FO: Guri Guri Hats

More holiday gift knits, if you can believe it! I'm surprising myself with the rate at which I've been cranking out these things. Of course, they're hats, but still.

I decided to gift my sister's entire fam with hats this year. One for Rex, one for LA, and then I couldn't leave out the Peanuts!

Guri Guri Hats
Pattern: Children's Cotton Hats (Ravelry) by Kim Hamlin from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Queensland Collection Rustic Tweed (63% wool 27% alpaca 10% donegal) in 908 Rose - less than one skein for both hats
Needles: US7

Modification: To make up for the different gauge, I CO for the child size, which came out to be around the toddler size.

These hats make me happy. I hope it fits their little Peanut heads!

And if those weren't enough, I knit another Turn a Square for a good friend of mine, who hopefully isn't reading this post right now. Woo-hoo - two FOs for the price of one!

Rex II
Pattern: Turn A Square by Jared Flood
Yarn: Cascade 220 Wool in 9475 (Sage) and Noro Kureyon in 178 - less than one skein of each
Needles: US6 and US7

Modification: This time I knit 4 inches in the main section, instead of 5. Much better.

Now that I have knit two of these, I can officially say that, yup, this pattern is a winner! And for those of you who like bargains, know that you can make two of these with one skein each of Cascade 220 and Kureyon. Fun! I'm already planning to make more. (And for me to want to make more than one of anything- if that's not a ringing endorsement, I don't know what is!

Alright well, that wraps up the holiday knitting for this year. Good thing, too, because I've also been spending time in the kitchen whipping up this stuff:

Snowball cookies, cranberry-pistachio biscotti, spiced mixed nuts,
cinnamon candied walnuts, and two different kinds of semisweet and white chocolate swirled bark- one with peppermint chunks and one with peanuts.
Not pictured: Pumpkin-cranberry bread and fudge.

Yeah, I'm pretty spent. Luckily we're winding down here. Whew!

FO: Paprikash

First off, thank you so much for all your congratulatory comments to my preggy post! People keep telling me that I've got "the glow." Well, I don't know about that, but it is nice to be "out" after having kept it a secret for so long, and your well wishes make me all the happier, so thank you!

Now onto knitty business. I told you I finished a couple of gift knits so far. Rex was one and here is the other:

Paprikash
Pattern: Foliage by Emilee Mooney from Knitty, Fall 2007
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in 102 (Sealing Wax) - less than one skein
Needles: US5 and US7

Another fun, quick knit! What can I say? I lucked out on finding two great hat patterns. I can definitely see why Foliage is such a popular hat to knit. Knit from the top down, the pattern was fun to watch emerge, and working with Malabrigo...well, come on now. The word "yum" may be overused to describe this yarn, but why fight the urge? It is totally yummy!

I whipped up this sucker in two days over Thanksgiving weekend, so I can vouch for it as a perfect last-minute gift knit. Plus, you have the excuse to play with some Malabrigo for a while. It's a win-win!

I'm also almost done with two more hats- hopefully I'll have those to show next week. If I'm still alive after the marathon baking session I am subjecting myself to all day tomorrow (and quite possibly deep into the weekend), that is. I was off to a slow start on holiday stuff this year, so I'm now trying desperately to catch up. A little extra to ask of a woman who wants to sleep all.the.time., but I'm gonna give it a go! Wish me luck!

No, it's not a baby blog, but...

I do have some news.

Yes, I'm pregnant! (Whew, saying that out loud is still a little jarring!)

But, yes. There you have it- B and I are expecting an addition to our little family! I'm just a tad past 12 weeks now, and the baby is due next June. I'm sure the next 6 months will seem slow and fast at the same time! As far as the early stages of pregnancies go, I'm happy to report that I think I've had it pretty easy thus far (knock on wood...always gotta knock on wood). I haven't had any morning sickness or food aversions to speak of, so I really can't complain. I've been a little achy and my allergies are killing me (but that's just normal for me) and I've been feeling damn exhausted, but other than that, good. I'm really looking forward to that 2nd trimester burst of energy I keep hearing about!

Anyway, I just wanted to share the happy news with you guys, since I have also had to share some not-so-happy news in the past. But lest you think this will become an all-baby, all-the-time blog, not to worry! I have some knitty FOs to share, which I will post soon. I just wanted to spill the beans about...well, Bean (the baby's temporary nickname). :) It's been hard to keep it a secret, people!

