Scrappy Doo

When the crawling began, along with the warm weather, I thought some baby knee pads were in order. Used up some Cascade Quattro stash scraps. I know I wrote down what I did, but can't find the email to myself. Not much required in the way of a pattern. Made a tube with ribbing at each end, then folding the ends in for double thickness and stitched the ends together.

I don't know what has happened to my hands, wrists and elbows lately, but my right hand is killing me, my left elbow aches and this morning while knitting, my left fingers went numb! Augh! Stop the insanity! I think my evening knitting posture may have something to do with it.

S's Runaround Raglan Cardigan (ravelry) is pretty much done, just need to weave in ends, block and sew on buttons. I've cast on for K's Runaround Raglan Pullover (both in Cascade 220), and cast on for Shawl That Jazz (ravelry) in Blue Moon Fiber Arts Twisted. The Pinwheel Sweater (ravelry) needs one more sleeve, but I need a break from doing a sleeve on dpn's. Also, my row gauge was a bit off so the sweater doesn't encompass me as much as I would like. It will be a shruggish sweater rather than a warming jacket kind of thing.

I'd Rather Be Knitting

On Saturday, I went for a full body massage for the first time ever, using an ancient unredeemed gift certificate. From what I had heard from people, seen portrayed on TV and in movies, I was expecting to leave there in a state of puddleness. Not so. I couldn't turn my brain off during the massage. While I enjoyed the quiet room and soft music, I found myself thinking of the laundry, home improvement projects that will never get done, and a myriad of other things I shouldn't have been wasting thought on. Oddly enough, my friend felt the same way. We both said that one of the only things we do that allows our mind to be free of thought is knitting.

I awoke the next morning with a very stiff neck, blaming the massage. My friend also had a sore spot on her shoulders. Coincidence? Maybe. We also both came down with a cold the day after the massage.

Won't be doing that again. I'm just not into the whole pampering lifestyle. I'd rather be knitting for relaxation any day. During my illness I have recently picked up an incomplete pair of Colinette Jitterbug socks (yarn that I won from a contest SJ had a while ago) and am working on that in between moments of twin feeding and diaper duty.

Finished Object!

Moss Stitch Beret, by Kent Turman - on Ravelry
Time Frame: Saturday, January 23- February 6, 2009
Needles: US 7 (4.5 mm) circ and dpns
Yarn: Cascade 220, a dark mossy green (lost the band)
Made for: my dad, for his 75th birthday

Mods: cast on 98 stitches to fit my dad's 23.5 inch head, for increases stitch markers were placed every 18/19 stitches.

I love, love, LOVE this pattern! This was my first time doing a hemmed brim. Can't wait to do another. I really like the nicely finished edge!

Cozy Noggin

I know it's been AGES since I wrote anything, but it's also been AGES since I've had much chance to knit. Here is girl baby in her new hat. She only looks sad because it was hot that day, and anyone who knows babies knows that their heads kick out a ton of heat! This pic accentuates her kissable and pinchable cheeks! Must go, have boy baby's sweater to finish before he's too big to wear it!

Hopefully, after Knit Fest at Yvonne's this weekend, much progress will be made on my Startitis problem. Maybe I'll have some Finishitis on the horizon, but it's doubtful with all the hilarity we will encounter. Must not have hopes of working on anything too mind-numbing.

STARCH...it's what's for dinner!

NOT crummy white pasta, NOT white bread french toast...NO! Nothing other than banana buckwheat pancakes, from scratch. Not even a buckwheat mix...no way. That's not the way I operate. And...they were drizzled with grade B pure maple syrup, which is less processed than grade A. Mmm mmm, washed down with a cup of PG Tips tea. It doesn't get any better than this. It's been a weird food day in general. 2 dippy eggs and toast for breakfast, a big handful of parsley (my warm weather addiction) mid-morning, vanilla soy chai protein shake for lunch, air-popped popcorn for a mid-afternoon snack, and now these pancakes that are reminiscent of steam-rolled banana nut muffins. Not that you would really want to EAT flattened muffins. Sadly, I was out of nuts.

Organizing the nusery continued this morning, after a brief stint to the flea market in Aspinwall. I was hoping some of the local farmers would have SOMETHING from their fields, but then again it is only the end of April and we live in Zone...blah blah...one of the cold zones. I thought for sure there would be some greenhouse lettuce or spinach, but the only findings at the market were fleas.

Anyhoo, after the baby shower last week, it really looked like a bomb went off in the nursery, and I was bit overwhelmed by the amount of stuff. But...after some perseverance, it's coming together and we are ready for parenthood. Even got my hospital bag packed.


I finished the Modified Drops Eyelet Baby Cardigan (for more details, look it up on Ravelry. I'm too lazy to link) 2 weeks ago, but have yet to buy the buttons. Late this afternoon I resumed work on the Baby Cardigan Set by Opal Yarns, which should be done pretty soon. This one looks like a mess at the moment, but you can use your imagination.



The COOLEST news of the day is that our lawn is even greener. No, not because of Chemlawn or some other earth-unfriendly poisonous treatment. We bought a REEL mower today...you know, the Norman Rockwell kind! K has been complaining for years that he feels sick after running the gas mower, and he had the most joyous lawn mowing experience of his life! He can't wait to cut it again! The contraption is from Home Depot, weighs 30 pounds, and is a dream to push rather effortlessly. It makes a really neat clippety-clip sound. I can actually have a conversation with him while he's mowing, it's that quiet. It's nice to just smell cut grass instead of gasoline and exhaust.

So what with the reel mower, drying clothes on the clothesline, and no cable TV (which we haven't had for several years and don't miss in the least), we are venturing back in time to a simpler life. Ahhh...bliss.

