so i'm just back from a good drilling at the dentist and in a FANTASTIC mood and thought that i would write a blog entry. thankfully for all of you, i will be writing it over the next few days for a wednesday post and you will be spared most of my bitching.

i've been obsessed with finding "new" and interesting TV lately what with the writer's strike still going on (COME ON!! i'm sick of reality TV!) everyone who knows me knows that i despise all reality TV but project runway. i'm so glad it's back on the air! i was actually sorry to see elisa go last week. she had really grown on me. it's too bad that the challenge itself was such a snoozer. god, can we get a little more creative please? pour on the pressure, apply the heat! i wanna see these designers sweat!

in an effort to get more project runway into my veins, i started (and finished!) watching project runway canada (don't click on the link unless you want to know who won!) which is the greatest thing since sliced bread. i've gotta be honest here. i actually LOVE iman and brian baley more than heidi and tim. iman is amazing as a host. she really has strong opinions and i totally agreed with her on every decision. she also strikes me as being very sweet and caring.

brian baley and iman

brian baley, the mentor, was great too. he actually MENTORED. he had opinions and real words of advice for the designers. where i feel that tim gunn has pulled back from giving helpful commentary (maybe at the behest of the producers?) brian would come out and tell them what he thought was wrong (or right) with a garment and steer the designer in the right direction. mustache aside, i really adored him. i can't wait for the second season! too bad that it's not available in the US. watch it on youtube. trust me, you won't be sorry you did.

amongst all the PRC watching i was knitting on koolhaas finished koolhaas. this took me FOREVER to finish but it's because i was really only able to fit in a few rows here and there amongst all the other things.

large koolhaas

hiding

i made it large so that it would fit my dad. if it's a little too big, he can flip up the ribbing. looks great right? uuuuhhh, what's that? let's zoom in...

oops

ooooooops! forgot to cross one there! oh well, it still looks ok, i think! oh, and i got my new gorillapod. combined with the new camera, i expect my FO pics to be much better.

i also got to do a little sewing this past weekend. i whipped up two new pairs of cloth shoes for the peanut. these will be the last that i make seeing as she'll probably be crawling and walking sometime in the next 4 months.

pair #1

pair #2

i followed the tutorial again but used my pattern for making 6 to 12 month sizes. (i'll post this on the patterns page soon.) feel free to download this PDF and make your own as well. notice that i didn't exactly make right and left foot shoes. seriously, you don't need them.

shoes shoes shoes!

anyway, all in all, peanut has 4 pairs now. i made three of them and the fourth (top left) comes from kaya's kloset etsy store. if you don't want to make your own baby shoes then i highly recommend you get her to make them for you. she does great work.

i leave you with a picture of some highly yummy "mac daddy" from the veganomicon (which i got KP for christmas.)

yum!

and the nut's new teeth! so cute i could die.

smile!

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this is the obligatory happy new year blog entry, as usual. i'm going to keep it short though because one of my new year's resolutions is to post more often at the expense of long-ass posts. this is probably in everyone's best interests to be sure. let's look at 2007's resolutions (heh.)

• have a baby, take care of her, and get back into shape afterward.
• go back to work in the fall (this should be easy as i don't really have much of a choice!)
• launch my super secret website by july. i'm sure you'll hear more about this soon!
• watch more movies (basically use my netflix membership more.)
• knit from my stash for most of the year.
• do more colorwork.
• learn to steek something.
• make KP a sweater.
• sew more (we'll see if i can do that this year since i couldn't accomplish it in 2006.)

ok, so i had the baby (peanut!) and am taking care of her. i am not in shape. i miss the gym terribly but it was a package deal with work which i quit (there goes half of #1 resolution and #2 resolution was a bust [but a good one!] as well.) i wish it were easier to get out with the nut during the winter but dressing her up and getting out the door can sometimes take 30 minutes! and we don't always have the time to spare. oh well. when the spring comes and the weather is nicer (and hopefully i'm done breastfeeding) then i can really concentrate on getting back in shape.

the super secret website is on the WAY back burner. maybe late in 2008? i used netflix more and knit from my stash mostly. KP doesn't get a sweater (i'm not sure he ever will!) i've decided i'm not really into colorwork so why learn to steek? and my sewing is neither here nor there.

so what about 2008? here's what i'm thinking...

• knit a sweater for myself. just one, please!
• knit more accessories
• continue to knit from my stash
• keep sewing!
• lose some weight when breastfeeding is over
• socialize the peanut
• post to the blog at least once per week

this all seems pretty reasonable to me but, then again, last year's resolutions did too!

to end this post, i bring you some knitting updates. i recently decided that the peanut really needed a pair of legwarmers (ravelry). every time i suited her up to go out, her shins would be exposed.

warm those legs!

i whipped these up really quick using some cashmerino aran from the stash, just cast on 40, join in the round, 2x2 rib until they are long enough and bind-off. easy peasy. took two nights of watching "planet earth" which was really awesome. KP and i now speak like david attenborough constantly.

compact koolhaas

i also cast on for koolhaas which is coming along slowly (ravelry). all the cabling really bakes my noodle (which is already pretty toasty) and i'm doing it all without a cable needle which is a lot of fun. this one's going to my dad when it's done. i've owed him a hat for at least a year now!

almost done

oh and KP's first ode to argyle sock (ravelry) is complete and i really like the way it turned out! now just have to cast on the second one.

hope you're all having a lovely new year's day!

yes, i look tired

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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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