The Straight Poop

With a title like that, oh boy am I ever gonna get a bunch of weird ass spam, dirty links, and raunchy searches leading to my blog post.  But hey, it’s the truth.  This post is about…. well…. poop.
 
One of the top two best jobs I ever had in my life (so far) came a few years, and one miserable job later, after grad school.  We were studying E.coli and Salmonella etiology on dairy farms and I was required, among other things, to travel to various dairy farms in eastern Washington and basically scoop poop.  Entirely unglamorous, but really not as bad as you might think.  My family however, thought it was distinctly hilarious that I went to college, and later grad school, just so I could pick up cow poop.  I’m not really one to take myself too seriously (despite outward appearances to the contrary) and it was kind of funny.  At first.  But then I got tired of everyone saying, “Oh have you met my niece/cousin/daughter?  You’ll never guess what she does for a living!  She picks up poop, ha ha!  And she went to college for it too!”  There was really so much more to it than that.
 

Little Mister is 8 months old today!

 
But then this morning, as I changed my third poopy diaper before 10 AM, I got to thinking.  Things really haven’t changed that much I guess.  I’m still dealing with poop and there’s still so much more to it than that :)
 
Things have been good here.  We had our 6th wedding anniversary on Sunday the 26th (love you Honey!) and took a little day trip for ourselves with some shopping and a nice dinner out at Red Lobster.  I know, kinda ghetto to some of you maybe, but hey, we like it and it’s been a while!  Also got to see my good knitty pal Troy for several hours of coffee & knitting last Saturday.  We haven’t done that since before Knittymunchkin was born!  I really needed that time to just be myself and not be a “mom” for a while.  Amazing how restorative a few hours can be!  And I’m knitting.  A bunch of stuff.  But that post will have to wait until later.  I hear my little 8 month old awake and calling for me!

 

Time Keeps On Slipping Into The Future

Being without a traditional job any longer is sometimes kind of surreal for me.  Deeply ingrained, after years of getting up early and making my way to work, is that feeling of needing to go to bed on time.  No staying up late on a school night!  You would think that freedom from that routine would make time stand still; no schedule but the rhythm of life with my son.  Instead I find that I blink and 2 weeks have passed.  Where does the time go?  Lately I’ve been feeling really anxious about the things that I don’t get around to doing during the day. Little chores, correspondence, always having to apologize for not getting something done.  It’s keeping me awake at night and it’s insidiously robbing me of my sleep.  To combat this I’ve gone back to my mainstay: listmaking.  I know that there is no possible way I can ever have a clean slate, things will always accumulate faster than I can complete them, but having them on paper rather than creeping around in my mind really helps put a lid on my anxiety.  I’ve promised myself that I’ll complete one thing off the list each day, no matter how big or small, and hopefully this will make me feel better about the time that seems to be slipping through my fingers.
 

Let's Eat!!

 
We did have a bit of an interesting event this week though, to break up our little homey routine.  Viruses, viruses everywhere (and maybe a little Bacteria too)!  Now don’t get me wrong.  I loves me some pink.  But not when that pink precedes eye, as in pinkeye.  Ugh.  Little Mister woke up Wednesday morning with his poor little eye all crusted shut :(  I wiped both eyes clean, but after an hour they still looked a little swollen and his right eye was tearing like crazy.  I got us an appointment with the pediatrician and had a momentary surge of maternal pride when the doctor told us that Knittymunchkin was the happiest baby she had ever seen :)  She told us he probably has pinkeye and wrote us a prescription for some drops.  No idea where he might have gotten it. We don’t take him many places and he’s not around other children at all.  I’ve never had it in my entire life!  Anyway, Little Mister is so sweet.  Other than being more tired than usual and wanting more cuddles, you would never know that he wasn’t feeling well.  What a trooper!  We started the drops Wednesday night and by the next morning he already looked better and was back to his busy little determined self.  So back off Señor Pinkeye!  There’s no room for your kind of pink around here.
 
