i'm a little behind on everything right now. the move really shook up my world! after we were all in here, i managed to twist my ankle and then cut myself a huge gash in it too not but a couple of days later. the stress has been unimaginable between home life and keeping up with popknits. this week i plan on getting back on track though.
and to start it all off, i have an FO to finally show you!
frock camisole
here it is and you can get all the details on ravelry, of course. i'm feeling so-so about this one but we'll see how i feel next summer when i break it out again. it does look cute layered but i really feel the SWEATER need right now.
back
my main issue is, again, length. i wish i had made it longer!!! and if i had even half a ball left of this stuff in this color, i would totally pull out the cast-on and knit down. but i don't. so i just have to be happy with it the way that it is. i will not make this mistake ever again. i promise!
anyway, since i don't have much to show you for this update, i'm going to present you with a little peanut video. she's been all "BABY! BABY! BABY!" around here lately so i decided to get her a baby doll. she loves it.
first of all, thanks to all the moms that chimed in on my last post. in true toddler fashion, peanut popped through 2 new molars late last week and started eating again. i feel like she's always teething! i introduced sunflower seeds and have basically been feeding her anything that we have on hand. i realize that she likes sesame flavored things (she really enjoyed sesame peanut noodles leftover from chinese takeout and this salad dressing that had sesame oil in it too.) she even used a spoon to feed herself the other day! i got it on camera and will upload it to vimeo soon enough. hopefully things will get better as more of her teeth come in.
after lunch
i have no real knitting to show, sorry for all of you knitting folks in the audience. i am working on things but it's same old same old. i have to take pictures of flair but it's FREAKING hot here! i can barely look at it much less put it on.
since my freelance is coming to an end and i'm due to work on popknits exclusively until the launch, i decided to start a photo project for myself. i've joined the 365ers and posted my first photo today! you can keep up with me through my flickr account. friend me and i'll friend ya back.
365.001 - workin'
also, if you're interested, i'm tweeting on a fairly regular basis as well. if i'm not following you, please let me know you're on twitter and we'll follow each other.
ok, back to work so that i can be done by the july 4th holiday.
i could use some help from the mamas and papas out there. the peanut is proving to be a picky eater and i really thought that she would have lightened up about it now. there are only like 4 things on earth that she likes to eat and, with the way that she's going, it'll be 2 by week's end. just when i thought potatoes were ok, today she absolutely refused to put them in her mouth. i've tried a lot of tricks. she's not interested in a spoon or fork. she'll do finger foods. she likes most fruits, cheese, and bread. i'm trying to get more protein in her but she refuses things like boca burgers, beans, and tofu.
i could use some advice or recipes to try. remember that we're vegetarian and don't have any meat in the house (not even fish.) she's also not breastfeeding anymore which is another reason why i feel like protein is essential. please feel free to write or put suggestions in the comments. thanks!
without much prompting from us, camille stood up today and took her very first steps. 15 months exactly! thank god the camera was on hand for this. it's too cute to pass up.
you're going to see the pictures below and think "wow, she's all done with flair!" but no, sorry. i am not.
before blocking...
after blocking...
i knew this yarn would grow upon blocking (according to my swatch which could have lied but didn't, thankfully) so i knit to the length proscribed in the pattern and bound off. then i blocked to see if it would look good on me, and it didn't. 10 inches in length is not nearly enough for a tall woman like myself. it was way too cropped and made me look all stumpy. sadness. i thought i was done!
after a week of mulling it over, i decided that 1) the yarn was too beautiful to waste and 2) this is my first major knit since the birth of the peanut so i want to wear it all the time. therefore, cropped was not going to cut it. so i had to cut it. yes, you heard me. i tried to frog it but the fibers were too sticky to make that worthwhile. i threaded in a smaller size circular needle as a life line and cut off the bottom with some scissors.
what i ripped out
it was scary but worth it. i'm now going to knit on it to 12.5 inches and then do 1.5 inches of seed stitch. that is just the right amount of length for a girl of my height.
to distract from the negative progress on flair, here's a swiffer cover.
exciting, i know. it works great but is a little large once wet and washed. the one i'm knitting now is a smaller version of the one i found on ravelry. (here's the one that i really made.) i can share the information here if you like. just let me know. i love the fact that these things save me time and money. for really-o. it's so much easier to use one of these than my wet mop and bucket.
on saturday next, we all leave on vacation for a whole week! i'm so excited! we're going to the outer banks in north carolina with my side of the family, and staying at a house with a pool that's only a block away from the ocean. i'll be reading and knitting the whole time. i can't wait.
oh, and there was some interest in the peanut last time i posted. she's great. teething like mad (she has 4 teeth coming in at once, no joke.) and changing up her nap schedule to boot.
mmmmmm
we've been taking her out to the park as much as possible.
two seconds before i flipped out the screen
and she really loves looking at herself on the camera's screen.
after
here are two videos to top off this post! hopefully it'll be enough to tide you over till late next week. i've got freelance to get done before the popknits submission deadline on the 15th of june. if you're planning on submitting, don't forget!
this post is brought to you by grand theft auto 4 which arrived on our doorstep this afternoon. hallelujah!
thanks to everyone for your warm wishes and support for the launch of popknits. it's been a labor of love for some time now and i'm really excited and especially nervous to see it live online and getting pattern proposals already! haven't seen any sock proposals yet, hint hint, but you never know what's going to come in the door in june.
anyway, let's get back to blog business. i have a small amount of progress to report.
mmmm, i love this fabric
flair is coming along nicely. i had one hiccup and had to frog back a little but not much. i did end up putting short row bust shaping in...
and i think it was a good idea! it fits well and will be even better once it's blocked (everything's a little tight right now.) i'm feeling positive about it.
one leg done, the other started
the peanut pants are creeping along slowly. i was on leg island there for a while, but i feel a renewed energy to knit them. they seem HUGE right now but according to the swatch they will shrink considerably.
garter stitch cuff
i opted for an easy peasy garter stitch cuff. nothing big here.
in other crafty news, i hope to sew this weekend! i've been meaning to drag out my sewing machine for over a week now but it just hasn't happened yet. i got some great fabric for skirts at brooklyn general.
new fabric
and i also have one from the stash that i'm using (sorry no pic.) tonight, i'm casting on for elijah (ravelry) as well. there's a certain baby being born right now that will be lonely without it. hopefully i'll have some pics later this week.
here are a few peanut pics to end the post.. i love shots of her eating!
cheesy!
this is what she looks like after eating mac & cheese. the hair! yuck. i can never give her mac & cheese for lunch. it always has to be dinner so that she can be bathed afterward.
messy
i gave her lentils recently. she sorta liked them but they ended up everywhere. next time, they will be mashed.
books!
and she could spend hours looking at her books. it's one of her favorite activities!
so the bath puff was everything that i thought it would be. basically a complete failure.
bath puff
looks cute, right? it's already been trashed. i finished it on sunday night and tried to put it to use monday morning. soap refused to lather on it so i was glad that i hadn't thrown away my old puff. then 8 hours later, it was still frakkin' wet! ugh. dishcloth cotton is really only good for dishclothes. maybe this puff would have been good in some acrylic blend? i have no idea. i'm certainly not going to make another one.
to distract you from the utter failure of the puff, i bring you food and peanut.
potato dinner rolls
i saw this recipe for potato dinner rolls in the veganomicon and HAD to make them. they were so good! i'll definitely make them again but next time i'll wait until we have mashed potatoes on hand instead of cooking some up especially for them.
standing!
the peanut is pulling herself up on pretty much everything now. walking is not too far off in the future, methinks. i was loading the dishwasher yesterday (she loves the dishwasher and the refrigerator) and i caught her standing up using the open door as a prop. then she lifted up one of her legs and tried to crawl in! had to put a stop to that quick!
here are two videos that we've shot in the past two months or so. the first one is of the two of us. i pointed the camera at us but flipped out the screen so that she could see herself on camera. her reaction is priceless. the second one is of her crawling. she's pretty good at it now!
p.s. i'm almost through the raglan section of flair so i'll post something about it later this week, i think.
ok, i've got a spare 8 minutes before i need to get in the shower so i thought that i would throw this post up and be on with the day.
started two new projects last weekend. one i'm crazy about. the other i think that i was crazy to start.
