I’m back to show you where I’ve been…

So,  last you heard of me, (other than the post I just published-I found it unpublished since December 31st!)  I was what 7 months pregnant?  Well,  I ended up giving birth right on the exact due date, April 19th.  And now we have beautiful little Audrey! 

Please excuse the quality, it was a camera phone picture, but it’s my favorite one of her just after birth.

She’s advancing beautifully at 3 months old (on the 19th).  She smiles, coos, holds her head up with no problems at all.  She’s starting to try to sit up by herself (from laying on her back), and get’s not only her head, but also her shoulders off the bed before she falls back.

She is incredibly attentive, curious, and sleeps better than I could have possibly hoped for.  We’re up to 11 hour stretches at night!

 

So that’s where I’ve been and she is who I’ve been with.

I am blissfull.

 

2008 – Some finished objects you never got to see

Sheldon

I actually made 2 Sheldons.  This one is for the baby – the neck is a little floppy, I might go back and fix it like I did for Sheldon version 2 – just decreased one less time from body to neck.  Worked like a charm.  Version 2 was gifted to a coworker who practically begged me for one to give to his wife.   Made in the Knit Picks Shine Sport called for of course.  I love the look and I’ll make more of these I’me sure.

 

Apres Surf Hoodie

I made this for my new S-I-L.  She lives in New York, so when se came home for Christmas… it was the first time I got any reference for her size other than my impression of her as SKINNY.  Well I did the smallest size, and lengthened the body and the sleeves to what I thought were appropriate.  And it was absolutely perfect.  I mean flawless on her.  It hugged just right, it didn’t ride up anywhere, the sleeves were just where she likes them, and the hood… well… that pretty decorative anyway,  but I did deepen it a little bit and it makes it more functional.

 

Knitted with Knit Picks Gloss, on 3’s and 2’s as called for.  Gauge was spot on, and I enjoyed the lace pattern for the most part.  But… on the edges for the increases it could get a little hairy here and there.

 

Muir Shawl

 

This was supposed to be completed for our wedding.  Our theme, had peacock feathers and I thought this was just right, not overly peacock, useful for multiple occassions… etc.   Well… as is a knitters tradition, this was indeed NOT completed in time as the wedding was May 24th.  This was only completed on December 22nd.  Just a little past due.  But it made for a fantastic Christmas present since the color was a forest green and it was wrapped with a red raffia ribbon.

 

Knitted with Colrain Lace from Webs on US 6’s.  No mods, except for the occassional forgotten picot stich on the edge.

Miss Marigold

I love this sweater.  And this picture (Used with permission from Stewart at The Yarn Lounge)  Is the best picture of me in it!   Pre baby picure (by only 2 weeks!) I’ll have to wait a while before I fit into this one again since it’s not a very stretchy yarn and I really don’t want to compromise the integrity of the sweater. 

Knitted with Jo Sharp Silkroad DK tweed which I had been lusting after for a great long while before I finally caved with some wedding money which was specifically given to me for a yarn purchase, by my new grandmother in law.  How lucky am I?

Leaf Lace Kimono

This was an unusual project for me honestly.  And I didn’t even like this pattern when I first saw it in Interweave.  But it makes for a super cute little sweater.  It’s surprisingly warm considering it’s an all over lace, but I suppose given that it is Alpacas and Silk, it really shouldn’t be such a surprise.  It’s pretty flattering, and in my favorite color.  I’ve gotten many compliments on it.  I think If I were to do it again, I would make it a bit longer, maby an inch or so.   I felt like it would pull up and expose my belly too much the way it is, so I self consiously tug on the front alot.  It probably ruins the look a little bit.

Knitted with Blue Sky Alpacas Alpaca and Silk on US 6’s

And ummm… that’s all that I have pictures of.  There is one thing I made, which has gotten much use… the Cardigan for Arwen.  Many compliments on that, some requests (turned down… who has time to knit other people [work people at that] sweaters for their girlfriends…)  I still have no pictures of that.  This post may be updated at some point with that, but probably a separate one in the future sometime. 

 There were a couple of other things in there, but most of them were given away before I got around to photographing them.  

It’s a Girl!

And she is just so cute I can’t stand it. Get ready for the picture extravaganza!

Profile – 20 weeks

I am awake at 4:30 in the morning because of her kicking me like crazy, but I’m okay with that…

Face - 20 weeks

 

We opened the envelope on Christmas morning.  And we were actully very surprised  to discover we were having a baby girl.  We had convinced ourselves the little wiggler was a boy.   The ultrasound tech said “he” and my mother-in-law who was with us for the ultrasound appt and found out that day… said “he” a few days later.  We had a boy name picked out and everything.

 

—————–Please note… I had to stop here and continue the next day because my dear husband was complaining that the typing in ANOTHER ROOM was keeping him awake… I told him that he should try sleeping with someone kicking him for 2 hours.———————

Teeny Baby Feet - 20 weeks

 Once we had opened the envelope, we looked at each other and said “Oh… it’s a girl.”  And we were definitely not disappointed, Bret wanted a girl from the beginning, and I really had no strong feelings either way… But it was a bit of a shock after we had it settled in our minds, you know.

