Quickie Complete

Well, I finished that cute little hat up yesterday. All said, it probably took me less than two hours. Now I have been requested to make one for Aidan and then Teagan by Tara. Plus, I'd really like to make one for my baby. Good thing it was quick.

On to my sad news... I was preparing to take a picture of the hat this afternoon when I think I broke my camera. This is devastating news for me. I LOVE that camera. A LOT!! I think I was near tears. The lens won't come out, it is making all kinds of weird motor noises and comes out about an eighth of an inch and then doesn't want to go back in. It won't go into "play" mode either. I am very worried, I don't know what the likely hood of getting it fixed is. Or will I have to buy a new one. I told Kyle it is because I was drooling over the big fancy schmancy cameras that people had at my work X-mas party last night. One was the canon EOS fancy thing and the other was this huge nikon. They were both so big and attractive. Anyways, I can't afford that kind of an upgrade. I can't really afford to replace the one I already have. We'll see what can be done.

So because of this, there will be no picture. I won't even post an old one, instead I'll just mourn the loss (hopefully not permanent) of my pretty camera.

Quickie

I know I should be working on the Tilted Duster. Or the slippers. Or at least the Cabled Riding Jacket. But no, I cast on for a new quickie project today.

I am making the Umbilical Cord Hat from the first Stitch 'n Bitch. It is for a friend who is having her baby on the 27th (planned c-section). So I want to knock it out real quick before baby arrives. It is coming along really cute, I am making it out of Main Line from Knitpicks.com in Cocoa and Butter Pecan, mmmmm sounds like a cookie.



So I put in this cute little stripe business near the bottom edge of the hat. It was the only color accent I was going to add. But the more I think about it, I think it might be cute to have the same pattern sequence on the I-cord top of the hat. However, that part will be tied off in a little knot. So I'm not sure if it would be so cute. Opinions?

On another subject, I think I need to knit this. My nose if FREEZING!! I just turned on the heater, but I prefer not to run if it I don't have to. But my nose gets so cold I can't stand it. The dog curls up in her bed and buries her nose. Here is a funny picture of the cat covering her nose.



However the picture is a lie. Trout is not covering her nose because it is cold, instead she is covering it because it smells really bad. When we refinished the floor in the bedroom, Trout could not stand the smell so she tucked her nose under her tail. Funny stuff, she spent the whole day like this. It was March, so it may have been chilly, so maybe she was doing this for two reasons.

Final

Two finals done and one left to take tonight at 8pm.

Only 20 (maybe 1 or 2 less) rows left on the skirt of the Tilted Duster.

Nesting has begun, I have been trying to clean things out and get rid of them. I went through my yarn stash and am getting rid of tons of stuff (mostly junk). I think some friends and I are going to start a knitting group so I am going to offer it to them first and what is left, I will see if anyone online is interested in obtaining. I really want to focus on getting yarn for something specific and then making that something instead of wasting my money of one or two skeins of something that while nice or even fantastic, I have no real use for!



I can't wait to throw out the semesters worth of junk also... but for that I like to wait for my grades to be posted. I don't want to have to fight over a score on a paper I no longer have a copy of. Then my time will free up considerably and I can really begin preparing for this little baby's arrival. He is busy all the time, swishing and flipping around my belly what feels like non-stop. Kyle has felt some very large kicks (or whatever) but still no one else. Mostly because the easiest time is when we are laying in bed together not really moving around. I had the oddest sensation the other day when the little man moved or pushed in a way that I felt on BOTH sides of my stomach. He must be getting so big in there!! My stomach is definitely getting larger, but is still looking mostly fat. Oh well, I may never be a super big stomach kind of gal. I think my proportions will lend themselves more to the wide flat pregnant stomach.

Alright, I'm off to study for this final. Then give a big sigh of relief for the end of yet another semester (my second to last - WOO-HOO).

Boku Entrelac Scarf

So I realized here I mentioned the scarf I made for Tara. That it was her substitute birthday present and was almost complete. I am sad to say, it sat forever with the final open seam that needed to be finished by hand and then it needed to be ironed. She could have used it for the last two, maybe three months. I mailed it yesterday with Christmas presents. Why am I so terrible.



Anyways - here is a picture of it. I really like the way it turned out! Hopefully she will as well. I guess I don't have any pictures of it with the fleece backing, but I put a green fleece back on it. Both to help with softness and to cover up the unattractive backside of entrelac.

Another project I completed:



This is the Odessa hat. I made it out of some really soft pretty bamboo yarn. However, it is too lightweight for the hat it was intended to replace (that Kokanee ate). So I need to make myself a warmer hat.

It's getting cold and schools nearly done.

I know cold is a relative term. For my sister, in Alaska, cold is zero degrees. But here in California, I am feeling the cold and the lows are in the low 30's and the highs are in the mid 50's. So I know I don't really have much to complain about as Tara often likes to remind me. But it is cold here and I have to take many preparations to take the dog out to the bathroom. Jacket, Kyle's warm slipper fleece lined boots, hat, all the goods.



I know, who takes their dog out to the bathroom when they have a yard?? We do, because our dog has broken through the neighbors fence twice. She is not allowed outside by herself until we get the fence reinforced. It is kind of no fun for her, because she would like to stay outside and play for awhile, but it is too cold for me at 7am.



