You may say that I'm a dreamer...

and in this particular dream, I probably am the only one.

I am seeing an old friend next weekend, who's visiting from CA to show off her new baby. I just got it into my head to knit something. I also have a baby shower on Sunday and was toying with the idea of whipping out a little hat or something.

I am also the full-time caretaker for three small children, including one who insists on being strapped onto my body 90% of the time and when she's not on me, she's well, nursing.

Do I have time to do this? No. No, I don't. But I BY GOD am going to give it a try!!

Still here!

I'm still alive, just swamped by summer fun! The boys have been doing swim lessons at our local beach (less than a 1/2 mile from our house) and loving it! Well, DS2 took some bribing positive reinforcement to get into the water but once he was in, he did great! It definitely takes a lot of time though. It's good to get out of the house. I'm a better parent when I'm not at home. I worry a bit about having DD out in the hot morning so much, but I think she's fine. We've also been spending time with family, and yesterday we went blueberry picking! Today I need to bake something (after DH goes to the store for flour).

Knitting...ah yes, knitting. I'm still plugging away on BYOB. I'm in the openwork section, and it's going fine. I've managed not to screw it up (yet). My green stripy sock is languishing, which is terrible, because I'm only about 10 rounds away from turning the heel, and then it's just KNITTING. Oh well, I'm not wearing socks much right now, so maybe I'll be more motivated in the Fall.

I'm hoping to go to knitting at the library next Tuesday, but I'm getting my HAIR CUT (YAY!!!!) at 6:30, so I need to figure out the logistics of it. Maybe I can pump and DH can give DD a bottle, how cool would that be??

And, just because I can't resist, here's my baby!!

I am so weak.

(And not just because I just ate a large number of Trader Joe's Crispy Crunchy mini-Chocolate Chip Cookies. I think they might have crack in them. Think of the appropriate number of cookies that one might eat before 10 am on a beautiful Friday morning, and then add, oh, 25 or so to that number, and you'll have the amount I just ate. And they were delicious, thanks.)

No, I am weak because yesterday I took the boys KIDS (I don't just have boys anymore, I have KIDS) to Michael's to get beads to make DH necklaces for Father's Day (which DS1 got so excited about, he had to give DH his "valentine's present" as soon as he got home last night). Our New Local Michael's (NLM) is HUGE, much bigger than our Old Local Michael's (OLM), and has, among other things, a very large jewelry making section. I somehow ended up with some things for making stitch markers, not that I need more, but whatever. And then we *somehow* managed to make our way into the yarn section. *innocent look* Somehow 4 balls of this managed to leap into my sleeping daughter's car seat (2 lime, 1 charcoal, 1 berry) and come home with us. What's a woman to do, but cast-on this? I'm actually envisioning it as a travel knitting bag, we'll see what happens though.

I gotta say, I really like the Cotton Ease. It's very soft, not splitty, and nice to work with. It reminds me of the GGH Samoa that I did the pea pod hat out of, but not quite as thick (I think, I may not be remembering correctly). I really liked that yarn too. As I've said before, I am not a yarn snob, and have no problem working with non-natural fibers, as long as they *feel* nice, you know? And this is machine washable and dryable. I'll probably be ordering some so I can get the colors I want.

I can't believe I'm knitting. That makes me very happy. I did find that I'm not (yet) able to knit and nurse DD at the same time (though I did manage to get a diaper on DS2 while nursing DD the other day, which was a multitasking high point for me).

Inspiration is percolating.

So, there's that sweater that I want to knit.

And then I was roaming around on elann.com and getting some inspiration.

Then I heard that the Summer Knitty was up. And that led me back to Blue Moon Fiber Arts, where I go periodically to drool, though I've yet to actually order anything from them. I will though. Rest assured.

And I always enjoy my romps through KnitPicks. I'm still trying to find THE right lace shawl pattern. There are just so many considerations and things to learn!

It's not like I really have the time (or brain power) right now to do anything complicated. I *must* finish the socks I've got going before I can start anything new. When those are done, I'll have NO projects on needles (a state that cannot continue) and then I'll pick something new.

Uh oh, crying baby, so much for thinking about knitting! And I really should get some sleep.

I want to knit this sweater!

Link here.
Isn't it pretty?
I've never done a sweater for myself because most of them involve things like actually doing a gauge swatch and seaming and whatnot, things I'm not that into. But I *love* this sweater!! It's going on my list.

