Baby Brain

You know your pregnancy brain is really bad when you try to put your key into someone else's car when you drop your toddler off at pre-school...

Or when you make a special trip out to the store to pick something up (milk, eggs, bread, fill in the blank) and you manage to pick up several worthless items but not the one you set out for and need...

Or it's been so long since you went to your own blog that you type in the wrong address in the browser...

Yep, it's been getting pretty bad around here. At least I finally finished this cute little vest for the new baby (who will be making his debut in a little over 2 1/2 months).  I used this pattern and made the 6-9 month version. I used a discontinued yarn from yarn.com that was on sale. The pattern really isn't that hard (even for a brain-befuddled person like myself) but it is written a little strangely in some parts that requires some heavy thinking/ figuring out. I wrote some notes about it on my Ravelry page.

Presto-Cold-O

You will never believe this...wait...wait for it....

Yep, I'm sick again! After a respite of 3 days I came down with another cold, but this one has been my favorite cold so far.

(It's sad that I am so familiar with the cold viruses this year that I can pick a favorite). This time I have little nose congestion--it's mainly a sore throat. It feels amazing to breathe again! I have so much more energy!

...enough energy to finish this Presto Chango baby sweater. I made the 6 month size in stash yarn. It was a very easy pattern that knit up quickly. The entire front panel comes off (those are all working buttons). I think the idea behind that is, if the baby spits up all over the front, just take it off and button in another panel. If I was subscribing to that theory I should knit another panel. However, with my luck, the new baby will throw up on his shoulder AND the panel. Also, with my newfound nasal breathing abilities pumping energy into my body, I've been crafting up a storm and I'm too distracted to knit another. I just finished my March quilt block, I'm 99.9% finished C's big boy blanket, and I'm really close to finishing up an adorable gray vest for the new little one. 

Quilt Block of the Month: February





Believe it or not, I am just recovering from yet ANOTHER bad cold. What gives? This is really getting ridiculous.  I figured I better post something and get some craft/ knitting work done quickly before I get sick with my next one! I'm sure the rhinovirus is not done with me yet.

I finished my next quilt block for the Quilt Block of the Month-along. This is a variation of a flying geese pattern. I tried to be very precise again. It's only slightly off here and there. Not too shabby.

I hosted Girls Night last week and we talked a little about our quilt blocks. K. brought her Feb. block but I forgot to take a picture. Here's a shot of Jan.'s block that she emailed me. She's using It's a Hoot fabric by Moda. (I'm using Sassy by Moda).

I think P. is making two each month for her two boys? I'll have to double check with her. That's a good idea. I'm sure at the end of the year, I'll have wished I had done that too!

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In other crafty news: I almost have C's Big Boy blanket completed; I just have to weave in some ends.
I'm also 75% done a little Presto Chango sweater for the new baby. AND, I ordered some beautiful, quality yarn to make the little baby some things for next winter. It's so soft-I can't wait to use it. It was all on sale from here.

You Can't Always Get What You Want

This is the sweater I made for the new baby. It's a 3-6 month size from this pattern. I didn't add the lace on the sleeves, to give it a more unisex feel.

The lacy-leaves going down the front are a little feminine. If the baby is a girl it's no big deal. If it's a boy...well, at least the sweater is blue, and boy babies can be dressed in sweet little things when they're tiny. I don't think it's a big deal.

The sweater gave me a little consternation only b/c of how I arrived at the pattern.

I originally saw this Pea Pod Set on Ravelry and added it to my queue over a year ago. I was so excited to make it but then I found out that the pattern was no longer available.

Say, what!???!!! I searched everywhere for it online. I was willing to purchase it--but it was a no go. Do you know how frustrating it is to have your heart set on making something, when tons of other people have already made it, and then all of a sudden it's not available anymore? Also, there is no information about why this is so, or if it will ever change.

I'm not the only one who feels this way in knitting land either. I read a bunch of posts from people who are in the same boat as I am. The designer has not really mentioned changing the status of this pattern either, and there hasn't been any mention of it from her in several years time, so I'm not very hopeful about it being offered in the future. At one point I even wondered if maybe she had died and that's why there was no response about it. Seriously!

Needless to say, not being able to knit it really bummed me out. I have no idea why it is no longer available, but that's life. I can't speculate or judge because I really don't have any information about it/ her. Me whining about it is pretty pointless.

That's where this other sweater comes in. I thought about trying to re-create the Pea Pod cardigan, but it was a challenge I really didn't feel up to with my current pregnancy fog. The second sweater is cute in its own way (even though I made several mistakes while knitting it), and I'm thinking about adding a little hat to go with it once I find a pattern I like. Oh, and before I get too excited about it, I'll make sure it's available first!

