On Cupcakes and Onesies

Want to see my absolute favorite thing about being pregnant?



Cupcakes.

People, I have developed a sweet tooth like you wouldn't believe. I've NEVER had cravings for sugar - EVER, and now I can't get enough. My favorite has definitely been cupcakes. I am beyond thankful that there isn't a Sprinkles or other cupcake bakery near my house, or we'd be in trouble. My mom treated me to this guy after lunch today.

Mom (Nonni, as we are going to call her) had some other surprises for me today:


DMC's outfit to wear home from the hospital, and...


How freaking cool is this. He's going to be a Classic Rock junkie before he can even walk!

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In knitting, I get a big fat FAIL in the Ravelympics this year. I got everything but 1 sleeve and the finishing completed, which is something, but not enough for the win. However I have gotten some of my knitting mojo back, which was one of the intended consequences anyway.

I've been working on this for the babe:


Kid is going to be born in the height of baseball season, so he needs SOMETHING Orange and Black. Full photo once I finish the neck.

12.9.09

The amount of baby knitting going on over here has been unbelievable! And not just for me! It seems like almost everyone we know is busy baking buns. So this is going to be a big FO parade:

Baby Earflap Hat for Baby C (another baby C)

(this was overdue by like oh, 6 months. At least the baby was born in June couldn't wear it anyway)

Denver Baby Sweater for Baby F

This was made entirely from yarn scraps in my leftovers bowl. I see lots of "leftover" sweaters in my future....

Quickie Boy Sweater for Baby C (yet another baby C)

This might be my favorite pattern of all time - it really is super, SUPER fast.

Baby Surprise Sweater for Baby K

When I gave this gift at a friend's baby shower, I was getting grilled about when DH and I would be trying for a little one. A few weeks earlier, my MIL and SIL were at a baby shower and their gift was the 7th one opened, which is supposed to indicate that family would be the next to have a baby. Since SIL is 22 and not married yet, they all were sure it was me. Well, strangely enough it WAS me, but we weren't breaking the news yet. So this came up over and over at this shower, and I just had to laugh and pretend to sip my mimosa (which was really just OJ)

And finally, I did knit a little something for Baby Bean.

Felted Tweed Daisy, For Baby WnN

Since Baby Bean is due in June, s/he will obviously not be covered in handknits for awhile, so this is 6-9 month size.

I'm working on a few other things for the Bean, including a baby blanket and stripey sweater. Since we don't know the gender I'm using a lot of green and brown, which I would probably continue to so anyway. I've abandoned quite a few other projects in lieu of baby knitting, so this kid is going to be well covered.

Rambling Rose

This weekend I did the final finishing (blocking and buttons) on Rambling Rose:



I absolutely adore it, except that it is WAAAYYY too big.



You can't really see it in the photos, but the armholes hang way too low and it's definitely a lot more roomier than needed.


However, have no fear! This is a bit premature, but it’s going straight into my “pregnancy pile” (stuff I’ve shrunk out of since I’ve lost some weight). It’s actually going to be FAB with a baby bump someday.

DETAILS:
Rambling Rose, Interweave Knits Winter 2006
Knit Picks Andean Silk in Chestnut, 11 skeins
Size 6 straight needles
Raveled

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One other small FO to share. Another Quickie Baby Sweater.



DETAILS:
Quickie Baby Sweater, from D-Made
Paton's Classic Merino Wool in Cognac Heather, less than 1 ball
Size 10.5 straight needles
Raveled

I swear almost everyone we know who is married is having kids right now. Luckily, all I needed was a weekend at the cabin, snowed in, to get this finished.

Summer:

Now:

Absinthe, Take One

Saturday night we had our night in with the wormwood, AKA the Absinthe. I made some lobster tails (to DIE for Ginger sauce, btw), grilled some steaks, invited a few friends over, and away we went.



Matt got so creative, that he was actually mixing cocktails with it, courtesy of their website, by the end of the night. I opted for the "Red Fairy"

Mix in shaker:
* 1oz Le Tourment Vert
* 1/2 oz Grenadine (optional)
* 1/2 oz Red Bull
Shake well and strain into a rocks glass or shot glass



Anyhow... I didn't do a dance with any faeries that night like I was secretly hoping for, but it was definitely a different buzz that I have experience before. I'm interested in trying a few more of the recipes and experimenting a bit further.

