.

And the last time she was in the Seattle area I don't think I had started knitting yet. For sure I had not yet discovered the knitting blogosphere.

I know. Can you imagine? A time before knitting blogs. Boggles the mind.

So this evening I will tuck Matthew into his carseat and pick up Jen & her little one and the two of us will bravely make our way to Third Place Books with a newborn and a toddler in tow (Hubby will be watching Gwen).

Hope to see you there!

Click... Click... Click...

2007-09-14T00:19:00.001-07:00

I knit FOUR WHOLE ROWS tonight!

It's the little things people.

And speaking of little things, check out these booties:

Yup, this is the orange pair of the Angora Booties from Last Minute Knitted Gifts I wrote about the other day. I wish I could tell you about the yarn but Gwen made off with the ball band and several thorough searches of all possible resting places has yet to produce any evidence that it ever even existed. I can tell you that it is orange (mistress of the obvious) and that it is a wool/bamboo blend of some sort. DK weight. It was okay to work with, not something I would choose again which is unfortunate because I don't know what it is and with my luck some day I'll see it online and purchase a bag of it for something not realizing what it is. Oh, and the ball band was black. I'm sure that really narrows it down for you. I worked the booties on the next needle size up from what the pattern calls for and used a heavier weight yarn in order to get a larger size that might fit the weed for more than a day or two.

One thing you can't see in the above photo:

Uh huh. That would be me not paying attention when doing my three needle bind off. I was too lazy to pick it out and decided it was a design element.

I wanted Matthew to model the booties but as you see
he is sleeping. And Katie's First Law of Parenting? Never wake a sleeping baby. This, by the way is very closely related to Newton's Third Law of Motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In my experience, the reaction to breaking the 1st LOP is never pretty.

No picture of the second larger Simple Hat #1 from Itty Bitty Hats. As I mentioned in the other post, it looks just like the original only bigger so there is no point in photographing it without a cute little one wearing it. I have a limited (though valued) audience, no sense in boring you to death. Frankly, both hats look just like the one in the actual book (I used the same yarn and colorway for the smaller version) so I could have saved us all some time and eyestrain and directed you to check out the book's photo.

So those are my finished objects. But wait, there's more...

You know, I was reminded of the old Ginsu knife commercials earlier today while slicing a tomato... remember how the demonstrator would cut through a tin can and then a tomato? I think the 80's had much better ridiculous tv-only-product commercials. I mean, does the guy with the beard who pitches Oxy Clean really measure up to the Ginsu guy? I think not. And let's not forget the Clapper. That was a gold standard bad commercial.

Sorry. Tangent. Where was I? Right. Works in progress. Alright then without further ado...

My newest cast-on is the Border Wrap from Rowan Classic Nature. The yarn is the called for RYC Bamboo Soft in Beaver. Love the look and feel of the yarn. Hate that it is so damn splitty. Like knitting with DMC embroidery floss. Argh. The finished product better be worth it...

Here's a better picture of the color: I haven't done much yet as you can see... Well, in reality I have actually done at least twice this much, maybe even three times as much, because I cast-on, knit the garter border and then started the patterned section only to discover I had an error and my pattern didn't line up properly. I ripped and reknit the rows a couple times but couldn't make it work. I counted repeatedly and still couldn't figure it out. Frogged the whole thing and started over. There is still something funky (there is a missing stitch according to the way the pattern reads) but I can't figure out what it is (I have the required 121 stitches and I have worked the chart as it is written) so on the left hand side of my wrap the first row of the pattern touches the garter border instead of having a "blank" knit stitch there. Again, design element.

Next we have a pair of socks.

And I can say pair because I have managed to avoid the dreaded second sock syndrome. This is the project I knit four rows on tonight. I know. Now that you see the project you're not nearly so impressed. Four rows on the border wrap would be something. Four increase rows near the cast-on edge of a toe up sock? Not so much.

The pattern is a ribbed toe up sock from Shibui Knits and the yarn is Shibui Sock in Orchid.

These socks are for me (gasp, knitting for myself?) and I cannot wait to finsih the second one!

My last WIP is the Geordie Striped Yoke Jacket from... guess where? Natural Knits for Babies & Moms. I know you guys think this is the only book I own... I really do have others, really.

Here's the back:

And the two front pieces:

Notice anything wrong with this picture?

Yup. They are two different lengths. Now one is not finished but that isn't the problem, I have them lined up at a common point, the beginning of the neck shaping.

How on earth did this happen? For those of you who don't know me "in person" and haven't seen me knit, I am a compulsive row counter. I own at least ten row counters. I count rows even if the pattern indicated to knit until a certain length and no counting is required! Serious OCD stuff here. How did I manage to get four rows off? Because I counted (duh) the rows as soon as I saw the mistake when I put the pieces side by side tonight and I am fours rows off. Unbelievable. I know the row counter said 34 when I switched to the striped pattern. Argh. Apparently even the compulsive turning or clicking of a row counter cannot save you from the inattention to detail occurring from the acquisition of young human. Stupid, lying, cheating row counter. I'll never click you again.

Who am I kidding. Of course I will. I'm probably physically incapable of knitting without it.

"You remember Katie? She as that knitter who forswore row counters and could never make a decent purl again..."

Oh well. There's nothing for it but to rip back and click again.

Alanis Moment

2007-09-12T23:58:00.000-07:00

So right now I am sitting on my couch (a baby free minute- hooray!), eating more than a couple Carr's Ginger Lemon Creams (my new favorite cookie - yum!), and - wait for it - watching the first episode of this season's The Biggest Loser.

Oh yeah. Cue music:

And isn't it...

One reason you should really think before getting that tattoo..

2007-09-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

...because someday you might be a thirty-something soccer mom type complete with the "new mom bob"** wheeling your newborn around a local lake in your de rigeur Phil & Ted stroller in your perfectly matched workout outfit and that barbed wire bicep tat might just look really odd and some innocent person walking past you might just choke on her iced green tea as she does a quick double take...

**you know what I'm talking about- the seemingly vast majority of pregnant women/new moms are hit with the urge to chop off all their hair, heck, I just cut mine... but it is NOT the new mom bob... shoulder length with razored edges thank you very much.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

2007-09-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

(Insert standardized statement re: how long it has been since last post, how I've been so busy, where has time gone?, "bad blogger" guilt, blah, blah, blah... you know the drill)

Y'all didn't want to read all that crap anyway and I don't want to type it :)

So. What do you want to know about more? The little kiddo or the knitting?

Aw... that is so sweet, putting my baby ahead of the knitting... though you may simply surmise that there is not much knitting going on- not far from the truth- or you may REALLY want to see the knitting but you're sparing my feelings. For those of you not at all interested in seeing my little guy [heartless meanies ;) ] scroll down- I promise there is knitting.

Either way, allow me to present the obligatory baby photos:

Cute kid but how about that fabulous blanket he's lying on? Yes folks, that is the Albatross!

Does he look like he's appreciating the softness of his organic cotton hand knit blanket? Hmmmm...

Hooray! Mom's done making me model her knitting projects...

All joking aside, it is hard to believe Matthew is already two months old.

Yes. His name is Matthew... I just can't come up with a good nickname for him for the blog so I'll just use his name. And my daughter shall cease to be called Pooh Bear and will be referred to as Gwen from now on (she's a Gwendolyn... Pooh Bear arose from our calling her Gwennie and singing the Winnie the Pooh song to her as a wee baby: Gwennie the Pooh, Gwennie the Pooh, silly willy nilly little girl... yup. we were clearly sleep deprived!)

Anyway, Matthew is growing like a weed- Hubby and I are already placing bets on when Matthew will pass Gwen in terms of height and weight. At two months he already weighs what she weighed at six. Crazy. In his defense she is small for her age but still!

He is adorable and I love him like crazy even if I am counting the days until he sleeps through the night, I can wean him from breastfeeding, etc. It is so much harder to breast feed a second child- you just don't have the "free" time you had with the first to do nothing but sit on the couch and nurse- Gwen always chooses to do something potentially dangerous and/or extremely messy just as I have settled into nursing Matthew. *sigh* Hubby thinks I won't nurse Matt as long as I nursed Gwen because of the time/attention contraints. (I nursed Gwen at least part-time until she was eleven months old- then the double drain of being pregnant and nursing was just too my fo the ol' bod) I explained to him that mommy guilt requires me to nurse Matthew at least as long as I nursed Gwen.

And now Mommy guilt is making me share these:

Diva in training?

But Mom, I need the car to escape my paparazzi!

Helping?

Onward to the knitting!

I am knitting but progress is veeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyy slow. You just don't get much accomplished at a 2 row per day pace. I have a few things on the needles but I'll get to those in a day or two, right now I want to reveal the finished objects that have languished in my photo file, just waiting to be seen.

And yes, they are baby knits: two pairs of booties and two hats.

These are the Angora Booties from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

Obviously not in angora. I made these using Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in Baby Blue (#202). Here they are in action:

Unfortunately, this blue pair is now too small for not-so-little Matthew. So I made another, slightly larger pair but no picutres yet so someday you might see those. Maybe. I actually like the second pair better because the toes are not quite so square looking. This problem wouldn't show up so badly if you used the called for fuzzy angora but I can't quite justify a non-washable yarn for a baby knit so I guess I have to deal with the square toe, don't I?

Next up, Simple Hat #1 from Itty Bitty Hats.

