the dotted line

happy holidays

and warmest wishes for 2008!

grumpy, but stylin'

We are still packing + moving + cleaning + unpacking. Slowly getting closer to finishing. Soon.

Moving while being 34 weeks pregnant has not been much fun :: only being able to do a tenth of what I would normally do, but still being exhausted and unable to move with backache by the end of the day has made me grumpy. Very grumpy. So has sleeping on an air mattress for two nights in a row. I should mention that the air mattress has a hole in it, which we have spent hours trying to find, and needs to be blown up with an air pump that sounds like a chain saw every two hours. Even littleone protested at the noise by vigorously kicking me in the ribs.

And then there's Oscar, our cat. He's being a little monster and his behavior seems to be directed towards me and only me. Biting me, scratching me, pouncing on my belly, pawing {and biting} my face to wake me up, meowing non-stop at all hours, following me everywhere. We've tried him on three different types of food, he gets lots of attention and is completely healthy. He is cute + cuddly with J and even the dog. I'm sure he senses that something is going on, I'm just not sure if it's the move or the pregnancy that's bothering him. We've moved several times while we've had him and he's always been very adaptable. Has anyone else noticed behavioral changes in their cat while being pregnant?

The kitty in this doesn't seem quite so bad, when compared to Oscar's current antics. Minus the baseball bat, of course!

In other news, I'm happy to say that I now have a slightly more stylish appearance than described last time. My vow not to buy anymore maternity clothes, in favor of pajamas, yoga pants and my husbands' t-shirts was broken. Not because I wanted to break the vow, but because I've - no, the belly - has grown out of everything resembling clothing in our house. The remedy :: a quick visit to Gap Maternity, some semi-stylish jeans and a couple of black tops to {hopefully} get me through the next six weeks. I'm going to leave out the part that preceded the trip to Gap, the part that involved crying on the floor of our walk-in closet. Ah, hormones, I'll miss you when this is over. Nobody else will. Just me.

I'll try not to be so grumpy next time, but sometimes you just need to vent, you know? Even if it's about silly things, like an extremely annoying cat or wardrobe issues or a leaky air mattress. One thing I have discovered over the past couple of weeks is that pregnancy is ridiculous + hilarious + embarrassing + utterly nerve-wracking, all at the same time :: sometimes the best way to deal with it is to vent and then laugh at how ridiculous it all sounds.

my life feels like an episode of the beverly hillbillies

{the beginnings of a hat to bring littleone home in - more pictures here}

Except we haven't become millionaires overnight and aren't moving to Beverly Hills.

:: our sunday ::

After a quick trip to the farmer's market {where we always share a yummy vegetarian omelette, followed by an equally yummy strawberry + banana crepe...oh, how I love sunday mornings}, we spent the afternoon packing up the remaining boxes, disassembling some of our furniture and waiting for a prospective tenant to arrive for a viewing. In the end the person didn't come and although our car was packed to the brim with boxes and furniture, it was too late for us to drive anywhere. We decided we'd rather have a relaxing evening and watch a movie - so off we went to our local dvd store. Close your eyes and picture this :: a bright yellow SUV, parked in the middle of a massive parking lot, surrounded by festively decorated palm trees. The only distinguishing feature that made our car stand out was the two full-length bookcases strapped to the top and wrapped with an old quilt. Now picture me, heavily pregnant, wearing my comfiest yoga pants and a dusty white t-shirt that doesn't quite fit over the belly anymore, messy hair {similar to this}, waddling along next to J, in his ripped jeans and old t-shirt, holding our shopping :: a dvd, a carton of milk {for me}, and half a dozen donuts {for him}. I should say that he never eats donuts and rarely has a sweet tooth, but he had a craving...hmmm...aren't those supposed to be reserved for me?! As we approached our car, he spontaneously started humming banjo music and we both collapsed with uncontrollable laughter.

All that was missing was granny and her rocking chair.

We returned to our very empty home, curled up with Bailey + Oscar in bed and watched our movie. I drank my milk. He ate his donut. I complained about my backache. He complained that I take up too much of the bed. What happened to finishing a day of moving with pizza and a bottle of wine, like they do in the movies? Slightly more romantic than milk and donuts, but this is what memories are made of, right? You know, for all those "when I was 8 months pregnant with you..." stories. Oh baby, watch out :)

of sentimental value

A wrap top for littleone, which, like the disappearing cardigan, is bound with sentimentality and meaning. Started during a time of overwhelming anxiety and helplessness :: finished during a time of resolution and moving forward. Not only that, but I loved the process of making it. The repetitive ribbing and unique construction providing just enough interest, without being overwhelming or complicated. The combination of knit + fabric...just think of the possibilities! And I love how it turned out. The color. The polka dots. The stretchiness. Perfect for a baby that will no doubt grow like a weed.

pattern :: wrap cardigan {second size}, written by the incredibly talented Alison of 6.5 st and is available here {the pattern is very well written - clear, concise and easy to follow - if you're nervous about sewing the knit piece to the fabric, just follow the directions and use lots of pins, it worked perfectly for me and I'm not the most experienced of sewers}

yarn :: debblie bliss baby cashmerino in color 340700 {it took 3 balls and about a meter of a fourth ball - this could have been avoided had the quality of the first two balls been better - they were each made up of 4 or 5 strands of yarn that were tied together, which meant lots of ends to weave in}

fabric :: can't quite remember the name of it, but it is from purl

the disappearing act

Destined to become a somewhat modified version of the 'rosebud cardigan' from simple knits for cherished babies, these knitted pieces were started when I first found out about littleone : when no other knitting and no other sewing could even be contemplated, nevermind started. Row by row, each piece was slowly completed, holding it's own memories, recording milestones reached, growing along with the life inside me. I finished the last piece just a couple of days ago and excitedly started to sew the shoulder seams, the hemming {one of the modifications}, and finally knit the edging of the collar. With disastrous results. The shoulder seams don't match up and have holes where there really should not be holes. The hems don't lie flat and have completely stretched out. The aymetrical front pieces look awful {the second modification}. The buttonhole placement is completely wrong. Don't even ask about the collar. The arm and side seams remain unsewn. I was distraught {read : hormonal} and I angrily put it somewhere, somewhere out of sight, so that I didn't have to look at it anymore. Today I decided to face up to it and consider my options :: to rip it out + start over OR to keep it unfinished, knowing that the significance of each of those stitches would satisfy my need for sentimentality.

Now if only I could FIND it.
It is nowhere to be seen.
Disappeared.
Gone.
Perhaps it will turn up in some obscure moving box.
That will be unpacked months after the cardigan was intened to fit littleone.
Or maybe it will be in one of those boxes that remain unpacked and hide out in the attic or under the stairs, only to be discovered years from now.