Crazy Knitty Knews

Wild doin's are afoot...

But I am currently mooching off someone else's wireless signal in the neighborhood since our internet is down. For the second time in about a month, ahem, Comcast. So I better keep it fast.

Firstly -- I love me some Noro Kureyon sock yarn. I think it's one of those things people will absolutely hate (a little bit scratchy, strangely spun) or will absolutely love (ooh, purdy colors...). I'm simple (in the head), and I love the color changes. I'm doing a plain toe-up stockinette foot, with maybe a little ribbing in the leg. It's colorway s164, and I found it at Brooklyn General when we were up visiting the Cap'n's family.

Secondlike -- I am holding up one of my Knitty KNew Years resolutions to meet more yarny people and make friends. Last week we had our inaugural Yarn MoTHs meetings on the Hill, and I think we're going to make it a regular weekly thing. It was kid-friendly, and even if I didn't get more than one stitch done (true!), it was great!

Okay, the rest will have to wait until later, since the wireless is fading fast.

Growing and Growing

Well, here's a second quickie blog post for today to alleviate the mortification of posting my before photo earlier.

Some things besides my waist are growing around here. My Lady Eleanor is now more than halfway done and has definitely left the travel knitting phase. I can barely work on it over the baby while he's nursing anymore either. The stitching may slow down on it a bit, unless I can squeeze in some time in the evenings with both kiddos asleep.

HAHAHAHAHA. I crack myself up.

Little Baby is definitely growing alongside Lady Eleanor. At 5 weeks, he weighed in at the Breastfeeding Center at 10 pounds, 13 ounces. That's 2.5 pounds in 5 weeks!! Can I get a woot-woot?? He's not so little anymore. (Toys shared by big brother.)


When I took Baby Dos downtown to the doctor, I actually took out the Jaywalkers for the first time in almost 6 weeks. I've been utterly monogamous (and loving it!) with Lady Eleanor since Little Baby's birth, but like I said, she wasn't going to make a Metro trip with me and Little Baby in the sling.

So the socks are growing by a few rows, though I hate to work on anything else while I've got such momentum on the Lady.

The stash has grown a little, but only from prize yarn. I won this lovely, soft Merino Oro laceweight yarn in an oatmeal color from Wanda. Thank you, Wanda! It's perfect for a lace shawl. Leave me comments on your favorite patterns....

Our excitement over the house is growing too. I don't know if I've mentioned this on the blog before, but right now the Cap'n and I sleep on the futon in the living room with Little Baby nearby while Slim has the entire bedroom to himself. It's the only way that any of us can get any sleep in this 550-sf apartment.

I can't wait to sleep in my own bed in my own bedroom again! July can't come soon enough...

P.S. I tell you: Stay-at-home mothering can be good for the soul. As I was dancing around the living room this afternoon singing and acting silly, both boys had eyes only for their momma. Great times.

Of course, they were probably thinking, "How did we end up here?"

Knittin' Mama

Okay, so this knitting update starts pre-Baby Dos' arrival. Goodness, almost a month ago now.

When KnittinSis came to town with Uncle Ben, we couldn't miss my LYS's Daylight Savings Savings yarn sale. Since Uncle Ben was along as Slim's babysitter, KnittinSis and I waddled (okay, that was just me) through the store fondling yarn and debating patterns.

I did acquire some Claudia's in February for my new Jaywalkers (still OTN), but that had been my only stash enhancement since December. And with 20 percent off storewide, I had a hard time resisting, especially one of my favorite yarns.

And Now...

An Ode to Worsted Weight Yarn Made By Noro

Kureyon, how I love thee.
Let me count the ways...
You keep my sanity
in late night knitting/feeding sessions.
You fascinate me
with your color changes.
Purple,
green,
pink,
magenta,
navy,
black.
All hail the power of entrelac blocks.
And the speed of knitting
with worsted weight yarn.

Ever since the Cap'n gave me his first knitting-related present (two Hannukahs ago) of Scarf Style, I have ogled the Lady Eleanor stole, both in the book and at the KAL. Mostly, I fell in love with the name and the description at first. The entrelac? Eh.

