Favorite FO of 2008

Aren't you surprise that The Bug was my favorite thing about this year? It's been quite a year for us - we found out in mid-January that we were pregnant, and now we have this beautiful 3 1/2 month old angel. She is the sweetest thing I've ever seen, and I can't believe how big she is already. I'm sure she'll keep us on our toes in 2009!

More gifts

A few more gifts for your viewing pleasure.

Pattern: Generic - 20 stitches (i think) 

Yarn: Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande - 1 skein

Needles: Sz 15 Clover bamboo 

Dates: ?

Mods: n/a

Thoughts: soft and squishy. A gift for Hubby's best friend's wife - her first knitted gift!

Pattern: Teddy Bear Hood from Kid's Knits for Heads Hands and Toes by Debbie Bliss

Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly DK - almost 1 skein

Needles: Sz 4 and 6 

Dates: December

Mods: no inner lining for ears. 

Thoughts: cute! 

Pattern: Football Hat from Itty Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson

Yarn: Berroco Comfort and Sirdar Snuggly (football)

Needles: Sz 7 Clover bamboo

Dates: December

Mods: color change

Thoughts: Looks super cute on - will have to make this again. 

These two hats were made for our neighbor's boys and she told me today that the football hat has gotten several compliments - yay!

I also made three pairs of slippers (from Knit 2 together), but I don't have pictures of them - hopefully soon!

I finished seaming hubby's sweater last night - it needs a good blocking and a zipper. I'm off to seam Salina for me - the knitting has been finished since August - I had no motivation to seam it while I was still pregnant and no time after The Bug was born. It is sweater weather now, so I want to finish it!

Christmas Knits

Well, I didn't make it, of course. I did wrap up hubby's sweater (I had all the pieces done) and told him that some assembly was required for it. I'm almost done seaming it now - hopefully will finish tonight. I also wrapped his two single socks that were finished and I'm hoping to finish the second socks this week. 

I did finish The Bug's outfit - weeks before Christmas, thankfully.

Pattern: #32 from Katia Bebe No 10

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool

Needles: Sz 8 Clover Bamboo

Dates: ?

Mods: Added buttonhole on straps, eliminated bias tape at bottom and fake pockets

Thoughts: Very cute!

Pattern: #31 from Katia Bebe No 10

Yarn: Filtes King Colors Baby 2 skeins

Needles: 3 mm Addi Turbos

Dates: ?

Mods: none

Thoughts: Looks teeny, but fit her fine. Very soft yarn, quick and easy knit

Pattern: Reindeer Booties from Family Circle Easy Knitting Holiday 2004

Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly - .25 skeins

Needles: US 4 Susan Bates

Mods: no nostrils

Thoughts: Cute! Though I forgot to put them on her Christmas day. Gah.

 
Pattern: Snowman Hat from Itty Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson

Yarn: Berroco Comfort DK (white and orange), Lion Brand Microspun (black and red)

Needles: US 7 Clover Bamboo

Dates: ?

Mods: Duplicate stitched on the eyes

Thoughts: Cute! Little tight around the noggin due to the hem. 

There are more gift knits to share coming up soon!

Merry Christmas!

I'm not going to make it

I knew it was a little crazy to think I could get everything done. But I've done it in the past. I knew I had a baby - that's why I had a short list this year. But still, not going to happen. I have finished all of the gifts for anyone who is not my husband though, so that has to count for something. And he doesn't mind getting things on the 27th, or the 27th of December 2009. I might squeeze out the sweater and maybe the 1/2 sock left of one of the pairs. And one of the other socks is done, so I'll wrap it up and finish the pair this weekend. Again, my xmas sweater is not finished (the same one I had hoped to finish for last year). Perhaps it will be a priority in January. And it looks like  The Bug will not have a stocking this year, much to my dismay. Ah well, she's too little to know, and I have nothing for her stocking anyway. 

A sleeve cap, seaming, a zipper (agh!) and half a sock. I can do it. Right?

Winner! And Christmas Knitting!

Congrats to cthulhulovesme - winner of the sock contest. Email me your snail mail address and I'll get your goodies in the mail!

I still have finished knits to blog about, but I'm taking a break to talk about my Christmas knitting, 'cause let's face it, if I don't do it now, it'll be January that I'm showing you this stuff. Actually, I can't even show it to you today, since I haven't taken any pictures yet.....anyway...

I've got several things finished that I can't show you (nosy blog readers, ya know!), but there are a few we can talk about. 

