'Tis the season.....

I am determined to get this finished before December 25th:

That is Trellis. The Trellis I've been working on for months. I have a back, a left front, a right front, and one sleeve. I need to complete the second sleeve and do the finishing in 1 week and 1/2. Every part of this sweater has been re-knit at least partially, except right front. I even had two sleeves completed at one point, but after looking at the pattern, and thinking , and re-measuring, I decided the gauge was too far off, and I ripped them out. This is a new way of thinking about knitting for me. I don't want to fudge things. If I'm going to take the time to knit it, it is going to be look nice, even if it takes me nine months to knit a baby sweater!

I fully realize that December 25th is a arbitrary deadline for a present for one who will not even notice the sweater or care about it except to fuss when it is put on him, but I sort of like the excitement of knitting it for Sean's 2nd Christmas. I want to anticipate the season by knitting a sweater.

I also want a tree. Probably a fake one, b/c our dog would probably pee on a real one, but I want a tree with lights, so you can turn off the lights in the room and sit in the tree light and feel the magic of the season, and forget all the hustle, and stress of it. I realize that it might be a hastle (not to mention inherently dangerous) with a one year old who is learning to stand up and is getting quicker and more determined to test us each day. But I want the tree, It's part of my past and traditions that I want to be there for my kids even if we are pressed for time this time of year.

As of yet, we have not had the time to go out and get a tree, but maybe next weekend. Most of the Christmas shopping is done. The cards are made and have arrived at home, and are just waiting addresses and stamps. They should be mailed out this week, so we should be able to do it next weekend. Probably just as well to have it up for a shorter time.

I leave you with a picture of Sean at the park. He turned 1, a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe how quickly his first year went by. Simply amazing.

What the hell, Happy belated Halloween! And Happy Veterans Day too!!

We aren't exactly on the ball with these things, but this is the best we can do. Sean looked very cute in his Japanese tiger outfit. We especially liked the tail. There has been lots of stuff going on around here; bathroon remodeling, career decisions being made, trips to NJ, several books finished,baby wrangling, and yes, knitting, but more on all that later.

ZOO!

Well what does a baby do on a bright and beautiful Columbus day, when daycare is closed?

You have mommy call up your friend's mommy and you head out to the Zoo!

We saw elephants and little hippos and maybe some other animals, and hung out with the stroller set who were at the zoo en force.

And then we took a nap because it was just too exciting!

Visitors

Over the last week we had visitors from the otherside of the world. My brother and his wife visited from Tokyo, and we had a barbeque bash at our house with so many people we used every last one of my plates and didn't have any knives left over. 10 people, I guess our family has gotten a little bit bigger.

His Uncle made quite an impression of OLG. And everybody seemded happy to be together as a family for once. Football was watched, Food was eaten, and A good time was had by all (except the dog who got locked upstairs).

OLG pulled himself to standing for the first time this weekend too. He is growing up so fast.

Beach '08

The first week in September was our annual trip to Duck, NC. As usually we had lovely weather, at least the first four days. Then Hannah decided to stop by on her way through, and we decided it was the end of the week and we'd rather be stuck inside at home then in our beach house.

Our little boy has a pretty good time. Actually I'm not really sure he appreciated the change in his routine, but he hung in there pretty good. He is know an expert tummy crawler, and is getting all over the place. He is also able to pick up cheerios with the dreaded pincer grasp. He has a little trouble with the hand mouth exchange part though. He really wanted to eat the sand, but I couldn't let him. I think he liked the walks in the Duck on the bike path the best, and hanging out with mommy and daddy for an entire week.

I'm still worried about his eating habits. He had his 9 month visit and he has dropped to 5th percentile in weight and height. But, the doc isn't worried yet because they're matched to one another. I started to cry when he was weighed in. It's hard not to take these things personally because of all the effort I've put into breastfeeding him over these last 9 months. He seems to be interested in eating a bigger variety of things now, but still only in small quantites. Anyway we will do what we can, and hopefully he'll start making progress.

Chicken Soup in August

I've been thinking that there is alot I should be recording on this here blogs. Having a small wee one around is nothing if not an experience which causes one to think alot. The thing is things are moving so fast, and honestly blogging isn't exactly my top priority, its pretty far down on the list of things to do....

