Because She’s Just Too Cute

I haven’t shared photos of Miss A lately so I figured some were in order.

It’s Missing Something

Todays Friday. That means FO Friday. Finished Object Friday. So I’m missing something. Hmm….I seem to missing an FO. I mean it’s not like I have one every Friday, that’s for darn sure, and I just had one last week so it should be no big deal. But this week was different. I was working on baby booties. Easy baby booties. So really, I should have had an FO. If not this week, than at least next week. But I frogged them. That’s right, they’re gone. I weighed one bootie, and the leftover yarn and guess what? I didn’t have enough to make the second one. And these booties are also part of my Knit The Queue so I do want to get them done. I would have loved to go stash diving for something else. But go figure….I really don’t buy DK weight yarn. So I picked up some RYC Cashsoft DK. This yarn feels amazing….57% extra fine merino, 33% acrylic microfibre, and 10% cashmere. And very affordable. So I’ll hopefully have these booties to share with you next week! And if not….maybe I’ll have a baby cardigan to share instead!

Progress

Yes, you read that right. I’ve made progress this week. And not just a row or two. I’ve gotten past the sleeves! Which is just about half way or so on Miss A’s cardigan! I’ve managed to find some time this weekend to really do some knitting. I’ve made some progress on her bootie too, but real progress would mean that at least one of the two was done, so not much. But I’ll start on that again soon. I’ve given all my attention to the Cabled Raglan Cardigan because I want to get it done while it still fits.

As for reading, I’ve gotten almost half-way through The Choice by Nicholas Sparks. It’s amazing how much faster I can get through a book by listening to it rather than reading. And right now my reading is even slower with taking care of Miss A and a higher rate of exhaustion than usual. That hasn’t stopped me from getting sucked into another big series though. I’m sure you know the one everyone’s been talking about. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I’ve only read to about Chapter 3, but I’m truthfully surprised I got that far that fast (it’s fast for me….) and it has me hooked for sure! I’m blaming a friend for my purchase (and possibly new addiction)!

I hope you enjoy reading my Wednesday memes. Please comment, I love reading them! Check out more WIP Wednesday posts here, and the Yarn Along here! Enjoy!

As Requested

Firemen in a yarn shop? Yesterday I had mentioned the dreamy combination of firemen and yarn. Except it wasn’t a dream. My dear friend Heather over at A Tangled Yarn asked where the pictures were. I bet the last thing expected was me to actually produce them, but guess what?! I have my sources! I’m not quite sure who the photo credit actually goes to, but it was on Wildflower Yarn’s facebook page. If you are ever in the Manhattan (Kansas) area come check them out!

4 Months Since

4 months since what you might ask? Since I’ve posted an FO for FO Friday. And it’s not that I have had FO’s and haven’t gotten around to posting them. That might sound a bit better, but no. It’s also been 4 months since I’ve finished a project. How sad is that?

In all fairness, I was finished knitting my Birthday Cowl around New Years. Then I found buttons when my mom was here. Now I finally got the buttons on it! And just in the nick of time…..we had 45 MPH winds yesterday. I was able to wear it yesterday when I went to Knit Night!

Yes, that’s right….I finally went to Knit Night at my local yarn shop Wildflower Knits. I needed to get out and I realized that I haven’t gone, even though I said I was going to go as soon as I was comfortable leaving the baby. So I did. And I had a great time, up until the owner had to call the fire department because of an “electrical smell”. It was interesting seeing the firemen walk around a yarn shop, that’s for sure. Like some women’s dream, actually!

Something to Talk About

I’ve finally got something to talk about! A few things actually! I have more than one WIP for WIP Wednesday. Well actually I always have more than one WIP, but I have two I’m actually working on! The rest are of course in hibernation as usual.

I have my Cabled Raglan Baby Sweater on the needles still. And it doesn’t look all too different than last week. But I promise you it is longer than it was by a few rows. I did start something new this week and it is another knit for little Miss Annabelle. I’m trying out a bootie pattern. As we all know booties don’t stay on babies very well, so I suppose I’m on the search to find what works for my little Miss. And hopefully I’ll only have to try once. The pattern is Baby’s Best Booties and I’m using some JoJoLand Rhythm which is a nice wool I picked up visiting family in good ole’ Noblesville Indiana. It’s some cute baby colors plied together with a gradual change in the color. I think they will turn out pretty cute.

The bootie pattern is the start of my Knit The Queue 2012. Don’t get my started on my attempt at Knit the Queue 2011, and in fact I should probably delete the page off my blog. Especially since I haven’t touched it in SO LONG. If you listen to Subway Knits you know about the QAL (Queue Along). I’m joining that, so I’m doing things a bit different than last year. The goal then was to basically knit off my queue all year long, but this time I’m just seeing what I can get done for the QAL which started on February 1st and ends April 30th. Anything I get done from my queue (which had to be added before Jan 31st) in that time is an entry into the contest. The more I get done, the more entries I get. Win, win right?!

I’m also joining back into the Yarn Along this week! I haven’t done virtually any reading since the baby has come. The moment I sit down to read a book is simultaneously the moment my eyes close and I go to sleep. Didn’t you know Mommy brain also causes instant sleep! But I took a trip to the library this week (have I mentioned that libraries are awesome and everyone should still utilize theirs!) and discovered that they have a wonderfully large knitting section. And it isn’t all twenty years old either! I checked out a few great books – Natural Nursery Knits by Erika Knight, Fiber Gathering by Joanne Seiff, and Closely Knit by my favorite designer, Hannah Fettig. I also had an epiphany….I might fall asleep if I try to read a book, but I can listen to books while I do work around the house! So I checked out The Choice by Nicholas Sparks and Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. Maybe I’ll actually get some “reading” done this week!