So all my classes are done!! Woo-Hoo!!!! Only three finals to take next week and then I am off with classes until next fall. This will be the first break I have had from school since I moved back from Alaska in 2004. I'm a little sad that I am so close to done and have to postpone, but grow more excited about the upcoming baby every day. So it is all worth it!!



This past weekend, Kyle and I took a day trip to the Kings River. His cousin owns some land right on the river. I wanted to take some pictures of him fishing. It was a really nice day and the dog LOVED it. She loves to run. She found a dead fish and tried to eat it nearly right away. So she was pretty stinky and now Kyle's car smells really bad. It is probably in the upholstery of the seat. Kokanee was exhausted the entire rest of the day, she barely moved. Later in the day, my brother came by and wanted the dogs to play. Kokanee wanted nothing to do with Edie, growling at her when she tried to initiate some play. I just brought the poor tired dog back inside to her bed. The only way picture of me get taken is by me with the self timer. So while Kyle was gold panning, I was busy using my gorilla tripod to take pictures of myself.



Not much knitting going on, but now that school is wrapping up, I can get busy. I really need to finish those slippers for Kyle. Time will present itself soon! Maybe today even. That would be nice.

A new look

I'm going for a new blog look. I've wanted to for awhile but did not want to have to redo all my additions and what not.

So... a new blog in progress for a new life in progress.

I can't really work on it now, must get off to work.

Christmas and a Belly

Yea - Today was the day I've been waiting for in my pregnancy. Someone finally asked me if I was pregnant. I don't want to look fat, I want to look pregnant. And seeing as the weight gain has been slow and pretty much all in my belly, I think most people either had no idea or if they had an inkling, they were reluctant to ask. Anyways, the owner of the local deli that Kyle and I frequent (enough that they know what we get) asked me if I was pregnant. Woo-Hoo. So to celebrate I took a picture of myself in my new shirt.


I am very pleased with the previous seasons trend... all those big A-line and flowy shirts. Because now all that stuff is on clearance and I am swooping in and buying bunches of non-maternity stuff that will fit a great big ol' preggers belly. This shirt is one of them. I also bought a cute brown and grey striped sweater. Both for $8 apiece, you can't beat that!!



Then tonight, Kyle got busy with the X-Mas decorations. We decided to prevent the dog from being tempted, the trees would go on the piano. Kyle put the lights on and took them off about 10 times before he got them right. Not because he is anal and they did not look right, but because he had two strands and was trying to make them stretch across all three trees. Then I put ornaments on. It was fun and enjoyable!!

Knitting going on.

I have been working on the sweater quite a bit. I slowed down some, as the semester is winding down, so I need to keep my focus there for the next few weeks. But I have also become very busy on a secret (only to Kyle) slipper project for him for Christmas. He has taken to wearing my slippers all the time and begun complaining about how I promised him a pair about two years ago. I bought the yarn and made the promise at the same time as the cabled riding jacket purchase.



Speaking of, the cabled riding jacket is ridiculously close to completion. I started working on it again in hopes of hurrying the yarn along for the Tilted Duster. It did not work as well as I had hoped, but the yarn did come eventually. So for the Cabled Riding Jacket, I have one full sleeve and probably about a quarter of the second sleeve complete. All I need is to finish the second sleeve and collar. Wow... so close, but the project has taken the back seat. I just don't think I'd really be able to wear it during the pregnancy so I want to finish the Tilted Duster. Once done, I will probably be consumed with baby knits. But I WILL FINISH the cabled cardie before next winter. It will be wearable in 2008!!!!!



Now the Tilted Duster, what fun, for awhile. I was really enjoying it, the pieces were odd and interesting to knit because they were unique. Then I got to the 18" of 2X2 ribbing. Not that there isn't an element of interest here as well. There are gussets (I guess that is what you would call them, I don't know what the pattern calls them) at the sides of the "skirt". The pattern refers to the bottom portion of the sweater as the skirt, I also don't know if this is a term I should know, but I don't... at least not in reference to sweaters. However, I am not all that well versed in clothing vocabulary! So I took some fall pictures of the Tilted Duster today, I am half way through the skirt portion and hope to finish the sweater by the end of this year!! A little tiny part of me wants to stop working on the skirt portion and work on the collar. Then it would have a more finished look. Without the collar, the sweater looks a little odd. To me, at least.



We are having hectic times around our house. Kokanee (the dog) likes to get into trouble. We crate her when we aren't home and at night to minimize her trouble making. We are not always successful, she has broken through our fence to play at the neighbors twice. She has escaped her (old) crate once, and while out she ate through our comforter and cover and spread a trash can across the living room. There had not been any problems for awhile, then she pulled our current comforter into the slits in her crate and ate the corner. This one happens to be our feather quilt. Opps, I came home to feathers EVERYWHERE. I still have not fixed it, but rolled the corner up into itself and clamped about 10 clothes pins on it to contain the insides. Then Kokanee found that she likes the clothes pins and goes by and plucks one off to eat when the mood strikes her. I am so fearful of bringing a baby home to her, but had a book recommended by our trainer (we go to class every Sat. for 8 weeks... 2 left until graduation). We'll see how she does... but I'm nervous!



Alright, I really need to go, there is this fascinating chapter I need to read on non-taxable property transactions for class tonight. Doesn't that sound interesting!