But coming across Kureyon on sale was too tempting to resist. I knew it would look beautiful in the stole pattern. So it came home with me from Stitch. All mumbletwelvemumble balls. KnittinSis walked out with some stash enhancement too, but I'll let her comment on it, since I can't remember all of it. Plus I think some of it is maybe for a surprise present??

In that first week home from the hospital with Little Baby, I cast on for Lady Eleanor one night around 2am. I was the only one awake, feeding Little Baby and staring longingly at my knitting bookshelf across from the couch. All I had to work on were the Jaywalkers and a laceweight scarf in a Feather and Fan pattern. I needed something big, and I needed something fast.

That first tier of half triangles looked like ass. No joke. I had swatched on both the US10.5 needles called for in the pattern and with US11s. I went with the 11s because it got me better gauge. But in that first row, the fabric on US11s was really loose. It really didn't start looking like something until the second full tier.

I am really happy with my choice of needles, though. The Knitpicks Options set made it really easy to switch out the needle size on the swatch, and I've really enjoyed working with them.

And this project has forced me to learn a new skill: knitting backwards. Actually, I mastered purling backwards first, and only now, at Tier 10 out of 35 have I got the knitting backwards thing down. I checked out this tutorial and this Knitty advice beforehand. My difficulty in picking up the knitting backwards trick is because I purl Combination style and had trouble figuring out how to wrap the yarn coming backwards.

But if you've made it this far, you deserve a picture of the Lady Eleanor progress so far. A row here and there over about a month adds up! I'm almost done with ball 3, and am more than 1/4 of the way through the tiers of entrelac blocks.

So that's the belated knitting update. I am chugging along with my knitting, and while I still look longingly at my other pattern books while nursing and reading Dr. Seuss for the nth time, Lady Eleanor is a satisfying way to keep my sanity from sneaking off the way the dog does from Slim.

I also am belated in thanking Maryse for a beautiful skein of Schaeffer Anne that I won as an entrant in her mismatched sock-shoe contest. It brightened my day on one of those difficult first days home with the new baby and Slim while we were all adjusting to each other.

There are still those days, but the three of us got out of the house this morning in our great green rocketship, aka the new Phil and Ted stroller for the boys. I love its maneuverability and lightness, and I'm even able to still make my grocery runs with both boys.

I'm also contemplating starting a new blog with daily updates of pics and baby news, but that's just in my head so far. I'll let you know if something comes of it. I'm thinking of calling it the D Boys blog, but check out the urban definition. Maybe not.

And hopefully we'll have a house update by next week. More searching tomorrow...

It never stops at Chez Muthaknitter.

Where The Boys Are

5 diapers in 2 hours.

Wearing two of the big three (spit-up, pee, poop).

Hi-dee-ho, early motherhood!

As the Cap'n said to a friend, at least we didn't wait so long as to forget the routine. It's actually seemed easier this time, as far as the diaper changing, dressing and feeding goes. New baby is a hungry little lion, and he's already back up to birth weight.

I really was enjoying my 6 hours straight of sleep a night, but I guess at some point the sleep deprivation will make me forget what that felt like.

And when Slim cuddles up next to me and the baby, I treasure those domestic moments.

So why did my half hour of sleep this morning involve a dream of me being welcomed back enthusiastically to my former job in North Carolina? hmm...

It's been a wild ride since Friday the 16th. The Cap'n wrote up a beautiful narrative of the labor and delivery, and since then we've had a good visit with Grammy, the bris, and Leo's first Metro ride.

It's going well...busy and exhausting. There was even a round of sock knitting finished on that Metro ride, but I would hazard a guess that these are going to be the Jaywalkers that never end, based on my current rate of stitching.

In one of those nights up on the couch with My (new) Brest Friend and the baby, I did start a worsted weight project to save my sanity. I'll probably put the knitting in a separate post for those just here for the baby pictures.

But not to worry, handknits will always have an honored place around this house...

(ETA: Thank you so much for all the warm wishes and congratulations and emails! I so appreciate it, and I'm sorry I haven't had a chance to write back to everyone yet. If I owe you an email, give me a little more time. I hate typing one-handed.)

In Time-Out

Everything I'm knitting right now is in various states of time-out. Aaauugh.

