don't answer that!

i'm home sick today. apparently, i can go to work sick. i can go to work pregnant. but i cannot go to work pregnant AND sick. let me tell you how impossible that is... pretty damn impossible. last week i rushed rushed rushed to get two projects finished up at work so that i could have an easy last week this week. then saturday hit and i started sneezing. i thought that it was just allergies but now that i'm still stuffy and miserable two days later, i realize that i caught a cold. i HAVE to get better before the peanut decides to show herself. can you imagine going into labor while having a cold? i'm trying not to.

so, here's a quick and mostly photographic update of the state of things before i hop in bed for a nap.

the brooklyn handspun trifecta is done.

the trifecta is complete!

yarn: brooklyn handspun superwash soft spun sock yarn in winter's calling
needles: 2.5mm addi turbos, magic loop and 3.25mm addi turbos for the hat
pattern: none for the socks and mittens. the hat i used this bonnet pattern from hello yarn

because i know that you all love the care bears, here's sunshine bear being a good sport and modeling them for us.

KP asked if i was playing dress-up. i'm glad i'm having a girl! thanks to veronique for letting me use her icord maker for the mittens!

this is how the peanut's room is looking.

progress on the peanut's room

pretty messy, but almost there. the crib (on the right) is holding lots of clothing and other assorted baby crap until i can get around to sorting and unloading it. on the floor, you'll see the flor tiles i bought. i love them! they go perfect with the room and make it feel much warmer in there. that cane rocking chair was a gift from my parents and i'm looking forward to sitting in it and looking out the window nursing the peanut. it was a little hard on the bum so i constructed a VERY simple pillow for it out of some cute bee fabric i had in the stash.

and now that i'm home sick, i've started up some new projects to keep me going.

monkey socks using some lovely koigu that sandra bought for me for my birthday last year.

monkey beginnings

they are actually much further along than this given that i've done nothing but knit, watch james bond movies, and mouth-breathe for the past 48 hours.

and my dad's mittens using leftover chocolate brown debbie bliss merino aran (no pictures yet).

ok, just a few last pictures to send you on your way. i got some lovely gifties in the mail late last week. knits for the peanut!!

a lovely hat and sock set from danielle.

and i'm pretty sure this is a baby surprise jacket and some booties from sarah (i miss you sarah!)

thanks ladies! i'm sure the peanut will look smashing in these!

and if you're a battlestar galactica fan and haven't watched last night's epsiode yet, stop reading. dude, i'm sure starbuck is a cylon. one of the final five. my vote is that she wakes up in a bath of goo by the end of the season! all of the dialog in the episode points to it. watch it again if you don't believe me. there's no way that leoban could know everything that he knows about her and then encourage her to die without knowing that she'd be reborn. she even said to lee, "they're waiting for me on the other side." uh huh. cylon. i'm loving this season!

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i seem to lack motivation at work to get anything done. i know it'll come to me once i get in there and start really digging, but in the meantime, i'd rather just update the blog.

i had a june bug factory going on at chez gleek this weekend.

arms and more arms

these things were so quick to knit and all in all, so was june bug!

hello!

she's so cute. i think that KP wants to keep her. we both have a thing for stuffed animals.

yarn: lamb’s pride worsted in roasted coffee, rosado rose, and seafoam
needles: US8 denise needles
pattern: june bug from jess hutchinson’s unusual toys for you to knit and enjoy

mods? not many. i did the entire face in embroidery and i didn't follow the photo. just wanted a simple little face. i also picked up stitches on the head to knit the antennae instead of making them separate and stitching them on. she's pretty small, though. i thought this toy would be bigger but it's not like any of the photos are "to scale" so how was i supposed to know? she's cute, though, and i love her.

i also finished off the mittens of the brooklyn handspun trifecta.

mittens and socks.. so tiny!

here they are with the socks. they turned out well, but i realized that i actually REALLY hate doing kitchener stitch. lots of people love it, i know. but for some reason, it always comes out super crappy when i do it. so after the first mitten, i decided to instead use a technique that i saw on the anemoi mittens: turn the object inside out and do a three needle bind-off instead.

3 needle BO vs kitchener

the 3 needle bind off on the left is much neater than my kitchener on the right. i think that i'm officially off kitchener now for sock toes and what not. this is much easier.

so now i'm just making the hat for the trifecta to be complete. i saw this hat over at brooklyntweed the other day and decided to give it a shot. i'm double-stranding the yarn and knitting it on US3s addis. i switched the increases from M1s to kfb because doing M1s with addi turbo's stumpy points is hell. i hope it looks ok.

back to work.