This was knit from Rowan Hand Knit Cotton in Linen. As you can see, Matthew's not terribly itty bitty head has already outgrown this hat. Not a problem though. I actually knit this hat twice. The original one was bigger- too big for a newborn, so I knit the second one. I'll try to get a picture of the larger version. It really won't be very exciting or different. I knit it in a different yarn (DB Baby Cashmerino) but the same basic tan color.

Big sister Gwen thinks the hat is hers...

And then I have another project from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms which I have decided is my favorite knitting book (at least for now)- I've knit five projects from it so far (I think, maybe I missed one), I have one more on the needles, and I have the yarn to make three more- I'm obsessed, it seems. But I digress...

The Beanie Hat and Boy's Booties! Knit from Louisa Harding's Nautical Cotton which I really liked. The braided quality of the yarn gives the finished knits a nubby texture that adds to the visual interest of the piece. The colors are Chocolate and Sand. Love 'em! So cute. If I had more knitting time I'd make several more pairs in different color combinations but alas, minimal knitting time at present so I'm moving on to other things.

This hat and the booties were my hospital knitting projects. I finished the hat while in labor (about half of the hat)- my doctors and nurses thought I was nuts. I figured it was the last free time I would have for a while. Besides, I had an epidural... I was just waiting to get to the magic 10 cm mark. The booties I knit while recovering. Since I had a c-section I was there for a couple days.

You know, I really need to get Matthew to model more of his knits... I got so used to photographing things sans baby before he was born I didn't even think about taking a picture of him in the hat and booties. Duh.

Oh, that reminds me. Remember the bonnet I knit for Gwen that she refused to wear? Now that it is summer and really too warm for a wool blend hat? On her head, every time she sees it. If it is in her line of sight? Much pointing and "Ha! Ha! Ha!" (she has issues with final consonants- what do you want from a nineteen month old?). I'll have to snap a picture sometime... it requires stealth right now. If she sees you with the camera she comes running over and points at it, wanting to play with it. Consequently I have many pictures of her index finger or thumb. It's a cute thumb, but still...

Sock-Haiku-ooza

2007-08-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

Sea Wool Bordello
Short ebony double points
My first knitted socks

Don’t ask… I have no idea why I felt the need to go down the poetry path.

Moving on.

For the past three weeks every spare moment has been occupied with my Sockapalooza Socks because I was trying really hard to be on time.

Each time I left the house, the socks went with me…

Because you never know when you’ll get stuck at a draw bridge in Seattle.

Alas, there were not enough bridges or spare moments and I needed three weeks instead of the two that would have indicated a deadline met. *sigh*

In retrospect, I should have started my socks sooner. Unfortunately, not having knit socks before, I felt the need to complete a couple projects with sock-like elements first so I could have the requisite skills to produce a decent pair of socks for my pal. By the time I finished “warming up” it was baby time and well, no more time for knitting (see, it was really all the little one’s fault- he should have been on time not early).

Oh, well.

The good news is that I shipped my socks out on Tuesday. Phew. They should arrive any day as they are just popping down I-5.

Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed that she likes them and that they fit. I’m a bit nervous as she has made many pairs of socks… I don’t want her to be disappointed by my paltry first effort.

Actually, I think they turned out OK for a first timer.

The details:
Pattern – Bordello Socks (on the yarn label)
Yarn – Fleece Artist Sea Wool
Color – Fruit Punch

I knit these on my fabulous Lantern Moon Sox Stix (Ebony, Size 3). Love these needles!!!! Easy to knit with and they are adorable too- what could be better?

So now the socks are done and I am free to knit whatever I want… the question is what don’t I want to knit? Is there a vaccine to prevent Castonitis?

I'm a Crappy-paloozer...

2007-08-12T16:41:00.000-07:00

So I am feeling like the worst Sockapalooza 4 Pal ever- on both ends of the swap. First of all, outside of a brief mention I haven't said anything about the socks I received (sorry Suzanne!). AND I have not yet sent my socks out. I know. Awful. Twenty lashes.

Well, I finished my socks today but it is Sunday so I can't send my socks to my poor neglected Pal downstream (I did email her to let her know they were delayed) so let me at least rectify the other situation...

My upstream Pal, Suzanne of The Frog's Blog was my exact opposite in that she was extremely prompt, my socks arrived on August 3rd! (and I know from reading her blog that she finished my socks waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy back at the end of May- even though she too, had a new baby)

So, without further ado, because really, there's been too much already- I give you my socks:
Suzanne, as we would say back in the South: ya' done good.

The lovely Falling Leaves pattern in my current favorite color (Lime #02) in one of my favorite yarns: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. Fantastic! I requested ankle high socks as my calves are huge making normal sock occasionally uncomfortable. Cozy, comfy & soft. Perfect for displaying in my clogs or for hanging out on the couch ~~knitting~~ nursing the baby. Forgive me for not photographing the socks on my feet, I tried but the shots were all lousy and did not do Suzanne's efforts justice.

Thank you Suzanne, thank you, thank you, thank you.

So there you have it. I feel better now. Up next, my sock effort and then I will be free to knit and blog guilt free.

Non Sequitor

2007-08-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

I just saw an advertisement on television for Billy Ocean. He's playing at a local Indian casino which I guess says something about the career longevity of 80's pop stars whose catchy tunes stay in your head long after the tv ad is over.

Carribean Queen, do dum, dum, now you're sharing the same dream, do dum, dum...

Now you can share the private Hell currently taking place in my baby-addled brain.

But I digress and I did have a point, sort of.

And it was this:

Damn! He looks so old. I remember bebopping to his tunes at middle & high school dances back in the day.

Get outta my dreams, dum de dum dum, -ba-, get into my car...

Okay, before you all get outta here because you can't take this lovely trip down memory lane let me just finish my point.

So he looks old... does that plus the presence of two kids make me a grown up? Because honestly, I sometimes have a hard time thinking of myself as one... like I have a permanent self-image of an 18-20 year old... Anybody else have this issue? Or am I just crazy?

Oh, one last thought, and then I promise, no more Billy Ocean, ever.

Get in the back seat baby

Huh? The back seat? Does she need a car seat? Exactly how old is this chick you are trying to pick up Mr. Ocean?

Whats-apalooza?

2007-08-02T19:41:00.000-07:00

Good grief. Has it really almost been a month since I posted? Is anyone still out there?

Life in the land of dirty diapers and baby spit-up is predictably hectic and challenging. I won't bore you with the gory details. Those of you with two or more children will just smile knowingly and tell me "I told you so" and those of you with one or no children will just be either a) frightened or b) disbelieving. Let's just suffice to say that my knitting time has been curtailed exponentially and I don't remember the last time I had five minutes by myself that didn't involve a cubicle or room requiring toilet paper.

My middle sister and parents were here this past week and it was nice to have them around to lend a hand. Todd's dad flies in tomorrow for a long weekend. After that we are on our own. Or I should say that I will be on my own since Hubby will be starting to work again for the first time since the little one was born and I will running a zone defense on my two kids instead of he & I covering them together in a man-to-man set. Actually I have had them to myself the yesterday and today. It wouldn't have been too bad (I took them for a loooooooonnnnnngggg walk at Green Lake both days) except that Hubby has conveniently had evening commitments. I start to lose it around seven in the evening...

Enough about that, no one wants to hear me whine about being a mom.

So.

I hear there is this cool sock swap happening this week called Sockapalooza 4 or something. Sounds really neat.

What's that you say?

I signed up for the swap?

Really? Hmmmmm.... socks.... deadline.... massively overwhelmed website... I think I remember something like that but are we at the end already? Seems like it was so far in the future... Like August 2nd or something.

Pardon? I didn't quite catch that last bit.

Today is August 2nd?

Oh dear.

Alright, so maybe I'm not quite that screwed but I am woefully behind in my sock manufacturing process. You see, several Sundays ago I was all set and ready to go: had the pattern, had the yarn, had the needles, ready to cast on. I just needed to finish the hat I was working on and then it was go time. I figured I'd finish the baby hat during Pooh Bear's nap and then I'd start the socks that night. A perfect plan. Only one teensy problem. The next day, a Monday, yup, you guessed it- I went into labor. Now the hat got finished but the socks... let's just say their inception was, um, delayed a couple weeks. And since that time, not a whole lot of knitting happening. The most progress I made was when my parents were here but I managed to negate that by making a mistake and dropping several stitches necessitating a large amount of ripping from which I have not yet recovered. Luckily Sasha wrote me to let me know I had until the 7th to mail my socks especially since my socks are just going for a short trip down I-5. But still... I think I need major tinkering with the time space continuum in order to finish.

And to make matters worse?

The socks from MY pal arrived today. I'll post a picture as soon as I find the time to take one.

So I should go- I feel guilty typing when I should be k2tog, k3(4), kf&b, kf&b, k4(5), ssk-ing.

Hey, let's have a CONTEST!!!! I'll send a fabulous Prize to the commenter who correctly identifies the sock pattern from the above. If more than one person gets it right I'll pick one winner at random. No idea what the prize will be but I'll make it a good one.

(See I've been gone so long I'm resorting to a contest to get you guys to read!)

Hey..... Wait a minute....

2007-07-06T21:43:00.000-07:00

That's not a baby knit...

It's a baby!

Our little Piglet finally decided to join us Monday, July 2nd at 5:28 pm. At 8 lbs, 3 ozs and 20" long he was bigger than I thought he would be, and yes, he had an even bigger head than his sister. I'll post more about the actual birth later (yes, there was knitting during labor), for now I give you these pictures to enjoy while I go feed the ravenous little monster!

Holding Pattern

2007-06-29T14:53:00.000-07:00

I'm still here. The bun is still baking.

