The Case of the Missing Toothbrush....

And other dental hygiene adventures...

The other night Weston yells from the bathroom "What did you do with my toothbrush?"
"Nothing" was my response...
"Well, then someone or something has taken my toothbrush"
"That's weird"
"I say something because when we first got Bud (W's childhood dog) he stole like 12 of my toothbrushes. We had no idea what was going on until one day my sister moved her bed and there was a stash of them"
"Well, if Bud could get up there to get the toothbrushes, it is possible that both of our dogs can"
"Yeah, I know, weird though..."

It is weird. Who knows what happened to his toothbrush. And why would the dogs take his and not mess with mine?? Our bathroom is kind of the center of a lot of controversy in the house. I'm pretty sure that having two sinks has saved our marriage. Having two tubes of toothpaste may have been the best idea we ever came up with as a couple. We have very different ideas on how the tube of toothpaste should be squeezed. W believes it should be squeezed like some sort of ape... right in the middle, all crumpled up. It drives me CRAZY. It gets so hard to get the toothpaste out when you are towards the end of the tube... I choose to squeeze the tube like a normal person with two fingers, typically starting towards the bottom. I don't flatten or fold it as I go, but it remains in a state that it would be easy to do so should I choose to.

About three months ago (or more, hard for me to gage time anymore....) we switched to natural toothpaste, (Josh kindly informed me that one of the ingredients in toothpaste is saccharin, which is known to cause cancer. So once he found out that natural toothpaste is still endorsed by dentists as being effective, he switched, and because I value his opinion so much, I did as well...) which is incredibly expensive.  (Like $5-$6 a tube depending on the store you get it at...) So we went back to having one tube of toothpaste. BIG mistake. Every time I went to brush my teeth I would become immediately annoyed. Then, Fred Meyer had a big sale on the toothpaste we use (2/$6) so we stocked up... but still, we were only using one at a time for some reason... THEN, I was admitted to the hospital and W brought me my toothbrush and a NEW tube of toothpaste. So now we are back to two, one for each of us.

I mentioned the other day that the toothpaste we use now likes to get everywhere (it is a bit more runny than the previous toothpaste, not like a liquid, but not as solid....) and I hate when it gets on my shirt.  Then he says that he is glad we both have our own tube because apparently I am the only one who has this problem, and I "get it everywhere" even in the lid and on the tube... so I was driving him crazy. :)

Even if we have to go back to sharing a sink at some point, I don't think we will ever go back to sharing toothpaste. And the Baby is going to get its own tube too when it has teeth to brush... then Baby can figure out how s/he wants to squeeze the toothpaste all on his/her own.....

Off to brush my teeth....

Monogamy

As we learned yesterday, I am a process knitter. Also, I am typically not a monogamous knitter. (Which W asked me this morning if that was a "real thing" of if I was making it up) Although, lately, I have been rather monogamous. I will start AND finish something. Weird. Maybe because I have so much more knitting time? (Not being able to leave the house or really get up and do anything does lead to a lot of knitting time) Maybe I'm nesting? (Which, I don't really think is true... I don't feel a need to get these things done, they just happen to get done.) Who knows. But it is driving me crazy. I don't like being monogamous... as a knitter anyway.

I have dreams of start-itis. I have the yarn for three projects sitting next to me begging to be put on the needles. Somehow, it is still just sitting there. I want to have different projects to choose from. And, I need something that doesn't have a ton of finishing to work on... the things I have finished lately have too much finish work to them and I do not like finish work. So today, I will cast on the second of W's socks. (Can you believe that!?! I only just finished the first one like a week ago... this is monumental!) The finish work of a sock... weave in the ends. Easy, peasy. I also want to cast on the colorwork baby sweater... my awesome friend picked up the yarn from the shop for me since I can't go anywhere... and it is amazing, and I think the sweater will be even more amazing.... AND I want to cast on this felted sheep bag. I did a practice swatch for it last week and while it turned out fine after the felting, I hated the knitting of it. So, I have devised a way to make it easier for me to knit and do less finishing, both of which make me happy. Plus, it will look better pre-felting, and since I don't really want to felt it that much, I think this will be better in the long run. So that is the plan. Forced start-itis. Because if this whole monogamy thing keeps up, I will have a lot of FOs but I will be crazy. I can't take it much longer.

