I just read an article on BabyCenter about "mamakus," six-word memoirs of motherhood. How about this:
Baby coming -- packing -- oops, more laundry.
Today is a laundry day, and much of it is baby stuff I've dragged out of storage, purchased, or gotten back from those who had borrowed it. Washfest. I got DH to put together the changing table (please understand -- I'm a perfectly handy person myself, but everything is twice as hard with this monster belly, so I get help where I can), so I have a place to store some of the mountain of baby wash that's already done. More exciting is the first wash for the Menschkin baby blanket, which I finally finished! Pictures when it's washed and blocked. Maybe a pattern later on -- I invented a nice border.
Now, anybody want to start a pool on what day I will actually pack my suitcase for the hospital, now that I have 3.5 weeks to go to my due date? This is proving difficult to start. At least now I have a list, having compared a couple of lists of suggestions on what to pack. Maybe today, after my things are clean, it will be easier to get it done. But I have a knitting circle at my place tonight, so maybe tomorrow...
The real excitement lately was a bit of honest-to-goodness, two-way interaction with DS-on-the-way last night. He was doing his usual stretches, pushing a foot waaaay out on my right side while I lay on my left. I decided to see if I could feel the shape of the foot or which way the toes were pointing. Not only could I feel those things, but he seemed to enjoy the little foot massage! Normally he pulls his foot back in after a couple of seconds, but when I was rubbing in little circles to check out his foot, he left it pushed out for 30 seconds or more.
There are lots of ways a pregnant mom can communicate TO her baby-inside. There are a few ways the baby-inside can communicate to the mom. But this is the first example I can remember of a two-way interaction where I was pretty sure I knew what was going on. Loud music and he kicks? I can't really tell if that's enjoyment or distress. But this seemed much clearer. I just lay there with a big grin on my face, rubbing that little foot, until he got tired of the game and went back to sleep. I wonder if he'll enjoy foot massages after he comes out.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
No, really, keep your head down!
Life has been busy this past week or so. If you've been reading my last few posts, you know the baby I'm due to deliver shortly was head-down. Well, over the past week and a half, give or take, he's been flipping head-up quite a bit. I've been doing exercises at home, getting chiropractic adjustments and acupuncture, and getting him back head-down at the end of most days. Now he finally seems to be deciding that maybe staying head-down is a good idea. Based on my results so far, the chiropractic and exercises seem like the most helpful factors. After each adjustment at the chiropractor, baby fairly dives into my pelvis, which was apparently quite kinked up and is getting more spacious with adjustments. My back is feeling generally better, too. This is my first time working with a chiropractor, and I have to say it seems good so far.
The exception to my back feeling better comes from my still-growing belly. Sitting still and upright or standing still for extended periods is getting quite uncomfortable. I get breathless and panicky, probably because my uterus is pressing on a major blood vessel. That makes wheel spinning, driving more than 10 minutes, using the computer, and several other activities pretty tough. So today I'm home from church (25 minute drive) and hoping to find a carpool for future weeks. I'm rediscovering our local bus system, which is good for lots of things, but unfortunately takes about two hours to get to church. :(
So blogging is probably going to slow down for a while (see "using the computer" above). I did finish the Shining Violet sweater, but it's already been worn once and gotten food all over it, so photos will have to wait until it's clean. You can see full directions for it in the "Gory Details" entry a few entries ago.
Take care, y'all. I'll blog when I can. Wish us luck for a healthy, natural birth.
The exception to my back feeling better comes from my still-growing belly. Sitting still and upright or standing still for extended periods is getting quite uncomfortable. I get breathless and panicky, probably because my uterus is pressing on a major blood vessel. That makes wheel spinning, driving more than 10 minutes, using the computer, and several other activities pretty tough. So today I'm home from church (25 minute drive) and hoping to find a carpool for future weeks. I'm rediscovering our local bus system, which is good for lots of things, but unfortunately takes about two hours to get to church. :(
So blogging is probably going to slow down for a while (see "using the computer" above). I did finish the Shining Violet sweater, but it's already been worn once and gotten food all over it, so photos will have to wait until it's clean. You can see full directions for it in the "Gory Details" entry a few entries ago.
Take care, y'all. I'll blog when I can. Wish us luck for a healthy, natural birth.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Bobbins and Bobbins and Bobbins, Oh My!
I'm now two weeks into my four-week Spinning II class -- I'm trying to squeeze in all the learning I can before DS arrives, hopefully next month -- and our teacher is keeping us busy! We're learning about spinning to various standards (wraps per inch and bumps per inch being the key ones so far), and tomorrow's class is on plying, including Navajo plying. I'm hoping I'll learn a thing or two to enhance my Navajo plying experience so far. So here, without further ado, are some spinning images:
Our assignment to prepare for the plying class was to spin three bobbins, one fuller than the others, in any weight we liked, as long as a 3-ply of it would fit through our orifice. I like spinning fairly fine, so these are my singles. They're from carded wool roving (breed unknown), provided in class, spun woolen-style, mostly long-draw, and as you can see, they're fire-engine red. There were several other colors available, but the red was getting neglected by my classmates, and it called to me forlornly, "You like wearing warm colors! Spin me! Spin meeee!" I'm thinking the 3-plied red yarn might pattern nicely with the natural white and brown yarns I've been spinning, neh? Or maybe it will make a nice hat or mittens mostly on its own.