ETA: so, looks like i'm not the only one who is totally unmotivated today. here's a little something to keep you busy. i promise it's safe for work. just some chickens policing some bunnies: http://youtube.com/?v=ybVb3t560oY

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every time i say "two itty bitty socks" in my head i say it in the voice of the count from sesame street. anyway, two itty bitty socks down and i'm already halfway through the first mitten.

sorry for the lack of updates around here. as usual, things are busy busy busy at home with all of the apartment shuffling and the fact that i'm still working 8 hour days. my maternity leave is coming up though! i'm off march 9th and it can't come a moment sooner. i'm tired. i'm tired of all the crazy decisions at work (especially since i haven't had time off from this place in close to 7 months) and the fact that they keep piling work on me right before i leave. what they SHOULD be doing is transitioning me off of projects, but they're more keen to get as much out of me before i go instead. they better hope i don't go into labor early.

anyway, back to the apartment and baby. here are a few things we've done in preparation:

• i got the baby owner's manual and maintenance log from babygeared.com. i will be prepared!
• purchased a slow cooker and vegetarian slow cooker recipe book on recommendation from cari.
• KP has moved all the computer stuff from the office to his new desk in the dining area. pics to come.
• i purchased some very cute prints from carla sondheim on etsy for the peanut's room. i found her site through apartment therapy's newest off-shoot, the nursery.
• also found through apartmenttherapy, i bought some flor tiles for the peanut's room and the bathroom. for the peanut's room, i got 9 toy poodle tiles. the bathroom, i got 6 stripe a pose tiles. i love them! and so much cheaper than rugs.

there was also a huge amazon purchase of wipes and diapers but we don't need to go into that. the entire apartment is still pretty cluttered but i expect it to be much better after the weekend. my parents and brother are coming on saturday with the crib, a rocking chair, and tons of other small things. they are also taking away a bunch things from us to store or use. i expect the place will open up some by sunday.

in the meantime, knitting continues as it's one of the only stress-free things that i do nowadays. believe it or not, i'm only about 12 rows away from finishing the 3-hole shawl! i'm so excited to be done with this! just gotta finish up this last repeat, 5 rows of garter stitch, weave in the ends, and block it. i expect the blocking will take place on sunday while i'm out with the spiders. let's hope it doesn't take forever to dry!

i also started a new project but i expect it to be done very quick. it's a simple slip stitch scarf for my cousin's daughter.

pink!

she specifically asked for a pink scarf and since she's allergic to wool, i broke out the cotton ease that i bought at the yarn riot. i wanted it to be really warm, though, so i decided to double-strand it and use size 10.5 needles. it's knitting up fast! since it's for a 5 year old, i only have to make it about 4 feet long before putting on some fringe (oh yes, this baby definitely needs fringe.) i should be done by the weekend. so i guess you'll get two FOs really soon!

what's next? i really want to make some stuffed animals for the peanut so i'm going to break out my lamb's pride and jess hutch book and knit up something fun!

geez, i almost forgot! this past sunday was spider's spinning day at marie's. i had a great time and learned that i am just not a spinner. i couldn't get the hang of it and really don't see the appeal of making my own yarn (though i do see the appeal of dyeing yarn!) this is a good thing. i do not need another hobby. really. a few pics from sunday are in the gallery.

p.s. also, sorry for the spam that showed up in the comments last week. the spammers are outrageous! even after installing the security code, they get through. after seeing those few buggers, i added yet ANOTHER layer of spam protection to the blog, akismet, which is now available for movabletype. hopefully this will help as well.

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things have been mighty itty bitty around chez gleek lately. first of all, i finished the first baby sock in the brooklyn handspun trifecta (socks, mittens, and hat.)

baaaaa!

it's so cute! so very tiny. i've put it next to my sheep tape measure for scale. i didn't follow a pattern for this. just cast on 40 stitches, 2x2 rib, short row heel, and then a regular decrease toe once the foot was 3 inches long. i've just started the second sock and i'm sure i'll be done in another two days. they are so quick and easy.

the other itty bitty bit at chez gleek is the progress we've been making on the apartment. KP's got the flu so i've been doing all of the work on my own. poor guy. he's had a fever now for 4 days! but he's getting much better.

here's a look at our messy apartment before i started rearranging this weekend. i put together a new table with chairs (which you can see in the second photo), a side table, and a coffee table. basically, we've decided that since we're about to have a destructive baby enter the house (and let's face it, all children are little tornadoes) so it would be better to downsize all of our furniture and make as much room as possible. that, and buy cheap furniture that we won't mind being destroyed. there's plenty of time later in life for good furniture (this is what i keep telling myself.)

god, what a mess the place was this weekend! you can even see all of my pillows on the couch because i slept there both friday and saturday night (i quarantined KP to the bedroom.) it looks much better now, trust me. photos will be forthcoming.

we've now made enough room in the dining area for a corner desk and still have enough floor space for a playpen. but i have a few more items to put together (hopefully KP will be better by the weekend!) including a storage unit and the aforementioned desk. once that is put together, everything that was in the office can be transplanted to the dining area, and the office can officially be the peanut's room. THEN we just have to put the crib in there, put together her dresser, and organize all of her new baby things. lots more to do!

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