While Tangerine Dreams

Lordy, Lordy, Look Who's Four (Dee!)

In real life I call her Dee or Didi by the way. Look who's growing up so very fast! I guess we'll find out by midnight tonight if one of my greatest concerns will indeed manifest - two siblings sharing a birthday. Yikes. My little monkey. For the last couple of months all her pictures she's been drawing (which are pretty impressive if I do say so myself in a totally non-biased way) she explains are of her when she's four. Well, today's the day. I wasn't quite sure how to present her birthday for we're all still nursing this wicked cough and what might be going down. But we're all off to go see a doctor today to put our minds at ease. Then we have a big "town day" to see the midwife which always leaves me super drained at the best of times (the going to town bit). So I'm thinking, if it's still just the three of us, of maybe having a teeny weeny party with two of her favourite little girlfriends tomorrow afternoon. I was considering postponing for a couple of weeks but then my midwife reminded me that once the baby comes the last thing I'd probably feel like doing is hosting any kind of party.

Here's the beautiful birthday girl modeling a cowI I knit up with some of my first handspun for my friend who will be watching/massaging her butt while I'm labouring. So funny, we had a meeting with my doula and this special Didi friend yesterday and the question got asked if I wanted Edie to be present for when the baby actually presents itself. So I turn to Edie and asked "do you want to watch when Drippy Head comes out of Mama's yoni?" and the munchkin says "right now?". Guess you had to be there. Damn, she's something cute. Happy Birthday my beautiful love. You bring me more joy and gratitude than you'll ever know. Oh my god! These hormones! I can't type anymore! I can't see the screen I'm crying so much. Must go. Happy full moon and let's hope it brings on some magic baby!

The Blesstest

Thanks to the wonderful support of our beautiful community and friends, our nest is nestled and in turn my body's now fully relaxed and ready for the final phases of ripening. Craigy is now working from his new glorious abode, yesterday we got the last of the office/home internet access kinks ironed out and my sweet girlfriends hosted a blessingway for me. That, and I had the trippiest birthing dream last night. (edited for tmi)

I love my ladies. The blessingway was the blesstest. There is an amazing amount of young mamas in this little town, it's so awesome. I'm the last big belly hanging in there though. Funny in the summer, I'd step into the little grocery store and there's all these bellies squeezing and bumping by each other saying hello in the aisles. My two girls that held this space for me are also some knit sisters of mine. I spun them up a couple of floral skeins to play with as a 'thank ewe' while I'm out on "mat leave".

Last night's knit night I went to what would probably be my last for a while for Drippy's debut is emminent. I'm feeling way loosey goosey and now that our bedrooms are downstairs closer to the bathroom, so let the adventure begin! But waiting for me when I get back to my beloved once a week knit circle (that I'm only really able to make once a month but hey) we're planning on a Skating Sweater knitalong sometime in the spring. Super fast and cute knits these Twinkle Chunkies!

Cute! And speaking of cute, my computer was broken during Halloween, god, I missed this gadget called the Internets! (Congrats, by the way, my American friends on a wonderfully positive and moving election outcome yesterday!)

 We got to resurrect the bunny outfit from last year because the monkey got hit with the flu the morning of that time. Still fits! But the model got fed up with the paparazzi and shoved the camera into one particular aggressive photographer's face and this nasty brawl began and now she's all embarrassed and in rehab for an apparent carrot addiction. This is the only shot the media have access to:

Twas a Sweatering Summer...

So I started this thing, oh technically in the spring. We were leaving for Calgary to go to our friends' wedding which was on the summer solstice and I thought, oh, I'll just whip up this baby sweater for my niece on the way out because I read on on this fabulous blog here that is was a fast, fun, easy knit.

So I knit alllllll the way to Calgary, then I knit the whole time I was in Calgary and then I knit allllll the way home again. And then, once home,  I knit at every knit circle and through every Friday Night movie so I think this now proves that I am indeed the world's slowest knitter. But then I went back to the fabulous blog's post and reread and the sweetheart wrote "super cute, easy, and fun to knit". Whoops.  At the last stretch all I could think of is I need to get started on Craig's sweater. Remember the ongoing fiasco that is Craig's sweater? Years ago I made him this:

 
Too small. And the fact that I wear it everyday in the winter's a touchy spot between us. So I attempted an extra large Alpacan monsterousity captured here that was just so god forsaken ugly we just hucked it somewhere and pretended it never happened. I am on the mission now to make him something that he'll love forever and ever and will fit him perfect and super soft and he'll feel like I'm hugging him all day long and he'll never want to take it off.

