Sproglet-less

Yup, I could blog and bemoan the fact that I'm 3 days past the estimated due date and I'm about ready to burst - but I've managed to do that to anyone who'll listen, so you lucky guys don't have to endure that too.

Instead I will show you the finished Sunrise Sunset blanket (ravelry link). I finally completed it last night, the carpel tunnel slowed down my crochet, and the sc, dc border certainly killed my mojo a little. According to Ravelry, this project took a little over 3 months to complete, but as Mr. B. said (and I totally agree), it seemed a LOT longer than that.

It was a perfect project to carry around, since you are just crocheting 4.5" squares. However, if you're not a fan of seaming, you might want to give it a miss, or find a really good friend who can stand it - I'm okay with seaming, esp. now that I've actually got my own chibi needles, wow! what a difference that bent end makes, how did it take me so long to own some? I love how the blanket turned out, and we're all just going to pretend that it's had it's final wash and block (c'mon, you can't make a 9+ month preggers woman get on the floor and pin the bugger down can ya?)


As for the log cabin blanket, it's complete except for the border (again), I did a whip stitch border as the pattern suggests and it looked awful. Now I'm halfway through a single crochet border, but just realized that the hook I was using is a tad too big. Tonight I try again. In the meantime, I started another project. I wanted to use the noro sock yarn I bought on vacation in PA, but actually didn't want to make socks [gasp!] so started the chevron scarf (rav link) instead. I think the colours are cheerful, Mr B is unimpressed. I promised I wouldn't make him wear it :)

No! No Baby yet.

So I'm officially playing the waiting game, as are tons of anxious friends and relatives who's emails, calls and facebook contacts are sure to increase as the due date rolls nearer (which is Sunday btw). In the meantime, I finished work on Friday, I decided I could no longer handle the NY arseholes commute and heat, well, naturally it cools to the low 80's this week, but that wasn't going to encourage me to change my mind about work.

Before I update you one what I've been up to, I should show you once again, how wonderful people are out there. Sharon, not content with being super-busy with the birth of her second daughter (having just moved apartment, of course), she had to go ahead and send me this package of adorable goodies:

I believe I may have made even some girlie noise when I opened this package, the booties, the hat, the adorable little bunny, wow this bean is spoiled already :) Thank you Sharon!!

So inbetween watching the crappy NBC daytime version of the Olympics (which basically consists of beach volleyball and the swimming I saw last night) and finishing off projects I thought I better blog. I decided that I couldn't really sign up for Ravelympics as I could give birth at any time, but I could give myself some deadlines of my own to try and turn the giant UFO into an FO. You see, according to ravelry, I started the Sunrise Sunset blanket way back on May 10th, I have since distracted myself with numerous other, smaller, cute projects, but I know that I really need to finish this blanket. All the little Sunrise and Sunsets were made, some were finished and blocked, some were still waiting the end weaving (about 8 ends per piece) and blocking. Then there's the seaming together - not an enviable task, and not one that will do itself. If I just suck it up while I have the time at home, it will be done and I'll be wondering what all the fuss was about. As you can see, I made some good headway already.


I also wanted something pretty simple and satisfying, and kept looking at all the yarn that was left over from the amazingly beautiful Spider blanket. It kept bugging me that there is practically enough to make another blanket, and 3 baby blankets have got to be better than 2 right? So I cast on for a log cabin blanket for the bean. I've always wanted to make one, the simplicity of it and the squishiness of the garter stitch was too tempting. So I now have the goal of finishing 2 blankets before the bean arrives.


Good luck to me eh?

Showered

I've been busy, but there's no excuse for not sharing the wonderful handmade gifts bestowed upon me and the bean a couple of weeks ago at our baby shower. The shower was a beautiful affair, held in a Manhattan garden of a good friend, the cupcakes were delish, sandwiches tasty, sangria plentiful (lemonade with mint for me) and company delightful. I have no pictures of the event, although Virginia has some, less-than-flattering pics of me opening gifts (I think I need to work on my "ahhh that's cute" face). Nevertheless, I was thrilled with all the amazing and adorable gifts, the spider blanket, which is amazing! I can't imagine the behind-the-scenes knitting and passing around that went on - but I have to say a big and public THANK YOU to all the spiders that worked so hard on the beautiful blanket, I'm so lucky to know such a wonderful group of knitting pals.

And here's a flickr montage of the handmade goodies from the spiders (click on the image to get more info from flickr).

No, not baby stuff - this time.

I've been busy finishing stuff and making bags for the shop before I pop - I reckon it's my version of nesting. I'm now at the stage where I can say, "anytime now" from now for up to the next 6 weeks, yup I'm at that 36 week mark today - YIKES!

But I didn't decide to randomly post to talk about baby stuff... this time. I just want to let you know about Earthchicks amazing raffle. The prizes are fantastic (and I'm not just saying that cos one of them includes one of my cubes), and the story behind it all is incredibly touching. A $5 donation gives you a chance to win some phenomenal prizes - hands off the fabric though, it has my name written all over it ;)

Stay tuned, I do have some yummy handmade goodies to share with you, when I have the energy to write a proper post. So what are you waiting for? Go over and donate, donate, donate!

