And things that didn't take long at all

After working on Roo, I thought I had lost my knitting mojo forever. When I mentioned this to a coworker, he said, "I didn't know knitters had mojo to begin with." Needless to say, he was quickly put in his place and won't be making that mistake again. *ahem*

When I finally finished Roo, I realized I had the freedom to start whatever project I pleased. I grabbed some Patons sock yarn, the self-striping Raggs, and started a pair of socks for me! I figured that they could be "labour socks", that is, socks to be worked on during labour or worn during labour.

Truthfully, I thought that I would still be working on the first one when I went into the hospital. The sheer joy, however, of mindless knitting was like a balm to my little knitting soul and it was barely a week before I had finished the first one. I quickly cast on the second and am already past the heel!

Pattern: Toe up using, 64 stitches, 2.25mm needles

Now, as I mentioned before, labour socks kind of imply that there is a baby on the way. Baby boy #2, will soon be making an appearance. I started maternity leave on March 22nd and am due a week from now. Needless to say, I've got some time on my hands. Not as much as I had hoped, but at times more than I know what to do with. And with this being a spring baby, instead of a summer baby like the mogrunt, this wee man is going to need some warm sweaters!

So I cast on for the Puerperium Cardigan with some stashed yarn which is of unknown origin. I know where it came from, it's just that there was no brand on the label, just a stylized crane. I'm pretty sure it's a merino or merino blend and I've used it for a few projects over the years. In fact, the mogrunt wears a hat and cowl made out of this very yarn.

I found the buttons in my button stash. I remember buying them with my mom for the jumpsuit I was sewing for Home Ec class in 1989. Needless to say, the project didn't get finished, or you would be seeing a photo here of me in my incredibly flattering Esprit jumpsuit and asymmetrical haircut instead of this cute sweater.

Instead, you get this cute guy who couldn't stay out of the photo shoot:

 

And since baby sweaters can be like the lite snacks of the knitting world, I also knit this in the last week.

It's the baby Pebble vest. A quick little knit. And so much fun that I'm knitting another for a friend who is due in the fall. I'm thinking gray with yellow buttons for her wee babe, though I have enough of the grey yarn to make two vests, so you never know what might happen.

This Took Forever

Last summer, in a fit of unprecedented generosity, I agreed to knit a baby sweater for my hairstylist's niece's baby. I must have been drunk or delusional because doing so goes against one of my only two rules of knitting:

1. Never knit with yarn that makes my teeth hurt (anything 100% synthetic).
2. I only knit for people I am
       a. Related to by blood
       b. Related to by marriage
       c. Absolutely adore
       d.  Sharing a bed with (which includes, at this time, my husband and my son)

Now, I do absolutely adore my hairstylist, but I don't know her niece from Adam. It could have been that this was the kiss of death for this project, but alas, that was not the only reason this project was cursed.

Little did I know, that when I cast on the project, I was just barely pregnant. Pregnant at 38 with a 3 year old at home. Which, if you have prior experience with pregnant women, you will understand, brings on about three months of vigorous napping, extremely early bedtimes and brain fog.

So, I cast on Roo, the absolutely GORGEOUS baby sweater as designed by the extremely talented and lovely Kate Gilbert. And within the first bit of instructions, I was certain that this pattern had been brought to me by some evil villain bent on discrediting me as an experienced knitter.

 

 Here are the things I learned while working on this sweater:

1. It pays to have two paper copies of a pattern - one for writing in all the chart notes and the other for balling up and throwing at the wall in frustration.
2. Never make assumptions.
3. Always write shaping instructions on your charts, event if you are a confident knitter who "knows what she's doing" hint: hubris is a bitch.
4. Always hold the fronts of a cardigan up to the back to ensure you didn't miss, oh, a full chart of knitting on both fronts. Hint: you should do this before stitching everything together and knitting the hood.
5. Never agree to knit something with a deadline when you are pregnant.

