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.

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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!

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yep, i'm 31 today. boy am i glad that i had that big blowout party last year for my 30th birthday! being pregnant sort of puts a damper on a good celebration (what's a celebration without prosecco anyway?) but today is guaranteed to be better than most lately. first of all, i'm happy to report that i only got up last night to pee twice (my usual is three) and even then, i managed to make it all the way to 3AM before i headed to the bathroom (usually my first trip is around 1:30AM). this means that i actually got a decent amount of sleep last night and i feel like a real human being! amazing.

also, my wonderful husband, KP, has treated me to a 75 minute massage at bliss tonight... the "great expectations" massage especially for pregnant women. i can't wait. now i just need to get through the day!

by the way, i thought that you might want to see bedtime bear all cleaned up. here he is hanging with his buddies, croc and curious george, in peanut's room.

see? he's clean. so clean. that last trip through the wash really did wonders.

now, onto my fair isle affair. so i've finished with all of the colorwork for the pirates hat.

outside is done!

and i have to say, i'm not sure if i like fair isle. i know, scandalous, right? it's just that it got boring because it's so slow! that, and when i made it to the decreases at the top, everything started to become really wonky and generally frustrating. maybe it's this pattern? i'm not sure, but floating the white across all that black WITH decreases was a 1) a pain in the neck and 2) not very pretty. i'm hoping that blocking will make it look better. if not, i might be done with colorwork on hats for some time. i'm still going to make the pirate mittens (which i've realized that i have to adjust to make man sized.)

another thing, i HATE the provisional cast on that i used. it took me over an hour to get those stitches off the cast on and on to the needles. i used the crochet cast on as demonstrated here in eunny's lace tutorial (Invisible Crochet Cast On I) but for some reason, when i pulled on the end with the knot (as she directed) the stitches did not just pop off the crochet chain. so i went at it from the other end and had to pick the waste yarn out of every stitch. did i do something wrong? maybe i should have used a bigger gauge waste yarn. or maybe it was just difficult because the yarn was black and i couldn't see the stitches as they came out. anyway, it was really frustrating.

do me a favor, ok? as a birthday present to me, please let me know what provisional cast on you like and tell me that it's easy and there's a good explanation of it on the web or in a popular knitting book, ok? if you don't have one, then that's ok too. maybe someone can enlighten us all in the comments.

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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!

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

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

past the second repeat..

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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sorry for the week long blog absence. i really want to be good about posting while i can (before the peanut arrives and sucks away all my spare time!) but last week was incredibly busy as was this past weekend. the week that we all return to work after an extended vacation always seems hectic. yeah, i was at work between christmas and new year's but not many other people were so getting back in the swing of things was tough on tuesday and wednesday. then the rest of the week flew by in a big blur! i didn't get to do as much knitting as i had hoped but this weekend was full of progress at chez gleek.

without even a prompting from me, KP got going on house clearing and storage early on saturday morning. i was surprised and very grateful! we both worked on going through our massive library of books and sorted out the crap from keepable. about twenty books ended up on the curb (but they didn't stay there long thanks to the wonderful weather and abundant street traffic in the slope) and half of our collection ended up in the storage space in the basement. we ordered huge plastic storage containers last week for this very purpose. needless to say, it was very cleansing to me. i love a good purge of household items.

from there we cleaned and rearranged furniture in anticipation of moving items out of our second bedroom (formerly know as "the office") to make room for the peanut. i was exhausted by the end of the day but managed to knit a little and cut out some fabric.

on sunday, after a trip to babies "r" us with kaitlyn, i spent some time in front of the sewing machine and whipped up these two drawstring bags.

i got the formula for making these from jess. her instructions were quite clear up to the point of "sew the squares on the bottom of the long rectangle" at which point my pregnant brain completely checked out. for about an hour, i just couldn't figure it out! i tried pinning the square along the bottom but the darn things never matched up. i was beginning to get frustrated when i decided to go at them in reverse order and it worked! sorry this description is so vague but it's her pattern and i don't want to give away all the secrets in case she wants to make a tutorial. if she doesn't, maybe i'll do one. we'll see.

anyway, the bags are reversible. i picked some fabric for the insides and will still probably never turn them inside out.

inside out? maybe not

i really want to buy a fat quarter collection or two and make more! these were so easy once i got the hang of it.

in knitting news, i finally started some fair isle, though i'm beginning to wonder at the practicality of making winter items with the climate being all crazy lately. dude, it was close to 70 degrees here on saturday! beautiful but freaky.

aaarrrrr!!!

here be pirates!! my very first fair isle, and though it's a lot of work, it's fun and i am enjoying it. i've made it totally through the first repeat of the pattern and am now working on the second one. it's slow going but getting faster as i get used to knitting with two hands and keeping my floats loose. i can't wait to see it all done!

when i was just too tired to concentrate on the pirates hat (like after all that moving work on saturday), i worked on the 3-hole shawl which is now one more hole closer to done.

2 holes down, 1 to go

originally i bought one bag of silk garden (10 balls) on ebay to make this. then after working through the first 3 balls, i did some calculations and thought that i would need 11 balls so i bought one more ball on ebay. now, alas, i think that i'm going to need 12 to finish this sucker. either the yardage is just not consistent in silk garden or i've lost my brain and ability to do math. considering that i'm 30 weeks pregnant, i'm going to go with reason #2. looks like i'm going to have purchase another ball on ebay soon (which is the only place that i can find this particular colorway.) oh well, it's in the rules of KFYS2007 that i can do this, thankfully!

some of you are probably wondering about my stupid sock creatures. i hit a snafu last week with my first one being that i sorta sewed the tail on the wrong side of the body and it became not so much a tail anymore. use your imagination. it may be salvageable. we'll see. the second one is still in pieces because i need a lot of patience to sew such tiny things together. patience is something that i lack lately.

later this week, i hope to cast on for a knit for the peanut! i'm planning on making the baby sweater from elizabeth zimmerman's knitters almanac. see this lovely one that carrie made? i'm making mine with some RYC cashsoft DK. it looks like a quick knit so i hope it'll be done soon (look at me hoping for something to be done before i've even started it! i've clearly lost it) then it's on to more peanut knits! she is due on march 15th and i'd like her to be decked out in some of my handmade goods.

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