I don't like asking for good thoughts for myself, but...

went to the doc again today (oh the joys of late pregnancy and frequent office visits) and my blood pressure was high again, still protein in places there shouldn't be. I got to go to Labor and Delivery this time for non-stress test monitor, more pee tests, more blood tests. Everything looks fine, but...but...

They want me to stay pregnant until 39 weeks, which is only a week and a day from now, and then if my pressures stay high, they'll probably want to induce me. That's not the biggest deal. But still.

Any good thoughts you can spare would be appreciated.

Thanks muchly.

Thank you to the universe

For that day when I got stubborn and made my mom and step-dad come over and put in railings on the basement stairs, rather than trying to force my landlord into it (a lost cause, regardless of the law. I also don't have storm windows, a hardwired CO2 detector, or proper insulation.

If I did not have railings, I'm pretty sure we'd be on our way to the ER right now.

At it is, my toes on my right foot hurt, I bruised a finger, and scraped my arm. This is a much, much better alternative.

Thanks, God. Thumbs up to you. :)

Love,

me

"Hey, 'Shell, I think I'm a housewife..."

Bonus points if you can identify that song. B, if this isn't a gimme for you, I'm ashamed of you.

So, finished work on Saturday. Hoorah! Bosslady still needs to learn about boundaries, as she was trying to talk work with me on Sunday, when I was in shopping for "employee appreciation" (i.e. please spend money! Have 40% off!). I dumped her on a customer and made a break for the door. She says she'll call me. We'll see if I answer the phone.

So, it's been an exciting week in knitting world, as I've finally managed to actually pick up my needles again after a long break. I have a few irons in the fire, but here's what I want to show off right now:


I got Cat Bordhi's new book.

Oh. My. Goodness. This is like sock knitter paradise. This is like having someone say "Yes, I know the sky is blue *most* days, but what about the days its gray? Or kind of steel? or that funny purple color around the edges? Don't those days count too?"

I'm in love with this book. I want to knit every pair of socks in here, especially the baby socks. Mom's already been pointing at a couple of different things and saying "Ooo. I like those. Oh, I really like those. Ooo, THOSE are really nice!"


So yesterday, skipping the class socks (I'm such a rebel), I cast on for these. Yarn is Fleece Artist Merino (I assume it's the 2/6, it's the stuff everyone sells as sock yarn, anyway, and I got mine at The Loopy Ewe before everyone in the world figured out how great the shop was and now I can't ever find the fun stuff in stock before crazy people with ten times as much stash as I have have already snapped it up (not that I can afford anything right now anyway). The colorway was listed as Renaissance. The needles are Addi Turbos, size...0, I believe. I default down a size in needles always. I probably could have gone down one more and gotten a slightly closer gauge on these, but I'll just make the foot a teeny bit short, and all will be well in the end. It's the exact opposite of how I knit socks for Alison, actually.

But truly. Cat Bordhi's never set my hair on fire before. Socks on two circs...okay. The yucky looking self-published books...okay. Great. Thanks. I'm off with Nancy Bush, thank you. Until that vogue knitting sock issue, with the sock knit from two strands of trekking. Those...wow. In love. So totally in love. And if I remember correctly, those socks had a strange architecture...you started toe up, and you knit the increases in a v on top of the foot. There's a similar pattern in the New Pathways book. And I was enchanted with them, and the fit, and way they were rethought.

And this entire book is like that.

So, the first socks are the Sky Architecture socks, the ones straight out of the first picture, I forget the name of the pattern and am too lazy to walk across the room today. They are for me me me and I'm knitting them because when visiting my Aunt Diane in the hospital last week, I remembered just how COLD hospitals tend to get, and I thought "socks will be nice." And then when I was cleaning the bedroom, a pair of suede slipper bottoms fell from the sky (or at least I don't recall buying them, EVER) and I thought -- how perfect. Now I can make myself lovely warm socks that won't slip on the yucky blucky linoleum. It's a good day.

For those tracking the personal news -- baby and I are still healthy. My blood pressure spiked up a little bit last week, and since it was the holiday and the docs were playing it conservative, I won an all expenses NOT paid trip to the lab to find out if I was developing preeclampsia. Answer: no. Good! It wouldn't be a huge deal at this point anyway, they'd just induce me rather than waiting for me to go into labor naturally, but still...scary. Meanwhile, my aunt is doing pretty poorly. She's been moved to the Respite House, since there's nothing more the doctors can think of to try. I didn't even know that leukemia can attack your skin, but she's covered in welts the size of blueberries that are apparently related to what the leukemia is doing to her blood. She says they don't hurt once they come up, just when they're starting to happen, they itch and burn and feel awful. She says she'd still like very much to be here to see my baby, and do I think I can see if I can make it happen this week?

I smiled and hugged her and tried not to cry. If she isn't physically here, I know she'll be watching over me while I labor, but that thought is both a comfort and a sadness that is unfathomable in both directions.

Much love.

One more month.

To the more-or-less date.

We're not talking about the possibility of late babies around here. As far as I'm concerned, December 13th is a late baby, as I was originally promised that I would be due December 6th, and was therefore planning a late date of the 13th. So, um, yeah. Plus, this kid is totally a Sagitarius (the only thing that calms my stomach when it's in a rage is spicy food), so she has to be born before December 20th, right?

Despite the number of people commenting on how "cute" it would be to have a Christmas baby, I know better. I was born December 28th. I've never had a proper birthday in my life, and most everyone, if they remember my birthday in their Christmas haze at all, sends a joint Christmas-birthday present. Hmph. At least, if I can birth the kid in mid-December, she'll have a fighting chance of being remembered. I think you have to be better off in the ramp-up than in the let down.

