it's time to post the pics of the finished EZ february sweater!

yarn: RY cashsoft DK, lavender (1.2 balls)
needles: US6 denise needles
pattern: february sweater from the knitter’s almanac by elizabeth zimmermann

i'd just like to say that i'm sorry these photos are total crapola. looking at them now i realize that taking them under the ott-lite is just not as good as daylight, but dude, when do i ever see daylight anymore? i wish that i had time to play with the images in photoshop a little before i upload them but that's just not possible. i'm always cramped for time nowadays. i guess this'll have to do until i'm home during the day again (or summer comes back to this neck of the woods.)

anyway, so this pattern was super easy. like i said before, i decided to do the body first and then go back and knit the sleeves. for the sleeves, i cast on an extra stitch on each side for seaming and i'm glad i did this. next time, though, i will not slip the first stitch. it wasn't as substantial as using stockinette for seaming.

the button band

i also took veronique's advice and slipped the first stitch of every row with the yarn in front to give it a nice edging. i like it!

aawwww!

and these are the cute buttons i got at the point (god this photo is so crappy i'm almost upset about it.)

anyway, so that's done and i think that it'll fit the peanut if she's big enough. it looks really small to me but bedtime bear is swimming in it!

so i'm going to cast on for the brooklyn handspun trifecta tonight: hat, mittens, and socks for the peanut with this lovely yarn. oh, and i also had one recent stash enhancement that's totally within the limits of KFYS2007 because it was a gift from my good friend melani. i'm going to save the bamboo and knit up a top-down raglan after the peanut is born for the spring.

oh, and i just have to make one comment about this whole boston hubbub that's going on right now. i'm really dismayed and disappointed at the government for blowing this marketing campaign out of proportion. they are making total asses of themselves and making all of america look like stupid imbeciles with nothing better to do than overreact about nothing. but i really can't say it better than wil wheaton, so why don't you just go over to his blog and read what he has to say, and check out gothamist's commenters as well.

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i'm feeling a bit random today so let's just dive into it!

i joined the we call them pirates knit along this week. i figured that since i'm already making the items i may as well show them off! i'm really excited to see what other people there are doing with the pattern. lots of creative uses of colors and yarn! i have yet to post but i just uploaded a progress shot and i'll have to jump over there today and update everyone. wanna see?

past the second repeat..

i'm on to the third repeat! i have a feeling that i'll finish all the colorwork on this this weekend and then start on the lining of the hat. i have a three day weekend ahead of me (thank you MLK!) and i'm sure to spend most of it relaxing or working on the homefront.

i also joined project spectrum which is less of a knit along for me. i'm going to try and take more pictures that include the colors than craft with them mainly because i'm still knitting from my stash and i have baby things to make (and a baby to birth.) of course, if i have the chance, i will knit with the colors! they are all good choices picked by lolly!

my parents got a new digital camera this week courtesy of the amazon gift certificate that KP and i got them for christmas. what with the arrival of their first grandchild, they felt they needed a camera that would give them great pictures. here's the family dog.. HRH abby.

and here's a load of vintage knit and crocheted items that my dad found the other day! i'm getting them all for the peanut and will probably update them a little by replacing the buttons and ribbons.

dude, do you see the yellow and white poncho hoodie with the pompoms?! my daughter is definitely wearing that!

if you haven't seen the dumb moves of banks lately, you should check this out, though i'm sure this story is all over knitblogland by now. i, personally, have only knit with STR once and it was an ok experience. i fully support women-owned businesses though! especially knitting-related businesses so i feel it's necessary to say, "stupid bank, you know not who you deal with."

and lastly, TV has gotten really good around chez gleek lately. i've become enamored with without a trace (i guess it's on CBS but i watch it on TNT) and on sunday we have a big night of TV coming our way: rome, 24, AND battlestar galactica (well, strike that.. boy am i glad i checked their website.. they've moved the premiere to the 21st.) surely my DVR will lose its little mind over this.

p.s. i hear that jess is working on a tutorial on how to make her cute drawstring bags. stay tuned!

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well, i'm finally in my third trimester and boy am i tired. i think that i woke up about 5 or 6 times last night! my guess is that this is mother nature's way of preparing me for the incoming baby but, really, i could use the rest! i'm still working 5 days a week (and probably will right up to when i burst) so i could definitely use a break. oh well.

anyway, this'll be the first post in a while about knitting where i don't have an FO to show. are you disappointed? hahaha, i'm feeling the pressure! but there's christmas knitting going on at chez gleek and progress being made on the 3-hole shawl so i guess i'm doing something!

one christmas hat done, another half way there

i suppose you COULD count this as an FO but i'm lumping all the christmas knitting into one project and won't consider it done until it's ALL done. here we have one hat complete (on the right, a baby cable hat. very stretchy) and another at its half way point. i'm getting knitting in whenever i can nowadays especially during my lunch hour while i listen to music at my desk. it's my calming point of the day.

one hole down!

and here is the 3-hole shawl with one hole complete. i knit on this whenever i'm bored of the hat. i think that i should be able to get to the second hole by christmas if i'm lucky, but i have one more hat to make after this one is complete so i'm not holding my breath.

after christmas knitting is over though, it's clear sailing into next year. on the plate for january is some baby knitting and more glittens for me (which should be really quick because i'm making them a bit smaller than the last pair.) i also am determined to make some stupid sock creatures for the peanut and resurrect some of my old stuffed animals from my parent's house. lots to do before she arrives!

now before anyone else posts about this, i wanted to share this link i saw on apartment therapy this morning! GIANT KNITTING! seriously this is some cool stuff. rugs and housewares. i really want that garter stitch poof to sit on. check out the giant needles they use at the end of the post. bet the TSA won't let you bring those on a flight.