All that being said, this is still a beautiful pattern. It was a series of unfortunate stupidity that dragged out the process of knitting it. It definitely pays to look up how to Kitchener stitch various kinds of stitches together (garter, purl, knit) as the join in the hood looked so much better when I did this... You know, the second time around.

Would I knit it again? Well, considering the number of things i ripped and reknit, i swear, it feels like i did knit this sweater twice!

As for actually making a second sweater, well, I'm not sure. I really love the final result, but I fear the frustration I felt knitting  it the first time might not dissipate even with time.

I would like to publicly apologize for all the private cursing of Kate Gilbert's name I did while working on this project. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this pattern that not being a dumbass while knitting it wouldn't have fixed.

Yarn: cascade 220 Heathers
Details: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/stephvw/roo

Quick Change Obsession

Gnome pants, a photo by Sesser on Flickr.

The little man in my life has been the recipient of much of my crafting over the last few months. It all started when I went to the library and borrowed Anna Maria Horner's latest bok, Handmade Beginnings. She does make a crafty person get all "wanty", doesn't she?

I got a little "wanty" about the Quick Change Trousers. And the next thing I knew, the Mogrunt had three pairs.



I love this pattern - the contrast on the bum gives you the opportunity to play around a bit. Of course, I'm not exactly a pro-sewist (sewer?), so I didn't do the best job lining up my pattern pieces on the fabrics. You can tell, for example, on the red pants above, that I didn't really optimize the gnomey-ness of the back of the pants.

Ah well, learn and grow, learn and grow!

The pants below, with their elephant-camouflage look (perfect for hiding in the forest with your elephant friends), were the first pair of quick change trousers I made:



I'm still not sure if these are cute or bordering on obnoxious... but hey, the other side of these pants have dogs driving cars, so really, who care? Dogs driving cars, man, dogs driving cars!



The most recent pair of QCT, were these, Superman pants, for my sweet boy's 2nd birthday:



With the comic strip in shades of blue on the reverse side, I'm not sure who likes these pants more, the Mogrunt or his mama:



What makes me a little sad about these pants is that soon enough, the Mogrunt will grow out of the pattern sizing.  And then there's the day I dread, when the Mogrunt starts to rebel against wearing the things I make for him.  Until then, little man, it's elephant camouflage and gnome pants for you!

A little over a year ago

Bleaklow, a photo by Sesser on Flickr.

Just 13 months ago I started back at work. I left my sweet boy in the care of a dear friend and entered into that extremely fun, oh so guilt-ridden, life of the working mom.

My first full day at the office was, well, horrendous - I felt like I was in the wrong place all day.

Mr. Happy picked up our little Mogrunt and brought him to the office to get me at the end of the day. When I saw the little Mogrunt walking down the hall to my office that day, with tears in his eyes, I crouched down and met him with a hug and my own tears.

I wore this vest on my first day back at work. The name of the pattern is Bleaklow. On my Ravelry page, I have this project listed as "How I feel about retuning to work" - because I did, indeed, feel Bleak and Low about it.

Now, a year later, the Mogrunt has graduated from home care where he enjoyed playing with his dear friend, Ella, her dog Maya and her Mama, to daycare (another set of tears and an adjustment period and finally complete joy at playing with his friends every day) and now, we're in another transition period.

A daycare opened near my office and my husband's office. Rather than travel across the harbour bridge twice a day (the ONLY downside of our former, lovely daycare), the Mogrunt and I now drop Daddy off before popping over tot he daycare.  This shortens our drive and decreases our stress levels immensely, as well as puts money back in our pocket.

However, it is another new experience for him and there have been more tears both from him and Mama.

The guilt continues: The old daycare was near the waterfront, where he could see tugboats, ships, trains, cranes, sailboats, and all sorts of activity every day. And every morning we would drive past Theodore Tugboat at his dock and every day the Mogrunt would say, cheerily, "Dood Mornin' Pee-da-pour!"

