Lots and lots of knitting. Minimal Blogging.

I have time for limited things - playing with and caring for a sweet baby boy. Working full time. Gestating two MORE babies. Caring for house and home. Knitting in stolen minutes. Blogging about my pregnancy/the Fishling over here.

I really owe you guys pictures and reports of knitting! I quickly finished a Traveling Woman Shawl for a friend's 50th birthday using some STR - and I want to make another for myself. What a fun pattern! But trying to block lace? At 30 weeks pregnant with twins? Bending over is not often an option. I'm planning on roping in Aaron to assist - but haven't tried yet - thankfully the birthday party isn't until the 17th!

I've made one baby girl sweater, and 2 hats and a sweater for the Fishling. And I have another in process for the big guy. Capturing hand knits on a baby who only wants to MOVE is really difficult.

So that will be my goal this week/weekend - get some pictures of all the new stuff and show it off! Because it's all super cute.

THE sweater

About 3 years ago, when I was in the throes of fertility treatments, I was visiting my mother. We were at the cabin, and made a day trip to Lenox. Mom wanted a blue sweater - she was going to buy the yarn, I was going to knit it. So we went to Colorful Stitches. I distinctly remember seeing this little baby hat and sweater set, and having my heart ache a little. I was kind of at the point where I wasn't sure we'd have a baby. It was a crappy time.

Once I got pregnant, I would think back to that sweater set, and I just couldn't remember the name of the pattern. I even went back to the store - but it wasn't on display again. But Saturday last week I was at The Woolpack, and I was sitting down and flipping through their stash of Minnowknits patterns while the Fishling crawled around the store (ask me if I thought that would be happening 3 years ago?). And I found it. THE baby sweater. It's Green Bean by minnowknits - and I don't know what it is that makes it seem so perfect to me... but I love it.

The color in this crappy iPhone picture is off - it's a wonderful green. I'm using Comfort worsted weight by Berroco.

Hurrah for awesome baby sweaters! And it's going to look so cute on the Fishling with his red hair. AND the matching hat has i-cord ties... so maybe it has a chance at staying on. Maybe.

New Hat

The Fishling's got a new hat. I figured I would 'wing' it with the pattern - I was getting 8 sts to the inch, and his head is 18 inches around... so I cast on 140 sts and knit and knit. I did about 2 inches of 2X2 ribbing and 5 inches of body (so I could fold over the ribbing or put it over his ears). But then at the end, I followed The Yarn Harlot's advice, and started decreasing every 8 sts, then 7 then 6... and I'm not sure if I like the top. It's not as smooth as I was envisioning.

It's cute nonetheless!

Or is it the baby that is cute? I can never decide. I used Ty-Dy sock yarn, and I really liked it! Nice and soft and I have a huge amount left. I'm considering mittens to match.
The Fishling has a new 'word' - he says 'Uh oh'! And I've learned that it is said a lot when I try to actually get him to WEAR the hat. I put it on, he pulls it off and says 'Uh oh!'.

Now that I've learned how to make a decent hat, I need to learn how to keep a hat on a baby. Double stick tape perhaps?

What's up with all this crazy blogging!?!?

Wow. I guess I'm back on the blogging bandwagon. I know I sucked for a while there, but energy was low. It was either knitting OR blogging. Not both.

I've been working on my Mondo Cable Pulli, and wanted to share:

This is going to be such a nice, soft sweater. The cotton/silk yarn is turning out to be really nice to work with. I first got this yarn YEARS ago to make a Mariah - so that would be 2004?!? Anyway, I made one sleeve, gave up, and stuck it back in the stash. When I see a new sweater that I want to make, this yarn will will pop in (and out of) my head - mostly because I feel like I won't wear a cotton sweater. I never knew what to make with it. I'm hoping that the silk content will make this a nice, wearable sweater - as pullovers out of wool rarely get worn by me. We shall see. The color is certainly crazy!

I've been buying yarn....

After over a year of no major yarn purchases (I think my last BIG yarn purchase was at the JCA sale last Sept) I've made three separate yarn purchases this past week! First, and perhaps the cutest, was 4 skeins of Manos cotton stria to make Sweetie Pie from Minnow Knits. I'm making one in hot pink and one in bright orange (colors 205 and 206 - I tried to take a picture but the colors aren't working), and I think these are the sweaters that the girls will come home from the hospital in. Of course now I have to find super cute outfits to match. Oh - and wait until you see the buttons I got!

