The best laid plans

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!

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

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

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...

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!

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?

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...

...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?

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....

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

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...

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

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

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.

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...

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!

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

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!

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.

A Tisket, A Tasket

Bunnies for a Basket...

We celebrated Easter today at Chez Moutons Dansant and we had a very pleasant, though, quiet time. We roused ourselves a bit earlier than usual and plopped Pooh Bear into the bathtub for a quick scrub down before I got to torture her by dressing her up in her new Easter dress. We were early for mass (amazing) and found seats by the aisle which is a must-have feature when taking a wiggly almost 15 month old to church (we were especially glad when the service ran really long - an hour and 20 minutes??!!). After church we went out for brunch and were stunned to find the brunch is not a big thing for Seattlites on Easter - there was no line at all, and this was a restaurant that normally has a little bit of a wait on normal weekend mornings... go figure. I'd love to sow you a picture of my little girl all dolled up in her adorable dress complete with matching shoes, socks and headband but unfortunately we did not take pictures before church and on the drive home from brunch we experienced The Chocolate Incident* so suffice to say there are no pictures. I plan on recreating the look later this week and taking some pictures then.


*The Chocolate Incident - still too painful to go into in great detail, but let's just say Daddy let a certain little girl hold onto a foil wrapped chocolate Easter egg on the car ride home and the combination of a warm little hand, a sunny day's greenhouse effect through car windows, and a pale yellow dress trimmed in white was NOT GOOD. BTW, should you ever need to put your baby's hair into a mohawk hairstyle, let me suggest chocolate as an effective gel/mousse substitute. Oh, and Hubby's famous last words: I never thought it would melt that way...

Back at home we gave (a newly cleaned up and changed) Pooh Bear her first Easter basket - at this time last year I just didn't have the energy to give a 3 month old a basket, in fact, I don't have any recollection of last Easter at all. No candy for her this year, but she did get a new outfit for spring, a new book and two new Mommy-Knits: a toy rabbit and a new hat.

I decided two weeks ago that she "needed" a bunny in her basket but since I have banned the buying of stuffed animals (something my mother-in-law conveniently forgets on a regular basis) for Pooh Bear owing in part, to my already large collection I decided I would knit her a new bunny instead. The rabbit is the Toy Rabbit from Natural Knits for Babies & Moms. It was a quick knit although the seaming & finishing took a bit longer than I expected. The instructions for the knitting part of the project were very clear but I would have appreciated a bit more detail in the finishing instructions. The rabbit turned out fairly well I think (just don't inspect my seaming too closely, please, I am still a relatively new knitter and my seaming skills leave a bit to be desired), even my husband admitted it was cute.
















Details: Toy Rabbit from Natural Knits for Babies & Moms; Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton in Nut Brown and Bone, knit on size 7 Crystal Palace Bamboo straight needles. I completed the project in a week and a half and I did not work on it exclusively during that time.

I finished up the rabbit on Wednesday and I was thrilled to be done ahead of time so I wouldn't have to panic about finishing something at the last minute. Very proud of myself.

And then, well, then a, um, wild hare got me, if you'll pardon the pun.

It wasn't my fault, really. I fell victim to the overwhelming cuteness that is baby knitting. I succumbed to the power of Itty Bitty Hats. I really don't understand it. I have looked at Itty Bitty Hats on several occasions and was never moved to buy the book. I read other people's posts about their Itty Bitty projects and yet, I was not moved. But after reading this post over on Knitty Bloggy Baby Bumpers I HAD to make the Bunny Tail Hat for Pooh Bear.

No problem really, hats are generally quick-ish knits except that I make this decision at 11:00pm on Thursday night! Um, note to self, Easter is on Sunday. That would be two days. This still might not be a huge issue if say, I actually owned the book and could cast on immediately (assuming I had appropriate yarn in the stash and the correct size needles). But I don't own the book. Fast forward to Friday morning, I conveniently manage to work picking up the book into my other errands and find to my great delight that I already have the prescribed yarn and needles.

See. I am clearly destined to make this hat.


What was I thinking? I can't cast on until my daughter goes down for a nap which doesn't happen until 1:30 on Friday. Even the mathematically challenged amongst you can calculate that I have less than 48 hours to complete this project. Folks, I feel the need to remind you that I am a slow knitter. Clearly, pregnancy induced insanity has gripped my brain as I enter my third trimester.

But wait, you say. There is a picture of a bunny hat in the basket at the beginning of this post.


Ah. Well. You see, aside from suffering from insanity, I also have insomnia (which now that I think about it, might contribute to the insanity). Under normal circumstances this is a bad thing but when you have a knitting project to complete in a short amount of time this is a good thing. When I can't sleep on Friday night I whip out the Bunny Tail Hat and I get the main body of the hat complete through the decreases. Yesterday I managed to get the first ear done and last night ear number two. And lickety-split, I added the pom-pom tale and ribbons. Ta da! A hat, in under two days. Although I wouldn't suggest this process to anyone not suffering from insomnia.















Details: Bunny Tail Hat from Itty Bitty Hats; Rowan Classic Yarn Baby Cashsoft DK in White knit on Size 7 Addi Turbo circulars and Skacel bamboo dpns.


And so my darling girl had wonderful handmade with love from her mommy gifts for Easter.

And was she thrilled to have such love bestowed upon her?

Um. Not so much. Because what is a handmade hat and toy when compared to the fabulousness of...

EASTER GRASS?

Time spent playing with new rabbit and or/wearing her new hat: 3 minutes

Time spent playing with the paper "grass" from her basket: 1 hour 15 minutes

*sigh* Such is our lot. At least she took the rabbit to bed with her...