Sprout's First Baby Blanket

I've been debating for a while how or what to say on this topic. Here goes.

Charlie and I are having a baby!!! ** jumps up and down in excitement, then sits down really winded and eats half a watermelon,** We are very excited. We are not finding out if it's a boy or girl, so I call it "Sprout" instead of calling it "it". I bought the yarn when I was 7 weeks pregnant after my first appointment. I was so excited I had to do something, but also so tired that I knew I wouldn't have the energy to sew a quilt right away, but knitting, that's easy. I did most of it on the couch while watching shows or movies with Charlie and some of it in front of the fire while he cooked dinner. Knitting also travels much easier than sewing projects so I did a lot in the car on the way to places over the holidays, or at my in-laws while watching a Harry Potter Marathon.

The pattern was one I've seen many times before I was even pregnant and really liked from The Purl Bee. It was super easy to follow, even for me; a pattern hater and novice knitter.



It's super warm and soft, I want to cuddle with it myself on cold days.

I deviated a little and knit more than 10 rows for some of the colors, since I wasn't out of yarn yet. I partially wish I hadn't done that because now the blanket is much longer than it is wide, which makes for a bit of an odd shape. Made with love is what I'll say. And I sure do love this little Sprout.

Lauren

**** This was at the beginning of the post but seemed too depressing and

 long winded so I added it here. Feel free to not read it.*****

I have promised myself I am not going to blog exclusively about pregnancy and the baby. I also don't want the baby to have his/her picture all over the internet before they have a say in what is posted. That doesn't seem fair to me, and I wouldn't want to do that to a baby/kid. My parents took all kinds of embarrassing pictures and videos of me, and I said some pretty dumb things, but there was no internet to post all that stuff on so those humiliating things are between us, the photo albums, and the VHS tapes. I intend to keep it that way with this baby. Sounds like a pretty boring blog now huh? That's what I was thinking too. I even considered not posting here anymore. As a good friend once said: "you don't have to post it on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/your blog (insert other social media here) for it to have happened." Good point Sammy! If only more people realized that.

I do still like taking pictures of what I've created and sharing them here though. Another friend said that her blog serves as a reminder of things she had done and she likes looking back on old posts. I feel the same way, it's fun to look back on things I sewed ages ago, and also a good reference to what changes I should make to patterns etc. Conundrum city ensued, which is why I have not posted a lot (anything really) lately. After much thought I've decided that I have no qualms about sharing things I have sewed or made for the baby, so I think it will stay a crafting blog, but be less about the other stuff. If you want to know about that, feel free to call, text or e-mail me.

Life Updates: Ugly Hat Edition

I am totally in love, head over heals in love, with "Call the Midwife." I've been trying to restrain myself and watch only one episode then waiting a few days. This goes against every scrap of American nature I've grown to embrace since Netflix invented instant streaming for the ipad.

This sweater is taking me forever.

Sandlot reference anyone? I have started over 3 times, and ripped out thousands of stitches and am still only on the first sleeve. I am taking a break and waiting until mom Mum can help me over Thanksgiving break.

I hate cooking. That's not news to you is it? If so you must not know me well. I hate cooking so much that I have started to not even like eating. I obviously still do, as is apparent by my weight. If I wouldn't get all cranky pants and probably kill someone I would just skip eating in most cases. Can't someone invent a pill I can take that would replace the need for me to eat? It's 2012, let's get on this.



Do you ever feel like you wish you were either smarter or dumber. I see a lot of things around me that should be changed, and have a lot of great (to me) ideas, but I don't have the brain power to execute these ideas. If only I were smarter and could figure out how to make my ideas a reality, or dumber so I didn't have ideas in the first place. Having a solidly average (self diagnosed, no proof) IQ can be so exhausting sometimes. Also, being a prissy know it all who can be doubly as exhausting.

I finished my last ornament today.



It's Friday. For reals, look at a calendar. Woot! It's Friday but it's not Thanksgiving yet. I wish it was. I am already 1/15 packed, which means my crafting supplies are packed.

Charlie and I bought season passes to Ragged Mountain. We have been skiing at Cannon for the last two years, but the Student discount Charlie was getting is over now that he went and graduated. It's also farther from our house and we'd feel bad leaving Penny home alone for that long on the weekends. I just need to invest in a coat that looks like everyone else's and a face mask so none of the kids I work with will recognize me there. I wouldn't look too obvious in this would I?



Speaking of winter wear. Every winter I pull out my homemade hat and Charlie says he won't go anywhere with me if I wear it. I knit it before I learned how to knit in the round so it's just a large piece of knit knitness folded in half and sewn up the sides. I used to wear it all the time in high school. Today he said he would let me continue wearing it if I wrote a blog post about it. That happened after he ripped it off of my head while we were going outside to walk Penny. He purposely lets me get way ahead of them and then crosses the street so he won't be associated with me. Then he said wearing the hat would be comparable to him having a picture he drew in 5th grade on his desk at work. I see no comparison  What's wrong with wearing a silly hat that gives you joy? What's wrong with being proud of how far you have come in your "talents"? (I use the world loosely here.)

On second thought, who needs a panda mask when I can just do this.



Guess I'll be skiing alone a lot.

Did you ever think to yourself in college "Oh boy I can't wait to be 26 so I can write stupid blog posts on a Friday night instead of ragging with my friends." Yeah, me either. I did spent a lot of Friday nights stuck on a coach bus watching "Remember the Titans" and other movies that my teammates had on VHS. I say teammates because I was a division 1 athlete. Was.

My friend told me she liked the first post I did like this one so I decided to do another one. If nothing else it give me some good laughs on a Friday night.

Lauren

OMG The Progress

Or lack there of. I've started knitting a sweater four times now. One of these times I'm going to get past the first 4 rows. Sometimes I am too stubborn for my own good. I know that this task is too large for me to take on. I know that my gauging is never correct and always much too tight. I know my Mom lives 4 hours away and does not want to help me knit a sweater. I know all of this and yet I am going to keep trying. Sometimes the only way to learn is to keep going even though you know you shouldn't. 

Perhaps my progress would be faster if I had something to watch whilst knitting. I've been trying to decide if I should start watching "Doctor Who". Several people I work with, as well as kids on the Cross Country team talk about the show constantly. I love British shows, (sorry Dad) but I'm not sure if I could watch David Tennant and not associate him with Barty Crouch Jr. from Harry Potter. 

Someone else at work told me about "Twenty Twelve" which sounds appealing but I can't find it online anywhere. Alas, I will just have to wait the 84 days until Downton Abbey comes back. 

Do you have an series' you like that I could watch for hours on end that are available on Netflix?

Lauren