Saturday, October 25, 2008

Ribbed for her pleasure? I think not.

Yeah. I have decided that I hate ribbing. 

After almost 6 months, the sweater is finally all knit and is being sewn up (Hallelujah, praise Jesus). That said...

I didn't realize how difficult seaming the shoulders would be. I had no problems with the sleeves, so I felt pretty good about my ability to sew the rest up. (I believe that was my mistake--never think you're hot stuff until you have the finished product in front of you. At that point, gloating is good--not before. Pride goeth before a fall, after all. *sigh*)
Now, I have always been of the opinion that you can find ANYTHING on the internet, as evidenced by YouTube, but apparently that doesn't include "shoulder seaming hand knit 2x2 ribbing". My plethora of knitting books were no help, and after several failed attempts, many exasperated sighs, and a couple of internal temper tantrums (don't want to give the daughter the idea that throwing things and screaming obscenities about certain knitwear designers is okay, after all) I was ready to poke my eyes out with my darning needle (or at least give it up for a bad job) when, all of a sudden, the clouds parted and angelic voices could be heard coming down from Heaven and they placed in my hands the answer to this and every possible knitting conundrum....

Well, no, not really. But I did finally find a website that offered instructions that allowed me to sew a passable 2x2 ribbed shoulder seam before I went completely nutso. 

But I have learned my lesson...

Ribbing is not my friend.   

Thursday, October 23, 2008

We wants the Precious!

Ok, I have just come across this, and I am SO EXCITED! (It's a slideshow, for the yarn-inclined among you who wish to drool over it along with me.) I'm thinking of setting this page as my homepage.

Now, this probably just solidifies my old-lady status with my mother, but I have to say that I don't even stinkin' care in this case. I love all things Harry (that sounds much stranger out loud than it does written down, doesn't it?), and Harry combined with knitting is my idea of heaven. (Maybe that's what my Heaven will be--knitting endless items inspired by J.K. Rowling's universe.)

I called my local yarn store and asked the very nice owner, Kathy, about the status of said yarn. I had read rumors online about flooding and mass destruction of much of this pretty and coveted wool, and wanted to know if this horrific scenario was, in fact, true. 

Sure enough, it will probably be December (!!!) before we get any here. Curses. 

Well, I guess it's just another item for my Christmas wish list, and until I have my very own squishy skein (or 2 or 5...) in my trembling little hands, I will just have to live vicariously through others' enviable acquisitions

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Bun in the Oven

12 weeks now, so officially into the second trimester. 
We had our first appointment with the midwives yesterday, and everything is looking great. It took a while to find the heartbeat because the little shrimp was swimming away from the doppler. Can't say I really blame him/her--I wouldn't want to be poked and prodded with a pokey wand thingy, either. 

This stage of pregnancy is kind of strange and abstract--I can't feel the baby move yet and am not obviously pregnant (just fat)--so I have hours when I forget that I AM pregnant, especially when Bridget is having one of her "individualistic" days and I can't focus on anything but keeping her from climbing to the top of her bookshelf and killing herself. 

Hopefully I'll feel those first baby flutters in the next few weeks, though, and the abstract days will be over. I'm really looking forward to that moment. And, contrary to popular opinion, pregnancy is not any less exciting the second time around.