Now, he's in the industrial park where it's cars, trucks, construction and blah. Granted, his daycare is situated near a lake with a boardwalk around it. And as the area around him isn't over-developed, he will get the pleasure of trees and birds and other wildlife.

I just have to remember that the benefit of having him close by will be more apparent in the winter when I'm not travelling across that bloody bridge in a snowstorm and fighting traffic on icey roads. And, as we'll have more time to play in the evenings, we'll just have to go visit the waterfront on our side of the harbour.

So Bleaklow. I'm trying to feel it less and see the good things in it.

I love this vest. I just wish I had knit it a bit longer. oh, and I also wish I hadn't gained 10 pounds since returning to work.

Tiny parade

It's time for a tiny parade of finished objects.

First the Turn a Square hat by Jared Flood. Ravelled Here

What a satisfying pattern. I kept knitting so that I could see where the colour changes would be. The yarn is Brown Sheep Nature Spun and Noro Kureyon.

Next up, the Simple Yet Effective Shawl by Laura Chau. Ravelled Here

I've had this silk for years and after several unsuccessful attempts, finally found a pattern (or rather, an "unpattern") that suited it. I purchased the yarn at London Wul and don't recall if it ever had a lable. It's lovely, though. And quite resilient, considering the number of times I've knit with it.

Last for now, but certainly not least, my second Balsam by Ilga Leja. This has been finished for quite a while, but this is the first chance I had to get a photo of it. I had the pleasure of knitting a sample of this pattern for Ilga. It's an addictive knit and I really enjoyed making it again. Ravelled here.

Now, in other news, somebody has two teeth:

See? Say, AAAAH, Mogrunt!

And he's not afraid to use them:

and not just on toys. He has taken a liking to his little girlfriend's head! Little C is two months older than him, so she can hold her own, I'm sure. The Mogrunt just gets so excited to see her that he starts making "brrrr, brrr, brrr" noises with his mouth and then he leans in, reaches for her head and tries to NOM it! The first time he did it, all I could think was, "Oh, please, Mogrunt, don't be THAT kid!" He hasn't managed to bite her and I don't think he can get his mouth open wide enough to chew on her head anyway, but it still makes my heart stop a little - even though Little C's mom is laughing too.

My Uterus Does Better Work

While it may seem that I have dropped off the face of the blogosphere, in fact, I have not. I'm still around - lurking through your posts, often smiling at your stories, occasionally commenting, and occasionally forgetting to comment as I run off to change a diaper or rescue a baby who has spent "just enough time, thanks Mama" in his activity gym.

It seems I'm pretty busy these days - who knew that wiping up spit-up could be a full time job? I have become quite adept at anticipating imminent milky messiness. Despite that, I do currently have a big glob of wet on my shoulder right now as the Mogrunt planted a nice glob of cheese-curdy goodness on me before falling asleep.

Back when the Mogrunt was just a fish in my belly, my SIL laughed when I mentioned that I would like to get some knitting done while off on mat leave. She thought I was being unrealistic, but it seems that, despite the amount of time I spend doing laundry, I am managing to meet my own expectations. I wasn't so disillusioned to think that I would be sitting here with the Mogrunt on my lap, just knitting the days away, but having worked as a caregiver to two young girls, I knew that there would be time here and there to get in a few stitches.

It does seem, however, that blogging about those stitches is a harder task. As I said to my husband's family over Thanksgiving dinner - "Our camera used to be filled with photos of knitting - now it's filled with photos of the Mogrunt." My SIL piped up and said, "And those weren't nearly as interesting."

Seems someone is gunning for a lump of coal instead of a handknit stocking this Christmas.

So, in the last 3.5 almost four months, those few meager stitches at a time have turned into:

A totoro hat and a sweet baby cap:

Pattern: Totoro pattern from Hello Yarn.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino DK
Raveled here.