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the eviction notice was posted and being the good tenant that he is, baby N packed his bags and made his way to the real world this saturday morning. congrats to kate and chet! we're all so happy for you! i would post pictures but i don't have the parents' permission. the good news is that the baby N blanket is done (finished last night) and i will be travelling to NJ on saturday to present it and hopefully snap some pictures of it and the baby.

baby N blanket almost complete

due to the sun setting at around 7PM nowadays, i asked KP to take this picture just short of the blanket being done so that you could see just how big and stripey it is. personally, i LOVE this blanket. the mission falls cotton is so springy and soft and just perfect in this pattern. i just have to weave in the rest of the ends and give it a good wash before saturday. i'll move the project to the 2006 finished projects page once i have pictures.

so i was knitting like a madwoman all weekend! i wanted to finish the baby blanket so that i can get on to other things but it was too big to carry around with me. so on saturday, while i administrated the auditions for the second annual project playwright, i knit on the first angel sock and listened to my ipod. let me just say that i have found zen and it is the garter stitch short row heel using the misocrafty psso technique.

the zen of heels

it's brilliant, easy to do, and requires almost no thought whatsoever. i didn't even have any help from printouts at the auditions. i knit it entirely by memory. very zen. the psso method was super easy as well and there are no discernable holes in the heel.

no holes

i'm truly happy.

this is only the beginning of socks for me this month as i'm participating in socktoberfest! i'd like to get jamming on some knee highs soon (i have the perfect brooklyn handspun set aside for them) so i'm really going to work hard to get these finished as soon as possible.

i also knit on kyoto last night as well, but no progress shot. i'm not taking any more pictures of it till it's done and i'm wearing it, by jove!

and to top things off this morning here are a few things to note:

• lion brand is bringing back cotton ease! with new colors! huzzah! i see some some more baby blankets in my future.
• the october magknits is out. i love the minimalist sweater. sigh. if only i weren't pregnant.
• i'm just over 16 weeks preggers now. around week 20 we'll hopefully know the baby's sex!

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i've been too busy and too broken up to write about this.. i originally saw this story on digg.com a few weeks ago.

sony puts robot dog to sleep
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/ptech/02/02/goodbye.aibo.ap/index.html

so sad. i had such good times coveting aibo. i guess i'll never have one now. so much for the possibility of ever having a pet.

poor sad aibo

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this is really exciting! i never thought that when we started the spiders our "notoriety" would make it past our little circle in blogland but several of us were interviewed for a daily news article this week. without further ado...

http://www.nydailynews.com/city_life/tech/story/384869p-326491c.html

thanks goes out to dawn, the author, who was exceedingly kind and widdled down our three page answers into small coherent quotes.

real update to come later when i'm less tired... and have had some coffee.... and time to get images off of my camera.

OH AND... i came across this article from the knitting news blog this morning and it's too funny not to pass on:

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1685466.html

Female kidney turns lumberjack on to housework

"A Croatia lumberjack claims he started 'enjoying housework and knitting' after he was given a female kidney.."

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i've been following a lot of news surrounding knitting over the past year and there is one thing that i'd like to mention here. first off, before i do, if you like to follow all the cool and ingenius things that people are doing with knitting (charity events, classes, large sculptures shaped like bunnies, etc.) all you have to do is cruise on over to news.google.com and enter in "knitting" or you can subscribe to the knitting news blog.

ok, this is a note to all you journalists out there, if you use the phrase "this is not your grandma's knitting" or "knitting isn't for grandmas anymore" again, i'm afraid that you automatically qualify as an idiot, that you suck and have no originality whatsoever. it's been done.. a MILLION times, and quite frankly, all of us knitters are insulted by it. duh! knitting is for everyone, young and old. you only point out how close-minded YOU are when you say something like that. so go out there and write something ORIGINAL for christ's sake.

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i've started this new category for the new year. maybe because i read so many blogs or check so many news services, i feel the need to share with you all the interesting finds. to start things off..

time names battlestar galactica best show of 2005

"Most of you probably think this entry has got to be a joke. The rest of you have actually watched the show."

letterman restraining order denied by judge.. and thank god too! or else, where would this legal system of ours be? send this lady to the nuthouse pronto!

"He has access to me. He can actually come for me or send people. He has many accomplices. I know this sounds crazy. I was crazy to have listened to him in the beginning."

ooooookkkkkkkk. next!

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