Alright, off to go eat lunch. W took today off of work to work on the shed, so he is making me some food and then I'm going to go enjoy the sunshine... the weather people say it is supposed to start raining again tomorrow, so get out while you can!!

Process vs. Product

I'm not sure if I have talked about it before, but here is a whole post about the type of knitter I am.  The Yarn Harlot describes two different types of knitters in her books, process knitters and product knitters. Process knitters knit to knit. They enjoy knitting, they like the feel of knitting, they like to keep their hands busy, and will knit and knit and knit. Product knitters knit because they like FOs. They want to knit a sweater, a pair of socks, a hat, etc.

I am a process knitter.

I love to knit. It is weird when I go a day without knitting, even stranger when I go more than a day. I constantly have multiple projects going, strewn about the house (much to W's dismay), and yarn is a way of life for me. I typically don't care what I'm knitting. Sure, I like FOs, but I don't always pick up my knitting with the goal of finishing it in mind. I knit things that are fun, interesting, challenging, pretty, and catch my eye. I mostly do not knit for myself. I think I have one hat that I knit for myself out of some handspun that is stuffed in the back of my trunk by the front door (which is kind of sad, because it is beautiful...). I did keep the lace shawl that I knit, but it has a specific purpose in mind, I plan on using it as a nursing cover when in public... Oh, and one pair of socks, but one is on display at Quilt Tree, so I can't really wear them. So three things. One of which is useful. All of my other knitting is given away to other people. Or in a box for Baby.

I enjoy giving my knitting away because other people enjoy it. Only a few of my friends are knitters, but everyone always admires my knitting and ogles my projects. So I knit for them. I pick something that I think will be fun to knit, grab some yarn that they would like, and go. It's a win-win. I get to knit, which is what I enjoy, and they get a FO, which they enjoy.

I think the other reason that I don't knit for myself that much is that when I start things for myself, they rarely get finished. Even smaller things. This goes back to why I knit. I love to knit, and I love to see others get enjoyment out of my knitting. When I knit for myself, I miss out on that second half of the equation. So, things get pushed to the side that are for me and projects for others move to the top of the rotation. I guess one could argue that knitting for Baby is kind of knitting for me, because the baby won't really know or care that it is wrapped in handknits... but when it is older and looks back at pictures I think my hard work will be appreciated.

So what kind of knitter are you??

Random thoughts

Sometimes I think my Roomba is really, really smart and I worry that it might be part of the robot takeover of the world ala i, Robot. (Example, once it hits something it won't hit it again until the next day, it has memory... and it locked me out of the house once, which to me meant war...) Other times I think it is very, very stupid. Like today when I heard it making weird noises and I went out (to make lunch and investigate) to see it continually trying to shove itself underneath the fridge.  Silly, Roomba.

Also, I am obsessed with mittens. And, after looking through my fav's on Ravelry, it isn't just colorwork mittens, I am obsessed with cabled mittens as well. I think I'm going to finally take the plunge and cast on for the Squirrel Sampler Mittens (rav link) if I can convince W to help me wind yarn for them tonight. He thinks I should start his other sock... silly man.

Ooops, the Roomba just locked itself in the bathroom. Better go rescue it.

Political Parties

Aren't parties supposed to be fun??

Today is the primary election here in Alaska, and there one of our Senate seats is up for re-election. Did you know that Senators are in office for SIX years?? Holy cow. This is important stuff. The big showdown is who will get the republican nomination, Lisa Murkowski (the incumbent) or Joe Miler (the Tea Party supported candidate).  I'm sure there are people running for the Democratic nomination, but that always takes the sidelines here in AK.

Let me just say, I will be happy when it is tomorrow. I am so tired of all the political TV ads, and I haven't even been watching that much TV!! I have been in bed and I maybe watch an hour at night right around the news. It seems every commercial is telling me who to vote for (or why I shouldn't vote for someone) and it is annoying.

