FO Parade

Gosh, I wouldn't have guessed that being pregnant could mess up my social (and digital) life so much... I haven't been to the Stich 'n Bitch-group in about a month. My pregnancy yoga is also on tuesday nights and combining it seems harder than I thought. Also when your FIL has a birthday and one of your favorite artists is finally playing in town again... well, let's just say that I feel like a half knit sweater, not really complete and not really 'not there'.

The artist I'm talking about is Andrew Bird, I really really love his work, totally original and beautiful. I promised myself I'd go, I've been living a less rock and roll lifestyle than I'm used to and haven't really been missing it, but there's been a few shows that I just couldn't get myself to go to on the night itself, simply because a lack of energy.

I have to face it, I'm really preggy, It turned out to be a too long period to stand so I didn't make it trough the whole concert and my hips and back have been hurting ever since, but it was so good and I got the new CD to listen too at home. And to know that those tunes are amongst the first things my baby hears is very cool, it's a good start.

I'll get to the knitting soon, let me just get this of my chest, it may look like I'm complaining, but I'm not, I've never been happier and when today we saw the little sprout on the scan (ultrasound), bouncing around like a rubber ball, sucking his/her hand and yawning and when we heard that everything looked fine and healthy, who cares about anything else? Anything at all. So... knitting...

Well, I won't disappoint you, although I haven't been blogging or seeing my S'nB buddies much, I really have been knitting. I've been really productive I might add. So here it is, the FO Parade, the update of what I've been upto.

Of course there's Tempting II, I've finished this baby a while ago but didn't find the time to post. The neckline was about as easy as learning to speak Chinese (I imagine) and about as fun as waiting in line at the post office while sweaty and loud people surround you (no fun...). I followed the pattern and after about 2 creative solutions, or more like -attempts-, my head bulb lighted up and I checked for errata online. Turns out this baby has a neckline problem. Who knew... I couldn't find any solutions though and so I K2TOG and K-ed en P-ed with all the creativeness I could harvest and it worked. Well, it worked partly, I really wanted a low neckline (to show off my cleavage 'show 'em if you've got 'em') but it turned out too high. By this point I was so frustrated with it that I left it like that.

Oh I need to remind you, I knit Tempting I in a cotton that was so droopy that even if I was pregnant of quadruplets it would still be too big. This time I made a wiser choice and went with Phildar's Legende, a tweed/alpaca mix. It was great, maybe a wee bit scratchy but overall a good choice. I knit a swatch and knit it just a little too small since it's a stretchy design and the pattern warned me about it. And still... too big... it's starting to become a serious problem, I'm knitting everything too big and I can't figure out what goes wrong. So now, to end all the drama, I've decided to clear away from big projects for now and stick with smaller patters or projects that may vary in size like bags and blankets. There's noting as frustrating as trying on a piece that you've been working at for months (that lóóked ok) that's too big (agaín...).

Luckily baby's are small.
This is me with my 21 week big belly, the fact that the sweater's too big has it upsides too, I'll be able to wear it while carrying Sprout.

Onto the next FO. These are the socks that I've knit from the Magic Ball Swap. The pattern came with it They were my first socks that weren't your basic K/P socks and I needed to adjust the pattern. That wasn't easy, but with help (thank you Constance and Ajour) I figured a lot of stuff out while learning about sock logic in general. I'm really happy with the result and I only wear them at special occasions. Read: when I can brag with them... More socks, but smaller. These are from the latest Phildar baby catalogue. I've knit them for my colleague Anne. She's expecting a baby one week later than I am. I used Phildar Bamboo, great stuff to touch, not so great to knit with because of all the different threads. But then again, great looking when finished! And yes, yes, yes, finally I finished the lace scarf that has been eating dust and growing live things in a corner for the last months. I don't know what came over me, I just had had enough, it had to get finished. I'm wearing it with pride while ignoring the obvious mistake in row 10...
And here's a quickie I did last weekend for my MIL. It started out as a cushion but because of the lack of yarn turned quickly into a handbag. I knit it with a cheap acrylic yarn (don't tell anyone) on 10mm needles and it took me about a day. It's my own design, brutally stolen from the beret from the winter issue of Interweave Knits (the beret that turned out way too big as well...) and very simple I'll write out the pattern for a following post.

