This weekend....

Don't forget that the SC Knitting Guild's Knit Inn will be held. It starts Friday night, and formally ends Saturday night (but informally usually Sunday morning). It is a good way to spend your time before Super Bowl festivities, or to do something nice for yourself to make up for being ignored by your significant other during the Super Bowl. I will be balancing cooking for Super Bowl parties and attending the Knit Inn.

Check out my new Dansko clogs. A little over half off at Mast General, and more top o' the foot space to show off cute knit socks. I know you are jealous. I really don't need to spend money on myself with the baby coming, but since I foresee in the near future not being able to tie my shoes, more slip on shoes cannot hurt. I will probably be living in Danskos and Crocs very soon. :)

I did not get much knitting done over the weekend, but I did order nursery furniture and install more shelving in the laundry room. I am so proud of myself for finally getting the shelving up and therefore being able to clean off the top of the dryer and the few huge things of detergent on the floor. DH finished painting the ceiling in the nursery; we still have to do touch up painting and then faux some clouds on the ceiling.

Yarn P0rn for this week:

I received the January STR club kit. I am excited by the color of this one. I just need to get going on knitting socks again. The pattern is called Serendipity and the colorway is called Dragon Dance in lightweight sock yarn.

And then I bought this Shui Bui sock yarn at The Needle Tree. I went there to buy some knitwear wash for my mom and to see what baby yarns they had. I ended up with this sock yarn. I just need to figure out what I will do with it. They say this yarn has been very popular. There is no name for the colorway, it is just called color #41301.

I am on a push to finish some projects. So I am still working on the Fleece Artist Cardigan on and off, and a charity hat. I hope to start on poor DH's socks again too. Definite SSS.

Don't forget....

To go vote today if you are voting in the Democrat Primary. You would vote at your regular precinct location, just like in the general elections.

As for me, I have a baby conference to go to today. Woohoo!

Irish Hiking Scarf - done!

Here it is, in pre-blocked condition. Not bad....

Pattern: Irish Hiking Scarf

Yarn: Natural Alaskan Alpaca, fingering weight, from an alpaca named "Cocoa" :) I knitted two strands together.

Source: I can't remember the farm's name, my Mom's coworker

Needle: Size 9, 16" bamboo circs

Sorry this post did not happen yesterday. DH ended up giving me those puppy dog eyes to go and help him at work. Which I have to go do again today.

I just think I need something more challenging. Repetitive cables are too boring for me. Or maybe it is the fact that it is just a straight garment, a scarf that never changes in dimension. What is with this crazy mind of mine? I am turned on by challenge...maybe too much for my own good. It is soon time to get off my mental butt and start designing my own patterns, in order to get some challenge in. I hope to do that as soon as I find out what sex my baby is, as I have some ideas in mind for baby patterns. I just want to test knit in suitable colors. I also think sometimes the hardest thing to do is to give yourself that push into the unknown. People who really know me know that I have done alot of different things in my life, because everytime I have fear of the unknown I push myself into doing whatever it is anyway. The pregnancy has me procrastinating more than usual...but now that I am in the second trimester and have slightly more energy, I can tackle more things again.


Oh, and I have sooo many other projects to clean up and finish!

Getting there....

I just bound off the Irish Hiking Scarf for my mom just this morning. I want to at least weave in the ends tonight before I post some pictures. I do need to wash it and block it, too, before I send it to her, since she is allergic to some natural oils and musky animal smells.

I FINALLY get to go to one of my knitting groups tonight. I have been missing so many of my groups due to classes and board meetings. It seems every organization here in Greenville tries to meet on Monday nights. It ends up being very annoying when you are trying to balance out commitments and schedules.

Between the storm fronts making me sick this weekend, and my laundry room retrofitting duties (new hoses, new vent ducts), not much other knitting was done this weekend. However, I did start looking for baby blanket patterns, and found this nontraditional one on knitty.com. If you have used KnitPicks Merino style, please let me know what you think of it. I want to use natural fibers for my baby blankets since they are more fire resistant than synthetics. Plus, the knitpicks would be inexpensive. And with the baby costs piling up, I am all about saving some benjamins!

