Baby Shalom

I wanted to make my new niece Iris something, but since she lives in Texas (where it’s currently really, REALLY hot, like 106 degrees today) I didn’t think a sweater or hat would probably be a wise choice. So I made her something that probably won’t fit her until winter anyway.

So I whipped up a sort of version of the Shalom Sweater. Only I made it into a tunic.

It’s sort of made up… so I hope it actually fits.

There’s an opening in the back, I think I will add some wooden buttons to it to close it up.


And now I’ve got some more zucchini brownies to eat. I’m totally calling it legit to eat them for breakfast because they have zucchini in it. That is legit, right?

Baby Sophisticate

I made another sweater for the Togglebuttons.


It’s called the Baby Sophisticate. Because, of course I want my baby to be sophisticated looking.

I (obviously) haven’t added buttons to it yet. But I was also thinking about adding elbow patches, because I think it would look awesome and scholarly.

Well, I’ve got to get ready to head off to work. Happy Friday, everyone. Have a good weekend!

Little Green Elephant

I made another elephant for the nursery.

He’s a tiny little thing.


Wow. Sorry, these pictures really aren’t very good.


Well, no baby yet, guys. 38 weeks and two days, now. And he’s not doing anything to make me think he’s coming anytime soon, either. But, I’ve got dishes to do and the house to tidy up before I head off to work for the afternoon, so I should be off. Happy Monday, everyone.

Turtle

I made another little friend for Togglebuttons!

I know I’ve made a lot of turtles, but I didn’t have any for my own baby, and it’s one of my favorite patterns, so I decided to make another one.

And the green matches his bedding.

And he’s getting to know the locals.

Buttons Buttons

I also spent time this weekend sewing buttons on completed projects. I’m so bad about actually finishing projects! I love actually finishing the knitting part of it, but then I put it aside and forget to do the little things like sew buttons on and weave in the ends.

But, I got these all completely finished. I was hoping to have a baby to put them on, but hey, you know, no biggie, right?

I got some wooden buttons on the Cabled Hoodie, it looks a lot better with buttons, I think.

And I also got buttons sewn on the Pebbles vest!


Other than that… pretty much just been sitting on the couch. How exciting!

What I’ve Been Doing Instead Of Having This Baby

So, no, there is no baby yet. He tricked me on Saturday… he got me good. I started having contractions that were 4 minutes apart. I got excited. These were painful contractions, so, you know, naturally I thought this was the beginning of labor. That paired with horrific back pain really got me thinking that this was it. I was going to have this baby SOON. So, around 7:30 we called the hospital and they told us to come in. They monitored me for an hour and by that time my contractions were coming almost every minute, but they weren’t lasting long enough to be as productive as they needed to be. So, when they checked me after laboring for 4 hours and I was only a centimeter dilated. WHAT? I couldn’t believe it. I was so frustrated. The nurse was really optimistic and told me all kinds of things like “It may take a while, but I really think you’re going to have this baby today or tomorrow” and I filled my silly little head with all these thoughts of having a baby that night. They let me labor there for another two painful hours before she checked me again, around 10:30pm. And I had only dilated half a centimeter. Which, in other words means “Go home.” So much for that full moon Saturday night…

So…we went home. I was pretty much heartbroken, but was trying not to think too negatively, because I was still having tons of contractions and was still laboring really hard. There was no way I could sleep through these, and my back was still aching really badly. We tried to watch some tv, but the pain was bad enough that it was just annoying me more than anything. I told Paul to go get some sleep, because I wanted him to be somewhat awake and sane if he had to drive me back to the hospital. So I stayed up and tried to distract myself on the computer. Around 1:30am my mom pulled into town, having driven straight from Tacoma, and we went on a walk around campus to see if that might speed things up, but it didn’t… (boo) so I decided that I should probably at least TRY to sleep, so around 2:30 or 3:00 I laid down in bed, but couldn’t get comfortable and could NOT sleep, so I got up around 6:00am to try to eat something, but immediately threw it up. And then I kept throwing up and wasn’t able to keep anything down at all, so around 9:30am we called the hospital again and they told me to come in and they’d monitor me for a bit and give me some fluids. So, they gave me some IV fluids and some anti-nausea drugs, after that I felt much better, but was still contracting pretty regularly, so she checked me again and I hadn’t dilated at all since the LAST time they checked me 13 hours earlier. By this point I was starting to finally think that this baby is definitely not coming today and he’s just teasing me. Mean little boy. So, I got home around 12:30pm yesterday and took some Unisom and actually managed to fall asleep for 3 1/2 hours, and felt a whole lot better. And since then I’ve still been contracting regularly, but just not super painful contractions. So that’s where we’re at. No baby, but still lots of contractions… which means he could come tomorrow, or he could wait another few weeks.

BUT, on the bright side, I got another project finished! Actually, it’s two projects, but they go together so nicely, so I will show you them both today!