first, the love:
the ming is lovely
started flair by knitandtonic wendy. full details on ravelry. the good things? the yarn. ming from artfibers is just luscious in every way possible. soft and shiny, and the colors are amazing! i'm enjoying knitting with it so far. the drape is going to be very serious so i decided not to do buttons/buttonholes. i'm going to do snaps instead. i have some large sew-on ones from joann.com and i'm going to back them with felt before putting them on. should work. we'll see.
sorry about the overexposure
looks good in seed stitch too! happy day.
the not-so-in-love:
cotton hell
a bath puff (ravelry). boring and hard on my hand. i can't believe that there are several people on ravelry who have made SEVERAL of these. i want to claw my eyes out and it's only the second row. i'm going to finish it though and move on. i need a bath puff. if it turns out to be a horrible bath puff, i'll chuck it and buy a new one for $3 at the pharmacy. no biggie.
i have good video of the peanut crawling but that will take me at least 15 minutes to upload. in the meantime, look who's trying to stand?! good lord.
wow, how is it already thursday? i swear that i meant to post monday, tuesday, and wednesday. i really don't know where those days went. they are a blur of baby toys, "the wire", and teething. the peanut is teething again. i saw her chewing on the side of the coffee table and i just knew we were in for trouble. incidentally, i'm very glad we bought this cheapo coffee table from ikea. just sayin'. her two top second teeth are coming down. they broke through her gums almost TWO MONTHS ago!
as you know, saturday was her birthday and we had a nice big party for her.
sarah, camille, and KP
we distracted her from all the people by putting her in a corner and giving her lots of books to play with.
most of our families and good friends were there to celebrate. it was a lot of fun!
thirsty nut
we sang happy birthday to her and she got a little freaked out but didn't cry. i was so proud! actually she barely shed a tear until someone she didn't know tried to pick her up. oh well. we're still working on that.
birthday cake
i wanted to show off two of the handmade gifts that she got. first, my aunt cyndy knit her a baby surprise jacket!
this jacket will be great in the spring
it's got a little 3/4 sleeve action going on it and will be a good little coat for the spring. she made it using berroco love it colors which is nice and squishy and stretchy. i really like the colors! i may have to get some of this yarn for myself.
so now what? hhmmm, good question. still working on the peanut pants. i'm through to the first leg so we're making progress there. i also started a bath puff (check out the pics at ravelry) which i hope to have done in the next day or so. i'm putting in a call to artfibers later today to see if they have more of some yarn that i have. i really didn't buy enough zodiac (which is now called zoe) so i'd like to purchase at least two more balls and get started on something.
man, i am waffling about starting a project for myself. i've been thinking about it for months now! what is my deal?
only two more days and the peanut will be ONE YEAR OLD! holy crap. we managed to make it through her whole first year without any fatalities. amazing. i'll have photos to post after this weekend. tomorrow we're heading upstate to my parents' place for some R&R before the big party on saturday. KP's hoping to golf with my parents and i'm hoping to get a little knitting done. we'll see. it's a whole new house to explore now that she's crawling.
mobile!
here she is in action. i can't stop her now! good thing i ordered a baby gate from amazon yesterday.
in honor of the peanut's big day, i made myself that skirt. the drafting turned out pretty good and i got to work last week on the actual sewing. had some problems with the zipper, of course. i guess you can't install a regular zipper like an invisible one like i thought i could. lesson learned.
skirt done!
here it is! it fits reasonably well and it's lined with the cotton sheeting that i used as a template. check out that blind hem stitch! i used this tutorial to figure it out. in the end, my zipper looks passable.
my zipper install
but here's what i'm going to do different for the next skirt.
install the zipper along the center of the seam. i used this video tutorial to install it and she had it placed to the side of the seam. well, it didn't turn out that great and i think that my stitching would be straighter if i placed it on center. if anyone has any tips, please pass them along.
i'm going to make the rise the same in the front and back. currently, my pattern has an extra .5" rise in the front and 1.5" rise in the back. this is what my measurements said to do but i think that i can cut it back to .5" on both the front and back and just use one pattern piece.
i'm going use this technique for hemming a curved hem. MY GOD i wish i had seen it before i tried the first time. my first hem was ATROCIOUS. so much so that i ended up hacking off the damn curve along the bottom. i made the hem straight and, while it doesn't look bad, i think that it would look better curved.
still gotta cut out a little more on the hips. man this patterner's got HIPS!
i'll make the next one a little shorter.
so all in all, a good experience and i like the outcome. now what? i think it's time to cast on for the second sock. this one's a little lonely.
in randomness, one of my favorite authors, arthur c. clarke, died this week. i distinctly remember reading childhood's end and rendezvous with rama as a teenager. ah, summer reading on our sun porch back in michigan! these two books really ignited a spark in me for great science-based fiction that has yet to die out. i really loved this article at wired about him. he was a truly great man and will be missed.
i don't know why i have so many problems starting a project. i can think of at least ten things that i'd like to cast-on for but then i get all nervous and think, "what if it doesn't work out? what if i wasted all that precious free time on it and it turns out to be crap." yes, i really do think that. lately, it HAS to be a sure thing. so i'm waffling. i really think that i should swatch and cast-on for flair but i hesitate. ugh.
in the meantime i've done some other crafty things. i'm working on a simple A-line skirt for myself. i've had this bonfit skirt patterner for years (i remember buying it at my old apartment so we're talking like SIX years now) and i've never used it until now. i think that i was a little intimidated by it seeing as my sewing skills are less than stellar, but i've got a little more confidence now and i gave it a shot.
my first drafting of the skirt (yes, i'm drafting on leftover christmas wrapping paper) didn't work out well in the hips. WAY too much hips. so i figured out how to cut them back and re-drafted the pattern. i'm working with some cotton sheeting that i bought at BG for my muslin, which i'm going to turn around and use as a lining when all is said and done.
fabric and zipper for my skirt
i also got this at BG. i saw those pink and red turtles and had to have it. should be cute when i'm done. so i'm thinking about installing this non-invisible (does that make it visible?) zipper as an invisible zipper. i know that i'll sort of see the zipper teeth in the seam but i don't care. will it work? i think so. i just ordered and received my zipper foot from sears the other day so i can get started tomorrow maybe.
i didn't want to be without something on the needles (and those miters? my god, i'm having trouble working on them. i think that i'll save them for our early summer trip to the NC outer banks.)
peanut knit pants
i'm making these knit pants for the peanut (ravelry) using the itchy fingers pattern i found through ravelry. i did all the measurements and the math and i think that we're on the right track. i even swatched! i took the swatch when i was done and threw it in with our regular wash and dried it. i'm glad i did this because there was a significant change in the gauge seeing as this is a cotton/linen blend yarn. so i have to count rows while doing these pants not go by inches.
under the hem
sorry this image is blurry but i wanted to show my waist mods. i did a turned hem instead of ribbing and i picked up all the stitches and knit them in except for this inch or so pictured here so that i can put in elastic. i'm waiting waiting waiting on a shipment from joanns. god, they are slow to ship.
that's what's going on here! oh yeah, and the peanut is crawling now and giving me all types of strokes and heart attacks as she does crazy stuff. i stopped her from killing herself at least three times today. but who cannot love this face?
i took a quick look at the calendar this morning and i'm reminded that a year ago this day i went on maternity leave from work. it seems like a lot more time has passed than a year! i can hardly believe that the peanut will be 1 year old in a few weeks! pretty amazing.
since i don't have a lot of crafting to show you today (i'm still working on my skirt and i've made some progress on the peanut pants), i thought that i would reminisce and give you a quick and certainly not-too-detailed account of my birth story which i never did elaborate on last year. it's in the extended entry. read it and weep (i always do) or not. i'll have crafty stuff in the next few days :)
i cast-on for the peanut's pants but it's nothing to show yet. i also washed and dried some fabric this week that i'm going to make a skirt out of. i've been reading up on pattern drafting and i hope to do all my measurements tonight and start on it tomorrow. so, since there's not much to show, i thought that i would pass on some randomness to give you something to do this friday.
first off, i ran across this article on wired on how to speed up your mac. i did pretty much everything that it suggested and i do see an improvement on my powerbook's performance so i'm passing it on to you.
and here are some videos (click through from RSS to see. i promise. it's only good stuff.)
about a week ago, i got this bug in my ear that told me that i should really finish KP's socks NOW so that i can just be done with them and move on. behold the beauty of knitting man-socks on size US5 needles.