Though the time since I last posted has blurred together for the most part, it’s been a happy, and often sleepless time, mixed liberally with countless joyous moments.  Knittymunchkin is truly a blessing in my life and I am so grateful that I finally figured out how I felt about having a child and being a mom.  At the risk of sounding trite, there really is no greater experience left that I could ask for.  This is it.

 

The Good, The Bad, And The …. Ugly?

The Good:

 

PEAS!!!!!!

 
Knittymunchkin has fully embraced eating his veggies.  Of course, he wears most of his food right now, but we’re getting there.  It’s so hilarious to watch him while he eats, though I think he has just as much fun gnawing on the spoon as he does nomming on peas ;)  He has also gotten over his sleep issues (knock on wood) and can now go to sleep if you put him to bed and he’s not quite totally out yet.  We have a tummy sleeper on our hands though, now that he can roll over, and I end up getting up at least a couple times each night just to make sure he’s still breathing. It was worse the first couple days when he started doing that because he could roll over onto his tummy, but couldn’t roll back onto his back very well.  He would wake himself up and cry and I would panic.  But now he flips back and forth pretty easily and has been sleeping close to 10 hours every night with a good nap each day.  Yippeee!!!!  It’s shocking how fast he’s growing & developing.
 

The Bad:

 
I only finished one item for Jess’ Finish Along.  Holy crap I suck.  And Jess was even nice enough to give me some wholly undeserved credit for knitting with a 6 month old in the house (thanks Jess!!).  But I couldn’t even get it together to sew on some damned buttons in order to finish something.  That’s pretty sad.  Except, I’ve been knitting.  I’ve just been cheating on my old stuff with new stuff.  When will I learn?  No pictures yet, but hopefully next time.
 

And – The Ugly?

 
I haven’t had a haircut since last September.  As in almost a year ago.  My hair was driving me crazy and I think I might have done something drastic.  You tell me.
 

Oldilocks - 10:30 AM on August 12, 2010

 

Mama Got Her Hair Did!

 
I liked it.  At first.  Now, I’m not so sure.  You know how the stylist always does some hocusy pocusy crap and makes it look all fantastic and then you go home and it starts to flatten out, or hang in your face, and you wake up the next day and look at yourself and think – Now that’s not right! I got that in spades.  It’s too short to put up, yet long enough to hang on my neck and make me sweat.  So I don’t actually feel cooler like I thought I would.  And it hangs in my face.  One of my biggest peeves.  But there’s an upside.  I save on shampoop and it’s easy to manage right after I shower.  Dries in 10 seconds, I swear.  And that’s pretty good for a new-ish mama.  I’ll take it.  Besides, at the rate I’m going, it will have plenty of time to grow out before I end up getting it cut again!

 

Summertime, And The Knitting Is Easy

Summertime, and the livin’ is easy…..  I love that song.
 
Around here, the knitting has been easy too.  I thought I was disappointed that I wouldn’t be knitting sweaters until I finished breastfeeding Knittymunchkin, but honestly, it’s kind of all good that I’m knitting little things.  They’re simpler and finish quicker, leaving me satisfied and ready to start something new.  I get the quick knit fix, without the need to stay monogamous for too long.
 

Delphinium Mitts

 

• Pattern:  Emerald Fingerless Mitts (Ravelry link here; My Ravelry project link here)
• Yarn:  0.78 hanks (approximately 117 yds) Malabrigo Silky Merino in “Azul Azul”.
• Needles:  32 inch size 4 bamboo circs for magic loop.
• Mods:  Made quite a few since the pattern is very sketchy and confusing (in my opinion).  There was NO WAY I was going to seam the thumb, so I did it in the round.  All my mods are clearly laid out in my project page.

 
Really happy with how these turned out, even though they are on the small side for me (I have long skinny fingers and biggish hands).  But they aren’t for me anyway, so that’s o.k.  Love love love the Silky Merino and even though I’m not down with blue in general, I love this shade. I think I might buy enough for a whole sweater someday.  A quick and satisfying project, and another 117 yds to subtract from stash.  Yippee!!
 

