Baby Knitting

I have finally gotten the buttons on the Presto Chango sweater for baby girl.  I think it looks adorable, particularly the owl panel, and I hope that she will be the right size to wear it this winter.  That is especially questionable since she is behind now (only 14%tile).  This means another trip to the specialist and keeping a very close eye on her, which for me means two doctor's appointments a week with non-stress tests.  It looks like she will come out early rather than late, so we may need to make another trip to Babies 'R' Us to get some preemie clothes.  See what I mean about wondering if she'll be able to wear it or not?  She'll probably be the perfect size once summer rolls around and it is way too hot for wool.

I also have the Baby Surprise Jacket done (in approximately the same size, of course), minus the buttons which I'm not sure I will put on.  I have found I hate sewing the buttons on when I have to create a shank.  The problem is, I really like the look of shankless buttons.  There must be a shortcut...I can't be the only one that dislikes it.  Either that or I will find a set of buttons with shanks that I love.  I may go looking for some next week.

When I was in Seattle, I got some Lamb's Pride yarn for making baby girl's Christmas stocking.  I have started work on that, and it will be my baseline project when I'm not swatching for my next potential design.  I think I'd like to make a shawl, and since gauge doesn't much matter, all I have to do is find a few motifs I really like that fit together and figure out how to make a triangle out of them.  The only think is I can really only swatch one motif a day with the RSI, which makes for some slow going as I am trying to decide what will work with the laceweight yarn.  I've discovered that too many yarnovers don't typically look too good at such a large gauge, so lesson learned.  I'd also really like to make a sweater, but I'm going to need to do a lot more research and figure out what type of sweater to make.  

I've also decided that I need a haircut.  It is almost all the same length now, and just past my shoulders.  It doesn't really get any longer than that because it is either the end of the growth cycle for the hair or the ends get so brittle they break once they get to that point.  It doesn't really matter which it is, because it is not very flattering at this length.  So I'll probably go get a haircut pick me up sometime next week, too.  Since I usually only cut my hair about once every 4-6 months, this is about normal schedule for me.  I'm always happy to have chopped it all off, so I hope that follows for this one as well.  As you can see below, it looks kind of blah.

On a whim to I got some tinted lipgloss because I didn't have a single tube of lipstick in a wearable color (I usually pick outrageously saturated shades, which are beautiful in the tube but not good for my coloring).  I finally picked a color that is super close to my lip color and looks very natural...something for when your lips look more washed out than normal.  Maybe I am finally figuring out what colors look good on me...it has only taken 27 years.  At least I can wear clothing that is color saturated, even if the makeup colors make me look like a clown.

Based on my average posting frequency, I guess we'll have to see if the next post will have a picture of baby girl or not.  We'll have to see how much longer the doctors think she should be in utero.  I do believe we could fill a photo album with her ultrasound pictures, but I am looking forward to seeing her with my own eyes.

Rejoining the World of the Knitting

The house has sold, the move is done (goodbye St Louis, hello Knoxville), and I am officially a stay at home wife, or at least until I become a stay at home mom. I'm just not sure it would be worth finding a job when I think we might be moving in a year or two, with an unknown period of time before the move. So, while I haven't been blogging, I have been knitting:

So
here we have a baby hat loosely based on the umbilical cord hat and matching magic slippers pattern, another hedgehog for our little girl, a gorgeous Aeolian shawl, and the Stella cable cardigan from French Girl Knits.  I think I need to reblock the sweater, since it is a little pointy on the sides, but it should do nicely this winter, especially if the baby belly doesn't recede as quickly as I would like.


Blogger also seems to be doing some odd things with the formatting here, so it is not intentionally odd.


I'm currently working on a BSJ for baby girl, and I need to get buttons on the Presto Chango sweater I made for her with leftovers from the Stella sweater.  I'm also working on a hat concept that I've had in mind for at least a year, and trying to decide what I will do with it once I get a pattern written up.  Should I submit it to a free pattern e-zine, like Knitty?  To a pay-per-pattern e-zine like Twist Collective?  To a traditional magazine like Interweave Knits or Vogue Knitting?  Or should it just be offered on Ravelry as either a free pattern or for sale?  I guess I figure it out after I've got it done.


We had a trip planned to visit Seattle at the end of the May, and it is likely some stash enhancement occured, even though we don't really have the room for it in our townhouse.  (We'll need all the room we can spare for Baby Girl's things.)  The food is really great there as well.  Sometimes I miss living there, but there have been good and bad things about all the places I've lived so far.  We definitely had fun revisiting some old haunts and visiting with a friend still in the area.  It's likely our last big hurrah before Baby Girl is born.


I'll have to write another post including my new stash yarn and hopefully a few baby sweaters with buttons.  We'll see how much more I can finish before the next few weeks!

New Computer=Regular Blogging?

Thanks to the fact we have a new faster computer that doesn't leave me wanting to kick it down the stairs, I hope to become a more regular blogger.

A few personal updates first. Hubby and I are trying to figure out where we really need to be, since there doesn't seem to be any available job opportunities for him in the area right now. Unfortunately (or fortunately, whichever way you see it), I really do like where I work and the people I work with. Boo on highest unemployment rate since I've been born. At least I have a job though.

In knitting notes, it has been long enough that I actually have a decent amount of FO's. I particularly like this shawlette (Fountain Pen Shawl).



Elizabeth Zimmerman's Snail hat is a little silly looking when someone is wearing it, especially when it is bright orange. But I have to admit, it is warm.



I also did a very modified version of the Shopping Tunic, which I have already worn several times. It does require a camisole beneath it, since the armholes are a little gappy. By the way, isn't that just a lovely example of bathroom mirror self-portraiture? Note the artistic angle, which gives it just the right effect.



On the needles now I have Laminaria. I have unfortunately made quite a few mistakes on it, and hope that no one is so bold as to point them out to me if I do decide to wear it. Only about ten more rows to go on this shawlette, and I am not frogging it to go back and fix the mistakes. I can live with them. At least, I hope I can. If not, Laminaria might reappear in a different color later in the blog.

After Laminaria, I'm going to use some fantastic silk yarn to make a neckwarmer. The yarn is from the local weavers guild annual sale and is a lovely watercolor sky blue. Just the thing to spoil oneself. I hope that I can find some fantastic buttons to go along with it as well. If it turns out, I might just write a little pattern for it. We'll have to see.

Now, it is already past my bedtime, so anything else must wait for a later date.