And onto the baby-stuff. Here's one other bamboo sock from the Phildar catalogue and a vintage soaker (don't know the real word). Very rewarding projects, each done in a night.

And? Productive or what? Right now I'm working on a stole that might work as a baby blanket too, it's my own design and made with yarn my SIL gave me last weekend; a pink, fluffy kid mohair/wool-mix. I'm working on some ideas for embroidery with little pearls to jazz it up.

And there's the baby blanket from Handknits for Kids that I'm still working on and looks like I will be for the next 5 years... it's fun to knit but I have to be able to concentrate and that's where the problem lies...

Half Sock Syndrome

As a knitter you've probably heard of Second Sock Syndrome. If you're not a knitter; it's the weird but very much real syndrome of finishing one sock but then never getting round to do the next one which for knitters is frustrating as F%*# since, well you want to wear them to show them off, but you're bored with the knitting because you've done it all before. 'Been there, Knit that...' It's actually a very arrogant syndrome, come to think of it...

Well, I have discovered a new syndrome, my name will be in all the knitting lexicons, I'll go into history as the inventor of ...

HALF SOCK SYNDROME

Yup, I'm not kidding you, it's a re-occurring thing, it's haunting me I tell ya. I can't seem to finish a sock. Not even one, let alone move on to the next.

I've had 4 half socks on the needles until today. Because today I got a little antidote consisting of sun and a cozy roof terrace so I actually finished one! Yay!!

Next up: choose:
1. finish the second sock to make a pair
2. finish one of the other half socks

I'm guessing it'll be 1.

The finished sock is actually the first sock;
- I've made for myself
- that's knitted with small needles
- that has more to it than y'r basic sock (oh no, not true, you can see half of a 'one-toe-sock' on the picture, that wasn't even clóse to basic...)
- that's knitted from the fab yarn from my magic ball

So, even though it's just the one, I'm proud! And here it is again, in a show off match with one of my new Birkenstock slippers.

I'll probably won't wear the socks for a while, the weather is great and it looks like it will stay like this for a while. I think they're so pretty, I'll think save them for giving birth. My pregnancy-yoga teacher taught me that cold feet are a bad thing when it comes to relaxation. So there, my delivery socks! (try not to picture me giving birth to a bayby, wearing the socks... I don't want to do that to you!)

Meanwhile, the first socks I've ever knitted are now officially ragged. Boyfriend Dear used them as slippers for about a year. I'm thinking should I learn how to mend the hole or just make sure the hole doesn't get any bigger and find some soles to stick 'em to? (I'm not ready to say goodbye...) (bad picture of the hole, it just hurts too much to focus on it...)

the last to gifts to come out of the magic ball; great tea and lovely hand cream (and NO, it won't get you stoned...neither the tea nor the cream) Thanks again Magic Pall, I promise I'll knit the second sock!!

In between sock adventures I'm knitting my first baby item, a blanket from Lucinda Guy's Book, Handknits for Kids. It's a fun knit but it'll take me ages to finish, probably just in time before my third baby will be born...

Still here! *waving*!

Hi there! First of all, thank you for all the warm congratulations! *big smile* it's so great to know such warm people from all over the world! Thank you!

It's been quet here at 'SAS Knits It Again', I'm still here though but really frustrated because I have tons to show you, but left my camera at my in laws at Easter. :-(
To get you in the mood; I have two FO's, progress on my Magic Ball socks, progress on a baby blanket (that I hope to finish before my third child is born.... this is my first...) and great goodies that were delivered yesterday!