 
No, these were NOT on my list of things I wanted to finish for my friend Jess’ Finish Along.  Bad bad Knittymuggins!  But they were a birthday gift and therefore, were justified.  I’m doing quite miserably at finishing my items for her contest, unfortunately.  So far I have finished a dishcloth, which wasn’t even on my original list, and that’s it.  But I still  have until the 13th and I expect I can finish my BSJ and my Felix sweater without too much trouble since they just need a seam and some buttons sewn on.  I have been working fairly steadily on my Jaywalkers too which is saying something for me.  I tend not to be uber monogamous with stuff, but I really want to get these socks finished (finally!).
 

Crocheted Sherbert Dishcloth - Finished Item #1

 

• Pattern:  Crochet Dishcloths by Lily Sugar ‘n Cream (Ravelry link here; My Ravelry project link here)
• Yarn:  0.56 skeins (approximately 105.8 yds) Lion Brand Cotton Print in “Sherbert Swirl”.
• Hook:  G – 4.25 mm
• Mods:  None

 
Like all free patterns you find in Jo-Ann’s, the pattern was a little sketchy and had some mistakes (at least my copy did).  But I managed.  I started this last October to help a friend learn how to crochet.  We both started the pattern together and then were going to get together to finish it off once I’d gotten her going on it.  But life got busy, as it always does, and we never got together to do the finishing. So I decided I’d just take a few minutes and get it done so I could get it off to my Mom.  She loves these things and I never use them so I was happy to find it a good home.  I’m happy with how it turned out.  Simple, but pretty.
 
In other vacation news, I did finish my book and we’ve completed a few projects around the house.  We’ve still got a ton more to do, but we’ll just have to do what we can as we have the time.  I think we are all feeling at least slightly more relaxed though. And on the second, our little guy turned 6 months old!  Where has the time gone????
 

Knittymunchkin is 6 months old!

 

Never Enough

• Never enough time to knit, never enough time to read, never enough time to blog, just never enough time, period.
• Never enough clothes that fit.  I’m too small for maternity clothes, too big for pre-preg clothes, and too cheap to buy stuff that will fit me right now, hoping as I am that I will lose the last 9 lbs. shortly.  Of course if I don’t stop eating crap that’s bad for me, I might get there sooner.
• Speaking of which, there is absolutely NO time to workout, though we do take a spin around the neighborhood nearly every day, and carrying around an almost-6-month-old all day has just got to burn some calories.  It has to count for something or I might cry.
• There’s never enough clean cloth diapers.  I do laundry nearly every day.
• There is, most definitely, NEVER enough sleep.  Never enough naps, never uninterrupted snoozing.
• Never enough money.  How is it that we still have to live paycheck to paycheck even with R. Darling’s good job and the fact that I never go anywhere anymore or spend money on myself (at all, ever)?
• There are never enough photos of Knittymunchkin.  I take as many as I can, but I know that someday I will still regret not taking more.  Especially pictures of us with him.  We have maybe 2 of those each :(
• There are never enough opportunities to hear my little boy laugh each day.  My face hurts sometimes from giggling along with his latest game.
• Never enough time for the garden.  It looks dried out and awful and it makes me sad how the weeds are taking over.
• There are never enough people in my world for whom to knit. I love to knit for other people but no one in my family appreciates hand knits (except for R. Darling, but seriously, how many hats and scarves can he really wear?). Do any of you know someone who would like a handknit? There’s only certain kinds of things I can knit for charity, and so many unsuitable patterns I’d love to try. But what to do with the finished item? I can’t wear it all!
• Never enough ways to keep my little one occupied during the day! He’s like a sponge, greedy for more stuff to soak up, and gets bored of the “usual” games so readily these days.

 
I did find time last weekend to try one new recipe though, part of my Day Zero goals.
 

I loves me some rhubarb!

 
I was excited to try this one as it is one of R. Darling’s Grandma’s recipes, and rhubarb (incredibly plentiful in my garden, despite neglect) is one of my all time favorite dessert components.  Unfortunately, the recipe didn’t live up to the hype (sorry Grandma!).  R. Darling gave it a 6, saying it needed more rhubarb, and I gave it a 6 too because the raspberry jello made it taste too much like raspberry and not enough like rhubarb.  Meh.  I won’t be making this again.  But at least I satisfied my curiosity and I am 3 recipes down out of my goal of 10.
 
