Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Remember this girl?



Well, she looks like this now:



My only conclusion is that my home has been attacked by Pod People, and I'm carrying some alien life form under my skin. I feel lots of kicks and wiggles, especially after eating and at bedtime. Yesterday while I was teaching, I think the baby was doing downward dog, pointing its little butt toward my belly button. Good times. We're at the point now (25-26 weeks) where I'm just starting to feel uncomfortable if I eat too much lunch at once, and where I'm feeling the smallest kicks in the ribs. Oh, and I'm starting to waddle. I can only imagine how much more beautiful it's all going to be over the next three months.

It's funny how I look differently depending on what I'm wearing each day. This past week, several people have approached me and told me that I'm going to have a boy because I'm carrying the little sprout high and my belly is pointy. Also, some people are really irritated with me for not finding out the baby's gender. I gotta have a few good surprises in my life, you know?

Meanwhile, my cat, Lennon, is also behaving strangely; do the Pod People have Pod Cats?



You know how fraidy cats are about vacuum cleaners; both Julian and Lennon run full throttle to the furthest corner of the house whenever they see the vacuum come out of the closet. But now Lennon is showing a preference for the blow dryer. He likes to sit on the toilet and watch me dry my hair. Sometimes I'll aim the hot air toward him and he goes crazy for it! I could make some really tasteless joke about preferring blowing over sucking, but that would probably cross the line.

Finally, do you ever remember feeling so much joy over such a little thing like walking? This is my wee friend Anya, having the time of her life. I have to remind myself to slow down and enjoy the smallest things.



Knitting content to come... tomorrow?

Slow But Steady Wins the Race

Shawl Collar Pullover, such an easy, basic pattern, no? Maybe I'm becoming a perfectionist in my old age, but it's taking forever to put together.

Shoulders seamed and shawl collar installed while watching Cinderella Man a few nights ago. That took a few tries. The ribbed collar/stockinette front/row/stitch count made it all quite an adventure. And the spot where the ends cross over one another was a little tricksy.

Sleeve caps installed last night during the Oscars. I DVR'd the show, so we watched it later on in the evening and fast forwarded through all the commercials, took a break to make dinner, etc., but there is no way it should have taken that long just to attach the sleeves caps to the arm openings. I think I did one side over FIVE times. Clearly I knit either the front or the back an eensy bit longer than the other. That's okay, it finally worked out.

Sleeve and side seams should go together well (fingers crossed) tonight during the TWO HOUR special episode of 24. Can't wait!

Cotton Fleece's Big Sister?

Is there a yarn out there that is comparable to Cotton Fleece but is slightly bulkier? Like 15-16 stitches to 4"?

D is for Designs That Inspire

I can't knit fast enough (or is it that I just don't have enough time in my day?) to keep up with all the inspiration.



This is really gorgeous. Mer was the one to introduce the pattern on her blog a couple of days ago; I haven't been able to stop thinking about it ever since. I keep reading the Drops pattern (free!) and after reading through the English translation several times I understand the construction and instructions well enough to want to do it. Someday. Here's my question... take a look at the diagram first:

If you knit something like this, which has one main piece that's a circle knit in the round from the inside out, how would you splice/attach each new ball of yarn if you're using a yarn that isn't feltable? See, I'm in love with spit-splicing whenever possible, but if I use a blend of fibers that doesn't include wool or other animal fibers, what's the best bet? There aren't side seams to hide ends into.








I saw this Drops design a while back, too, and thought it was lovely. The shaping is right up my alley. I have a bag of purple Misti Alpaca Sport that I was going to use for a Union Square Market Pullover, but this would be a much more flattering line on me. It's still a possibility. Someday.








And finally, I'm in love with Starsky. I can't help it. It's a great look! I don't have anything like it. I'm curious, though, about the designer's suggestion that it be knit with 8" of ease based on the bust measurement. If you're a medium sized gal with a large bustline, do you still want that much ease? These are the questions that keep me up at night.

Come On, Drink the Kool Aid

I've got two friends who are, separately, getting excited about knitting.

One is the mommy of the twins I made the raglan baby sweaters for recently. She started knitting while on bedrest and wanted to learn more. I went over this weekend and showed her a few things, namely Addi Turbos and knitting socks on two circs. She's hooked! Yay! She called tonight to let me know that she's in love with the Turbos and can't wait to get more pairs/sizes.

The other is a friend who has never knit before. The pal who taught me how to knit a couple of years ago taught her just this week. She called me last night, saying, "Help! I have a knitting question!!" Yay! She's learning the basics and sounds really interested.

I say to them, "Welcome to my obsession. Let me know how I can help you feed the monster." heh.

As for me....

