Well, in my case, it does NOT mean I have some weird bacterial infection or new strain of mono. (Which really, I was starting to wonder…) It means I’m 9 weeks pregnant and didn’t have a clue. It means a growing little embryo is the reason I’ve been falling asleep at 8pm and have been too exhausted and nauseous to knit, sew, or even post a one lousy blog post. So thank you all for sticking with me and putting up with my prolonged absences of late.

I have just jumped the line into my 2nd trimester and things are going well. The nausea is FINALLY started to ebb (thank goodness) and my first maternity pants have been purchased (I don’t know if I’ll go back to regular pants EVER they’re so comfy.) And I have high hopes that life can return to normal (as much as that’s possible) soon.

Usually this is where people place a scan of their ultrasound, but if you’re like me, they just look like grainy blobs to you. So I’ll spare you our first pictures of the little speck.

We are, of course, thrilled. But to be honest, I’m just as terrified as I am excited. I’m sure that’s normal…but really - when you get an ultrasound and the little thing in there MOVES - it’s really surreal!

I promise not to turn this into a baby blog…but as this has taken up a LOT Of my life lately, some preggy posts will be unavoidable. Hopefully my crafting will pick up as well to compensate.

Using the beloved Random Number Generator…

Comment #16 from Jenna is the winner! Congrats Jenna! I’ll ping you for mailing info and will get the book in the mail (faster than it took me to get the winner selected…I promise!)

In other news…next post will be non-crafty in all regards. But it explains my long absences of late. And the sewing/fabric related give-away will start later this week.

Craziness has hit on a whole new level.

Back this weekend with the give-away winner and news and schtuff.

Did you know that the flu can last a long long looooonnnnnnng time? Well, in case you didn’t…it can. And it lingers like a son-of-a-gun. Gah.

So to perk me up and shake me out of my lingering whining sick phase, I’m doing a quick knitting-oriented give-away. One copy of Knit Fix is up for grabs. It’s brand new, unused, and in perfect condition. (The problem with impulsive shopping is that you often end up with an item that you later discover you already own.)

Just leave a comment in this post by 8pm PST Apr. 11 (make sure you give me a way to contact you either in you login or in the message) and the sophisticated paper slips in a bag method will be used to pick the winner. (And don’t worry you fabric-oriented folks…I’ve got a sewing give-away planned too.)

P.S. I was mentioned on Craft!!! Holy beejeebers. I’m so excited I could plotz! (What is plotzing anyhow?)

The new Spring Knitty is up! And oh my goodness…as soon as I saw this I started to drool.

It’s not the best picture…you’ll have to check out the FREE pattern for other pictures that make this beauty sing. There are, of course, other lovely patterns in this issue too…but Laminaria is the one for me.

What is it with shawls? I never wear ‘em, but knitting them…oh - the sweet knitting.

(P.S. To my dear knitting friends…I know it’s been a MONTH since I’ve gone to Wed knit night! I miss y’all and I hope you’re doing well. Have I missed out on any awesome food court concerts?)

It’s amazing what you can get done when the in-laws are in town. Don’t get me wrong, they’re wonderful people who are sweet and kind to me and I’m lucky that I have them. But I’m sure at least some of you understand the whole in-law thing. Especially when they show up for a surprise weekend stay.

But I had some Joel Dewberry Manzanita fat quarters itching to be made into something…so here’s what I did with my weekend.

It’s the Snapshot quilt from the Happy Hour quilt book. I used 13 fat quarters and this went together lickety split. I must applaud the excellent cutting instructions in the pattern. They give two options (one for slightly small fats and one for full fats) which was so great. I mean, how many patterns really respect the fact that fat quarters (especially if you pre-wash) never end up giving you a full 18″x22″?

I have the backing done too…so now I have to pin baste and decide how I want to quilt this. Seriously - any suggestions? I’d love to just stitch in the ditch, but I think the non-quilted areas will be too large (the squares are 8.5 inches wide). But I don’t want to get too fiddly - because I don’t have the patience to stipple etc and because I don’t want to mess with the clean modern lines.

I bought the fat quarters through the Pine Needle Quilt shop. They do EXCELLENT quilt kits and bundles. I have their Hip to be Square kit too and it’s gorgeous. But you can also get a full Manzanita fat quarter set at the Fat Quarter shop.

Sheesh. If this is the kind of productivity I can eke out when the in-laws are in town, I should invite them up every weekend. Uhhhh…let’s just pretend I didn’t think that.

I’m sick. I hate being sick. Especially when I’m so sick I don’t have the energy to craft. It’s like…I finally have some free time but I’m too sick to DO anything. Gah!

So to fulfill my urge to craft, I garnered the energy to refold my latest stash acquisitions (which had previously been stacking up in random areas of my craft room floor). For your viewing pleasure (and I know y’all out there totally understand the beauty of this) I present approximately 2 months worth of fabric stashing. The little stack on top are just fat quarters. The three big stacks on the bottom are mixes of 1 and 2 yard cuts. (You can click on the pic for a larger view - cuz that much gorgeous fabric needs to be seen as big as possible, n’est ce pas?)