While we're still on the baby topic, however, I do want to thank everyone for their comments in support of Dis. What she's going through is not easy, but she is handling it incredibly well- with all the strength and positivity and grace one would hope to have in a mom. Her little one is a lucky guy!

Quick Update

Thank you so much for all of your kind words and thoughts. It has meant so much to me and B (and I'm sure our little boy as well :-). This has been a very challenging time for us. So many things have happened in the last two weeks that sometimes we are just in awe and wonder if it is possible to handle anything else. But, when the next thing happens, you just do. And it helps to have so many people, both those close and those we've never even met, sending you positive thoughts and strength to get through the next hurdle. And for that I can't thank you enough.

As for an update. The doctors felt by Friday I had been doing well enough that they felt comfortable discharging me from the hospital. So, yay!! I'm home!! This means they also felt comfortable that I would be good and do what I'm supposed to...which is stay in bed. B's been taking care of all the food and basic cleaning and my mom and aunt came over to help get all my sewing stuff put away and my knitting stuff organized. B's mom is also flying in today to help take care of me for the next two weeks, until B's schedule opens up again. So all in all, I am feeling very fortunate.

I won't say that it is easy to sit here though. I'm not someone who is used to being waited on. I like to do things myself and be efficient, so I feel bad when B is running around trying to get everything handled, when it would be so much easier for me to stand up and help out. I just have to remind myself, I have one job right now and that is keeping this baby in!!

Anyway, my crafting posts will probably few and far between over the next couple of months, but I will try to post updates whenever I can. Thank you again for all your support. I couldn't do it without you guys!

"in bed at the hospital"*

So in a matter of about an hour or so last Wednesday, my perfectly normal, healthy pregnancy took a rather unexpected turn and I am now hospitalized as a result of a high risk pregnancy. If it weren't for our follow up ultrasound that day, I probably would have delivered our baby this week (at week 29). Fortunately, they found what was going on when they did and we've been able to keep things under control for now. I'm on full bed rest until I deliver (which will hopefully been in many weeks!!) and we are just now trying to figure out whether that bed rest will need to be here in the hospital or if at some point I will be allowed to go home. For now, we are looking to stabilize things and then the doctor will be able to make a better recommendation. Although the thought of spending Christmas in the hospital is certainly not appealing (I've already been here through Thanksgiving), I'm more than willing to do everything I can to extend the residence of our little boy in my womb as long as possible.

I hope you are all well...and now that I have access to the internet from my room, I'm looking forward to seeing what you have all been up to the last week. Anyway, sorry for the random downer post, but sharing is important for me right now and we could certainly use the additional positive thoughts!


*needless to say these Hospital Beds lyrics by the Cold War Kids have been going though my head quite a bit lately ;-)

FO: Rex

Thanksgiving weekend knitting, part one. I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. Ours was pretty low key, which in turn allowed me to be a surprisingly efficient knitter this weekend. I casted on... and binded off (!) not one, but two gift knits! First up, this fab beanie:

Rex
Pattern: Turn A Square by Jared Flood
Yarn: Cascade 220 Wool in 9475 (Sage) and Noro Kureyon in 178 - less than one skein of each
Needles: US6 and US7

This hat was much more fun to knit than your standard beanie, due to the fun striping from the Noro and the square-turning part at the crown. (We already know I'm easily amused.) I think this is an awesome guy hat. It's subdued enough so as to not freak out pattern-shy boys, but has a little something fun going on with the stripes. I knit this for my brother-in-law, and I would definitely knit it again. Especially now that I know how quickly I can crank one out! I might shorten the hat next time, depending on the intended head, but that's the only modification I can think of. I can see this knit in a ton of different yarns. Go knit one - it's fun!

Totally unrelated, but worthy of mentioning: today is the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. Millions of people around the world have died from HIV/AIDS and millions more are living with it today. I would like to take a moment to remember Pat, a very close friend of mine who passed away ten years ago. Pat was a talented artist and graphic designer, a soft-spoken and gentle spirit, and a caring friend. He always made me feel special and loved, and the void he left in my life will never be filled. For Pat and so many other friends and family members who we've lost or who continue to fight, we must never stop working toward increasing awareness and finding a cure for this devastating disease.