Faire Isle Dreams Baby Hat

last night i couldn't stop myself from knitting. i know i shouldn't have, what with the wrist thing and all but i couldn't help it... one little hat couldn't hurt, right? also, it was a newborn sized hat, so that's the way i rationalized that. anyhow, i couldn't find a pattern to inspire me so i made one up... and ta da! the Fair Isle Dreams Baby Hat was born :) i really like the way it came out and i haven't seen similar fair isle hats for small babies, so i was thinking i would sell the pattern on etsy... i think i will hold off on that, though until i figure out the sizes :)

other *late* ultrasounds of the baby

so a few weeks ago i got a call from the doctor telling me i had gestational diabetes. this is a temporary form of diabetes that will go away after i give birth (which, according to my ticker, only is 72 days away!). i was initially upset about the diagnosis, but actually i was also somewhat relieved as it gave me a lot of motivation and professional direction as what i was supposed to be eating. actually, with this diabetic menu i eat ALL DAY LONG. i eat six meals every day and check my blood sugar levels 4 times a day. it's not as bad as it sounds and really, i could probably take this as a lifestyle change.

the one thing i was really worried about is the one thing most gestational diabetics are worried about in pregnancy: a HUGE baby. uncontrolled diabetes can lead to humungoid 12 pounders and i was NOT looking forward to that. so i had to go in for an ultrasound to check my girl out and see if she had reached humongoid yet. happily, she's progressing as any 7 month old baby in the womb should be, at a whopping 2 pounds and 12 ounces. i'm happy she's ok, and i'm doing well on the diet so my doctor said everything should go as planned.

these pictures are not the ones of the ultrasound i just took because sadly, they didn't give me any of her this time around. these two are actually from january from when she was *much* smaller. but at least they're interesting to look at!

baby superstar: the starghan

ok now that i've weaved in the ends of the starghan, i'm posting it! first things first: i HATE knitting/crocheting blankets. when i finished this baby i decided that it would be the last one i ever made (although i might talk myself into another one later on, i doubt it). it drove me insane!!! double crochet all the way around. and it sucked up yarn like a hoover! for this one i used FOUR SKEINS of yarn. i don't think i've ever used anything like four 200 yard skeins on a project. it definitely is not yarn-light. what's more, it's not evident in the pictures, but i ran out of the brown toward the very end and had to substitute a random brown from my closet (it matches well enough but not super well). i ended up with 23 rounds if that's any help (i was trying to make it to 25 but then gave up on it as i was out of yarn, out of steam, and was sick of working on it). any how the first shot is the blanky itself (green, white, and brown like the baby room), the second one was with a model (a sweet monkey i got from a swap). and the third was an ugly shot with a water bottle, for showing scale.

i'm happy to report that my wrists are starting to feel better. it's actually weirdly unpredictable, as one morning i'll wake up without the ability to pick up a pencil, and the next morning only one wrist will hurt and one won't, then sometimes it's really good and sometimes it's really bad. weird! i've been also fighting the tylenol but i might do it if it gets too bad. we'll see how it goes.

oh yes and one more thing: my crafty goal now that i'm on spring break is to learn how to make a sock monkey! i have the stuff, i just never got around to it. and it's not a wrist-intensive thing, so hopefully it'll all work out!

poopie wrists

it's official. my wrists are pretty much done with me. i'd like to say we've parted ways, but they're attached, so it's hard to say goodbye. they are on strike though. my right wrist has gotten to the super-painful-when-i-move-it-ever-so-slightly point and my left wrist is starting to catch up. this weekend, i could barely pick up the skillet from our stove when i was cooking (YES I WAS COOKING! to those of you who don't believe it... you know who you are).

unfortunately this means i will have to stop *GASP* knitting and crocheting for a while. this truly sucks because well, i'm all about that. and then i'm going to have to be more creative about what i put up in my blog, because that was what this blog is basically about. this super-sucks. i do have one more creation (a star afghan -- that was probably what put me into a wrist brace) to post because i was working on it before the right wrist gave out, but i think i'll have to spread out my posts so pics will be coming soon.

i had so many cool things i wanted to make, too! here is my partial list:

• little ugg -type booties for the baby
• a cool amigurumi cat for a swap partner (i've now had to back out of that personal swap and that makes me feel like poo.)
• a cupcake hat for the baby
• a sweet amigurumi bunny (yes, for the baby)
• a blossom dress for the baby (i've even ordered the yarn for this already!)
• a pair of blu jeans for the baby

most is for the baby, of course, as having a baby to knit for is so incredibly cool as my projects can be tiny and instantly gratifying. but alas, baby will come and have a limited set of knitted things and crocheted things all because mommy's wrists are going to fall off. so unfair.

disneyfan and some news :)

i was in a "one tiny thing swap" this last month at craftster, so the one tiny thing i sent my partner, disneyfan was very, well, disney. this cell phone holder gave me the fun opportunity to make something up rather than follow a pattern. and it gave me something to make which i normally wouldn't (a cell phone holder and a disney item). the top pic is the front and the bottom is the back. my own design made in caron simply soft! yay :)

in other news, i am currently crocheting a star blanket for the baby. she is super wiggly and squirmy lately, and i'm thinking of calling her squirmy again instead of mia. and we're in the homestretch! next week marks the end of my second trimester :) wow the first trimester seemed to last forever and the second one seems like it went by in no time at all! i'm glad we're close though because i can't wait to see her. marco is getting super excited too :)

i guess it's also safe to say we're moving! marco has a new job starting mid-month and we're going to be moving closer to where my mom lives. we're super duper excited about that as we will be leaving our little one bedroom for a much bigger 2 bedroom apartment. and then this summer we'll be buying a home! hooray :) my biggest excitement about the new move: the new apartments have a washer and dryer IN THE APARTMENT. now, that may sound domestic, but let me tell you what a huge pain it is to have to carry your laundry down a flight of stairs and across the complex only to find that all the washers are being used. ugh!

an addition to the winnie cooper

although i loved the way the entrelac came out on my winnie cooper, i didn't really like those ends. i saw a lot of people putting fringe on theirs but i thought i wanted something to cover up my non-blocked ends (and i don't want to block this scarf 'cause i like the puffiness of the entrelac). and i just recently bought some pom makers (super cool ones by clover that make the boring task of making pon poms so much faster and pretty even) so i pommed it! it kinda takes the sophistication edge off the scarf (which i'm not sure if i like or not) but i can always take them off if i change my mind.

winnie cooper

after some feverish knitting i've finally finished my winnie cooper! what is a winnie cooper, you ask? it is knitty's danica, but since she's a little transformed with the red instead of the purple, she's been renamed winnie cooper (a charater played by danica mckellar in the wonder years).

not bad for my first entrelac scarf, huh? i think i might have kinda screwed up the beginning (there's a weird twist in the foundation triangles), but overall once established, entrelac wasn't so bad. it had a ton of ends to weave in though, so that wasn't fun.

in spite of it all, i love love love this scarf. lately i've had these scarves that are crocheted and feel a bit breezy due to the holes within the fabric. this baby is completely warm :) and she matches my only coat that fits (a ruby colored maternity pea coat). i added a little shot of the entrelac detail because i love it. :)