 

So here is the beginning of what I call "THE ONE" as in The One that will fit and he will love and wear everyday to the point of it being actually kind of gross. Must get done before Drippy Head makes the appearance. Problem though I'm starting to get the numb hands I got later in my pregnancy with Edie too and I think this crazed woman knitting's not helping. But I don't care! I love the man! Do you hear me? I love this man! I'm so hormonal this time around. Have I mentioned that?

Handsome and Gretel

Warning: if you're lactose intolerant the following post contains large traces of cheese:

We had a Sunday that very much reminded of me of first being sickly in love at the beginning with Craig (which I still am of course). It probably had something to do with Little Prozac (my cruiser - we rode our bikes to town for breakfast) but everyone who stopped by our table was saying how cute Edie  is and my knee jerk reaction was "thank you!" and Craig kept telling me to stop saying that. And I was thinking how she is the  result of the picture in my head I always had of my future husband growing up. He had beautiful curly blonde hair ala Christopher Atkins in Blue Lagoon, beautiful, soulful googley eyes ala Gene Wilder, shy guy crooked smile ala Nicolas Cage in Valley Girl and that yummy naked Statue of David bod that always made me want to go to the Louvre to  eye"ball" it myself since I was a little girl.

I know that sounds all superficial and jr high diary entry but there's obviously more to it than that. It was like some divine intervention that gave me clues from long time ago that this speciman was going to be my future partner in all levels, all lifetimes and will help in beckoning sweet little Crystal Kids to save the world. I recognized him right away. I'm partially psychic especially when I'm wasted. I saw him at a party and went right up to him basically and said "ugh. You mine." and came over to his apartment on Monday with all my belongings. So yeah. I kept my legs crossed for my designated soulmate and here's the beautiful little by product; why thank you! You have to excuse me, I'm super sappy these days. My hormones are pumping out some major love juices for some reason.

Speaking of love, I got to wear my Gretel on the bike ride too. My official Spring 2008 chapeau. This is a Ysolda Teague design (she has some cute stuff!!). Took me much longer than anticipated but I guess I've been spreading myself thin with creative pursuits. But still, I'm such a slow knitter! Recognize the yarn? It's leftovers from Edie's Second Birthday Sweater; gawd I love that sweater. Now I have my own mini version to wear on my head.

The Corazon Kid

Mmmmm. Chocolate Covered Hearts. This is some merino from CopperPot spun up with some needle felted hearts plied in with some pink metallic thread. I just want to...

Eat it! Why is this picture so small? Edie loved this yarn as soon as she saw it. I never seen such excitement from her regarding something I made. She immediately wanted to know what I had planned for it (so cool how she's putting it all together now!). So I said, "I don't know. Want a hat?" Oh, yeah, she wanted a hat. Bad. So I made her a hat in about a night and she LOVES IT!

I was worried about the hearts being too wobbley as it seemed they were literally hanging by a thread but I just had to weave in through a stitch or two and they were secured. She wore it out on her date with Dada this weekend and Craig said lots of people were commenting on her hat and she said "my momma made it". Oi, my ovaries.

Scarf it Up

I couldn't contain myself. I had to knit up the Flora skein I spun up last month. And strike a cheesy pose about it. I used gigantic needles and lots of drop stitches to really milk it for time and space. And I'm so pleased with it. It only took a few hours of mindless knitting. I think I like mindless knitting. There's a lot around here trying to distract me on my precious knit time. Namely a little critter named Barney. He's learning though. Attack my yarn and out you go to the freezing cold to think about it what you just tried to eat.

Have I mentioned it's cold here?  I've been making alot of neck warming devices as of late. I added one more to the shop today. I think it's something to do with the over acted throat chakra I've been diagnosed with a long time ago (or was it sluggish? I can't remember). All I know is that I grew up hating turtle necks and now I feel naked - in the freezing cold sense - if my throat isn't covered. What's up with that?

To celebrate the deep freeze (which has only been minus 8 degrees Celcius but we've have gotten a bit soft since moving out here) we pounced upon our friend's skating rink/pond. Edie borrowed her little buddy's skates, which she sported for the first time at their solstice party this year and I borrowed his mama's.

Oh yeah, too much fun. Craig played a shinny and me and my girl enjoyed some hot toddies afterwards under a big blankie. Stay warm and later, Skater (I'm talking to you, Blonde!).

X Skis Me, Coming Through

It's starting to feel a lot like Christmas. La, la, la, la, la. Wha? Gone already? Seasons greetings everyone. We had a beautiful, relaxing, chilly chill, dream mellow time at home. Dada gifted himself some cross country skis and I pulled out some hand me downs from his step mom and we've been hitting the trails and backyard with them. Ample of places to explore around these parts. I have some video of myself attempting a gentle downhill slope but I'll spare you the pain of watching that embarrassment.