Good Morning Greenville!

Here is what it looks like from my back porch this morning:

Time for a rude awakening. It is still raining, and it is an icy slush out on the roads. My husband will either get pissed when he realizes the new satellite dish is freaking out, or he will just pop in a DVD. I don't know, I give the chances 70-30. Of course, he is still sleeping. Why be awake when you don't have to go to work?

I am nearly done with my mom's Irish Hiking Scarf. Maybe then I will get around to finally posting a picture.

Wish me luck. I have to get to my training and massage appointments today (trying to keep my back in shape during the pregnancy). If I cancel, I have to pay anyway. So I might as well try. I will do okay as I have 4WD; I am just worried about everyone else driving too fast for the conditions.

So please, take it slow! :)

Oh, and something hilarious. I swear my baby belly has grown significantly in the last day. It is kind of funny. Because my DH said to me last night, "You are DEFINITELY pregnant." Then I looked in the mirror and was shocked! I was not this big when I looked in the mirror in the morning or the day before. What the heck?! It is amusing and scary at the same time, to see one's body go through changes so fast.

Squee! STR 2008!

In the back of my mind it was lurking...I have not heard anything from Blue Moon on paying for the 2008 Club. I was starting to wonder, because it feels like January is almost over already. But I checked my credit card online (Thank God for online banking, because it really has made my life sooo easy) and behold! The charge for the club posted yesterday. Yay! That means I am on my way. I just have to check to see if my friend has seen hers go through or not. I had to send in her registration while she was away on a cruise, so I am a little worried about whether she will be signed up or not.

It took me 9 days to recover from that hellish virus. I am calling it the mondo virus. It seems to wipe out everyone in its path except DH. Go figure. Anyway, since then I have been making a concious effort to Get Ready for Baby (GRB). Lots of reading and phone calls and baby registry junk and organization. And I know my poor husband is stressing out about his work projects. He gave me the puppy dog eyes this morning asking if I could come in and help out. I don't know what the heck to do sometimes. Of course he says he would rather have me organize the house, but the poor man seems to be so stressed. So I have to go in. I may not work for a salary anymore, but I can't get it all done as one think I should. I am going to have to make a conscious effort to work even more. But it is hard. Being pregnant makes one so tired. I spent the whole afternoon running errands (to conserve gas) and by the time I came home, all I could do was sit there with my feet up. It is too hard to try to work in the kitchen from a stool. It strains my back too much.

I hope all of my SC friends will go and vote in the primary this week (Revised to say: Jan 19if you are voting Republican. Jan 26th if you are voting Democratic. Sorry, I blame the TV news for dumbing it down for me and my forgetfulness.). I can't stand seeing on TV how 6 inches of snow in Michigan, and I think it was 30 degree weather, was keeping people home from voting. WTF?! I remember my parents voting in every election in Alaska, no matter what the weather was like. And I would think, that like Alaska, 6 inches of snow in Michigan would be considered a "routine" snowfall. No biggie, break out the shovel and ice scraper and get on with life. The snowplows are out so you should be able to catch the bus to the polling place. I mean, come on. People have no excuse. And before I hear excuses about those less fortunate, YES, I have been without the benefit of a car until I bought my own AFTER college (college paid for by ROTC scholarship and work money). And I struggled to pay it off in 4 years. Yes, I wanted a nicer car, but I bought what I could afford. I rode buses to almost all of my jobs in high school, or walked and took the bus to jobs and classes. I know what it is like to walk home alone at night, on top of 4 feet of snow in the dark cold next to a highway hoping you don't fall down into traffic. Or walk to 6 am ROTC workouts 5 days a week in all sorts of weather. And never did I complain about my situation. You just suck it up and deal. The only excuse would be if your shift schedule vs poll times made it impossible for you to go. So that is what I am saying about voting. It is a privilege not matter what the weather is. And if you don't think it is, just look at what that cutie Chavez is trying to pull in Venezuela. Well anyway, enough of politics. No matter who you vote for, just vote.

