Shh! Everyone's Sleeping!

Little Jack and the dogs gave me a nice respite this afternoon. DH left to have the van inspected by a Dodge tech. Yes, I said van. More on that later when I have pics.

I have two projects on my (belated) gift list that are felted: Oven Mitt and Argyle Pillow. Since I'm using stash yarn and I'm not up to date on logging it on Ravelry, I pulled them all out of my yarn closet and sorted them by color.

I have a lot more wool than I thought! A nice range of colors too but I think I need some more browns and blues. I might have to go pick up some brown, earthy colored Paton's for the backside of the pillow. I was thinking the multicolored Manos here in the front could work for the mitt but I don't think I have enough unless I double it with a solid. Hmm. I'll think about that. Then for the Pillow, the red Lamb's Pride on the left under the door with the taupe Araucania on top of the Knit Pick's natural. I hear that most whites and natural colors don't felt, how about Knit Pick's? That would work for the pillow or the mitt. HMMMM....

Uh oh, he's stirring. I better put this mess away.

Yay for Sleep!

Really now, what is the deal with Facebook? I'm on. It's the same as MySpace but without the lurkers and creepy guys sending messages. Meh. I'll continue on. I need another site to take up more of my time.

Knitted Christmas gifts have now become just knitted gifts:

• Tudora for Jess
• Market bag for Ana
  
• Something I can't remember for Mom
• A pillow for France (picking between 2 designs, will depend on my stash)
• Hats
• and... that might be it.

Jack is getting bigger and has finally started sleeping through the night. I can't believe I got by with so little sleep. Last weekend I got caught up on laundry, straightened and organized the upstairs and temporarily dedicated an area to blocking! Jack won't mind if Mom uses his spare bed :) My partially blocked Woven Tote is the first order of business.

Crazy Knitting Dream

Starting somewhere near the end, here you go: I put down my plastic grocery bag which contained a knitting project, my new Palm Centro phone and a sub sandwich. I went back down the street to get my mom and sister who were lagging but when we got to the bag it was gone. I was looking around for it on the sly as we entered the bank/hospital. Who would take my knitting? Who would WANT my knitting? We get to the empty classroom to wait for something and one of the nurses asked me what was wrong. I flipped out. Seriously. Flying around the room and screaming like a banshee. Yes, literally flying. Flew out into the lobby for some more screaming to a new audience and eventually got back to my feet. (I'm astonished I didn't start screaming in my sleep.)

All because I couldn't find my knitting bag. At one point I even screamed, "It's 90% completed!!!" (Ravelry influence). Notice this was all because of my knitting. I hadn't even realized that my new fancy dancy phone was missing too. Later on in the dream I asked a lost and found clerk and she pulled out a sub. "Uh, here. You can have this one." I didn't care about a freaking sub!

On to reality, there's been some requests for this really cute picture of Jack ;) At 9 wks he's 14lbs 3oz, but here he is at 7 wks when grandma and grandpa were visiting:

Baby Knits Modeled

Jack was particularly alert and peaceful the other day so I decided to push my luck.

Cute bib where I "altered" the pattern. (Messed up but went with it.)

The first bib I made for Jack.

Mitts suitable for chewing.

I wish I could get pics of the Sartje's Booties but they're too small! They'll be a baby gift I guess - going to a baby the doesn't come from a family of massive babies. My three sisters and I were all on the big side, my sister's baby was 9lbs 11oz, even G was a big boy.

My beach blanket is back to the forefront! I'm so excited. I really love this blanket and I love knitting it. Why I put it away, I don't remember but I do vaguely remember switching out the needles for the Lizard Ridge. A minor set-back but one that was keeping me from my project. So anyway, I fixed the needles and showed Mom how to knit Continental style. She had found a cute pattern at Joann's that she wanted to knit but it had a seed stitch border. "Ew," she said. So I taught her on the blanket and she practiced for a row. I may have to give another lesson at Christmas if I go up to visit. No biggie. It took me a while until it felt comfortable.

AND I helped Mom set up her Ravelry account. I've talked about mine for a while, even mentioned it at one of her yarn stores which struck up a side conversation. Then a couple weeks ago she went to some sort of gathering and complimented a woman on her scarf. She found the pattern on Ravelry! (or something like that) And that's how it all began. Mom is on Ravelry. Now for Mom's sister and my knitting sister...

Mom and Dad left Friday morning :( It was so nice to see them. The first time I went to feed Jack Mom ran to the couch to get comfortable. "Oh! I'll feed him!" And that was just the beginning. I didn't get to see Jack until they left LOL! Their visit was short but we had a great time finding all the baby consignment shops in the area. Wow are they ever FUN!!! Lots of great stuff, decent prices and three locations that are way too convenient. Thank you for everything Mom and Dad!