I’ll Finish This One

I started a post yesterday. I wrote about 2 sentences. I let housework distract me from finishing that post. I need to learn though, that housework never goes away, and if I always let it get the best of me I would never do anything for myself. So here I am ignoring me housework. In fact I’ve been ignoring it all day, and I plan to continue doing so. I have some other things that I’d like to get done that aren’t cleaning. Including my WIP Wednesday blog post! So I will finish this post.

I haven’t made too much progress on the little white cardigan I’m making for dear Miss Annabelle. But even a little progress is progress, and I need to be happy about that. I do have to get into some type of routine though, and adjust to this whole motherhood thing a bit better to fit some more knitting time into my day. If I keep knitting it at this rate I should modify the size for a 12 month old! Maybe coffee is the answer?

The nursery is also still a WIP. You think it’s something that should be done before the baby comes, right? Well, I’d like to know how many parents actually have it done by then. But don’t you forget we also got our household goods only 2 weeks before Miss Annabelle was born. And this 10 month pregnant woman was trying to unpack the house. So the nursery is still getting prepared, and it’s not like she is in it yet anyway, so what’s the harm, right? We bought the crib and changing table this past weekend and it’s in progress. But I can’t take the credit for that one. Putting those together is the hubs’ job! But it’s looking great! Can’t wait till it’s all done!

Be Amazed

By me. Yes, by me. Why? Not because I made some awesome project or achieved any greatness. But because I’m here. Posting. Posting on my blog today. I’ve needed to back into WIP Wednesday for a while, and I’m finally knitting again so I felt this week was the appropriate time. But then dear daughter decided she wasn’t going to sleep longer than an hour stretch last night. This is when I’ve been getting used to her sleeping 4-6 hours straight every night. So I was up all night with her. Oh and she would wake up crying, almost screaming. I lucked out because she really doesn’t cry. So I guess I’m getting a dose of reality today. And on top of that, I was in pain the whole night with horrid heartburn which I’m sure had a direct correlation to why she had a bad night too. So that fact that I’m still posting, and even awake to post is pretty much amazing.

Now onto knitting. It’s taken me almost half a week to pick a pattern, get the yarn and get a gauge swatch knit. But I suppose that is suspected with a newborn in the house! My daughter has a tiny little cardigan that was a hand-me-down to her, and it doesn’t really fit anymore. She has so many cute short-sleeved onsies though, that I decided I needed to make her a new white cardigan for everyday use.

I found this pattern; The Cabled Raglan Baby Sweater and it’s perfect. The only problem was that I couldn’t really stash dive to make a white sweater because all my white yarn was purchased for dyeing yarn. So I bought some yarn. I bought Caron Simply Soft. It looks really good knit up in the swatch.

I actually bought acrylic yarn. I never buy, or use acrylic, but it just felt like I had to buy acrylic. Maybe I feel like acrylic yarn is such a good option for this sweater because I know it won’t fit Annabelle very long. It’s cheap and if it’s only going to fit for a few weeks why waste money? And it’s going to get very dirty and be getting washed constantly. Did I mention I hate acrylic yarn? Yet for some reason I love this yarn. So far…..

Glad to join Tami’s Amis WIP Wednesday meme again! Go check out the other WIP Wednesday posts.

Back In The Swing

Things are starting to get a little bit back to normal around here, with of course the addition of a new little human that has become part of my routine (and my heart!). My Mom has come and left, and let me tell you how big of a help that was! My husband’s paternity leave has ended. Most of our unpacking is done, and we are pretty much moved in. And I’m starting to heal up nicely from my surgery (but I still can’t wait to start working out – 4 more weeks!!)

I was going to say I haven’t had time to knit, but thats really not accurate. I really just haven’t got my knitting out since babe has been born. Any down time I’m really just trying to sit and relax. But I’m going to pull the knitting out soon, I swear! There are a few projects that I will surely be frogging since I never really got them done for baby. Example….my Baby Surprise Jacket. I think it’s about 1/4 done and by the time I finish it (even if it was next week) Miss Annabelle will have outgrown it! She’s not exactly tiny, and she never really was! Once I frog a few items, I’m going to cast on a nice white cardigan for the little girl. She has one and it’s starting to get small, but I absolutely love it. It’s a necessary item in her wardrobe because she has so many cute onsies that I want to see when she wears them, but they are too cold for her to wear without something keeping her arms warm! I can’t believe I’m talking about my daughters like she’s a little fashion model or something, but I’ve found that I think I will always need a white cardigan for her!

That’s about all I have to say on the knitting front. I’m just so preoccupied with caring for my little bundle of joy! I just hope she doesn’t grow too fast (although everyone has already warned me that she will!!) She has also become the hubs whole world! I don’t know how he’ll be able to deploy in a year. It breaks my heart for every Father and Mother who has to leave their kids. I’m starting to realize that it’s very different than leaving a spouse.

That’s all for the week, but I’ll leave you with some pictures of Miss Annabelle.

It’s A Girl!!!!

A big surprise to my husband and I since we were so sure we would be having a boy!  We sure are very happy to have our little girl Annabelle June join us though.  I don’t think I’d want it any other way!  She joined us on January 14th, even though I went to the hospital on the 12th.  More on that later.  After a C-section delivery, she entered the world at 8lbs 13oz and 21.25 inches long.  She is our world now!

*And FYI, I get a $10 credit at Shutterfly for posting my birth announcements to my blog!  How cool is that!!*

 

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