ode to argyle socks
all the details are on ravelry. i made this pattern up but i have since seen similar ones in ravelry (just search for "socks diamond" and you'll see them) so there ya go.
diamonds
i placed them on the couch yesterday so that KP would see them when he got home. he immediately put them on and wore them all night. i suspect he's pleased! i really want to throw them in the wash though and hope some of the wonkiness comes out. let me tell you, near the end, i thought i was going to run out of yarn and have to join a new ball but thankfully i didn't. i realize now that i didn't because i totally forgot a whole row in one of the pattern repeats. whoops.
quickie mittens
i also whipped up a quick pair of mittens (ravelry) for the peanut using the SAME cashmerino i've used on every other peanut project since miss dashwood. i'm almost done with it! one more skein. i was hoping that if i made these mittens, spring would come. today it was 60 degrees. mission accomplished.
aside, do you realize that daylight saving time starts this weekend?! holy moses. where does the time go?
so, now what? the only thing i have on the needles is my miters (forgot about them, did ya) i knit on one last night and will continue tonight but i need something new. i've decided to knit a pair of pants for the peanut using this itchy fingers pattern i found (ravelry). it's a great "recipe" pattern and i already swatched for it. i'll be using knitpicks cotlin in nightfall (which i keep thinking is called "midnight".) i just threw the swatch into the wash and dryer with a bunch of clothes because that's what i'll do to the pants when they're done. we'll see what i get and then i'll fill in the numbers and cast on.
likes it!
here's a gratuitous peanut pic just for kicks. she's trying out the new stroller we got, which i love. by the way, she's crawling now!!!! just started this week. huzzah!
next up? i'm making a skirt. at least, i think that i am. i may be making it too complicated on myself by trying this pattern that i have, but we'll see. and knitting? not sure. flair? maybe. ugh, i have too many ideas of what to make and no sure-thing.
well, i'm all switched over to using flickr as my primary image source. thanks everyone for the encouragement! i mentioned it at spiders on friday (yes, i actually made it into the city for a fun night on the town!) and had the most baffling conversation with lisa and virginia about how they upload pictures for their blogs. it's convoluted to say the least! so i'm going to write up a quick tutorial this week on how to streamline the process if you use a mac.
i do have an FO to show! i love it. i think that i even managed to make the right size for my head despite my laziness to make the bigger version.
gretel complete!
all the stats are on ravelry, of course. i decided to make the "regular" size and not the slouchy size after i decided that i really don't like cables. first koolhaas and now this, really, i'm done with cables for a while. they are pretty but so darn tedious!
from the top
now, about this DB pure cashmere. i didn't think that it was any softer than the cashmerino. it's nice, yes, but not as nice at the cashmere that jess and lisa got at rhinebeck two years ago. the plies of DB pure cashmere were perfect for a cabley project though. they really make those cables POP!
showing off the handknits
the peanut and i got a chance to go out and show off our handknits yesterday. it wasn't particularly warm but it was sunny!
ok, now for a little video i've been holding on to (no, it's not a peanut video. i still have to upload those!) saw this a few weeks ago and couldn't stop laughing. i love improv everywhere! (click through from RSS feed for video).
my apologies. the peanut is going through another growth spurt, i think. i swear that she looks bigger today than she did yesterday! she's been sleeping really crappy lately. a lot of late night screaming. yesterday, i was so bleary eyed and exhausted that i literally passed out when she took her nap. people, i do not nap. at least, i don't do it well. 9 times out of 10 i lay down to nap and my mind is buzzing and i can't fall asleep. so yeah, i'm pretty tired. last night she awoke again around 1:45AM and i had to go in and flip her on her back and go back to bed while listening to her cry. she was ok, just a little freaked out. if i had stayed with her, she would have cried for longer. yikes, i'm tired!
in my tiredness haze, i'm thinking about abandoning my gleek.net gallery. good or bad idea? i'll leave it there but i'm thinking about using flickr now as my primary place for images. i figure that if flickr ever gets bought out and defunct, i can always go back to my gallery because i keep everything saved on my hard drive. thoughts? i really want to use the flickr community more and uploading to two destinations is getting tiresome.
so anyway, speaking of flickr, i uploaded some pics of the spiders annual eat, knit, and be merry party at marie's that we had last weekend. we did a one sock swap and i gave my nutkin to its recipient, katie.
katie shows off my nutkin i made for her
i also made that cute bag too but didn't get a pic of it. you can see it on katie's site. i LOVED knitting the nutkin. it's cabling without cables. brilliant no? here's another pic of it.
love that toe
i did a short row toe for the first time. it was very easy and wow, i love how this one is finished. a little 3-needle bind-off right where the toe meets the foot of the sock. cute cute.
we are some serious knitters
i love how everyone in this picture is knitting. believe it or not, this party was a blast as are all of the spiders parties!
mmmm, so happy
here is the lovely sock that nancy made for me!! (ravelry) I LOVE IT SO! i can't wait to cast on for the second one... and i think that everyone is just as happy with theirs!
hahaha, couldn't resist
couldn't resist a group shot! anyway, it was a successful swap and party. full set on flickr.
i've got some videos to show you and other things to talk about but it'll have to wait till next time!
when you have a baby, all you can think about sometimes is milestones. when will she smile? when will she eat solid food happily? crawl? walk? be potty-trained? with those milestones comes disruption, though, as we're finding out here at casa gleek. little peanut is going to crawl.. soon. she's obsessively getting on her stomach and thrusting her hips into the air. she's so obsessive about it that it's stopping her from sleeping well, and quite frankly, stopping everyone within two blocks of sleeping well! with age, the crying gets louder, unfortunately. so i'm a little worn out and i think that this post will be heavy on the pictures.
here, here are some happy peanut pics.
what's this?
happiness!
she loves those flowers sooooo much (thanks kate!) KP does a little puppet show with them and they make her giggle.
stop moving!
the eating part of lunchtime may not bring on the smiles, but funny faces from mom do.
in the box, yes, she still loves the box
cheerios make her happy too. especially the big yellow box.
standing!
and something that makes me happy: baby butt and legs.
know what else makes me happy? new things on the needles!
love yarn in little cakes
yep, i got busy on saturday night, winding up some yarn. then i cast on for gretel (ravelry)! finally something for myself. let's hope that it stays relatively cool outside so that i can wear it when i'm done with it.
and i also cast on for KP's second sock. he's not allowed to talk or ask about it again till it's done.
them's the rules. so i'm wrapping up this post so that i can watch project runway!
p.s. nutkin is pretty much done too. i just have to bind off the toe but i'm not going to do that until saturday when i present it to my secret pal. i'm SO nervous it's not going to fit. i've never knit for someone who has smaller feet than myself. i have confidence, but i'm not taking a chance by binding it off and weaving in the ends. i want her to love it and wear it!
i could use some advice from the mamas in my audience. i'm thinking about switching to cloth diapers and am wondering what's involved in making the switch. i think that this would be a good time to switch. without getting into the gory details, the peanut is pretty regular and not so messy. when she was small and just drinking breastmilk, that was a different story and would have been pretty gross all around. now i feel like we're putting too much waste into the landfills and we can cut back. i would probably still use a commercial overnite diaper at night but could go cloth during the day.
so what's involved? i have been watching glampyre make diapers for her baby. it seems labor intensive but look how colorful and fun! what would i need to get started? what's a typical laundry day like? do you do laundry everyday?
well, this entry is going to be a quickie. i'm thinking that 2008 is not starting off on such a great foot. the peanut is sick and miserable. this is her first time ever sick and, wow, she is not good at it. our boiler is on the fritz (yes, it was just installed two years ago.) it died around 6PM when i was trying to run a hot shower and steam the nut. of course, it died right before i was going to give her a bath. the whole rest of the night was downhill from there.
over the past two days, i've not changed out of my PJs (though i HAVE changed those) and i've only had two or three seconds to put together to stare out into space much less work on the new freelance i JUST got. yay. i'm hoping for longer peanut naps tomorrow. today she could only eke out three 45 minute naps. sad.
so instead of continuing to whine (i've heard enough "i'm sick and miserable" whining to last me a lifetime!) here's an FO, for ya.
happier, toastier times
pompoms make everything cute
it's the toasty topper (another cute shot.) i double-stranded cashmerino aran on size 8s for it. all the details are on ravelry. i even made a cute little pompom for the top (thanks kaitlyn!)
hopefully i'll be back soon with a better, happier update. i do have other things to talk about but no time.