Whoops! Sorry about the last post!

Well, I'm not sorry about the post, I just didn't mean to post such a downer and then disappear for a while.

Things are actually going pretty well. DD is not so yellow anymore. We'll see on Thursday how she's doing on the gaining weight thing. I know she's getting lots of food because she's nursing a lot and we had Poop-A-Thon 2008 this afternoon (good times!!). She also has a cold, poor bub. She's quite possibly the most wonderful baby ever, and she has this truly amazing characteristic that neither of the boys had: she lets you PUT HER DOWN. Now I just have to, well, do that. I love holding her, but man, my back is aching.

We've been on our own for about a week now, and it's actually going well. I can manage the kids, but not so much the house/cleaning/cooking part of it. Though, to be honest, that's never actually been my strength. I sort of wish I were really wealthy because then we'd hire someone to come and clean, and that would be really cool. Except that I'd still have to pick up all the crap that's lying around so someone COULD come and clean, wouldn't I?

Oh, did I mention that I'm now truly, 100% a suburban housewife? We now have (a) the house in the 'burbs, (b) the many, many children, (c) the minivan and as of today, (d) the stand-alone freezer in the basement! Can I just say that I lay awake last night thinking of what I'm going to fill it with, and it's not even ice cream! Whoa.

There was a neighborhood association party on Sunday and I saw two of the women from my knitting group there. :) It was really cool to actually have people that I sort of know to run in to, you know? And one of then gave me nine tomato plants, so that was even cooler. AND, my MIL found the green sock (it was tucked in with some sewing stuff), so that's a happy thing. So, at this point, I have the green stripy sock to do, and Falling Leaves #2 to start. I have so much great sock yarn, which I reacquainted myself with when I reorg'd my stash, but I fear that all I am capable off right now is stockinette. At least I'd have some pretty socks at the end, right?

The other day I had DD in her hat that I knit her, tucked into her carseat with her blanket that I knit her around her so all you could see was her (completely adorable) face, and my husband looked at her and said "Someone who knits loves this baby." So true.

AGAIN with the no knitting content.

DD is 9 days old. She is jaundiced, not gaining weight appropriately (she actually lost weight from two days ago), and had to be readmitted for a couple of days of baking under the lights. Our ped is making noises of concern - he's not freaking out, but we'll be in every day this weekend for weight checks, and rechecking her bilirubin, and I am just hoping to avoid rehospitalization (again).

She's an incredibly sweet baby, but I have to say, the transition to three kids (OH MY GOD, I HAVE THREE CHILDREN) has been a tad...rocky. DS2 is having a particularly hard time. He's incredibly sweet with her, but man oh man is he fragile. We're supposed to go to a birthday party tomorrow, I have yet to purchase the gifts (a double party), and I'm now running a fever too.

I don't think I'm drowning, yet, but I do think I need to just have a big fat cry, but I've got guests and no space in which to do it. I am well aware that a lot of this is just the post-partum hormone crash, and this too shall pass, but dude. I'd sort of forgotten how hard these first few weeks are.

And I can't find one of my sock projects and I'm freaking out that I lost it because I thought I took it to the hospital but it's not in that bag. I haven't actually been able to get it together to, you know, LOOK for it, which might help, so all I'm doing is feeling anxious.

Blah. Sorry for the downer post, it's really all okay.

FO: The Fruits of My Labors

Baby #3, hereafter to be known as DD. Born May 14 at 4:01 pm, 7 lbs 13 ozs., 21" long.

My heart is full.

Not knitting, but progress!!

My yarn/tools/knitting stuff organization (or lack thereof) has been making me crazy for, oh ages, and even after moving, it hadn't improved. I have many different bins, overflowing with random printouts of patterns, yarn, plastic baggies with stuff or leftover yarn in it...I've been looking for different things lately. I'd get a thought of "wait, didn't I have THAT yarn?" and my OCD wouldn't allow me to let it go, I *had* to search through everything and find whatever it was that had crossed my mind. My knitting needles were all over the place, and it was just annoying!