My frustration is getting to me. *sigh* I am chasing the carrot but someone keeps moving the stick. When we went to the hospital last weekend they told me to come back when my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and they were strong enough that I had to stop what I was doing until it was over. That occured last night so we went back. I had charted my contractions for 3 and a half hours before I decided to call Labor & Delivery. I gave them the run down and they told me to come on in. Hubby and I put Gwen to bed leaving one of my good friend's to hold down the fort and we hopped in the car. Neither of us had much hope that this trip would end with a baby but we had hit the milestone the hospital prescribed so we followed directions. End result of the trip: no baby. I am still 4 cm dilated but I am also now 50% effaced so that is some progress. They also "stripped my membranes" which isn't as bad as it sounds- it is a simple procedure that can release hormones to stimulate labor- we'll see if it has any effect, so far it has just made my contractions somewhat more painful. This time, when we left the hospital, they told us not to come back until I was having regular, close, white-knuckle contractions. So there you have it- the new carrot.

And in non-baby related news (yes! there is some!)

I finally finished the Knit Puffy for my Secret Pal:

Here it is in its natural habitat :) Pattern is from OneSkein. Knit per the instructions from Aloo yarn. I know I complained about knitting with the nettle yarn but in the end I was really pleeased with the results. I might even make another one. But not anytime soon. I sent the package off on Monday and my pal, AJ, received it yesterday. I really enjoyed Secret Pal 10 and will most likely do the next swap.

I have also been the lucky recipient of a couple of fun and fabulous packages in the last couple weeks.

First up, a prize from an SP10 group contest, courtesy of Robyn, my fantastic hostess!

This is a really cute cross-stitch kit. The balloon reads, "Who are these kids and why are they calling me mom?" For those of you who don't know, cross-stitch was my first needle art love so I am looking forward to tackling this project. Thank you Robyn :)

Next I received a treat from Sasha of free wool as a prize for a contest she ran:

All sorts of good things. Three vintage knitting pattern booklets (I swear I think my grandmother made me one of the sweaters in one of the books- it looks so familiar!), a Japanese booklet of little animals (the correct term escapes my brain at the moment and I am too lazy to look it up) to needle felt, recent copies of BabyBug (Pooh Bear loves this!), mothering, ReadyMade and Bust- all of which is really more inspiration than I can handle right now. My crafting/knitting to do list is multiple pages long and I know that my time will be limited to non-existent soon. The bag included some whistle candy and a Fran's Macadamia Gold bar which was waaaaaaaayyyyy too tasty. Last, but certainly not least, is a really neat skein of Noro Sakura which is a really unique yarn. Fabulous bright colorway and it periodically has these sections where the yarn is wrapped around the base in a way that totally reminds me of the friendship bracelets I used to make with my friends from embroidery thread back in the day -So fun! Thanks Sasha!

Lastly, a big hug and thank you to everyone for the kind words and good wishes you've sent my way as I have been making my way way through the slowest labor ever recorded, I really appreciate it... you guys are keeping me (somewhat) sane.

Next time: Baby Knits - the longer BtB stays in, the more I get done...so that is the bright side of this whole thing. BTW, generally a bad sign when the nurses at your doctor's office take a look at you and say, "Man, you are going to drop that baby any minute!"

Young man, this behavoir is unacceptable...

2007-06-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

Where to start?

I finished objects to share.

I have fun prizes from blog contests I have won recently to show off.

I'm still pregnant. Barely. Annoyingly. Frustratingly. Painfully. Crazily. Still. Pregnant.

So much to cover, so little time and really, I want to skip the knitting stuff and go right to the baby kvetching.

So I'll compromise: a little knitting and then I get to ~~bitch~~ share my story.

So here's a shock, I have baby knits to show. Knock y'all over with a feather, right?
Ah, yes. Another rendition of the Bib O'Love (full size this time) and the Baby Genius Burp Cloth from the indispensable Mason-Dixon Knitting. I knit these from Lion Cotton (Lion Brand's version of kitchen cotton) in the Wedgewood colorway on size 6 Crystal Palace bamboo straights. It took me a little more than one ball to make both. I love the way the variegated yarn made a cool x pattern on the bib. Unfortunately, you can tell where I switched to the new ball of yarn on the burp cloth. I thought they were both the same dye lot but I had misplaced the ball band for the first skein so I couldn't be sure... In the end I figured it, screw it, it's just a burp cloth. These two cuties will be winging away to Rochester, NY as part of a gift for our good friends who had a little boy a couple weeks ago.

I swear, I am actually going to make some of these for my kiddos at some point- hopefully before they graduate from college.

OK. Enough knitting for now. I will share my fantastic blog contest prizes next time... I have to get the ridiculousness that is the last week of my pregnancy off my chest.

BtB, he is a troublemaker.

I may feel 500 times better at this point in my pregnancy than I did with my daughter but he is causing me grief nonetheless. As y'all know, I have been having contractions for over a week now, and at my doctor's appointment last Thursday I was 2 cm dilated so I was making progress. Thursday night the contractions went from 20-25 minutes apart to 10-12 minutes apart. Hooray! More progress.

Friday night arrives. Contractions are now 5-6 minutes apart. When they had been consistently at this pace for 3 hours we called into the hospital to check in and see what our next step should be. Come on in, they told us, but need to rush or hurry since the pain was still completely tolerable for me. So we call our sitter to come watch Pooh Bear and we finally arrive at the hospital around 1:30 in the morning. We are put in a triage room in the Labor & delivery wing, hooked up to all the fun monitors and then we wait for a doctor to come around to check on me. At 2:00 the doctor comes in, checks me and says that I am 3 cm dilated and she feels I am still in latent (early) labor. She goes off to check with her chief to figure out what to do with me. They decide not to send me home but to see if I can walk myself into active labor. Hubby and I are told to go walk the hospital and to come back at 4:00am to be checked again.

Walking at 2 in the morning. For two hours. fun. Did I mention I had slept maybe two hours the night before? But I will prevail. I will do what they ask and get to active labor. I have rarely met a physical challenge I couldn't overcome and this is no different. I am going to have a baby dammit.

A hospital is very boring between the hours of 2 and 4am.

At four we are back in labor & delivery and my contractions are now a) 2-3 minutes apart and b) more painful. Both good signs.

A quick cervical check shows that I am now 4 cm dilated. Yes! I have accomplished the tasks set before me. But wait, the refs throw a penalty flag and put the baby game on hold.

My cervix is not thinning like they would like, maybe I am not where I need to be. The doctor leaves to consult with her chief again.

Minutes drag on and finally at 4:30 am the doctor comes back with the good news that they have decided to admit me. Hallelujah! I am going to have a baby.

We are assigned a room for which Hubby is very grateful- even the horribly uncomfortable sofa/bed combo they have for family members in the labor rooms seems like a feather bed at this point- we are both exhausted.

I get my IV put in- the nurse chose a horrendous location- as soon as it was in I realized that it totally restricted my hand/wrist range of motion and that there would be NO KNITTING possible as long as it was there. At 5 am my fuzzy, sleep deprived brain thought this was a crisis and I almost asked her to move it but it was pretty painful the first time and I am not quite psychotic enough to go through that again (in retrospect it really was a bad location, I could barely change my clothes). They told me to try to get some sleep so I did.

Fast forward to 8:30am. The doctor comes in and wakes me up. My contractions have slowed down to 7-9 minutes apart so she wants to check me again to see what, if anything, is going on.

You know what's coming don't you?

Zero progress. Nothing. Zip. Nada.

*sigh*

They discharge me and send us home.

So disappointing. So close and yet so far.

Since Saturday morning my contractions have bounced all over the place. We have been walking everyday trying to to get to active labor. I can get close. Last night the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and they were pretty painful but clearly I am still here so....

I know I still have three weeks until my due date so everything is fine but it is just the frustration of being so close and going home empty handed. The constant contractions and everything else is just making me uncomfortable so I am Ready.

Seriously, the concept of walking around dilated to four cm while my insides play Twister for more than a few more days makes me crazy.

So listen to your mama little boy and come on out, we want to meet you!

Hey look! Knitting!

2007-06-20T23:00:00.001-07:00

Another day done and BtB is still cooking :) It will be interesting to see what my OB says tomorrow afternoon- if things are progressing or if they have come to a standstill. Go baby, go! Mama is tired of being pregnant.

Tonight I actually have knitting to share... Here is my finished baby blanket.

This is the Baby Blanket from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms. Knit from Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton in Willow on my trusty Addi Turbos (Size 7 & 8). It matches the hat I knit a couple weeks ago. Here they are as a duo:

This blanket was a super fast knit- it has been done for well over a week (it is a small blanket, 18" x 24", good for car seats or use in a swing or bouncy seat). I cast on for it on a Tuesday night and wove in the ends on the following Saturday afternoon. I would definitely make this again and I think it would be a great gift item.

That's it for tonight. I need to put the finishing touches on a couple things and then I need to do a little housework before bed. Sleep is good.

I'm pooped.

2007-06-19T22:32:00.000-07:00

So excuse the lameness of this post. I have lots of goodies to share but it will have to wait for another day... I am just too tired tonight.

I have been plugging away on my two gifts. My bib and burp cloth are done except for the button that needs to be sewn on the bib. And I now have 21 of 29" complete on the bath scrubby. After I finish the tube I "just" need to do 19" of i-cord.

I have two baby projects that are eating away at me, crying out to be cast on but I am being good, holding them at bay until the gifts are done.