First, let me introduce you to an about-to-be-modified FO:

Slim's Felted Mittens (Just Like Dad's)
The Pattern: Double Cuff Felted Mittens from Knit One, Felt Too
The Yarn: Leftover Bemidji wool from the Cap'n's felted mittens and Brown Sheep Company's Lamb's Pride Worsted
The Colorway: Light grey and Prairie Fire
The Needles: US11 Susan Boye aluminum DPNs and US4 Clover Takumi bamboo DPNs
Time: 9:30am Wednesday to 2:30pm Thursday

The Cap'n did the knitty math to figure out how to size the pattern down. I also modified the rate of decreases so they didn't come out as pointy as the bigger ones. These didn't felt as much as the adult-sized mittens I made, even though they went through an entire wash cycle.

Yeah, as if I'm going to get a shot of these in use. Slim won't/can't put his hand through the ribbed cuffs. Maybe I could get them on him asleep, but even then I think the cast-on edge of the ribbed cuff would cut off his circulation.

Aaaugh.

So I'm thinking I'll cut out the cuffs and reattach the I-cord directly to the felted mittens. I'm still not sure how I'm going to get him to keep them on, though. Time-out for the mittens, at least until I come up with a good idea on how to fix these.

I also cast on for the Monkey socks with the Claudia's Handpainted. After a good evening of knitting, I was through two repeats on the foot (I decided to try them toe-up), and the pooling was undeniable. All the earth brown was clustered on one side and all the purple was on the other.

Aaaugh.

I ripped those back to the toe and tried the slip-stitch rib pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks, because the book noted that it is good for breaking up color repeats in variegated yarns. It was better, but still not as good as I had hoped. And I just wasn't that crazy about the slip-stitch rib pattern with the Claudia's.

The toe-up socks went into time-out in the frog pond. But I would not be deterred.

After searching online, I kept coming across raves about the Jaywalker pattern and how it works great with variegated yarn. I know, I'm really late to this party. So I cast on again, this time for a top-down 84-stitch Jaywalker. I'm using 2.5mm instead of the 2.25mm called for in the pattern, but I also read that this tends to be an inflexible sock.

Any votes on how this is going to work out? I'm on a strong anti-pooling streak. Partly to take advantage of the beautiful colors of this Claudia's, and partly to prove to the Cap'n that it can be done. He hates variegated yarns because of how the colors stripe and pool.

I'm also still working on the Feather and Fan scarf for LAAuntie. That's on partial time-out just because I'm annoyed that I can't get the rest of the knots out of the yarn.

Aauugh.

P.S. No baby yet.

Oh, Baby (Sweater)

The good thing about making a sweater that is probably too big for a newborn is that it will bunch up on them and hide the ugly seaming job.

That's the finished Mason and Dixon Baby Kimono, modeled by Sleepytime (aka Ugly) Ernie, the closest thing we have to a newborn in the house right now. (I finally had to take his batteries out. He had a bad habit of saying, "I feel great!" from behind the toy box without anybody pressing his buttons. Freaky.)

Here are the stats:

The Pattern: M&D's baby kimono
The Yarn: Dalegarn Baby Ull in a not-too-babyish green
The Needles: Addi Natura US2 (3.0mm) 40" circular (because that's the only non DPN set of US2s I have) and Addi Natura US1 (2.5mm) DPNs
Time: January 29 was the original-original cast on day, and it was finished March 3

I had a couple of false starts with this sweater, and one is now a design feature. The yarn is fingering weight, instead of the worsted weight called for in the pattern. I also got a different gauge than called for. So I had to modify the pattern slightly to compensate.

I also ended up making the sweater slightly wider than in the pattern, because after I switched from the original kimono to Haiku back to the kimono, I didn't want to re-frog the work I had put into the Haiku attempt. Call me lazy. Or call me an independent thinker.

I did the M1 increases around the neck instead of the yarnovers, because I thought it would be more unisex that way. I also left a hole in one of the side seams so that the inside tie could come through and meet the front tie in the back.

Besides the seaming (IHATEIT), I am generally happy with the sweater. The yarn is soft and machine washable, and I like the color because it matches the footie pajamas and other babywear I already have.

KnittinSis has made a hat to match and is working on (or nearly completed?) matching mitts and booties. It should be a cute handknit combination.

And a perfect thing for Slim to bring up in therapy later in life..."My mom knitted my little X sweaters, but only finished one hat for me. I knew she never loved me."