No More Feng Shui

Well, bottom line is...Babies = Clutter. This room WAS the most serene in the house until we started gathering gear and stuff. The first shower was yesterday at work.
Babies also = strangeness. Form out of function? Perhaps. Hence, the diaper cake, which is falling apart a bit, and the stork baskets. They had plants in them, which are gardenias. I'm going to have to recycle the plants to someone soon because gardenias are one of THE biggest headache triggers for me. The storks are actually things we get from one of the specialty pharmacies. Will recycle the baskets back to work for the next shower.


And lastly, babies = organizing. Already with one shower and a couple drawers of used clothes, there's A LOT. Can't really do much until the family shower. Then I'll send my mom on some return/exchange missions.


I'm gimped out today because I pulled some ligament in my left hip. Am using a cane, and also borrowed crutches from my MIL. As a result of said injury, slept worse than ever. Am going for another nap. The baby sweater knitting can wait.

Progress despite a Black Hole Weekend

12-14 weeks to go till my belly turkey timer pops!

Have made some knitting progress. Allyson's BSJ has been done for a while, just need to mail.


So, ever have a set of days off where you have a couple fun errands to run that go horribly awry?

Well, not THAT horrible, but definitely mood-crushing potential. Saturday, Renata and I went cruising, and had a very late lunch at Aladdin’s in Squirrel Hill. Who knew it would take so long? I had a hunch and put 90 minutes in the meter just in case. First the dweeb waiter comes to take our beverage order, gets me, C (Renata’s daughter), and says, “Is there another person?” Renata says, “Uh, yeah, me, but I’m still thinking.” The waiter says, “Oh, I didn’t mean to be rude or anything. I don’t want you to think I’m a bad waiter.” Well…THAT should have been the first clue.

They bring my freshly brewed mint tea in a tiny tea cup that’s not even full to the brim. For a buck-fifty! And no refills! 3 sips later, it’s gone. Hmph. A while later, the dweeb returns to take our order. A MILENNIUM later, the food arrives. We dine, we’re sated in about 20 to 30 minutes, ready to get leftovers wrapped and get the check.

It takes FOREVER to get someone near us to inform them of the need for a takeout box. The waiter comes by, I tell him and ask for the check. 15 minutes later, seemingly, we’re still sitting there…WAITING. Finally, we’re sat with our coats on, obviously ready to leave. The hostess comes by, asks if we need anything. I say, “Just this wrapped and the check.” She takes my plate and wraps it up. The waiter whizzes by, dropping the check on the table. We give it to him right away. Then it’s another LONG wait until he returns, and when he does, he didn’t even bring the right receipt that gets SIGNED! AUGH! At this point I’m DYING!

As things get finalized, I say, “I WILL BE OUTSIDE.” SIGH.

So THEN, we finally get to Knit One around 4pm, and the usual sloooooooowwww employee is at the register. We find what we need swiftly. The place is SWELTERINGLY hot, we’re standing in line behind another customer, the employee is poking along. Then she gets to us and says, “Is it hot in here?” I say, “Yes, EXTREMELY.” She says, “I’m going to go open the door.” ANOTHER DELAY! She rings up Renata and then calls over the other employee to ring me up. Strange. The person starts scooting some ghastly ribbon yarn into my pile, and in my stupor I muster up the energy to say, “That’s not mine…NO RIBBON yarn for me.” Fortunately it had NOT been rung up. I think we got out of there at 4:45.

But to make an ARDUOUS journey come to a happy end, I got started on my boy baby sweater, and knitted from about 6-9:30pm. I bought Opal sock yarn in a wild blue/yellow/green/white/brown color way. Yes, it’s size 1 needles, but I like a small gauge on small humans. I’d also bought some Dale Baby Ull in a pale lilac solid and swatched, but it wasn’t speaking to me and I couldn’t get gauge. Pics coming soon, Blogger wasn't cooperating today.

So Sunday, after a leisurely morning of more tiny knitting, we went out to lunch to the Indian buffet at Taj Mahal, then went food shopping. Before stopping at Trader Joes, popped in to Natural Stitches to return a skein from Allyson’s BSJ and a skein of Cascade 220 from K hat. Scanned the aisles in search of something less plain than the lilac Baby Ull for my baby girl. Hit the sock yarn aisle and the heavens opened, highlighting the Aurucania on the bottom shelf. Mmmm, yummy, hipster psychedelic and machine washable! The night before, K had said, “How come the boy gets psychedelic stuff and the girl gets boring plain yarn?!?!” Grabbed two skeins in a purples/blues colorway and asked the proprietors, “Think this is too wild for a baby sweater with a bit of an eyelet pattern?” They gleefully sang in unison, “Nooooo wayyyy!” And I was on my way. I’m going to return the two skeins of lilac Baby Ull to Knit One and finish off my gift cards…once and for all, and inform the usual gifters to patronize Natural Stitches for me in future.

Again my luck was down because there were LONG lines at Trader Joes. It was less painful having The Mister with me, but I have NEVER seen it so crowded! Then again, I’m usually there at 10am, not 2pm. Then we went to Whole Foods, and I forgot a few things that were even on the list! But The Mister had the list while I traipsed around gathering things and then wearily tried to find him, the cart, and forgot about the list. Ah well, all was not lost. Swatched the new yarn, got gauge on size 1’s, had a sumptuous repast of broiled teriyaki salmon, garlicky bok choy and brown rice, and continued on boy sweater till 9:30. On the menu this week at Chez Amanda is more thai food: red coconut chicken curry with butternut squash, potatoes and peas, hot and sour soup, and who knows what other yummy goodness. Really could eat that EVERY day.