In Which I Am Relieved Not To Eat That Particular Slice of Humble Pie

Okay, I'm now two hours or so from the beginning of my 41st week, so it looks like I can skip the placentophagy. I have long labors as well as long gestations, so even if I am felled by a mighty contraction in the writing of this post, I'm going past my due date. Which is good, because a person so confident that she is not no way nohow going to have a baby is a person in a vulnerable position. Humble pie with added homegrown organ meat is not a dish I would relish, personally.

Oh, a funny about due dates: the woman who coordinates music at our parish called me today. She is a very kind lady, if perhaps a bit too heavily influenced by Liberace in matters both musical and sartorial, and she asked me when I was due. "Today," I said. She gasped. "You're so tiny!" she exclaimed. (I am tiny like a beluga whale is tiny. Compared to a sperm whale, maybe I'm tiny.) I told my husband about this conversation and he said, "You mean today's your due date?" Isn't it a little surprising that he didn't know?

A few December knitting pictures, and then I am going to kick back and enjoy the quiet in my house. All my children are sleeping and my husband is out playing poker with the guys.

I made an unbeaded Ice Queen (pattern link in the sidebar) as a Christmas gift. I hope the recipient enjoys hers as much as I've enjoyed mine. It's so light and warm and soft that I'm almost pleased when it's cold enough for me to need it. This is the project where I twisted the join, and do you know what crazy solution I tried that actually worked? I deliberately added another half-twist and kept knitting. For about ten rounds I thought I might end up just cutting off the part I'd knitted and throwing it away, since Kidsilk Haze is pretty much unfroggable. But with the picot edging to hide the bit of extra bulk and an assertive blocking to pull out that slightly mutated section, I'd be surprised if anyone ever notices.

I whipped up a pair of Curly Purly soakers as well (also linked in the sidebar). I am not sure exactly what size baby they will fit, though. After an annoying gauge mishap (about which more below) I used smaller needles than I thought I really needed so I didn't end up making soakers for a 3yo. Of course, my gauge was spot on and so the soakers are smaller than intended. Should be fine since I cast on for a medium, but the moral of the story is: swatch.

I had planned to make them plain, in solid-colored Cascade 220 since that's what I had on hand, but as I was finishing the green one it seemed so ordinary. I imagined a cute little turtle adorning its front, but unfortunately my freehand turtle is not as cute as my imagined turtle. I asked the boys if it was too ugly to live and they all said it should stay. Elwood, however, says it resembles a mutant dinosaur more than a turtle. Perhaps it's a dinosaur whose mother put its carseat in the oven and exposed it to melting plastic fumes while it was in the egg. 

I am calling the striped one a Gaudete soaker, since it was made on Gaudete Sunday from the appropriate colors. Here is a funny thing, though: I hate baby pink. I loathe it with a fierce and fiery passion. A few weeks ago I was folding a basket of little girl hand-me-downs and I stopped to call my mother. I said, "All this pink is hurting my eyes. Why can't baby girls wear burnt umber? Or olive green? Or anything other than baby pink?" I went back to the yarn store to pick up another skein of yarn to stripe with the purple, and what did I come home with? Baby pink. I'm still not sure how that happened.

Tonight I am going to finish a Muscari sock made from Tofutsies yarn. I love the cheerful colorway and am also enthusiastic about the lace pattern and the cute ribbed toe. Unfortunately, I assumed that I would get the appropriate gauge if I used the appropriate needles, and this was a faulty assumption. Thankfully, I have a friend who (a) shares my enthusiasm for the colors, (b) has wider feet than me and can wear the sock comfortably, (c) appreciates a pair of handknit socks, and (d) understands that she may not get the mate for a while since my days of knitting lace on size 0 needles are probably numbered. Winning combination, yes?

All right, I have dishes to wash and a sock toe to kitchener. I'm betting there's no school tomorrow, but we'll see about that. I am finally beginning to feel a little impatience about being pregnant. Baby is still head down; uterus is warming up though only firing on a couple of cylinders. Watch this space. :-)

Comments

[KatieButler]

I am not a knitter but love your projects and am fascinated by all of the terminology! (BTW, it looks like a turtle to me).

Prayers for a safe delivery for you and your little gymnast. :)

[Ariella]

Excellent turtle. I am in the process of finishing a baby bunting for a friend, two scarves and frogging a half-finished sweater. Good times.

[Maria Wood]

All appearances to the contrary, there is no actual RULE that baby girls have to wear pink. Mine looked totally adorable in strong red, navy blue, green and yellow. Not that she never wore pink, but I kept it to a minimum.

[Jody]

Ah, lovely lovely knitting! Love the mutant turtle, too.

How clean is your kitchen floor now, anyway?

[amy]

Ha ha ha! Pink! (sigh) I hate pink, too. I only bought two pink things for my daughter during her first year, but my mother only bought pink, so we had a metric ton of pink stuff. Like an earlier commenter, my daughter looked lovely in other colors - for her, it was deep red, navy, aqua, and pale blue. Just like any other person, Miss Olga will look good in the colors that are meant for her. Hopefully they'll be colors you can live with. ;)

[Stephen]

Prediction: in proof that the universe has balance, your daughter will be born seven weeks late and weigh eighteen pounds.

[Tracy]

pink is okay. though I prefer other colors, or strong colors - "Hot pink" is fun.

head down. find the light, Olga!