R. Darling starts 2 weeks of vacation beginning tomorrow (though we have tons of scheduled appointments and he’s got 3 overtime shifts during his “vacation”).  I am so excited to maybe get  a little extra time for some knitting and maybe a little work in the garden.  I’d like to finish my book too.  Just the psychological value of having an extra pair of hands during the day taking care of Knittymunchkin will be priceless for me.
 
Hope you are all enjoying your summer vacation too!

 

Learning Curve

We’ve been having a time of it here at Chez Funkytown.  Knittymunchkin has been going through an extremely exhausting fussy stage, complete with wailing, waking up several times a night (from dead sleep to frantic crying in 1.5 seconds flat), not napping, and crying & pulling while nursing.  The only thing that keeps him mildly content is for me to carry him around all day long.  Needless to say, my back hurts.  Though he’s taken quite nicely to the Baby Bjorn that he used to hate.  Bonus!
 

When he was born, we found out he had acid reflux, which can be really common for preemies.  We have been giving him medicine for it for a few months and he’s been doing so well (not spitting up & not grunting with discomfort while laying down) that we thought we’d try discontinuing the medicine.  He seemed to be doing really well for a day or two, other than the increase in fussing & the waking up at night. Silly me, I didn’t put two and two together until he started spitting up again the past couple days.  D’oh!  Maybe it’s because he still needs his medicine, dummy!  So we’ve started that again and I’m keeping my fingers crossed it will bring him, and us, some relief.  Because this waking up every two hours all night long has got to stop.  I feel like spawn of the dead, all groggy and stuff all day long.  And knitting?  There’s been zip.zero.nada.
 

Sometimes this works too.....

 

I started doing some more extensive reading when he began having so much additional trouble sleeping recently.  It could also be a growth spurt or teething, but I don’t see any evidence of new tooth sprouts, so I don’t know about that.  I really think it’s the reflux coming back.  But I also found out that, apparently, I am a prime candidate for the SMITU award (Shittiest Mother In The Universe – smite you! – I just made that up), for even considering the notion of letting my child “cry it out” like I mentioned the other day.  Dr. Sears says so, so I guess it must be true.  I was just going by the books I’ve read up to this point which tell you you need to “train” your child to fall asleep on their own, otherwise they’ll never learn how.  But surprise surprise, Dr. Sears says you’ll just cause your child to cry more because you aren’t meeting their needs and when you do this you are cheaping out on creating a wonderful relationship with your baby.  Wow.  I really have a lot to learn.  Now don’t get me wrong, I’ll probably never be a militant full-on attachment parenting advocate (people should do what’s right for them, without judgment), but I do think we’ve  benefited from a kinder, gentler, approach towards bedtime. Yes, he does still need to be rocked to sleep for the most part, but he falls asleep faster than he used to and cries less.  Plus, I think we’re bonding more.  I guess it really is a win-win.
 

Meats & Veg In One Big Pot!

 

Despite all this crazy mama drama, I have still managed to find time to try one new recipe (part of my Day Zero Project goals).  I apologize to all you vegetarians out there who will be offended by my pot roast photo up there.  I’m sorry, but I still do eat meat.  I’ve never been very good at cooking it because, frankly, when I lived alone I mostly ate chicken, veg, & pasta.  But I now live with a bona fide carnivore and meat is what’s for dinner.  It’s been dang hot here so I was looking for something to cook in the crock pot that wouldn’t heat up the house.  A friend of ours came over to meet Knittymunchkin for the first time and was talking about going home to cook a pot roast.  He made it sound so easy I thought, why not?  I hopped on the inrawebz and found a likely recipe here.  Following some of the advice of the reviewers I changed it up a little and settled in for a 10 hour wait.  It smelled great and looked good when we dished up.  The flavor however, was missing something.  It’s not like it was bad, it just wasn’t amazing.  R. Darling gave it an 8 and I gave it a 7 for the meat and an 8 for the veg.  As in, I would cook it again, but it sorely needs something.  Any of you lovely readers have a secrety squirrel ingredient you’d be willing to share for fantastic pot roast?  I thought the balsamic vinegar I added would do the trick but sadly, no.  Maybe I didn’t add enough.
 