Pattern: Sweet Baby cap is from Gros Blog
Yarn: made with scrap yarn from a blanket a dear friend made for the Mogrunt
Raveled here.

A pair of mittens for the wee man - with plans for a matching hat:

Pattern: from A Kitten Knits
Yarn: Made with bits and bobs of Debbie Bliss Merino Aran and Cashmerino Aran.
Raveled here

Socks for me so that I can match the Mogrunt - we are sock buddies!

Pattern: 3x1 rib with short row heel.
Yarn: Trekking
Raveled here.

My "Alliteration" sweater for the boy,

So called because it is a Cotton Cashmere Cardigan
Pattern: Organza edged Cardigan from Debbie Bliss special knits - obviously, the Mogrunt chose to "butch it up" a little by leaving off the organza.
Raveled here

I've also made significant progress on the Baby Yours sweater:

Pattern: Baby Yours by the Yarn Harlot
Yarn: STR
Raveled here

However, in all of this knitting, the one finished item of which I am most proud is this, the bear that the Mogrunt will be taking with him to University and quite possibly, on his honeymoon:

Pattern: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino
Raveled here

Yes, ladies and gents, it is finally done. The sweater alone was the cause of much ranting and mental compositions of "Dear Designer" letters. It took two and a half hours just to seam the darned thing! (And that's after I had it seamed at the shoulders and realized that I had only done 3 repeats of the garter stitch stripes at the top of one side and 4 on the other. The sweater almost went out the window of the car on the way home from Thanksgiving dinner in the Annapolis Valley.) We won't even talk about the bear itself because I may start to weep.

It took me almost 11 months to make this bear with my own two hands. Yet it only took me nine months to make a baby with my uterus. My uterus as it turns out has fewer fine motor skills than my hands but while that bear is cute, I think my uterus does better work, as evidenced here:

Look out ladies, he's a heart-breaker.

Still hanging in here

I just realized that it's been ages since I posted. This is the start of my third week of "leave" - officially, I'm on vacation right now - and it's amazing to me how quickly the time has gone.

I must say that I am relieved that I finished work when I did. My ankles and feet swell up if I'm on my feet or if I'm sitting with my feet down for very long. My doctor has told me to keep them up as much as possible. I was attempting to do that at the office, but it was very hard.

I find that sitting with my feet up is quite frustrating. I'm so accustomed to being able to do anything and everything on my own, so this stage of waddling, struggling to sit up and cursing every time I drop something on the floor, is definitely NOT my favourite. I knelt down to get something the other day and wasn't sure if I was going to get back up. I thought Mr. Happy was going to come home and find me on the floor! Luckily, I managed to pull myself up.

I've been keeping myself quite busy with knitting! I have to say, if it weren't for knitting, I would have to take up some sort of illicit drug use. How on earth do women who DON'T knit stand going on bed rest? I remember my great aunt Jean telling me about how, when she was on bed rest after surgery, her MIL came to her bedside and taught her how to tat. Aunt Jean knew how to knit, but it was too heavy for her, so if it weren't for the tatting, I think she would have gone stir crazy!


Here are the projects I've been working on:

Gryffindor the Second:

Back when I was optimistic about such things, I bought enough of Brown Sheep Nature Spun to knit TWO Gryffindor scarves. My intent was to knit two scarves for my two nephews for Christmas one year. I finished one.

Cruising through my stash, this winter, I came across the remaining yarn and decided to knit up another - my coworker's daughter is a big HP fan - so I said I'd do it for her, if he wouldn't mind paying for the yarn. He agreed - YAY! Now the yarn can stop taunting me from my stash. I just need to embroider her initials in the scarf and attached the fringe and I'm done!

I took the scarf to KOL last week and was asked if it was a sweater for a snake - the entire scarf is knit in a tube. It seems it also resembles a very long stocking cap:

Soakers:
I've started making soakers (we're going with cloth diapers - woo hoo)

These are made with Peace Fleece that came from a swap. I had about 10 inches left over when I was done.