First example of things moving fast, Baby sits on his own, and has been doing this well for about a month. He is actually making his first forays into crawling, sortof a commando style on the stomach leaning and reaching to one side. It's slow and he gets frustrated, but I think this means we need to baby proof the house soon...

Second example: We've started introducing solids. We are now making up for the ease with which we got the breast feeding thing down, and are dealing with a very opinionated baby. He eats about four things, maybe five on a good day. Mostly the gerber applesauce, pear sauce, squash, and fresh peaches and necatarines:

Thing is, he doesn't like much else. Maybe a few spoonfuls of peas or sweet potatoe if you also give him some applesaue. He won't even eat applesauce I make for him. So this is the reason I'm making some chicken soup... I think it might be time to try something new.

Excersaucer

For his 6 month birthday, we put together The Excersaucer, which he really seems to get a kick out of.

About 6 months

Our Little Guy turns about 6 months sometime very soon, and as you can see he's starting to look like a little boy and less like an infant. It is amazing how fast he is growing. He is in the I like to roll over on to my stomach, and then start screaming until mommy puts me on my back b/c I haven't quite figured out the whole getting back thing phase. We are working on the whole sitting up phase thing, but he doesn't quite understand the concept of balance yet. It might be awhile.

A little bit of an updated is probably in order as it's been awhile. OLG is a very happy baby as you can see from the above picture. (Please ignore the crazy woman holding him, and instead focus on the cuteness). We did go through a little bit of a sleep problem around 4 1/2 months where due to a series of colds, and mom over-reacting to said colds, Sean developed the unfortunate habit of waking up every 1-2 hours at night, resulting in "reactionary co-sleeping" and a mommy who was dragging herself into work each looking a bit bedraggled. This went on for a month (a month of mom sleeping in 1-2 hour shifts, and then getting up at 6:30 and having to be somewhat functional at work all day, think about it.....)Then Fabulous Aunt Aimee gave us their copy of the Sleeplady book, and it inspired us to get that kid back in his crib, and back to sleeping. Basically, after one rough night OLG figured out how to fall asleep by himself (we'll mostly by himself), and now sleeps in his crib in the other room. He still wakes up more frequently then he should, but we usually get at least on 6-8 hour stretch out of him. The sad thing is that we now put him to bed around 8:30, which means precious little family time on weekdays. Being a working parent is rough!!

So event wise, We went to cherry blossoms with the lab:

We went for two nights of passover in NJ and saw all the cousins. Good food, good people. Thanks Nanna...

We went to Md Sheep and Wool and lasted about 45 minutes before baby got hungry, but decided that too much was going on to nurse. So we left after looking at a couple of baa,baas, and went back to his comfy nursing chair at home where he settled down. I now try to take a bottle with me when we go out. He seems to take a bottle in social situations much better than me. So much for the ease of breastfeeding on the go! By the way my husband was absolutely stunned by the size of the sheep in wool thing, he though there'd be a handful of people, even though I tried to warn him.

We went out to The Old Olney Alehouse with friends, sat outside and had dinner and I drank my first draft beer in a long time. So nice to sit outside , eat, and drink a beer with the baby

There was mother's day. I got pretty flowers, and we had a nice brunch at Fabulous Aunt Aimee's. I'll see if I can steal one of her pictures.

Dad has started to play Thurs evening golf, leaving me to wonder what fun activity I could do to cash in all the baby "capital" I'm earning.

And, oh yeah, knitting: I completed one sleeve of "Trellis" for OLG when he is about 18 months. I might be able to finish the sweater in time.. I started Airsaig (middle), and have decided that it is way overly ambitious of a project for the time being, although a really digg the yarn color, and I like knitting lace, so I'm planning on tucking it into my stash for latter, and re-started a clapotis (right) from MdSW yarn purchase two years ago. I had started this before, and was actually quite far into it, but I remember some wonkiness, so I decided to rip out and start again. Maybe, I can finish this in time for Christmas giving. It's hard to find time to myself these days to knit, but I do try.

Alright that is all for now. I will be sending this link out to some friends and relatives shortly, so that we are not out done by cousin Sam, so Hello! if I actually manage to do that before the next post!

