antler mittens

Thank you for all the good wishes on our baby news! We are over the moon. I can't believe how many changes our lives and my body have undergone so far, and I know this is just the beginning.

On knitting news: I finished my Antler Mittens a few weeks ago. They are snuggly warm and squishy soft because of those cushy cables and Quince and Co.'s Osprey yarn. I predict they'll get a lot of action this winter as part of my winter-white knitted set. So far I've made a hat, cowl, fingerless mitts, and now mittens. I hope to add leg warmers and a headband someday. 

mittens + blue cup from my last pottery class

As part of my prepare-for-baby frenzy, I signed up for another pottery class, which starts this week. I figured I should squeeze in time for things I want to do now, before my belly gets too round to throw pottery on a wheel or I have a little one at home.   

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Tonight I keep checking the news for word on the winter storm headed up the East Coast. I hope all of you in the Northeast stay safe. My thoughts are with you!

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work in progress

Finally, I can share the reason for my quietness the past few months.

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My husband and I are expecting a baby next April!

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Although it's too soon to know if we're having a boy or a girl, I've knitted a few things. I think this deep blue Baby Sophisticate cardigan will look cozy on any baby.

yarn along: antler mittens

A late entry for yarn along day

Those are my super-soft, squishy Antler Mittens that I can't wait to wear. I've finished one (except for the thumb) and the second one is knitting up quickly, too, thanks to the Aran-weight Osprey yarn. I love the geometric antler cables, and even though the mittens might look long, the length is actually perfect. The cuff hits mid-forearm, so I won't experience any cold air leaks when I'm bundled up at the bus stop this winter. 

I had a friend ask me why I'm making mittens instead of gloves. Well, I'm mitten person all the way unless gloves are absolutely required. I wrote more about my reasoning here. Are you a mitten or a glove person?

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Last week I reread Naked by David Sedaris. He never fails to crack me up. I especially wanted to reread the chapter "Ashes," in which he writes about when his mother was dying of cancer. The first time I read the book, the serious turn of the chapter made me burst out in tears. It came so unexpectedly--in one chapter he showed his mother bantering and full of life and then suddenly she was dying. I'm not sure why I needed to read that again so much, but I felt it calling to me, so I did.

I just started (re)reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I read half of it in high school, but this is the only book I was assigned to read that I didn't finish (gasp!). I was a seriously studious nerd in high school, so I felt mortified that I couldn't finish the book. It was junior year, I was out of time, and something had to give. I did, however, manage to see the musical version of Wuthering Heights twice at our local theater that semester (I was an usher, and did I mention, a nerd?). My theater experience along with some hastily googled summaries allowed me to reenact the novel for my class using photos of celebrities taped to pencils as characters (for an A!). I'm hoping that I'll feel like I really earned that A when I finally read the entire book. 

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What are you making or reading this week?

here i am

I am back after some much-needed time away at the beach. I didn't knit a stitch during my vacation. Somehow between swimming, snorkeling, hiking, strolling, eating, reading, and lazing about, I just didn't get around to it.

I'm glad to be home now, snug in my little house as the air turns chilly outside. It was so good to come home to fall. I've pulled out my handknits and am ready to make comfort food. Tonight I made vanilla pudding, and I've got my eye on this sour cream apple pie. I can't wait until it's cold enough to have a fire. And now that the weather is cool, I'm ready to knit again. I've got a pair of mittens on my needles, and my Rocky Coast is calling to me again.

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I'm still sorting through our beach photos, but I'll show some here soon. You'll be amazed at how much Japanese food we ate while we were in Hawaii!

yarn along

This week I've been working on the same secret Christmas present. It doesn't look like much except for miles of ribbing, so I figured it's safe to show here. I've been relishing the mindless knitting involved in this project. Knit two, purl two. Ah. It's a stress reliever, for sure. Check out my Ravelry page to see more details of the project.

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Really, I've spent the majority of my time this week reading. We're planning a beach vacation! I've been poring over guidebooks and daydreaming. Recently I've fallen asleep thinking of Hawaiian foods and beaches, which makes for some sweet dreams. 

I also just picked up The Homemade Pantry at the library and can't wait to make something from it. Everything looks so delicious and the stories Alana Chernila tells make each dish even more tantalizing. Because I'm in fall mode already, I'd especially like to make one of the comfort foods (maybe pudding or toaster pastries). 

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What are you making or reading this week?

Yarn along with us over at Ginny's.

yarn along

yarn along

I fell off the knitting train for a whole week. I blame those sleeves! But I'm back to knitting now (although not back to sweater-knitting). I've been working on lots of gifts. I cast on this simple gray project last night; it's a Christmas present, so I can't share details here. I'll include them on my Ravelry page if you're interested.

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I've actually been reading quite a bit lately. Over the long weekend, my husband and I rearranged our large collection of books, so of course I made a big to-read stack. K loves Michael Chabon, and I've read some of his fiction, so I thought I'd try out this book of essays. Chabon's writing is clever, entertaining, and offers insight into what men think about (baseball, family, feigning confidence, cooking). One of my favorite parts of reading Manhood for Amateurs is that I can talk to K about it because he's already read it, too. Sometimes I miss being a lit student and reading books along with a class full of people. 

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How are you this week? Are you reading or making anything?

I love to know what other people are making! Here are some recent favorites:

Alicia makes the prettiest cakes, and she's just shared a chocolate cake recipe that I can't wait to try. 

Kristen makes some beautiful (and impressive!) jewelry.

A lace A-frame tent would be the perfect hideaway for an afternoon nap.

Tracy's handmade rabbits and polka-dot cookies make me so happy. 

I want to sew up a bunch of these simple bags and try out different stitch patterns on my sewing machine in the process.

thoughts on the f-word and a rainbow morning

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I quit Facebook two weeks ago. Not for some grand ideological reason. I quit mostly because every time I logged in, I felt my tension rise. The news feed seemed endless. Minute updates and political arguments annoyed me. So, I shut it down. 

Although I probably will be back again (it's the only contact I have with some friends), I'm enjoying the gains I've found these two weeks. I have more time out in the real world. I used to lose whole hours when I checked updates on my phone. Hours! Hours that I could have spent knitting! Or reading, walking, chatting, playing games, and gardening. I don't feel as stressed. I'm glad I don't have to hear everyone's opinion during this political season. Also, I've talked to a couple of friends on the phone, and it felt great to actually connect instead of reading general pronouncements about their day. And I've received emails. Those are few and far between these days, so I'm savoring them. 

But of course, there are losses, too. I quit on the spur of the moment, so I'm sure I left some friends in the lurch. Also, I know I'll get invited to fewer events because I'm out of touch. One of my friends quit Facebook more than a year ago and hasn't returned. She told me she's glad she did except that she doesn't like missing out on invites. 

Anyway, if we were Facebook friends, please know I didn't unfriend you. Of course we're friends (even if we never were Facebook friends!). Let's stay in touch. I'm only an email away!

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A note about the photo: Lately we've had chilly mornings. Of course, I'm always ready for fall, so the other day I broke out my hand-knit socks and snuggled under my ripple blanket. When I finally looked at myself, I couldn't help but laugh. I was completely covered in rainbows! It was a great way to start the morning.