It's an illness really

I honestly never realized how much pink I have in my stash. It's a good thing this babe is a girl because I am finally getting a chance to use some of it up. On Christmas day I knit up this cute little bib (Ravel it). The edges roll and I used a yarn that was too large for the gauge, but overall I am happy with it.

I've also cast on for yet another bib in pink. (Ravel it) I will post pics as soon as I have it completed, which should be yet this week! I love how fast baby knits are!

Round up

Ever have those days where you just aren't listening to the powers that be?

Today, after lunch at work, I wasn't hungry, but had the munchies for something a little sweet so I headed to the lunch room with a handy dandy dollar coin. After multiple attempts, the vending machine refused to take it. (Hint #1) So, I went back to my desk and picked out the exact change needed to purchase the peanut butter M&M's that were taunting me. Upon plugging the change into the machine, I promptly proceeded to purchase Skittles. (Hint #2) This time I figured that I should just not eat any more junk food today and will have the apple I brought a bit later.

The last couple of weeks have been terribly busy. I finished up the last of the custom orders just before Christmas and sent it out. It feels good to have that off of my shoulders. I have been knitting like crazy and sewed two skirts for Christmas for two of my nieces who are sisters. They were a huge hit! I used this tutorial which was extremely easy to follow. The only change that I made was to do rolled seams because I don't have a serger. (I also found this great link for a bunch of cute girls clothes!)

I also got buttons and sewed up the seams on the BSJ (Ravel it). The orange is bright, but not quite so retina searing in real life. I am thrilled with how it turned out. The buttons aren't quite perfect, but will certainly do until I can find great ones. I do like them, they don't detract from the jacket itself.

The count is down to just 6 weeks for this little one to arrive. At Christmas, my uncle was the unofficial photograper and he snapped this gem of me and my sister who is due 9 weeks after me. (sorry it is so small - it is the only size I have...) Our bumps are near matches!

Finally

Wow - it has been such a long time since I posted. There are lots of good reasons for it, but mostly, I just haven't had the energy.

The craft show is finally over. Actually it was the weekend before Thanksgiving and I am just now recovered. All in all, I did well. I made slightly more than last year, but had hoped for much better than I actually did. Given the economy, I'm not complaining. I took a couple of custom orders as well during the show and have finished up about half of them. I just need to get boxes from the post office and off they will go.

DH is finally into interview season. He has spent all of November and will spend the remainder of December preparing for board exams (blech) and interviewing for residency positions. Some have gone well, some not so much. I will be glad when it is all over. Living until March 19th has become the only main a big goal. That is the day that we find out where we will be living for the next 4 years.

DS is doing well and his prognosis continues to be good. I don't know that we will see any further improvement in his status, but where he is at will not hinder him tremendously, so I can't complain.

Baby Girl is active and, well, a night owl. We are down to 10 weeks and counting. Now that the craft show is over, I can finally get down to doing what I have been itching to do for months. Knit for this little one.

The last few nights have been spent swatching. And swatching. And swatching. I loathe swatching. I must have tried 4 different yarns from my stash before I finally found one that matched the gauge I wanted for the BSJ (Ravel it). Knowing that I am probably the last knitter on Ravely to try it, it has has been preying on my mind for quite a while. Normally garter stitch is not my favorite stitch, but when paired with a hand-painted yarn, I think the results are stunning.

This is Claudia's Handpaint in Fingering - Passion Fruit Colorway.

Yum!

There has been a slight bit of pooling, but it is better than I expected because the stitch count changes on just about every row. I will try to post a picture shortly, but I am stealth blogging at work

Hey you over there

Yes we are all still alive over here. No one has died, but we have had a close call and well, my husband, the med student, is either going to drive me to a slow, painful death or I will kill him myself.

Quickly.

As is normal around here, all of the knitting of late has been for sale. The ultimate in boring. No fun pictures to post, no good stories to tell. Just lots and lots of hats.

I have been sewing like crazy lately too, trying to crank out as many purses as possible in the next few weeks. I had to spend more than $100.00 this weekend because I was out of my favorite handles. I do have a new bag to post and I lovelovelove it. I almost hope it doesn't sell because I want it for myself!

Life has been particularly haried this last month. The pregnancy is progressing as it ought, no complications. I have my diabetes test this week which I'm not too worried about. Other than a lingering cold and some insomnia, I am doing okay. Tired, but okay.