1. Shawl Collar Pullover pieces are finally dry. We'll see how soon I can get 'er seamed up.

2. Jemima is knitting up rather quickly thanks to the LOVELY Cashsoft and the way that it literally flies on Addi Turbos. I think I have a crush on this combination. I'm almost to the raglan shaping of sleeve #1.

3. Excellent yarn arrived today. Love living so close to Elann. Must remember to exercise restraint, though, else I order something new every stinking week. Must order an Addi Turbo US15/10mm. Holy cow. Haven't used such big needles since I was a beginner who knit too tightly and needed fat needles so my first scarf wouldn't be stiff as a board.

Knitting Ups and Downs

Shawl Collared Pullover is happily blocking away with its own little ray of sunshine (they're hard to come by over here) and yes, it's true that wet alpaca really does smell like wet dog. Mmmm. Yummy. I hope it dries soon; I keep laughing when I think of what this sweater's going to look like on my daily-increasing belly. Fortunately, people have good imaginations and will probably be able to imagine what it will look like on me next fall, right? :)

Our trip to Vancouver was lovely and quite uneventful. Perfect. We stayed right downtown and walked all over the place. Ate good food. Saw two good movies (Firewall was intensely suspenseful; Syriana was complex, political, and kept us talking and thinking well after we left the theater). Touched no yarn. I didn't even knit in the car on the way up or down. It seemed important to be more present, enjoying the scenery and conversation with Mr. Goodkarma. It was a good time!

But you know how I am; as soon as Shawl Collar was off the needles and in the bath I was itching to cast on something new. For a minute I considered going to one of my stalled projects but no, I had to start something new. That's a lesson for me; do NOT leave a project unfinished or it may never ever ever see the light of day again.

Elann had this Schoeller Stahl Excellent yarn for a few days. I kept looking at the sample pattern and thinking about how cute it would have looked on me about 5 months ago when I still had a waist. The available colors were selling out quickly; the one I was eyeballing was a darker combination of blues, but I was only able to pick up this lighter combination instead.

While I wait for my Excellent yarn (can't say it without thinking of Bill and Ted), I dove into my Rowan Cashsoft DK for Jemima. This pattern utilizes a tubular cast-on, and this is the first time I've ever used one. I wish I had tried it before! So clever and neat. Totally tubular. (Valley Girl.) I knit the cuff and an inch or two of sleeve before bedtime and then was suddenly struck with a wave of incompetence. Would it look ridiculous on me? Would the color combo look homemade? Wouldn't this absolutely luscious yarn look better in something more pretty and less everyday? Naturally I stayed up way too late searching for ideas for what other knitbloggers had done with Cashsoft. I don't have a lot of it (7 balls of Ballad Blue, 1 ball of Lime). Of course I saw many, many posts about Grumperina's Odessa, but I really want to wear this yarn on my body, not my head! I hit the pillow feeling defeated. Why do I always have to find a solution immediately anyway? Grrr.

I woke up this morning with an image of a sweet, finished Jemima. My imaginary version is a little more fitted than the original oversized one. Mari made a super cute one herself. I think I'll stick with the plan. If you haven't worked with Cashsoft yet, you're in for a treat!

And in the Husbands Are Funny Department: I got a great deal on last year's model of an expensive stroller. When it arrived the other day, I started taking it out of the box. Now, my husband is great, but he hasn't been super excited about anything baby related yet. As soon as parts started coming out of the box, though, he jumped up off the couch and started assembling the thing before I even had a chance to open the directions. I started reading instructions aloud but I might as well have been on another planet; he was so involved in snapping pieces together that he didn't even hear me. "Oooh, it even has shocks." "Nice wheels!" I'll be checking it out soon to make sure all the pieces were used, etc...

I heart DVR + Knitting

Last night: I'm reknitting the sleeve caps for the shawl collar pullover (adding 2" of length to the sleeves; who was I kidding?)while catching up on a bunch of shows on DVR (best invention EVER). On the edge of my seat with Grey's Anatomy (I thought they were home free with the bomb! Wasn't it sweet when George climbed up and helped Bailey through the delivery of her baby?), laughing hysterically at SNL (was that the funniest opening monologue in a while? The cashew trick? Ew. Holiday candles at Target...)

While knitting, I started thinking more about what project to bring on my little upcoming roadtrip with the hubby. We're going up to Vancouver, BC for a few days. I decided I'll bring Jemima. I bought 7 balls of Rowan (RY) Cashsoft DK in Ballad Blue several months ago with Hopeful in mind, but these days I think Jemima is a bit more for me. So I need one more ball of Cashsoft in a contrasting color. Tonight after work I dropped by Hilltop with no idea which color I would want and Lime popped right out at me. I think we have a winner!