Little Crossed Legs - Already Modest 🙂

But now, we are so happy.  We talk to her,  I sing to her,  I poke her back a little when she’s kicking, just to give her some interaction.   I’ve queued up a great many little girly items to knit, and I’m excited that I can do little frilly things.  Though not too frilly, as that is really not my style, and I am very into green right now, so I’m staying pretty gender neutral.  But oh… the lace.  I am definitely excited to do some lacy things.

Ribs and Brain

So that’s our little girl.  At the appointment they said that she weighed about 12 ounces… so now about 4 weeks later, she’s over a pound!  That is amazing to me.

KICK starting the excitement!

So, the day after my last post… the baby started kicking me.  It was so beyond glorious that I can’t even describe my emotions.  Of course I had felt some movemnt in there before, but this was an honest to goodness kick (or a punch). 

Every time a kicking spell would happen I’d grab Bret’s hand to feel it, and of course… it would cease immediately. But about a week and a half later, he did finally feel it, and his face just lit up.  Now he’s all motivated to start with the nursury.  I sweetly reminded him that if we are going to start on the nursery, then we NEED to finish the basement first.  Stuff in the nursery room can’t go anywhere but the basement, and as the basement is in it’s current and seemingly everlasting state of disarray… it needs to be remedied before we start putting things down there.

Plus the extra living space is always a good idea when another human being will be living in it.

Now, I eagerly announce every kicking session to anyone that will listen, whether they’ve grown bored of my announcements or not.

I’m overdue for another belly shot, but I keep forgetting.  Kind of like how I forget that cheerios are supposed to go in my bowl of milk, and not in my glass of water.  Or like how I drive all the way to work, but forget my security badge to get in, and have to drive all the way home… just to discover that like almost every other day, my badge is buried at the bottom of my purse.

 

I have been knitting!  I finished all the knitting on the Apres Surf hoodie for my SIL. and it’s gorgeous.  I have to sew on the second sleeve, block the hood, and I’ll be done… I’ve even woven in all the ends (except for the ones coming from the sewing of course). 

My Tangled Yoke is done, except I need to sew up the underarms and block it

And I never did show you guys the Cardigan for Arwen…

Things I’ve Done (In Bold)

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain – well I hiked part of it… but I think it counts
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightening at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch – knitting!
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning – from McDonalds when I was 7, never been back!
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables – tomatoes, tried and failed
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train –  from France to Italy
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset – both!
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors – Germany and the Philippines
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied – I feel that way now.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain 
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury 
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one – times 3
94. Had a baby – working on this one currently!
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee – on my knee (was allergic, and on my arms… not allergic
100. Rode an elephant

A Belated Thanksgiving

I am thankful for a great many things.  Here are just a few that I am thinking about today.

I am thankful that although I have had alot of adveristy in my life, I lived through it, and I am stronger because of it.

I am thankful because I have a wonderful husband, who loves me more than he could ever express (This is probably because he is very quiet, but I know it’s there)

I am thankful that I can knit.  Knitting has saved me from smoking, from depression, rfom not having christmas presents, from being cold…

I am thankful because even though my family lives far away and we don’t see each other as much as we would like to, we are still very close.

Most of all… I am thankful for this baby.  This wonderful, sweet, innocent baby who makes me so excited to wake up every morning. Who makes me work harder to provide more, who makes every sacrifice worthwhile and who i simply CANNOT wait to meet.

More on the pregnancy

I am officially at 19 weeks and 5 days today(according to my doctor… 20 weeks according to the internet, and 18 weeks according to my pregnancy journal… what is up with that?!?), and this is apparently what is happening this week:

 

Your baby measures about 5.2 (13.2cm) to 6 inches (15.2cm) from crown to rump and weighs about 7 ounces (198g). Skin is developing and transparent, appearing red because blood vessels are visible through it. Creamy white protective coating, called vernix, begins to develop.

And that >>>>>>>>>>>>>

>>>>

Is probably what my baby looks like right now, According to IVillage.

I’ll know for sure next wednesday.  It’ll be the 12 week ultrasound.  It’s so exciting to think I’m pregnant finally after so many years of wanting a baby.  And honestly not trying at all.  It was kind of an oops.  I really didn’t mean to get pregnant 2 months after the wedding. But I’m happy I did!
So, I didn’t find out we were pregnant until I was 6 weeks pregnant! (Althought I didn’t know how far along I was at the time).  I suspected I was pregnant a week before, not because of morning sickness… Because I never experienced any of that…. But because I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had my period (I was so bad about keeping track of that thing).  I took a pregnancy test, and it came out negative.  And then a week later, still nothing, so I took another one… positive.  Aren’t those things supposed to work early?  Like, I don’t know, 3 weeks before it did? 

I was ecstatic of course.  Bret… was feeling something more along the lines of shocked. He said the silliest thing I have ever heard come out of a man’s mouth… are you ready???

He said: “I feel like I had nothing to do with this!” 

It still makes me giggle. 

He has warmed up to the idea appropriately at this point.  Like the marriage thing, it just took him a while to get used to the idea.