Well, it’s all part of my learning curve. I’m still on the upward climb, but I will get there someday. I have to!

 

You’ve Come A Long Way, Baby

It was a year ago, this morning, that I stood in my bathrobe waiting.  Bare feet on the bathroom linoleum, I read the instructions one last time and set the timer.  Dimly, I heard my husband getting ready for work, moving back and forth in our bedroom on the other side of the wall.  I bit my lip.  What to think?  And then the timer went off.  I stopped it in a flash and picked up the little wand.  Staring back at me was a little blue “+”, the kind that some women crave and other women dread. Which was I?  I wasn’t sure, but took a breath and said, “Honey, our eggo is preggo!”, with a smile.  He jumped for joy.  And the rest is history.  So while this day is the celebration of the birth of our nation, for me there will always be another, more personal, reason to celebrate.

 

Knitting It Out

Knittymunchkin & Frog Are Friends

 
Wow.  This mom business is frickin’ HARD.  One of the suckiest things a new mom will ever have to experience has to be letting your child “cry it out”.  It’s heartbreaking really, especially for a soft-hearted pushover like me.  Knittymunchkin has a lot of trouble going to sleep on his own and staying asleep is an issue too.  We’ve been working on it but both R. Darling and I feel terrible just sitting there and letting him cry himself to sleep.  Because, man, do we have one tenacious little guy!  I swear he will keep bawling his eyes out for the better part of an hour betting that one of us will go and pick him up.  I can hardly take it.
 
This morning was no different.  I laid him down in his bed and he was drowsy, almost asleep.  Soon as I took my hands away – wham! – those eyes flew open and the pout was in full force.  By the time my shadow darkened the doorway on the way out of the bedroom, the tears and wailing had started up.  I gritted my teeth and walked to the living room, steeling myself to the wretched cries of my poor little baby.  Knitting saved me.
 
One of the things I love about knitting is its ability to calm the nerves.  Something about the click of needles and the swoosh of fiber over them can soothe my tension like no other.  When it comes to letting your little one cry themselves to sleep, knitting is the perfect diversion.  You can always lay down your work if your child really does need you that instant.  But if it’s a matter of giving them a chance to learn something on their own and dampening your own ability to interfere I say that a simple lace patterned hat or sock will do that like nobody’s business.  Because if you’re like me, you always want to get to the end of a lace repeat, or finish one row on the heel you’re turning, before stopping to do something else.  Perfect if you are battling with yourself over whether to go and pick up the baby.  Wait, just one more row and then I’ll go pick him up. By the time you get to the end of that row he might have quieted down and then you just keep knitting.  Mom – 1, Baby – 1.  Backsliding purposefully avoided.
 
So this morning I’m working on a baby hat for our neighbor who also happens to be one of R. Darling’s co-workers.  She had an incredibly stressful pregnancy and things are not necessarily o.k. now that she’s had her little girl.  I feel for her because I had a very stressful pregnancy too (something I didn’t really talk about here) and though things turned out great for us, the journey was really rough.  The kind gestures we received from our neighbors (who I had previously thought of as mere acquaintances) meant so much to us when we brought Knittymunchkin home and I want to make her a little gift so she’ll know that our little family is keeping her in our thoughts.  I think it was meant to be since the pattern I chose called for yarn already in my stash in girly pink, and the diversion was just what I needed this morning to “knit it out” while Knittymunchkin cried his way to sleep.

 

Blankety Blank Blank

Do you ever feel like you have things to talk about but nothing to say?  I have things I could share, but I’m feeling kind of meh about it.  I’m doing things (some of them actually knitting related) but they just don’t feel interesting enough to blog about.  Which is totally weird because when I’m doing stuff that seems blogworthy, I generally don’t have trouble talking about it.  It just spills out unbidden and practically writes itself.  Maybe it’s just that I haven’t posted in over a week and I feel out of practice, or maybe that I’m just so tired that the words have gone into hiding in the dark and dusty recesses of my mind hoping I won’t stumble upon them and put them to work.  I think they’re tired too.
 
