Begin as you mean to go on

I’ve blog-complained that I want a make-over, that things aren’t quite fitting here, that it may even seem like this here blog’s gone and kicked the bucket.

There have been major changes in my life over this past year or so, things that I want to explore in writing, things that I’d like to share with the world at large. Some huge life stuff that has come, that is happening, that we’ve just taken steps to follow. Some esoteric thoughts that float around my brain and write imaginary blog-posts about themselves. Some genuine finished knitted objects!

So, no more waiting until things are right, or until I have more time (ha!), or whatever. September 1st is as good a day as any to begin. Changes start now — they may be slow, they may not happen as I desired or inteded,, but they are happening.

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Note: the blog header. “Not Another Knitblog” was becoming literal, and thus no longer ironic or amusing. This will be a collection of the bits and pieces, possibly worthless to most but of interest to a few. Ephemeral.

I’ll be fixing up pages, links, etc when I get to it. Expect more changes, but not on any schedule :)

Anyone out there good with graphics? I just don’t possess the skill set (or software) to make a decent blog header. Want to make one for me? I’d be happy to repay in trade, be it yarn or a spindle or whatever. Let’s talk!

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Really huge important life change: Baby #2!

Lorelei Linda was born on lucky Friday the 13th of August, at home, at 7:54pm. She weighed 7lbs exactly, and was 51cm long (and has far surpassed those measurements in the 19 days she’s been in the world since!). She is — surprise surprise — an entirely different baby than her sister was. Parenting a newborn and a toddler certainly has it’s challenges, but the whole family is doing really well! I hope to write up both my girl’s birth stories soon.

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So there we go. A new begining, or a continuation of this journey along a slightly different path. I wonder where it will go next…

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In Progress

WIPs. “Works In Progress.” I really do have some!

I’ve been knitting, a little. The double-knitting “potholder” swatch from EZ’s Almanac has made me definitely want to knit up a baby-blanket in this technique. So yay, I’ve officially started the Miko Challenge!

I’ve also got most of a Koolhaus hat worked up for my Yukon-dwelling brother, but ran out of yarn 1 pattern repeat before the crown, boo. Do I buy another skein (Berocco’s Ultra Alpaca, pretty awesome) or fake it with some basic black merino?

Many false starts on other hats for myself have been made, and frogged, and tried again, and frogged again. I think I’ve given up for now, but will hopefully get a hat or two for my own head when I work up some of the EZ patterns.

And there’s been genuine spinning! I finally broke out the Joy wheel, and have spun up some lovely Enchanted Knoll batts in “Chai” (a decent, if ‘wobbly’ 2-ply) and some CopperPot Woolies batts in an indigo/blue/orange colourway called “Summer Iris” or something like that (DK/worsted singles, yay me!). It’s been fun getting back to spinning, and I think I need to make more time to sit in front of the wheel.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find my digital camera since we moved (in January, arrgh), so photographic evidence of all these things I’ve been working on has been nil. *sigh*

But I can leave you with one photo of another project I’ve been working on lately…

Baby #2, due sometime in August. Better get knitting on “some baby’s things” from the Almanac!

Morgana Amelia

Our daughter Morgana Amelia was born on Thursday November 6th at 7:07pm, weighing 7lbs 3oz and measuring 52cm. I had a *very* long home labour and eventually needed to transfer to the hospital for delivery, but came home just a few hours after and have been in a happy fog of new-parenthood ever since! I hope to write up a more complete birth story once I’ve recovered my braincells, but for now just know we are all happy, healthy, and utterly entranced with this beautiful new creature.

About 1/2 hour after birth.

Things Unfinished

Unfinished: February Lady Sweater.

I know what you’re thinking: “Another sweater, already? Has she gotten cocky or something?” But hey, this is a really cute sweater, it’s construction and lace pattern are pretty easy, and I had yarn enough in my stash. Everyone else is doing it…

Unfinished: Baby Surprise Jacket.

It almost seems like one would have her “Knitter” status revoked if one was pregnant and did not knit this ubiquitous cardigan. It’s ok by my, though, since I love reading Elizabeth Zimmerman, and this particular pattern manages to be dead-simple and not ‘mindless’ at the same time. It’s also like the origami of knitwear — it’s fun to blindly knit along and not know how it will work out and then just twist the needles and see a glimpse of it all!

Unfinished: generic sock.

For those times that a simple sweater and/or garter stitch are still too complex… a boring ol’ sock. But it’s Austermann yarn “mit aloe vera“, which is pretty nice! And yes, sometimes I still can be sucked in by the novelty of yarn that stripes itself.

Unfinished: the nursery / baby ‘gear’.

I took a photo, but it’s just so overwhelming I can’t bring myself to upload it. There are many things that need to be not-in-there (some stuff that just needs to be trashed, and unfortunately more that need–ugh–organizing), a tonne of baby-shower gifts that need to find their new permanent homes (my gods, how many onsies does one baby need? I don’t think I’ll get to buy this baby any clothes until it’s a toddler!), and some critical pieces (crib? diaper pail?) that don’t even exist in this current reality.

And let’s not even talk about all those moms-to-be with their designer diaper bags and a month’s worth of meals in the freezer. Because that must be a myth, right?

Unfinished: gestation.

