biting the proverbial bullet

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

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

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...

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

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!

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

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

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.

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...

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...

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

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..

...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...

(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

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...

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

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?

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....

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

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!"