So, today, I pulled out all the various boxes and bins of stuff, and dumped them out and reorg'd! Now I have one big bin of kitchen cloth yarn and kid-related yarn, one big bin of other misc. yarn and left over yarn, two smaller bins of sock yarn (I had to admit that I'd gone beyond the one), a bin of tools, and a bin of random papers/books/patterns. My energy didn't extend to actually sorting those, but at least now they're all in one place. All my needles are together. I ripped out some lingering projects (the damn Berroco Boho scarf which had FALLEN OFF the needles because the yarn is so slick; the Jaywalkers (whoa, looks like it's no longer available on the web, that link is to the Ravelry pattern) that were just never gonna fit). I also have a basket of current stuff, and another bin of "next on the list" projects: a dishcloth (because I have such a ridiculous amount of kitchen cotton), a cable hat for DH, and a hat for the Froggie.

In other news, I've had the joy of (attempting) to teach a couple of folks to knit. One is the 6 year old daughter of a friend (my older son has the world's biggest crush on this wonderful little girl). I got some advice and gave it a try - she did great! She actually sat with me for a good 45 minutes, and seemed to get the knit stitch. We'll see if she sticks with it. Apparently at her school, once a week during recess there is a knitting club, and she's been wanting to go, but since she didn't know at all how to knit, she was too shy.

The other was even more fun, one of my dearest friends in the world (J) was on bedrest for a couple of weeks (knock wood that she stays pregnant a few more weeks), so I forced her to learn offered to teach her to knit. She seemed to really enjoy it, and has been knitting some wonderful swatches. When DS2 and I went to visit her yesterday, I showed up with a small bin of kitchen cotton (even though cotton is harder to work with, I think dishcloths are some good first projects), and she commented "That's a lot of yarn!" I started laughing and thought "You should see the rest of my stash" (which really isn't that big, compared to some!). I'm hoping she'll get addicted and then we can be knitting buddies as well as friends!

And in other OTHER news...we had an ultrasound on Thursday, and everything looks good (still no penis in evidence). I'm starting to dilate and efface, for whatever that's worth (something? nothing? who the hell knows). And, this came to live with us today:

Stepping into New Territory

In more ways than one.

In non-knitting life news, many good things have happened. We sold our condo, so we're now down to one mortgage and one HELOC, and hopefully by tomorrow the condo check will have cleared, so we'll only have one mortgage! Hooray! It's amazing, this has been one of those situations that I didn't even realize how stressful it was, until that stress was lifted. We've had both the euphoria and the post-euphoria crabbiness, so hopefully we'll head into more calm waters now. I also have filled (signed contracts and deposits) my son's coop nursery school classes for next year, which has also been a BIG THING hanging over me. Phew! He's got about 5 more weeks of school and then we're done with all the commuting into Cambridge. We also have about a month before #3 shows up, and we bought a minivan. Yikes.

In knitting news...I finished the Double Braided Cable Scarf. I want to write up the pattern and post it somewhere, in case anyone ever wants to do one! Okay, perhaps finished is the wrong term. I've completed the knitting. I have to weave in the end (not too many) and then...BLOCK IT. I have to confess, I have never blocked anything in my life. I've only knit kid's sweaters, and most of them out of acrylic (I know, the shame of it), which can't be blocked. This scarf, even with the garter stitch edge, is still really pulling in, and I think(?) blocking it would help. The issue is, because it's a new skill set for me, I'm scared to start. I need to do some reading and figure out what I need to do, and how to do it. More on that as I have information.

I told DH that the scarf was really for him, and he got very very happy about it. I'm planning some sort of hat to go with. I can't decide if I want to do a cable hat, even though the cables won't match, or just do a plain watch cap type thing for him. I could just ask him what he'd like, I suppose. (Note: he said "Cable that's different.") I had a nice pattern for the Irish Hiking Hat somewhere (still owe my BIL a remake of that too), so I could do that fairly quickly.

The exciting thing is that this gets me down to TWO projects on needles (plus the "coming home from the hospital" hat that I want to churn out for the Froggie). Both are socks. One is a very vanilla stockinette sock, toe up. I'm almost ready to turn the heel, which is very exciting. The other is Falling Leaves #2, which my son pulled the needle out of, so I need to just start it over.

I also think that nesting may be kicking in because I came very, very close to pulling ALL of my knitting stuff (which is waaaay disorganized) out of the closet and organizing it today. I'd love to do it, maybe next weekend, I won't have time until then.