I shouldn’t be this exhausted.  Last night my darling little boy slept for 9 hours straight and over the past week he’s slept several other nights for 6-8 hours as well.  Why is it that getting more sleep is actually making me more groggy and tired?  I’m thinking that my sleep programming is all out of whack after nearly 4 months of getting up every 2-3 hours at night.  And I think that I still worry something is wrong with Knittymunchkin if he sleeps through what I expect will be a feeding time.  The worry makes me sleepless when I should be taking advantage of the extra opportunity to sleep.  All this snooze analysis is making my brain hurt though, and it’s boring for you, so let’s talk about some knitting instead!
 
Do you have a baby “go to” pattern that you always make for expectant moms?  I do.  It’s this free ball band pattern on the Lion Brand Pound of Love Yarn (Ravelry link here).  I’ve made so many of these that I lost count and it seems like all the moms I’ve made them for have really liked them.  Or else they’re all lying to me, which is a distinct possibility.  Anyhoo, every time I’ve made one of these, R. Darling has said he hoped I would make one of these for our baby when/if we ever had one.  So, shortly after I found out I was pregnant, I started one for our baby.  You should have seen R. Darling’s face light up when he realized what I was doing. It was so worth it, whether or not we’ll ever us the darn thing :)  See, we received so many beautiful handmade blankies from friends and family that I don’t forsee the need to ever break this one out.  But it’s the thought that counts.
 

Hooded Crochet Blanket (Lion Brand Pound Of Love Ball Band Pattern)

 

Close Up of Hooded Portion

 

• Pattern: Crochet Hooded Baby Blanket by Lion Brand (Ravelry link here; My Ravelry Project link here)
• Yarn: Less than one full skein of Lion Brand’s Pound of Love in White
• Hook: 6 mm Size J crochet hook

 
It kinda took me forever to finish this because when I was first pregnant I was so sick I could barely stand to knit or crochet.  But I finished it eventually.  The hood seems like a great feature, but honestly, I’ve never even put Knittymunchkin in it :(
 
My next project was made for my best college friend’s newest daughter.  She has 3 other children and I’ve made something for each of them so I felt it was really important to continue the tradition with her latest addition.  Her first, a boy, received a blue and white granny crochet afghan.  Her second, a little girl, received a crocheted blanket made up of individually crocheted spiral motifs that were then sewn together.  I had just started dating R. Darling at the time and he and another friend of ours used to tease me about all the “bellybutton covers” I was crocheting.  Alas, no pics of either of those items to show.  Her third child received one of the first baby items I ever knit, a February Baby Sweater.  In retrospect I guess she kinda got gypped because she got the odd project out of the 4 of them.  But anyway, once I knew she was expecting again I had my heart set on making a Baby Chalice Blanket.  I’ve loved that pattern since I first laid eyes on it and this was the perfect reason to knit one.
 

Baby Chalice Blanket

 

Detail of Lace Pattern

 

• Pattern:  Baby Chalice Blanket by Lykkefanten (Ravelry link here; My Ravelry Project link here)
• Yarn:  Exactly 3 skeins of NaturallyCaron.com Country in “Green Sheen” (a mere yard or so left)
• Needles:  Size 8, 24-inch circular
• Mods:  Cast on 113 stitches instead of 83 to make a wider blanket

 
Really love this blanket and the yarn wasn’t bad at all for being chain store yarn.  Once blocked, it draped beautifully and it wasn’t bad to knit with either.  A tad splitty and I did find a few knots, but other than that it felt a lot like Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece which I like quite well.  Totally happy with this project, though next time I might buy one extra ball of yarn and make the blanket even wider and longer.  I like big snuggly blankies :)
 
And an outtake…..  I couldn’t resist “testing” the blankie out on Little Mister before sending it off.
 

