I've got a bit of a Robitussin hangover this morning. Still, housecleaning, laundry, and the internet wait for no man (sick or not). And I'm beginning to realize that babies also don't wait until you've finished their baby sweaters to be born. So it's time for me to get back to work on the baby sweaters!

I had planned to make this Mandarin Petit sweater for one of the many babies-on-the-way I have to knit for. But the gauge was a bit daunting and the babies just keep on coming. (There is some relentless baby-making going on out there these days!) I rethought my baby sweater plans on my weekend yarn crawl in DC and Shannon helped me pick out Rowan Cashsoft DK to make this sweater from Miss Bea's Rainy Day for said baby girl. (Fellow Knitsmith Lisa knit this one in a green Cascade 220 Superwash and it was fabulous!) I've recommended the Cashsoft to so many customers in the store, I'm embarrased to admit that besides the collars on the boys Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts, I've never used the yarn. Thankfully, I can now say that it is just as amazing as I promised all those customers!

It's just soooo soft. The cables are standing out very well. And the whole thing is machine washable. You can't beat that. Cashsoft, where have you been all my knitting life?

And now that I've done my housecleaning, laundry and internet duties, and restarted the baby knitting, I'm off to see if some hugs and kisses from the boys might not be enough to kick this cold. Boy medicine to the rescue!

I finally met up with Dani to pick up the sock yarn I bought from her last week when she posted the new Harry Potter dragon colorways on her etsy site. (Were you sitting at the computer at 11 waiting to see the yarn, just like me??) I couldn't resist the Hedwig colorway, with its subtle blacks, grays, and golds. And the Raspberry Limeade has been one of my faves for a while (surprise, surprise, it's pink!).

I've actually got three pairs of socks already on the needles (some Gryffindor socks, my dyeorama swap socks, and my retro prep socks)! And none of them is seeing any knitting action these days. And yet, I feel the need to cast on with that Hedwig yarn. I really want to see how it knits up! Anyone else starting a pair of these??

One weasley with sleeve.

Man is there a lot of knitting in a drop sleeve! I had to rip this first sleeve out one time to get the decreases and shape right and it was like ripping out the whole back! Very sad. Very much reknitting. Very not excited about knitting yet another giant sleeve.

Love these x's and o's! They make me so happy. Wheeee, fun, happy, joy, and the wee little back is done.

You know what that means: back to the weasley for a while....

I just got back from taking the boys off to kindergarten for their first day of school.

They were so excited! And looking at those little faces, I couldn't help but be excited with them. The legos however are feeling very lonely. In fact, although the boys were never worried about missing mommy (or each other - they're in different classes), S did express some concern about going to school "every day!" and not having enough time to do his building. Awwww.

Now just why has there been so little knitting going on here at the blue blog in the last few weeks?! Didn't there used to be some pretty impressive speed knitting and, um, finished projects to see?

Well, the jig is up: I've been working on a rather big project in the background, which I haven't been ready to let out of the bag until now. Here it is so far:

I'm just starting my second trimester. Baby has stopped making me sick every two hours (ain't she sweet? No, we don't know the sex yet, but the force is strong with this one, so I'm guessing girl), but I'm still pretty low on energy these days. Hey, I'm making a baby here!

So, yes, it's official - everyone is pregnant. There's no stopping this epidemic! It's even made it's way to the UK, go see!

Soooo, remember that cold I had when we got back from DC (yes, that was back in August). Well, it hasn't gone away yet. In fact, except for one day this weekend, it hasn't even improved at all. My OB is unsurprised - apparently pregnancy is real good at maintaining lingering colds and stuff like that; it's also real good for not being allowed to take any medication that would actually help. When I reached the two week mark with hacking cough and sinus congestion, she let me try an antibiotic. It helped for one day. So with my throat slightly soothed, my sinuses much deflated and my nose running like a faucet, we made our annual trip to the Davis MegaMaze!

the boys were so excited!

This year's theme was movies and the maze had a big star in the middle of it, along with all sorts of fun areas to find where you can do cool movie stuff like shoot tennis balls at villians, slide through a black hole, and play with funny mirrors. There are always 10 bridges in the maze and this year each was dedicated to a different movie or type of movie. There was "Chick Flick bridge" with a big Fabio cutout, a Blazing Saddles covered wagon bridge, a Pirates of the Carribean bridge with a giant mast and sail, and my favorite, the Harry Potter bridge.

featuring Slytherin and Hufflepuff flags

and look, there were Nimbus 2006's for flying across the bridge

The boys had an awesome time. They loved it so much that they insisted on wearing their Megamaze t-shirts to school today (S actually insisted on wearing it yesterday AND today!).