ETA: heat and hot water have been restored to casa gleek. less than 24 hours! nice service. the starter was blown and the repairman had the part on him. little peanut is doing a bit better today so i'm hoping that some of the worst of it is behind us. be back after the weekend!
don't tell anyone.. but i'm knitting this sock for the spiders one-sock swap. no details as i don't really want to give away who it's for! all i can say is: koigu and nutkin (ravelry). i think that i've said too much already!
spiders one-sock swap (say that ten times fast)
so anyway, when i picked up the needles to cast-on for this project, KP cleared his throat and reminded me that i still had to knit him a companion sock to the first one i had completed. i think that i had to stop my head from spinning around and fire shooting from my eyes. after taking a good look at ravelry the other day, i realized that it's been 10 months since i've knit something for myself. at this rate, it may be a whole frackin' year until i do! no wonder the knitting mojo is so low. lovely virginia asked me if i would be casting on something for myself soon. god, i hope so! i'm hoping that this sock swap will give me an FO fast! like before the peanut turns one would be nice.
speaking of the nut, it's been a banner week here. i feel like whenever she gets her immunizations she gets smarter. some big milestone always occurs right after. this week, she spontaneously started clapping. before the nap, she had no idea what clapping was. after? she was clapping. amazing. i've been trying to get her to clap since she was 6 months old. really, it takes forever for the smallest thing with babies! i also introduced her to some new foods this week and... a FORK! my god, TOOLS!
look at that coordination!
now she no longer has to pick up the cold and wet cheese with her fingers (god forbid.) she loves it. i, of course, have to put the cheese on the fork for her, but she does put it in her mouth. she also, this week, started holding her own bottle. the first night she did it, she laughed like a crazy person after she was done. so proud she was. wow. by the way, this is so much more interesting than going to an office everyday. just sayin'.
and because i spend a lot of time on the internet, i'm introducing a new gleek.net feature.
p.s. i've decided to end all pretense of me using proper english. i generally do and i'm a pretty good speller as well, but my speech patterns are a helluva lot more conversational than the way that i write here on the blog. i'm changing that now. you may find that i sound a lot like dooce. thanks for the compliment. when i read her blog, i feel like i'm talking to my alter-speech ego. anyway, it's a new year! time to be more like myself.
i know that there are some readers (and lurkers) in brooklyn and i need some help. i need a pediatrician for the peanut. i've had some really bad luck with doctors lately so i REALLY need a recommendation. her first doctor who i loved moved to california. then the second doctor we saw left the practice. then the practice up and moved to brooklyn heights. so i found a new doctor but her bedside manner leaves a lot to be desired as does the office.. and they always make us wait 1.5 to 2 hours before seeing someone. i tried someone new today and they were even worse!! poor peanut. we waited over 1.5 hours to see the doctor, who wasn't very nice, and then she got shots and was very late for her nap. it's bad!! i really need a doctor that i can talk to about everything but i have no one!
so please, if you have a doctor you can recommend, please do. i'm at my wits end. (big thanks to sharon for already chiming in.. your doctor is pretty far away from me seeing as i don't have a car, but i may just have to take her there anyway!)
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.)
we've hit the 9 month mark here and i can hardly believe how fast time is flying. i was just looking at old pics of the peanut the other day. let's reminisce.
it's a good thing that i'm not doing any christmas knitting this year because i know that i would have no time in which to do it! it's already the 13th of december and i cringe at the thought of 2008 approaching and i've done little to no knitting in 2007. i was just looking at my ravelry and i'm surprised by how few projects are in there! i could have sworn that i knit more than that. it's an illusion in my mind, i guess.
i've started something new and i think that this time, it's going to take. poor KP. i think that i've started and frogged about 3,278,763 socks for him at this point. either i choose the wrong pattern or the wrong yarn or a combination of both. this time, though, i feel the mojo, but time is limited around here. i'm not getting much done. a round here and there.
creeping along
i'm calling them "ode to argyle" socks. just a simple diamond pattern i drew up on some graph paper. i did my very first tubular cast-on (via ysolda) for them! i hope to knit on these and finish them before the end of the year. KP has off between christmas and new year's and i want to knit knit knit during that time!
recently, i dressed up the peanut and i took pictures of her looking cute for christmas cards. we had one spill but otherwise she sat for them nicely. i wish i had a more professional camera and lighting setup. she kept moving and making everything all blurry. i eventually had to cave and use the flash. the final photo was very cute but here's an outtake.
goo!
i had to give her curious george in order to make her happy enough to sit for 5 minutes at a time! those babies. short attention spans.
her aunt cheryl gave her a walker for christmas and it is the hottest thing around here. she still hates being on her stomach so now that she knows how to roll in both directions, she just rolls onto her back whenever we put her on her tummy. my guess is she won't be crawling for quite some time. but she wants to be MOBILE! she wants to follow us around! this walker is great for it. our apartment is a bit small for it but what little mobility it gives her makes her happy.
mobile nut
in other news, if you read subwayknitter then you know that i'm hard at work over here geeking out (another reason why i don't have a lot of knitting time.) i'm updating her movabletype and templates.. giving her a NY subway feel. we're not going kitchy (and besides i happen to know that the MTA hates it when you parody the subway) but instead minimalist with a hint of subway. i think that you'll like it when it's done. i'll give my geek review of MT4 when all is said and done.
p.s. i already know that my new year's resolution is going to be to post once per week. let's hope that i can do that starting in 2008!
anyone who knows me knows that i really don't care for halloween. it's usually just an excuse for women to dress up all hoochie and pretend like they are always extroverts when they usually are not. that, and the last time i really got dressed up some biatch dumped water on me at a party and i nearly clawed her eyes out. that was close to ten years ago.
it's nice to have a baby now who i can get all costumed out! look what $15 at oldnavy can do for your happiness quota:
my dragon
she was just too darned cute i had to show her off.
mommy and peanut dragon
in other news, i finished two baby socks. woopee. so exciting i nearly died.
baby socks, under baby shoes
i've been so busy lately. you know how i was going to freelance for work after quitting for 4 to 6 weeks. guess what? i'm still freelancing! this is both good news and bad. good news is that i still get a paycheck and benefits. bad news is there's no time to blog after working and taking care of the peanut all day. i can barely shower (in fact, i'm now showering at night after she goes to bed.) any extra time i may have i've been knitting on the christening gown because i have a solid deadline there.
oh, and family who reads this? no christmas knitting this year. so sorry. i can't handle it.
i leave you with one more peanut pic and the news that i bought 10 skeins of DB pure cashmere on sale at webs. $8.50 a skein! (so much for staying away from rhinebeck so i wouldn't buy yarn.) it's lovely. i can't wait to photograph it and use it.
now you don't. bu-bye charade sock! it was nice knowing you.
taking a page from laura's book, i decided that these charade socks were just not going to work out. this has nothing to do with the pattern (the pattern actually rocks hardcore) but with my execution. man-sized socks on 2.5mm needles would take me FOREVER to knit and the 72 stitches that i cast on were just not enough. i had KP try them on last weekend and they were tight and damned if i'm going to rip and re-cast on more than 72 stitches. looking back on my progress it took me months to get where i am (or was before i ripped). so my plan is to find thicker sock yarn that i can knit on US4 needles and make faster man-sized socks. any suggestions? i have nothing in the stash except for this that might fit the bill.
so socktoberfest has started and i thought, hey, now that i don't have the charade socks maybe i should gather up my sock yarn leftovers and make baby socks for the peanut! i have quite a few leftovers...
a little leftovers can go a long way
and i think that i can whip them up during october. i really want to try and do it seeing as i failed so miserably at project spectrum. at least i've been mainly knitting from my stash! what little i've knit..
except for this.. (you knew there was an "except" coming, right?) but it does lie within the rules. we're getting the nut baptized in late november and i thought it might be nice to make her a christening gown. one that i can dye when said christening is done and turn into a sweater for the winter and a keepsake for all time. i bought some filatura di crosa 501 on elann.com for a steal and have been knitting this up.
me, a model?
