I finished my cowl a few weeks ago and have been working on an Ulmus shawl.  I love knitting triangles, and am really enjoying working on it.  It’s slow going, mostly because I don’t have very much time to knit, but slow and steady wins the race…..right?  It’s a great pattern.  The stitch pattern is really easy.  I did take a break from it last night though.  I knit a slug!

He was so much fun to knit.  Okay…he was actually supposed to be a snail, but I was really tired and I was hurrying to finish him before I had to go to bed, and I completely goofed the shell.  I know exactly what I did wrong, and I’m planning to start a snail as soon as I get done typing this.  It turned out for the best anyway.  I think he looks great as a slug.  The shell would have hidden his lovely stripes.  Sorry if he looks a bit fuzzy in the picture.  These were taken very quickly (it was raining) with my iPhone.

Speaking of rain, it’s been raining for 2 weeks now.  I am so tired of it.

Time to go knit a snail.

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.

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.

I can’t believe next week is Christmas.  The weeks keep flying by, and I have absolutely nothing to show for it, except an ever expanding belly.  Seriously, I’m getting huge.  This weekend we are planning on taking belly shots, and if we get some decent ones, maybe I will share.  I seem to be developing a mean case of nesting along with some knitting startitis.  I have big cleaning plans for next week when I’m off work for the holidays.  I’m still working on my Bayerische Socks and I’ve started a Cleopatra Wrap but I’m kind of aching for something small, quick, and completely satisfying.  Maybe another Stacked Eyelet Cowl is in order since I practically live in my first one.  Oh, look at this Central Park Hoodie.  It’s gorgeous, it almost makes me want to knit a sweater (by the way, I’m not that huge….yet).  I have problems with sweaters.  I don’t have the attention span to finish one, and if I do manage to finish one, I decide for one reason or another that I absolutely hate it and can never wear it.  I dunno, I’m weird.  I think I must be a process knitter.  I don’t actually end up wearing a whole lot of what I knit, with the exception of my cowl and mitts.

Anyway, that’s about it.  I’m going to go pee for what must be the billionth time today and then work on my Cleo wrap.