And speaking of the baby-to-be (BtB), he is certainly giving us a lot of hints that he will be putting in an early appearance (those of you who are only interested in knitting can turn away now, this post is taking sharp left into Babyville). I have been having consistent low-grade contractions since Saturday night with a journey into some pretty intense contractions Sunday night (as in I thought we were headed to full-on labor intense). As a result of Sunday's fun and games Hubby decided not to make his scheduled trip to San Fran this week. So of course, with that decision made the contractions let up and have been pretty mild and less frequent... Typical. You know that I would have gone into full blown labor the minute he stepped on that plane but now.... :)

And just to keep us on our toes, BtB decided to take a looooooooonnnnnnnngggg siesta today and not move or kick for hours, freaking us out. One trip to Labor & Delivery later everything is fine. As soon as the nurse hooked me up to the fetal monitors he "woke up" and his heart rate was everything it should be. I was grateful he was fine but somewhat chagrined at making a wholly unnecessary trip to the hospital. At least I found out that I am now 1.5 cm dilated (half a cm more than on Thursday) so things are making slow progress. My doctor has said she'll admit me when I hit 3 cm so I am halfway there (since I was induced last time we have no idea if I am a fast or slow laborer so they will admit me a little earlier than they would with some women just in case I am fast).

BtB will be 37 weeks (technically full term) on Saturday so he can feel free to put in an appearance anytime after that. I hope he doesn't dawdle. Stick a fork in me- I'm ready to be done.

The stash not flashed...

2007-06-15T20:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I was going to snap some pictures of the yarn stash this evening after Pooh Bear went to bed but it isn't going to happen (sorry Robyn, I'm an SP10 Contest Slacker). Why not? Let's just say climbing up the two flights of stairs to my craft ~~disaster~~ room holds little to no appeal when your are sitting on your couch experiencing false (I hope) labor. Oh the joy! Oh the amusement! Oh wow, that hurt. Better now. Still not climbing any stairs until I have to...

I can tell you about my stash... A picture may be worth a thousand words but words, well, they are worth 1/1000 of a picture.

Seriously, my stash is not all that exciting even if it has enjoyed exponential growth since the beginning of the year. Kind of like my belly.... hmmm. Stash enhancement justification! Katie's First Law of Pregnant Yarn Acquisition: One's stash must grow in proportion to one's pregnant belly. Kind of like men gaining sympathetic pregnancy weight. Pregnant knitters of the world rejoice and unite! You really need that yarn. (I am nothing if not an enabler- don't say I never did anything for you) For those of you who aren't pregnant- sorry. But give me time, I'll be un-pregnant here shortly (please lord, let it be really shortly) and I'll have to come up with the Corollary for Non-Pregnant Stash Acquisition.

Actually, my stash is very easy to visualize: just imagine the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, Baby Cashmerino, and Cashmerino Aran displays at your lys. Yes, the whole thing. Good. Now to that add the RYC Cashsoft display. Toss in a few skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Hand Dyed Cotton and a few of their organic cotton skeins. Got it? Next add around 20 skeins of Rowan Handknit Cotton and 10-15 balls of various "kitchen" cottons. That's about it. Oh, well, you can toss in a dozen skeins of sock yarn: 3 STR, 1 Yarn Pirate, 1 Sea Wool, 5 Shibui, 2 Lorna's laces, 2 Claudia's Handpainted- ok, so that is more than a dozen, technically 14. That's really about it. I mean, I have other random stuff but really- lots and lots of Cashmerino and Cashsoft- I love the stuff.

OK, I need to dash, I have knitting to so and my post from earlier today did nothing to restore my mojo (I had kind of hoped whining would magically make knitting happen) so I need to get my fingers on the needles or the three pairs of booties I am imagining will remain a picture in Last Minute Knitted gifts and three skeins of baby cashmerino in my stash (off white, light blue and apple green in case you were wondering).

Ack! I've lost my mojo.

2007-06-15T13:42:00.000-07:00

Yup, Austin Powers and I have that in common (I hope that is all that we have in common).

For a couple weeks there I was flying. The needles were flying and the yarn was sailing. And now? Um. Not quite a grinding halt but reeeeeeeaaaaaaaalllllllllyyyyyyyyy slow.

Let me pose this question to you: What takes longer, a baby blanket or a burp cloth. Well, duh. The burp cloth should be a breeze and the blanket will take longer. Unless you are me. Last week I cast on for a baby blanket on Tuesday night and wove in the ends on Saturday afternoon. That's right, less than 5 full days start to finish- awesome! On Sunday I knit a Bib O'Love. Fantastic! On Monday I cast on for the Baby Genius Burp cloth. Figured it would be done on Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. Today is Friday. The burp cloth is incomplete. Really incomplete. Halfway done and that's it. I just cannot get going on it. I think about it when I sit down. I have it next to me on the couch. I pull it out of the bag and I think I knit but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

Here's the problem, or at least what I suspect is the problem. I have many little knits I want to make for my impending arrival. The burp cloth- not for #2. It is a gift for friends of ours who just had a baby. They live in Rochester, NY so I need to get it done so I can mail it, the bib, and a couple other things off. But I really want to work on things for my baby. And so, I procrastinate and I make no progress on anything while every day the clock ticks closer to my due date and piles of yarn languish, hoping that someday they will be adorable little booties.

I actually have one other project, the bath scrubby, that I need to finish and mail off. I'm about halfway done with that too and it is also more time consuming than I thought (how hard can a 29" tube of stockinette knit in the round be?).

Ugh. Just last week I felt like I could whip out anything in a miraculously short time frame and now I am lodged in a quagmire.

I'll post pictures of the baby blanket soon. I also need to Flash my Stash for SP10 before the end of today. But for now? Back to the grind. The booties may be singing my name like a siren but I will prevail (I hope).

I'm a Lucky Girl!

2007-06-11T17:17:00.000-07:00

Guess what has arrived?

My Secret Pal 10 package complete with the big Reveal Information!

Let me say, a big

THANK YOU!!!!!

to my fantastic pal: Karen Malave of The Knitting Patch.

Just like my first goodie box this one was full of lovely things:

Let's see...

-Chocolate (Lindt Milk Chocolate with Toffee bits & Toblerone), can't go wrong there, yum!

-A copy of Knit 2 Together (yippee! multiple projects from this book are on my "to knit wish list")

-An adorable needle felting kit (I have been ogling needle felting kits online and classes around town for months but had not done anything about it yet- now I just have to find the time)

-And lastly, a beautiful skein of Sea Wool with the dpn's and stitch markers to make the Bordello Socks on the label (I swear Karen was reading my mind, I have picked up and put done a skein of Sea Wool every single time I have gone into a yarn store of late. And this colorway is a perfect choice for me, a red with touches of pink that beautifully combines my two favorite colors)

Participating in SP10 has been a great experience, it has been so fun to receive fun gifts in the mail. I still have one more package to send to my spoilee (I opted to do three packages) but I need to finish up the bath scrubby I'm knitting before I can get it out the door. I'm about halfway done and hope to finish it by the end of the week so I can send it off and reveal myself. I keep putting off working on the scrubby because I don;t like the yarn... I know I could just scrap the thing and send a store bought scrubby but it isn't the same and, well, I'm stubborn. I will conquer the Aloo!

Same Knit Time, Same Knit Channel

2007-06-06T22:04:00.000-07:00

I feel like I really am becoming the blog equivalent of a 24/7 all baby knits cable channel but I am in a ~~rut~~ rhythm and I am scared to go in another direction for fear I'll lose my BK mojo.

And so, here is today's humble offering:

And here is a close up to show the pattern and a better representation of the color (apologies for the sad indoor lighting).
This is the baby hat from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms. I knit it in the called for Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton in the Willow colorway (#85). This colorway is basically a blend of the Sage and Bone colorways and I picked so that it would blend with the Bolero I finished few days ago. (Cute baby sets!) I won't bore you again with my undying passion for this yarn. Knit on size 7 & 8 Addi Turbo circulars. I finished this Tuesday night so it took no time at all (cast on Monday night) and it would have been even quicker if I had not had to rip the first 12 rows out because I can't read.

That done, last night I cast on for the matching blanket:

I am about a quarter of the way done already. It is a small blanket only 18" x 24" but after the Albatross Experience small is good (my mother always told me that good thing come in small packages). This is the same yarn as the hat.

Both the hat and the blanket together only take 3 skeins of yarn so I'm going to keep this in mind for future gifts as it is (relatively) thrifty and quick. When I purchased the yarn I had it in my head that it was going to take four skeins so I will have leftovers... Anybody have a good bootie pattern that utilizes worsted weight yarn? Or another little baby garment that only takes 150 yards? If not, I'll hang onto the yarn for future use but I just thought I'd ask.

Lastly, here is something I rarely do. I tend not to flash pictures of my daughter all over this blog because I am slightly paranoid (hence the use of a pet name for her) but tonight I cannot resist. She was just being too adorable and I have to ~~show off~~ share.
Besides, I'm sure that #2 will have plenty of pictures here on the blog when he joins us so this way when my daughter is 16 and hates me she can't say I didn't give her equal time.

OK. That's it for tonight... I'm going to go knit so I can get this blanket done (figuring it will take about a week) because at some point I need to make a pair of socks for me.

More of the same

2007-06-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

That's right! More baby knits! I swear, one day I will make something else. I have yarn on hand for a few "for ME" knits but they always seem to get back-burnered. I wonder why that is? :)

Here is my latest incarnation of the Baby Bolero from Oneskein.