hard to tell in this photo (the peanut is not a good model.. she cries whenever i put this on her!) but it's a top-down raglan-type sweater dress. i got the basic idea from the february sweater and the rest i'm making up as i go along. don't ask for a pattern. i have no idea what i'm doing.
and in regards to my miters, they are just sitting on my couch. i'm enjoying the fairly mindless stockinette of the christening gown while watching "heroes" on DVD. oh god, i'm in love with that show! it's a nice cross between "LOST" and "the 4400". i'm glad i'll have something to watch this fall since none of my shows are coming back till 2008. i was smart enough (amazingly) to start recording this season on the DVR while watching last season on DVD. i should be done by the next week, methinks.
oh, and i'm thinking about starting a project for myself once i get through the majority of this christening gown. i'm thinking flair in artfibers ming. mmmmm, can't wait!
yes mommy!
the peanut approves!
p.s. i'm making adjustments to the full text feed RSS. admittedly, it's changes that i've wanted to do for a while and i'm just now getting around to it. i put comments in the RSS feed about a year ago as an experiment and i think that my experiment is now complete. if i were answering more questions in the comments, it would be a "value-add" as we call it in the business, but it's not. i generally write people back via email or amend the entry if there were more questions to be answered. so, as of today, the comments have been pulled from the full text feed. it will only update when the entry has been updated. i will still occasionally break up a long entry and make you click-through for the full entry but otherwise, you'll get it all! i'm sure this will come as a great relief to many of you ;) no need to thank me.
well, i'm glad that i didn't miss it! my blog will be 4 years old on the 30th! sorry for all of the radio silence lately. now that i'm home and taking care of the nut i'm also freelancing for work on the side. between the two and doing little things for the production company, there's no time to blog. right now i have 20 minutes before i have to wake up the sleepy peanut and i doubt that i will even finish this entry in the time alloted. i always sit down to post an entry and something happens! i either lose track of my thoughts or we have some sort of meltdown here. it's a tough job this whole mothering business. thank god it's so rewarding.
hi. i'm the peanut. i'm obsessed with all things red and orange and i especially love the red thing on the wall. (click through from RSS feed for video.)
wouldn't you know that the first week back as mommy would be the hardest? she's changed so much over the past month i hardly recognized her! i don't know where she gets all of her energy but i could seriously use some of it. up until two nights ago, she was waking several times a night and i had a nervous breakdown over the weekend due to lack of sleep.
don't hate me because i don't sleep
then things changed drastically. i started cutting short her naps during the day now that i'm home and then she slept through the night! well, she did wake once or twice in the beginning of the night and she does always wake at 5AM (on the dot) but no more night feedings! i've slept well the past two nights in a row and it's been blissful.
aw mommy
we also started solids two weeks ago. started off with rice cereal then peaches and today we start avocado. yum. i enjoy making baby food. it's so easy! much easier than cooking real food which is something that i don't necessarily enjoy.
mmmmm
right now she gets her food pretty much everywhere except in her mouth but it's fun none the less.
baby driver
she's growing so fast and changing everyday. just look at that picture! she's already driving (and i've had that song stuck in my head since i wrote the caption.) you know that cute pink hat that i love so much? well, she's outgrown it already. boy that's sad. all the cute things seem to fit her for a hot minute and then she's done with them. i went through her dresser the other day and found clothes that she outgrew but never got to wear!
already sitting on her own
since she's soon to be hatless and fall's approaching, i decided to knit her miss dashwood. what a darling pattern! i loved the picot cast on but that bobble border was KILLER. p4tog? torture. i had to use a crochet hook. it's cute but damn, i don't think i want to do that ever again.
new pink hat
i made the 6 month to 1 year size. thankfully, it's big on her now but i bet it will fit like a charm in about a month when the weather gets cooler. now i just have to make the earflaps and chinstrap. i love the snaps on the pink hat so i'm going to do something similar on miss dashwood.
so yeah, i'm now home. a stay at home mama? a work at home mama? both, i think. we're getting back in the swing of things here. there's more knitting to come and coding from my couch on days when i can. let's hope that things keep progressing on a steady track. i hope to update the blog more too now, but please don't hold me to it! there's lots going on behind the scenes here!
well, i quit work. that's my good news. i just couldn't stand coming into the office everyday knowing that my baby was at home without me. it really sucked coming home every night and then having to put her to bed an hour later. she's just never in a good mood in the evenings anyway so that just made it worse. i would want to spend time with her but she'd be all irritable and then would spit-up and not be happy so i'd just have to give her her bath, feed her, and send her to bed. so sad. all of that combined with the fact that my company re-orged my department again and i don't have a career path here anymore. i think that it was a sign. my last day is a week from today. i'll be doing some freelance for them from home for 4 to 6 weeks but otherwise i'm done with the office. i'm happy to say that labor day weekend will be quite nice knowing that i don't have to commute again!
she loves looking at the sky
we took the peanut to prospect park this past weekend to meet up with the sassy family. the nut laid on the blanket and stared at the sky and trees and she played with her toys. i got her to laugh and giggle and, on the way home, she took a brief cat nap. it was a very nice day.
hanging with daddy
she turned 5 months yesterday and is celebrating in high baby fashion by not sleeping well, again. last night she was up every hour and wet her diaper so much that we had to change her at 4AM and she would not go back to sleep. i fed her again (had fed her at midnight) and she finally drifted off to sleep. unfortunately, my alarm went off at 6:50AM and i thought i was going to die. this morning i immediately ordered huggies overnite diapers. i'm hoping they work.
teething?
i think that she's waking constantly because 1) she's also teething. just check out that wooden ring she is always gnawing on. 2) i feed her so much before bed so that she'll sleep through the night and it just backfires on us because then she is full of more liquid that she can pee out. it's time for solids. i know we're ready.
i went to bed at 9:30PM last night. it's the earliest i've gone to bed in 3 months. it's a good thing i did due to all the wakings last night. i got in at least two good hours of sleep before she started up.
there's been little to no knitting around here. but with me quitting work, doing a little freelancing and taking care of the nut, i suspect i should be able to pick it back up again soon!
speaking of freelancing, i'll be redesigning my company website too before the end of the year with information about my skillset. keep me in mind for any blog related work!
the peanut is ailing and we're not sure what's wrong with her. she started running a fever on thursday (a low-grade fever) and it's still not back to normal. too bad it's so hot out here as i'm sure it's not making it any better. the worst part is that she was sleeping like a champ before the sick hit her, of course. now she's back to waking several times a night and we have to swaddle her with both arms in again. two steps forward, one step back.
with all of the bad sleeping and extra TLC for the nut, i'm not getting much else done around here. the apartment's a mess, i'm back at work tuesday through thursday, and every time i sit down i want to pass out. two nights ago i finished up another miter and it took a lot of concentration to make it through a row. i kept having to hard blink my eyes to keep them focused, and when i got to the end, i realized that i had two extra stitches. i can't tell you how many times this has happened to me. at least half the miters i've made are flubbed right at the end. i just p2tog on the wrong side to get rid of them. i have no idea where those extra stitches come from since i've made a concerted effort to PAY ATTENTION to my decreases.
in the absence of knitting there has been baking and general food making around here. tomatoes from the farmer's market are looking good! my mom says that she has tomatoes up the kazoo (yeah, kazoo.. hehehe. wazoo) and KP's are coming in on the fire escape. i'm concentrating on my sweet tooth though. the last trimester of my pregnancy amped up my sweet tooth big time and since i've been breast feeding and sleep deprived, it's even bigger than before. i suspect it'll go away when i wean the peanut but until then i try to stay away from chocolate and instead gravitate towards simpler things.
green tea and iced coffee.. great summer treats!
two weekends ago i made matcha green tea ice cream (modified this recipe at a vegan ice cream paradise) and after freezing it in our ice cream maker, i put it into plastic molds for single serve pops. yum! my mods were to add 2 tsp of matcha green tea (you should sift it in otherwise it clumps like mad, trust me) when heating the mix to dissolve the sugar and i added a generous squirt of flax oil once it was cool to keep it from freezing rock hard.
mmmmmm
then this weekend, KP got fresh blueberries and raspberries at the farmer's market and i made a veganized version of this recipe (via the pioneer woman cooks). i subbed in vegan margarine and vanilla unsweetened almond milk. if i make this again (and i totally would! it was DEEEEELICIOUS!) i would cut back on some of the sugar. it was a bit sweet.