We made an appointment for our first ultrasound, at what they estimated to be about 8 weeks in.  (At this point I thought they were crazy, I mean how could the pregnancy test not have worked at 5 weeks?!?! I seriously thought I couldn’t have been more than 3 or 4 weeks pregnant when they were telling me 6.  But whatever.  I no longer trust the stupid pregnancy tests.)

At our appointment we got to see our baby for the very first time!  I cried, of course, and I was basically speechless.  There are just no words for that moment when you see that there is really life growing inside you!

My Baby - 8 weeks 1 day

The following weeks were a flurry of emotions, ranging from floating on air (“Oh my goodness, I am the luckiest person in the whole world!”) to abject terror  (“Oh Shit, I’m so not ready for this…”).  But it was super fun to get the pregnancy books and make a Sunday tradition out of reading all the stuff that would be happening in uterus land over the next week. 

At about 12 weeks, I think I started to show.  Although I already had a belly, so that was debatable.  I think mostly I was bloated the day this picture was taken:

12 week belly

 

I say it was bloating because, this is a picture taken today (19 weeks, 5 days) and there isn’t all that much difference.

19 weeks 5 days

 

 

I know that this is baby belly now, because it’s much more firm, and it still looks like that when I suck in my stomach.

We’ve reached what I am calling the boring part of the pregnancy.  Yes the baby is bigger every week, but there just aren’t the exciting milestones that were a few weeks ago.  The skeleton is already formed, the fingernails are already there, the ears have moved to their proper locations, the baby is moving around (I feel little somethings, but nothing big and definitive yet).  So, I just look at the baby books now and go “Gee… the size of a mango now huh..fun,  I have a produce department in my uterus.”

I am alive… contrary to popular belief

I think I might have one reader left… If I’m lucky… Hi Tana!

So I thought you might want the news on why I’ve been gone. 

1. I’ve been overwhelmed.  I haven’t known what to write about.  Too much going on, but it seems like there just isn’t any way to put it down in a way that would make it even mildly interesting to anyone but me.  But hey, this is a blog right?  First and foremost, an outlet for me to put my brain down on paper for me, and if someone else likes it, then so be it.
2. Knitting, as always is good, but since I like to do sweaters.  It’s about a sweater a month, and that just doesn’t seem like any fun for you guys… “Yay… another inch of stockinette… woop dee doo.”  So I haven’t really felt the knit-blogging urge.
3. I’m pregnant!  And I wanted to put that on here for so long, but for the first 12 weeks, Bret just didn’t want to say anything to anyone.  He was waiting for it to be real or something.  So I just didn’t feel right telling the world, and not my immediate family.  It would have ended up like that Kevin Bacon episode of Mad About You.
4. If I couldn’t talk about the single most important thing that had happened to me, it made me feel kind of guilty to talk about anything else.

So… that’s the news of my world in a nutshell.

See… I *AM* the Devil

You are The Devil

Materiality. Material Force. Material temptation; sometimes obsession

The Devil is often a great card for business success; hard work and ambition.

Perhaps the most misunderstood of all the major arcana, the Devil is not really "Satan" at all, but Pan the half-goat nature god and/or Dionysius. These are gods of pleasure and abandon, of wild behavior and unbridled desires. This is a card about ambitions; it is also synonymous with temptation and addiction. On the flip side, however, the card can be a warning to someone who is too restrained, someone who never allows themselves to get passionate or messy or wild – or ambitious. This, too, is a form of enslavement. As a person, the Devil can stand for a man of money or erotic power, aggressive, controlling, or just persuasive. This is not to say a bad man, but certainly a powerful man who is hard to resist. The important thing is to remember that any chain is freely worn. In most cases, you are enslaved only because you allow it.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

I’d just like to say Blurg….

I speak in reference to the new Interweave Fall Preview.  I am thoroughly disappointed.  There’s not a single project I am even remotely interested in making.  I’ve NEVER felt that way about an issue of interweave,  not in 3.5 years of knitting!  I think some of them are okay,  but certainly not suited to my own taste.  I doubt I’ll even purchase it.  Not that I don’t want to, it would be the first one I haven’t gotten in 3.5 years.  Can I really break up the collection?

It’s okay though, I have quite the queue of projects to work on… If you’ve seen my ravelry I believe its at 7 pages long now?  And that’s after I weeded out some things.  I also have more than enough yearn to keep me company through an interweave drought… and thanks to my LYS, I have my next project in line.  More on that in a moment.

So… I finished my mojo top, which was the Leaf Kimono Top from Summer Interweave 08, in some luscious Blue Sky Alpacas, Alpaca Silk.  And I finished Ms. Marigold, in some gorgeous fuschia Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed.  (YUMMMMMMMY), and now I’m about halfway through the Cardigan For Arwen, in the actual Debbie Bliss Cashmerino it calls for…  That was unexpected and  fortuitous.

I promise I will detail these projects in the coming days/weeks.  I’ve been gone for far too long, and I can’t go rushing head long back into blogging at a break neck speed, or else I’ll run out of Blog fodder for sure, and then we’ll be back where we started.

Ta ta…