I really like this pattern. The yarn is fabulous- Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton (I used the Sage colorway). Soft and squishy and oh-so-nice to knit with. I worked this sweater as the pattern was written but I chose not to do the little motif on the back. I did have to go down a needle size to get gauge however (Addi Turbo's in Size 7 and 8).

This is my second bolero and I have plans to make a third with short sleeves and contrast trim (I may go really crazy and make the trim seed stitch instead of ribbing *gasp*).

Tonight I cast on for a new baby project- the baby hat & matching blanket from Natural Knits for Babies & Moms. OK, I only cast on for the hat but the blanket will be next. The hat shouldn't take too long so I'll wait until it is done to post pictures (I'd be halfway through right now if I hadn't misread the directions through a white chocolate cheesecake induced haze at Purly Girls earlier... I had to rip back to the cast-on and start over).

Lest you think knitting for baby-boy-to-be is my sole focus I am making some (slow) progress on my other WIPS. The Bath Puffy is about halfway done. I can only work on it for short amounts of time because the yarn annoys me so much.

Also, to mitigate a teensy bit of mommy guilt (I'm not making anything for daughter- I am a horrible person) I have been slowly working on the socks I started for her. To be honest, I love working on her socks. I love the yarn (Cashsoft DK), like the pattern and adore! my fabulous little teeny rosewood Lantern Moon Sock Stix. If it weren't for the impending baby deadline these socks would definitely be at the front of the line.

That's it for now, the bun in the oven is telling me to eat something sweet and delicious but since I am on a modified low-sugar/carb diet (ahem, please ignore the cheesecake reference above) I think he'll have to make do with some sugar free jello or pudding *sigh* So unfair. Whatever happened to eating (cookies) for two?

Punctual?

2007-06-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

Er, not so much. Although today is technically a tomorrow, just not the one I had in mind when I told you there would be finished object pictures "tomorrow." So sue me. You won't get much and you'll find my sock yarn stash underwhelming. It's hardly worth the effort.

But better late than never, eh?

These are my finished Baby Bottoms from Knitting Pure & Simple. The yarn in Rowan Handknit Cotton in Chime (3.5 skeins, I think). I knit these on the called for needle size of my Addi Turbos. My gauge is a bit big but babies grow so I wasn't stressing over it. The pattern has several options: elastic waist pants, Elastic waist pants with feet, footed overalls (high waisted), and the overalls without feet. These are obviously the high waisted overalls with feet. I think I will make another pair keeping the feet (fewer booties/socks to chase around) but trying the elastic waist. There is a matching cardigan pattern available for free on-line and I might have to add that to my ever-growing list of knits-to-do.

Here is a close up of the cute train buttons I found to complete the project.

My husband likes trains so I had him in mind when I was shopping, I guess.

In other knitting related news, I received my invitation to join Ravelry today. Yippee! I can't wait to get started although I fear this may cut into my already inadequate knitting/blogging/reading time.

Oh. Are you wondering what happened to the promised new WIP picture? No? I didn't really think so but I'll tell you anyway. It is now a FO. Pictures tomorrow. REALLY. I already took them. And uploaded them. No excuses. Tomorrow night...

The best laid plans

2007-05-30T22:49:00.000-07:00

I had every intention of having a nice Finished Object post tonight but, I don't.

The Object is finished, I just didn't get around to taking a picture and now I am too lazy to go take one. I blame sun exposure. After all, we don't often have 85 degree days in May here in Seattle (everyone who lives here knows summer doesn't start until July 5th). My whole being is thrown off by the flaming orb in the sky.

I'll have it for you tomorrow. Maybe I'll even take a picture of my new WIP. It isn't anything exciting since it is my second time around with the pattern (Baby Bolero from OneSkein) but hey, it's knitting and this is a knitting blog :)

Which brings up an interesting conundrum: The more time I spend knitting, the less time I have to blog. So then I feel like I am neglecting something but it is a knitting blog (technically) and so there needs to knitting content so I need to knit... such a catch 22. Oh well. I'm trying to keep the knitting part of this blog pretty steady now since I pretty much know that once #2 is born this will probably become an "all baby all the time" forum- at least for a while. It seems to be a trend in the blogosphere. Consider yourself warned.

Off to work on the teeny bolero.

Phew!

2007-05-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

Well, I am glad to hear that I am not alone in my bewilderment over clueless women birthing babes for fun and entertainment, I was beginning to wonder.... hmmmm. Maybe I should cut down on my cable tv consumption.

And to address a couple comments- I know the birth of my daughter was an anomaly- there was nothing normal about it and most women never even see a 24th of of labor, let alone twice that, thank goodness. A brief (as possible) explanation: I had pre-eclampsia and had to be induced at 37 and a half weeks. Inductions are not the fastest things ever and mine was no exception. I had two rounds of cervadil (12 hrs each) followed by pitocin. While the cervadil caused contractions I really made no progress dilation-wise until I got the pitocin so I got to experience all the fun of contractions with none of the results for a full day- yippee. My water broke naturally around 32 or so hours (not really sure, it is all a little hazy) and I finally dilated fully and got to push around 40 hours- and then I just kept pushing... I pushed for at least 7 hours which is unheard of but I had really good stamina and there was a complex emergency c-section down the hall that robbed me of my doctor for a while so the nurse and I just kept going (I'm a bit stubborn). It finally became apparent the Pooh Bear was stuck and I was delirious so it was c-section time. I keep saying I could write a book about the labor experience because I literally experienced almost every aspect possible.

This time will be better because I cannot be induced again due to the c-sec (the contractions induction causes are really hard on the uterus and can be too much for one that has been cut open previously). So it is either a naturally occurring labor or another c-section for me. I'm hoping to skip the c-section this time but I'll be happy with whatever method is the safest for #2.

One last comment before I move on to knitting (which is why most of you read this blog, not to hear my ridiculous life moments), so if you're bored hang tight... yarn is coming.

Despite the hours of labor and the exhaustion I experienced, the actual physical pain was not at all what I expected. Yes, I had an epidural but not until I was almost 9 cm so I felt my fair share of contractions... Honestly, and women everywhere are going to want to kill me for saying this, but it was a lot more painful when I blew out my ankle several years ago dancing. It was not as excruciating as I feared, for me anyway. Maybe I am just used to "playing through the pain" from dancing for so long (you know, if it ain't gushing blood or falling off, you're fine, keep pirouette-ing). Or maybe I had so freaked myself out to think it was going to be horribly painful that the actual experience was a "let down." Or maybe I'm just weird...

AND NOW WE COME TO THE KNITTING PORTION OF OUR PROGRAM

I am actually making progress on those WIPs I posted about last week- hooray! I'll be ready for another round of cast-on-itis in no time :)

I finished these three days ago but didn't get around to taking a photo until tonight.

These are the downsized booties from the Royal Baby set I made earlier. I'm just pleased my math worked out and they still look like the intended product. Here's a picture for size comparison's sake.

I also have been working on my baby bottoms.

I'm really pleased that I figured out how to do the foot on the first leg with a minimum of brow crinkling and swearing... not having made socks before this was my first experience with a seamless, sock-like structure. I'd like to complete these over the weekend so I can get to work on the other 200 baby knits I have in mind. Nine months is simply not a long enough gestational period to get all the requisite baby knitting in... I'm ready to be done being pregnant and mentally/physically wouldn't mind if he comes early but at the same time, every day he's in there = more rows completed!

Labor is not a Spectator Sport

2007-05-24T19:07:00.000-07:00

So one of my obsessions, pregnancy-wise, is watching the myriad of reality shows on tv dealing with birthing babies. You know the genre: A Baby Story, Bringing Home Baby, Runway Moms (although seeing fabulous looking pregnant women always makes me feel inadequate, I still watch the show- glutton for punishment, I guess), Babies: Special Delivery, et cetera. The premise is the same, follow a mom/couple through the last bit of her pregnancy and her labor/delivery, followed by a brief stint of the life at home post-birth.

With the exception of Bringing Home Baby the focal point of all these shows is the labor scene with all the requisite shots of the mom huffing, puffing, grunting and screaming through the pain. Why do I watch? I'm not sure. But I do... I can't help it.

I enjoy watching but two things do bother me.

Does no one take the pre-natal classes I had to take? Some of the couples are sooooooooooooo clueless. They don't know what to expect other than the general notion that a baby will somehow appear at the end of the day. Now I know that not everyone has access to all the resources I did but seriously folks. Last week I watched one episode where the woman was a mere six hours into labor and was freaking out because (insert extremely whiny, pitiful sounding, sob inflected voice) "nobody told her it was going to take so long."

So long? Puh-lease. You got an epidural at 2 cm- how bad can it be? You just said you can't feel your feet- are you really in pain or are you just bored? We all know that those of us who grew up in the MTV era supposedly have no attention span.

As the woman who had a 48 hour labor episode before they wheeled me in for a c-section, peddle your sad little pity party elsewhere. Really. You have had nine months (give or take) to prepare for this moment- could you not have read a book, a pamphlet, or a website? Asked your mom, hell, asked any woman who has kids- somewhere along the line someone would have disabused you of the notion that labor is a relatively rapid experience (and yes I know that some women have miraculously quick births but thinking about them just makes me jealous and bitter so I try not to think about them).