DH is plugging along at school and October has had great hours during his radiology rotation. Today he started the interview marathon for residencies. This one is just a couple of hours away, so he will be back home by bedtime. Before long though, he will be making treks out to various parts of the mid-Atlantic and northeastern regions of the US. Yippeee! Thankfully, most of the programs are paying for the hotel stays, but we still have to come up with all of the airfare.

DS was horribly sick last month and ended up spending a week in the hospital, some of which was in the ICU. He is getting better, but there is a good chance he will never be 100% again. Or rather, his new 100% will be about 95% of his old self. On one hand, we are extremely thankful that he is doing so well and that we have access to an academic children's hospital locally. On the other, I am plagued by doubts and fears about his future. Most kids do recover fully, but it can take 3-6 months for all of the symptoms to resolve. The waiting is more stressful than I would have thought possible.

At Long Last

The other day, I took a day off of work to do some things that required that I sit around and wait and wait and wait. I managed to underestimate the amount of time that I would be spending do absolutely nothing and quickly ran out of things to keep Caleb and myself entertained. He was able to watch Star Wars Episode IV from start to finish and could have watched another, but the battery died in the portable DVD player.


I didn't pack nearly enough knitting, but did grab my Monkeys, figuring it would be the perfect opportunity to finish them off. And it was. I still love the pattern and will definately knit it again.




Yarn: Sundara's sock yarn. A gift from Shan at Half Soled Boots.
Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.
Mods: I added a stitch to each side of the repeat to accomodate my wide ankles.


These socks didn't really take that long to make, but they suffered from a long hiatus. Until about a week or two ago, I had no energy to do anything. And my house shows it.


Lately, most of my knitting has been focused on stuff for sale which has been somewhat tedious, but fun. I am working steadily, but as always, I wonder if I will have enough inventory to fill my part of the booth. If I can keep up the pace, I should be okay.

We interrupt this hiatus...

Wow.

I didn't really intent to take such a long break from blogging. I was completely burned out on everything after the spring craft show I did and then life just piled it on. Eric was working insane hours until the end of June and I just didn't have any mojo left. Not for knitting, not for sewing, not for blogging.

At the end of May and the first part of June, there was a bunch of mandatory overtime at work and some sort of bug that Eric swears was walking pneumonia. Let's not forget the seemingly never ending rounds of house guests and weekend obligations. I need a nap just thinking about all of it.

Either that, or it is the typical exhaustion of the first trimester.

That's right, we are expecting baby#2 in February. The end result is that my typical evening lately has been along the lines of come home, eat dinner, take a nap on the couch, tuck in Caleb and then fall asleep for good on the couch until Eric drags me off to bed. Overall I am feeling pretty good, just tired and since the first trimester is nearly over, it should only get better.

I have been knitting, to get ready for the fall show. It's really true that the only way to regain the desire to do something is to just do it. Now if I can keep the momentum going...

Whew

What a month.

Eric's work schedule has been beyond crazy, thankfully, we have just one more night of call before we have a few months of easier rotations. I, for one, am beyond ready. I did marry the guy because I like having him around, not just for his future earnings potential.

Little knitting and even less sewing has been accomplished recently. I had to stop taking my medication for Restless Leg Syndrome and I honestly had no idea that I slept so poorly before I started the medication. I am exhausted all day and can barely make it to 9 pm. On Saturday, while waiting for Eric to get home from call, I sat down on the couch about 8:40 to watch the end of Iron Chef America. I didn't even make it to the judging. The next thing I know, Eric was shaking me awake at nearly 11pm.

It really doesn't leave much time for getting anything done. Which explains why the house is in shambles.

Work is both hectic and slow. Hectic because the company is changing business systems and everyone is in a tizzy because of it. Slow because sales volume is scary low. So slow that I would be in danger of being laid off if it wasn't for the changes. I am still a little nervous about it all.

But, for once we managed to have a beautiful weekend and I spent most of it outside. Saturday, I took Caleb and a neighbor boy to the park. The boys were having a snack when the neighbor leaned over and whispered something to Caleb.

Caleb looked at me and asked if his friend could come over to our house after the park. I said to Caleb that it was fine and he looked at his friend and said that he could come over.

The friend gave Caleb a positively whithering look and said in a voice dripping with derision "I'm not blind over here!" It was all I could do to not fall off the park bench from laughing.