All sorts of great stuff coming up. DS2 turns 3 (THREE! How did this happen??) on Wednesday. This weekend we're having our 2nd annual Mother's Day Brunch with some friends, out here at the house, so I assume Saturday will be spent cleaning. OH and picking up our new car!! The following weekend is DS2's party, with family and some friends, yay! Since I'll be 38 weeks pg (which happens to be when I actually delivered DS2), we're doing way simple: cake and ice cream cups. It looks like we'll be having either my mom or MIL with us from DS2's party until the birth. Given how much driving I have to do for DS1 right now (150 miles a week), I'm a tad nervous about being alone in the car with the kids, so I think we may call upon our support system to help us out. (I will admit that I'm hoping the Froggie shows up early.) So, all this means, probably not much time for knitting!

ARRGH!!!!

I just made a stupid, stupid mistake on the thing I am sewing, and ruined it. Luckily, I have half the fabric left and can start over but GRRR. I was cutting and just didn't notice that I was doing it ass-backwards!!!

As I just said to my husband (before I even made this error), sewing teaches me a lot about patience and imperfection.

And for a knitting arrgh, my son pulled the needle out of Falling Leaves sock 2. Luckily I hadn't even finished the toe, so I can rip it and start over, but another argh. Green stripy sock #2 is coming along, almost ready to turn the heel.

I have not abandoned you, o my blog!

I just seem to have abandoned knitting.

No, not really, but it sort of feels that way!

I finished the two blankets: the one for the new baby and a smaller blankie for DS2. Neither were particularly interesting, though I should take some done shots. Then, I haven't done anything. Well, that's not true, lots of life stuff, much more driving than I wish, we did some more unpacking with the house, weekends have been packed and busy, so life is really good, but I'm just not feeling the knitting love. The closest I've gotten to knitting is to (a) transfer my knitting stuff from piles and a shopping bag to a pretty basket in the living room and (b) carry around the green stripey sock but not actually work on it.

However, I did have knitting night at the library last night!! I had forgotten until 10 minutes before, and actually motivated myself to go! I can only go to one meeting a month right now, though once I'm no longer on the board of DS1's school, I can go to both meetings, and I plan to! I got there just as it was starting, and reintroduced myself to everyone. I did an entire cable repeat on the cable scarf, and it looks like I'm 1-2 repeats away from finishing, depending on how long I want this to be. It'll need to be blocked, which will be a first for me. I assume you can block super-wash wool, yes? I am so glad I went, and am just feeling happy about being a member of this community.

So, that's it. I've got some sewing projects on the map at the moment: two baby pouches, and I'm debating fabrics for another MT carrier as well. I so shouldn't be ordering anything, but I've got some money saved for a new carrier and I think I'm going to get something really fun and funky. VERY excited!

Blah

I've got the blahs right now.

I'm doing a whole bunch of knit-knit-knit projects: two baby blankets and a stockinette sock. While that's pretty much all I'm capable of at the moment, it's kinda...boring. I have made a vow to finish everything on needles before (a) I can do some sewing projects that are calling to me and (b) I start anything new. Besides the above, there's also a cable scarf and a lace sock that need completion. I'd love to have them done BEFORE the Froggie shows up, but that might be unlikely.

I am going to my parents' house this weekend withOUT the family, and I plan to sit around and knit. And process my dad's bypass surgery as needed, of course. And sleep. I want to sleep a lot. It turns out I'm anemic, which may account for my bone-crushing lethargy of late. I can do what needs to be done, but everything else is falling by the wayside. Like returning phone calls and emails to friends.

Am I allowed to talk about non-knitting crafty stuff here? I've got fabric to make two pouches, and I'm now drooling over some fabric for a mei tai (my baby carrier of choice). Can you tell I'm going to have a baby in a couple of months? :) Oh my god. That's coming up!

Knitting Night

The town we moved to seems to have an actual small knitting culture. There's a real LYS, which seems lovely, and there's a twice-a-month knitting group at the library. I got myself together and went this week. I am *so* glad I did. There were 8 women total, age ranging from me (late 30s) to probably late 60s (maybe early 70s?). The women clearly all knew each other well, but also were very friendly and welcoming. They clearly also have lots of gossip knowledge about the town. There were socks, sweaters, scarves, and a crocheted vest in process. I got the toe finished on my 2nd green stripey sock and started the foot. It was so nice to have a chance just to sit and knit without worrying about someone needing something (I even forgot to bring my cell phone!!), and to be in the company of women (knitting). Sadly, one of the meetings is on the first Wednesday of the month, so until we're done with preschool, I can't make that one because I have board meetings. But I can do the Tuesdays and once we're done with the preschool, I can go to both, and I plan to.