Excellent.

So I am going to cast on for the Monkey socks this evening now that the cleaning and kid entertaining is done for the day. Unfortunately we did not make it to the Botanical Garden today (maybe tomorrow?), but I did get the laundry finished and the whole house cleaned. Baby Dos is in no mood to come out, so I may be able to make a good bit of progress on the socks before making them my hospital knit project.

And just in case they are too complicated, I couldn't resist casting on with some birthday yarn KnittinSis gave me for a scarf to give to my SIL. She just got word the play she is directing in LA will be moving to a bigger theater for a longer run, and I want to make her a congratulatory gift. Since she lives in LA, it's hard to make her something too warm and wintery. This scarf should be nice and light.

The yarn and I got off on a bad foot before I got my ball winder from the Cap'n for my birthday. A good chunk of it still looks like this:

But it's a beautifully hand dyed rayon from KnittinSis's LYS, and it's already showing up beautifully in a Feather and Fan stitch pattern. (I'm cribbing from Scarf Style's Misty Garden pattern again.) I'm also using my KnitPicks Options set for the first time, and I am loving it! The needles are smooth and the yarn moves fast over them. Great stuff.

So I'm still feeling kvetchy (I have a sore throat, chest cough and reflux...wah) and still avoiding some chores I have to do (filing, tax prep, etc.), but let's keep this post lighter and picture-ier.

Here's a random shot of Slim checking out the cows at the National Zoo yesterday. He has learned to turn on the tv by himself and asks to see his photo on the back of the digital camera. He's really getting quite big. Let's just hope he's bigger than the jealousy he's going to feel when Baby Dos gets here...if that day ever comes.

Nope. It's not a basketball hiding under my shirt. Alas.

39 weeks, 6 days...tick, tick, tick...

Babies, Knits and Other Goodies...

There's randomness afoot...

I finally found the last little thing for Baby Dos: this Lands End fleece bunting in deep cherry red. I really wanted something to keep little baby warm in the front pack while out walking this spring. I think we're guaranteed to have a warm and dressed newborn.

So, yes, we still have to install the car seat and pack the overnight bags (tomorrow, I swear), but I feel a little more prepared. Good thing, since I've started having more contractions off and on. Looks like the Evening Primrose Oil is starting to work.

And finally, I made it through those last few rows on the M&D baby kimono. I do have trouble with finishing things, but this one I was starting to get anxious about. Didn't want to have to knit it during labor: I was worried that even garter stitch would be too complicated for me.

So it's into a bath of SOAK for the kimono and a dry downstairs while I run some other laundry.

And another thing:

Mary reminded me of a very important birthday: It's the Cat in the Hat's 50th!! Go wish him Happy Birthday and send some books to kids who need them.

As I've mentioned before, the Cat is very important around our house. I have the original "Cat in the Hat" memorized and can give a fairly good reading from memory of the "Cat in the Hat Comes Back." You really can't beat Dr. Seuss.

I actually started swatching (Swatch me while I WIP it out! Ha! I crack myself up.) the Purple Earth Claudia's Handpainted. I'm getting 7 sts to an inch gauge on US1 (2.5mm), and I want to do Cookie's Monkey socks, which calls for 8 sts to an inch. I know if I follow the pattern with the gauge I'm getting, they will fit my feet, which are 9 inches wide. This was the trick I used to get the Child's First Socks to fit my big foot.

However, I'm worried that my gauge will get me loose socks because I got a good tip that the Claudia's is very stretchy. So I'm wondering if I should go down to US0 (2.25mm) needles and get the pattern gauge and get snugger (is that a word?) socks? Then I worry that I might run out of yarn, even though I will probably convert the pattern to toe-up.

Then I think maybe I'm too tired to try to figure this out right now...

Slim didn't sleep last night, and neither did I. I think it's my body's way of getting ready for being up every 2 hours to feed new baby.

And after tomorrow the car registration will expire, but we first have to get it to the mechanic to replace the strut...which apparently died on some D.C. pothole. This would not be surprising to anyone who has driven in this town before.

Meanwhile the Big Question on my mind is:

Should I try to start and knit a pair of EZ's baby leggings to match the kimono, hat, mitts and booties for Baby Dos? I still have two more balls of Dale Baby Ull left. Would this be a pointless exercise to begin, or do I still have time before D-Day?

