My Feet are BACK

Falling Leaves are done! Schaefer Anne yarn, size us1 needles. Two at once using magic loop.


These were my first toe-up socks and my first go at a short row heel. I dig it! As I had suspected, they are just a hair too big, but I have decided not to care about it. They are very comfortable and I love the way the yarn knit up for this pattern.


A couple nights ago, I sat at my computer with my sock and learned how to do a tubular bind off. (Savannahchick has GREAT instructions here.) While fussing over it, I had an AIM conversation with my pal Nancy. 3/4 way through the finish, she informs me of an easier way to achieve a stretchy bind off for a toe up sock. "M1 every other stitch and then just bind off!" UGH! Would have been so much easier, but then we both agreed that a tubular bind off is quite pretty and Schaefer Anne is worthy of it. So for you Nancy, I include a close up of my tubular bind off.


My feet aren't swollen anymore and they aren't hidden by my belly. Yippee yahoo yah! Next up, a set of "Mommy and Me" Anastasia socks by Minty! (Yah, yah, still working on the Curlicue, too.)

Fallen in Love

Thank you to everyone for welcoming our little Cashew into the world! I was so touched to look at my last post and see over 40 comments!

So to catch up...It's been a crazy week! The joy over having this little person in our world has been something I never could have anticipated. It is truly thrilling.


Here she is wearing her Baby's First Tattoo sweater. Gee, Hotty Hubby isn't convinced that he's the father. HA!


I promised my birth story so if that's your thing, keep reading. If not, here is the latest photo of Falling Leaves. I was 2 rows away from finishing and I jokingly said to Hotty Hubby, "I bet I'll finish these, wash and block and leave for the hospital!" As you can see from the fact that I ditched these mid row, the contractions simply got too intense and the socks had to wait!

So Wednesday, March 14, I started feeling contractions. They weren't too painful, but they clearly weren't Braxton Hicks. They started coming regularly and we could time them. A call to our doula to tell her what's going on and then...they just disappeared. Well, a good night's rest would be nice, and maybe they will start up again.

Thursday I woke up in disbelief. Nothing. I had an appointment with my holistic chiropractor so hotty hubby accompanied me and she worked on some accupressure points and checked my body's alignment. Everything looked good so I went home and sent hubby back to work. Around 1pm I started getting contractions again, but about an hour apart. As they started getting closer together, more calls to the doula. And then...nothing. Good grief, I was having False Labor. There's nothing really false about it, it's more like labor with training wheels. A little bit of labor followed by a break. The break is nice, but geez, after awhile you just want things to get going!

Around midnight I tried to go to sleep, but I kept thinking I should take a bath to help me relax. I woke hubby up and asked him to help me. (Hugely pregnant and a tub full of water is tricky and quite honestly, quite comical!) Tried to sleep... 2am I woke up to a strong contraction. 2:15 another one. I got up and waited. Another one but this was the first one that truly made me catch my breath. I woke up hubby and the contractions kept coming. A call to the doula, more contractions, more calls to the doula...we stayed up all night timing. They were 5 minutes apart, sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes even as long as 30.

Our doula encouraged us to eat and rest, and we tried. I had an appointment with my OB to check my blood pressure in the afternoon. I called to let the doctor know what was going on and they said to definitely come in. And then about 20 minutes before my appointment something changed. A searing contraction. ANOTHER call to the doula but this time she finally said "I'm on my way!" Hubby and I grabbed our coats and made our way outside. Of course it was freezing cold and sleet and slush and ugh. I live 9 measly blocks from the hospital and no cabs. Searing contractions. Should we walk? Thankfully a cab pulled up and we grabbed it!

Into the doctors office we go - imagine a waiting room full of couples in various stages of pregnancy and here comes the hugely pregnant woman gripped with searing contractions. I probably terrified all those people! It wasn't like I was screaming my head off, but I could tell I was the freak show in the room. Anyway, my doctor examined me and I was 4-5 centimeters dialated! He told us to head on up to labor and delivery! Our doula met us in the hallway and by 3:30pm I was dealing with full on labor. I wanted as natural a childbirth as possible and even though the pains of contractions are no joke, I had the support of my excellent doctor, my doula, the nurse and my husband. (Of course having the mouth of a sailor and swearing with gusto helped me deal, too.) Soon I felt the urge to go to the bathroom and announced to everyone that I HAD to go. The nurse said "WAIT!" and grabbed the doctor for another exam. 9 centimeters! The doc let me start some pushing for relief and to hopefully break my water. It worked, my water broke! After pushing in a sort of kneeling position for awhile, I was getting frustrated and wanted to see my baby. It was suggested that I switch my position so I tried laying on my side. I never thought this would work but all of the sudden there I was in the final push! Amazing how simply changing position can put everything in place. I could hear the baby's heart beating strong on the monitor and one more push... there she was being placed on my chest! I looked down and saw these little eyes looking at me and her little nose and fingers and felt the weight of her body. We just stared at each other and then she looked back at her Daddy. The most euphoric moment of our lives!