It was definitely moving me out of my comfort zone. I'm pretty social, but it's always hard to walk into a new group. Building a new life in a new place is hard, but the wonderful thing is that I feel like there really is a big life here for me/us, it's just going to take time to build it.

Another FO!

Okay, so TECHNICALLY this isn't, you know, KNITTING, but whatever. I can be cognitively flexible if you can! No really, I can. NO REALLY. Stop laughing. Anyway, moving on.

I bought the fabric for this a couple of days ago, along with fabric for some other projects and today I busted out the sewing machine. The thing about me and crafting is that I sometimes have more enthusiasm than skill. Which is, as I think about, quite a preferable state in some ways to the reverse, right? I only get in trouble when my perfectionism kicks in, and I've spent years in therapy to work on that personality trait.

So this is a blanket for the new baby. The reason I had to get this panel was because when we were at our first u/s for this baby, we had DS2 with us. DH asked him "so, do you think it's going to be a baby sister or a baby brother?" DS2 answered with great authority, "I think it's going to be a FROG!" So, the froggie it is. I thought this panel was adorable without being to cloyingly cutsie (I like sweet, I loathe saccharine). The backing is some sort of plushy fabric (I'm sure it's totally polyester) with little raised hearts on it - borderline for me, but the color worked and it's so soft, so I went for it. The panel was ridiculously expensive, but I sort of had to splurge on it. It's from Joann, which had a surprisingly good selection of cute and not hideous (and not character) kids' fabrics. I feel the urge to sew some flannel blankets for donation. I wish I had serger!!! Maybe I'll save my pennies.

This blanket is definitely not perfect. When I wash and dried the panel, not all of the blocks in the quilting shrank/tightened up evenly, so it went from being flat to puckering. Oh well. Nothing I can do about that. Also, I won't use that same fabric as a backing again, I will definitely use flannel. This one had some stretch to it, and I'm just not an experienced enough sewer yet to do a really good job of backing a non-stretch fabric with a stretch one (or pairing to stretch fabrics, really). My top-stitching isn't perfectly straight, but I did an okay job in this, except I missed the part where I had to catch the edges for the hole I left to turn the work right-side out, so I had to hand-stitch an extra little seam there. It's almost invisible, and DH kept reminding me that the Froggie won't notice, or care. Whate matters is that I made it, and it's pretty cute. And it's done. In a day, no less!

Another FO!

I guess it counts as an FO as I haven't decided if I'm actually going to block it or not. I finished the baby sweater that I talked about here. I ended up doing the cuffs and bands in the purple Tahki Cotton Classic, and I think it works really nicely. I wanted the buttons to contrast, and I think the pink and green are cute. I couldn't decide which ones I liked better, so I went with both!

It's *definitely* not perfect. I put the bottom button on a tad too low, and I am too tired to fix it at the moment, and honestly, I probably never will. The top button hole is really loose for some reason, and I have no idea how to fix it. I just went with simple yo/k2tog buttonholes since these buttons are really small. I am not sure if I picked up too many stitches for the button bads, but I think they're fine. Since I watched the video at knitting help, I found the actual picking up of stitches not so hard, but the whole "pick up 3 stitches for every 4 rows" thing baffled me. There are some other imperfections but overall, I think it's cute, and hopefully this baby will actually turn out to be a girl, so she can wear it. At this point, I'll be honest and admit that I really just don't like knitting sweaters all that much. I am sure that makes me weird, but that's okay! I'm sorta used to it by now.

One other frustration is that my son spilled tea on the coffee table and a little got on the sweater, so I need to pour some boiling water on it and see if it comes out or not. I am not in the mood to do it tonight. Mostly I am just thrilled to have another project (particalrly this one since it was a distraction project anyway!) off needles!!

I really really need to do some NICU knitting, or do something for donation - my soul needs a boost.

A FO with a PICTURE!!

Can you believe it? I found the cord for the camera (it was actually already hooked up to my computer, I don' t know when DH did that!). So, here's at least ONE small sample of what I've been up to.