I CAN be Precise! Quilt Block of the Month: January

A little while ago I made a mini quilted table runner for Christmas. Even though I'm proud of it, it was basically a major fail. I didn't bother with pressing, or even measuring everything by the end. I don't really know what I was thinking. However, it taught me a very valuable lesson about precision. Maybe I can fudge some stuff when it comes to knitting, crochet, painting, or cooking, but if I was ever going to dive into quilting I was going to have to have the precision of a surgeon.

So basically I figured my commencement as a quilt maker would never happen. Or at least not at this juncture in my life. Who has time to be precise with a demanding toddler all over you, and another little one on the way? Not me.

But the quilt gods have been guiding me toward quilting ever so gradually over the past few years. A few things happened since I made the mini quilt that truly inspired me jump right in. First, I noticed that a quilting blogger I follow was going to start a quilt block of the month series for 2012. The quilt block for January was eye-catching, I loved the colors she chose, and her tutorial looked beautiful. Then a little later I saw another blogger I follow decided to participate in this quilt-a-long. He (yes, it's a he) made his own quilt block following the tutorial; I also loved his color choices. I was impressed with his block because he's new to quilting too, and I figured if he could do it, I probably could too. (Also, he's a dude! If a man can do it, I can do it too; I am woman, etc...and all that banter).

Then the final straw? I was out to tea (we're really not that gentrified but we did have a lovely little tea outing a few weeks ago) with the girls and P. brought up how she wanted to do a quilt block a month this year and was looking for patterns. I emailed her the link to the blog and didn't think much about it for a few days. But the seed had already been planted and it started growing, and growing....

I literally feel like I woke up one morning and was all, "That's it! I'm doing the Quilt Block a Month-along. Let me order my fabric." I notified P. who also decided to participate and then we asked K. to join us and she obliged.

I can't explain enough how great this project is for me:

1.  I committed myself to measuring everything precisely--no eyeballing on this one.
2.  having an entire month to complete 1 square is perfect for my lifestyle. A whole quilt would be overwhelming for me to contemplate, but one little quilt block is easy to accomplish and focus on.
3.  Following a step by step tutorial takes all the guesswork and uncertainty away from me, a newbie.
4.  It's exciting to anticipate what the next blocks will look like--she has not revealed them in advance. So the compulsive in me can't jump ahead. It forces me to practice patience and pace myself. This is such an important lesson for me--I'm always in a race.

I'll have to say a thank you to those quilt gods for directing me to this place. I'm really enjoying working with fabric and learning something new. It's so fun to have the girls on the same journey too (there's already been a handful of emails going back and forth about fabric lines, pressed seams, and selvage). And finally, the thought of having  a full quilt in a year's time is really amazing to me b/c it always seemed so out of my reach.

Flurries

I promised my sister a "blizzard" of crochet snowflakes this year, but due to the ridiculous number of colds, etc. my family and I have been experiencing this little collection of flurries were all that I could muster.

This one is from here and wound up being the most successful.

This is from this pattern. I'm pretty sure my counting was off somewhere.

And this is from here. Again, I'm sure I miscounted somewhere.

I've obviously been in a craft slump because of lack of energy. Would you believe that we're sick again??? Little C. is overcoming an ear infection and I apparently have another cold (my 4th or 5th one? or just the same one over and over?)

It's pretty rare for me to get sick like this; being a teacher for a number of years strengthens your immune system. After that type of exposure to germs I went years in a row without having a single cold, but I'm pregnant this year and I guess my immune system can't keep up. I'm thrilled to be pregnant, but I'm not thrilled about being unable to take any cold meds!

Anyway, before I started to feel lousy again, I was starting to get into the craft game again. I'd been working on C's big boy blanket, knitting a sweater for the new baby, crocheting the Flowers in the Snow blanket, and even attempting my first real quilt block. Hopefully this cold doesn't knock me down for too long so I don't lose momentum.

Gap-tastic Cowl

Here is the finished seed stitch project I talked about before Christmas. It's the enormously popular GAP-tastic Cowl pattern on Ravelry.

As of today over 4000 people on Ravelry have knit it and over 17000 have favorited it. I guess you can count me in that number now too.

Despite my dislike of making seed stitch, I do love the result. The texture is fantastic.

I'm not sure when this pattern first came out, but I know it was around last year b/c that's when I added it to my queue. I also noticed online that the Gap is selling this cowl again this year. So it must be a big seller for them. Here's the Gap version (they were selling black and cream this year):

I made mine with Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky in oatmeal (I think).

It was a labor of love for me, but definitely worth it. And I might even be persuaded to try it again next year if cowls are still stylish. What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment.