Knitting and Baby update in One Post!

The little boy is 10 months old and I have finally finished the knitted Blu jeans (from Knitty!)that I started when...gulp...I was about 7 months pregnant! He's still a bit skinny for them (note the fashionable lowrider look on the back view), but I really like how they turned out.






Pattern: Blu from Knitty
Yarn: Rowan Denim in Nashville (body) and Tennessee (cuffs)
Needles: Addi Turbo #6 -- straight needles could have been used, but I used circs

I liked this pattern, even though it was a lot of stockinette. My only quibble is that the Nashville yarn does stain your hands. It washes off easily, but made the project less portable for me because I was always concerned with walking around with blue fingers if no sink & soap were readily available. But you can't argue with the cuteness of the results (model not withstanding).

I subbed gold embroidery thread for the Mango yarn for the seam stitching.

poor little baby

That little baby pictured in my last post has rounded out quite nicely. He was 4 months old this past Saturday! And, I have completed 2 knitted objects since he was born -- the mate to the pink sock pictured in last post. (1st sock took about 1 month to complete, 2nd sock took 6 months -- gulp! but I did push a kid out in the interim, in my defense) I also finally sewed and felted the Knitty pumpkin, which came out quite cute. You'll have to take my word for it since I haven't photographed it yet!

Nathaniel Oliver!

Nathaniel Oliver arrived on July 18 -- can't believe he'll be a month old on Friday.

Surprised me by coming a week before my due date. Now my life is filled with breastfeeding and putting down for naps and laundry, so my blog will become even more neglected!!

A few photos -- a coworker from my work knitting group made the little strawberry hat for me.

3 weeks old:

Really, I'm still here

Poor blog -- I don't even have the excuse that I have a newborn for why I've neglected you too long & I even forgot our blogaversary.

Mainly, I haven't been doing too much knitting, and have been busy with work and have just never been good at keeping up journal type projects like this. Ah well.

14 more days until the due date -- no, we still don't know what we are having. Still working, though my last day is Friday.

I have to finish a second sock for my grandma's birthday present before this kid arrives. Her birthday was May 5th (gulp) and once I realized that I'd miss that deadline, I totally slacked off on sock #2. I think the pattern just wasn't mindless enough given all that I have on my mind.

but, here's a photo and closeup of sock #1. On #2, I've just turned the heel and need to pick up stitches to start the gusset and get the thing finished.

And finally,...Secret Pal package photos

Here they are, and once again you can see I'm super spoiled.


First two books for me: Debbie Bliss Knitting for Babies (lots of fun ideas here) and The Yarn Harlot's meditations, which is sitting on my coffee table and making me laugh out loud *everytime* I pick it up! Now I'm bound to go find her other books.



Then, 2 books for baby (whee! another book-aholic in the making), some gummy worms (being rapidly consumed as I type), and some new knitting needles!!



And I got some gorgeous pale green yarn and some yummy foot soaks for when my ankles turn into tree trunks. (And what better way to spend the foot soak time than by knitting?!?)



More yarn -- some soft fuzzy colors that I think would make a great baby blanket. Right now I'm thinking 3 wide strips, but maybe I'll get a little more adventuresome since the fuzziness will likely induce garter stitch.

Also, a skein of brown 100% silk yarn that's all for mommy. I'm thinking some sort of delicate little scarf.



Finally, gorgeous stitch markers (currently in use on socks for my grandma)! There were more than this (but I thought the detail would show better in the photo if I just showed a sampling), all different, and made just for me. Wowoowow! I've never had fancy stitch markers, so these are really fun.



And just to show that I am not the only one in the house that enjoys the packages:

Max really liked the tissue in the box



Apologies for the varying sizes of photos -- I was experimenting with what works best on the blog when I reduce them on Photobucket.

Thanks a million to my brilliant secret pal!! Come tell me who you are now. :)

Quick update on Blu

One pant leg of Blu is done!! Even though it is a lot of stockinette stitch, I still enjoyed watching this project appear.

Mr. CTK finally said, "Oh, I get it, the light part is where the cuff is supposed to be turned up."

Full leg shot



Close up of the Phony Seam, which was pretty fun to do, once I got over the fear of unraveling a stitch all the way down the side of the leg!




Also, here is the before and 1/2 of the after (for some reason, that photo didn't load correctly, but now I've fixed that through the miracles of editing) of the chair we got recovered. My parents bought this chair early on in their marriage (which hit 43 years in February), so it had sentimental value, but we are also thrilled with how it came out.

Before (old and cat clawed)



After (beautiful, if 1/2 cut off in photo)-- edited to add correct view of chair!

It's a photo party!!

OK, so I am finally un-lazy enough to post some of those photos I've been promising.

Without further ado,

21 Weeks


23 Weeks


24 Weeks -- I think these maternity jeans make my belly look bigger than the pjs which have no supportive belly band, but you can see my waist losing definition!




OK, I must go get dinner now. But now that I have the photos loaded, I can actually sneak and post at work. Heh heh.

Check out my new button

OK, no photos yet, but I did add a new "I sniff yarn" button down below.

Thanks to Grumperina for posting them on her blog.