9 days and counting...

Baby Arrangements

I've been saying it for a few months now, but really: Slim, stroller, groceries and dog are too much for me to bring up the apartment stairs. Phew. It's handy to be able to walk to the grocery, but for the next couple of weeks I'm commandering the car for trips.

Today was my weekly midwife appointment. Nora is back for check-ups, but won't be catching babies until after the 14th. The Cap'n got to meet her for the first time, and we got some tips on handling Labor Day. So far baby is still head-down (and not likely to flip) but hasn't dropped. She actually said that some babies don't drop until labor starts, and then they're on the fast track out.

She guessed that Baby Dos is going to cross the 8-lb mark, since she could still feel everything from head to butt. Slim was 7-lbs, 11oz, but I was 8-lbs, 11-oz, so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary to have a bigger second baby. Actually, it'd be cool (I say not having yet pushed it out), because I also haven't gained as much weight this time, so it would be less to lose after.

This is the other progress made so far in our tiny one-bedroom apartment to get ready for Baby Dos.

Poor Slim has been kicked out of the antique, refinished changing table/dresser and into a clothes storage unit from IKEA. But I only dress him once a day, and I remember newborns needing 2+ outfits per day. So Baby Dos is now ready to be dressed when he/she gets here.

You'll notice a good bit of blue in that photo, but those are Slim's hand-me-downs, not hints. We'll just have to see when Baby Dos gets here what we end up using.

I'm also stocked up on newborn-sized diapers and Weleda cream to keep the diaper rash away. And the co-sleeper is waiting just under the bed to be set up. Now I just need to pack our hospital bags and an overnight bag for Slim, and we'll be well on our way to being truly prepared.

Well...almost...

The baby sweater is still on the second sleeve, with the second front to go. I'm hoping to get some serious work done on it over the next couple of days, but with the Cap'n returning to work, we'll have to see how that goes.

I do have to say I've been loving the garter stitch. I think it's my prego brain needing simple, mindless knitting. I also wouldn't mind starting some plain stockinette socks, but I've been restrained and trying to practice monogamy with the baby sweater.

KnittinSis is working with the same Dale Baby Ull on a lemon hat and some little mitts to go with the sweater, and we have both been raving about the yarn. It's so soft to work with. It's going to be wonderful for baby.

What am I forgetting?

OH!

I WON!

Woo-hoo!!

Yay! Thanks, Maryse! And thank you random number generator!

Finally my "fashion sense" has done me good...check it out...

Stylin'.

Burst of Knitting Energy

They say that right before you give birth, you get a burst of energy and an urge to clean house (so to speak, not literally, in my case) to get ready for the babe to be born.

In my case, I do need to clean the house before the Cap'n's return from Iraq tomorrow evening. He's safely in Amman, Jordan, now enjoying the Four Seasons Hotel spa. But my burst of energy has so far been directed to my knitting and stash.

First, a longstanding WIP is off the needles! Let me introduce you to my Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern. Here at the stats:

The Pattern: Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern
The Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock
Colorway: Brick (extremely like the color of the sample socks in the book)
Needles: Addi Natura US2 (3.0mm)
Time: Started in November? December? Yeesh. Finished February 21
Modifications: Only 6 pattern repeats in the leg and slightly larger gauge for my size 10 feet

I really can't gush enough about Nancy Bush's patterns. I mean, even Grumperina feels the same. Grumperina! This pattern was clearly written and easily memorized. The socks turned out just perfect. They make my feet feel pretty.

BUT...these socks are now my deal with the universe. The deal is: If my midwife delivers me (the same midwife who this week commented that she has not been able to get warm this record cold February), these socks will be my thank you gift to her. She's a knitter, so she'll get it.

See, I knew from the beginning that my two midwives were only on call 50 percent of the time. The other times, the doctors in their practice take the call. But they catch 80 percent of their patients' babies. So I felt like I had pretty good odds. And because I've had an easy pregnancy, I never saw any of the 5 doctors.

But last week, with the ridiculous (ha!) amount of snow and ice we had (more like people's utter stupidity in clearing it, but anyway...) one of my midwives broke her arm. So it's down to one to deliver. I'm a little anxious about it...but she's supposed to be on the weekend I'm due, so we're going to do our best to hit the nail on the head.