When I'm spinning my own fiber on my own time, this is what happens:
This is some of my Cormo, perhaps 15 rolags' worth, spun into singles as thin as I can manage on my Lendrum fast flyer (also woolen, some long- and some short-draw) without breaking more than a few times per hour of spinning. And now I have evidence that these singles do, in fact, 2-ply up to a nice laceweight. Here's the "happy yarn" from my last post, now washed, hanging out with some friends:
The sewing bobbin at the bottom is for scale -- it's a Singer bobbin, in case you're keeping track. The white mini-skein is my test 2-ply Cormo laceweight skein, and I think it will work beautifully for what I want to do, which is a lace stole. More on that later -- perhaps much later, since spinning up that much laceweight might take a few, oh, years. :) The brown yarn is Corriedale, spun in the grease on a drop spindle and 2-plied on a wheel, and then washed on the stove for extra heat. There are about 100 yards there, and it's worsted weight, more or less. (I am too lazy to get out my wraps-per-inch tool right now.) The purple yarn is from a batt I blended from more anonymous carded wool toward the end of my Spinning I class. I Navajo-plied it, and I'm pleased. There's not enough for more than a doll hat or so, but fortunately, DD adores purple and has dolls in need of warm things.
And yes, I still knit sometimes:
Shining Violet is almost done. I've grafted one underarm and woven in most of the loose ends. I just need to pick up the neck stitches and make some neck edging (I haven't decided between ribbing and garter yet) with one more buttonhole in it. It's a little hard to see in the photo, but there's a short placket that will have a total of two buttonholes in it, to allow for DD's uncommonly large (even for a preschooler) head. DS-on-the-way has a pretty big head, too, as do DH and I. Wish me luck in labor!
I'm bummed about the sweater's sizing. I was trying for a year's growing room, but it fits exactly right now, which means DD will probably only get to wear it for this spring and maybe fall. I designed it for easy lengthening in hem and sleeves, so if she stays slim, maybe next winter/spring will work -- but it's already more fitted than I intended. Once it's all grafted together and done, I'll have to do a postmortem on my design and gauge and see where I went wrong. I already know I skipped some of the initial, slower-decreasing raglan rows that were in the pattern I was using, making the armholes less deep than they should be. Feh. Ah, well. DD likes it, and that was more or less the point. I've only used 5 balls of yarn (out of 20 purchased) so far, so a second draft is quite doable, even with extra left for alterations.
Our assignment to prepare for the plying class was to spin three bobbins, one fuller than the others, in any weight we liked, as long as a 3-ply of it would fit through our orifice. I like spinning fairly fine, so these are my singles. They're from carded wool roving (breed unknown), provided in class, spun woolen-style, mostly long-draw, and as you can see, they're fire-engine red. There were several other colors available, but the red was getting neglected by my classmates, and it called to me forlornly, "You like wearing warm colors! Spin me! Spin meeee!" I'm thinking the 3-plied red yarn might pattern nicely with the natural white and brown yarns I've been spinning, neh? Or maybe it will make a nice hat or mittens mostly on its own.
When I'm spinning my own fiber on my own time, this is what happens:
This is some of my Cormo, perhaps 15 rolags' worth, spun into singles as thin as I can manage on my Lendrum fast flyer (also woolen, some long- and some short-draw) without breaking more than a few times per hour of spinning. And now I have evidence that these singles do, in fact, 2-ply up to a nice laceweight. Here's the "happy yarn" from my last post, now washed, hanging out with some friends:
The sewing bobbin at the bottom is for scale -- it's a Singer bobbin, in case you're keeping track. The white mini-skein is my test 2-ply Cormo laceweight skein, and I think it will work beautifully for what I want to do, which is a lace stole. More on that later -- perhaps much later, since spinning up that much laceweight might take a few, oh, years. :) The brown yarn is Corriedale, spun in the grease on a drop spindle and 2-plied on a wheel, and then washed on the stove for extra heat. There are about 100 yards there, and it's worsted weight, more or less. (I am too lazy to get out my wraps-per-inch tool right now.) The purple yarn is from a batt I blended from more anonymous carded wool toward the end of my Spinning I class. I Navajo-plied it, and I'm pleased. There's not enough for more than a doll hat or so, but fortunately, DD adores purple and has dolls in need of warm things.
And yes, I still knit sometimes:
Shining Violet is almost done. I've grafted one underarm and woven in most of the loose ends. I just need to pick up the neck stitches and make some neck edging (I haven't decided between ribbing and garter yet) with one more buttonhole in it. It's a little hard to see in the photo, but there's a short placket that will have a total of two buttonholes in it, to allow for DD's uncommonly large (even for a preschooler) head. DS-on-the-way has a pretty big head, too, as do DH and I. Wish me luck in labor!
I'm bummed about the sweater's sizing. I was trying for a year's growing room, but it fits exactly right now, which means DD will probably only get to wear it for this spring and maybe fall. I designed it for easy lengthening in hem and sleeves, so if she stays slim, maybe next winter/spring will work -- but it's already more fitted than I intended. Once it's all grafted together and done, I'll have to do a postmortem on my design and gauge and see where I went wrong. I already know I skipped some of the initial, slower-decreasing raglan rows that were in the pattern I was using, making the armholes less deep than they should be. Feh. Ah, well. DD likes it, and that was more or less the point. I've only used 5 balls of yarn (out of 20 purchased) so far, so a second draft is quite doable, even with extra left for alterations.
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