Baby Abigail is here!

Abigail Zen Yee was born September 14.  She may have been early (10 days early!), but she weighed in at a fully-finished 8 lbs 4 oz.

My blog posts may decline in frequency over the next few weeks.  Apparently babies are a lot of work.  Who knew.  ;)

Her middle name, Zen Yee, is pronounced "seen yee" and means "beautiful and happy".  She is both!!  I feel overwhelmingly blessed and just thank God for her!

37 weeks and insomnia

"Oh, that's just your body getting ready for the sleepless nights ahead."

I don't get it.  Wouldn't getting ready for no sleep involve sleeping MORE so you are well rested?  I guess I understand the theory.  You have to build up a tolerance to sleep deprivation.  I just wish it didn't come at the cost of my sanity.  I just bit poor H's head off earlier.  He wanted to know if I wanted steak for dinner tomorrow.  Well...how am I supposed to know if I want steak for dinner??  It's not tomorrow yet.  I don't know how I'll feel tomorrow.  He was being so kind, too.  Offering to cook dinner so I don't have to. 

Pretty sure the heartburn will kill me if the insomnia doesn't.  I wonder if it's possible to overdose on Tums?

In knitting news, I'm kinda feeling down and having a slightly less than awesome week.  My book proposal was rejected.  But alas, I will not take no for an answer!!!  I will work on it some more, flesh out a few more details, write a few more patterns, explain the proposal better and resubmit.  New deadline is December 1st.  Maybe January 1st.  We'll have to see how life works.

In the meantime, it could be a blessing in disguise.  I have to get the last of my patterns done for Little Seasonals.  They are done, but the samples need to be finished.  I also need to finish my sample for the Gentleman's Argyle Vest I started much earlier this year.  Again, the pattern is done, but the sample is not.  I might hand off the yarn and pattern and 1/4-done sample to a friend to help me finish it.  I have discovered I do not like intarsia at ALL!  It's so pretty when done, but I do not like the process.  I like fair isle.  I do not like intarsia.  Cables and intarsia together are beautifully complicated.  Cables and intarsia with pregnant-brain are a mind-breaking combination.  Cables and intarsia combined with pregnant-brain and sleep-deprivation is a recipe for disaster...or possibly the looney bin.  But I have got to get this done.  It has taken me much too long!

Sadly, I suspect I don't have enough yarn for the entire project.  I hope I am wrong.

I wonder if I'll manage to finish my nephew's sweater before Christmas?  Or my mother's sweater?  Those are the only two personal projects on the go right now.  I want to knit.  I want to sleep more!

Moaning, groaning, and general whinging

I like the word whinging better than whining.  I don't know if there is really a difference.  But I will freely admit doing both. This post will have very little to do with knitting, and I apologize for that.  I'll get back onto knitting topics soon.

First and foremost, I'm annoyed with my manicure and pedicure.  The pedicure smudged overnight, in spite of having had over 5 hours to dry between the time I got home and the time I went to bed.  That annoyed me a LOT.  I don't have any more pedicure coupons, so I'll have to find a friend to help me paint my toes some time in September.  Or I might just spring for a full price pedi.  :P  Call me vain, but I want pretty toes when everyone is standing by my lower half staring into my nether regions. Also, the shellac coating on my manicure?  Complete waste of money.  Started chipping on Saturday.  3 weeks?  Very funny!  3 days, maybe.  Didn't last any longer than a normal manicure.  Won't be doing that again.

It is general knowledge that the latter weeks of pregnancy are awkward and uncomfortable.  But no one really can put that into words.  Still, I'll try.  You know how you feel when you overstretch a muscle in the wrong direction?  When the muscle could possible still go, but you run out of skin to let it stretch further?  That's kind of how my stomach feels when Mouselette pushes her feet hard against my stomach.  And you know how you feel when someone sneaks up behind you and pokes you in the ribs?  That's definitely how it feels when Mouselette kicks me in the ribs.  Which she does often.  Especially when I am lying down.  It has caused me to jump on more that one occasion.  Sometimes, when she runs her foot along the side of my ribs, it tickles.  I'm extremely ticklish, and since she is most active around 1am-3am, I will admit to having woken up giggling from her ticklish antics.

Ps, that picture to the left?  That's Mouselette!  I looked and saw that I hadn't posted it yet.  This was taken several weeks ago.  It was the best money I've ever spent!  The opportunity to see her tiny face and perfect features was utterly priceless.  She looks like her daddy!  Of course, she can't help looking like her daddy.  I knew back in May that she would.  Her side profile was just H all over.  And that was in a black and white generic 2D scan.  But the lips?  I'm proud to say, that is my mouth!  Which may or may not be a good thing, since while I have a very pretty mouth, it is known to spout off without thinking on many an occasion. ;)

Tomorrow marks 8 months.  Tomorrow I will have precisely one month remaining...possibly less.  Maybe more.  More likely less than more.  I know it's wrong to expect this, since it sets up for potential disappointment, but I fully expect her to make an early debut.  My money is sometime between September 14-20.  I actually have appointments with the midwife on the 13th and 20th.  I have all my appointments booked between now and Mouselette's official due date at the full 40 weeks.  But since neither H nor I made it all the way to 40 weeks, I really expect Mouselette to follow suit.

H and I are physically ready for her.  We have the essentials.  We have a crib and change table (though not a mattress).  We have a bassinet and gliding rocking chair.  We have clothes.  We have at least some diapers (both cloth and disposable), and plenty of wipes.  My hospital bag is packed and ready to go.

What I don't have yet is this:
http://cascadeyarns.blogspot.com/2011/02/60-quick-baby-knits-preview-sheep-hat.html
I need to knit this hat.  It's the most adorable thing I've ever seen!!!

