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.   

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. 

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. 

My Music Man

K. received the last bit of his recording setup two days ago--the keyboard. He wasted no time in setting up his various accoutrements in our front bedroom, AKA "the storage room", and promptly left our reality for his own very special one where nothing exists except the almighty MUSIC.

I am in awe of people who can create music of any kind, and the fact that one of them happens to live in my house is awesome. This musical inclination is probably the most attractive thing about my dearest. Watching him play, especially songs he's written himself, always gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. 

When we started dating he was still playing in his band and told me that he would write me a song. That was six years ago, and I have mentioned this promise periodically ever since. He always said, "When I get my setup, you'll get your song."

Well, he's got his setup. I figure I'll give him a couple of days before I ask for my song. 

It's been so long....

We're finally back up and running with our new MacBook. It's been a little aggravating trying to acclimate to a new system, especially since Apple doesn't like to coddle their customers by doing silly things like including a nice, comprehensive owner's manual with their products, but I digress. At least I have my internet back. 

I've had some time to get some serious knitting in, at least. Well, serious for me, anyway. I've (basically) finished Bridget's sweater. All it lacks is the lace edgings sewn on to the sleeves and blocking, but I'm not in any real hurry to finish it up because we're coming up on West Texas summer, during which time wool/cashmere sweaters don't really come in handy. (Also, I might have had a slight problem in the gauge department resulting in a sweater that will probably not fit Bridget until 2012, but we will never speak of that again.) 

I finished my first pair of socks, light purple, and am 3/4 of the way through Bridget's first pair, pink, yellow, orange and white variegated that I picked up in Ruidoso a few weeks ago. Very girly and pretty. I'm also working on a couple of other things that I can't mention specifically here due to the fact that several of the recipients will probably be reading this. 

Bridget is growing like a little weed. She is almost 19 months old now (not a baby anymore!) and has such a little sassy personality. She is nothing like me in temperment, so I guess she gets that part of her from K. Or her Aunt Sassy. 

Wherever it comes from, I wouldn't change it for anything. I'm so blessed to have such a sweet, outgoing, loving child, even if she sometimes aggravates me so much that I want to toss her out in the yard like a can opener or stirrup pants. (Only 2 people will understand what I'm talking about here.)

My brain is tapped. "Happy Feet" is making me comatose (for the second time today).

Busy me

I haven't posted in a while, but unfortunately, daily life tends to intervene in my perfect plans for myself.

My baby is now a year old, which is unbelievable for me. It just seems like yesterday that she was a tiny, 7 pound pooping, drooling machine, and now she's walking (practically running!) and interacting just like a little person! Crazy...

In knitting news, Bridget's sweater is coming along, but I've come to that place in a bigger project where other, new projects look oh so appealing. So, and I'm deeply ashamed to admit it, but I've cast on my first pair of socks--dark, beautiful purple ones. I assuage some of my guilt by telling myself that it's okay because they're for Bridget, but I don't think I'm fooling myself. Oh well. The sweater will be finished, though. I promise that.

Countdown to Deathly Hallows...

The final Harry Potter is here and will be mine at midnight tonight. Very excited. Plus, this time I won't have the ending spoiled for me, because until I finish reading it (which I estimate will take several days owing to the Care and Feeding of Bridget factor) I will be avoiding like the plague all forms of media remotely resembling news of any kind.

We're going to the Midnight Magic release party at Barnes and Noble tonight, and I know Mama would just shudder at the thought of that many people crammed into that small a space. I find it all very exciting, though. Hopefully Kent and Bridget will make it to midnight, but if not, I told Kent he gets to go home and have Bridget duty. I was hoping to have the Gryffindor scarf done before tonight, but I should know better than to set myself deadlines of any kind with a demanding 10-month old. I plan on taking it and knitting on it a little while I'm there, though.

Speaking of knitting....

Remember Bridget's sweater that I was working on? Well, I hadn't gotten very far on it, but then I realized that my stitch gauge was off by 2 stitches, and if I had kept going on it it would have been very not-fitty. So, I ripped it all back and started over. Hopefully I'll have it finished in time for Bridget to actually wear it this year.

That's my exciting life for the moment. Enjoy.