Guess what else I spied with my little eye at Hilltop? The new Debbie Stoller book was delivered today! I'm not a crocheter, or I would have bought it on the spot. But I think I'll end up buying it anyway to have a good crochet reference book around. I flipped through it very very quickly and saw a couple of cute cardis and jackets (a la White Lies); I might be inspired to try crochet after all. We'll see. It's not like I don't have 6 billion unfinished projects and another 6 billion projects awaiting.

So anyway, speaking of Vancouver, does anyone have any recommendations, yarny or otherwise? I should be asking Felicia* this question and I don't know if she has ever read my blog. It's been a few years since my mister and I went up to Vancouver and I'm open to any food/shopping/walking/YARN suggestions any of you might have.

*In Felicia's 2/16 post, she wrote about a yarn crawl to Seattle. One of the restaurants she visited, Nana's Noodle Shop, was the place where Mr. Goodkarma proposed to me in 1999. Poor guy, he had a big plan for us to have a romantic dinner at the fancy Italian place down the block, and when we arrived we found out that it was closed for renovations. I didn't understand why he was so put out by that and I suggested we walk a few doors down to Nana's for dinner. Little did I know that there was an engagement ring in his pocket. He even got down on his knee when he proposed... it was very sweet and wonderful. It was the first proposal ever at Nana's. :)

C is For Conundrum

The Adrienne Vittadini shawl collar pullover (AVSCP) is coming along very well. I'm about halfway done with the back, too, and all the while I'm wondering if I'm going to be running out of (the original bag of) yarn. I bought two extra skeins a while back, just in case I would need them, but they're from a different dye lot and I was hoping to not use them at all, except maybe for seaming. So I knit the sleeves to spec, but I'm skeptical that their 17.5" length will be long enough. I think I'll unknit the sleeve caps, knit the sleeve a little longer, and probably dip into skein #11 as I finish the back shoulder shaping. Hooray for longish hair, right?

The conundrum continues. A couple of days ago I decided to cast on for another, smallish project while I considered what would be best for AVSCP. I pulled out my new skein of Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Wildflowers and got started on Nancy Bush's Rib and Cable Socks from Interweave Knits Fall 2005. Not far into knitting the cuff and I noticed that Julian, my sweet angelbaby cat who rarely does anything naughty, was chewing on something. He had a mouthful of my yarn and was chowing down! Ack! That turkey. I don't know what possessed him; he never ever eats yarn normally. Does Mountain Colors use seafood flavored dye? Weird. Of course, I had to cut out the soggy bit that he chewed and splice the ends together, no biggie (and not much yarn was lost) but kind of irritating! And ew, cat spit!

(Isn't the Mountain Colors pretty? The violets and reds and fushias blend together more subtly in real life, kind of like in this picture where you can see the beginning of the cables. I'm in love with this yarn!)

Otherwise, all is well in the good karma house. I've been working far too many hours (extra parent conferences here, evening meetings there, special events in the evening, etc.) doing the fringe stuff and just barely having enough energy to do what I'm really there for, which is TEACH! Ah, well.

I've been doing tons of research and window shopping for stuff for the baby, too. Mom, grandma and I went looking at cribs and gear yesterday. It was good to make some sound decisions and feel like I've actually done a few things to get my nest ready. Now if only my husband would stop ringing the doorbell or calling to me every 30-60 minutes, I might actually get something done around the house! Good grief. I feel like running away! :)

Word Cloud

Go get your own.
Via Strange Little Mama.

B is for Baby

On Tuesday, I'll reach the 20 week mark, the halfway-there point. Amazing how quickly this pregnancy is progressing. Amazing.

I had the ultrasound a week or so ago and watched my baby roll and wiggle for a good 45 minutes while the technician tried his darnedest to measure all the important parts. This photo print seems a bit grainier than the actual monitor that we were watching, but we could definitely see that Little One is thumb sucking already and waving arms and legs around like nobody's business. And no, we will not find out the gender before Little One's birthday.

For the past 4 weeks I've been feeling movement and that has gradually changed from a strange fishlike fluttering feeling to definite kicks and taps. (Too bad it's still a show for one; no one else can feel these kicks on the outside yet.) And my belly really did pop out earlier this week. Now it's truly obvious, to everyone else, that I'm pregnant and not just overeating. I've noticed that when people say hello to me, they don't look at me anymore, they look at my belly. :)

B is also for (another Amazon) Box of Mystery:



A week or two ago I got an Amazon Box of Mystery, and last night I was tricked again. When I got home and saw this box on my doorsteop, I immediately wondered what the heck my husband ordered this time. I guess I'm not a very quick learner, 'cause it was a box from Terby! She sent some great exercise videos. I'm glad because I've been checking out some from the library, but you always have to send those back after a little while. People are so very generous! She also included an interesting book titled What's Going on in There? : How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life, which totally piques this elementary school teacher's interest. Thank you, Terby! Yay! I'm off to check out Kathy Smith...