Once those were done, I started another pair:

This is Custom woolen mills yarn. I'm quite pleased with the amount of yarn in this skein. I'm using a contrasting yarn (Mr. Happy is only a little horrified that it's a coral colour) for the waistband and the cuffs on the legs, but I could have made the entire soaker with the one skein.

I may have to track down more of this yarn as it is affordable and has a nice amount on the skein.

Bib:
After I made the denim pants for the Mogrunt, I had lots of leftover yarn. I used the leftover to make a bib using the instructions in Mason Dixon Knitting (a book recently purchased 2nd hand from Ms. Frozen Extremities - thanks!)

I need to wash this and sew on a button and we're good to go.

My other great aunt, Mary, and my cousin Denise (really my dad's cousin), arrived the other night with two parcels - a gift from them and a gift from Aunt Jean and my grandmother.

The Gift parade:
Auntie Jean knit a beautiful beige blanket for the Mogrunt - I don't have a picture, but trust me, it's gorgeous. Also, in the package were these little booties:

I have to call them to be sure, but I think this is my grandmother's handiwork. They are made out of fleece. Pretty cute, eh?

You may have noticed by now the background in these photos is a quilt. Mr. Happy's cousin, Diane, sent this to us. She bought this quilt either in a Mennonite or an Amish community - I'm not sure which, I'd have to check the card which is upstairs (and we all know about the swollen ankles). It's beautifully made and I love the vintage look about it.

So, I'm still here. Still hanging in. Still building a person.

In Which the Mogrunt is Well and Truly Spoiled

The knitted gifts keep rolling in.

This is from Val:

Isn't it the cutest? She made it from sock yarn scraps. It's very "indy". Mr. Happy and I have been jokingly calling it his "Ernie on LSD" sweater. It's just so funky. I just hope he's not allergic to cats like his mom. (see them on the buttons?)

Now, when the Mogrunt is in a more classic, serene mood, he can wear this little number by Julie:

This is made with 4-ply cotton and will be perfect for cool summer evenings. I think it looks quite nice hanging on the door of the nursery, but I'm sure it will look better on the boy.

When we head to the beach, he'll be wearing this outfit:

Made by: Lisa
Pattern: shorts from denim pants in LMKG; top was her own design.
Yarn: Rowan denim

All I can think of when I look at this photo is the ad in the back of the comic books where the bully is kicking sand at the skinny guy. Charles Atlas, I hope my son doesn't need your help.

This sweater, well, this sweater was knit by his mama:

And this I imagine him wearing with a pair of jeans - hee hee - and Birkenstocks. I used leftover Zara from my stash AND from the Ninja's stash.

He won't, however, be wearing this sock:

...as I gave it away with its mate and another pair to the temp who is working at our office* as the receptionist. She is due in July.

No worries, though - I still have the rest of that ball of Trekking, so I'm sure I can get a pair or two out of it, plus a hat, plus another hat...

And in other news, it seems I have developed some great skills:

(note to self: never wear that shirt in public again - it makes me look like a beach ball.)

*Rather... the office from which I am now officially on leave.

Finishing, finishing, finishing!

It seems like lately, I'm obsessed with finishing projects. Hmmmm, I wonder what ever could be the cause of that?


Example 1: Baby Blanket

Just over 3 years ago I started a blue baby blanket for my cousin's son. It was to be one of TWO blankets as they were expecting twins. The pattern, "Prairie Blanket" from Oat Couture, was lovely.  But somehow, I felt like throwing the entire thing out the back door when I worked on the blanket as the pattern was quite involved and not really a "quick knit".  A quick knit is something you definitely need when making blankets for TWINS!