So if Marsha catches Baby Dos, the most beautiful pair of socks I've made so far will be hers. She's seen me knitting them at visits and I think she will like them. But if some random doctor catches Baby, those are the socks I'm wearing home from the hospital.

Anyway, to randomly change the subject, I wanted to share my new DPN holders that I discovered while KnittinSis and I were at the Michaels in NC. I had never seen these before, and I think they are supposed to be used to keep DPN sets together when they are not in use, but they work great to keep the sock from sliding off the needles while it's in my nifty little pouch. I highly recommend them.

I managed to resist stash enhancement, though I did see two yarns that I had not before: Lion Brand Wool and Patons SWS soy yarn. The Lion Brand Wool looks like it will give Patons Classic Merino a run for its money, and the SWS had some great color combos. I will probably try them at some point.

However, I neglected to fill you in on my SEX at the LYS while Indy Grampy was in town watching Slim. This picture does no justice to the deep jewel tones of the purples in this yummy, yummy yarn cake. It's "Purple Earth" by Claudia's Handpainted. I'm thinking about trying to just whip this up in some plain stockinette socks, and try to get done by D-Day. I could use some grounding to the earth while laboring.

Although...I totally want to try Cookie's Monkey socks in this yarn. I think it would be fabulous. And have you seen the other sock designs on her blog? Oh. My. God. Wow. It makes me sorry to miss Stitches West. There was nothing so amazing here in Baltimore back in the fall.

I'm really proud of myself that this yarn is my first stash enhancement in 3 months. The last yarn I purchased was December 1 for the Cap'n's felted mittens. If I can keep up this kind of restraint (which probably won't be that difficult considering I'll have 2 under 2 to deal with), I will be proud of myself.

And I think I will earn these two books: More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch and Favorite Socks - 25 Timeless Designs. I reeeeeaaaallly want these.

They will come in mucho handy, even with the sock books I already own, considering what I just did to the stash. I mentioned a while back that I was inspired by Brenda's big reorganization that she talked about on Cast On. So taking advantage of the Cap'n being halfway around the world and not being able to find out how much is really in the stash, I unloaded everything out onto the couch.

Umm. Wow.

No. Really.

Wow.

I have pictures. I sent one to KnittinSis, and while I realize it is blackmail material, I will also gain access to her stash and start photographing if I have to. I know she's working hard on accumulating too.

So I organized everything by project type and put the wool yarns in my cedar lined bags to protect them. I have a list of number and type of projects doable with my stash now, and I thought about posting it on here. But then again...I think that would give the Cap'n a good idea about the size of the stash. If there is general clamouring for full admission, or if I feel guilty enough to be held publicly accountable, I may change my mind and post the list.

Let's just say for now that I have plenty to keep me busy...for example, there are 6 possible baby sweaters, and I will be lucky to finish those before the kids grow out of the amount of yarn I have. I'm just not that fast a knitter.

The other productive part of the stash reorg was creating a spreadsheet to keep track of my needles. I don't have "that" many, but I did just get the KnitPicks Options set at Christmas, and I don't like having repeats. It keeps me from casting on more projects than I'll likely finish.

It felt so refreshing to have the stash organized and tallied. It made me excited to play Home Yarn Store and rediscover project ideas that I originally was so enthusiastic about. It made me giddy anticipating casting on...

Perhaps a little too giddy. I'll have more to post about tomorrow...

Baby Sweater Hell

We are back to the M&D baby kimono.

Yeesh.

Okay, so for those (2?) people following the drama so far: I started the baby kimono with some Dale Baby Ull that was a gift from KnittinSis for Christmas. We have documented gauge issues (umm, I don't swatch?), so the 80-stitch wide, 25-row deep "sweater" became a gauge swatch. Live and learn.

That got frogged and I went on a quest to find another baby sweater. Do you hear the tick-tick-ticking?

I settled on Haiku from Knitty, which is adorable and adjustable based on gauge. I'm charmed by the idea of doing a sideways sweater with fewer seams. Off we go again...