My second issue? This is probably just quirk of my personality but I do not understand the women who have a bajillion people in the birthing room with them. Yes, birth is a wonderful, magical thing- but folks, no matter how you look at it, it ain't pretty. And call me crazy but the last thing in the world I would ever want would be my in-laws in the room with me. And do you really think your five year old son/daughter needs or wants to watch you give birth? Seeing mommy crying and screaming for multiple hours? My daughter freaks out if I lay down on the couch, thinking something is wrong- seeing me give birth would no doubt result in my paying for years of therapy for her. Sorry, but the only person not in the medical profession who is allowed in the room with me is my husband. He sees me every morning with bed-head and all those other not so glamorous moments we all experience. I think he has a realistic view of me and the vigors of labor won't disillusion him at this point in our relationship. Besides, he had a hand in this process and should be there ~~so I can wring his neck and call him names when the pain kicks in~~ for the miracle that is birth.

I've spent a great deal of my life on stage but ladies, birth is not performance art.

I promise no ranting in my next post, I have knitting content to share.

My Bag Overfloweth

2007-05-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

Last week I received an email from my lovely & talented SP10 Hostess Robyn with our next contest "assignment": photo and blog all your WIPs. Now had this e-mail arrived 24 hours earlier this would have been a piece of cake. I was being very productive, slowly whittling away at the projects I had on the needles until I only had two left (can you believe?).

But alas. The email landed in my inbox mere hours after a cast-on crisis (four new projects in an afternoon). And so I have a much longer list... and my knits barely fit into the ol' knitting bag.

First up is my oldest UFO, the Razor Shell Lace Scarf (pattern by Hilltop Yarn, an lys) started early last December.

The end product is beautiful and I love the yarn (BSA Royal Alpaca) but it is dull to knit. The lace pattern is only a two row repeat so it doesn't require a lot of brain power. The whole thing is supposed to be 109" long but I will shorten it (I'm only 60" tall so I hardly need a scarf that long). This picture is old but I haven't picked up the scarf in moths so it is, unfortunately, still accurate.

Next up are the Baby Bottoms (scroll down) from Knitting Pure and Simple.

I'm knitting these from Rowan Handknit Cotton in Chime (#204). My gauge is a little big but I went with it because babies grow and I'm guessing #2 will get more use out of these in the fall than he will in the summer. I took this picture 2 days ago so I am actually a little further along now, I just finished turning the heel on the first leg.

And now we get to the results on my cast-on mania from last week.

Booties from the Royal Baby Set, v. 2.0.

You might recognize these... I recently finished up the whole set but decided the booties were way too big for a newborn so I employed some math and came up with this, reduced size version. All the details (yarn, etc.) are the same as the original project.

And then there is the Knitted Puffy from OneSkein.

This is knit from Aloo (nettle) yarn. Let me just say that this is a great idea for a project and I have wanted to make it ever since I got the book. My intention was to make several of these puffies and use them as gifts at Christmas combined with some yummy bath products. This first puffy is intended for my Secret Pal and it may very well be my LAST one. Allow me to make a public service announcement: If you do not like knitting with cotton, do not try aloo. I love knitting with cotton- I don't have any issues with it not being springy or having no give, etc. Aloo is another beast entirely. I can knit about ten rows in a sitting before I have to move on to something else. The yarn is stiff, sticky, twisty and generally a pain in the ass to work with. I knew it was going to be a different experience, it being a very "natural" fiber, but, ugh. And to think I had a really hard time finding the yarn. Must be lots of folks like me out there thinking "Hey, cool. Nettle Yarn." Maybe next time I should give a bit more thought to what Nettles are? Since I am a glutton for punishment and I already own the yarn, I probably will make more of these puffies- it just won't be in the very near future.

And now we arrive at my favorite WIP- little socks for my Pooh Bear!!

With everything I've been knitting for #2 I had to cast-on something for my darling daughter (oh, the mommy guilt!). This pattern is from Blue Sky Alpacas and matches the bonnet I made a while ago. The yarn is the same Rowan Cashsoft DK in Bella Donna. This is my first pair of "real" socks, even if they are little (all my previous booties for babies have been seamed) and I am so excited! I have a couple more inches complete now (the picture was taken a couple days ago). I am having a blast knitting these...

The last WIP is this:

What is it? I'm not saying just yet, this is my "Secret Squirrel Project, Part 1a" and it will be revealed sometime later in the summer, assuming all goes according to plan. The color in the above photo is off, the color is really a rose pink.

And that's it. Six projects. But my fingers are itching and the yarn for another one has somehow made it's way from my craft room to my knitting bag so keep your eyes on the list to the right it could be expanding (again), soon.

I'm feeling lazy...

2007-05-20T20:37:00.000-07:00

So I will jump on this bandwagon. Actually it was kind of interesting to take inventory of all that I have accomplished in the last year. And there is always another challenge ahead, I guess that is what keeps knitting exciting and fun!

Bold for stuff you've done, Italics for stuff you plan to do one day,
and Normal for stuff you're not planning on doing.

Afghan

I-cord

Garter Stitch

Knitting with Metal Wire

Shawl

Stockinette Stitch

Socks: top-down (working on my first pair right now!)

Socks: toe-up

Knitting with Camel Yarn

Mittens: cuff-up

Mittens: tip-down

Hat

Knitting with Silk

Moebius Band Knitting

Participating in a KAL

Sweater

Drop Stitch Patterns

Knitting with Recycled / Second Hand Yarn

Slip Stitch Patterns

Knitting with Bamboo Yarn

Two End Knitting

Charity Knitting

Knitting with Soy Yarn

Cardigan

Toy/Doll Clothing

Knitting with Circular Needles

Baby Items

Knitting with Your Own Handspun Yarn

Slippers

Graffitti Knitting

Designing Knitted Garments

Cable Stitch Patterns

Lace Patterns

Publishing a Knitting Book

Scarf

Teaching a Child to Knit

American/English Knitting

Knitting to Make Money

Button Holes

Knitting with Alpaca (Scarf in progress)

Fair Isle Knitting

Norwegian Knitting

Dying with Plant Colours

Knitting Items for a Wedding

Household Items (Dishcloths, Washcloths, Tea Cosies...)

Knitting Socks (or other small tubular items) on Two Circulars

Olympic Knitting

Knitting with Someone Else's Handspun Yarn

Knitting with dpns

Holiday Related Knitting

Teaching a Male How To Knit

Bobbles

Knitting for a Living - if only...

Knitting with Cotton

Knitting Smocking

Dying Yarn

Steeks

Knitting Art

Knitting Two Socks (or other small tubular items) on Two Circulars Simultaneously

Fulling/Felting

Knitting With Wool

Textured Knitting

Kitchener BO

Purses/Bags

Knitting with Beads

Swatching

Long Tail CO

Entrelac Knitting

Machine Knitting

Knitting with SelfPatterning/SelfStriping/Variegating Yarn

Stuffed Toys

Knitting with Cashmere

Darning

Jewelry

Knitting with Synthetic Yarn

Writing a Pattern

Gloves

Intarsia

Knitting with Linen

Knitting for Preemies

Tubular CO

Freeform Knitting

Short Rows

Cuffs/Fingerless Mitts/ArmWarmers

Pillows

Knitting a Pattern from an On-Line Knitting Magazine

Rug

Knitting on a Loom

Thrummed Knitting

Knitting a Gift

Knitting for Pets

Shrug/Bolero/Poncho (I’ve made a baby one but not a real size)

Knitting with Dog/Cat Hair (ick.)

Hair Accessories

Knitting in Public

Hey look! Baby Knits!

2007-05-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

Surprise, surprise.

Baby knits on my blog.

Here are a couple of finished objects that I will be gifting to my friend who had a little one a week and a half ago.

A mini Bib O'Love and a Baby Genius Burp Cloth from the fabulous Mason-Dixon Knitting.

These things are so popular I probably don't need to give you the details but I knit them out of Sugar & Cream on size 7 Crystal Palace bamboo straights.

I enjoyed making these and I plan on making several more for my little ones.

In case you are wondering, these are for my friend to whom I gave the lilac Baby Bolero & hat at her baby shower. She DID have a little girl so it worked out colorwise... all's well that knits well.

you want a knitting post?

2007-05-16T22:29:00.000-07:00

then you have come to the wrong place- sorry. I know I said I would post yesterday and (obviously) I didn't. And I doubt this will count either.

The knitting is going slowly (I have cast-on-itis so there are quite a few projects but not much progress on anything). As soon as I take some pictures I'll do a full recap.

No really, I will.

It has been added to the spreadsheet. And if it is on the spreadsheet, it gets done, dammit.

I mean just today I finished off purchasing all the gifts I need for events & holidays between now and my due date (eight events!!! made quite a dent in my wallet, ugh.). I also got yarn for my sock pal and the last of the goodies for my Secret Pal (both for the shipment I am going to send in the next few days and for my grand finale package next month).

Hey, that was almost knitting content.

Check, check and check. Keep moving down the list...

Ei-yi-yi...

2007-05-14T22:29:00.000-07:00

...a week since my last post *sigh* I am a bad blogger (that was just for you Jessica). I have things to blog and post topics in mind but I just don't have the patience to sit down and write anything coherent. I am a woman possessed. the baby-boy-to-be has taken over my brain and it seems he has no intention of returning it anytime soon. Suffice to say I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off, trying to get stuff done pre-baby.

And I am aware that I have eight and half weeks to go, plenty of time, I know.

And I know that whatever doesn't get done is not a big deal... this is my second time doing this, I remember that the world didn't unravel at the seams when I had Pooh Bear and everything wasn't perfect and my to do list was completely checked off.

I know, I know.

And yet. And yet.