7 more days of work. Then my leave begins. This means that I'm taking a hit with a couple of unpaid days but -- and you can say this with me if you want -- I. Don't. Care. I'm not concerned about the money, Robb and I still have a significant portion socked away, and I just can't survive the work of labor and newborn-ness if I'm running around frantically at work. Although, who knows, maybe I'll report my new-and-improved pelvic pain to my doc on Friday and she'll decide I need bedrest. I wouldn't complain about that. But even if she doesn't, that's a mere 42 hours left in that stupid building. My new boss is no better than the old one, and is possibly even worse.

So, November 25th, I'm free. I will curl up and knit tiny things and putter around the house and take walks and watch Planet Earth again. And again. And maybe again. And I'll be a little more rested for when it comes time to welcome my little one into the world.

I knit one pair of baby pants out of some Knitpicks Shine I had lying around, and then started a second pair that are more fun. I will fiddle around and show them to you tomorrow I suspect.

I posted more pics of stash and -- goddess help me -- some WIPs on the photosite.

I also found some really wonderful new tea -- Lipton's white tea with pomegranate and blueberry. I think it's funny that the box says something like "with real blueberries!" because it made me think "And fake pomegranate?"

I think that's all of my news.

Erm...yes. :)

Smiles.

I don't want to hear one stinkin' word...

...about nesting.

Robb already said his fill while laughing at me.

The fact that I want the stash to be organized is nothing to comment on. I can't imagine why you would. Not at all.

If you want to see the newest level of insanity that I've hit, check out my photo site. And no, of course that isn't all of it. It's a start. I can see what I have (and I found two skeins of Lisa Souza's yarn that I was starting to suspect had somehow been lost). I need to figure out how it can go back into the closet and be organized there, as well. I'm really not sure how that's going to happen.

What will be really scary is if I start photographing WIPs. That would make me start being a bit more honest about where all my knitting needles are, huh?

Meantime, I'm off to knit Lenore. I want my second sock done, please. :)

There will possibly be more photoshoot later. I'm not terribly concerned about color authenticity, I don't really want to sell anything (that I've found so far), this is more for me to start being more aware of what I have so that I can a.) not feel guilty when I want something I really really don't possess already and b.) stop myself when I want something that is exactly like three things I already own.

It's a good theory, anyway.

Much love.

Bad Knitter! Bad!

Red Sox socks: Finished.



They fit the recipient quite well (and it's a mark of how swollen my poor feets are that they also fit me perfectly). Plus, according to all, they played a significant role in the Red Sox winning their second championship this decade, so that particular someone had just better love them. :)

But, what did I do when these were done? Did I pick out another pair of half done socks from the basket that lives under the living room table? Did I leap immediately into a second sock, knowing that with my sock urge needing to be scratched, and that it was a perfect time to complete a pair that had been stymieing me for more than a year?

Just what blog do you think you're reading here?

Did I, in fact, cast on for Lenore with needles that were probably a titch too small, but were available, and when I realized that gauge just wasn't going to work, even for stretchy lacy socks, did I reach into the basket and rip the needles out of a second sock that has been on hiatus since last June or so?

Yep, that's the me you know and love. I'm showing enough restraint with all the things I've not done since I got pregnant. There is no need to add "knitting" to the restricted list.

I'm in love with this sock. The color shown above is pretty crap, but it's a rainy day outside, brightening the indoor lights just made the purple show up garishly, which it really really isn't. It's this subtle thread running through, breaking up the solid black of the sock, making it just that little bit of flirty goth, instead of emo-I-cut-myself-for-you-goth. There's some implication in the newsletter that came with the sock kit that this is a series of colors...if so, I can't wait to see the rest of them!

Let's see, life updates...second birthing class was much more useful. The first one was "why you want a natural birth," which I feel like I get, or else I wouldn't be there. The second was more "things you can do to get a natural birth," and that was much more useful. The yoga section focussed on things and positions your partner can help you be in to be comfortable while having contractions, and I know Robb appreciated that part a lot more. He also got kudos from the other guys because it was our turn to bring a snack and he put his foot down at the grocery store, insisting that we get some crazy jalapeno cheese that was a HUGE hit with the men-folk. So, all in all, success.

Baby is very healthy; she's more or less in position, head down, turned to the side, which is all good...I'm feeling cozy about all of this, because I feel like I'm ready, and she's acting like she's ready, so I'm not scared of the birth-part, and I know that's the most important thing. I don't know that it'll be fun, but I do hope it will be exhilarating and empowering. One really meaningful thing someone said to me early on in my pregnancy was birth was incredibly intense, but that the trick was not believing everyone else who told you that it was painful, because the intensity didn't have to translate into PAIN in the sense that you're going to rip apart, fall apart, or be torn apart. I've focussed on that difference between pain and intensity for awhile, meditating on it in my quiet way. I'll let ya know how it works out for me!

Now, the sad news...my Aunt Diane, briefly in remission, once more has leukemia cells circulating in her blood stream. This time, there's nothing they can do. So, we might have weeks, maybe a month...I feel broken hearted over this, I wanted so badly for her to see my baby, but for me to wish for that right now might be to wish my little girl into the world premature, and I know my aunt wouldn't want that of us. So we'll go visit this afternoon, and we'll trust in the wisdom of the universe, and if necessary, I'll remember that she'll have the best view of all the day my baby comes into the world.

Do me a favor today? Go love someone, okay?

Thanks.