Then, I was looking around at different yarn options for my Tempest (which I've decided is to be my birthday present to myself) and called Colorsong just to see if the colors I liked would look good together. Well, the woman on the phone was so nice.. I ended up just buying the yarn. I got Mahogany and Ruby Red. And they arrived in the mail the other day, and they ARE beautiful. But, I've already started a different sweater - have you seen the new patterns from ChickKnits!? I feel in love with the Mondo Cable Pulli, and had the perfect yarn in my stash (Cascade Pima Silk), so cast on for it right away. I'm forcing myself to wait to cast on for Tempest until I'm done with The Mondo Cable. It seems like it's a quick knit though, I'm already past the armholes (it's a top down sweater).

And yes, all of my knitting is plain stockinette. It's what I can do now. But I'm loving knitting again. I hadn't made an adult sized sweater in a long time, and the success had with the Beautiful Bohus (pictures when I can wrangle in Aaron to take some) has buoyed my desire to knit and have a few fun things to wear for when this pregnancy is over.

And the final stash enhancement? Some Goth Sock yarn! I logged in just in time for the 3 PM update yesterday. I had 3 skeins in my cart, but 2 sold out before I could click buy! I really wanted Hot Flash but I did manage to get a skein in Business Time (grey and black). I'll just have to try again at the next shop update.

I forgot how fun it is to get new yarn. I need to stop having fun with buying it and go back to stash knitting now!

It has been done. And it is good.

I called the yarn store on Monday. And we made an 'appointment' for 4:30 PM for the steeking to occur. I don't know why I was so nervous - but a lot of it had to do with the fact, I think, that this is the first adult sized sweater I've knit in about a year. I had a lot of time invested - time that is at a premium. I used to knock off socks or sweaters in no time at all, and if they failed.. no biggie. I had fun with the knitting, and would just make something else. But now? I'm only knitting things that I'm sure I'll wear - and they are taking a heck of a lot longer to complete.

Look how great this looked before we began the cutting:

Nice colorwork at the top, love the body shaping and the bell sleeves.... but it had to be cut. So Janet showed me how to sew the steeks (which was no big deal) and then I forced her to do the first cut:

Once I watched her do that first cut... I was good. I took over and cut it right up the middle. And last night, I picked up the buttonband and I think it looks wonderful:

I even tried it on, and it fit really nicely! At lunch today, I'm heading back to Woolpack and picking out the buttons and having them help me figure out the placement. I think I'll have a finished sweater by the end of the week. <== proof of how my life has changed! Last year? I would have said I'd have a new sweater by the end of the day. Doubt it. The Fishling and I are going to the lake for a swim after work - trying to get as much as we can out of this summer!

Bracing myself

I finished the body of the Beautiful Bohus sweater yesterday. It IS beautiful. I was worried for a bit about the sizing, because I tried it on and it fits. As I hope to not be '24 weeks pregnant with twins sized' for long, I was nervous. But I showed Aaron, and he said that it went up a bit on my belly (the bottom of my belly is an area I haven't seen in a while), so it would be perfect later.

Thing is. I still need to steek it. I'm actually considering taking a day off work to go to the Woolpack and have them hold my hand as I do it. I've put so much time into knitting this, and I really love how it looks so far, I'm going to be pretty devastated if I ruin it. I called this morning, and the one woman who I thought could do anything knitting-wise is scared to steek! So that just makes it all even worse. I'm going to call back on Monday when the shop's owner gets back from vacation and we'll make a plan. I think it's funny that after 20 years of knitting, I'm being such a freaking wimp about this.

In the meantime, I'm going to be knitting on baby booties. I haven't even finished a pair yet, and wanted a bunch ready for when the girls arrive. I only had 2 pairs for the Fishling and daily I wished I had more and in a wider array of colors. Especially on the days that he spit up right ON the booties. So that is my next knitting project. Oh, and finally seaming up the February Baby sweater. Geez.

My birthday is less than a month away, and I find that every year around my birthday, I have a sweater that I'm dreaming of. Last year it was the Susie Hoodie, the year before the Kauni cardi (which, no I never finished) and this year it is Tempest that came to my attention from Zeneedle. It seems like such a wearable sweater! I'm planning on ordering that yarn this week. And next week? I'm totally getting some yarn from Goth Socks when they have their shop update on the 26th. I saw their yarn in person (Amanda got to go to the Sock Summit and brought some home) and besides being an AWESOME color, it's cashmere. Blessed, wonderful, soft cashmere. I needs it.