Baby belly at 34 weeks

I’m beginning to find myself entering the ‘countdown’ phase, the point of no return looming close and feeling up to the challenge! (“Stuff” notwithstanding.) I know that there could be many more weeks before this little one decides it’s time to join us in the world, but I also can tell that my body is beginning to prepare for that transitional journey.
Having Dru tell me “I want to meet my baby now!” on a daily basis helps (or doesn’t), too :)

A post that’s not just in my head

I am such a liar. I promise you posts “soon”, and you get nothing. I tease with hints of knitting, spinning, and baby-news. And then… nothing.

I apologize for this. It appears that pregnancy has robbed me of certain faculties.

It’s certainly not like I haven’t been blogging — in my head, at least. I’ve got tonnes of things I want to say, thoughts I’m thinking, images I’ve seen and would love to capture. There’s so much head-blogging I contemplate starting whole new blogs for my myriad topics (knitting, pregnancy/parenting, eco-living)! Then I remember I haven’t even answered this weeks (or last’s?) SP12 question.

So for now, please imagine me saying all sorts of clever things (like I have imagined) about the knitting I’ve started doing again, and spinning, and my fabulous secret pal’s package that arrived last week (Thank you! A Good Mail post will happen eventually!). Imagine I have shared my thoughts about urban homesteading, my husband’s initial foray into self-watering containers, and our ideas about how life should be truly lived. Imagine I’ve told you all the stories about my increasing size, the sensations of feeling my child move and kick within me, my frustrations at my limitations and joys of the experiences.

And just chalk the fact that these posts are imaginary up to this:

21 weeks and growing — now into the second half!

The Update Post Without Much Content

Weekend
In order to celebrate Jodi‘s return to Canada and completion of her MFA (Yay Jodi!), we took off down to Windsor for the long weekend, sharing the ride with Krista and hanging out with people we haven’t seen in far too long, especially all in one place. The party was a tonne of fun (though I pooped out ‘early’ at midnight), and the next day was spent lounging around Jodi’s place until we all got up the energy to lounge around Kelly‘s farm.

The farm, as usual, was also great: the lambs have grown huge, the sheep have manicured the property into fine lawns (sometimes to Raven’s chagrin, I think he said one ate a small peach tree), the chickens are still humorous. There was a small rabbit-related tragedy, but I guess that’s just the way country life goes, and a side effect of it all may mean Kelly has angoras in her future…

Pregnancy
Midwife’s appointment last week went really well. I loved hearing the baby’s heartbeat! (Probably could have listened to it for hours — anyone know a good fetal heart monitor rental in Toronto? or recommend a similar thing for purchase for the later weeks?)

I have continued to lose a little weight, so I’ve been given the happy directive to eat what I want whenever, and not to fuss about the calorie content (so long as I keep eating my fruit and veg.) even if it’s ice cream. I’m now in the second trimester, but don’t really notice any big changes to how I feel. That mythical “energy boost” can come along anytime now!

Despite the weight loss, there have definitely been some physical increases. I had to break down and get ‘maternity’ pants. Oh, the comfort! Also got an incredibly generous loan of clothing from Emily, so I should be fitly clothed for a while. I long to sew myself wrap dresses and stretchy skirts, but until the creative mojo returns it’s not going to happen.

Week So Far
I taught at the Purl last night. I think it went kind-of awfully (deep apologies to any of my students who actually read this blog), mostly due to my inability to think or communicate anymore. Jennifer and Miko seem to still like me, though, and I’m engaged for another class next week (thank the lares and penates it’s one I’ve taught before).

Otherwise, there has been so little knitting in my like I’m beginning to get despondent. Where are the oversized cardigans, the booties and BSJs? I haven’t even turned the heel on that Noro sock.

I do, however, continue to acquire yarn.

A certain condition

Apparently I am too subtle.

All week I’ve been waiting for someone to ask what the “WIP” is in a one-photo post of clearly-finished Saartje’s Booties (Although yes, they are fantastically cute. It was a really fun knit, and perfectly used up the last bits of Fleece Artist Sea Wool leftover from my Elfine’s socks.) Yet no questions, no guesses.

So I might as well stop being cryptic… I’m pregnant! Those little booties signify both the first bit of baby-knitting I’ve ever done (for my own, or anyone’s really) and also about the only knitting I’ve been able to muster in weeks. I can barely begin to describe how ridiculously fatigued I’ve been these past weeks . Sooo sleeepy!! I actually went to bed at 8:30pm last week — and that was still with a two-hour nap after work! Otherwise, things are ok on the “morning sickness” front, which for me has been a null of puking — yay! — but an abundance of low-level nausea that seems to only be countered by, paradoxically, lots of snacking. (And I’m usually more of a 3-squares no-snacks kinda girl, so that’s been an adjustment.)

While there hasn’t been much knitting happening around here, there has been a bit of stash enhancement! You know you’ve found a good man when he picks you up at your office, chocolate bar in hand, and says “I think you need some new sock yarn”. (Also that he has been very patient and supportive with all my new pregnancy quirks, from not cooking ihis favourite spicy foods to playing WoW with headphones on when I need to go to bed at stupid-8:30-pm — and hearing my sobbing despite them when a sentimental novel overcomes my hormone-addled emotions.) Here’s my unexpected little luxury:

Socks That Rock Silkie (superwash/silk blend) in “raven series” colourway Valkyrie.

I know that I won’t get around to actually knitting this (or anything at all, perhaps) for a while, but I have little fantasies about some fingerless gloves and a headscarf or the like. Although, with the Springtime weather finally here, I may not need such things for a while! I do hope that the tiredness will leave soon (I’m almost through the first trimester) and bring my knit-mojo back — there are large sweaters and teeny socks waiting to be knit…