Our lovely new neighbors moved down from Chicago last winter, and have two boys - I'm knitting the football hat from Itty Bitty Hats and the Teddy Bear Hood from Kid's Knits for Heads Hands and Toes - they'll both have bears hats! :) 

And I've got this nutzo idea that I can finish two pairs of socks and a sweater for hubby in less than two weeks. One pair of socks has 1 1/2 socks complete and one only has 1/2 sock done. The sweater has the back, two fronts and 1/2 a sleeve done - I think it's doable! 

And then there's my Bristow sweater that I would love to have done to wear on Christmas - we'll see.....

And they're not gifts, but I'm finishing up the Snowman hat from Itty Bitty hats for The Bug (bambino) and some Reindeer booties. I have her Christmas dress and sweater done, I'll show those next time.

And I've matched socks to patterns, and I'll talk more about them soon (hopefully). Off to knit!

Project Ideas and a contest!

I've got more FOs to post, but tonight I need your thoughts. I really, really, really want to do the whole knit a sweater a month for a year, but that's probably just a smidge unrealistic since I have a baby who might demand some attention. I may however, still try, 'cause I'm nothing if not a follower and I have the yarn for at least 40 sweaters in my stash. Yikes. 

But, to "console" myself, I'm going to take on two other projects. For the first project I'll be pulling single balls (or two) of yarn out of the stash, matching it with projects, and bagging up 12 projects, (one for each month) to open the first of the month and knit up. I have the yarns and projects chosen for this venture. 

The second nutzo project will be 12 months of socks. I'm narrowing down my list of sock yarn, but I have too many projects in my ravelry queue to choose. So I need your input.  The yarns I'm considering are listed below. Choose one yarn and pick a sock pattern to go with it. Leave your suggestions in the comments and I'll randomly choose a winner. And no plain old socks - I knit plenty of those. I want patterns, people! Contest closes at midnight CST Friday night. Thanks for your help!

Yarns: 

Socks that Rock Lightweight - varigated

Chewy Spaghetti - varigated

Cider Moon Icicle - varigated

Colinette Jitterbug - solid

Fleece Artist - varigated

Hazel Knits - solid

Knitterly Things Vesper - striping

Koigu - varigated

Madelinetosh - solid

Malabrigo sock - solid

ShibuiKnits - solid

Wollmeise - varigated

Yartini - varigated/striping

Zen Yarn Garden - varigated

Lots 'o knits

I'm sick of feeling like I have 10 tons of unblogged FOs to show you, and I miss blogging in "real time" so I'm going to play super catch up. Hold on....

Leftovers Hat

Pattern: Simple Baby Cap #2 from Itty Bitty Hats

Yarn: Sublime Organic Cotton

Needles US 7

Mods: Made it shorter (5") before crown decreases as all of bambino's hats are too tall and fall down in her eyes, which makes her scream.

Thoughts: Love it. Super soft, fits great, cute!
Pattern: Upside Down Daisy Hat from Itty Bitty Hats

Yarn: Rowan Handknit Cotton

Needles US 7

Mods: none

Thoughts: This is the largest size (for a shop sample) and I think the petals would look better if they were bigger. 

Pattern: Bessie from Pick Up Sticks

Yarn: Lamb's Pride (white), Paton's Classic Merino (black)

Needles: US 10.5

Mods: none

Thoughts: This is super cute, and knit up super fast, even with the intarsia and the seaming. I knit it in two nights watching the Olympics back in August. Love it. 

Pattern: Jive Turkey Baby Hat

Yarn: Sirdar Snuggly DK (brown), Berroco Comfort DK (white)

Needles: US 7

Mods: Knit with dk weight to size it down for bambino

Thoughts: Very Cute! Everyone loved it, so it was worth the knitting for something she barely wore. 

Pattern: Baby Kimono from Summer 2005 Interweave (the very first knitting magazine I ever bought!)

Yarn: Mirasol Yarns Samp'a 3.1 skeins

Needles: US 5

Mods: none

Thoughts: Love this. This is the knit bambino is wearing most these days. Goes with everything, fits great, love the sheepy ribbon. Apologies for the tiny picture again. Will be knitting this again for future babies. Garter stitch, yum.....

There are a few more FOs to catch up on, and then actual knitting content, that I'm knitting right now! Shocking!

Turkey Lurkey Dee

Things I'm thankful for this year:

1. Cute babies

2, Silly hats

3. Cute babies in silly hats

4. Knitting silly hats

5. Having a husband who sees a silly hat on ravelry, and says "You have to make that!"

Happy Thanksgiving from a bunch of turkeys!

Stopping by the Woods

My last pattern for the Yarns Ewenique Sock Club, Ewenique Feet, comes out today.

Pattern: Stopping by the Woods

Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot

Needles: 2.75mm

Dates: Last winter-November 22, 2008

The design features a row of candy canes at the top, then snow falling on pine trees. The foot is plain.

The sock also features a picot edge and an eye of partridge heel flap. 

I really like this pattern, though the red yarn was a PITA to photograph. It will be available here and in my Ravelry store next year. 

Second Sock Syndrome Slayed (for now)

Apologies first of all, for the tiny pictures. I tried to steal them from my flickr account, and they turned out tiny. I buckled down before bambino arrived and finished up two long-suffering pairs of socks.

Pattern: Embossed Leaves by Mona Schmidt (who is my baby twin, almost!) from Interweave Winter 2005 and Favorite Socks

Yarn: Sweet Georgia in Life Aquatic (I hoarded this yarn for a long time)

Needles: 2.75mm Chiagoo DPNs

Dates: September 2007 (cast on itis land)-August 2008. But each sock was knit super fast when I worked on them

Mods: Regular ribbing at the top, slip stitch heel

Thoughts: Love them. Can't wait to wear them! The yarn is fab - very soft and so pretty. The pattern is great - just enough to keep you interested without having to consult the chart every row. Love it!
Pattern: Child's First Sock by Nancy Bush from Knitting Vintage Socks

Yarn: Rio de la Plata Merino Sock

Needles: 2.25mm Chiagoo DPNs

Dates: June 2007-August 2008

Mods: I added a repeat to make them larger around, and eliminated the pattern on the foot due to my inability to figure out how to make it work with that extra pattern repeat. 

Thoughts: Love them too! The yarn is so nice - unbelievably soft and so nice to knit with. The pattern again here was great - just enough to keep my interest without being too complicated. 

Would you believe that I have 3 socks sitting in the heel flap and 2 nearly there? I've got to get those heels turned and end the year finishing up some socks! In my baby knitting frenzy this summer I forgot how nice plain vanilla socks are - I'm trying to remedy that now!

Knitted Gifties

Finally! A post showing (most of) the cute handmade gifts bambino received from my sweet friends. 

My mom knit her first socks! Yippee for her! They will look very cute with bambino's xmas dress!
Blanket from my LYS lovelies - the color is way off, but lord knows how long it would take me to post this if I wait to take another picture. :) Each square has tiny footprints on it, and the colors are the same as the nursery colors - we love it!
Cutest crocheted dress I've ever seen! From my sweet friend Debora. Can't wait until spring when she can wear this! (Color is off here too a bit.)
Adorable sweater from my friend Angel - her first knitted garment! This is hubby's favorite gift, which I find amusing, since he hates froo-froo stuff. There is a cute hood back there too. 
And a sweet, sweet dress, knitted by the Longhorn Diva herself! Adorable dress, booties and hairband. Can't wait to dress her up in this this winter! 

I'm totally spoiled, as there are more blankets (knitted and crocheted), bibs, a cute clock, a quilt..... I love how I've discovered all these talented people just by having a baby! Many of my friends and co-workers have gifted us handcrafted things, and I just treasure them. Knowing how special these things are to me, makes it worth all the effort I put into gifts. 

More knitting from my needles soon!

Happy Halloween!

Here's my little duckie! Quack quack!

5 weeks

Bambino is 5 weeks old - how did this happen already? She already seems so much bigger/older than she did when we brought her home. She holds her head up really well and likes to look at everything. She moves her arms and legs constantly when she's lying down. She still wants to be held all.the.time when she's sleeping, but we have gotten her to sleep with us at night. 

I'm still knitting, as much as possible, usually balancing her on my chest. Her duck booties are done, and I'll share her costume on Friday or Saturday. I've started some new projects and I'll share those soon. I've also finally taken new pictures of the knitted gifts she's received, so I'll get those up too. But for now, baby love!

Baby, oh baby!

I actually have a free minute, and two free hands to type this - a miracle!

Bambino (who needs a good internet nickname) was born Friday, September 19th, at 10:20 pm. She was 9 lbs, 1 oz and 21.5 inches long. 

Quick birth story - on Tuesday the 16th, I was sent for a sono by my doctor. Sono showed baby weighed around 9 lbs. I was a bit nervous, since they had earlier said that she'd be 7.5 lbs. Big difference.

Dr. visit on Wednesday - doctor walked into the exam room and said "How about tonight?" Yikes. So not prepared for that. We opted to wait until Friday morning (when I said "How much bigger could she get in two days? Haha" doctor didn't reply. Gulp). 