I'm Knitting My Wardrobe

Similar to the time I was knitting my apartment, I am knitting my favorite items from my wardrobe!


These colors quite simply make me happy. Falling Leaves are the only thing I am working on these days, and just a little bit at a time. However, they are coming along! (Now if only the baby would do the same.)


Short row heels complete. I would love to try them on, but uh, yah. Marshmallow feet and ankles. I did double check my gauge, and it appears to be fine. I was worried that these socks would be too big, my gauge is off by half a stitch. That really isn't too bad considering that I have somewhat wide feet anyway. I'm staying hopeful!

Still Knitting

At last, some knitting progress. I love these socks! The Schaefer Anne is delicious. I absolutely love the colors. The pattern is entertaining and easy to memorize. My hands can handle this project more than the Curlicue. (Curlicue feels like knitting with turkey basters and rough twine, ugh.) The only problem with these socks is that I think my gauge is a little loose, probably due to my pregger fingers. They seem to fit my pregger feet, and my feet are currently having issues fitting into a size 8 shoe. Normally I am a 6.5! Post pregnancy I figure I'll be a size 7... probably could have knit these socks with a size 0 needle. But I'm at the point of no return. So maybe they will be a little big. Maybe a handwash in hot water will do the trick? *Gulp*

I *heart* Yarn

Section 8 of Curlicue. Slow going.

I have been thinking a lot about stash. There is this knitter in my knitting group named Penelope. Sadly, blogless. *cough* More shocking, stashless. *HACK* Fantastic knitter. How could she possibly be without a stash? And then I realized that every time I see her, she has on a handknit sweater. Handknit socks. Handknit mittens. And then it occurred to me - SHE KNITS! I mean, really. She actually knits. How many sweaters do I have? Uh, one. How much yarn do I have for sweaters? A lot.

Falling Leaves. Love. Slow going.

So every time I see her, I pester her. I have discovered that she likes to shop for yarn online. She has her credit card number memorized. Yet she possesses this ability to say (and obey) "Walk away from the yarn and no one gets hurt". So there's this other knitter in my group - Hila. If I spend an afternoon knitting with her, I find myself buying yarn. (It's not really her fault. It doesn't take much to be an enabler.) This past weekend, I was knitting with Hila. I got home, went to my computer to look up Trekking Natura and bam, there I was with 4 skeins in my shopping cart. "Walk away from the yarn and no one gets hurt." Why did I need four skeins? Well, I want to make socks for hotty hubby. I'm not sure what colors he might like. They all look nice. Can't hurt to have extra skeins. Can't hurt? That phrase is the means to a stash explosion. I quickly closed out the screen.

Threading the heddles. Doesn't hurt my hands. Slow going anyway.

When shopping for clothes, one holds them up in front of the mirror and says "I think I will wear this here and for this occasion and I will feel great and this will make me happy." We try on a life we hope to have. My stash is about knitting I hope to do. So my little hobby of poking yarn with sticks has become an example of how one can forget to live in the moment. (Are you following me?) I am not making any plans to stop buying yarn. (Hello, 12 steps, not one giant leap.) But I am thinking about being happy with what I am working on now and feeling the satisfaction of completion, instead of jumping ahead to that next, someday soon, project. Of course my hands are so DAMN SWOLLEN that the idea of completing a couple rows makes me giggle like a little girl. I have no choice but to stare at my current projects and face the reality of buying more yarn. I simply can't try to knit any faster!

A Productive Weekend Needs a Reward

I actually didn't think I would do it, but I got darn close. I finished section 7 and am halfway through section 8, which means I am halfway done with the Curlicue! You can't see me right now (which is probably a good thing) but I am doing this dance around my apartment in celebration of kicking some pregger arse on this blanket.


I also managed to package up a portion of my stash to send off to to my fellow knitters. I got so many requests I am actually digging through my stash to make sure there isn't more that I can let go of. So if you haven't heard from me yet, it doesn't mean I don't have yarn for you. I might! So give me another day, there is yarn all over our apartment right now. (Space bags. Seems like such a good idea, 'til you have to open them up and vacumm them again...and again...)


All this "work" and no vodka tonic to celebrate. So I pulled out some sacred and oh-so-special Schaefer Anne (I usually only pet it and put it back in the stash) and cast on Falling Leaves. For ME.