During the making of this blanket, I visited my cousin's house. His wife took me on a tour of what would be the nursery. Upon opening the closet, I quickly realized that these children would be set for blankets for the REST OF THEIR NATURAL LIVES! It seemed like every lady from their church had knit or crocheted blankets for the twins. (Mind you, there was a lot of acrylic in that closet, but with twins, I'm pretty sure that ease of washing is more important than anything else.)

Seeing that closet was all the incentive I needed to put the blanket in a time out. A time out that lasted up until January, when we discovered that we would be having a boy.

I pulled the blanket out of the basket where it had been gathering dust for 3 years and found my place in the pattern before I changed my mind.

Yarn: Rowan All Seasons Cotton

I'm very happy with this blanket. It does have a bit of a skew in it as my tension has changed, but I'm hoping that it will come out in the wash.

Note:  We will not discuss what wonderful knitted things these children received from their cousin, because stress is not good for the baby.

Example 2: The Kermit Klogs.

I can't even remember when I started these clogs from the Fiber Trends pattern, perhaps in the last year or so.

I do know that it wasn't until I was casting off the SECOND clog that I clued in that the cuff was meant to be folded over and bound off with stitches from the start of the cuff (if that makes sense). The first clog was neatly bound off without being folded and I had already stitched up the seams.

After letting the clogs sit in silence (I think they were silent, they may have been crying in shame) for quite some time, I dug them out and with much determination, managed to find and pull out the ends that had been woven in. Then I bound it off correctly.

Yarn: BSLP - Kiwi

I just have a wee bit of seaming and these puppies are good to go in the washer. I've been calling them the Kermit Klogs. My SIL was here for supper last night and her feet were cold, so she had these on in their un-felted state. She looked like Kermit.


Example 3: Imogen

Last night, my Imogen cardigan became the next victim of my wrath.  Imogen was knit from Handmaiden a kit which I'm not sure they carry now.

Even before getting knocked up, I was not happy with the fit of this sweater. I think I bound off too early on the collar, so it was never quite big enough to overlap comfortably in the front. I probably should have made it a little TEENY bit bigger, but I'm not so nuts that I'm pulling out the entire thing!

After our company left last night, I pulled out the bound off edge and grabbed the ball of leftovers from this cardigan. I'm going to knit about 10 more rows before binding off again. 10... 15.. we'll see where the insanity takes me.


Example 4: Gryffindor Scarf

Now, this may not seem like a "finishing" thing to you, but it is to me. A few years ago I bought enough yarn to make Harry Potter scarves for my nephews. After knitting the first one for B, I realized that perhaps E would rather that his aunt not wither in tears on Christmas Day for having planned to knit TWO ENORMOUS scarves and having not completed them. E got a simple hat that year and later on, I made up for it by knitting him the Skully hat.

Taunting me from the back of my stash, however was all this yarn which was not a scarf, but yet was a scarf. It could be nothing else. And while I could have sold it or traded it, I knew, deep down that the pattern would have to be modified a bit to make the yarn last. You see, there was not quite enough to make the scarf exactly as the pattern stated.

It wasn't until my coworker told me that his daughter was a HUGE fan of HP, and asked if I might be able to knit her a scarf, that I thought, Ok, Let's do this. I needed something to knit on the bus anyway.

Yarn: BS Nature Spun

It may look like a beginning to you, but to me, it's an ending.

Hallelujah, Amen.

Busy, busy world

I feel like a scene in Richard Scarry's "Busy, Busy World". I've been sewing again and even have some knitting to show you.

Two weeks ago I bought the yarn for the Baby's Denim Drawstring Pants (from Last Minute Knitted Gifts). This is how they looked this past Monday:

And this is how they looked on Wednesday:

I just need to knit the drawstring and then wash them to shrink up the length. I'm wondering, though, how much my gauge is off b/c the pattern called for 4 balls of yarn and I only used 3. I'm sure they'll fit him at some point.