Cuteness, and a Thank You

I hope everyone has been enjoying their weekends - for many of you this is a long weekend, and I hope you're loving that as much as I am. I've been pretty busy since I last posted, almost all of it surrounds the impending arrival of the bean, which I'm pleasantly surprised at how excited I am about it all. First of all, my weekend began wonderfully with an unexpected package in the mail from Oiyi.

How can anyone resist a fabric book on Care Bears? Oiyi, you blow my mind, I'm always inspired by the crafting and cooking that you do, despite the adorable new distraction addition to your family. Thank you so much for finding the time to make this book for the bean, who will adore it.

Next up, the nursery has evolved into an actual *gasp* nursery. We had a lot of difficulty picking the paint colour, well, until we had the curtain fabric picked out that is - then it was a cinch.


That Echino fabric is fabulous isn't it? So cute with the little dragonflies and spiders.


Mr B has been busy drawing some classic Pooh for the walls, all the pictures are great, but my fave is of Pooh climbing the tree.


I've still been knitting, although it's mostly been train knitting recently, but that hasn't mean that there's been zero productivity. First up, I made some cute socks (if they look familiar, that's because they are).


And, last weekend I managed to finish this adorable seamless kimono -deets (as usual) are on ravelry.


Some people have noted that I haven't updated the shop in over a month, I used to find this situation stressful, but I just can't let it get to me anymore - sorry to anyone who's been patiently waiting for some more fabrics. I'm really hoping to make a few more bags before I pop, but I'm going to have to see if I can enlist the help of Mr B, since the cutting of fabric needs to be done on the floor - we have no other surface that is big enough.

Meet Elijah (too)

Ever since I finished the first Elijah for one of our newest spider mites, Mr B was pretty certain that we needed an Elijah for himself our growing bean. I have to admit that knitting this a second time was not twice the fun, far from it. I didn't really enjoy stuffing as I go since that took away the portability of this adorable project.

Mr B. chose the yarn (Lion-brand cotton-ease) and color from a limited selection of baby friendly yarn in the stash. I think he chose well, and I have to admit that I think he's adorable. More info on this Elijah can be found on ravelry.



Sad thing is that I would love to Sophie, but I'm not sure I have the mojo, I will continue with the sweaters and socks for now.

baby, baby, baby

If you don't care for baby items, I recommend skipping this post all together, cos that's all I've got for ya! Apparently I'm in the middle of a baby boom and a ton of friends are going forth and multiplying, myself included :) So I've been knitting, a lot of baby stuff, and it's time to share some of that stuff with you.

First up a little hat and pair of socks for Sharon's newest addition:

Next we have the Baby Surprise Jacket for Kaitlyn's little Cassie:



Aren't those colors so cute together? Who can resist a little brown and pink? Here's something else in a similar color scheme. My coworker, also with child, left to live in Chicago for a few years, naturally she needed a cute ribbed baby sweater for her little one due in October - a sign of my appreciation for her putting up with my daily witterings.



With all this knitting for other people's baby's, I certainly haven't forgotten my own! Last weekend I made 8 burp cloths for the bean (well, I guess more for us). I got the fabric for a bargain from Intercourse, PA (tee hee). I really enjoyed making something really quick and simple, the cloths took no more than a couple of hours to put together - pattern is free from a website called "New Conceptions".



And today I finished the February Sweater (which I mistakenly called the BSJ in my last post - yikes! talk about baby brain).



Not only did I have enough yarn (one skein of STR in Amber) to make the sweater, but also enough to make the matching hat! How cute is that?



Best thing is that I think it will fit....



There are approximately 10 weeks to go before chaos reigns over the Schrodinger household (depending on what the bean decides, of course). I have far too many ideas of what I want to knit, but hoping to at least finish the couple of projects I have on the needles - good knitting and cooling vibes will be appreciated :)

Still ticking away

So it's been a while, with many of lifes distractions keeping me away from the blog. All good stuff though, and the good news is that I get to have a few things to show you. First up, some WIPS.

I started the baby surprise jacket oops, February Baby Sweater [ravelry link] for the bean just before we went away on our babymoon. Yes, it was wonderful, we went to Lancaster, PA - Amish Country, and I strongly recommend the B&B we stayed at for the wonderful hosts and the delicious 3 course breakfasts. Here's a shot of it in progress while away, more is knit now, but I'll save further progress shots until it's finished.

It's being knit with Socks that Rock in Amber - I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the one skein will do it...

The sunset blanket is coming along. I have over 20 squares crocheted so far, I've blocked about half of them. The seaming won't be fun, but I can already tell that the end result will be worth it.


I managed to finish some stuff too though, first up is a gift for Amanda and her little one:


These better-than-booties socks [rav again] needed a matching hat, so I made this one up as I went along, I have no idea how I did it, and I'm just hoping that the little thing fits.

The biggest accomplishment this month is the quilt. Yes! I had a goal of making a quilt for the bean, and I DID IT! And I have to admit that I'm really happy with it.



It took some debate, but I finally decided on an orange binding for the edging, with a decorative stitch in yellow, pretty huh?



On the baby front, everything continues to go very well. I feel, surprisingly, healthy and happy - albeit a little tired - and we are told that all is developing well. Mr B and I have been doing some of the usual nesting stuff (decorating, buying and putting together furniture). I have a ton of projects in my head that I want to get done, but I'm being realistic and recognizing my time and energy limitations, one step at a time.