KnitterlyNotions

I've been working on baby hats to donate the last couple of days. 8 done so far, and some of them are pretty darn cute! I'm particularly proud of the football one and the pink, black, and white star one. :) I love appliques, but I tend to only crochet those, so when I'm on a knitting kick they get pushed to the side. Not sure yet where these will go, either WIC or a hospital. I'm sure wherever they go, the babies who get them will look absolutely and utterly adorable. :) All but one of these is done in worsted weight yarn (bottom left-hand hat in the group shot was made with Sidar Crofter DK weight) and a size G crochet hook. What hats will tomorrow bring? It seems to have remembered that it's the end of December in Wisconsin, and the low last night was -9 degrees. I saw a post on Facebook today that talked about wind chill advisories. What does that have to do with hat making? Oh, that means it is my season. :) MAKE ALL THE HATS! :-D

We are half done! :) I'm 20 weeks, 4 days. We're half done. Little Boy is half-baked. (Is it me, or does that sound wrong?) Some highlights of the first 20 weeks: We found out that I was pregnant again before I was late, as I wanted another baby dreadfully and I am not a patient person. We got confirmation at a quick test while Tiri had her 3 year well child check. Early pregnancy has been uneventful, which is a good thing! Heartbeat was found loud and clear at 14 weeks, 3 days by my midwife. It is the most beautiful sound. <3 At my next appointment, Little Boy was immediately found, but he doesn't seem to like being poked. He kept swimming away from the Doppler. I knew I had felt him move for the first time on November 29th. I may have felt him before that, but I couldn't be sure. I feel him regularly now, with occasion dance parties happening. I love those! We found out gender on December 19th. I was sure it was a girl, this pregnancy feels more like Ti...

The title of this post has been a hot topic for the past 20 weeks, and finally, last Friday the question was answered. First, though, what do you think? :) Here it is (look at the ties): Yep! Another little boy. And now we need to think of a boy name. Oh dear. As he is due in May, the knitting is a bit more of a challenge. It might be spring, or maybe not quite, but he will for the most part be a warm weather baby. I've never had one of those, and it makes the knitting require more thought, to say the last. I'm doing some booties (this is a boughten pattern from Ravelry that is loads of fun, and I have another pair done but for ties) and I have made him a hat too. I'm rationalizing that even if it's warm, he can still wear a hat, right? ;-) I bought a skein of brown variegated today that will be booties and who knows what else, and I was also eyeing up a skein of baby sock yarn that I have had for several years, bought and saved for a baby project to kee...

Our rainbow is growing.

I think soon I will need to have Shani put to sleep. She will not eat, and she seems increasingly miserable.She will be 16 in a few months, and I had hoped she would last longer than this. I'm still trying to get her to eat, but I'm starting to feel like I'm fighting a losing battle. Shani is the tiger. The other one is Katy.

In a mere 2 weeks, I will have a three year old. o.O When, exactly, did this become this? Of course, it isn't like I went to her crib one day and there she was, transformed. There were some in-betweens: But as big as she is, as independent, and yes occasionally naughty, she still loves this. And so do I, my Nefretiri Jeanne.

On Friday, August 15, I took a donation to the Winona, MN chapter of  Bundles of Love . I had heard of this charity several years ago, and last summer found out that there was a group meeting monthly in Winona. However, life, and pregnancy, and that whole thing, sort of got in the way Finally, finally, though, I got to go! I took these things: 25 baby hats in a good mixture of colors for either gender, 4 pairs of socks that match 4 of the hats, 2 pairs of crocheted baby booties, and 1 knitted washcloth. I took Michelle and Bexley, and Carolyn (Michelle's little sister) with me to Winona that day, as a little outing. Tiri wanted to go in with me when I dropped off my things, which I wasn't sure about at first. They adored her, though, of course. All in all, it was a wonderful experience! I will definitely go back there, and I may even attend one of the meetings to do some needlework. I mentioned that I wasn't sure about that, because of Tiri, and they all assure...

Though you wouldn't know it by how often I've blogged in the last 6 months! Sorry! It has been interesting, to say the least. A few updates: Still no baby. Still ttc. Jerek had a job, overdid it, and is now probably going to have to get a different job. He has an idea about another job that should be easier on his body. For a while he was back to being almost as bad, if not as bad, as he was when he was newly injured. Tiri is no longer a baby or even a toddler. She talks, walks, runs, sings, and does all sort of things. She's now a little girl... **sniffle** I'm still knitting. There was a period of time when I couldn't and boy was I miserable. Got my mojo back though. In fact, in the last 7 weeks or so, I've donated 100 baby hats, of which about 80 to 85 were made within that time frame. Here are some of them:

What do you see when you look at this? A little sweater, right? Do you know what I see? I see hope. I see dreams and wishes and faith. I see fear that this little sweater will never be filled, but also the determination that, if there is another baby, it will be wrapped in his or her mother's love. This is the pattern and this is my project page.  Hopefully, before too long, there will be a photo of a baby wearing it. Double score if it is a breathing baby.

I actually have a fan on Ravelry! Whee! She has asked me to come up with a few more patterns, so here I go! Fits size 2 to 3, possibly a bit larger. Gauge: 2 dc per inch.  Worsted weight yarn, 2 skeins. Uses less than half of each skein per hat. Size 9mm or M/N hook Holding two strands of worsted, chain 3, join with sl st to form a ring. Round 1: Ch 1, work 7 sc in ring. Join. (8 st.) Round 2: Ch. 2, dc in same st as join. 2 dc in each st around. Join. (16 dc.) Round 3: Ch 1, sc in same st. as join. *Sc 1 next st, 2 sc in following st. Repeat from * around. Join. (24 sc.) Round 4: Ch 2. Work 1 dc in same st as join. *1 dc in next two st. 2 dc in next st. Repeat from * around. Join. (32 st.) Round 5: Ch 1. Sc in each st. around. Join. (32 st.) Round 6: Ch 2. Dc in each st around. Join. (32 st.) Rounds 7 through 13: Repeat rounds 5 and 6. (32 st.) Round 14: Repeat round 5 once more. Finish off, weave in ends. Optional: Cut eye shapes from felt and ap...

Pulled off two donations this week. First, these three hats went to St. Elizabeth's in Wabasha. You probably recognize them from recent posts. I wanted to get some of them given away, and it's been a while since I donated anything over there, so I just ran these in yesterday. Then Jerek took this box over to the post office this morning. These have been waiting a while, but I finally got the printer to work!! Yay! There are 12 hats in various sizes from baby to adult, and two neck warmers. One neck warmer was made a long time ago, the other I whipped up in January. I am pleased with myself. :)

There were for Bexley: Pumpkin Hat Bunny Hat Preemie Bereavement Items: These are newborn and larger: I am also knitting a sweater to save for a Rainbow Baby. <3 More about that another time.