Ultrasound Pics!

I had another round with the ultrasound people today - one of the joys of being of 'advanced maternal age.' No matter - I won't take offense - the tech looked at her chart 2 times because she didn't believe I was 37 years old.

I have pictures - and good news!

First, a nice profile shot of Sprog:



The tech was teaching a student how to use the ultrasound machine, so we got to see what all sorts of buttons did when you pushed them - but I was taken by surprise when they hit one button and the view changed to this:



You can see the side of Sprog's face and Sprog's arm! I've never had a 4D ultrasound before and I was fascinated! It looked more realistic on the screen because it is in all sepia tones.

And now for the good news - I no longer have placenta previa! The placenta has to be at least 2cm off the cervix for placenta previa to be resolved - and the placenta was 3cm off for me. And also, the last time we were there Sprog had some choroid plexus cysts, which in certain situations can be a soft marker for Trisomy 18 - but the cysts were completely gone as well. All in all, it was a great appointment - and, because I am of 'advanced maternal age,' I get to go back in 4 weeks for more picture-taking!

WiP It Wednesday: Rockabilly Booties

These were certainly the quickest things I have knit in a while! I started Sunday night, and finished last night... and I didn't knit on Monday. I'm still claiming them as a WiP, however, because I still need to get some ribbon to weave in the eyelet holes. These booties are not for Sprog (our baby), but rather for a swap on Ravelry. I still don't know whether my partner is having a boy or not yet, but I sure hope she is because I keep on making boy things.

The Particulars

Pattern: Shake Your Sockies by Kathie Popadin
Needles: Size 1 Aero dpns
Yarn: Storm Moon Knits Twilight Sock in Rockabilly Blues. This was leftover yarn from when I made Amy's Christmas Socks last year. There is still plenty enough to make another pair or two of these.
Modifications: The only modification I made to the pattern was to add two more rows of ribbing before knitting the eyelet row.

This was an exceptionally easy pattern to follow - and I plan to make another pair for Sprog - I can't wait to dig through my leftover sock yarn stash! (Is it sad that my stash has its own sub-stashes?)

I Love Autumn

The temperature dropped a good 20 degrees today from yesterday, and I couldn't be happier. I know I am going to be awkward and ungainly for the next few months, but at least I can do it in relatively cool comfort. We headed to Linvilla Orchards this morning to get a pie for my father-in-law (who had requested a pecan pie), pick up some more apples and apple cider, and nosh on some apple cider donuts.

I was surprised to see that their Pumpkinland store was open - we were last at Linvilla about 3 months ago, and I don't remember the construction being terribly far along at that point. I think it is great that they have a different space for all the kitschy and seasonal decorations and items, because it leaves more space in the market for food! We weren't ready to pick up a pumpkin yet, but we did go in and have a look at all the different kinds of pumpkins available.



Bumpy pumpkins



Peanut Pumpkins



Turk Turban Pumpkins



Pumpkins with massive stems - that is Andrew's hand there, not mine - for scale, this is the difference:



I'm thinking there must be a dirty joke in there somewhere with those stems, but I can't figure out what it is! It's odd, too - so many pumpkins had super thick stems like that - it must mean something about this year's growing season.

Inside the Pumpkinland store they had an antique buggy that Willow just fell in love with:





These two little pillows were on it, but I don't think they were antiques - but looked cute nonetheless.

And the last shot - well, Willow had to feed all the chickens at the farm - they allow you to purchase corn from dispensers to feed them - really makes me wonder why these chickens aren't fatter than they are already - but I saw this funny scene of some chickens roosting in this little bush that couldn't be more than 20 inches tall:



Sometimes it's just the little things...

WiP it Thursday

Sorry - too tired for alliteration.



Yes, knitting friends, that is exactly what you think it is.

I am such a sheep.

Summer Vacation: The Quiet Days

Well, as quiet as it gets with three kids between the ages of almost 3 and 8.