Can't resist the cuteness

While baby .....

Just taking a quiet moment for an update. This is the aforementioned knitting entry. I started back to work, and baby has started daycare. So far, so good, but I'm exhausted. Before ending my maternity leave I managed to finish up some projects for Sean and his buddy Roi. (See I'm not such a neglectful knitmom afterall!)

Project one: Baby pea-pod sweater, available on-line from Interweave knits.

Project two: Red vest from "Nature knits".

Project three: Tan sweater from "baby knits" from Debbie Bliss

And i've started a new project:

6 hours of sleep and other stuff

One of the first times I got 6 hours of consecutive sleep, left me feeling so great, I was able to assemble the 40 some odd parts of my brother's awesome gift inbetween feeding and fussy time the next day. My husband then came home from work and checked all the screws to make sure they were tight enough, you know just to be safe.

I've been getting a 4-6 hr stretch most nights, and then 2 more in the morning once I resettle him. I think this is really good, I just wonder if it will hold when he goes to daycare.

Baby has really become fascinated with putting his fist in his mouth. He is also starting to interact with us in different ways. Smiles when we make funny animal noises, or opens his eyes up really wide when we talk to him. He is starting to make little noises of excitement too, but no laughs yet.

Lastly, we went over to my sister's house and just look at my nephews keen fashion sense. Notice the knit cap, which was a hat I knit for him when he wasn't even born yet.

Next time, maybe some current knitting content???

Baby, a photo essay

Typing one handed is rough! I can't believe we are at 6 weeks! It is still weird that we have a baby.

The Wait is Over

Weighing in at 7 lbs. 11 oz, and 21 inches, the little one has arrived!
Mom and Dad couldn't be prouder. We love our little guy.

Waiting......

Nesting

We are full-term, and the anxiety I was feeling the last couple of weeks has lifted! I am getting pretty darn big and am beginning to wonder just exactly how big this baby's going to be.

The past two weeks I have been hectic ones around our house. It started with a shower, hosted by my lovely sister (shower at sister's) where my family was very generous to us in helping get ready to welcome baby. Here's a picture of some of the loot, which was hastily thrown into a closet on cleaning lady day:

Then there was a party at our house with friends, the pre-baby annual fall party which was fun, but exhausting. Sorry, I didn't take any picks.

Then the fun began, a faucet broke. We called a plumber, who sortof fixed it. Then J.C. did something to it again while trying to fix it (I was sitting on the couch and heard a geyser type sound followed by some swearing. I didn't ask), and we had our handy friend come over and put in a new one (Thanks handy friend). J.C. cut his finger and broke a blind for the baby's room. It was a bad week for the dad to be.

This was all leading up to the big event Saturday, good-bye ratty 20 year old carpeting that smelled like cat pee in places. Hello new floors. Who does this when they are 36 weeks and counting? That's right, we do.... And somehow we survived, and the floors and the new carpeting got in. There was the minor inconvenience of the installation guys thinking they didn't have enough carpet (yes, we do have large closets, and yes, we did give you those measurements), and finally running out of hardwoods ( and realizing this after they had taken the toilet out of the half bath downstairs). But they came back Tuesday, forcing me to take an afternoon off of work (thank goodness I don't have a real job), and the house is much improved:

The rest of the week J.C. spent putting together furniture for baby's room. This was also not without it travails. One of the drawers on the changing table was not drilled, and the crib seemed to require super human strength to put together. But mostly this to seems to be getting done.

While husband did all his getting the house ready stuff, I sort of sat around feeling not very helpful. I went shopping with a friend while the floor guys were there Saturday. And during the week I washed a lot of baby stuff. Is our baby really going to be that small?

So now what's left? Assembly some shower gifts, and put the damn car seats in the car. Wish us luck with that..... We might actually get them in before I'm in the hospital.

And since it got cold, I started to knit the baby a hat. He can't arrive before I finish it, right?

Getting to Me

So for the most part I've had it pretty easy being pregnant. Little morning sickness, haven't felt too weird about gaining weight, there was the bad heartburn I was having for awhile but that went away, and there was the ankle thing.... But basically not too bad.

