Exchequered

I have embarked on the following project:



I am knitting it in a dark charcoal gray and soft earthy green, for Jon. (Although the colors are so lovely I may steal it back this winter.) I bought baby alpaca yarn and it is so very very soft. I wanted to knit, to keep my hands busy, to get back into the rhythm of it, but not follow a complicated pattern. However, I didn't want to knit something for the baby because I got a little frustrated with the pants I recently finished when I realized I have NO IDEA what size a baby is, let alone my as-yet-unborn baby. And I didn't want to knit something with a complicated pattern since I am swiss cheese brain lately. I forget what I am doing, or where I am in the pattern, I get pulled away for a moment and I can't refocus.

This project is perfect because I can make the pattern up as I go (basically just counting by blocks of three) or follow the pattern laid out for me. AND I learned a new, yet easy, skill: double knitting. For those not in the know, double knitting is where you knit the front and back of the piece at the same time, basically creating a reverse pattern on one side. It's nice for scarfs where the things flips around a lot and you don't want to see a scraggly bumpy "back" side. Double knitting is very simple, but very slow, so I hope I can finish the scarf before I go into labor.

Which, by my calculations, is VERY CLOSE! 25 days to my due date!

Holy Cow

Alright people, we're getting down to the wire. I am LESS THAN A MONTH from my due date! That is almost unbelievable. I keep hearing the last month is the longest month, and I can certainly see that being true. You just get bigger and bigger, and the anticipation mounts and mounts, but you can do nothing but wait.

I'm feeling surprisingly good today. I slept poorly last night, of course, but not as poorly as I have the few previous nights. I haven't had to do much this morning, just working from home, hanging with the dogs. We are having our carpets cleaned tomorrow so Jon was working all morning to get everything off the floors. Our kitchen and bedroom closet are absolutely stuffed with miscellaneous items that usually reside in the living room, baby's room or bedroom. Laundry hamper, small bookshelves, dog toy bin, lamps, chairs, etc. He is so nice for moving everything, because I was no help at all.

This weekend my aunt hosted a baby shower for me and little Baby Evelyn to be. It was really nice to see a few people I haven't seen in YEARS, a few others I haven't seen in many months, and just generally to catch up with all the women in my life. My mom also was in town so I got to spend a day and a half with her.

She is off to Virginia now to visit her newest grandchild. She'll be back here shortly after I give birth, so I'm looking forward to that. She probably won't be staying with us, since our apartment is so very very small, but she may stay for a few nights. We'll just have to see how things are working out. If I'm feeling really overwhelmed and want my mommy, or if I'm feeling really overwhelmed and just want to be alone (with my husband). Luckily, all the mothers have said they'll do whatever is best for us and not take offense if I ask them to go home at night. So nice.

One month!

Gasp! A knitting post

There is one thing I'm not very good at when it comes to knitting. No...two...three! There are three things I'm not very good at when it comes to knitting. (At least that I've discovered so far.)

1. Finishing projects. This is a recent development and I'm blaming it on the pregnancy. I can't finish anything, really. I'll even make dinner...and then not eat it. Because by the time I finish cooking I have lost interest in the thing I just cooked. Makes it fun for Jon who comes home to my experimental dinner and asks: "How was it?" To which I respond: "I don't know. I ate cereal." I inspire a lot of confidence.

(A funny cooking store aside. I made homemade sour cream blueberry waffles on Monday night. I decided that since that went so well, I should make even more waffles! So I pulled out an awesome recipe for sweet potato waffles and went to town. Somewhere in the mix I was pulled away for a few minutes and when I returned I could not remember if I had added the milk. The batter looked dry, even though I hadn't added the egg whites yet, so I added more milk. Bad idea. I doubled the milk and ruined the recipe. I also managed to dirty every single dish in the kitchen with absolutely no intention of cleaning. So Jon got to come home to a disaster kitchen and no sweet potato waffles. I am such a delight.)

2. Picking the right yarn for the right project. I have decided to enlist my artsy husband in this area because he is good at picking colors and textures and whatnot.

3. PICKING UP STITCHES. I can not, for the life of me, pick up stitches in a way that looks good and works for the pattern. I tried it on a baby blanket, and everything looked horrible. Of course, I had used terrible yarn, so that may have contributed to the problem. Then on these baby knickers I'm *almost* done with, I had to pick up stitches in the crotch and it just didn't work. It looks terrible. I'm OK with it looking terrible because it is the crotch of baby pants, and really, who cares? But there are a lot of projects where the picked-up stitches are not as hidden and I can't really do those yet. Like socks. I think you have to pick up stitches to knit socks. Or things with borders. Or things with arms. Yes, there are a lot of patterns that require this skill and it is one I need to develop.

