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Wednesday, January 17, 2007

blame blogger

I spent so long trying to post this morning that I thought I would be late for work. I had written up a great long post about an alternative to the provisional cast-on method used in some patterns, and I had even taken step-by-step photos of the process. The final step was to post it- and Blogger was having "issues" with uploading photos again. I tried to upload the images to my Photobucket account so I could finish up the post from work and wouldn't you know it- Photobucket was down for maintenance.

So you're getting a photo-less post today, folks.

First of all, a big HELLO and THANKS to all the people who came on by from the Knitlist after I put out the message telling you about the free pattern for the Bowling Socks. I know you're not really coming to see me, you're coming for the free goodies, but maybe one or two of you will stick around so I'm thanking you in advance. Quite a lot of you have taken me up on that free pattern offer- a few days ago my Yahoo group had 55 members and now I have over 140! I promise to keep working on some more free patterns to make it worth your whiles. I have a moss block baby cardigan that I designed which I will most probably put up as a free pattern, and a pattern for Sweetheart Mittens from two years ago that I just need to get around to typing up.

What's going on with me? Lately it seems like I'm only getting real knitting time in on Sundays and Mondays (my days off). I used to get home from work, make supper then park myself in bed and knit while watching TV until 11:00 or 12:00 then get into bed, play a few games on my Palm then go to sleep. These days? I'm lucky if I'm still out of bed by 9:30/10:00! ALL I want to do these days is sleep. Sleep in all morning and go to bed as early as I can at night. I thought that I was supposed to be more tired in the first and last trimesters, but instead, smack dab in the middle of the 5th month, NOW exhaustion is hitting me hard. I have to tape whatever shows I really want to watch and instead watch something else on TV because I have no guarantee of being awake long enough for the first show! Monday night I was in bed by 8:15. 8:15!!!! And I would have been asleep right away too if Yannick hadn't been in a chatty mood.

The pregnancy is going good otherwise. I'm still not hungry, and still have only gained a couple of pounds, but my (old) doctor doesn't think that is anything to worry about. I will ask my new doctor when I see her for the first time on the 30th. I am starting to feel the baby move a bit more, but it's still not regular and still not more than occassional tickles. No hard kicks or punches yet, except for 1 time- at my 5 month ultrasound last Tuesday the technician was pushing really hard and when she dipped into my belly button and was pushing I guess baby felt really squished and kicked the wand away. I couldn't stop laughing which made the rest of the ultrasound take longer, but I didn't mind (more time to see my baby!) I love ultrasounds- I love the window into my baby's world. I will take any opportunity I can get to see this little one before its first appearance.

I've been knitting tons of stuff for baby too. The Froggy and Ducky Hat/Socks sets were finished a while ago (and blogged, plus there are photos in the sidebar). I finished the Moss Block Baby Cardigan which was from my own design, and now that it is finished blocking I will try to remember to take a photo and post it.

I'm still working on a sock yarn cardigan using one of the Regia Canadian Colors...I forget which one offhand but it's mainly yellow with some irregular stripes of brown, purple and lime green. I have the back done and am about to the armhole shaping on the first of the two fronts.

I have started the Debbie Bliss Alphabet Baby Blanket. The rows go a bit faster than I'd thought and the charts aren't hard to follow at all. The first day I started it (about 2 Mondays ago) I managed to nearly finish the lower block of letters. I have only done a few rows since. It will be a slow project because I don't plan on it being portable. I tend to leave my chart-heavy projects at home and tote around stuff that is easier to work on here and there.

Speaking of easier to work on...I have also started an entrelac blankie for the baby. It is using two colors of Patons Decor and I love the squooshy woven look. I have finished one full ball of each color and for the size I made (the blocks are 10 sts wide) it will probably take 2 or 2.5 balls of each color for the blanket then an extra ball of one color for a border. I haven't figured out the border yet- the blankie is of my own design and I'll worry about the border once I've finished the main part.

For the last few days I've been knitting exclusively on a pair of black gloves. The MKG is having a Mitten Challenge which is due by our next meeting (the 2nd Tues of February). One of the catergories is to design your own, which I am doing. Thanks to Yannick's great suggestion when I asked him what would be an interesting new mitten or glove, I am designing a pair of Knitter's Gloves. I have 2 more fingers (well, 1 finger and 1 thumb) to go on the first of the pair. (I had to call the guild president and make sure that gloves were ok because the newsletter only talked about mittens, but she assured me that any type of cold-weather hand coverings were fine).

So that's what I'm knitting these days. I didn't do much on Sunday except in the car because we had Robyn's son Sean's bris in the afternoon. He was a real trouper and barely cried! Yannick was a chicken and stayed at the back of the room lest he accidentally see what was going on at the front. Men! The bris included lunch/lupper then afterwards my sister Laura and her boyfriend Mike came back with us. We played Taboo (and us girls won!) then went to my parents' house for supper. By the time we got home I was exhausted (again) so I went to bed soon after.

Monday I had to go to the Jewish to redo my glucose test. I worked on the glove in the waiting room during both hours between blood tests. I was supposed to go to Robyn's for a bit in the afternoon but we got hit with such nasty weather that I just went straight home. I ate quite a bit for once (I had been fasting for the blood test) then cozied up in bed with the glove and my tapes from the last few weeks. Within ten minutes I was ready for sleep. I fought it off and stayed up until Yannick came home for supper, but it really was a struggle all day to fight off from falling asleep. By the end of the day I had a headache already from being so tired and I wasn't even hungry, so Yannick finished my meal (again) and as I said earlier, I was in bed by 8:15.

Last night I did 2 hours of knitting while watching the American Idol premiere then got into bed. I had taken a book on pregnancy massage out of the library and Yannick had a great time going through all the photos and making funny remarks. Then we went through the latest month in his pregnancy book. We have 3 but 2 are mine and 1 is his. Mine are What to Expect When You're Expecting and The Mother of All Pregnancy Books. His is The Expectant Father and it is a good, funny and informative book. The only problem is that Yannick forgets to read it, so we tend to go through it together when I remember. He particularily enjoyed a passage we read last night about how a woman's brain actually shrinks during pregnancy.

Tonight is a Montreal Knits (link in sidebar) meeting but I'm really tired and it's really cold outside so I will be skipping it in favor of going home and taking a bath. I just might get to knit a stitch or two as well.

posted by Jennifer Lori @ 1:50 pm

2 Comments:

At 10:54 am, Montreal Mama said…

I have The Mother of all Parenting Books. I'll let u know how it is. (I don't get much reading time right now, which is funny, because it's about parenting, and it's the parenting that doesn't allow me to have time to read!!) Go figure!

We'll have to reschedule your date to come over and see us!
At 4:23 pm, JayJay said…

The knitter's gloves sounds great! I can't wait to see how they turn out. You must knit awfully fast to be making two baby blankets at once! I am making a few crochet ones, but they go so much faster.

Glad to hear your pregnancy is going well (sleepiness aside).