Sicky break....

I think I have the worst cold I have had in about a year. For a while there, I thought it might be strep throat. Normally, I am a pretty tough cookie. But when it comes to that strep throat test, I will still to this day pull my hands out from under my seat and yank the swab from my throat using the doctor's own hands (I sit on my hands to try to prevent this.). I am such a big baby about the whole gag reflex thing, but I can't help it. I guess it is better that I am a baby about that than the drawing of blood and receiving of shots. I can do that like a champ. Anyway, the Airborne is helping me beat this back, but it sure is taking a whole lot of doses (compared to my average cold).

I wanted to go to a knit group last night, and to meet some new people at a ravelry meet up today. But it was not meant to be. I hope I will meet some of you at the Knitting Guild Knit Inn, when I hope to be noncontagious.

So I am going to postpone my Stitches East class reviews for now, in exchange for bedtime. Also, I got some cool new glasses this week. So I am debating on changing my profile pic. I really should. But I will have to come up with some other silly look than Princess Leia buns.

Knitting Resolutions, Revisited

This is the time of year that we all post our knitting resolutions. I do need to visit my own, and to see what my progress is. I know I have done okay against some.

Last year's resolutions were:

1. Practice knitting continental by finishing more washcloths, then starting and completing an entire project in continental. (Started this last year, need to become even better.) --> Oooh, did not do the last part. Need to keep this one on the list.

2. Restart fair isle projects and finish them, with good gage. --> Uh, no.

3. Knit a pair of socks every month. --> This one fell apart sometime around April. Hey, it was worth a shot. I just fell so far behind by doing other projects, and I am not the fastest knitter. I think I will drop this one.

4. Learn to dye. (Already scheduled for a class on March 3rd to learn to dye my own self-striping sock yarn. Yee!) --> I did take a dying class, but did not feel I learned enough to just up and do it without having to do alot more research. So I will revisit this topic this year. It is a keeper.

5. Start learning to design own patterns. --> Yes, I did take design classes at Stitches East, and will start working on my own baby hat patterns soon. Now that I have a kid on the way, I can feel more motivated. Plus that dreaded first trimester energy slump seems to be waning.

6. Complete another Morehouse Farm Sweater kit (from Stash). --> Started but did not finish. Need to keep on the list.

7. Go to Maryland Sheep and Wool. (Hotel already booked!) --> Done. This one was too easy.
8. Learn to crochet. --> Started to learn from a friend but I did not stick with it. Too many other knitting obligations like the sock a month got in the way.

Now to establish this year's resolutions:

1. Design and publish two of my own patterns.

2. Complete another Morehouse Farm Sweater kit (from Stash).

3. Restart fair isle projects and finish them, with good gage.

4. Start and complete a project in continental. This should be combined with resolution #3.

5. Dye on my own.

6. Use of some of my insane sock yarn stash by knitting baby items.

7. Put more of my stash and projects on Ravelry. --> Such a huge undertaking. I am just trying to still hide the stash in what is left of the new nursery (my former sewing room). Yikes!

8. Knit and/or quilt two baby blankets. One for stroller and carseat, one full sized.

9. Avoid Christmas knitting requests. This year, I will just say no. The only knitted Christmas presents will be surprises.

That is not bad. I still need to do alot more growth and learning in my knitting. I will also be helping a friend to learn to knit, so that will be nice.

I also promise, just because I am having a baby, that I will not ignore my childless friends. I will also not be one of those mothers whose only possible topic of conversation is what my child's poop is like (color, consistency, odor). I can't handle that. I must keep up with current events. Oooh, and a warning...I will be dragging the tike to knitting groups, as soon as WE are able. That is, after we are both on a schedule with sufficient rest.

I also have to catch up on so much that I have left undone since Stitches East. I need to write up Stitches East Class Review. I will try to get it done this weekend. In the meantime, here is my one picture from Stitches East. Two gals on Ravelry, Booksherpa (on the right) and Sweetness (on the left). They were really fun to talk to. And in the middle is my travelling knitter buddy, Mary. She is the same friend I go to MDSW with.