When I feel like it.

Which is not now.

Because right now I feel like laying down and watching the Olympics.

Except I am at work...which doesn't take away the desire to lay down anymore than if I was lost in an sea of broken glass. I'd still want to lay down.

Down...down pillows...ah, pillows...what a wonderful invention.

Zzzzzzz

You've been Barack-rolled!

Enjoy this this video! Somebody has too much time on their hands, but it made me laugh and laugh. I have a soft-spot in my heart for this song because it reminds me of being 10 years old and driving somewhere with my mom. I used to loooooove Rick Astley. The video is work-safe, but there is sound, so you may want to put on some headphones or something. Or blast it loud for all the cubicles to hear!

Also, our local alternative craft store is preparing for the DNC convention by creating a Barack Obama needle felt kit. Hilarious.

Enough with Obama.

So I'm incredibly pregnant. I can NOT bend over. I can NOT get out of bed. I can NOT do a lot of things. I CAN sit quietly, eat food (especially ice cream), complain about my feet and cry every time I see one particular Olympics commercial. The one where the guy is running in a race and pulls his hamstring and can't finish, so his dad comes out to help him to the finish line? Yeah, it makes me cry. Jeez.

I'm loving the Olympics, though. So much fun to watch! The opening ceremony was amazing. A spectacle. I also have liked the synchronized diving, the swimming (of course), men's gymnastics and fencing. Sports that are boring include badminton, handball and skeet shooting.

Tonight I've got a breastfeeding class and I'm supposed to bring a doll to practice positioning. I don't have any dolls, so I'm taking my dog's stuffed monkey toy. I hope that is alright.

I get to see my mom this weekend! Only for a day, for my baby shower, but I'm so excited! Yay!

Happy Anniversary to me

Jon and I went out to dinner last night to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary.

Two pictures.

The blind fire of a pregnant woman on a mission

What a weekend! I am 34 weeks pregnant, and things are getting harder. General fatigue, off-balance center of gravity, achey feet, pokey belly, swollen legs...it's all starting to add up.

On Saturday, I wanted to get a few items for my one-year anniversary (which is today...yay!). I feel pretty unattractive most of the time, so I set out to find a nice dress to wear to our anniversary dinner on Tuesday. I tried on quite a few dresses before finding one that a) fit over my belly, b) was not too short in the front after fitting over the belly, c) fit over my enormous bosom, and d) was kind of cute. Then I walked the mall for over two hours, meandering back and forth, resting occasionally, trying to find a present for Jon. I found what I was looking for and headed back to my aunt's house. After a few hours basking in her air conditioned living room, it was time to go home. (I was so glad to be housesitting through three 100+ days last week. How miserable.)

When I got home I had the overwhelming need to pull the amazing weeds that my landlord has let flourish on the side of her house. The weeds have gotten out of control, sometimes blocking part of the walkway up to our entrance of the house. It's really ridiculous. So I headed outside with kitchen shears and the blind fire of a pregnant woman on a mission. I couldn't PULL the weeds, because they are so big and deep in the ground, so instead I'd pull what I could and cut the rest down. I ended up with a pile of weeds probably 4 feet cubed.

Yesterday was a 6 hour birthing class, followed by shopping for a bunch of baby-related stuff at Target. Yep, I'm tired. My legs are all swollen and sore. The birthing class was pretty great, though. It gave me a lot of information and helped me feel a little more prepared.

These three big activites--the shopping, weed pulling and birthing class--were just too much. I've been exhausted and so sore for the past two days. I get very few bursts of energy anymore so when I do I tend to overdo it.

Now its time for lunch. Jon and I are celebrating our anniversary tomorrow when he has the day off work. We're exchanging a few gifts and then dinner at our favorite "special occasion" restaurant. I really really REALLY need to clean the house, but I just can't bend over to pick things up very easily, or walk around at all really, after such a tiring weekend. I can't believe I'll have a baby in six weeks...

I have a new niece!

Congratulations to Jacob and Leslie! Their new baby Alice Miriam was introduced to the world yesterday morning: 9:30am; 7 lbs., 11oz.; 21 inches long. I haven't seen any pictures yet, but I'm sure she's a cutie pie!

Yay babies!