Andrew keeps on asking me when I am going to continue our summer vacation travelog, but the truth of it is that not much happened the first few days we were there, and I liked it that way. We had an uneventful landing in Seattle, a long taxi ride to Pier 69. Erm, wait. No - the taxi driver misunderstood our directions and dropped us off at Pier 9, so we had to walk a few miles to check in our luggage at the Victoria Clipper at Pier 69. No matter - it was a beautiful day, and after being cooped up on an airplane for 5+ hours, it was nice to stretch our legs and walk a bit.

My parents were waiting for us in Victoria, and we got in my parents' new minivan and headed back up to Honeymoon Bay. We had wanted to stop in Victoria for some fish and chips, but all the places were crowded, so we ended up going to Willow's favourite place to eat in Canada (oh, I kid you not) - A&W. Yes, we have A&Ws in the US, but in Canada the menu is a little different. McDonald's is different, too, for that matter - you can get a grilled cheese kids meal at McDonald's in Canada. We finally arrived in Honeymoon Bay after over 18 hours of traveling, and promptly fell asleep.

My sister Jaime, and her two boys Will and Hunter, arrived the next day and Willow was so excited to see her cousins again. Will and Willow are thick as thieves - poor Hunter is not quite 3 and so was left out of most of their games. Hunter is very confused by me - Jaime and I don't have faces that look much alike, but we are roughly the same height and size, and both have curly dark hair. He would come running up to me yelling, "Mama Mama Mama!" and stop dead, looking at me sideways. We finally had to explain that Mama had blue eyes and Auntie Jo had brown eyes. If he was upset, he didn't really care - he would come up to me crying, wanting to get picked up, and then when he noticed I was not Mama he would get a little shy, but wouldn't let me go.

The funniest story came from the last day Jaime and the boys were at my parents' house. I was cutting up stuff for breakfast and gave Hunter a piece of cheese. He goes back into the living room and Jaime asks him who gave him the cheese. He said, "Mama did." Jaime says, "Oh really? Your mother gave you some cheese?" He replies, "Not you Mama." He points at me and says, "Other Mama."

Here's a pic of Hunter - he had woken up while we were driving and was very unhappy - so I snapped his picture. He immediately stopped crying and demanded to see his picture!



We had a wonderful time in Honeymoon Bay - as I mentioned earlier, a lot of relaxation. At the beginning of the week it was warm enough to swim in the lake, and I swam out to the barrier for the first time. I'm a little embarrassed to admit I had been too chicken to do that for the last 6 years, and I am a strong swimmer. We went for walks, tried to pick blackberries (although they weren't at their peak yet), and ate lots of food. Oddly enough, I didn't take many pictures this time - I think I was just enjoying being with my family too much to bother with the camera.

Last Day on the Island:



Saying goodbye to Gramma and Papa at the Victoria Clipper ferry terminal in the Inner Harbour.

I have one more post from our trip to put up - from our daytrip to Victoria - and trust me, it will be picture heavy. It was a beautiful day and I was determined to be a tourist!

Finished Object: Panda Silk Socks

Wait a second... Silk comes from pandas!?!

Just kidding! I have been on a finished object kick here. Well, also a started item kick, but that is another matter altogether. I finished my Panda silk ankle socks late last week, and finally got around to taking some pictures of them on the weekend.



I could have made the socks a little longer, but there is only 120 yards on a skein, and I was really worried about running out of yarn 10cm from the toe (yes, yes, I know - a good reason to learn how to knit socks from the toe up!)

The sock on the right was knit first, and I was really hoping that the cool diagonal striping would be reproduced on the left foot, but it didn't happen. The left foot decided to do its own funky little thing. No matter - I don't mind fraternal twin socks - especially now that the weather has finally started to cool off and I can show off my handknit socks in my Black Stallion clogs. BTW - I didn't pay that much - I got mine at at conference in June.



Don't look at my swollen ankles and feet - it's not pretty when I am pregnant.

The Particulars:

Pattern: Ann Budd's Plain socks pattern
Needles: Size 3 16" Knitpicks circulars
Yarn: Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Silk DK in Jade Tones

And a Lucky shot, just for the hell of it:

Finished Object: Brick Band Hat for a Girl

I signed up for two different swaps on Ravelry - one in the Due in January 2011 group, and the other in the Due in February 2011 group - since I am riding the cusp of both. I now know that one of my swap partners is having a little girl, so this hat will be for her.