J'adore le pourpre

Busy busy. That's me. I'm halfway done with a project I haven't even blogged about. I'm making the Adrienne Vittadini Shawl Collar Pullover from Vogue Knits Winter 04/05 (here are a couple of finished ones in blogland: Lesley's, Atouria's, and Diana's) with some lovely purple heathered Cascade Lana d'Oro.
I bought a bag of it from WEBS when it was discontinued about a year and a half ago, with a different project in mind. I was a pretty new knitter and realized later that the project I was planning wasn't really meant for me. I've wanted to make this for a year and suddenly got the urge to start a week or so ago. Quick knit... I'm almost halfway done already.

Here's the front; just after I'd divided for the low placket opening:



It feels like this sweater is just eating up the yarn, but it might simply be that it's one of the quickest sweaters I've ever knit. I wonder if it will be done in time for me to wear it while I'm still pregnant? Probably not. Even though other people say I'm not even showing (I am SO!), all of my old tops are too snug and too short to accommodate my changing figure. We'll see. Mostly I'm excited about having new stuff to wear next fall.

The title to this post is I love purple because the lovely Jade sent this pair of handmade earrings with purple crystals to me. She knew I like blue (I'm a little stuck in the cool side of the color wheel lately if you haven't noticed), and wasn't sure if I like purple. Do I like purple?! Oh boy. Yes, my new sweater is purple. But get this: my husband's truck is purple. My house is purple. Both are dark eggplant purple. What else... I have more purple yarn around here, too. So yes, Jade, I do like purple, and the earrings are so pretty!! (Especially with the bonus alpaca fiber in the picture. Ever notice that alpaca fibers and cat hairs look pretty similar?) I wore them to work today and love them. You're so kind. Thank you. :)

Tonight I went to the gym (for the first time in ages) and I listened to Cast On podcast #1 as I stationary bicycled. I downloaded several of these a while back and kind of forgot about them. This podcast was interesting (especially for the gym... I usually listen to something more upbeat like Outkast's Stankonia or Black Eyed Peas' Elephunk), and very soothing. I could imagine listening to Brenda Dayne's voice on a lazy Sunday afternoon while I knit on the couch in a quiet and peaceful house. Wow, what a fantasy life, eh? So for those of you who listen to Cast On and Knitcast, do you save each podcast or delete them as you listen to them?

Four Things

Thank you for all of your comments lately. I had a spurt of energy and was able to post a few finished projects within a few weeks' time. I'm really happy with all of them! By the way, I'm pretty sure the Lorna's Laces wasn't pilling already; rather, it was the flannel sheets trying to attach themselves to every single thing they could. You know how flannel is!

I was tagged by Estee and Jade!

Four jobs you have had in your life:

1. clerk at Hancock Fabrics
2. souvenier seller in Sea-Tac airport gift shops (people really do buy those fur coats and pieces of art in fancy schmancy [expensive] airport gift shops, can you believe it?)
3. client facilitator/manager of a dental practice
4. public school teacher

Four movies you could watch over and over

1. Indiana Jones 1 and 3 (2 was ruined by whiny Kate Capshaw)
2. The Princess Bride
3. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, circa 1971
4. Grease

Four places you have lived (I've always lived in Seattle!)

1. South Seattle
2. Burien (south of South Seattle)
3. North Seattle
4. West Seattle

Four TV shows you love to watch

1. 24
2. What Not to Wear
3. A Baby Story
4. Desperate Housewives & Grey's Anatomy double feature

Four places you have traveled

1. All over Europe, in a series of visits, including the tiny island town in Croatia from which my maternal great grandfather emigrated as a tiny tot
2. All over India
3. Big Island and Oahu, Hawaii
4. Various cities in the continental US (including New Orleans, NYC, San Francisco, Atlanta)

Four websites you visit daily.

1. pregnancy boards
2. Bloglines
3. Web Sudoku
4. Knitty Board and/or Craftster

Four of your favourite foods

1. Sushi
2. Saag Paneer with Pilau
3. watermelon. I could eat a whole one!
4. Right now, I'm almost 19 weeks pregnant and Taco Bell tacos are calling to me. Go figure.

Four places you would rather be right now

1. Taco Bell (see #4 in the last category)
2. Sitting on the beach in Komiza, Vis, Croatia
3. Snorkeling at Shark's Cove at Kalalua Point, Oahu
4. getting a full body massage at Ummelina Day Spa

Conwy Socks

Yay! I finished my first pair of grown-up-sized socks!

Conwy from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road
Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, Georgetown
Two Addi Turbos, size US1

Pattern Modifications: I have this fear that I'll run out of yarn if I knit top down socks, so I shortened the leg a bit. (Completely unnecessary. I have plenty of yarn left over! I'm going to make some of those cute "Better Than Baby Booties" from Interweave Knits with the leftovers.) I also omitted the decreases and kept the socks at 72 stitches throughout. I did that because I thought I had wide feet, but I really could have lived with slightly skinnier socks. They turned out a bit roomy.

