A Show, a Storm and a Shawl

Last weekend, we took a trip to the Knoxville Auto Show.  We have gone to the auto show every year for the last 3 years, but this was our first time in Knoxville.  It was smaller than the one in St Louis...about a third of the size actually.  But that was fine, because we just wanted to look for a few possibilities for our next vehicle since mine will be 10 years old this year.  The main thing is finding something Eric can fit in comfortably.  This can be difficult when the trend is to be streamlined--it makes the ceilings much lower.  There were a lot of families there, and someone even wanted to take a picture of Evie, which was a little odd.  She might could make it as a baby model!  :)  We forgot to bring our camera, which would have been nice to have to keep track of what we liked.  We'll know better next time, but it was still a fun little outing for us.

Monday we had a scary day weather-wise.  There was a tornado watch or warning in effect most of the day, so I was wishing we had a basement.  It was a little crowded in the first floor half bath, but we ended up all okay and better prepared in case it happens again.

On a happier note, I finally have pictures of the Swallowtail shawl I finished before Christmas.  I had more yarn than I expected near the end, so I did the next to the last chart twice.  It is a nice size and I really like the beading in place of the nupps (which is probably why I had extra yardage).

 

 Have a Happy Weekend!

Suddenly Spring

So all of a sudden it is Spring outside.  It went from being about 30-40 F to 60-70 F in about a week.  Not that I'm not happy about being able to go outside for a walk with Evie again, but I was hoping for a decently wintry photoshoot mid-March.  I guess I just forgot how much earlier it gets warm in the Southeastern US compared to the Midwest.  I'm going to have to get my project done quickly if I'm going to get any shots without everything blooming outside.


On the other hand, I'm totally psyched to get started on another lace project.  It might end up being inspired by a book I recently read: Chalice by Robin McKinley.  It is not my favorite one she has written, but it was still enjoyable.  The presence of honey was pervasive, so well see what I end up with and whether I can find some stitch patterns that will play nicely with one another.


Evie is starting to sit up on her own some.  She babbles a bunch and has started to stick out her tongue at people.  It is amazing how much she can do when she is just 6 months old!  Going from not being able to lift her head or smile at someone to sitting up and laughing at funny faces...wow.  It is amazing how fast they grow.  And isn't she sweet, sitting up on our bed?  Awwwww.  I'll leave you with that.  :)

A shawl and Evie's first Christmas

Evie's first Christmas was sweet...it even snowed for her, which is unusual at my parents house.  Next Christmas will be more fun since she'll have a better idea of what is going on.  It is hard to believe how much she has grown already.  She is my sweetheart.  :)

Well, I have at least one finished object to show for all this time.  Here is the Haruni shawl, in fingering weight Panda Silk.  I love the color...It reminds me of autumn leaves.  The drape of this yarn is great, and I have two more skeins to use for something else.

I have another shawlette, Swallowtail, that still needs blocking.  I finished it before Christmas, but didn't have time to block it before we left.  I switched out the nupps for beads, so I'll have to see how I like it.  I also started a pair of socks.  For my husband.  Who has size 15 feet.  I hope to finish before our wool anniversary in 2014, since it will be an off and on project.  That is a reasonable amount of time so long as I don't forget about it.  Anyway, I don't think they will be complete before Christmas.

I am going to work on knitting down some of my stash this year.  Last year I bought quite a bit more than I knit, and it would be super to make a little more space in the yarn chest.  I in fact got some of my laceweight yarns from Knitpicks long enough ago they only carry two of the colorways I haven't used out of eight or so.  I didn't realize they cycled through colorways as fast as they apparently do.

I'm also going to work on having at least one original design on the needles at all times.  This should get me kick started and designing like I really want to do. 

Pattern Available!

Cabled Bubbles Hat($2.00 US)

This is a written out, round by round pattern. The location of the beginning of the round occasionally changes due to the placement of the cables, so a stitch marker is necessary to keep your place. A cable needle is also recommended unless the knitter feels comfortable cabling without one.

And because it is sized to fit a man, woman or child, it is a perfect knit to keep the whole family warm!

Baby Girl is Here!

Well, after a long labor (thank goodness for epidurals), Evangeline arrived on August 23rd at 4:18pm and weighed 6lb 10oz, just like her mom and dad.  She is now 6 weeks old and I'm not quite as deliriously sleep-deprived as I have been.  She really is adorable.

I was going to go on a little rant about breastfeeding, but I've decided there are enough of those out there and if someone really wants to know our particular story, they can email me about it,  It will suffice to say it is much more difficult than anyone led me to believe.

We also had a lot of trouble sleeping in the first weeks (she wanted to be held 24/7), but we have started cosleeping and that seems to be taking care of most of the issue.

Not much knitting has been done lately, but I figure that is pretty much par for the course.  A little every few days seems to be pretty good right now, since most of my day is feeding Evie and looking at things one-handed on the computer.  Hopefully knitting on a regular basis will return in a few more weeks.

The Perfect Buttons

So, I did end up finding the perfect buttons to go with the BSJ I made.  They are pink, yellow and purple daisies and they match the colors of the sweater like they were meant to go together.  Shankless buttons are so much easier than having to sew your own shanks.

Now that her sweater is complete, it is almost time for baby girl to be here.  I got a haircut to minimize hair maintenance in the first few months.

I do feel like I'm getting pretty close to be totally stretched out.  We have an induction scheduled on Monday (39 weeks, 2 days), so if she doesn't decide an early arrival is the way to go, that will be the day I deliver.  Only a few of my shirts are still long enough to cover the stretch panel in the maternity shorts, but I should be able to hold out a few days longer.  It will be nice when I don't have to worry as much about bumping into things, and bending at the waist will not be something I will take for granted for a long time.

I have also been working on a few knitting projects, but they are originals and I am considering submitting them places, so I'll hold off posting photos of them, at least for a while.  One is in lace weight, one in bulky.  And I've got another idea floating around my head, but I need to do lots of calculations before I get started with it, especially since it will probably take forever with the gauge I am thinking about using.

The summer has been crazy hot this year, and I've spent most of my time in the air conditioning, trying to keep my feet up and the swelling due to pregnancy down.  The petunias sure are loving the heat and humidity though (and I am a rather inattentive gardener).

Big changes are coming up for us starting Monday, and I really hope that I will be able to continue working on knitting and designing things.  I'll certainly not have a lot of brainpower for a little while, so I will be working on our little one's felted stocking...hoorah for stockinette.  She'll get a Christmas tree needle felted onto hers, and hopefully it will be done in plenty of time before Christmas day.  If her stocking gets done soon enough, and I'm not ready for making my own patterns yet, I'll probably start working on Anne Hanson's Sproessling.  I've got my Georgia Peach yarn that I'm probably going to use for it...and I may even finish by Spring so I can wear it before it gets too hot.  We'll see how it goes!

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.