And today, once I hit the box stitch, I finally faced up to the fact clearly written into the pattern: This sweater is going to fit a 1-year-old, particularly as small as my newborn is bound to be, based on precedent. I mean, it was 10.5 inches long. My last newborn was 21 inches long. So much for my math.

But if I turn the 54-stitch wide front of Haiku around, it makes a slightly larger baby kimono back with only 1 more inch to go until casting on for the sleeves. I say, let's live dangerously...I'm going to go for it.

Not that I've read any further in the pattern than comparing my gauge and giving myself a mental high-five: "You can do it!"

Meanwhile, there was un poco stash enhancement yesterday at the LYS. Perhaps I have a new sock obsession after seeing Carrie's two-week miracles. Will go into it more when I have a good photo of the yarn I had to have.

And how did I have time today to ponder all this knitting, inspired by my day at the yarn store yesterday? And listen to an episode of Cast On and Lime 'n' Violet? Here's how the boys spent the afternoon:

Sit 'n' Knit

I had the most fabulous, wonderous, splendiferous day today!!

I was sittin' and knittin'.

Grampy took Slim to the Air and Space Museum, which the boy never tires of. While they were enjoying the rocketships and learning about the solar system, I hauled down to my LYS.

Meanwhile, don't fret for the poor boy seeing the same museum twice in one week. Here's what he thought...

So I made good progress on my second sock, chatted about law school with a woman taking the bar this month (good luck, Lauren!) and laughed about picking kids' names with the LYS owner, who has a 3-month-old at home.

I must have fondled every yarn in the store, some twice. We dished about Interweave's new layout, and the general feeling was "eh, so-so." I dittoed other feedback I've heard about having a hard time telling the ads apart from the content and about separating the patterns from the pictures. I also would appreciate having the designers' names in the photos so you can tell who made each one. At least Vogue Knitting does that. I just got a subscription from my mom for Christmas, so I hope they go back to the old design a little bit.

But as far as new design goes, if you happen to make it up to NYC, take in the "Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting" show at the Museum of Art and Design. There were some fantastic pieces there, including my favorite: the Bobbin Lace Lamp made of fiber optic cable. Beautiful. The whole show was unique and inspiring.

I tell you, my mood is so much better with a little civilized knit time. Makes me worry that much less about the Cap'n embedding with an army patrol this weekend in Baghdad. He arranged flowers all the way from Iraq. Now that's something to live up to, guys!

Confinement Begins

My confinement is underway, and I couldn't be happier. No more traveling, just sitting at home and finishing up this baby. I'm reading up on this, since March 10 is getting closer...

And we have a heel!!

It's on to the foot of the second sock...I am definitely planning to finish these up, hopefully by the end of the week. IndyGrampy just got into town on the heels of NCGrandpa heading back home. So I'm hoping that Slim and Grampy can go enjoy the museums while I sit home and knit.

Slim had a great time with NCGrandpa (DiDa!), taking in a show at Air and Space's Einstein Planetarium. Snow and ice have literally kept us confined at home the last two days, so Slim is getting cabin fever. Tomorrow he's at least going to the park.

What we don't have is any baby handknits made by mummy. I still need to measure my garter swatch and see if I can work up a little something in the next few weeks. Luckily it's Aunt KnittinSis to the rescue!

I'll have to get her to leave a comment on what the yarns are. I think the little golden one has some alpaca in it and the cranberry one is made of leftovers from Uncle Ben's hat. Too cute!

Getting these, plus a new monkey rattle from LAAuntie, makes it more real that baby is getting closer. And I'm anxious that I'm not ready. No clothes laid out, no diapers, no co-sleeper set up. And NO HANDKNITS! Sigh.

But there's nothing like breaking a few fashion rules with your knitting to make you feel better!

Stop by Maryse's before tomorrow and show off your handknit sock style.

And before I sign off, I want to send a big Valentine's Day shout-out to my Cap'n. I had a dream last night that I was headed off to Iraq to report with him. Wouldn't that be fun?

My Cap'n is the man. He cooks gourmet meals and he's the best father I've ever seen. He tells me I'm beautiful even when I waddle, and even when he's thousands of miles away in a war zone. He gets my favorite joke in the whole wide world: Two men walk into a bar, the third one ducks. (Think about it. heehee...)

Happy Valentine's Day, Cap'n. I love you.