As for me, well, in the end, I think it was a little too hot, I was a little too sick and a little too pregnant. I was great in the maze, but I'm back in bed now, trying to kill this virus with the only means allowed me: rest and orange juice. Occasionally, I'll feel well enough to knit. I'm trying not to get too much snot on the weasley.

Time for a belly shot, don't you think?

Fourteen weeks along and I've definitely got a baby belly. I've been going through the closet seeing what's wearable and what's not. And you know what's wearable? My Rosebud sweater, which, if you recall, was inspired by a maternity top I had when I was pregnant with the boys.

Poor Rosebud never got any wear. After I knit it and wore it the first time, I felt like I must have knit one sleeve a smidge longer than the other. I had always planned to cut one of the sleeves, take out a few rows, and graft it back together, but it never happened. But now, I'm thinking, who cares?! It's got just enough extra room for my early second trimester belly, so I'm wearing it!

And when I outgrow Rosebud, the Jess sweater I knit for my mom (which she gave back to me because she didn't like the fit of it) will be perfect, don't you think?!

And I don't mean the little one growing in my belly (she's more than a blob by now and still may turn out to be a boy). No, I mean this yucky unspun, undyed section of yarn that has popped up right in the middle of the front of my hugs and kisses sweater.

can you see it in the top row of ribbing there?

Blech. I didn't even notice it when I was knitting that ribbing. Suddenly, as I was doing the cables, I spotted it. Arrrrgh! What am I going to do about it? Nada. I'll just make this the back and unravel a few rows of the already finished back, add the front neck shaping, and make it the front. The baby shouldn't mind a bit.

And no all this pink really isn't for my little one on the way. I honestly don't know yet if it's a girl and I honestly do have about 5 other babies to knit for right now (two or maybe three of whom are already here and impatiently awaiting their sweaters!!). Son't worry babies, I will not be deterred by one little pink blob!

What can you knit when you're so sick, you've got no energy, you're head hurts so much that you can't think straight, and you can't really look down because your nose is constantly running? A stockinette stitch sweater in a fluffy nose-tickling angora yarn. You can't bore a woman who's been trapped either on the sofa or in bed for four days; any activity is welcome - even miles of stockinette stitch. And what's the angora going to do? Make me sneeze? That'd be an improvement.

So, very slowly and only in my best moments, I've started the sleeves of my purple cotton angora t-shirt sweater.

I couldn't think about where my normal length circular was without my head hurting, so I'm using the 16" circular that I could find. And I my head wasn't working enough for me to remember that I had been knitting this sweater continental, but I got gauge, so there!

It is cheering me up though to be resurrecting this sweater. I had tossed it into the UFO pile because I thought it was going to be too large (the pattern gives you quite a bit of ease!), but since seeing that little blue line on the pregnancy test strip, I'm thinking, hey, a little big is maybe a good thing. So if I get sleeves on this sweater, we could be wearing it to Rhinebeck!

Yarn Aboard!! Leif Eriksson arrived at my house yesterday afternoon. Ahoy! (or perhaps I should say "Hinga Dinga Durgen"!)

Would you just look at what an incredible job Amanda did putting these boxes together?! It's so pretty, I can't wait to see what's inside.

Ooooh, yaaaaarn. There's some fabulous KnitPicks Dye-Your-Own (love that stuff!) that my pal, Leah, dyed herself in super fun colors that remind me of a parrot's feathers (my mother would love socks made out of this!) and a skein of yarn from Sugar Bunny Boulevard in a lovely pinky, orangey colorway called Evening Sun. Pretty, pretty! She also included what happens to be my husband's favorite chocolate and, get ready, these adorable little magnets made with pictures of me and my boys from my blog.

Thanks so much, Leah! I was so touched when I opened these up, I actually got kinda weepy. (Of course, I am in a rather sensitive state these days with the hormones and all. Heck, I practically tear up at previews for Grey's Anatomy - ugh.) The boys especially loved the magnets. They immediately each took one of themselves and used them to hang up their first pictures they've brought home from school.

a family portrait

Look, S even included the baby! It's up high because "it's far away". Wow, the boy understands perspective - see what four days of school will do? I love that he has his own little S magnet to show it off.

Thanks again Leah and Amanda! And now Leif and I have got some shopping to do to get the box ready for its next journey. Stay tuned for the continuing adventures of the Icelandic yarn explorer!

And the weasley wants to be finished today.

So there's no more time for blogging. See you tomorrow with a finished sweater!

He likes it, he really likes it. It actually wasn't supposed to be for B. In fact, I was sizing it for a 10-12 year-old boy (that's a 32" chest circumference there!). But it looks so good on him all oversized, I may just change the sizing plans of this pattern entirely. What do you think? It'd be better for like a 6-8 year-old boy, wouldn't it?

