We interrupt this morning sickness to tell you…

That I’m (mostly) back in action. Whoo hooo. My Mac is back from the Dr., Mr. C’s hard drive is installed and operating, our cell phones actually work (there was a recall on the chargers because they weren’t charging. I’ve been telling them this for months, but to no avail) and our camera? Well, at least it runs on batteries.

So, all in all, I’m back in blogging action–at least as long as the AA’s hold up. To that end, I have pictures! I was home alone the day I realized I had batteries, so took these belly shots myself. Sadly, the lighting in the bathroom is wretched and I was forced to try out snazzy effects to make the colors less garish.

Here is a flash-less shot at 17 weeks & 4 days:

And one to say hello, since I rarely show my face around here:

Don’t I look too big to be still getting sick?? Yeah, I think so, too. However, it seems this baby is in charge and I’ll be doing the porcelain Rhumba until he/she decides otherwise. On a positive note, I’m 45% of the way through, AND I find out on Thursday if I can write HE or SHE instead of he/she in my posts. Yay! (I’m kinda excited about this.)

Right, knitting…

I have finally determined that part of the reason I’m not knitting so much right now relates to the projects I’m working on. The socks for my mom (seen here when I thought I could finish them for Socktoberfest. Ha!) aren’t fun to knit as the yarn (Sockotta) is rough in my hands and I think the color is a bit…garish. My Mom picked it out, though, so I don’t have much choice. I do need to get them to her by my sister’s wedding on Jan 27, which means I need to get working. It would be nice if I finished the second bed sock for my grandmother by then, too. Although she won’t be at the wedding, my dad will be able to deliver them for me if I can get them done. I think I just need to just put on my big girl pants and get over second sock syndrome.

Of course, instead of working on either of these, I’ve cast on a new project to remove me from sock funk. I think I’ll save it for another post, though, as I think it will deserve it’s own.

In other news, I got a package!!

This is from the Lovely and Talented NeedleTart. What you see is a Burt’s Bees Baby kit, a wonderful board book, a book titled “101 Secrets A Good Dad Knows,” a book of her own recipes (wow!), a card/social game about food, and the best (hiding behind/supporting everything): a wonderfully scented “rice thingie” (her term) that when microwaved for a short time gives off warmth and lavendar-y scented comfort. She even included a spare cover for it! If you can click for big, you’ll see the knit sheepy pattern, too. Ms. NeedleTart must have read my mind, because I’ve been having trouble the past few weeks with sore muscles at night. Thank you from both me and Mr. CygKnit!

On the blocking board right now (ok, the ironing board) is a wonderful gift from Knitter Bunny. I hope to have a pic of it next time, too. Hopefully, next time won’t be another two weeks…

Advertisement

Read Full Post »

Readership? What readership?

I was told once that if I didn’t post regularly then no one would be interested in hanging around to read what I write. Though I was absent for 18 days or so (not that I’m counting) the thought has been very much on my mind. I worry, though that starting each post with an apology isn’t a good idea, as it will most likley get annoying after a while. Rather than apologize yet again for the embarrassingly long time between posts, I would like to thank you for sticking by and still reading me. Thank you.

(right now, I can hear only the sound of metaphoric crickets chirping. I hope there are still people reading… )

There’s quite a lot to catch up on, I hardly know where to start. Except, the contents of my brain pretty much look like this:

babybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby[patron question]babybabybabybabybabybabybabybaby[email]babybabybabybabybabybaby[patron question]babybabybaby…ad nauseam.

I suppose this is normal, this obsession with what’s going on in, around and beneath my belly. And of course, what I’m obsessing about changes constantly. First, it was AmIShowing?AmIShowing?AmIShowing? and now it’s HolyCrapI’mShowing!HolyCrapI’mShowing! I wish I could say that my mind was busy on wonderful intellectual pursuits (or even knitting) but sadly, this is what I’ve got. Now, my reason for not posting becomes clear, doesn’t it?

Last baby thing, I promise?

Look at that! Something’s going on in there! (Experienced mothers will recognize this as the stage when, unless you squish your shirt under your boobs and belly, no one else thinks you’re pregnant, just hitting the buffet a little hard.)

But y’all came for the knitting, didn’t you?

This is a bed sock for my grandmother. Most of what you see was done the day before Thanksgiving, as these are a really fast knit on size 7 needles. I know it is cheating, but oh! So nice to have a sock fly to the toe! (Let’s not discuss the state of the second sock, ok? It seems to be, well, a bit stalled.)

And an action shot:

It’s a simple baby cable, designed to look like I’m a far more clever knitter than I am. My grandmother is a champion crocheter (well, she’s very good and very fast) but not a knitter. I was hoping to impress her with as little effort as possible, but since these won’t show up until after 12/25, I’m thinking the impression factor is going to go down.

I’ve been doing other knitting, too. Back in November, I mentioned a wee project I was working on, but never followed up (be careful clicking on that link, that’s the story of yaking on the cat). Here’s what it was:

Now, this wee sockie is just a prototype. See, for some reason I still have a weird fear about knitting for the baby. What I was really trying to do here was fudge a pattern for a set of baby socks for Kristi and her boys. Sadly, I had no pattern at home (quite embarrassing, really) and was avoiding the computer (I was still working on papers for school). I decided to try out the first sock in Sensational Knitted Socks, the demo, to see how that would work out. Following the pattern, this is regular worsted weight *ahem*acrylic*ahem* on maybe size 5’s. (It’s just a template! I promise!)

The problem came when I finished and wove in the ends. I’d made a sock (a scratchy one, yes), but who would it fit? Is it too big for an infant? Too small? I have no experience with this.

Since then, I’ve checked out two baby knits books from the library, but haven’t really looked at the sock patterns yet (which makes me feel like a complete chump, just so you know). Now that finals are over, and I’m in my second trimester, I have no excuse for not ripping myself out of the couch’s gravitational pull. I’m just not sure why I haven’t, yet.

Before I go (read: before my boss comes back from lunch) I want to thank everyone for their comments and emails about my Hanukkah bush crisis. Reading everyone’s thoughts helped me put mine into place and into perspective, and basically stop freaking out over it. For the most part, I’ve become comfortable again with celebrating Hanukkah as Hanukkah, and exchanging gifts on Winter Consumer Holiday, aka Capitalist Gift-Giving Day, aka December 25 like most other Americans. The bush didn’t get put up this year, but this had more to do with Juniper’s obsessive chewing habit (the branches would reach into his cage, which isn’t a good idea at all) than with either of our feelings. We did buy a little 2′ table top model, but since neither of us has made it up into the attic for ornaments, it sits naked on our table. But we’re ok with that.

While neither of us have really had the energy to do much (Mr. Cygknit is still in finals, and I’m, well, sleeping on the couch more often than not) in our own home, we have noticed a different perspective on others’ decorations. We’ve found ourselves commenting on the merits of one neighbor’s ostentatious display of inflatable elves over another’s snowmen, and the tacky quotient of white lights vs. Colored vs. Blinking. While we’re not going to be moving into the Christmas camp in the future, at least I’m not as afraid of it as I was. And that is a good thing.

Read Full Post »