It’s a new little sweater for my baby Togglebuttons! Paul picked out the colors and the yarn.

I’m not thrilled with my button choice. I am wishing now that I had found some wooden buttons. I think it would have looked nicer… but I am not going to worry about that now. These will do for the meantime.

But… I also made some booties to go with it!

I thought about making a hat also, but I thought that might be a bit too matchy-matchy and end up looking silly.

I really like this pattern for booties, (I didn’t like it the first time I made it, because it was a complicatedly written and not very clear) but now I think it’s the best. Also because it’s nice and stretchy around the ankle so they can’t slip off little baby feet.

And so there you go. That’s what I’ve been up to instead of popping out a baby. BUT it’s been blissfully cool today, and we even got a bit of rain yesterday, so if this is an indication that the hot weather is gone and fall is on its way, that is OK by me! I also don’t mind having my mom come out early because if the baby was here, she’d just want to play with him, but instead right now right now she’s mopping my floors (they’ve been sadly neglected during the pregnancy…) and cooking and cleaning and organizing my cabinets, so, you know, that’s awesome. She’s nesting for me, I guess! I pretty much just sat on a chair as she went through my cabinets and sorted items, and we got rid of a ton of things I never use anymore. I just had to sit there and say “keep” or “toss” and she took care of the rest. And now I have a clean and well organized house. And I didn’t have to do a thing (except for go into false labor).

So here we are. Still waiting for baby. If anyone wants to come hang out with me or distract me that is totally welcome, since my mom is leaving tomorrow morning (unless the baby decides to make an exit tonight? Not likely, but who knows!) And all of you who have offered your distraction services so far, I am definitely going to take you up on that this week. And don’t worry, I’ll let all of you out there in blog-land know when Togglebuttons decides to make his grand entrance!

Fishy Fishy

I made another fish this weekend! He was a belated birthday present for our niece Arielle.


And these pictures that Paul took of it are cracking me up. I would have never thought to take pictures of it on top of a bowl of apricots.

He’s much more creative with the photo shoots than I am. I’m pretty sure I should just have him take the pictures from now on.

And today I am going cherry-picking with some friends. I am hoping that the exercise will bring Togglebuttons out… SO happy not to be on bedrest anymore. That was getting mighty boring! But I DID get a lot of knitting done, so it wasn’t ALL bad!

Penguin II

So, I loved that little purple penguin so much that I decided that Togglebuttons needed his own penguin.

Little Penguin waves “hello!”

And now he’s joined the rest of the little zoo!

Also, while cleaning out the spare bedroom and making room for all of the baby stuff, I found that little blue and white bunny that I made a year and a half ago. He’s not my favorite, but hey, it’s another critter to add to the menagerie.

So, any ideas of what animals I should make next? I’ve got to keep myself busy until I am off bedrest, so I don’t go absolutely crazy. So, any suggestions would be appreciated! I know Autumn already suggested a green elephant (to match the bedding!) so I may start on that. But I’d love to hear what you guys think!

Little Purple Penguin

I made this little Purple Penguin for a custom order. Isn’t he cute?

He’s on his way to Portland as we speak.

I liked him so much that I cast one on today for Togglebuttons! Although, his will just be a black and white one.

Also, can I show you guys something kind of disturbing? It’s not too gross, don’t worry. This is a picture of my feet today.


Sausage feet! They look sunburned! They’re so swollen that they’re turning pink! Pretty gross, huh? I swear I didn’t adjust the color or anything, that’s how red my feet are! It’s soo hot outside right now, and that sure isn’t helping with the swelling! Plus, the medication they put me on to stop contractions is also a blood pressure lowering medication… well, that’s contributing to the problem. BUT, in good news, I went to the doctor yesterday and everything is looking great. He’s head-down, I’m not having any contractions thanks to the medication I’m on, but he said I should stop taking the medication this weekend, and then if I go into labor then they are just going to let me have this baby! I am trying not to get too excited about the fact that I might be having this baby as soon as next week, otherwise if I don’t end up having him next week I don’t want to be disappointed. But things are looking good, and he’s still measuring big. They approximate him to be around six pounds, but who knows how accurate that is. But everything is looking good!

Another Friend for Togglebuttons

I made another little friend for Togglebuttons! It’s a pattern I’ve used before, and thought he was kind of fun, so I thought I’d make him again.

Although, there is something not quite right about his face. I always struggle with the faces…

But I think I am done working on him, because I don’t feel like working on it anymore. And I’ve got other projects to attend to.


Although, his green color does coordinate nicely with the baby’s bedding.

Yep- I think he’ll fit in nicely with the locals.

Also, guys, I totally finished that tie I was working on. And it rules. Seriously, I’ll show you pictures on Thursday. It’s the best, ever. I am really pleased with it.

Ok- see you all tomorrow with your “You Knit What?!” Wednesday!