What did I learn? Well.... I learned that knitting on two Addi Turbos is much, much easier for me than using birch dpns. Someday I'd like to try two socks on two circs. That would be fun. I learned that heel flaps are kind of annoying to knit, but I hope that is just because these were my first adult sized socks. I'm already scheming my next pair(s).

The yarn. I liked working with LL but I'm not as crazy about the colorway as I thought I would be when I picked it out this summer. I was probably wearing an aqua t-shirt the day I bought this yarn. Outside of summer, I'm not so much into pastelly colors. Ah, well, the coziness and warmth of the socks will override the color for me! I noticed that these socks are already starting to pill, and I've only worn them one evening (and to sleep in last night). I wonder if that's just from wearing them to sleep in flannel sheets?

Why didn't you guys tell me that handknit wooly socks are so much slipperier on hardwood floors than any other kind of sock? Ow. My knee doesn't appreciate that factor.

A Is For Amazon Box of Mystery

The other day, I came home and there was this Amazon.com box sitting inside the door.

Knowing that I hadn't ordered anything from Amazon lately, I ignored it and went about my evening. A few hours later, when Mr. Goodkarma and I were relaxing and watching a movie, I asked him, "Hey, what didya order from Amazon?" Of course, he says, "That's not mine, it's for you!" Puzzled, I picked up the box. As soon as I saw Moni's name as the sender, I knew just what it was!

You see, last summer, I was having a pedi at my neighborhood nail place and a woman was there with a gorgeous silk embroidered messenger bag. Hers was red. I had to ask her where she got it, it was so beautiful. Do you know what she said? It was a DIAPER BAG. Get OUT! Shortly after that, Moni bought a similar, beautiful DIAPER BAG to use as a knitting bag. When I saw it on her blog, I was jealous. So pretty.

As it turns out, Moni didn't use it much (it looks absolutely brand new!) and decided to be a good fairy godmother and send it to me when she found out I was pregnant. Happy me! How lucky am I?! Oh joy! I love it. Apparently, so do my cats! They thought it was pretty and smelled good, too.

Thank you, Moni. You're such a good buddy. :) Mwah!!!

Kyoto Corkscrew Scarf

Hellllooooo luxurious fiber!

Corkscrew Scarf
Loop d Loop, Teva Durham
2 skeins Artfibers Kyoto: 69% silk, 25% super kid mohair, 6% extrafine wool, Color #23
Clover bamboo circular needle, size 10.5US/6.5mm

Super. As in super kid mohair. Extrafine. As in, hey, touch me, I know you want to. I already gushed about how lux this fiber is and how saturated the color is, but I cannot get over it. I keep touching it and staring at it. Oh my. I can't believe I was originally making this for someone else. It is so mine. Bwah ha ha haaaaaaa!

I followed the pattern as written except for two things: since the yarn I chose knit up at a slightly smaller gauge, I cast on 12 stitches instead of 10 so that it would still be nice and wide and floppy. More importantly, though, I changed the way the short rows were written... Teva Durham says, don't worry about knitting the wraps, the texture of the yarn will hide everything! I said phooey to that (the resulting enormous holes were icky) and knit the wraps anyway. I'm so happy with the end product.

I highly recommend this yarn. I want to knit something much bigger out of it. A bodysuit? Okay, maybe a sweater someday.

Everyone else in the knitting world is posting photos of where they knit. I'm so behind on that, I don't remember who started it. So if it was you, here ya go!

This is my end of the futon. There's almost always some sort of knitting paraphernalia at this end of the couch; right now, I just finished my scarf (did you see how pretty it is?), so it looks a bit more bare than usual. The books are two of the most recent issues of Interweave, a baby name book, and a Sudoku game book that Mr. Goodkarma gave to me for Christmas. I have my wee IKEA spotlight on the arm of the futon because the aforementioned husband gets really picky about lighting when we're watching DVDs at night. He gets all squinty-eyed and pretends the regular room lights are about to burn holes in his eyes. Yeah, whatever. Yes, those are dumbbells. The bowl recently held a couple of scoops of caramel ice cream. Mmm. That was good. Kitties are Julian (on futon) and Lennon (on rug). Basket with lid holds (almost all) works in progress. Decor courtesy of summer 2003 spent in India. Coffee table in front of futon always always has even more knitting crap on it and something to drink.

Ta da!

Double the Fun!

Remember my friend Lisa's twins who were born last month, about a month early?