Knittymunchkin Fast Asleep

 
Hmmmm…. guess I had more to say than I thought!

 

The Mayor Of Cooville

The Mayor of Cooville spends all day in his pajamas.  He lives at home with his parents and doesn’t have a job.  The Mayor of Cooville has people who cater to his every whim.  He’s not afraid to cry when he’s upset or wants his way and he knows who is really in charge and how to stay that way.  The Mayor of Cooville loves milk.  It’s his favorite.  In fact, he loves it so much he eats milk at every meal.  The Mayor of Cooville knows how to pour on the charm.  His smile could stop you dead in your tracks.  He stays up late and gets up early, and knows the importance of a nap (or three) during the day.  The Mayor of Cooville doesn’t have  a driver’s license but he loves riding in the car and will fall fast asleep while traveling.  He has a lot of potential and learns fast.  But most of all, the Mayor of Cooville still lets his Mama dress him funny……
 

Knittymunchkin!

 
I actually finished these sweaters in late 2009, all but the buttons.  But without the buttons on, it seemed silly to post and then things just got effing crazy with Knittymunchkin’s arrival and so on.  These are still a little big for him but I did put the brown and blue one on him when we took him for a walk last weekend.  I felt vaguely smug when we ran into a couple from our childbirth class and they exclaimed, “What a cute sweater!”, not knowing I had made it myself.  Rodger proudly told them so and then I felt even a bit more smug at their astonishment.  I’m so vain about my craft it’s sad ;)  Anyhoo, the specifics….
 

Felix Sweater in Patons Classic Wool

 

• Pattern: Felix’s Cardigan by Jacki Kelly (Ravelry link here, My Ravelry project link here)
• Yarn: Approximately 0.87 balls (194 yds) Patons Classic Wool in “Wedgewood”
• Needles:  Size 7 -  24 inch bamboo circs

 

Felix Sweater in Cascade Quatro

 

• Pattern: Felix’s Cardigan by Jacki Kelly (Ravelry link here, My Ravelry project link here)
• Yarn: 1 hank Cascade Quatro Color #9432
• Needles:  Size 7 -  24 inch bamboo circs

 
What can I say?  I love this sweater so much I made three (third one still needs buttons; photos to come)!  It’s super quick, super easy, and super cute.  I love that I can make one with pretty much one ball of yarn too.  Perfect for those random single skeins you might have hanging out in your stash.  Finding the perfect buttons though?  That search might take you longer than it does to knit the sweater!
 
Now I’m off to check on the Mayor of Cooville.  He’s one demanding taskmaster!  But this Girl Friday sure does love him :)

 

Friday Fill-In #174

Supermerino!

 
I’m feeling fickle.  See, I still wasn’t sure about that BSJ I started.  I had originally planned to use some pretty blue Artyarns Supermerino from my stash and when I didn’t have enough I bought 2 more hanks from someone destashing on Ravelry.  If you remember, I’m allowed to buy it if I need it for a project & someone is destashing it, so we’re still good here with working from stash.  But before I received the 2 extra hanks I started to wind my first hank to get started and I decided it wasn’t looking stripey enough for the BSJ I was envisioning.  So I got started with the Needful Yarns Darling instead.  But lets be real here.  It was starting to look like something a cat barfed up and R. Darling was keeping suspiciously mum about it, so when I received my destash supermerino and saw it was a completely (much lighter) dye lot than what I had in my stash, I saw striping potential and decided to cut my losses.  Who knows what the cat barf yarn will turn out to be, probably some kind of cat barf sweater, but for now my baby boy is getting a beautiful blue BSJ.
 

And just in time for the weekend……

 

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Friday Fill-In #174
(get yours here)

1. I was always unsure about kids and marriage.  Now I think I know how I feel :)
2. I don’ t have much time to read anymore and I left my book on the coffee table just in case I could sneak a few pages in between chores.
3. Why did I wake up disoriented the other night, sure that I had forgotten the baby in his bassinet in the living room?
4. The giant list of things I need to do and don’t have much time for was in my thoughts today.
5. One of my father’s favorite sayings was “Don’t take any wooden nickels!”
6. Worn out – I know that feeling!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to knitting a few rows on my BSJ, tomorrow my plans include spending some extra time with R. Darling (he’s been working too much lately) and Sunday, I want to maybe do a few things in my garden!
 

