An essay on...my so-called life
Not much knitting - though I knit black stockinette until I needed to ball another skein and the muenchkin had decided that it was time to eat. Hard to stop with the deskeining halfway.
So what have I been doing? Well, working about 4 hours a day, some with the kiddo on my lap, some with her nearby like this:
Also been shopping for a house. I think S and I have finally admitted (after living here 8 years) that we are probably not leaving anytime soon. So we might as well look for a more grown-up house with a bit more space (since we both have hobbies that consume a lot of space - mine is collecting yarn, and his is collecting cars - maybe I should put the yarn IN the cars?). House-shopping is quite stressful - I don't like looking at how other people live, and I dread the idea of other people looking at the way I live. And it will also be sad to think of someone else living in "our" house. Also stressful because the only house that we've both liked so far had a strange septic system that had an alarm going off while we were there - hmm. Not encouraging. I'd like to flush and have stuff go away, not tell me that it is in a tank in the backyard ready to overflow.
Happily, I got to spend Saturday getting destressed, detressed, and generally dolled up at a local salon - my sister sent me a gift card to use after the bebe was born, and I reached a Weight Watchers goal, so I decided it was time. I am always a bit wary of getting my hair cut; it always looks good when they style it, but I am not so into actually styling it myself (eye-hand coordination problems, and a slight moral opposition to hairdryers). But this cut actually seems to work for me - wow. This is the first time that I pointed at a magazine picture and actually got hair that looks decent (I still don't look like Julia Stiles, but...) They also picked out the perfect lipstick for me - I was amazed. I am also not an everyday lipstick-wearer, but this one was pretty darn good - maybe I will start with one-day-a-week-lipstick-wearing. Can you go halfway like that, or will people think you look sick on the non-lipstick days? Can you tell I missed out on the girly years? Who is going to train the little one in this stuff? I am obviously incompetent, as demonstrated by the fact that I got a manicure then proceeded to paint and stain molding the next day. Hopeless, I am. At least I can teach her to knit. And to not worry about her nails!
Sweatergirl's summer knitting
I love watching all these summer tees and tanks and camisoles appearing on blogs. However, I hope to lose 30 more pounds over the next year or so, and I don't want to knit something that won't (hopefully) fit next summer. So here's the Union Jack sweater front:
I guess this sweater is big enough that it might fit someone who doesn't mind revealing her belly in public and having vey short, fitted sleeves. Debbie Bliss's kid sweaters are notoriously baggy. On kids. Probably tight on adults.
I've started the back and am 23 rows in - I seem to have a knack for picking non-photogenic projects, as it is just black. Black Cotton Classic in stockinette. The only interesting part of this sweater left is - sleeves top-down and attached? Or bottom up? I am leaning toward top-down so that they are easy to lengthen or shorten - though I don't really believe I will do that, particularly once it is washed a few times and the cotton yarn wears in. But it does lessen the number of seams...
St. Brigid in navy is my other non-photogenic project. Boy. I am going to need to find a guest knitter if I want to post any knitting pics.
And, in today's baby picture, you will see the little one wearing a lovely light aqua cardigan with a lace border, made back in February. Oh yeah, with her dad. And with The Cider House Rules on the TV in the background - doh!
Sweatergirl's ray of sunshine
This is a "Sunshine Hat", in sunshine yellow (even I am suggestible, making things in suggested colors - and this is my pattern!) Trying to follow my own pattern made me make a few minor changes (join into a round - but I didn't say to K 1 round plain? What a nut.) Anyway, Fuzzy is a few months younger than the original recipient, and it's summer, so this hat is smaller and made of cotton. It will also need some chin straps to stay on (don't know if this is a function of head shape/size or the fact that it is cotton/not wool).
So the little girl is two months old, as of Saturday. Before she was born, I had never:
It is really cool to watch her growing and learning and changing. I hope I still think she's this wonderful in 13 years...although I am sure she won't wear a hat like this in 13 years!
Quick update
I haven't been very good about keeping the blog up-top-date, so some details: the Sam sweater is from Wee Knits, but knit in Cotton Classic (a bit smaller than the Mission Falls yarn called for). And the Union Jack sweater is from Debbie Bliss's Nautical Knits for Kids - also in Cotton Classic. Sorry for being such a space cadet lately!Sweatergirl bites the bullet
The Union Jack sweater is moving along. Oh, the ends! Oh, the slippery cotton! Oh well. Oh, and check the Sam sweater...
Sweatergirl and the British Invasion
I knit up to the dreaded start of the intarsia on the Union Jack sweater. I'll need to concentrate for that part, so I set it aside for the evening. It was nice to get some knitting time!
S sold one of his cars today (a mostly gutted MGB), bringing our total number of cars (for two drivers, mind you) back down to four, but then brought home two cars for me to look at (a 1960 Austin A40 and a 1987 Jaguar XJ6 - both quite adorable, and either would provide room for a carseat...unlike the MGB he's currently got). Umm - except that would be six cars for two drivers - excessive. Right? I am holding fast to only two more cars than can fit in the garage. He is looking for a bigger garage! Ah, marriage is a series of compromises, I guess.
Sheepish Sweatergirl
Still here, just busy being in love. This kid thing is great; this mom thing is great...E is a very content baby, an "easy" baby. She smiles and sort of giggles now - very fun. She knows my voice from across the room. And I slept through the night last night; I hope she did too! I might have just been too tired to hear her? But I felt much more awake this AM.
I've done very little knitting:
A pair of too-small Koigu booties which might already be lost!
A bit of Fuzzy's Christmas sweater
A bitty bit of her Union Jack sweater, for wearing to the British Motoring Club events
One front of a cardigan from Miss Bea's Playtime
Umm - cut and ripped out the bottom of Anjuli to shorten it. Reknitting the bottom band - then the front bands will need to be redone. This is the neverending sweater. No great pics of the process, however. But it is not too hard, and I am thinking of other projects that need to be lengthened/shortened.
Also, a few more rows of St. Brigid - navy, hard to photograph, boring to blog about. I need to see TrixieChick's completed St. Brigid again to be re-inspired.
Sadly, I missed seeing Rob and Matt on their whirlwind tour up north. Both sides of the family were in town for Fuzzy's baptism. We all survived. One of us slept through it.
Awww. Ain't she precious?
I spent some time at the Yarn Garden in Charlotte today. The new space is fabulous. I am very intrigued by Harrisville's Shetland sportweight - not sure what to make with it though, so left it at the shop. I did buy two balls of Encore for a baby Wallaby and two balls of Cotton Classic for the Union Jack sweater. But that no-yarn-pact is officially finished - finally. Not that Sarah or I did very well with it...(Check those sidebars - whew! Just imagine if we hadn't had the pact to slow us down?)
And just because I am infatuated:
I think we'll keep her!