Jacob and Sarah's Baby Raglan Sweaters
Erika Knight's Knitting For Two
Size 3 - 6 months
Cotton-Ease: Popsical Blue and Pistachio, about 1.3 skeins of each
Addi Turbos Size US8/5.0mm

This is such a simple and versatile pattern. The original pattern is called Embroidered Baby Raglan, which is very precious, but this time I was going for a more simple look. Like Kris, I wondered why I didn't knit these in the round. Duh. I spent too much time weaving in ends for such tiny sweaters. However, this pattern was just what the doctor ordered at the time; I did most of the work during my first trimester when I could barely keep my eyes open in the evenings and couldn't conjure up the brain cells to do anything other than exactly what the pattern called for. Of course, I saved button sewing and end weaving for trimester two when I am much more lively and alert!



I love the garter stitch detail at the raglan and hems! And the buttons on the raglan seam will (I hope) make dressing those squirmy little ones easier.

This was the first time I'd used Cotton-Ease. I bought a bunch of it last summer when it was being discontinued and on sale everywhere cheap cheap cheap. (These two sweaters, including buttons, cost under $5 each). Having already knit with Rowan All Seasons Cotton when I made my Raspberry Jacke, I can definitely appreciate the different levels of quality in acrylic blends. That said, I think there is a place for this yarn, and that it is a great alternative for everyday clothing and kidwear. Machine washable, great colors, soft.

Which sweater is more girly and which is more boyish? I suppose I'll let their parents decide.

Merry Christmas, Baby!

After visiting with FOUR sets of parents over two days, I'm wiped out. Note to self: don't get divorced because your future children will have a much easier time during the holidays visiting their parents if they live in the same house. Whew. Yes, both my parents and Mr. Goodkarma's parents are divorced and the moms are remarried. So we do a fair amount of driving around every year at this time. Zzzzzzz.....


These Robeez are easily the best present I got for Christmas and I don't even have a baby yet! Aren't they cute? My mom couldn't help herself and got a little giftie for "the little peanut". Love them!

A close runner up is the gorgeous necklace and earrings that Mr. Goodkarma gave me. What a sweetie. (What a good boy. I showed him the Dabby Reid stuff at Nordstrom and hinted heavily that this sort of jewelry was #1 in my book. So he chose the style and color -- purple -- that he liked best.)

It looks like BIL and FFSIL might make a go of it after all. They have some stuff to work out but he loves her as much as (more than!) we do and doesn't want to throw in the towel just yet. I'm glad. I'm still keeping Corkscrew Kyoto, though. Unfortunately, it's sitting in my mom's living room right now, unfinished. I forgot to take it with me when I left on Christmas Eve... but I'll be over there tomorrow to help her set up the new flatscreen monitor we gave her for Christmas along with the Mac G4 that we passed down. Big improvement over the ancient PC they were chugging along with! :)

In all, it was wonderful to spend the holidays with all of our family members, in-laws, step-siblings, etc. It's a great feeling to know that you're there to spend time with your loved ones, not just to see what's under the tree.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Merry Christmas, Yo!

Snagged from Not Martha: Pimp My Nutcracker.

My Bad?

So. I'm knitting along on FFSIL's Kyoto Corkscrew and it is becoming increasingly apparent that I'm falling in love with this scarf. The yarn is so rich, it glows, people. Soft. Lux. And at the same time, the following things are happening:

- On Thanksgiving, I realized just how limited FFSIL's domestic abilities are, especially in the kitchen. I like her so much, I overlooked her inability to cook the rice for her three ingredient rice-broccoli-cheese casserole, helped her make it, and vowed to find her a great cookbook for Christmas.

- MIL tells us that FFSIL wants nice white towels for Christmas. Evidently, her domestic abilities also do not reach the laundry room. It seems that FFSIL lets her laundry sit in the washing machine long enough to aquire that lovely mildewy odor, but doesn't quite know why her towels are smelly and disgusting. I start to wonder... if she can't manage to launder her towels, how will she ever take care of this silk-mohair-merino scarf? (shudder)

- BIL tells us he's seriously considering breaking up with FFSIL. Dammit. He's been talking about this with DH for a while. They've been together for a few years, he's growing and changing, she's not, etc. Dammit. I like this girl! She has *Potential*! And, selfishly, if BIL does break up with her, then my own brother's got the only other FSIL around here and I willnot cannot put the extra F in front of FSIL for her. Even typing FSIL about my brother's GF gives me hives. But that's for another post...



I did find her a great cookbook with full color pictures and very good directions. I also bought some really pretty earrings for her. So. I'm falling in love with Kyoto Corkscrew. FFSIL doesn't know it exists. FFSIL won't know how to take care of it. FFSIL may not even be around for me to see enjoying it! Even DH thinks the color I chose is really perfect for me and he keeps petting it when I'm working on it (while we watch season 3 of 24... DH has a crush on Jack Bauer. Okay, I do, too!). I think the choice is obvious. Am I evil?


