Some Birthday Fun

March 12th was my 35th birthday. I'm not sure if 35 is supposed to be a big one (is 35 the new 25?),but we had a pretty low-key celebration. We went out to dinner and then hung out with my knitting group. At 1:30 am on the 13th I went into labor. Our little girl was kind enough to let me enjoy my birthday contraction-free, and she arrived on my mother's birthday instead. Needless to say she has the favorite grandchild position all sewn up (she's also the first for my side).



I actually have some FOs to show for my weeks of bed rest. I started and finished several projects, and am now fully over my nonstartitus (inability to start things). I need to give a big thanks to the Loose Knit Group on Ravelry. I am making major progress on my gifts for Christmas 2008!

First, I made this easy ribbed hat for my brother. I plan to make matching fingerless gloves and give this to him for his birthday in December. Not only am I done with a gift well in advance, but this and the gloves should use up some stash yarn.
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Solid in Dark Gray and Unger Aries (45% wool/55% acrylic) in Light Gray
Pattern: ribbed cap from One-Skein Wonders
Changes: I made it longer, because I wanted a cuff (Wisconsin is cold) and my brother has an huge head
Yardage: About half a skein of the light gray and a quarter of the dark gray
Needle: US 7 (4.5 mm)
Time: started January 17, 2008 and finished February 28, 2008.
Notes: This is an extremely easy pattern that is great for using up leftover yarn.


Next, I finished a scarf for a friend in England. I thought the fun yarn would brighten up those gray England winters. This is also a Christmas gift for next year and I plan to make a chunky beret in light green to go with it. I may put just an edge on it in the matching yarn, but I thought a completely matching set would be a bit much.
Yarn: Moda Dea Cache in the colorway Wink
Pattern: 2x2 rib
Yardage: Nearly 4 skeins
Needle: US 11 (8.0 mm)
Time: started January 25, 2008 and finished March 4, 2008.
Notes: This turned out pretty long, so it can be wrapped around the neck to keep out the English chill.

Lastly, two more Seija blankets and the last ones I plan to make for quite some time. I am planning to use all my leftovers from the eight (yes, I've actually made eight of these things!) Seijas to crochet one more baby afghan or two. These final two are gifts for twins, a boy and a girl.
Yarn for Red/Orange Blanket: Caron Simply Soft Shadows in Autumn, Caron Simply Soft in Off-White, Plymouth Encore Worsted in Light Orange
Yarn for Blue/Green Blanket: Caron Simply Soft Shadows in Soft Merino, and Caron Colour Perfect in Woodsy Green and Pine
Pattern: Seija blanket pattern in The Happy Hooker, with the very clever hole for a carseat or stroller seatbelt
Changes: I added three rounds of single crochet for the edging and left out the braided trim. I also added a few rows to make it a bit longer and make up for leaving out the double crochet edging at each end.
Yardage: 2 skein of each of the Shadows, 3/4 of the skein of Plymouth Encore, and about a 1/4 of each of the other skeins.
Hook: size H
Time: started January 28, 2008 and finished February 27, 2008.
Notes: These are so easy and the recipients really seem to like them.



Are you wondering what that large pink obstruction is in the last photo? I know I did. It took me a few seconds to realize it was my pregnant belly getting in the way. My next post will have two FOs for the baby (without the belly obstruction, but perhaps with baby obstruction).

The Best FO Ever!

"A baby is a blank cheque made payable to the human race." -Barbara Christine Seifert

Sorry to be gone so long everyone, but the last week have been extremely hectic. On March 13 at 10:30 in the morning little RJ was born. I had a relatively easy labor and delivery that lasted only eight and half hours and she burst into the world in only three pushes. Here are some photos of the most beautiful FO I will probably ever make.

Still Here

Well, after all the hoopla about this baby coming early, here I am full term. People keep congratulating me on keeping the baby inside all this time, but I'm not sure I can really take credit. It seems strange to say, "yes, it's a good thing I sat all day on the couch and did nothing except eat and knit for a month. Boy was that a lot of work!" Actually, I feel as if I should have gotten more knitting done, but there was a lot of napping and reading, too, and that cut into my knitting time a lot.

I don't know about you, but I always have an old project or two that seem to linger on forever. This applies to both work and hobbies, and probably indicates that I should just give up on those projects and move on. My stubborn nature, however, won't allow me to do that, even if common sense tells me that the reason this project is lingering is because it sucks. I have decided that another resolution for 2008 is to either finish them or give up.

For example, the green Schachenmayr sweater has been ignored for quite a while. I did a sleeve that turned out way too big and finally decided to do a real gauge swatch to get the measurements right. Predictably, I have to go down a needle size or two, so I will likely order some size 2's this week so I can at least pretend to be making progress. However, the idea of knitting an entire sweater on size 2's does make me cringe a little, and the Jaeger Trinity yarn is hard to work with. I have a feeling this project is going to take quite some time to finish.

The collegiate scarf is another lingering project. I don't really have anyone in mind as the recipient, it seems just a little too wide to be practical, and I'm not entirely sold on the color combination. This probably should end up in the frog pond. I am currently working up the courage to officially give up on it, after having ripped and restarted twice before getting this far. Also, I doubled up the dark green and gray and this is done in blocks of color, so ripping is going to leave me with a pile of short strands that will be basically useless. Anyone interested in some useless lengths of cheap yarn? Anyone? Didn't think so.