Now, I would have been finished these pants much faster, but I felt the need to use up some yarn that had been marinating in the stash. This was my bus knitting (oh heck, the pants were bus knitting too, but they took turns):

It's a Le Slouch by Wendy of Knit and Tonic. This one is significantly more slouchy than the one I knit previously. I haven't even blocked it yet!

Yarn: Araucania Nature Wolle Chunky
Needles: 5.0 and 5.5mm

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon in front of the sewing machine. I've got a pile of flannel and only 15 weeks to go! AAAAAH!

So, I made six burp cloths - all double layers of flannel:

The burp cloths all measure around 14x19 inches - yes inches. I know. I can't help it. I work in both!

And, I made another big blanket - the burp cloth is there for scale:

Today, I'm going to make another big blanket and then get back to knitting on a cotton blanket for the Mogrunt.

*mumbles through a mouth full of twigs* "Did someone say something about nesting?"

Sue's Talk Was a Little Too Late for Me

Yesterday I went to work, but was home by noon. We got a heck of a snowstorm yesterday and the entire city shut down by 4:30pm - even the malls closed. Yes, ladies and gents - the malls. That's when you know the road conditions are bad.

So much has gone on since my last post. First of all, I did finally get to Newfoundland. It was, quite possibly, the WORST LANDING I'VE EVER EXPERIENCED. While I don't fly nearly as often as some of my coworkers, I have had a variety of experiences flying (including torrential downpours, emergency medical landings, turbulence that kept us seated for the entire flight...)

The winds were gusting to 150km/hr in St. John's on the 14th of January... and the pilot had to make a second attempt at the runway because of that. Those of us on the East Coast know that if you need to land anywhere in a windstorm, you want to hope that your pilot regularly flies in and out of St. John's. Those guys know what they are doing. So, while I wasn't too frightened when we were being tossed around like a paper airplane in an electric fan testing facility, I will admit that it wasn't quite like landing on a balmy, calm summer day. Gah!

I was in St. John's for a student conference. When I saw the agenda for the conference, I will admit that I was particularly interested in hearing one speaker: Sue Johanson. Some of you may know her from her American show, "Talk Sex With Sue"... but we Canadians know and love her from the "Sunday Night Sex Show" (please click that link - the photos along are worth it).

Sue captured everyone's attention the moment she walked onto the stage. She holds no punches and tells it like it is. She's frank, matter of fact and funny as heck. Her analogies, gestures and anecdotes had the entire conference room roaring with laughter... and all the while, learning things about our selves that we should have known years ago.

Did I mention that she'll be 79 this year? Oh yessiree - someone's grandma just told all the secrets!

Anyhooooo... the conference was great and the trip home was without incident, thank goodness.


In Baby News:

We had our second ultrasound on the 19th and other than the wee one being wee, all is well.

I'm only 5'1.25" and come from a family that makes not only small babies, but small people. We did have a few rather stressful days worrying about what the doctor at the FAS clinic told us, but we tried not to worry until we talked to the OB about it... a whole ten days later. Our OB told us that she is 99.9% sure that the baby is fine. We both felt like we were walking on air after that appointment.

Backtracking: We told the nurse at the U/S clinic that we didn't want to know what sex the baby was, but if it was obvious, then we probably wouldn't miss it. We do know the sex b/c a certain someone wasn't being very shy. But you'll have to wait for the next post. And if you already know, try not to shout it from the rooftops. Mr. Happy and I figured that we are incredibly bad at keeping secrets, so we decided to tell everyone the sex of the baby in advance. Plus, this guarantees that we won't get a deluge of neutral coloured things. Which isn't always a bad thing, but it's kind of nice knowing.

For those who are curious about the bump progress - here is a photo from 20 weeks + 1 day. I'll be 22 weeks on Friday.

(In case you're wondering, the shirt I'm wearing has dogs on it - it's the "Fairy Dogmother" shirt from "The Fleas Knees Tees" - given to me by my two favourite chihuahuas and the lovely lady who keeps them in kibble.