Yesterday, DH and I went Christmas shopping downtown together. It was awful. I like shopping alright if I'm by myself or with another human being who has that second X chromosome. He was completely overwhelmed and shellshocked by it all. Not so fun. The best part was when we were at Nordstrom and I showed him some jewelry I liked. I told him that any girl would rather get something more personal/pretty from her fella than knitting books (Did I just blaspheme? Let's leave the knitting books to MIL.) I hope he got the hint; at this point in our marriage I know that it doesn't work to be subtle. I have to spell things out! :) After shopping, we had a cocktail (lemonade for me) and then went to see The Chronicles of Narnia. Loved it! Little Lucy stole the show. Very sweet. Well, except for the bloody war and the stone table scenes. I couldn't believe there were families there with little ones -- preschool, even! There was a girl behind me, maybe 9 years old, who had obviously read the book and was excitedly explaining things to her mom, who was shushing her. Cute.


Also, we ran into my ex-boyfriend's parents yesterday. I haven't seen them in years. Fabulous people, too bad their son is a #$^@&. Fill in whichever word you like, I'm sure it will fit. I was with him for nearly 5 years, so I got to be pretty close with his family. My mom saw them not long before I did, and told them I was pregnant. They were very happy for me, we all hugged, they met Mr. Goodkarma for the first time. I was glad that I'd styled my hair and was looking fly (that's a joke, I mean, I was wearing Maternity Pants, for goodness sake. How fly can you look in those things?), cause I know they went home and told everyone about seeing me. Heh heh.

Getting into the spirit

So I started the Corkscrew Scarf for FFSIL again, and knit the wraps unlike the instructions call for. Fortunately, those big holes are no more and the lovely Kyoto wedges meld right into one another. Forgive please, the craptastic winter evening in Seattle (read: zero daylight to be had) photos.

Behold the lovely wedges with their seamless short rows (and never you mind why I'm wearing pink flannel pajamas with little chubby skiing children on them, and yes that is a LUSH bag in the background with pressies for my mama tucked inside):



And, what's this? The beginnings of a corkscrew (didn't I mention that my office is red the future nursery will need to be painted?):



This pattern is really easy to learn. I used the book for the first couple of repeats but now I can go go go without much thinking. That's perfect for me right now. I took Corkscrew to my science-for-teachers class (Circuits & Pathways, oooh electricity is fun!) tonight and got a few repeats done in between experiments. There were at least two other knitters in class (of about 20-25 people), so no knitterly guilt here.

Finally, I have to share this... by way of Jessica... our build your own South Park characters! There's me and my hubby! Remember how he always looks stoned in pictures? Well, it seems to be true with cartoon pictures, too! ha!

Song Meme

Tagged by CJ:

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to.

Direct from my iPod's most played list.

Hands Up - Black Eyed Peas
Ooh Child (Alternate Version) - Beth Orton
Shake Your Rump - Beastie Boys
Do You Want To - Franz Ferdinand
Blind - Talking Heads
I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself - The White Stripes
Mas - Kinky

Tagging:
Lolly
Carole
Scout
Moni
Bonnie
Christie
Kim

Still Here, Still Alive!

First off, thank you so much to everyone who left congratulations and well wishes! You made me blush. It felt good to finally share the news with everyone, that's for sure! As for how things are going... I'm feeling so well this week, it's amazing. I have more energy, less fatigue. I'm still very food oriented, heh heh.

I've been so busy since my last post, and wishing that things would slow down just a little so I would have more progress to share and the time to share it. Here's a quick synopsis; hope to have a more complete post soon.

-- almost finished with sweaters for my dear friend Lisa, whose twins are were due in January (but came early a week ago). Welcome to Jacob and Sarah! (What's with all my friends and their preemies lately? Are they trying to freak me out? Cause, you know, it's all about me. Heh.)


-- had the stomach flu over the weekend and gained a whole new perspective of my bathroom floor. Yes, sleeping curled up on the floor as to be nearest the toilet certainly gives us lots of new perspectives. One of them was the wish to DIE!! Oh man. But luckily, I rebounded well and feel 110% better than I did before.

-- am halfway done writing report cards for my students. Remember the good old days? Reading, writing, math, citizenship, penmanship, etc? Well now it's an 11x17" quadriplicate piece of ridiculousness that takes ages to fill out and is next to impossible for parents to understand. Hooray for progress in education.

-- began knitting the Corkscrew Scarf in Kyoto for Favorite Future Sis in Law. Ripped out. Began again. Ripped out. La Durham says there really isn't a need to knit the short row wraps in this pattern, since the garter stitch and the texture of the yarn will hide the wraps, but HELLO, WRAPS! They look like big yarnovers or extra loose stitches between each "wedge" shape, and I'm going to start again when I'm feeling perky and fresh. :)

-- received this sweet Knitwhits Felted Alpaca Flower Pin kit, called Hana Rose, as part of my birthday gift... from the dear friend who taught me how to knit. Cutie patootie! Looks like something I'll enjoy working on right after Christmas.