He's Here! 17 Days Early and Perfect :)

Giacomo

10:11am, September 24th, 2008

9lbs 7oz, 22in

Jack was born 17 days ahead of his due date because of pre-eclampsia. I went through 22 hours of labor but honestly the epidural made all the difference - no pain, I was just tired. Because we didn't have any progress in the last two hours, the best thing for both of us was a c-section. Everything went well with the surgery. Dad stayed behind the curtain with me (I don't blame him. Gross!). We spent 5 days in the hospital and it was a wonderful experience. The staff was amazing but I was anxious to get home.

We've finally settled in with a little help from my sister. She came down from Salt Lake to render her assistance. I was very thankful for her help - she's a pro at cleaning and organizing. No kids of her own but you don't need them for that kind of help.

My parents will be coming down in a couple weeks. Can't wait to see them and they are anxious to meet their second grandchild. They're bringing a car/walker thing that my 15mo old nephew has grown out of. It's a little advanced for Jack right now but he'll be ready for it soon enough. Mom asked what kind of projects I had for them to help with when they're down here. Usually they help landscape, fix things around the house, etc. but DH is really good at that stuff so I don't really have any projects. Soooo I think I'll ask Mom to help me finish my Surface Woven Tote :) (my Ravelry link) Maybe some other UFOs or start up some Baby Surprise Jackets. I found The Opinionated Knitter at her favorite yarn store, Main Street Yarns, when I was visiting just a few weeks before Jack was born.

QUESTION: Malabrigo Club

Question for you eat.sleep.knit followers:

Did anyone see today's email about the Malabrigo club? 12 months, $36/mo...What do you think? I love Malabrigo but this club thing is new to me. Has anyone ever joined these clubs? I'm considering it even though little Jack has arrived (I'll post pics soon)

Stripey

I love this site - Random Stripe Generator. Input your colors, row counts and Voila! Refresh repeatedly until you have what you're looking for. (This image may not show the widths of the stripes, but on their site it does.) I'll be using the sequence below for my beach blanket (ravelry link). The pattern is fine but I find the random stripes and colors more my style.




Here is the text version of the above pattern:

7 of red O O O O O O O
3 of lemonchiffon O O O
3 of red O O O
3 of darkorange O O O
3 of khaki O O O
3 of lightskyblue O O O
7 of khaki O O O O O O O
3 of darkblue O O O
7 of gold O O O O O O O
3 of khaki O O O
7 of paleturquoise O O O O O O O
3 of red O O O
7 of khaki O O O O O O O
13 of darkorange O O O O O O O O O O O O O
3 of gold O O O
13 of paleturquoise O O O O O O O O O O O O O
3 of darkorange O O O
7 of gold O O O O O O O
5 of khaki O O O O O
13 of orange O O O O O O O O O O O O O
7 of darkblue O O O O O O O
7 of darkorange O O O O O O O
3 of gold O O O
7 of darkorange O O O O O O O
3 of red O O O
7 of lightskyblue O O O O O O O
13 of darkblue O O O O O O O O O O O O O
3 of lemonchiffon O O O
3 of paleturquoise O O O
5 of lightskyblue O O O O O
5 of lemonchiffon O O O O O
5 of darkorange O O O O O
13 of lemonchiffon O O O O O O O O O O O O O
3 of lightskyblue O O O

Chocolate + Bugs

Yummmm! I made another personal chocolate cake tonight. I used Dove chocolates instead of chocolate chips (worked), added chopped white baking chocolate (fine) and doused the final concoction in Dilettante Ephemere Sauce. Love the stuff! I'll have to pick up some more when I visit in a couple weeks. You can order online but... that will work someday when I'm in a pinch. Speaking of Dilettante though, I don't think I've had anything from them that wasn't amazing. Even the cafe' on Capitol Hill was incredible, ambiance included.

Soooo as I was joyfully making my chocolate delight my dog became very interested in the patio door. No biggie. She's almost 10 and acts like a mature puppy. Prancing, hunting, jumping then falling asleep in seconds. It would have been more like her to be in the kitchen staring but it didn't occur to me. She started coughing, hacking like a cat with a furball. I looked up and there was a big BUG on the wall next to her. Huuuuuge! 2.5 inch leg span maybe? Scorpion?? "WHAT'S THAT ON THE WALL??!!" G runs over and smashes it with a shoe. Later he said I could have just said, "Could you come kill this bug on the wall?" Really? Cuz I don't think I could have said that.

G looked it up online. It's a Wind Scorpion. Wanna see it? No poison, eats cockroaches, spiders, scorpions and whatever else I don't like. But it looks awful!

Jack's doing just fine. Head down, feet in my ribs, 7 more weeks. Me - mostly fine. Heartburn sucks, sleep is periodically difficult, it's getting harder to move and breathe. Today I just feel huge. Water started to taste horrible about a week ago. The OB suggested a pitcher of water in the fridge with some cut up fruit. Worked like a charm with strawberries! I have to keep my feet up as much as possible to avoid the swelling. Great fun - I think my back hurts more because of it. And I have permission to fly to Seattle for Labor Day weekend. Need to see the family, everyone is going to be there. I arrive on my sister's birthday so I started a tote for her. We'll see how far I get. The family will be getting assorted totes for Christmas now that they have the new plastic bag fee.