However, I just crossed the 35 week, and it's starting to get to me, and it wasn't what I expected (you know, the usually physical complaints), but the mental aspect. Nobody warned me about this. I am becoming a neurotic and perhaps hysterical at times, expectant mother. I find myself crying about once a day because I'm worried. Not about the approaching labour process, but about the baby. Is he moving enough, have I done everything I could to make sure he is healthy, have I payed enough attention to my body to know if there was a problem, have I had the right discussions with my doctor. The thing that makes it worse is that I'm completely aware that I am being completely irrational. And I dislike this feeling so much that I'm looking forward to going through labour, so that I can have the baby on the outside where I can check to see if he is breathing, and thriving, even if it means going through labour and having a baby to take care of, and giving up my beloved sleep. It's got to be a little easier than this madness.

5 more weeks!!!!

Time is speeding up

It's been so long, that I don't remeber any of the html or the what I called the little special elements I created for headings and such . At some point I will look it up, but for now just typing something is probably all one can hope for.

We've been busy, and I feel like I'm just trying to get to November, because I've decided that November must be a chill month. I mean I'm going to be 9th months pregnant. Yikes!!!! I still have problems beleiving that I'm actually having a baby, even though there ample evidence. He's moving around right now actually.

I'm really excited about having the baby, but its hard to let myself get too excited. I guess I'm the don't count you chickens type, and I don't want to get too excited for fear that something might go wrong. I'm already really in love with the little guy, and I'm a little scared about that too.

To recap what is going on, we went to the beach in the beginning of September to hang out and relax. After that there has been painting of the baby's room, other work around the house, shopping, baby classes, and doctor's appointments. Somehow I also try to do some work.

This week I've felt particularly pregnant (33 weeks). I keep dropping things. I actually threw up because of my prenatal vitamin. Baby's been moving around alot and with more force then before (which is nice, I like to know he's getting stronger). I'm starting to outgrow some of the maternity clothes. I mysteriously hurt my ankle, so in addition to being big and cumbersome, I've been hobbling around. (It is starting to feel better by the way.) I've also been working on a talk, which is depressing because I feel like I've done nothing over the last year since I gave my talk last year.

Anyway that's how things are. Knitting progress is slow because I need to read the directions and I don't feel like it. I've been working on my crocheted blanket. It's really wide, and will take me years to complete, but doesn't really require a lot of thought.

I need to go walk the dog, maybe I'll post some pictures some other time.

We are still around....

Apparently it was still spring when I last sat down and wrote one of these little bloggy things. Now it is fully the dog days of August in D.C.; hot, humid,
and dry. I hope our lawn survives okay, I feel a little guilty about watering it, even at night. A big tree up the street from us died because of the drouhgt. If their water column breaks they are done for. Poor tree... poor homeowner who now needs to have the giant tree cut down....

There's actually been quite a lot going on around these parts over the last five months, so I will quickly update, in no particular chronological order.

• Finished peapod sweater:






another view





• Working on a red vest sweater, for a baby, (pattern from "natural knits, for Babies and Moms" by Louisa Harding, knit in Shine Sport)





• Went to a small scientific meeting in Italy, where quite a few people were talking about my paper, which is weird because at larger, less focused meetings nobody generally cares about this stuff. Picture of Italy at flickr sight



• Bought a shiny used 1971 Yamah U1 piano. Has a very nice sound, and doesn't have problems turning on and off. Still haven't figured out what to do with the old electric piano which was a nice idea in principal, but would strongly urge anyone thinking about buying one to consider a used real piano instead.







• Seriously thinking about writing a K grant, mulling over ideas which will take a lot of work to flesh out




And lastly, but certainly no leastly...




• Started working on producing another human being, about four more months to go:




Me at 21 weeks:








Baby at 20 weeks:

A Couch Needs a Blanket

Inspired by others, and our new blank canvas IKEA couch, I have started a very simple project: Double crochet striped blanket. I also decided this would be the oppurtunity to get rid rid of some of the nasty acrylic yarn hanging around the bottom of my yarn chest. I don't mind using acrylic for a blanket, because it is cheap, durable, doesn't itch that much, and with double crochet you don't exactly have to worry about uneven stitches like you do with straight untextured knitting.