Enjoy the tail end of your week and I'll hope to post more soon. Must go button shopping for twin sweaters!!

My Family Is So Classy.Me: "Hey, Bro, Want to Hear Some Good News? You're Going to Be an Uncle!" Bro: "So, What? You Got Knocked Up?"

Yep! I've joined the ranks (sisterhood?) of pregnant knit bloggers. It's quite surreal, even though having a family of my own is something I've wanted since I was a little girl. I'm at the very tail end of the first trimester and holding on to the hope that what everyone says is true: once you hit the second trimester, you regain your energy and feel human again! (oh please oh please oh please!) Wouldn't that be something? To have the energy to knit and blog again? Wow. In the meantime, pass the orange juice and saltines. Cheers!

Giving Thanks

I'm thankful that I have so many loving friends and family members that live near me.

I'm thankful that I have a job that pays me well enough to live in relative comfort and warmth, and that feeds my soul at the same time.

I'm thankful that the children I work with are generous, considerate, and caring; they are wrapping up their annual canned food drive and I've just packed up a sack of food to add to their contributions.

I'm thankful that I have a warm roof over my head, electricity and gas to keep myself fed and warm, and a cozy bed to snuggle up in at night.

I'm thankful that I have a warmhearted, kind, and thoughtful husband with whom I can do that snuggling!



We'll be sharing Thanksgiving with my in-laws this year. Here's what I'm contributing to our dinner: two of my favorite recipes from Bon Appetit. If you need something to bring to a dinner, both of these recipes are fabulous and quite easy. I often double the potato recipe if there's going to be a big crowd.

Cranberry and Dried Cherry Sauce
Scallop Potatoes With Gouda and Fennel

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American pals! I hope you'll spend your day with those you love.

Score!

Yay! Mail!



Have you ever shopped at the ArtFibers site? It reminds me of a friend of a friend who is an absolute artistic genius and who put her own portfolio together. The portfolio is chock full of Gorgeous art and Unique designs, but could have been stapled a little tighter or the pencil marks erased a little more completely. I'm so not complaining. I loved browsing their stuff. They use Flash, which is so cool, but the site doesn't perform quite as smoothly as it could.

The reason I'm telling you this is that I decided, after all of your input, to make the Corkscrew Scarf from Loop D Loop for my favorite future SIL. I thought it would be perfectly lux in some ArtFibers Kyoto. I decided that simply via word of mouth. I've never seen the stuff, just googled and read other folks' reviews and took their word for it. I hoped there'd be a pretty turquoisy blue, which is FFSIL's favorite color. I picked the blue that most appealed to me... wasn't really turquoisy looking, but I thought I'd chance it anyway.

Look at what I got:



I couldn't have dreamed up a more perfect combination of fibers (silk/mohair/wool), gauge, color, texture for this scarf. It's So Rich. It's even better than I hoped it would be. It's the perfect shade of turquoise, too. Sadly, photography (indoors in the evening in Seattle) does not do this yarn justice. Thank you so much, ArtFibers!

See, just like the genius artistic friend of a friend, the product is even more than I could have imagined, website/portfolio wonky or not. And maybe it was just my Mac that didn't like to interface? Who knows. I'm thrilled and will go back for sure! I can't work with this fabulous yarn without coveting *something* out of it for myself!

Bring on the Diamonds

Your Birthdate: November 14

You work well with others. That is, you're good at getting them to do work for you. Maybe that's why I became an elementary school teacher....? It's true that you get by on your charm. But so what? You make people happy! You're dynamic, clever, and funny. And people like to have you around. But you're so restless, they better not expect you to stay around for long. Your strength: Your superstar charisma Your weakness: Commitment means nothing to you Huh? This about the girl who could never bring herself to break up with awful boyfriends and always wants to make things work out? Thank goodness I met my husband; he's stuck with me forEVER!! Your power color: Fuchsia Your power symbol: Diamond Your power month: May It's true, I'm always attracted to those dang Tauruses Taurii Bulls.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

ISO: Perfect Scarfy Gift

So my future SIL (in all of our dreams, BIL will finally decide to settle down with wonderful, amazing, best thing that ever happened to him, girlfriend) alluded to the fact that she'd love a knitted scarf for Christmas.

She's a mid-late twenties, indie/emo type of girl, who bartends and goes out a lot. Favorite color is turquoise. I'm thinking, she needs either something "cool" or something "bulky/soft", but definitely not something twee. Any ideas?

I like Diana's Steam pattern and I think it would be great in some soft Alpaca or wooly goodness.

However, I am *very* open to suggestions... help?