This was made as a donation for my son's preschool silent auction (this was last year's endeavor). These were knit using Tahki Cotton Classic, no pattern, I just sort of winged them. They were knit using my KnitPicks Options (what else) size 5 needles, magic loop. This is actually the second hat - the first I cast on 72 stitches, which gave me a hat circumference of 12" (I was getting 6 sts/inch), which will work on a very new baby, but not for long. So I redid it with a cast on of 80 sts. I can't remember the length I knit to, about 7"? Then I did decreases starting on 8, every round. I thought it was cute as is, so no i-cord. The socks are 32 stitches, 2x2 rib for the cuffs (about 3.5 inches in length), short-row heel, knit the foot to approx. 3 inches, then the decreases every other row (4/decrease row), and a grafted toe. Very simple and easy, and I had to squeal several times at the cuteness. Can you tell I have baby girls on the brain? :) I may have to bid on them myself.

In other news, because what I really need to be doing is starting a new project, I, um, started something new. DS2 has requested a "green blankie" so we went to Joann's and picked out some Lion Big Fat Chenille (that's not what it's called but I am too lazy at the moment to look it up). He picked the color "basil," which is really pretty. I'm not certain about the yarn, in terms of quality, and how well it will wash, but it was easily available and it's VERY soft and cuddly. At first I was going to crochet something, but I'm not a great crocheter and this yarn is so not a good yarn for a novice crocheter (too fluffy to see what you're doing). Then I just cast on a bunch of stitches and did a random pattern but I didn't like it. So I'm doing YET ANOTHER diagonal eyelet-edged blanket. I've only done a few rows, but I think I'm going to frog it and start over with a slip-stitch edge as I just like that better than the straight garter-stitch edge. I bought two skeins of the yarn, so we'll see how big the thing ends up. It's a snuggly blankie, not an actual "cover you you up and keep you warm while you sleep" blankie, so I don't think it truly matters. But yeah, another garter-stitch blanket. Ah well, they're good zoning out projects.

I also started the second Falling Leaves lace sock. I've not even got the toe done, so I don't feel like I'm in a groove with it. But, I'm in desperate need of socks.

I read somewhere of one knitter's plan to end 2008 without a stash. I so could not do this (my knitting time is so limited) but I think it's a cool idea to try! I can't afford anything right now ayway, and in about 3 months, my knitting time is going to be severely curtailed.

OH! I forgot to mention, I found out that there's an actual real-life yarn store in my new town! AND there's a knitting group at the library, twice a month! If this town had a coffee shop, I think it would be perfect.

Oh my god, it's been a MONTH.

I can't believe I've let so much time go by since updating! Sorry!!

I think it's because I actually have some pictures I want to post, but I haven't gotten them off the camera yet. So, this will be a quick update on the knitting (and life too) and I'll try and get pictures up soon, because really, a knitting blog without pictures is actually sort of boring. And, I've actually been doing a lot of knitting!

I finished something! I did a baby hat and socks for my son's nursery school silent auction fund raiser thing. They came out, IMO, so adorably that I had to squeal just a teeny, tiny bit.

I am closing in on the home stretch of a baby sweater too. This one was kind of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants sort of project. I had about 1 1/3 skeins of Plymouth Yarn Fantasy Naturale. In looking at the color card, I'm guessing I'm using 9490, which is a pink/aqua/blue-lavender/white multi. I was enamored of this yarn, but now that I've knit a whole sweater with it, I'm sort of over that. It's a bit splitty and rough. I did a top-down, raglan cardigan (this pattern, to be specific). In my usual way, I didn't swatch, and for some reason decided to knit the whole thing on 6s instead of 8s (to make it closer to newborn size? That might have been my rationale). It's pretty small! I was also fairly sure that I wasn't going to have enough yarn, but I just did it anyway. Yay me! I ended up having enough yarn for the body and sleeves. I was at Spark alone on Saturday (totally random moment to myself), and found some Tahki Cotton Classic in three different colors that I thought might work for a contrasting trim. I am not usually the most visual of people, so I was SHOCKED when ALL THREE coordinated beautifully! I picked out two teal/aquas (one lighter, one darker) and a blue-lavender that I thought might work. IT TOTALLY DID! I chose that one, as I'm less of an aqua fan, personally. So, I've done the bottom band, the cuffs, and the neck band so far, and it's quite cute. It's only going to fit this baby for about 30 seconds, but that's okay, I'm having fun. I still have the button band to pick up and knit, and I've got to find good buttons. I foresee a trip to Windsor Button in my near future, once I get the bands done.