anyway, i'm back at work tomorrow. hope monday is going well for you!
p.s. of course, where would this entry be without some video.. this one was taken by KP. she's on to me now, i think. she performs better for daddy. (click through from RSS feed for video! it's so cute and i swear i'm not biased.)
tomorrow i pass on the "rockin' girl blogger" torch!
so here i am, back at my desk at work. it feels very strange. strange indeed. it was emotional for me this morning to look at my peanut and say good-bye, see ya later! at least KP is home for the month of august to take care of her. then we need to figure out what we'll do.
again with the hat!
she must have known that i was going back to work today and needed the sleep because for the first time in over a month, she slept well. we put her down for bed at 7:30PM with one arm out of the swaddle and her new blankie and we didn't hear from her until 3AM. i actually woke up at 2:30AM and thought, "is she alive?" i had to go look at her on the video monitor to make sure she was still breathing! for the past month she had been waking up at 11PM, 12AM, 3AM, 4AM, 5AM, and then around 6:30AM. it was grueling doing that every night. i wanted to cry every morning when i realized that i got a total of 4 hours of sleep and not even in a row. maybe she's turned a corner? i hope it's not a fluke.
tummy time
we've been trying to give her as much activity time as she can handle every day and tummy time is my favorite. why are they so darn cute during tummy time? she's rolled over once on her own and i think that it surprised her because i started cheering so loudly. she hasn't done it since.
mommy and peanut
she's my girl and i already miss her! (before anyone comments on how i look, please know that i photoshopped myself heavily. today is the first time i've worn makeup in a long time. what you see in the photo is .. let's say it's a digital fib.)
more photos in this flickr set. and of course, it wouldn't be a peanut-related post without a little video.
ok, on to the knitting! i now have 10 miters complete. i know, big deal, right? 10 miters. but the good news is that i already wove in the ends on them. yep. i'm industrious.
miters on the couch
i keep them in a pile on the couch and just add to them as i go along. i start miter #11 tonight and when i'm done with #12 i'm going to decide how big to make this thing all together. i'm thinking 3 large miter blocks across and 4 large miter blocks in length for a total of 48 miters. i need to look at my colors and decide if that's the best approach.
and i'm making progress on my charade socks. i knit on them on the ride into work this morning. wow, i forgot how much knitting i can get done on the train! notice how they are sitting on my 25th anniversary VK? the "collector's edition" that the post office decided to mangle? yeah. i hate our post office. bunch of lazy bastards. the same lazy bastards that delivered my harry potter book at 5PM on the day of its release. man was i in a bad mood that day!
there are other pictures i need to post of the spiders' bbq but that'll have to wait. gotta get back in the swing of things here. ugh. so many changes in the five months i was gone!
it's hard to believe that in two and a half weeks i'll have to return to work. my maternity leave will be over *sob*. i'm so smitten with my peanut that i get very teary eyed just thinking about leaving her everyday. it's not something i like to talk about.
daddy and peanut, same expression
she's getting bigger everyday and hitting all of those milestones that are making her into a real human being.
sitting in the corner
she just started stretching her vocal cords recently. if your heart doesn't completely melt while watching this video then you must be made of stone :) (click through from RSS to see.. it's cute, i promise)
anyway, i'm uploading more videos to vimeo now. i'm so done with youtube. it's full of crap that teenagers put up there and then comment and say the stupidest things. not only that but the comments are full of spam too. who needs that? it's as bad as myspace now and i swore i would never get a myspace account (and i still haven't!) so why stick with youtube. vimeo is much better. you can find my videos here and they will always be in the sidebar as well.
i love this hat
so besides playing with the peanut and trying to extend her dreaded 45 minute naps (45 minute naps are the very worst. what's the point? you might as well stay awake!) i've been doing a little crafting. the mitered squares are still on the plate. i've finished 8 squares. i plan on knitting another 4 and then weaving in all the ends before continuing.
possible square
possibly?
these are only possible color combinations.. we'll see!
i tried starting a pair of charade socks and have only managed to knit a few rounds of ribbing. i'm just exhausted in the evenings! by the time the nut goes to bed, we eat dinner and then there's an hour of downtime before we turn in. i have a feeling that's going to get better though. the peanut is starting to play more independently now and her routine is getting more predictable.. and she's sleeping better (touch wood). so maybe i'll feel better about getting more done in the evenings.
in the meantime, it's all nut all the time while i enjoy our last few weeks together.
p.s. i got my hair cut. couldn't stand all that hair when it's so hot.. and it was falling out anyway.
things are very hectic at chez gleek these days. just when we think that we've figured things out around here, the peanut throws us for a loop and we're screaming for mercy. we had a blessed two weeks when she was technically sleeping through the night. only one feeding around 3AM and she'd sleep till around 6:30AM after that. it was blissful. then she went through her 3 month growth spurt and we're back to two feedings a night now and my body is aching with sleep deprivation. i was just getting used to getting 5 hours of sleep in a row. it was really nice! well, those days are a distant memory.
ew!
we're also finding that getting her to go to sleep is tough as well. i haven't resorted to feeding her to sleep since she was 5 weeks old but she definitely doesn't self-soothe herself to sleep yet. we have to rock/sway/bounce her until she passes out which thankfully isn't a long time but still too long in my opinion.
fun in the mirror
she doesn't suck her thumb or take a pacifier so i'm at a loss at to what to do for her. we swaddle her in a miracle blanket for every sleep period so she doesn't have access to her hands. i'm going to try switching to the aussie swaddle method this week and see if that doesn't help things. it's all a gamble.
mmmmm
but she's as cute as can be! each time she smiles at me or gurgles or follows me with her eyes, i know that i'm in love forever.
ok, enough about the nut. during the all-too-brief naptimes i'm able to get a few things done around here. i've managed to put blackout curtains in both the master bedroom and the nut's room. i bought the fabric on ebay and sewed them up myself rather than pay $50+ for each window which is ridiculous. no photos, sorry. they are very ordinary.
these are super simple and fun and, wow, actually stay on your head! i love them and want to make more but i already put away the sewing machine because the clutter was driving me bonkers.
from the front
from the back
in other sewing news, i want to draft my own skirt pattern and whip up a few skirts that fit my post-baby body. i DID have a few skirts that fit me well until the nut decided to spit-up all over them and now they can't be worn in public anymore. sigh. oh well. i got the sew what! skirts book and am reading it through now. just need to get some large paper (maybe i'll just use some of the crappy christmas wrapping paper from last year) and get going.
the miters are coming along too. i now have the pattern memorized so i knit them much faster.
pile o miters
and i started a pair of socks but i don't have a picture yet because it's a total of 5 rows. as you can see, the knitting is coming along but not too quickly. just slowly but surely.
now referring to the post title, in the times when i have time to write, code, or blog, i usually don't have my brain with me. i'm not sure where my brain goes during these times but it's surely not in my head. this moment here is brought to you by sunday and the hubby taking the peanut for a walk. i was very happy when he volunteered to take her out! but wouldn't you know it that the instant she disappeared out the door i missed her. of course!
by the way, less than a month and the new harry potter book is out and in my hot little hands! i can't wait! i've been reading the half-blood prince aloud to the peanut whenever i'm feeling a little too silent and i get excited with each passing page. i can't wait! (oops, already said that. where's my brain? don't know.)