I simply have to do this stuff. And it is all stuff: getting my husband's birthday presents, getting father's day gifts taken care of for my dad and my husband, making sure I have my mom and my sister's gifts purchased for their birthdays-all these events take place before my scheduled due date and you just never know, I don't want to be caught out... and there are other things too: picking paint for my daughter's room and the nursery, going through the clothes from my daughter and pulling out the things that are appropriate for a boy and getting them ready (yes, I am one of those moms, I am not going to put my son in pink even though he'll never know and it might build character or something- I just can't do it) for instance- nothing critical but it feels important to me to GET IT DONE. now. if not sooner.

It makes no sense and I feel a bit crazy but...

Anyway. Hopefully tomorrow when I have some things checked off my list (I created a spreadsheet - this is how sick I am right now) I will feel better able to write about knitting. There is definitely knitting going on, it is all a part of the same psychosis.

Until tomorrow, then. I have to update my spreadsheet.

Could it Be?

2007-05-07T15:44:00.000-07:00

I feel like I should have some big, majestic movie-esque music to go along with this post (Rocky theme? theme from 2000/2010? Anything by John Williams?) but, alas, I am not that technically savvy so just imagine the appropriate soundtrack...

The Albatross. Is. Done. Finis. Finito. Fait Accompli.

Whew. I finished weaving in the ends a few hours ago.

If the baby comes now, I will not feel like I have failed.

Here it is in all its glory:

And a close up picture for the pattern.

The Gory Details:
Pattern: Ruffled Ridges Baby Blanket from Fiber Trends
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas hand Dyed Cotton in Indigo (7.5 skeins)
Needles: Addi Turbo Circulars, US Size 8
Finished Size: 45" x 37"

In the end I decided not to add any stripes and I stuck to the pattern as written. My blanket ended up a bit larger than the pattern said it would be but that doesn't surprise me since I started the blanket a year and a half ago and I used to knit tighter so when I picked it up again this year I'm sure my gauge was off. I'm enormously pleased to be finished and while it is not perfect (there is one mistake in the border but you'd really have to look to find it) it is a really nice blanket. I cannot express how much I love this yarn. It is totally delicious which was good because I otherwise I would have given up long ago.

I would have finished last Thursday but I ran out of yarn with 5 rows to go. No, I didn't panic. I knew I had another skein but I had to find it and my craft room is in a total state of disarray. It is the one room that has yet to be unpacked so every time I go in there to get something it is an adventure. I knew the skein existed but I couldn't remember where I saw it last :) Two days, many boxes and a few plastic drawers later - success!

But then I needed to wind it into a ball... Now where did I put my winder and swift (relatively recent purchases - yippee!). Found them and wound the yarn yesterday. Finished knitting last night and wove in the ends this afternoon during Pooh Bear's nap. Snapped some
photos and voila! Finished.

Thank goodness because I have so many things I want to knit and now I have this behind me and I can move on to other fun things :) Like maybe another (much smaller) blanket? Um, not just yet but it is on the list. I am crazy. I plead pregnancy.

On the baby front, I apologize for being cryptic in my last post and then leaving you hanging but all the excitement led to nothing. Last Tuesday night, early Wednesday morning I had a series of contractions for about an hour. They were really painful (definitely not Braxton-Hicks) and were about 8 minutes apart which isn't too close together if you are close to your due date but can be a little anxiety inducing when you still have 10 weeks to go. I saw my doctor and everything is still ok. I'm a teensy-weensy bit dilated but that could be due to the contractions or it could just be that is where body is since I already had one child. So no biggie. If it happens again... well, that could be a different story. And I will cross that bridge when & if I come to it. I will not worry about it. Not. worrying. (Positive self-talk y'all!) Although, I have thought all along that #2 is going to be early, like at least 2-3 weeks. So we'll see. Two weeks to my next appointment.

Getting Closer....

2007-05-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

Knitting, Knitting, Knitting!

Only 30 rows to go on the Albabtross- So close. So close. soclose. Must keep going. All else is ignored.

Slightly (hah, understatement) freaking out in my non-knitting life but that will have to wait for a longer post, let's just say that having really painful contractions at 3 in the morning 10 weeks before your due date is not a calming experience.

Back to knitting, knitting, knitting.

The Albatross calls and it wants to be finished. Now. (no comments about "nesting" from the peanut gallery)

This Time We're Keeping Them

2007-04-30T14:30:00.000-07:00

I've hinted at my baby knits problem in previous posts but I don't think I have really explored it fully. It really isn't a problem, I guess, maybe more of an issue... You see, over the past year and a half since I learned to knit I have made many cute little things for babies. The issue (problem?) is that very few of these adorable little items actually reside at my house. I feel like my little Pooh Bear should have to show for all my industriousness.

A quick count. She has four things I've knit for her: 3 hats and the toy rabbit. A little reflection reminds me that I have knit several pairs of booties (4-5), a bunch of hats (5-6), a bib, and a sweater and I'm pretty sure I have forgotten something(s) in addition to the things I knit for Pooh Bear. Clearly my friends need to stop having babies so I can do more for my own baby and baby to be (got that ladies? no more babies! too bad I have five pregnant friends at the moment).

I feel like my knitting is a classic case of the cobbler's children having no shoes. It isn't that I don't have plans to make things for my family, they just always get back-burnered by more "urgent" projects that have deadlines.

But, no more! (or at least for a little bit)

Look! Baby Knits for MY Baby!

I finally finished the Royal Baby Set from Blue Sky Alpacas: Sleeveless wrap sweater, hat & slippers. Knit from Bunny Hop by Crystal Palace on size 4 needles. The colorway is #2302 Baby Blues and it is a bit lighter/brighter in real life - my picture is a bit dark. I used approximately 2 1/4 skeins. I'm really glad to have leftover yarn because these slippers are huge. Not what I would consider a newborn size. I'm going to downsize the pattern and make a smaller pair. My intention is to have this be #2's coming home outfit so I need smaller booties.

Work continues on the Albatross but I feel like I am almost to the homestretch (only 7 pattern repeats plus the border to go - 61 rows total).

I also have a pair of pants on the needles for the baby to be.

And a bib for my friend who will probably give birth this week (I just can't help it, can I?)

Hmmm... I guess I need to get something going for my darling girl- I don't want her to feel left out :)

It Came from the Stash...

2007-04-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

As part of a contest for Secret Pal 10, my group is supposed to confess to the oldest yarn in our stash. Potentially embarrassing, and yet, this was my idea! (See previous post, I won a contest for coming up with the question)

The oldest yarn in my stash is 10 skeins of Aurora 8 in Pink Heather (#732)- at least I think it is ten, might only be nine... I'm too lazy to walk up two fights of stairs right now to check for sure.

Lovely yarn really. I made a hat for my daughter out of Aurora 8 and I liked working with it, not as soft as RYC Cashsoft or Debbie Bliss Cashmerino which I prefer to use but quite nice for a 100% merino wool (at least to someone like me with, shall we say, wool sensitivities).

I bought this yarn while I was taking my second set of knitting classes (Advanced Beginner) back in October of 2005 and it was intended to be a neat little ribbed poncho pattern put out by my lys. As you can see that never happened. I was distracted by baby knits (none for my daughter mind you, gifts for other folks... well, excepting the Albatross but you know that story already). Now ponchos are passe and I have no idea what to do with the yarn (though I still like the idea of a poncho {I hate jackets/coats} and am just a little tempted to just go for it- hell, I'm a mom now so I feel like my fashion card has been revoked by default anyway *sigh* so sad, but I just can't be bothered, although it does bug me that Pooh Bear is usually more stylishly attired than I am).

A few weeks ago I swatched for this cardigan:

from Rowan Classic Mothers & Babies but I couldn't get gauge without needing more yarn and there was no hope of my finding more in the same dye lot so I gave up and ordered the called for yarn instead. Since I needed several more skeins of the Aurora 8 I told myself the cost to get the "correct" yarn wasn't that much more *cough*. (And I bet you thought that swatch was actually for the originally intended project, silly, silly.)

I want to do something with this yarn. I like the color (I've rarely met a pink I didn't like). I feel badly that it is just hanging out in a drawer... Any ideas?

SP 10 Goodness

2007-04-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

So, I feel terrible because I have been meaning to put up this post for a couple days now but life has gotten in the way (hate it when that happens).

Anyway, I won a contest in my Secret Pal 10 group and I received my prize from Robyn on Thursday. Ta da! Aren't these cute?

Little knitted sweater earrings! Robyn is so clever, with her etsy shop full of stitch markers and earrings.

Progress on the Albatross

2007-04-26T16:11:00.000-07:00

I feel like my Ruffled Ridges Baby Blanket has become the KTSNBN (knit that shall not be named). I scrolled back through my blog and realized I have not mentioned this project since the first of the month. Which was appropriate, I guess, since I was busy ignoring it and there was no knitting happening with respect to the Albatross.

I even joined Ann's Slogalong over at Mason-Dixon Knitting hoping that the public forum would shame me into knitting, I mean, inspire me. But honestly... I would do a row here or there... never more than two in any sitting.

Until two nights ago. You my remember that my original goal was to finish the blanket by the end of March, when it became obvious that was not going to happen I revised my goal to the end of April. Surely I could do that. Well, of course I could, provided I actually did any knitting on the blasted thing. Anyway two nights ago I was in one of my "OMG, I have less than 12 weeks until this baby arrives" moments and it hit me that the end of the month was only 6 days away! If I missed the April deadline for the blanket and pushed it out again how was I ever going to finish the blanket before the baby arrived? I have other projects I want to make before he comes and I feel guilty every time I cast on for something new...

And so, I knitted. Like a fiend. At least for me...