And I LOVE the blue. I cannot say enough good things about this Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed: fabulous to knit with, comfortable to wear, amazing colors.... And I just happen to have some in red (S's favorite color), so the boys may be wearing weasleys again sooner than I thought. Say it with me, "aaanooother weasley?!"

First baby project coming soon!

The super sweet Michelle at The Sweet Sheep sent me this super soft Katia bamboo in both pink and blue to congratulate me on the upcoming baby. Isn't that nice?! I can't think of anything better to use for the first booties for baby. We still have to wait two more weeks to find out if it's a boy or a girl, so let's see if I can get one pair of booties finished for each possibility. I'll be ready!

Purpley is definitely going to make it! One sleeve down.

This was the only knitting I could do last week when my nose was really running. I could lay with my head tipped up, resting on the back of the sofa, and just knit with my hands (which was about the only thing working last week). No looking, no thinking, no shaping.

Only one sleeve to go and a month to finish it. Heck, I could do that even with this stinking cold.

Awww, the first thing I've knit for baby on the way.

This Katia bamboo/cotton blend really knits up nicely, with great stitch definition. It's been a delight to knit, especially since I'm using my new Lantern Moon rosewood dpns (a splurge from my recent trip to Knit Happens). And I am never disappointed with this Fiber Trends bootie pattern.

I decided to start with the blue, just in case I don't have time to knit another pair before the ultrasound in two weeks. A girl can wear blue, but pink is pretty much no go for a baby boy. I like this blue too. It's not your average pale baby blue. It's so bright, it's almost aqua. And it's soooo cute.

Awwww.

Ribs and i-cord for the boy version. Picot and twisted cord for the girl booties.

A little less than two weeks and we'll know which of these will be for the baby!

Despite my attempts over the past couple of years to hold S's much-loved blankie together, he is determined to let it fall apart. And he's almost succeeded.

blankie at 5 years
(apparently that's like 150 in blankie years)

entire lace columns are running down
(it's like a blankie clapotis!)

columns are starting to unravel into each other

and the favorite corner is nothing but string

Man does that boy love his blankie! And it turns out B is pretty keen on his blankie too. When it was his first time to do show and tell at school (and we'd forgotten to put something in his bag to show), he decided to tell everyone about his blankie. He said he told them "it is yellow and blue and green and mommy knitted it." (Tissue, anyone?)

Oh, it's going to be tough trying to match that with baby blankie number three!

My purpley t-shirt sweater is fast approaching the finish line!

I added the collar and sewed in the first sleeve.

I made a lot of changes to these two parts of the pattern. The neck as written in the pattern is very angular with straight bound-off stitches in the middle and regular decreases on the sides after that, giving it this sort of look \_/. It just wasn't very classy looking and didn't work very well with the tiny rolled edge collar. So I rounded out the neck shaping more and did a few more rows of stockinette on the collar. It's much smoother and prettier now, I think.

The sleeves had your basic sleeve shaping: narrow at the wrists with extra ease around the upper arm. I prefer sleeves with more at the wrist and less at the upper arm, so I went with a straight sleeve. You get a subtle bell shape when it's on and it's sooo much easier to knit too!

I may just end up liking this sweater even more than my original!

After setting the bar very high last year, I've been dreading trying to come up with a good Halloween costume idea for the boys for this year. I asked them what they wanted to be and after rejecting their first proposal of ghost (B: "just put something white over me" - me: "lame!" - or S: "just get some white yarn" - me: "nnnooooooo!"), the boys were adamant that they wanted to be pumpkins. After knitting the Thing costumes, you know I can't just go out and buy finished pumpkin costumes. So it was off to the crap (er, craft) store for pumpkin makings.

It's not handknitted Thing One and Thing Two costumes, but it did cost more than store-bought costumes and will take hours and hours to make, so close enough!

Well, it's that time of year again: time to make hats for Dana Farber's Caps for Kids program! And since it's also time for beginning knitting class to start at the store (where my students make, you guessed it, hats), I'm going to try to knit a hat for each week of class. That'll be three hats to donate this year at least. And the first...

A Harry Potter hat, of course! I've got this Patons Merino in my stash and can't help but think it would look great as a stripy Gryffindor hat like I made last year. Maybe I can even get two hats out of it!

The Dana Farber Cancer Institute will be collecting caps (and scarves!) through November 30 and distributing them to kids in need in the Boston area before the holidays in December. If you're interested in participating, check out this Dana Farber newsletter (PDF file) for a pic of kids getting caps last year (awwwww!) and contact info.