ETA: i did some hard thinking about why the peanut wasn't falling asleep well and realized that maybe she's just not soothed enough when i put her down. in walks itunes and my trusty ipod with jbl soundstage and i've got lullabies going for in no time! what would i do without an internet connection? surely i would perish. she's been sleeping well since i got the music going. also, she's started taking a pacifier to sleep! i can't tell you how happy that makes me!
and for all the nursing mothers out there that have had to give up milk/dairy, almond milk is truly the nectar of the gods. if you're not allergic to nuts, i highly suggest you try it. i HATE soy milk and rather dislike rice milk because they have such horrid aftertastes, but almond milk is really yummy and creamy. tastes great in my coffee!
believe it or not, i have had time to knit but almost no time to blog. you see, i really need my faculties in order to write up a post. i can't just jump on and whip up a quickie to keep you all in the loop. that's not my style. so the blog has sat pretty useless these past few weeks and for that, i apologize.
a quick peanut update: she's sleeping much better these days. after my last blog post, she, of course, bucked all that good sleep in favor of late nights and early mornings but now we're back on track. she's only waking once each night for a feeding and sometimes will sleep as late as 7:30 (but usually she's up between 6:30 and 7:00 which is god awful early as far as i'm concerned.) i'm hoping that with time, she'll sleep later. she goes to bed around 9:00PM so the hubby and i have about an hour and a half each night to enjoy the peace. i usually spend it knitting or returning email.
her gastrointestinal issues are also getting better now that i know what bothers her. i can't eat dairy which sucks big time. i really miss my morning coffee and ice cream. i've also realized that i can't eat chickpeas which is a weird one but they really do give her bad gas. bummer. no hummus for me!
anyway, she's really turning into a full-fledged baby! she bats at things with her hands now and interacts more with her environment. it's pretty amazing.
here she is loving her new mobile.
wow! a mobile!
some rings...
practicing hand/eye coordination
the giggle ball...
this ball is silly!
and her gymini.
yawn
oops, she looks a little tired in that photo! more in the gallery.
ok, now onto knitting. i've decided to make a mitered square blanket (i can thank cara for this one.) i figured that each square is a small accomplishment in and of itself and gives me something to achieve that's reachable. i got a grab bag of tahki cotton classic on ebay and bought some elann sonata in white as well (these two yarns are almost identical.)
these are the colors i've chosen. originally i wasn't keen on the light purple but now i kind of like it so i'll go with it.
my first try with US6 needles was too loose which i find strange. i did knit kyoto last year on US6s with great results. i guess i'm becoming a more relaxed knitter! so these two squares will not be used in the final blanket. i also decided, after looking at these, that i will always use white as the stripes (color B) and the tahki color yarns as my background. should be fun!
here are the first two squares i've knit and am going to keep. the stitches are much tighter, as are the decreases. perfect. gonna move onto a new color now so that i don't get totally bored though i'm pretty sure i'm going to knit four squares with each color i have picked out.
KP's socks are hibernating. i started them before the peanut was born and now i don't like the pattern that i chose. i'm thinking, actually, about making charade in a man's size for him. whaddya think?
one more thing, ravlery is kicking ass. whenever i have a hand free while feeding the peanut, i'm on there surfing patterns, adding them to my queue. or looking at the yarn in my stash and seeing what other people are making with it. it's really addictive. i have to stop! especially since i have a secret project of my own that i was working on heavily before the peanut was born and now haven't touched in two months. crap. i've gotta get back on it so that i can have it live by the fall. please send good working vibes my way. i need them. i can't seem to concentrate.
things are going much better at the gleek homestead lately. in fact, i'm blogging while the peanut is napping. she now goes down for regular naps every three hours during the day! it's quite refreshing. and last night, she slept really well so i feel like a new person, a well rested one. i don't expect this feeling to last, of course, but i'm happy that today will be a day when i don't think about how tired i am. she's not napping in her crib yet... she sleeps in her bouncy chair almost all the time so that she can be somewhat upright. poor thing has acid reflux. hopefully that'll go away soon.
besides watching a lot of the 4400 while i'm feeding the peanut, i've been playing around in ravelry. i know that you've all heard about it so i won't begin to tell you how awesome it is. i'm looking forward to when it's open to the general public so that we can see what you're all making. how cool will that be? thanks goes to jess and casey for kicking major butt on this one. eventually, i'll have all of my projects in there and will ditch backpack for cataloging my knitting. backpack is still a great tool and i'll use it for other things, but ravelry is key to keeping everything straight now. i especially love the fact that i can favorite other people's projects or patterns. now i'll have lots of inspiration at my fingertips!
ok, it's a short post today because i have to upload photos and video from my camera for the next post (yes, i promise i'm going to start posting more often now that the peanut is on a schedule!) so that i can show you what little knitting i have done. in the meantime, here are a few videos i've uploaded to youtube! (click through from the RSS feed to see the videos.. still need to figure out how to get them in the feed.)
the peanut enjoys some time on the boppy video taken: april 21, 2007
more of the peanut on the boppy ... you can hear daddy in the background on this one. video taken: april 21, 2007
i wish that i had actual knitting to report on but no-go. the peanut has been very spicy lately. she's a lovely baby, really. she just seems to suffer from gastrointestinal ailments that make her cry pretty much non-stop so i hold her a lot. sometimes i get to return email but most of the time i just surf bloglines with my one free hand or read a book. i hope that she gets better in the coming weeks.
in the meantime, all i have for you is a couple of cute pictures of her. sorry i'm so lame.
mmm, knuckles
score!
i'm so cute
lisa and kaitlyn admire her
and there are a few more photos in the gallery. don't expect to hear much from me for the next few weeks unless the situation improves. thank god she was made so cute!
i wish i could say that the peanut is a fantastic sleeper and we're getting a good solid 8 hours every night but i think that would be too much to ask of a two week old. regardless, she's doing really well and so are we though we're a little sleep deprived at casa gleek. i've done very little knitting lately. the peanut needs to be held a lot so my arms and hands are somewhat occupied. i have been taking pictures and reading a lot though. there are plenty of feeding times when i have at least one hand free for those things!
to prove that she sleeps a lot (be it in one or two hour intervals) here are a few photos.
asleep on KP
asleep on grandma
asleep on me
as that last picture suggests, we've been checking bloglines lately and i HAVE been reading your blogs but not necessarily commenting. it's not easy typing with one hand! but reading blogs gives me something to do while feeding her.
i also want to say thanks to everyone who commented on the last post and sent their congratulations. THANK YOU! seeing all of those emails come in was very nice. alas, i wish i had had the time to respond to you each individually! as you can probably understand, i've been too busy being a mom these past two weeks.
by the way, i'm posting guest passes here to my flickr albums of the peanut if you're so inclined to see them. these guest passes will expire after a while so see them while you can!
i should be back in action soon with some knitting, i promise. i've been collecting some tahki cotton classic to start a ripple afghan and i'm also formulating a top-down raglan in my head. fun!
camille june pajonas
7lbs, 12ozs.
21 inches long.
born on march 22nd, 2007 at 3:00PM
what's out there?!
went into the hospital to be induced on tuesday, march 20th at 5PM but she wasn't born until march 22nd, at 3PM (you do the math.) yes, it was tough and i met almost the entire maternity ward staff over the 5 or so shift changes at the hospital. i have to say, it was all worth it.
yep, the peanut is still in utero and it looks like she'll stay there for a bit. my due date is thursday and i have a doctor's appointment then to see how i'm doing. if i'm not progressing, i'll be induced the following wednesday. we'll see! i haven't had one contraction yet! not even braxton hicks. i'm beginning to doubt their existence. regardless, she's coming out somehow and hopefully it'll be soon.
i am glad to report that i am no longer sick! my stuffy nose broke on friday night and now it's just the regular intermittent stuffiness associated with my chronic rhinitis. nothing i can't handle. i am also entirely happy to tell you that i'm on maternity leave! my last day was friday and i think that i might have slightly pissed off my coworkers by looking so happy to go all that afternoon. it felt great to leave my "out of office" assistant on outlook and a temporary greeting on my voicemail that won't expire until august. i've got a great summer ahead of me with the peanut.
i have also been knitting, of course. i'm on a major sock kick right now (possibly inspired by sandra but definitely inspired by the sheer portability of socks) and finished the first monkey sock yesterday while watching law and order repeats on TNT.
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!!
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!
here's the quick and dirty update about everything that's going on.
my hands are swollen and they hurt like hell. it's even tough just typing this much less programming all day long or knitting. so everything that i love doing has really slowed down. i can barely wear my rings and i'm not sleeping well at night. we're at week 37 though, so not much more to go!
my parents came this past weekend and brought the crib, a rocking chair, and some hand-me-down clothes and stuffed animals. they took away a bunch of stuff too so now the apartment is actually starting to feel more spacious. i spent all day on monday breaking down boxes, getting recycling together, and cleaning the place up. i finally feel more in control of things.
now, on to the fun stuff! there'll now be a lot of pictures and not as much text so be sure to check out the extended entry for more.
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:
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.
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!
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.
why is it that time is flying so much faster as i'm getting older? the other day on the F train back home from work, i was sitting and staring into space because i had finished my book and was too tired to knit. it's these occasions where i notice the people around me and have my "new york moments". for example, i was eavesdropping on this trio of youngsters, a couple (boy and girl) and their guy friend. the girl says, "i just turned 15! i can't believe YOU'RE 17. god, that's soooooo OLD!"