The only thing is, as I got thinking about this project I decided that the few colors of acrylic yarn I had weren't going to cut. I probably didn't have enough material. Then I went to the local craft store and became mesmerized by the color options and the cheapness, and bought something like eight skeins of crappy yarn. It seems that instead of getting rid of the crappy yarn it has instead multiplied.

Alas....What's a girl to do? If it makes my blanket cool, it's worth it.

New project for the baby boom. Pea Pod sweater from Interweave knits available for free on their web page. These baby sweaters make me realize that sometime plain old straight knitting is all I want to do.

Finished Object 2007

The orange baby sweater was finished last weekend, in time for Jen and Matt's baby shower.

It turns out the sweater matches the running stroller we donated money to get them.

It did pretty good with the ends, and the seams and like. Also it is a very quick knit, took me two weeks, with most of the knitting accomplished in week one.

Hippo models:

See, I really did finish the knitting of this sweater. I'm even working on the ends

Quick Morning Update

• A. My paper has been excepted at MBC, soon to be in press!!!!!! (I heard saturday and did a little dance in my kitchen)




• B. I finished knitting and seaming the baby kimono sweater.
  (pictures as soon as I charge my camera batteries




• C. I had a carrot soup catastrophe, involving a random accident and me not completely understanding the limitations of my cuisnart. (Upshot is that my husband has agreed to get me the kitchenaid blender I have been coveting for at least five years

That's all for now. Have a good Monday!

Orangey

The pink sweater is out. The garter stitch edges are rolling in too much... a bad marriage of yarn and pattern. So when my knitpicks order came in, I couldn't help myself.

A sleeve and a half of the kimono style sweate form "Natural Knits", in the unatural shine sport

Update....

Alas, the little star sweater does not fit!!!! But not for the reason I was worried about. Apparently it is the mock turtle neck design which does not happen to work so well for my nephew, who might have a large head (because he is a genius). I guess I should stick to the v-necks and cardigns for my adventures in childrens clothes. I am chalking this one up to a design flaw, because obviously my knitting was flawless....

Fixing it?...hmmm it could be tricky because of the way a seamed it. But maybe I will try. Of course he will probably out grow it by the time I fix it...

This is why I'm afraid to knit for other people.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

We've been experiencing a slew of lazy afternoons. Some due to weather. Some due to a generalized lethargy that seems to have settled in around here.

I've been trying to cook a meal (or sometimes two) to eat during the week, to make my life easier. I'm also trying to incorporate more vegetarian dishes. For some reason boneless skinless chicken breast just stopped being appealing and indian and vegetarian food and sweet potatoes seem like great stuff. I've really had me a serious hankering for sweet potatoes, particularly sweet potato fries. mmmmmm....

So I guess that sort of explains the necessity of lazy sunday mode, but I think we are settling into too much of a rythmn. Big breakfast saturday, shopping after, run, go out and eat dinner somewhere. Little breakfast saturday. Stand around and postulate about what we might want to do today. End up doing nothing. Cook food.

By the way, I'm cooking peach mango chutney right now, and it is perfuming the house with the odor of sugar, cardamon, ginger, and cinnamon...very nice

The reason for the lack of blogging is laziness and slow progress. We will work to correct this.

Well, not really lack of progress. I finally sewed in all the ends of the little star sweater, and have handed it off to my sister. When asked if he wanted to try on the sweater it only took his aunt five months to complete, Sam vehemently shook his head no, and started to cry. He has apparently suddenly become picky about his clothes.

Also this weekend I finished two backs:

The green one(elann Sierra Aran, fiddlehead green) is the Marseilles pullover (IK summer 2006), the pink one (elann, baby alpaca/silk blend ) is the ballerina wrap from "Adorabe Knits" by Zoe Mellor.

I also order yarn for some other items for the not yet born. There seems to be a baby boom going on in the DC area as an alarming high number of couples we know are expecting (and soon). In truth I was feeling overwhelmed by the prospect of knitting baby gifts, but I figure they can get them after the baby's born, so its not really a big deal. I also have my eyes on my next project for myself, but I better finish Marseilles first. I fear this might be a sweater I will never get to wear.....