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And just so this can still qualify as a knitting blog, I will show you how tantalizingly close I am to finishing Thermal:



I just started the cap shaping on my final sleeve - which is all the knitting I have left on this thing. Even with some casual knitting over the next few days, I should have this seamed up and on my body by the 25th. Only a year in the making!

Also, more kiddie stuff:


Heart Sachet from a back issue of Interweave. I needed to make this fast so I made some size mods to accommodate for the larger gauge. Basically, I started on row 5 of each chart, instead of row 1, and modified the number of picked-up stitches to accommodate.

Everyone around me is having kids. Seriously. At least these things go quick!

Quickie

First for some housekeeping: Someone brought to my attention that the link for the Irish Hiking Wristwarmers wasn't working anymore, so I fixed that. You can find the new download here (link will open a .pdf in a new window).

So anyway, I'm on a roll with the FO's:




Quickie Baby Sweater. Completed in about 1.5 days of leisure knitting. If only Thermal went this fast.

Details at Ravelry

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Only 2 days to go until we host our first Thanksgiving at Casa D' W&N. Yup, just a little busy over here.



PS - I still LOVE the boots. Wore them ALL weekend. With black leggings.

A Tale of Frye Boots

I'm working from home today and this is my co-worker:



Whenever I work on website stuff it's so much easier for me to be here because I don't have phones and students and general distractions like I do at the office. I am lucky my boss understands that and I don't have to try and read html code in that environment.

Anyhow, that's not why I'm here today. I'm hear to talk about a milestone in my life. Yeah yeah yeah, I bought the house, got married, etc, but this milestone in some ways is much more important (I hope my husband didn't just read that!)

Ever since college, I've wanted a pair of boots. Not just any boots, but some oh-so-boho-chic Frye Campus boots. All the Socal-casual ladies in Santa Barbara had them. I've lusted over A Friend To Knit With's laced number. Seriously, I've thought about these for like, 8 years. However, being a broke student and then a broke education worker never accomodated for purchasing $280 boots.

Monday morning I get this overwhelming urge to look for them again. I'm sort of a tight-wad (see: I work in Education) but I knew I had the money for them. Still that little voice in my head was screaming "ECONOMY!!! SAVE!!! EKK!!!".

I found a site called Endless shoes that was running a sale (which, sadly, appears to be gone), with free overnight shipping and everything. I had the webpage with those boots open and staring at me all day. I was chatting with Matt about it and about 4pm he was like "BUY THE DAMN BOOTS". So I did.



I got them last night. I put them on instantly. I didn't know it was possible to love a pair of shoes this much.



That, and realizing that I had reached a point in my life where all the years of cutting my own hair and drinking $2-buck chuck had paid off.


(ps - I also have a newfound love for black leggings. I see many nights of leggings and Frye boots this winter)

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On a final note, the Quickie Baby Sweater is awesome. Progress from last night, and should be done today. Why can't all patterns be like this?



Raveled

Adorbs!

One of my dear friends sent me this photo last night of her youngest daughter wearing the sweater I knit for her last year:



I can't wait to have a baby so I can cover her/him in handknits!!!

Stripey Baby Cardi

Stripy Baby Cardi, loosely based on Super-Natural Stripes (mostly for stitch counts and basic construction.)
Size 7 needles
Blue Sky Organic Cotton, 1.5 skeins Natural & .75 skein Nut.
RAVELED



That's all I've got today.

6.4.08

First off, regarding the Ballet Bashing, I pretty much know what I need to do but I am being whiny about it. The increases and decreases I did on the front are what the problem are, so I need to rip them out and re-do them with cast-off/cast on so it's cleaner when I do the single crochet. Someday, but for now:



The work continues on the baby cardi for my husbands friends.



Loving on the macro feature. Yummy, yummy Blue Sky Organic Cotton.

I also found some new yarn that looked interesting at Joann's yesterday: NaturallyCaron.Com Spa, an acrylic-bamboo blend.



I bought 8 balls for 35$. It's also more of a grey (or gray? I can never remember) color than these photos represent.