And now, as of this afternoon, I am officially three quarters of the way complete. The end is in sight, although it is not near enough. But there is hope. No way I finish in the next three days but by May 15th *invokes spirit of Scarlett O'Hara* with God as my witness, I shall never have to work on this blanket again.

Were you wondering who that tail and paws belong to? They belong to Tigger...

He was snoopervising my wretched (indoor lighting on a cloudy day) photography efforts this afternoon (I can't believe this is the first appearance of one of our cats on this blog... unless you count the cat hair attached to everything I knit).

Blogging? Not so Much.

2007-04-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

But there has been knitting!

As I mentioned in my last post I was working furiously to complete a Baby Bolero to gift at baby shower this past weekend. Here is the finished product, along with a little hat I churned out to go with it.

The pattern for the sweater is the Baby Bolero from OneSkein. I made it in two colors of Blue Sky Alpacas Hand Dyed Cotton (Lilac and Tulip) to make it a bit more fun. The hat is my own creation, I wanted it to echo the look of the bolero. (Forgive the terrible photo, I took this picture late at night).

The women at the shower liked the sweater and were "properly" appreciative of my efforts (no other knitters in attendance)- it is so nice when non-knitters understand the effort that goes into hand knits.

One funny note on this project: When the evite for the baby shower came it said that my friend was expecting a girl. I was surprised because the last time we spoke she didn't know what she was having and wasn't planning to find out, but whatever, I went with it. One lilac sweater and hat, pretty girly. However, at the shower I asked her about the girl thing and she admitted that she STILL DOESN'T KNOW but she is really hoping for a girl. ACK! I hope she's right. If I had known I would have used a more neutral color -although the lilac allowed me to use up a skein from my stash :)

I have more knitting to share and some stash enhancement (mild considering that my two favorite lys both had sales/coupons this past weekend) but you'll have to wait for the next post... I need to go eat lunch, the baby to be wants food!

Like I wasn't even here...

2007-04-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

Howdy folks! I'm blogging but this really won't be anything to write home about... just a quick drive by. Just throwing something out here so I don't feel guilty about not blogging for a while :)

I'm hard at work on the Baby Bolero from OneSkein and I need to finish it and a hat before 8:30am on Saturday when they will be gifted to a friend at a baby shower. I only started the bolero on Sunday so I'm a bit stressed. I've been told it is a quick knit but you never know. So far so good progress-wise (I am halfway through the second sleeve) but I'm a bit nervous about the whole "zipping" away of the provisional cast-on thing... I'm also not sure my finishing skills are up to the seaming. I'm signed up for a finishing skills class but ironically enough, the class starts 2 hours after the baby shower is over. A lot of good that does me, eh? Oh well, future projects will benefit.

I'll be sure to take pictures of the finished product but I don't have time to mess with any WIP pics... In addition to my project with a deadline I also just found out on Sunday that my father-in-law will be visiting us on Sunday and Monday so I need to whip the house into shape, as well.

I also need to post a couple of finished objects but again, no pictures yet. Soon. Yes, soon... a nice vague term that could mean tomorrow or three weeks from now. I wouldn't hold your breath for tomorrow.

Oh, and by-the-by, as of Saturday I will only have twelve weeks to go in my pregnancy and for some reason this is FREAKING ME OUT!!! Up until now I've been really lackadaisical... do ti do, plenty of time, not much to do, this is the second kid after all, we have most of the stuff we need, dum te dum... But now? Holy crap! I have so much to do... my daughter's room needs to be painted and decorated, we need to get her a toddler bed, the baby's room is not done, at all. No paint picked, I'm still sitting the fence on my choice of linens for him. I need to pick a new, double (ugh) stroller- this is going to be a pain- none of the choices really thrill me. I need to finally finish unpacking everything and putting the house in order because I know this will not get done once there are two bambinos running amok. And then there is the knitting- a million little projects I want to do. Oh yeah, and the damned Albatross. I have to finish that.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

2007-04-13T13:38:00.000-07:00

I was having one of those days yesterday- not the really bad kind, where everything goes wrong and you can kvetch about it and everyone understands, but the icky kind. The kind where you just feel off kilter, grumpy for no reason and while nothing catastrophic happens nothing goes quite as you intended either. This kind of bad day is almost worse because you start complaining to your friends, your non-verbal daughter, your cats and your houseplants and they all stare at you as if to say, "And..." There really isn't a problem but you feel like there is- do you know what I am talking about or are you now staring blankly at your computer screen?

Anyhoo. Yesterday was an icky day for me. My daughter didn't nap in her normal way and so she was fussy. I wanted to run errands and "get something done" but my daughter's failure to nap nixed that idea. I went shopping for some maternity capris because I know, I just know, that at some point the weather will turn and it will be warmer. How is it possible to be too big for a size medium but to be swallowed whole by a size large? What kind of specs are these maternity clothing folks using? The "I'm sorry but if you are a short, borderline size 8/10 because you were too lazy to lose all the weight from your first pregnancy before you, surprise, got pregnant again woman with overly developed calf muscles you will need to be naked from the waist down for your third trimester" spec? Because seriously, I have been to four stores and have tried on (no exaggeration) 36 pairs of capris (jeans, khakis and black, I'd settle for one pair or some combination of the three) and unless I am willing to pay $65+ for a pair of capris I will only wear for 2-3 months I am SOL. Now I already coughed up $80 earlier so I would have a pair of jeans to wear (semi justifiable since I had a potential 6 months to wear them in) so I am not really into forking over the equivalent of 3 skeins of STR (um yes, sock yarn bug has bitten HARD!!!!) for capris... And yes, I have thought about cutting off my jeans but there are two problems with this: 1) I live in Seattle. It was 78 degrees last Friday. It is 52 today. Even in the heart of the summer you can find yourself needing long pants. 2) My jeans are only a demi panel. For those of you who have not experienced the joy of the third trimester belly in your life this means that shortly the elastic panel designed to keep my pants up will no longer come up on my belly high enough to do its job. Not only will my belly likely be exposed if I don't wear a long enough shirt but the possibility of dropping trou can also occur without warning and nobody wants to see that. This girl needs capris with a full panel.

But really none of that is the point of this post.

The point is this, into every rainy day a little sun must fall and here is mine:

My first package from my Secret Pal! Yippee!

It arrived yesterday afternoon and made all the grumpy ickiness go away (at least for a couple hours *wink*). Such fun goodies - I am so excited. 2 skeins of Catalina baby alpaca in Red (a lovely rich color), a little stuffed ram to add to my collection of sheep, Nestle Crunch with Caramel bars (um, one didn't make it to the photo), Ghirardelli Caramel squares, and last, but certainly not least, a copy of the Yarn Harlot's new book! My pal even had the book signed at the recent NYC Represent event, so cool. I don't think I will make it to Portland or Vancouver to see the Harlot in person since I will be 8 months pregnant so this was a great gift (but I want to go badly, Hubby doesn't think much of my casual, "It is only a four drive" statement). So HUGE thanks to my pal (who resides in Brooklyn), I loved all of it!!

The gift I sent to my spoilee should arrive today or tomorrow and I only hope she likes it as much as I like mine... I am excited to see her reaction, picking out of few things for this round was a bit harder than I had anticipated but I already have a couple ideas for my next package...

I'm off to work on a baby gift for a shower next weekend, fingers crossed that it will be done on-time (the baby bolero from OneSkein)... I also need to cast on for the Bubbly curtain from MDK for my powder room but I just "discovered" (denial had a part in this I think or maybe just pregnancy induced stupidity) that my window is twice as long as the one in the book and I am going to need more yarn.

The Magical Sock Yarn Bush

2007-04-11T21:24:00.000-07:00

For a little while now I have been contemplating knitting socks. I have vague, rose tinted visions of padding around my house in gorgeous lacy socks made from amazingly soft (non-itchy, non-allergic reaction causing) wool. But I had no sock yarn... I wouldn't even look at the sock yarn in my LYS. I felt no need to go down that potential addiction forming path...

But look what grew in my yard last week!

OK. So it didn't sprout from a bush in neat little yarn cakes. But it sounds good right? Alright, I admit it: I went over to the dark side. A couple weeks ago my LYS held a sock night and I succumbed.

The yarn is ShiBuiKnits Sock, a 100% superwash merino. It is really soft and I am hoping that I won't itch when I wear it.

The pink & green colorway is called Orchid and I plan to use it for my first pair of socks. I hope to knit them and wear them during my labor and delivery in July.

The blue colorway is Midnight and I plan to use it for a hat and matching booties for #2.

The three skeins of Chinese Red will be used for the Vintage Baby Cardigan. I plan to make it for Pooh Bear but she will outgrow it quickly (she is just barely in the last size) so I picked a unisex color and I will replace the ribbon tie closure with a button so #2 can wear it too.

And so the yarn sock addiction begins, I can tell already. I've been surfing the web, ogling sock yarn, stalking the Seattle yarn shops, drooling over colorways and maybe, just maybe, a few more skeins have grown in my garden.

Cake!

2007-04-09T21:36:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned yesterday we had a quiet Easter, no visitors or anything. I did not even make a big fancy dinner which is very un-me. But I did do this:

I wish I could claim to be all clever and creative but I have to admit I totally copied this concept from a magazine. I'd love to give credit to the magazine but I honestly don't remember which one it was- I know it was a baby/parenting mag- maybe Parents?

No idea why I felt the need to make this cake- we haven't even cut into yet (I know, what is wrong with me?). My mom almost always made a bunny cake for Easter so maybe I was feeling nostalgic.