Personal Chocolate Cake Recipe

I found this on KrisW's blog. I have been craving chocolate cake/brownies/frosting for a couple weeks now. Before you go blaming this on the pregnancy let me just say I always love chocolate and I always have to make my own baked desserts so as to avoid gluten. This leads me to waiting and dreaming about certain indulgences until I have the time and ingredients. So, yes, I've developed a pet peeve - "Oh, you're nesting!" "Must be the baby!" Noooo, actually I routinely organize and clean out my catalogs at work. I regularly have mild cravings for goodies or foods that I have to make for myself rather than purchase ready-made. Who doesn't? Anyway, I'm afraid I sound more irritated than I really am. When stuff like this is said I roll my eyes (to myself) and smile and laugh.

So here's that awesome recipe I tried out tonight:

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons cake flour (plain flour, not self-raising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla essence
1 coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well
Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla essence, and mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don’t be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

My recommendations:

• Add the chocolate chips and do so generously.
• Stir right before you micro. I paused unnecessarily long and all the chips sank to the bottom.
• Consistency is like bread pudding ... or so I imagine.
• Yummy with ice cream :)
• Be hungry or share. It was more than I expected and now I'm stuffed.
• Spelt flour and almond milk subbed just fine. Next time I'll try carob powder.
• Walnuts would be tasty. Maybe white chocolate chips, butterscotch, syrup on top...

Finished!

Two pieces in just a couple days. This is more like it! (And an oldie at the bottom.)

Thumbless mittens for Jack.
Easy as pie and pretty soft to the touch for what I suspect is acrylic.

My So Called Scarf for my sister.
Yarn: Rio de la Plata

Close-up of my big mistake.
I K2tog instead of P2tog. Prego brain?

Now THIS is an old FO that I finally remembered to photograph. It was sitting in my photo album next to the new items above where I noticed it was in the same blue family.

Philosopher's Wool Color Your Own Cardigan

Where do I start with this one?

• Yarn: Love it. Soft not scratchy.
  
• Pattern: Okay. This is my first sweater and it looks like a sweater so it can't be that bad.
• Fair Isle: LOVE IT!!! Philosopher's taught a a two-handed class at the craft fair where I purchased the kit. I also bought their video which was a life saver since way back then (2002?) the internet wasn't where it is today. Can't wait to pick up another Fair Isle pattern.
• Puppy interference: My pit bull puppy at the time got into all the balls one day. Used his razor sharp puppy teeth to shred quite a few of the colors. I salvaged what I could, modified the color arrangement somewhat and it worked out. Surprisingly.
  
• Hanks: This project was also my first experience with hanks. Yeah, that's how long ago I started this project.
• Measurements: Boy are they important! Not too easy over the phone. "Mom, measure from here to here." Add that to my own inexperience with measuring my work. Wonky.
• Needles: Bamboo circs of course. Most importantly - I forgot to change to the larger needles after the ribbing. Yeah. Rookie mistake.
• Steaking: I did it! With the help of my mom I should mention. I had no idea what it was called when we were sewing and cutting. We both looked at each other and said, "Well, we have to trust and cut. Otherwise it's just beautiful fabric." Easy. Don't be worried at all.
  
• Knitting in the round: Again, first time ever. Loved it! Would love to convert everything to knitting in the round. Sleeves and body alike.
  
• Picking up stitches: Another first. Easy. Even the neck stitches picked up for the ribbed edging. Easy, well, I think I remember it being tight in places. But after that first row, no problem.
• Blocking: Should have. I left the sweater with Mom and she took it to her LYS for some minor refinements. Not the kind of refinements that blocking would have smoothed out. I'm pretty sure she and her sister took it back to the sewing machine to "tighten up" a few sloppy areas.
  

I learned a lot with this sweater. As embarrassed as I was upon immediate completion, it has grown on me. A labor of love as they say. Only a Mom could love. (Which she does.) And I, as the creator, have a special love for it, too.

I am now down to 7 UFOs in my Ravelry projects. Next is both the baby bibs and baby bell bottoms. Although I really want to pick up the beach blanket. My hesitation is the stripes - I want to reorganize the colors and widths. There's a site for that if I check my bookmarks...

3 Baby FOs in ONE Day!

And pictures! I can't believe it myself, but 3 baby items are completely done. In one day I went to Joann for buttons, sewed on the buttons, took pictures, uploaded and now I'm blogging about it! Where did all this motivation come from?

I actually had fun picking out the buttons even though they aren't all that interesting.

Jack's booties with newly added buttons - Ocean Squares.

Jack's first bib had been waiting for the button for quite some time.

Jack's jacket is finally done.

I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. The color combination turned out better than expected. The crochet border was also easier than expected. I ended up doing two rounds of single chain. The blue yarn was also pretty soft. Years ago I bought it at a garage sale missing the band so I have no idea what it is.

Next two projects: Jack's Mitts which will be knit with the blue from the jacket and a colorful baby bib.