Oh yes….I finally started knitting again!  After about an 8 month hiatus (8 months of artsy fartsy angst), this is the first real productive knitting I have done since before Jacob was born.  I decided to start out practical and ignore the desire to knit a gorgeous lace triangular shawl.  So, I’m knitting another Stacked Eyelet Cowl.  My first one is one of my very favorite knitted items.  It got more wear than anything else last winter.  No matter how much I enjoy knitting fancy lace scarves and shawls, the only things that get any real wear are my fingerless gloves and my cowl.  A cowl is just so much more practical than trying to wrap a scarf or shawl around your neck and keep it there.  These days most of my knitting is done at night by a booklight while I lay in bed with Jacob.  He sleeps with us and refuses to sleep unless I am laying next to him.  Its fine with me.  I either read or knit, and it gives me a couple of hours of me time.

On the baby front, we cut two teeth last week and started eating sweet potatoes.  Yes….two teeth in one week.  Ouch.  Thankfully he’s started sleeping better.  He hasn’t been sleeping well for a couple of months now, and it must have been the teething.  They (the elusive they) say that teething symptoms can start 2 months before the teeth cut through and I think we were definitely seeing some of that.  Also we bumped his bedtime up by a lot.  He used to sleep in his swing in the evenings until I went to bed.  The older he’s gotten, the less he wanted to do that.  One day it hit us that, omg he isn’t going to sleep until I go to bed!  So now, we get in bed early and he falls right asleep.  It’s made for a much happier baby.

Thank God for camera phones.  Who has time to download pictures off a camera?!

That’s about all the time I have.  Another poopie diaper calls my name.  Seriously, I guess sweet potatoes = mega poops.

I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I decided that I don’t mind if my son’s real name is out there in blogland.  Without further adieu….

Jacob Daniel Berry
Born February 3, 2009 (3.5 weeks early)
7 lbs 7 oz
19 1/4″ long

I love him so much!

Pretty much everything has been on hold since he was born.  I haven’t been knitting anything, and I never even got a chance to set up my silversmithing stuff.  That’s okay though,  I’m guessing that an oxy/acetylene torch + sleep deprivation + distraction  = bad anyways.  I have been reading though, and amassing quite a collection of cabochons for when I do start with my silversmithing.  In the process, I have rediscovered a long lost love for stone and am thinking about trying to cut my own cabs!  But, wet saw + sleep deprivation + distraction = bad too, so that will have to wait as well.  Honestly, I don’t think I need hobbies anyway…staring at Jacob is enough for me.  Speaking of….its time to feed him.

Here’s a few pictures I took with my phone. I still have billions on my camera, but still haven’t downloaded them.

Right after birth (but all cleaned up and in the nursery):

Cute faces

With Daddy

Enjoy!

I have lots of stuff going on lately.  I will start with the baby stuff.

First off, I am huge.  I think I’m starting to get my own gravitational pull, seriously.  We are working hard to get our house baby ready.  We have the bed ready and a swing.  We also have a bunch of clothes, but I still need to wash them.  That’s on my list for tomorrow (assuming I don’t get consumed by my regular laundry duty).  My baby shower is going to be on the 24th, and I should get lots of neato stuff then too.  I went to the doctor last Tuesday and had an ultrasound.  Everything seems to be going great.  He’s already turned and has his head pointed straight down and already on my cervix.  (Sorry if this is TMI)  The doctor checked, and my cervix is “closed tight” (her words exactly), so there isn’t anything to worry about.  He’s just getting ready.  She does believe (and I agree) that I will probably end up having him a little bit early.  Early as in 37 – 38 weeks instead of 40.  She also believes that this could cause me to have an easier labor (hey…that rocks).  But, she said she could be wrong.  Bottom line, he’ll be here when he’s good and ready.  We’re going to plan and prepare like he will be here sooner rather than later though.  Oh, and we have a name, but I haven’t decided on what to call him for blogging purposes yet.

I’ve been knitting.  I finished my Sweet Baby Cap, and it is so cute.  I’m going to have to make another one soon (hopefully before the baby gets here).  I started another pair of Charade socks and I’m already past the heel on the first one.  And of course I’m still working on the Cleopatra Wrap and Bayerische Socks.  I don’t have any new pictures though because I’m lazy and haven’t downloaded them from the camera.

I have exciting artsy fartsy news.  I’m going to teach myself silversmithing!  I just ordered two books on the subject, and I plan to begin collecting supplies (ie stones!).  I plan on doing lots of reading and learning and preparing so that I can start playing sometime after the baby gets here.  This will of course take a little more planning than I did when I decided to teach myself to knit.  I can’t just go out one day and buy a book, yarn, and some needles.  This will require an actual set up, a work bench and lots of tools.  Which means Mike and I will need to figure out where I can do this.  Even though it’s more of a long term project, I’m still super excited.

Anyway, I think that’s about it.  Sorry it’s been so long since I posted.  I’ve had a lot going on.

What is madness? This is:

As a newbie to cables, this pattern has been a little bit of a challenge. Its not really that hard, but it is time consuming. In fact, at this rate, I’m quite certain that I will be working on these for the rest of my life. They are gorgeous though.

The baby surprise jacket is coming along great.

I’ve made it through all the decreases and I’m about to start on the increases. I love the way the yarn looks in this pattern.

Mason is doing good. Mason is the previously un-named kitten. He has come out of his shell so much just in the 3 weeks we’ve had him. He now runs all over the house, causing all sorts of mayhem along the way. When he isn’t running around the house and creating chaos, he’s a real bed bug. I’ve really enjoyed watching his development, he gets stronger and bigger everyday. Like all little boys, he desperately wants to play with the big kids, in this case, the big kids being our other cats. He chases them all over the house. They are warming up to him. Like all big sisters, they play with their annoying little brother, but the moment you catch them doing it, they stop and are suddenly to cool to play with him. We haven’t caught them snuggling yet, but I’m pretty sure it won’t be long.

Everything is going great with the baby. Just like Mason, he’s growing bigger and stronger everyday. He kicks and squirms a lot, so I think he’s going to be just like his daddy. Mike is always moving, in fact, I think it’s physically impossible for him to sit still.

I ordered a couple of new orchids. Its been forever since I’ve bought new orchids, mostly because I have no space, but I’ve wanted these two for a while. They don’t have flowers on them, so I will link you to other pictures of what they will look like.
Dracula lotax
Masdevallia infracta purple
I’m fairly certain that the Dracula has two flower spikes on it. They are absolutely tiny too. I knew it was a miniature species, but these are really tiny spikes. I didn’t notice them when I first unpacked them. Hopefully all will go well, and I will get to see flowers on it soon. It looks like the Masdevallia has recently bloomed, which is about right because it has a Spring to Summer blooming season, so it will probably be a year before I get to see that one bloom. But that’s just part of growing orchids.