*silence*
really, i nearly burst out laughing but stopped myself because that would have indicated that i was indeed eavesdropping. the inanity of that statement left me speechless. i don't feel old and yet i'm twice her age! kids. geeeeez. i can't believe that i'm going to have a baby that in a few years time is going to think that i'm OLD and so uncool. it makes me laugh.
so january is almost over and i'm almost at 34 weeks (with a due date of march 15th) and time is flying. just to keep you up-to-date and all, here's a quick state of the knitting recap.
almost done!
the EZ february sweater will be done before february! amazing. it was so quick and took just over 1 ball of cashsoft DK (it was exactly one ball for the body and then some for the sleeves.) here the sleeves are blocking and tonight i will seam them up and weave in the ends. if i'm lucky, maybe i'll sew the cutie-patootie buttons on that i bought at the point on friday.
getting closer...
the 3-hole shawl is chugging along, of course. i'm just about to start the repeat where i put in the 3rd and final hole. then it's 7 repeats of the pattern, the garter stitch border, bind-off, and block.
the pirates hat is blocked and it looks ok to me but definitely will not fit my dad. it fits me nicely and fits KP very snuggly which means it definitely won't fit my dad as my dad's head is bigger. on to plan B which is a hat and mitten set made out of the lovely chocolate brown debbie bliss merino aran that i have left over from this project. i plan on casting-on for mom's mittens later this week. let's hope that i get both parent projects done before the end of february.
over the next few weeks, i'll be updating you on the state of our apartment as well. i'm a big fan of apartment therapy and have decided to take on revamping our apartment in anticipation of the peanut's arrival (don't freak.. we've been working on it for weeks and i just decided it was probably a good idea to take pictures and document it. i'm not tearing down any walls or anything. just switching out furniture, moving it around and making room.) stay tuned for before and after photos and what i've bought on my budget to get everything in order.
on a blog related note, mint 2.0 came out yesterday and i immediately installed the upgrade and screwed a bunch of things up as i usually do. i think that everything is back in working order now but you may have seen a lot of RSS updates and corrupted feeds over the last day or so. my apologies. we should be golden now.
i was feeling a little bored with my knitting projects so i decided to get started on the elizabeth zimmermann february sweater from knitter's almanac this past week. what a sweet little sweater! and EZ's instructions are so basic that i felt like i could interpret them in any way i wanted to.
after making it through the yoke of the sweater, i decided that i would divide for the sleeves and knit the rest of the body first before going back and knitting the sleeves. this is what i've done on several other top-down projects and it feels the most natural way to me. i will still knit the sleeves flat and seam them up though. it seems like too much work to knit them in the round (or maybe i'm mistaken??) the gull stitch pattern of the body is nice though i still can't seem to memorize it. my mind is thoroughly gone.
to illustrate, i was in a meeting yesterday at work where i was unable to complete my sentences. i would get near the end of a sentence and completely blank. thankfully, two other women in the room have had babies and totally understand. i still felt like an idiot though. i had to leave early, go home, and nap till 7PM because i was just too exhausted to be useful. this third trimester is kicking my butt.
anyway, after my long nap and some falafel, i knit on the pirate hat last night and finished up the lining!
i had to stripe in a big swath of white because i was running out of black yarn but i did end in black so that when i stitch down the lining it won't show through. i'm still very hesitant about liking this hat. i have a bad feeling it is not going to fit my dad. i don't think that i got gauge (i'm too chicken to check) and, though i'm sure blocking will even out the stitches, i don't think it's going to add anything to the size. if it doesn't fit, i know someone i can give the hat and mitten set to who will appreciate it, but then what of my knitting for dad? i'm going to have to come up with plan B me thinks. i will be stitching down the lining and blocking this sucker tonight to find out.
the 3-hole shawl is back in business this week. i received my 2 extra balls of noro in the different dyelot and they look exactly the same as the others so i've started knitting on it again. i'm two repeats away from the third hole! then it's only 7 more repeats to the end. i have a feeling it'll be done by mid-february then i just have to figure out how to block the darn thing. it's HUGE! i'm finally going to have to invest in a plastic tub for knit blocking and i believe this one will be blocked on the bed. it's definitely too big for my blocking board. i have to say that i love it, though. LOVE IT! it's like a big blanket and every time i pick it up to knit on it it makes me happy. i need more projects like this.
i'm contemplating starting on something for me once i'm done with the 3-hole shawl. i'm thinking about doing a top-down short sleeve raglan with the yarn i bought at artfibers in san francisco (the yarn on the left, zodiac). something for the spring when i get my body back. once i'm done with the february sweater, i'm going to start on a 3-for combination knit for the peanut: a hat, some mittens, and some booties all from the brooklyn handspun i bought a while back.
by the way, there's also a lot of good inspiration in the spring interweave knits coming in late february! i see a couple of things i would be interested in making with yarn from the stash!
p.s. thank you to everyone who dropped by (and de-lurked!!) to wish me a happy birthday! you're all the sweetest and bestest of internet buddies. i wish i had the energy to get back to each and every one of you and if i didn't, please accept my apologies! it's not only been very busy around here getting ready for the peanut, but i've also been low on energy. know that your birthday wishes mean a lot to me!
not that i didn't feel pregnant last week or the week before, it's just that after a whole weekend of working on the apartment, i'm starting to feel tired to my bones. that and i'm not sleeping well. i got up this morning before the sun was even up so that i could make it to an early dentist appointment. and the dentist? not fun while pregnant either. it's just one of those things that they don't tell you about until you're in the chair and scraping away. trust me, you don't want to know the details.
thankfully it was a three day weekend for me so even though i spent saturday and sunday cleaning, reorganizing, and plugging up every last little hole into my apartment with triple expanding foam and steel wool (ah, NYC.. anyone who tells you that they naturally do not have a mouse problem is a big fat stinking' liar) i got a chance to camp it on the couch most of yesterday.
but before i got to do that, i did get to give bedtime bear a little scrub.
scrub a dub dub
more soap please!
what you see there is after TWO soakings and one scrubbing. the second scrubbing was the most successful. then he was thrown into the wash and the dryer and came out looking brand spankin' new. don't even ask how he got so filthy in the first place. he was well loved by KP and now he will keep the peanut company and will hopefully teach her that bedtime is good.
in response to all of the questions about the baby knits from the last post, all of those were made by family members for me when i was a baby and my parents stowed them away. i didn't even know that they kept them! it was a nice surprise. every one of them will be cared for put to good use. no, sorry, they are not for sale, but i'm sure that if i love one over the other, i may come up with a pattern for it. we'll see. everyone seems to love the poncho!
on my day off yesterday, i spent some quality time watching 24 saved from the previous evening while knitting on the 3-hole shawl. i redid the math and determined that i need at least two more balls of noro silk garden, putting this project at a whopping 13 balls needed. i ordered some from ebay (this is well within the guidelines of knit from your stash 2007, by the way) but the lot is different so i'm holding off working on it anymore until the new yarn arrives. i want to see if there's a real difference or not, and if so, i'll want to work it into the current panel.
the pirates hat also got some time yesterday and i'm about 6 rows from completing all the colorwork.
but i wanted to make good on my 2007 goal of "sewing more" so i decided to whip up a sewing machine cozy. this was a quick and dirty project which i totally made up as i went along using some stash fabric i had lying around. since my sewing machine does not have a permanent home (no room for it) it tends to get all dusty hanging out in the corner or on a shelf so this cozy was needed..
my scandalously naked sewing machine
much better!
the little bag off to the right is for the pedal and power cords (ignore my gatorade on the left.. love that fruit punch!) i even managed to put a slit in the top where i can grab the handle to get it off the shelf.
and here it is, sitting in its new home on the newly reorganized shelf with all of my craft books.
it's nice to have it accessible now with all of my craft books which were also hidden away in the corner until the major reorg of the apartment started happening last weekend. things are looking up! but damn am i tired! only a few more weekends of this sort of work to go before everything is ready for the peanut's arrival.
to come? a new desk, changing table/dresser, storage unit from ikea, new table and chairs from ikea, other assorted storage goodies from ikea, a crib and rocking chair from my parents, stuff from my registry, etc etc. wow, there's still a lot more to do and cram into the apartment!
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!