Some thoughts. You might note that the Fantasy Naturale and the Cotton Classic are totally different weights. I also noted that, and just chose not to drop down the recommended 2 needle sizes, and I think it works. I don't really like knitting sweaters all that much. I think I prefer knitting things where the whole size pressure isn't so great. I can't imagine making a sweater for myself. Given that I swore I wouldn't do lace, and here I am planning to do a lace shawl, I'm not sure how much weight to give that statement, so take it for what it's worth. I also really really hate picking up stitches. In part this is because I don't *really* know how to do it, and I tend not to like things that make me feel, you know, incompetent. The knitting help video did help in this process. My next baby sweater is definitely going to have an integrated button band, like this one.

In other knitting news...well, I'm just plugging away on the blanket too. I really want to get a lot of stuff done soone, so I can get back to SOCKS SOCKS SOCKS. I've had to throw out three pairs of (machine made) socks recently, so I'm really getting low. I think I need to just do some basic stockinette socks, so I will have something to wear.

In non-knitting news, the new house is awesome (and feeling more like HOME and less like "the new house"), though I have no idea how I'm going to keep it clean. Our condo is on the market (*crosses fingers*). Commuting to Cambridge is a pain, but it's nice to have a chance to keep in touch with people. I have a feeling that once we're not going in for DS1's preschool anymore, we really won't be going in much. Pregnancy is progressing. I popped a couple of weeks ago, and all of a sudden I'm really looking pregnant. I also started seeing a chiropractor a couple of weeks ago, so I'm no longer in agony, limping all over the place. That's a good thing. I still need to find a dentist, a local pediatrician, a vet, etc., but at least my back doesn't hurt anymore.

Okay, I'm off to take a bath and go to bed. No knitting for me tonight.

Because this IS what I need to be doing right now.

I started a new project. A baby sweater. This is foolish for a number of reasons. I have lots of projects going or needing to go already. Then there's the whole, I'm really not sure if I have enough of the yarn to make this sweater. I have 1 full skein (100 grams) plus another 33 grams. The yarn is Fantasy Naturale by Plymouth Yarns, in 9490. I am currently OBSESSED with this yarh. I want to knit many things from this yarn. I love it. I am planning on ordering some skeins of 9701 from Patternworks. I haven't decided if I want to knit a sweater and hat or a blanket...I am thinking sweater/hat, because it's more likely they'll get done. What do you think? But I digress.

So anyway, I'm really not convinced I have enough of the 9490 to do a whole sweater, so I'm thinking about ordering some coordinating solid to do the sleeves and button band, but which color? The pink looks a little dark, I'm not a big fan of aqua, and they don't have a light lavender, just the lilac which looks to be the wrong purple. Any suggestions? Well, actually the 2576 might work (Patternworks calls it baby blue, but Yarndex calls it Lavender). I could just order a couple of different things and return (HA HA!) the one that doesn't work right?

And, because I'm me and just like to jump blindly into projects without adequate preparation, I am sure the sizing of this is going to be weird. I'm using this pattern, but I'm doing it on 6s instead of 8s for some reason that I cannot adequately articulate but I actually had one. So, perhaps it will be too small? But the Fantasy Naturale is a heavy worsted, so maybe it'll be too big? Well, it'll fit the frog sometime, right? Right!

What does this say about me?

I am dreaming about yarn. And knitting. I've had several of these dreams of late, it's interesting. I am currently obsessing over yarn, and wanting to knit things for the new baby. And crochet blankets. It's odd. I'm not a very good crocheter. I saw a crocheted blanket in a yarn store a long time ago and LOVED it, and cannot for the life of me remember what it looked like. I have learned this lesson, I think. If I am mesmerized by something in a store, I need to acquire the pattern immediately, because I will need to knit it someday. Or crochet it, apparently.

But these dreams. Mainly in them I'm looking at yarn, which is something I like to do, so it's pleasant. The best one though, was the one in which I was sorting my sock yarn stash, and I kept finding pairs of socks I had knit!! It was funny, they were mostly in colors I don't actually like all that much (a lot of brown for example) but I was so psyched! I adore wearing handknit socks, and I don't have that many pairs completed yet, so clearly my subconscious wants me to knit more socks. OR! Hmm. Maybe it's related to the fact that there's a lot of brown in the new house, but I love it here. I don't know!

Still plugging away on the blanket, that's all I got brain for right now.