It's super-soft and has a cabled texture to it. I'm thinking maybe BPT Cardigan or the Central Park Hoodie. I'm too lazy to link those but a quick Google search should suffice.

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Finally, I only took like three photos from our SF trip this weekend, and one this is one of them:



Way to go Delia, take a photo of the scoreboard when your team is getting their as*es handed to them (it's 4-NADA if you can't see it in the photo).

Peace out and Happy Hump Day!

5.29.08

It's Thursday and I'm still on my 3-day weekend hangover. Not a literal hangover from too much wine (although there was a fair amount consumed, none-the-less), but the joy of sleeping and lounging and house fixer-upping that makes coming back to work HARD. But yes, there was celebrating because nothing says "Memorial Day" like:



Yes, the BBQ was on Sunday night, but this was at 1am. And yes, our husbands are 30 (or almost there). Beer pong apparently isn't age discriminant.

In other news that doesn't involve drinking: I am currently LOATHING my Ballet Cami

All the knitting and seaming is done, and it fits, but I can't find an edging that I like AT ALL. Single Crochet looks messy. Pick-up and Bind-off gives a weird seam. I've seriously tried about 15 times and finally just threw it across the room before stamping off to bed. It has defeated me.

However, the hubby asked me to start a project, and how can you say no to that? A good friend of his just had a baby, and he said I should make a little cardi. DUH. I'm obviously a little slow here because I ALWAYS seize the opportunity to make Baby Cardis!



Basic top-down seamless based on f. pea's Super Natural Stripes pattern, with Blue Sky Organic Cotton. I love kiddo sweaters because of the instant gratification. I started it yesterday while I was monitoring the Hole-in-One competition at the Faculty-Staff golf tourney, and am already plugging through the body. Awesome.

Starting 2008 With Finished Knits

This is a little out of order, but then again, my entire thought process is a little whacked out for the time being. Plus, this is the first time I have been out of bed before 7am in like 15 days.

This is one piece of my Holiday knitting that I am particularly proud of:





I am proud of it for a couple reasons:

1) The seaming, finishing, and other minor details turned out perfect (funny how that happens when you are knitting for a stranger)

2) I pretty much made up the entire pattern. I used 1 skein of Not-Charcol-But-Really-Navy Cotton Ease, just over 2 balls of Knit Picks Main Line in Butter Pecan, and size 6 Addi's.

This was a commissoned piece for a co-worker, so I didn't feel so bad breaking my "no-buy yarn" policy before the wedding when this came across my screen. I got enough in color 135 for the Fitted Knits Short Sleeve Cardigan. I couldn't resist - even with shipping it was less than 35$

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Cute Katy Photo:

I got my MOJO back

Matt and I were laying around last night, with the AC and a fan blasting directly on us, lamenting the heat and talking about how we longed for rain and cold and wind and storms so we could lay under piles of blankets in the new house and drink cider.


This will not be happening anytime soon. People, it is as HOT as the face of the SUN around here lately. I know a lot of you out there are going through crap weather as well, but it doens't mean I can't dream...

Plus we've just been so excitied about moving, and the house is just flying along... I think we're going to be in a full month earlier than originally anticipated. Tile and cabinets are done, and the wedding registry is brimming with lots of fun stuff to make this place home. (I'm like a kid in a candy store the the kitchen stuff!)

We've also picked out some pieces of furniture and are starting to sock $$$ away for them. It all feels so grown up and adult-like!

We had our official engagement party last week, and it was one of the sweetest, happiest moments of my life. My [usually very reserved and not so great in front of people] dad gave the greatest speech ever that made everyone cry, and my mom turned it around and made everyone laugh when brought up my infamous quote, "You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you meet your prince" (Hi Priest! Please pretend you didn't hear that!)


Entire set here, if you wish.

All things aside, I've finally got my knitting MOJO back after about a 6 week hiatus. I even have an FO to share, but left my other camera at home with the photos. I'm currently juggling a plateful of WIP's (as if that should surprise anyone who reads this blog), that include Thermal, Sesame, Cobblestone Pullover [from the new Interweave], and a baby cardi:



It's good to be back, people. Just in time for Rowan to finally pull it together.