I have to say that being pregnant takes up a lot of spare time. (as if I couldn't guess that beforehand...) I rest, I knit, I prepare. When I say prepare, I don't mean painting the baby's room, we're definitely not there yet. But there's loads to do when you have limited space and loads of stuff... Do you know these small plastic puzzles made up of small squares? There's one square missing and you're supposed to push the other squares around until you complete the picture. Well, that's what we're doing to our house. We buy a new closet to store stuff from an old one that has to go, then one closet is moving from this space to the next, another one is staying in the room it's in but moving place. Another one needs a makeover and will move to the baby's room. The old stuff in the baby's room has gone to the city dump to make room for the other moving closets. The basement has to be cleared out to make room and we've even bought some storage boxes to put on our roof terrace. We have a list of second hand stuff that we'll get from friends and family for the baby and now I'm working out how to tie it all together in a great, fun, warm baby environment and I'm having loads of fun doing that.

So for now, I'll leave you with only words and as soon as I get my camera, I promise to show you some really cool stuff!

Later!

There's Magic in the Air

This Thursday I was at home, not my usual thing, but they were going to deliver our new bookcase and I needed some focusing time to write a marketing plan, so... 1+1= working at home.

What fabulous timing indeed! The bell rang, and it wasn't the bookcase, that came later, it was the postman and he handed over a big white bulky envelope. My heart jumped; it couldn't be, so soon...

Yes, it was! My Magic Ball had arrived!

I few weeks ago I signed up for the second Magic Ball Swap that my knitting friends Storm Op Zolder and Knitting Ajour host. It's like Christmas, your birthday and Sinterklaas (Dutch holiday) all into one. You fill in a form that asks you about you, your knitting habits and some other favorite stuff. You upload the form and wait. The host will then do a big mix-em-up-dance-of-sorts and then sends you a the name of the person that's linked to you. You then make a Magic Ball for this person. Some other person will do the same for you. The good things are so simple...

The Magic Ball itself is a bomb of pleasure, you wrap chosen yarn around all sorts of (knitting related) small gifts, add a pattern and send the ball on it's way.

The receiver then knits the pattern (or another one) and while knitting away discovers the presents one by one.

How good can life get? I ask you! There's a little baby in my belly, our new bookcase -which is the start of the whole switcheroo we need to do to make space for the Wee One- has arrived ánd I have a Magic Ball! *happy dance*

a first peek inside...
goody, goody, it's Blue Faced Leicester Sock yarn from The Natural Dye Studio in a sweet and lovely purple/lavender/pink colorway! Also a very pretty dragonfly stitch marker attached to the yarn and two patterns to choose from. *happy dance continues*
Here we go!
I decided on the pattern for cabled socks using the Magic Loop Method. With my trusted Knittinghelp.com to guide me through this new endeavour.

liquorice, jum!

I couldn't resist the puppy dog eyes Boyfriend Dear gave me, so I gave him one. Ok... I took one too. Ok... maybe two...

And ehm... well, I switched to dpns, the Magic Loop thing, wasn't really my thing...

Another present!! Small rubber bands, great, they're perfect for stitch marking!

Aaah, so cute! A small sock.

The loot so far. The sock is actually a pin. It's just flew onto my jacket.

They're good friends now. And the candy... well, let's say it's in a better place...

What's that a-peepin'?
MORE CANDY!! My favorite and I didn't even mention them on the list. Lucky me!

Explanation of the wound ball:

Well, I started knitting the cabled socks and I knitted them as ankle socks in a girl size, just to be sure I had enough yarn to finish the project. But as soon as I found out there were actually two skeins instead of one, I just took a deep breath and frogged the small sock. If there's enough yarn, I'd love to knit some socks for myself. It wás a gift for me right?

To be able to start over I had to wind the first skein into a ball. It may look like cheating, but technically it really isn't. Of course I am totally cheating now by starting on the second skein just to be able to find the other presents sooner... Ha!

SECRET PALL, THANK YOU! I'm loving every single part of all the magic!

Who's the Happiest Knitter in the World?

I have some great news!

I'm the happiest knitter in the world!!

:-))