Unlike the first Baby Brick Band hat, I think this one is going to benefit from some washing and blocking. But what do you use to block a baby hat? A balloon? A small ball? How big is a baby's head supposed to be, anyway?



Lucky kept trying to get into the picture as I was trying to snap the hat - there are a few pictures with a tail floating in the corner of the picture. So, I decided to try the hat on Lucky. He was less than amenable to the idea.



I will kill you in your sleep.

The Particulars:

Pattern: #22 Brick Band Hat from Knit Simple Holiday 2007
Yarn: Jojoland Rhythm in colourway RS74 (light mauve). The pattern called for Universal Yarns' Deluxe Chunky
Needles: Size 5 Hiya Hiya 16" bamboo circular and bamboo dpns (pattern called for size 8)
Modifications: Similarly to my first Baby Brick Band hat, I used a thinner yarn but also went down an additional needle size - 3 sizes down this time. I also knit one less repeat of the brick band pattern to make the hat a bit shorter. I didn't want a tassel on this one, either, but I did do about a half inch if i-cord just to make the top stand up a little bit.



I wear them, they are mine now.

Denied!

About a week ago, I saw this sign at Stoney's Pub - it goes up every year, but this is the first time that I have been able to take advantage of it because with Willow I was never pregnant over Labor Day. We planned to go there for lunch on Monday, but we called the pub, and their answering service said they didn't open until 5pm on Mondays, so we decided to make it dinner instead.



We headed down to the pub a little after 5pm, and were a little concerned when we didn't see any cars in the parking lot. I was still trying to be an optimist - it's just after 5pm, maybe people just haven't shown up yet... um, it's a low traffic day because it is still part of the holiday...

But then all hopes were dashed when we got close to the front door and saw this sign:



Damn. A little clarification on the billboard would have been nice. I even brought my latest ultrasound pics with me in case someone didn't believe that I was pregnant.

Oh well.

Deceptive Belly

I have a deceptive belly. I had the same problem when I was pregnant with Willow - part of it stems from being a big girl in the first place, but strangers didn't realize I was pregnant until I was a good 6 months along.

Why?



Here I am, nearly 5 months along, and I still have a waist.

Finished Object: Baby Brick Band Hat

I have a lot of knitting magazines. Four or five years' worth of subscriptions - Interweave Knits, Knit Simple, Creative Knitting - the odd Vogue Knitting, although I can't say VK does that much for me.

Anyway, I can't say I have made a whole lot from these magazines - in fact - in the 8 years I have been knitting, I have probably only made enough projects from these magazines to count on both hands. I had some baby hats to make for a swap on Ravelry, so I dug through a few of my knitting magazines, and came up with this:



I had to modify the pattern a bit - it wasn't intended for a baby, although the pattern did have small, medium, and large sizes.



I didn't use the yarn or needles called for, either. I'm such a rebel.



I could have probably finished this entire hat in one night, but it got broken up into a few different knitting sessions because I am reading a good book right now (Changeless by Gail Carriger) and have been reading more than knitting lately.



The Particulars:

Pattern: #22 Brick Band Hat from Knit Simple Holiday 2007
Yarn: SWTC Karaoke in colourway 298 (rainbow). The pattern called for Universal Yarns' Deluxe Chunky
Needles: Size 6 Knitpicks 16" circular and bamboo dpns (pattern called for size 8)
Modifications: Other than using a thinner yarn and going down 2 needle sizes, I did one less repeat of the brick band pattern to make the hat a bit shorter, and did not include the tassel on top. The tassel is cute, but I don't think the almost-roving nature of this yarn would have served a tassel well.

I'll definitely make this pattern again - I like the flat top and design on the sides. It was very easy, and I loved the way this particular yarn served up stripes on the different sections all on its own.

Breaking News

We interrupt this sporadically scheduled travelog to bring you some breaking news - Click on this link to find out what we will be having on 2/1/11!

Now onto the knitting!