I’m not very entertaining these days, but there you have it!

 

BTW:  Why do I always miss out on all the fun stuff?  Did you know it was Knitting & Crochet Blog Week???  Such a great idea.  Well, it’s too late for me this year, but maybe next year I’ll try to participate.  Hope those of you that did had fun with it and have a wonderful weekend everyone!

 

What Do You Do When….

Question:

What do you do when your little boy is starving but won’t settle and eat?  If he won’t sleep unless he’s swaddled and he cries the second you wrap him up?  What if he squalls when you hold him and wails even harder when you don’t?  And what if the second he falls asleep and you go to put him in his bassinet, he wakes up and starts crying all over again?  What if you do this all day, over and over, and nothing seems to work until you suddenly find yourself crying too?
 

Answer:

You take a deep breath and love him with all your might……

 

An unexpected surprise

 
Yesterday was indeed challenging.  It seems that at least every other day is like this .  But the great thing about yesterday, is that my sweet husband walked in the door just moments after my tears stopped with a great big bouquet of flowers and a smile and all I could say was, “I really needed these today!  Thank you sweetie!” Sometimes things just work out.
 

Current Projects

 
So I’m working on some stuff in between the baby stuff.  Those are our baby announcements that I finally got printed up and need to address and send.  Only about 2.5 months late.  Oh well.  What do you expect people?  He spent an entire month in the Special Care Nursery and I wasn’t about to send out a photo of him with an NG tube in his nose.
 
And what’s that?  No….freaking….way. You mean there’s actually some knitting content here?  Yes, that’s right.  I started a BSJ (Baby Surprise Jacket) for Little Mister.  I’m using some stash yarn because I’m damn serious about working from stash this year.  Not only because I can’t afford yarn anymore now that I work for free at home, but because I have so damn much of it and it’s taking over our house.  It’s kind of embarrassing.  I hid it in boxes and bags for a long time (from myself and from my husband) but now that I’m sorting through it, cataloging it, and getting it into Ravelry, I’m astonished by just how much I actually have.
 
*If you are R. Darling, stop reading here*
 
I think I said something a while back about having enough to make 40 pairs of socks? Try 128.  And I’m not done.  And I’m not counting the undyed stuff.  Oy.  (Seriously, don’t read this honey!  I only have enough for 2 pairs of socks!)  So I’m looking at this endeavor like some kind of fascinating puzzle.  Since I often buy enough for a full sweater, without knowing what sweater I might want to make with a specific yarn, I am finding it a fun challenge to find the perfect pattern for each yarn in order to maximize the usage of what I have without leaving too much behind.  Believe it or not, I’m having fun with it.  For the stuff that is just random bits here and there and stuff I’m not attached to, I’m thinking about making a gift stash of items I can give when I need a quick something for a birthday or a thank you or what have you.  I joined a group on Ravelry to help keep me motivated too: Shop The Stash 2010.  I don’t participate much in it yet, but it’s nice to know the company is there when/if I need it.
 
*You can start reading again here, Honey*
 
As for my BSJ, I don’t know if I’m liking the yarn I chose.  I thought it would be stripier and instead it’s sort of watercolor-ish.  The fiber might not work either – it’s a cotton acrylic blend that feels like plain old cotton.  I think I like it, but I’m not sure.  For now I’m going with it because knitting a BSJ is one of my 101 in 1001 Days goals and I’m pretty sure it’s one with a time limit that will go a lot faster than I expect, so I wanted to get started before he’s too big to fit in one.  Plus it’s all stash all the way baby, and I need to be focusing on that.  At least it’s fairly mindless garter stitch so I can usually get a few rows in each day before someone needs me for something.  These days my moments are few and far between and usually it’s a choice between eating, sleeping or knitting.  And believe it or not, sometimes knitting does win the competition!