For the record, this doesn’t include two quilt kits (and backing) that I picked up. Hmmm…those yards of heavy weight and home dec fabric didn’t make it into the picture either. Oops.

There are people out there who only buy supplies when they have a project in mind. They buy just what they need/want for that project and walk away happy in the knowledge that their precious fabric has purpose. I am not that kind of person. I’m schizophrenic when I shop for fabric. Hmmm…pinks and greens…I want to do a pink and green quilt someday. Oh! I like brown today. Wait, the new Joel Dewberry?! Mine! I rarely have a plan when I go into a fabric store, I grab bolts impulsively, and rarely do the things I walk out with have any reason between them.

But for those of you who pooh-pooh scatter-shot aimless stashing…I present a selection from the above piles. These are from eBay and 2 local shops.

Are you seeing the magic I’m seeing? Stashing RULES.

As I have been sucked back into the world of 60-70 hour work weeks, I’ve been neglecting my crafting (and my mental health along with it.) When I get crazy busy, I tend to write blog posts in spurts…I save off the drafts and post them one a day until they run out. My methodology leaves a nice gap for error such as this post. This has been lingering in draft form for a month! So here you go…the long lost knitting post about a very nice hat. (Yeah, that snow you see on the ground…that’s long gone now.) So thanks for sticking with me dear internet friends. And keep your eyes peeled as I have a few giveaways I need to do.

***
A nice stack of Cascade 220

(I love yarn cake stacks, don’t you?)

That yarn became this hat. (The green is leftover from Koolhaas.)

What you don’t see is the super soft lining knit from Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. Cuz let’s face it, who wants Cascade 220 rubbing against their forehead. The free pattern is super simple and great for mindless knitting. Do you read the Purl Bee? If not, you should as they regularly post free projects.

The only mod I made (other than switching out yarn) is doing the “jogless stripe” technique so you didn’t have the slanting on the start of the round. It’s a great technique whenever your knitting stripes. It’s a great hat that’s super warm. And since that’s REAL snow on the ground in the pic, it’s just what was needed.

Although my husband frequently marvels at my ability to stash up on craft supplies with no immediate use planned…he is almost always very supportive of my hobbies. And in some instances, he’s the worst kind of enabler.

Take for example the story of my “broken” Pfaff Quilt Expression 2048. After taking it into the shop to be looked at (and finding out I was just threading it wrong - seriously, after a year all of a sudden I randomly started threading it wrong!) I was all set to leave. I don’t know what was happening while I was with the repair person…but the next thing I know the store owner and my husband are showing me sewing/embroidery machines. And my husband is asking me “do you want it?” And when I give a “meh” response (because even though of COURSE I want it…it’s pricey and not immediately needed) he pushes again…”are you sure you don’t want it?” And again in the car, “if you want it, let’s get it.” I mean under that kind of barrage what crafty gal could resist. So we turned around, went back in (much to the owners delight), came home with this:

That’s a Pfaff 2140. We got a nice break on the price since it’s used. But it has a 3 year warranty and they upgraded the software to the 2170 set. It in amazing condition and it came with the standard hoops and the special “grand hoop” too.

I’ve never had an embroidery machine before. I’m really not sure what to do with it! My husband wants me to embroidery his company logo on his work shirts (all 3 of ‘em)…but after that…? I mean, no offense intended to anyone out there, but I’m not really an embroidered cabbage roses on a t-shirt kind of girl.

My babies side-by-side. Isn’t it cute that one is pink and one is blue? (Hey - I’m easily amused.)

Of course, the other feature of the 2140 I love is that it has a knee-lever to raise the presser foot. I love this feature and it may make this my everyday machine with the 2048 being my backup and quilting machine. Seriously, just having to twitch my knee to raise the presser foot? Awesome.

Two sewing machines! One embroiders! What’s a girl to do? Oh yeah…

The Koolhaas hat…nothing cooler. I have sewing news to share…but I have the picture of the hat now. So hence, another knitting post.

Besides being one of my favorite bloggers, Jarrod is now one of my favorite designers. Between Cobblestone and Koolhaas, how could you not love his patterns?

Considering that this hat elevated Cascade 220 from an everyday workhorse yarn to something (I think is) elegant and architectural speaks to how wonderful this pattern is. The cable repeat is quite easy to memorize and the decreases at the top (while maintaining the stitch pattern) is brilliantly planned. I did use a cable needle as I have never mastered cabling without one. But once you get into a rhythm it goes relatively quickly.

Koolhaas was originally published in the Interweave Knits 2007 Holiday Special Issue. But now Interweave has started project-by-project downloads. So you can buy Koolhaas on its own if you’d like.