It's getting really hard to get out of bed in the morning b/c there is a 6:30am, by invitation only, party going on in my belly every day. The Mogrunt was moving the furniture back so he could dance. In fact, he tends to have parties when I'm at my desk. It's quiet awkward, explaining to my boss where the music is coming from.


In Knitting News:

I don't know if it is some sort of deranged nesting instinct or not, but I've been on a sock bender. Specifically, knitting socks for Mr. Happy. I think it's because I know that knitting for him might go by the wayside when the Mogrunt appears. The poor soul only had two pairs of wife-knit socks and as it has been quite cold out, and as I had the yarn, I decided to knit him a couple pairs of socks.

He has size 11.5 feet, so I pulled out the Opal 6-ply and had at it:

First up - orange.

Currently on the needles? Another pair of Opal 6-ply, but self-patterning. I do believe that I picked up both of these balls of yarn at Tangled Skeins' Boxing Day sale in 2007. Yoi. I would like to get a ball of chocolate brown to make him a pair of socks with orange toes & heels... but I haven't seen any locally.

I'm also working on a tiny teddy bear for the Mogrunt. It's the bear from Debbie Bliss' Baby Cashmerino book. Here's a ravelry link.

I don't have a photo to share right now as I can't seem to get my act together to take photos when the sun is shining.

Another bit of knitting that I wanted to share isn't something I made myself. It is, in fact, something my grandmother made. A couple years ago, I gave her the pattern for Catherine Vardy's felted mitts. In speaking with my cousin at Christmas time, it turns out that Catherine was a classmate of hers at Kings College in Halifax. Sing it with me - "It's a small world!"

Anyhooooo - Grammy loves this pattern and has made several pairs of mitts from it. I've made a few pairs myself, but never a pair for myself.

These are now my favourite mitts of all time. They are super warm. They kept my fingers toasty while I was walking around Signal Hill in the -27C windchill (at ground level - I'm sure it was more like -40C on top of the hill).

That's all for now!

knitknitknitknitknit

Someone has had a severe cast of startitis lately. It seems to have been brought on by an acute case of FINISHING!

Wild Wood
Pattern: Beech Wood by Ilga Leja
Yarn: Handmaiden 4-ply cashmere
Rest of Info: here on Ravelry

It's kind of a wild colourway, that's why I chose to call it Wild Wood. It does, however, look quite nice on, particularly with a jean jacket or a dark coat or...

Huhn.

Moving on, apparently the yarn smells nice too:

I had started this wee sweater when Mrs. Yes was pregnant with Gabriel. I do believe he is 17 months old now. It seemed like I had a mental block when it came to sewing on the buttons and seaming the pocket:

Pattern: Baseball T from Knit 2 Together
Yarn: Rowan Wool Cotton
Needles: I haven't the foggiest. Check Ravelry.

I appear to have gotten over the block. Isn't it cute? Into the gift stash it goes.

Aside: I think it's safe to say that I am going to attempt to take all of my knitting photos in the early morning when the light looks so nice on Mrs. Adjustoform.

As these two items were finished, I promptly pulled out the needles and cast on for the following:

1. A baby sweater from a vintage pattern(as previously discussed):

2. A pair of baby socks with leftover STR:

I cast on for these b/c I wanted to try out my new needles as well as knit up some of my leftover sock yarn.

3. I did cast on for socks for my niece with the new Lana Grossa. (no photo yet)

4. And I am about 2/3 done with a super-secret project. This top secret project can be found on Ravelry. If your name is Becca, and you are pregnant with a child due in December, tough luck, chickie, b/c you don't have a Ravelry password, so you can't peek at this project. (Um, that being said, you should probably avoid cruising Flickr, unless you want to spoil the surprise.)

Let's not talk about the projects gathering dust in my knitting basket, ok? Ok, it will be our little secret.