Spent most of (OK, all of) Wednesday night and Thursday freaking out. Put hubby in charge of telling/talking to everyone so I could freak out. 

Friday, 3 am - called hospital to see if a bed was free. No room in the inn. Back to bed.

Friday, 6:30 am - called again. C'mon down! 

Friday 7:30 am - arrive hospital. Sign forms, get IV.

Friday 9 am - Pitocin started. 1 cm dilated, 75% effaced. Can see contractions on the monitor, but wouldn't know I was having them if I wasn't watching the screen. They just feel like baby trying to force her way out butt first through my belly button.

Friday 2 pm - Dr. comes in  - still at 1 cm - and breaks water (bizarre feeling!) to "get things moving." Now I can feel contractions and they don't feel nice

Friday 4:30ish - ask for pain relief (to my dismay). We decide to do epidural as dr is going into a c-section and won't be able to do it later soon. Hurts like heck. Epidural does not stop pain. Dr. returns to up dosage. About 30 minutes later pain relief kicks in. I'm at 2 cm.

Friday 5:30ish - my doctor leaves, I meet on-call doctor. I'm at nearly 3 cm. I get told to take a nap. Haha.

Friday 8 ish - They put in an internal monitor to see if the pitocin is making me contract "effectively." Still at 3cm.

Friday 9:30 - I'm contracting "right", but my body does not want baby coming out the "right" way. Doctor says I can stay on the pitocin and keep waiting, but I've been on the drugs for 12 hours, and I've only advanced 2 cm. We discuss  c-section and decide that it is what is best for baby, to reduce the chance of an emergency c-section later. I cry a lot. I'm scared and upset that this hasn't gone the way I planned. 

Friday 10 pm - I'm whisked off to the OR. It is VERY cold in the OR. Hubby arrives about 10:15. 

Friday 10:20 - She's out! 10 fingers and toes. Beautiful.

In the end, we had a healthy baby, regardless of how I wanted things to go. The doctors and nurses were great, very sweet and patient with me. When the doctor opened me up she said "She is a big one!" We're pretty sure she was the biggest baby in the nursery. Everyone who came into our room said "So you're the one who had the 9 pounder!" It was a bit like being a celebrity, in a bizarre way. 

We stayed in the hospital until Sunday night. I was very sore and very frustrated that I needed so much help when we got home. Nursing was tough for several days, but we seem to have it down now. She's not sleeping unless she's being held, hence the lack of blog post. But we took her to bed with us, and we all slept last night, even if it wasn't through the night. Praise the lord. 

More pictures will trickle in, I'm sure, and I still have several unblogged FOs, and more projects started. No knitting for now though, until she'll let me put her down. 

Oh, and my momma won the contest, so mom, you need to think about what you want your prize to be. Thanks to all who entered. Must go relieve dad of holding duty and get ready for bed. Thank you for all your good wishes and thoughts. I'll try not to be a stranger around here!

Where's the baby?

I've got lots to share, but I wanted to get the baby contest posted, before she arrives! Leave a comment with your guess of date, weight, and length and the winner will receive a prize (knitters and non-knitters are free to enter - I can come up with separate prizes!). Just to be fair - my due date is September 20, and I am not dilated yet.
So - enter away! More to come this week - so long as baby holds off!

Random Wednesday

1. Computer is still broken. Pictures are still inside it. I do have some that I already uploaded to flickr (finished knits), so I will have some photo content at some point. Soon I hope.

2. Teachers reported back on Monday. Boo Hiss, summer is over.

3. My classroom, which I spent hours setting up in June, as I knew I wouldn't be able to move furniture in August, had EVERYTHING removed and then dumped back into the room. And two tables, my rocking chair and a bookcase are missing. Another bookcase is broken. Grrr.

4. It is taking me FOREVER to set up my room, due to #3, my hugeness/slowness, and the fact that hubbo now works on the other side of town and can't just run over after school to help.

5. My principal is making me team teach and I don't want to. :(

6. Baby is head-down! And there was much rejoicing!

7. Baby's room is nearly ready - all we really need is a mattress for the crib, and some pictures hung on the wall. Two showers this weekend should take care of the little odds and ends we're still missing.

8. Saved 30 cents/gallon today thanks to my MILs Tom Thumb card. Yippee!

9. Knit my dishrag, mailed it off the next day for dishrag tag. Haven't knit a stitch since, and won't probably until knitting tomorrow night.

10. Have a baby sweater and a sweater for me waiting for finishing. Don't want to seam.

11. Have fabric washed and ready to sew a baby dress and cloth wipes. No time to sew.

I'm sure there is more I wanted to share, but I'm exhausted. So glad there is no more gymnastics or swimming - I can go to bed early tonight!