So what exactly does Mama need for all this Swiss Miss action? A new ski hat. This is from the Twinkle Big City Knit book, again, which I borrowed from my friend Abanney but now, thanks to a jolly elf, own. It's the Aspen hat and knit up in some Brown Sheep Burley Spun. Because gauge did not come out right on I made some lame attempt at modifying (oh, if you could here the voices in my head when I try out some justification math  - it's a new style, all the cool kids are doing it) it came out some what, um, special.

You know what I find helps to distract from the stuck in the birth canal look I'm taking on here? Lipstick. Lots of it (at least for me). Viva Glam, baby.

Bobble-y Goop

Edie loves twiddling my bobbles! Again I imposed a crazy deadline for the completion of the Groovy Sweater Dress - it had to be done for our trip out to Calgary last week. Thank the Knit Goddesses that was able to happen because it turned out to be the perfectly practical Calgary winter type article of clothing to have handy. I wore it as a jacket when balmy and five minutes later, when the temps drops to chilly chill, I wore it under the jacket I brought and I was totally hooked up.

There it is in "worn-as-jacket" mode whilst we had a super quick connect with my "little" bro Mike and "little" cousin Julianna (she's also three - four in February). Growing up Mike and I were pretty tight being close in age (a little more than a year apart) and, being a seamstress, my mom had the God-like power of dressing us up in matching outfits so people were often misled to believe we were twins. He was a such a sweet little kid. He use to deliver me cereal when I was too lazy to get up from the couch to get my own. I was a pretty lazy little girl.

Last glamour shot - promise. So, hmmm, I don't know. I know I love wearing it for that happens lots, it's warm and comfy and I get lots of compliments, from strangers even. But looking at it from the camera's point of view it's like - yeesh. You can tell I wear it lots and had a crazy self-imposed deadline for finishing. I notice that a lot of FO's of this project are pictured off the body and maybe because it looks so hole-y (not like Christmas holy either) while it's all stretched out on. Hmmm, so complex yet so simple. I really need to block it still, that should it settle in some of the kinks but the problem is I won't be able to wear it for a couple of days and it's party week!

Groovy Changes Part 1

It was a blue morning after our first full-on, for real snow fall overnight. The non-stop falling flakes triggered a fight or flight reaction in me when we went out for supper last night (kind of like what happened when I tried on a bustier this weekend), panicking about road conditions, do we have enough firewood, could we make it of our driveway in case of emergency? But all that craziness dissipated when I confronted this blue vision in the morn. This is the calm and gentle winter landscape that made me fall in love with this valley in the first place. Mama needs her Winter 2007/2008 sweater.

Groovy changes you're wondering about?  Well first of all, I started on the Groovy Sweater Dress from the Twinkle Big City Knits book by Wenlan Chia. All big knits, all the time. The sweater I'm working on just happens to be on the cover of the book. In, ahem, a similar, if not the same, colour.

Thanks to my knitting buddy, Abaney, for lending me the book. I think I'd like to own it one day.
It's coming along splendidly. The yarn is super chunky but not floofy like I found chunky Alpaca to be. Made me sneeze too much. I did have to rip back and start over two times but nothing like a little frog in your diet to build up some character.

Regarding the post title; just want to change things in terms of bringing the focus of the blog back to my creative pursuits. So many craft blogs out there that inspire me so, I find that recording my progression on projects keeps me feeling organized and motivated to follow through. Plus, with all these Edie-centered posts, she's starting to get accosted by the paparazzi whenever we leave the house. I just want the kid to lead a normal life. Oh, what the hell, I can't help myself. Here's another monkey shot:

Ooooo.... another tumble! More exciting changes to announce but they deserve a post to themselves. To be continued. Big news coming up. Don't go anywhere. Freeze!

Half-Kath

Suck-making.I don't know if I'm feeling the love. Plus, the finished objects aren't the most flattering or easiest article of clothing to self-portrait with. I am pleased that I finally finish my first complete coupling of socks ever - Monkey Socks from Knitty. My sweet friend (with a really funny blog) Karen picked out the pattern last time I was in the yarn shop she was working at. Upon purchase I was fantasizing arriving home at the end of our road trip donning a pair of new socks on my dogs by the way she was talking up the pattern's reputation as speed-freaky project. That was in this summer.

Enough whining, mama's too busy to knit uninterrupted these days. Thank God she's so cute. Monkeys are finally done and looks now they want to go outside and take a pee. They're lace-y and cute and now I need a pair of Mary-janes to showcase them. Sock knitting is also not a money-saver. Thanks for the feel better wishes, guys. They worked. This is the first morning I'm back to normal (whatever that means). I haven't had much caffeine lately and my last attempt at coping (Inka coffee substitute yesterday) I think provoked a migraine. So, enjoying my first latte right now and am totally blissed out. Half caff/decaff to be exact. Thus, I'll be Half Kath today in the personality department.