So in spite of having X million projects to complete and being quite over my head in deadlines and obligations, I think I'll go stash diving tomorrow to see if I can dig up the necessary wool to knit this...or something like it.  I don't really have the pattern, but I'm fairly certain I can wing it.  ;)

Busy days, busy months

I expect it will get busier as time goes on.

I've got roughly 5 weeks remaining in this pregnancy.  Little one has started to "engage", meaning she is facing properly down and her head is moving into my pelvis.  It hasn't quite locked into position yet, but she should be locked in place within the next week or so.  If you're curious, the answer is Yes.  It is every bit as uncomfortable as it sounds.

On the upside, I managed to get out for a lovely manicure and pedicure yesterday.  My feet desperately needed some love, as they are all dry and crackly and swollen and I haven't been able to reach to clip my toenails for a few weeks.  The foot massage did lovely things for the swelling in my ankles.  The manicure was really nice.  I decided to spring for a shellac coating on my nails, which should keep the polish from chipping and my nails from peeling for a few weeks.  Since my nails are prone to peeling, I considered it to be a good investment.

In other, absolutely non-pregnant related news, I've been busy doing many other things.

First, I got my proof back from Interweave for the pattern I submitted a few months ago.  They included a page of photographs.  I don't know if I am allowed to post them yet, since the publication isn't due out until November.  The pictures looked very professional.  Of course, that is to be expected, since it is a professional magazine.  Still, to see something you designed arranged in such a professional layout is quite thrilling.  It's a fairly significant milestone for me.  I feel like I am properly part of the design world.  My designs have left the electronic world and entered the world of paper and ink, settling themselves on the shelves of bookstores.  It's hard to describe how that feels.  Mostly, it feels amazing!

I have been working away at my book proposal and am just about to send it off.  This is a very exciting prospect for me.  I understand that it may not be accepted right away.  I have made peace with this understanding.  Still, I have a new confidence that I did not have before.

And finally, because I have been working so hard at this other project, I am excited to announce the release of Little Seasonals Autumn.

It took me some time to figure it out, but I've got a working design for the Winter edition.  The first pattern is written (albeit not proofed or tested yet).  The second is sketched.  They are going to be amazing, and I cannot wait to get them out.

This afternoon, I think I need to devote some time to a gentlemen's pattern that I started in January.  KnitPicks has been very patient waiting for their sample and I just need to get on and finish it.  Hopefully, if I work hard, I can get the sample done before the baby comes.

Wish me luck.

Summer

I have a definite tendency to post less during the summer.  Summer is hot, and I dislike hot weather.  I'm a maritime girl at heart and enjoy a cool ocean breeze more than anything.  Yesterday it was so intensely hot that I did not really accomplish much in the way of knitting or spinning.  I got a bit done, but really not much.

I have about 1/2oz left to spin on my braid of alpaca/merino.  It's turning out lovely.  I should be able to ply it this afternoon.  The colour repeats are nice and long, so I will be navajo plying to keep the colour repeats the same in the yarn as they are on the roving. 

I've also been doing a lot of dying just lately, and drying out my lavender in batches.  I think I need to bag up the current lavender that finished drying a few days ago.  It started flaking into the dyepot yesterday, since I do both tasks in the laundry room where they won't be in anyone's way.

I will need to cut some more lavender from the garden, but that involves going outside.  I have to admit, I have very little interest in going outside right now unless it is absolutely strictly necessary.  It's not as bad as yesterday, but it is still quite hot out there.

I'm worried about tomorrow.  H booked what should be a fun (for him) time at a professional enclosed driving track.  I do not know if there is shade or shelter while he drives.  I sincerely hope there is.  I dehydrate quickly these days.  He's promised me plenty of popsicles and slushies if the shade is insufficient, and I will be wearing a big floppy hat and lots of sunscreen.  I just don't know if that will be enough to keep me from swelling like a balloon.  Staying home isn't an option, because we're going out for lunch after.  Wouldn't want to miss that.  ;)

A random, utterly non-knitting thread

It's 5:30pm and I need to make dinner.  The problem is, I don't know what to make for dinner.  I never know what to make for dinner anymore because we never have anything dinnerish that I want to eat in the house.

I feel like making roasted potatoes.  But we are all out of potatoes.  Then I thought a wrap would be nice, since we have some leftover lettuce.  But we have no wraps.  Burgers would be great, but we have no buns.  Hotdogs would be okay, but we have no buns.

I want roasted potatoes so bad that my nose is imagining it can smell them.  But we are completely out of potatoes.  Completely out.

I don't feel like making chicken, since I really don't like chicken at the moment (and have not liked it much since January).  We have no french fries.  I've made pasta the last 3 meals In A Row!!  So I am refusing to make pasta tonight on principle.  Although, I could make a lasagna and I don't think that would necessarily count as pasta.  But lasagna is never really good without garlic bread, and I have no bread in the house.

I could do soup, but H and I don't like the same kinds of soup and I don't feel like making two different meals.  I could do pizza, but the last time I ate pizza I ended up with a gallstone attack that lasted nearly 3 hours in spite of taking my medication promptly.

So here I am at 5:30pm trying to come up with an idea for dinner and failing.  Mostly, I think, because I really want roasted potatoes.  But we have no potatoes.

More on Needlebinding

I've been practicing my nalbinding a bit more.  I took it with me to the clinic this morning when I went to get my bloodwork done.  Naturally, it attracted a bit more attention than, say, knitting might.  I was quite surprised that it attracted more attention than even spinning usually does.  

So what is this "new" art form?  Here's a great introductory video from youtube.  Follow the link to watch part 2, as well.