Grrr

My f***** computer is on the fritz again - and it wouldn't be such a big deal if the pictures from the shower and the sock pattern that is due tomorrow weren't locked inside it. And this is after we paid over $1000 to have it fixed two separate times last year. Cross your fingers - we can't afford a new computer right now, and I'm not paying to have it fixed again.

Sweet Baby Sweaters

The finishing roll continues around here with two new sweaters for the bean.


Pattern: February Baby Sweater from EZ's Knitter's Almanac
Yarn: Mirasol Contani - just over 3 skeins
Needles: Sz 8 Clover bamboo circulars and dpns
Dates: Um, May-July 2008
Mods: I put the stitches for the sleeves on waste yarn, finished knitting the body and went back and knit the sleeves in the round - much better!
Thoughts: This seemed to drag for a while, but it went very fast when I actually worked on it. It is very cute and has adorable sheepy buttons too!




Pattern: Provence Baby Cardigan from Classic Elite
Yarn: Classic Elite Provence
Needles: Sz 6 Clover bamboo circulars
Dates: May or June-July 2008
Mods: none
Thoughts: I did pick up too many stitches for the button bands, so they flare a bit, but I can live with it. This is very cute, and will hopefully fit the babe around Easter time.

I've nearly finished another sweater (needs ribbon) and one that just needs a sleeve, so more are on their way! I've also got two pairs of socks almost done and a pair of slippers. And an adult sweater that just needs one sleeve and finishing.

I debated joining the Ravelypics (or however they are spelling it), in WIP wrestling, but I don't want to commit, 'cause then I won't get anything done! I don't think I can get the WIPs down to 10 before the babe's arrival, but it will be close.

I've got very cute baby gifts to post pictures of - the sweeties at my LYS threw me a shower on Sunday, and I was spoiled. I hopefully will get pictures of them tomorrow, if it doesn't rain. (But I am hoping for rain, so fingers crossed!)

Things here are good beyond that - the nursery is nearly done (pics when it is), we bought a new car - pictures soon. I have my 33.5 week check-up tomorrow - everything has been fine so far - she's not headdown yet, so I'm nervous about getting her turned around so I don't have to have a c-section. I know I have a few weeks yet, but I'll be talking to the doctor about when she needs to be ready to go before we have to make that decision. I'm trying not to melt (It has been 100-107 here the last 17 days or something crazy like that), and I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row for the first few weeks of school, and then having stuff ready for the sub. Crazy!

OK, this has turned into a novel - oh, but for those who have been asking - she is due September 20. More knitting soon!

Scarves and booties

More FOs on parade today!



Pattern: Isobel (can't remember the link)
Yarn: 1 skein Claudia Hand Painted Sport
Needles: sz US 8 DPNs
Dates: sometime last fall-July 2008
Mods: no fringe
Thoughts: edges curl under even with severe blocking. Oh well - it is still pretty. The repeat was easy to memorize and went quickly when I worked on it!


Pattern: Branching Out from Knitty
Yarn: 1 skein Claudia Hand Painted Sport
Needles: sz US 8 DPNs
Dates: sometime last fall-July 2008
Mods: none
Thoughts: very pretty - even hubby commented on it. Also went quickly when worked on.



Pattern: Magic Slippers
Yarn: Hill Country Yarns Sweet Feet
Needles: Sz US 3 DPNs
Dates: July 2008
Mods: um, none that I remember
Thoughts: They seem really small. And this picture of them sucks - they are cuter in real life.


Pattern: Saartje's Bootees
Yarn: leftover Mirasol Hacho
Needles: I think size 3.....
Dates: June 2008 - buttons sewn on in July
Mods: none
Thoughts: not sure I like the white buttons - I may switch them for some yellow ones. And this picture is the worst of the bunch, but I know if I wait to retake it, I'll never get this posted.

The finishing continues, though I sorely want to cast on for a February Lady Sweater - I think it would be great for the fall when I'm nursing. However, I am showing great restraint, since I'm excited about the numbers of things getting done around here. Maybe I'll start it when school starts, and try to finish it up before the bean gets here. At any rate, I'm off to try to finish a sleeve today, and maybe a baby sweater!

Again with the friggin sideways pictures! I don't think it's a blogger issue, I think it has to do with my iphoto program and my camera, but I don't know how to fix it, and I don't know they are going to be sideways until I upload them, and frankly, once they're uploaded, I'm out of blogging time, so I don't want to mess with them. My apologies - they were crappy pictures anyway.