Boleros for Moms and Babies

Thanks everyone for all of your nice comments on my Tilted Duster! I was actually able to wear it out yesterday and I felt so stylish and cute :) And given that I more or less haven't left either a hospital room or our condo for the last 8 weeks, haven't had a hair cut since the beginning of November (those of you with short hair will understand what a big deal this is) and waddle when I walk...I would call that a success! ;)

37 weeks and counting!

As for me and baby, yesterday marked the beginning of our 37th week! This means that he is officially full-term! *big sigh of relief!* This also means that my doctor has released me from bedrest! While I certainly didn't immediately jump up and run a marathon...8 weeks of laying around does a number on your body let me tell you!..I am gradually upping my activity level. B's been able to take me out a little the last couple days...even if it is just for quick trips to the library or store and it feels amazing! I'm slow and exhausted, but I really don't care :)

In the knitting front, I used a good portion of my time at home to complete some long languishing projects and begin a little personal yarn challenge (a post to come on this soon). First up is the Two Tone Shrug from Fitted Knits that I began a year ago December.

Nothing super intriguing to report on this one. Its a simple, pretty basic pattern that I knit on the recommended needle sizes (8s and 5s). Although if I were to do this over again, I would knit the ribbing on larger needles. I was able to block them out for width, but lost some in length, so it lost a bit of its dramatic effect I think.

The yarn is Manos 100% wool with the body knit from a hank and a smidge of the multicolor brown (112) and the ribbing knit in a little over a hank (literally 3 rounds out of the new hank) in chocolate brown (G).

I also knit up a Baby Bolero from One Skein (on size 8 and 9 needles) with about 2/3rds of a hank of Rio de la Plata Lana del Artista, which is a nice handspun combination of Aqua Green, Chinese Violet and Ceylon Yellow (at least according to the label).

This was a special little project because I bought this yarn from the Green Thread knitting store on our way back from our snowboarding trip to Mammoth last March. That week we had decided to start our family and I picked up this cute gender neutral yarn to make a little something for our prospective baby. I fell in love with the colors on the hank and it continued to delight me as I knit the bolero. I added the picture below so that you could see the color range a bit better. However, the natural light we've had lately is making it difficult to capture the yellows and greens, which are brighter in real life.

I guess that's it for me for now. I will be back to talk about by strange yarn compulsion project as soon as its finished...which should be any day now. In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend!