I'm a mommy!!!

My son, Ethan, was born on Tuesday, January 25th. He's healthy and active and already learning new things at only 4 days old. I'm so totally in love with this little man! I'm so happy and feel so incredibly lucky to be able to have him in my life. Still dealing with some swelling and carpel tunnel issues though, which is making knitting tricky. I'll be sure to post pictures of projects as they progress though it might be awhile with recouping and having a newborn around. :)

Baby news

I'm making progress on the celestial blanket though finding graph paper tripped me up for quite awhile. Also, apparently in my hazy-brained pregnant state I have forgotten how to do basic math. No worries, it will get done and there will be pictures eventually.

In the mean time, I have been put on bed rest (which is BORING!!!) and I got the news yesterday that I am getting induced on Monday/Tuesday. So barring any other unexpected changes (like going into labor this weekend), Mr. C and I will be parents sometime Tuesday or Wednesday. I must say, one of the things I am looking forward to the most is getting rid of all this swelling. I can't even read a book for a long period of time without my gestational carpel tunnel kicking in and my hands and fingers going numb. If it's that bad when I'm just reading, imagine how obnoxious it gets when I'm trying to knit and suddenly I can't feel the needles or stitches anymore. *sigh* I was lucky it only started getting bad a week or so ago so I really haven't had to put up with it that long. Despite some discomforts and mild disagreements with being pregnant, I have been really lucky to have as smooth a pregnancy as it's been. I'm nervous, ok, scared beyond belief about the labor, delivery and suddenly being entrusted with a baby, but I'm hoping for the best and feel very loved and supported by everyone around me (including people who are "around me" only online). It's just another adventure right? Although something tells me this is one of those exceptions to the "it's about the journey not the destination" rule. I really couldn't care less about experiencing the "journey" of labor. I'd be more than happy to skip that part and move on to the next phase of the journey. I'm rambling now so I'll cut it short. Just wanted to update you all!

Happy Friday everyone and I hope you all have a great weekend.

Celestial baby blanket

I finally, finally started working on the celestial baby blanket I had been planning on making since I found out I am pregnant. About time too, right? I mean, my due date is Feb. 4th and now the doctor is talking about possibly inducing me in the next week or so. Yeah, about time.

Crazy how I can let little dumb things intimidate me into procrastinating or even into not doing them at all. In this case, it was a combination of having the money to buy the yarn, learning how to sketch out my own pattern, and having to learn how to do colorwork with my knitting. I knew how to change colors at the beginnings of rows but not how to do intarsia or fair isle knitting (for those who aren't knitters these are the 2 methods for creating patterns with colors within rows). Yesterday I finally decided I was just going to go and buy the yarn so I didn't have that excuse anymore, then I sat down and looked up knitting how-to videos for making patterns and doing colorwork. I almost couldn't get to sleep I was getting so excited about getting started and trying this all out. I still wish we were rich and I had enough money to buy the really nice all natural yarn but I've worked with this acrylic before and like it specifically because it's so soft. And since it's for a baby who will most likely being spitting up all over it and eventually dragging it all over the house, I like that it's machine washable and dryable. So all in all, I think the yarn choice is fine. :) And now, to get started!

Update: one things for sure, I really need to practice casting on my stitches more evenly. And what's up with this pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel syndrome? I can't work for more than 2 minutes before my fingers get all numb and tingly. Irritating.

Literary love

I'm going to pause all the wedding updating excitement to talk about this amazing book I just finished reading, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. My mom read it and loved it so much that she sent it my way for Christmas this year and I'm so glad she did! It's one of those fairly quick reads (it's not very long) but you really don't want to put it down. Most of the book I read in one day. It's a story of a young authoress in 1946 London who receives a letter from a stranger on Guernsey Island (part of the Channel Islands) thus starting a relationship between her and several people on the island. The story is told through correspondence (all letters and telegrams), a style which I love because I have a secret passion for letters (I've always desperately wanted to be a pen pal to a dozen people around the world) and because it seems to take out a lot of that "filler" stuff other authors feel the need to put into their books thinking it makes them more complete.

Right from the beginning, the book reminded me of another story I adore (this time a film, I have not yet read the book), 84 Charing Cross Road. This story also follows an authoress and starts in 1949 New York. She's a poor writer who loves antiquarian books but most of what she's looking for is out of print and too expensive for her to find in New York. She sees an ad in the Saturday Literary Review for a bookseller in London and thus starts a correspondence relationship with one of the booksellers.

Other than being about authoresses and their correspondence relationships, these two stories really have nothing in common. That said, both are absolutely wonderful. You should rush to your nearest library or bookstore to find Guernsey and look on Netflix for Charing Cross Road. And if you also have a love for writing real letters and have always wanted a pen pal, keep me in mind. I might be slow about it, but I will write to you. :)