I don't really like primary elections, because you have to choose what ballot you are going to vote on, either the Democratic ballot or the Republican ballot. And Republicans have a closed primary, meaning that unless you are registered Republican, Independent, or Undeclared, you can't choose their ballot.... which I have issues with, but I am Undeclared for that very reason. I wanted the opportunity to choose any ballot I want. I wish I could vote on both of them, and I kind of don't understand why I can't do that...

I'm not going to get all political and say how I plan on voting, but I do think it is very important to vote. Voting is one of the many freedoms that we enjoy, and that others have fought and died to defend. I am a die hard voter. Give me something to vote for, and I will go vote. I believe in the democratic system and want my voice to be heard.

So, get out and vote. The weather isn't stopping you! :)

Random, short post

A random conversation I had with W this morning...

Me: I'm kind of mad that I've lost all of my hair rubber bands... now I can't pull my hair up.
W: Lost all of them? I find them everywhere. Yesterday I found one in my shoe!
Me: Did you put it somewhere that I can find it? Can I use it?
W: No! I threw it away! They are everywhere...
Me: Well, that isn't very much help.

I think this is a pretty good snapshot of my life. Neither of us was mad, in fact, it was quite a humorous conversation. I thought it was funny that a rubber band had made it into his shoe. But, I think this is how W feels about a lot of my stuff... it is everywhere... it gets everywhere... I tend to not clean up after myself... (For example, right now, on the coffee table I have one GIANT bag of yarn for a baby sweater, the leftover yellow yarn from the baby sweater, leftover orange yarn from the turtle toy, and my current WIP baby sweater... oh and two knitting books.) Moving on....

Teaser Pics

So, I haven't photographed everything, but here is the baby sweater and the last yarn that I spun before this whole bed rest thing. I went to the Dr. today and she said that I am doing amazing and that I am now allowed to SIT down all day! Which means, I can do a little bit of sewing and spinning!!! :) But, I will still be taking it super easy... in fact, after I post these pictures I will probably take a nap... but I am excited that it seems everything is pretty much back to normal in baby land. No more signs of Baby trying to break out early.. :)

The sweater still needs to be blocked and the yarn is supposed to be more of an "art" yarn. It was spun out of a batt inspired by Rex from Toy Story. I autowrapped it with silver thread. It is chunky and fun. No idea what I'm going to do with it, but it is neat... alright, off to nap. :) 

Knitting in Bed

Today marks day 8 of bed rest, whew! This is a bit exhausting. BUT, if I only have to do it for 5 weeks, I'm already 20% done, so that's not too bad. And, tomorrow I get to go to the Dr! Never thought I would be so excited to go to the dr (well, midwife tomorrow), but it will be the first time I have left the house in a week, so that will be awesome. No pictures yet, but here is what I have finished so far (and will hopefully get W to help me take pictures tonight)

*Bitty Cabled Cardigan (small newborn size, hoping baby is too big for it when it is born and that it will become a donation item) in an amazing yarn from A Tree Hugger's Wife. It is a simple superwash merino, but OMG it is so squishy. I'm in love. When she gets back from vacation, I might have to order more... (well, this was a gift from her, so I guess order SOME... either way, I need more)

*The first of W's pair of socks. And he is in love with it. I am too. Not as much as him, because I was a annoyed that I didn't start the toe sooner and wanted to rip it back but he told me, "No, I like it like this, just sew it up right now and it will be perfect"... so I did. :) Less work for me, and we are both happy

*Karla's hat (which I won't have a picture of because she took it home last night) which she loved. And, she has taken up knitting and recently knit herself a pair of mittens out of very similar yarn, so now she has a matching winter set!!

*A turtle toy (which I'm on the last part of the shell right now and still needs to be stuffed and seams together, but it is only 8 and I'm sure I will be done before bed.) I knit this out of some baby alpaca yarn that was in my stash from when a yarn store in Wasilla went out of business. I couldn't turn down a good price on alpaca, and I knew I would find SOMETHING to do with it (which normally I don't, so I am pretty proud of myself) and it is just perfect. I love the colors for the turtle and he is so soft... I will just have to make sure to keep it away from the dogs.

The one bad thing about knitting in bed, is the way I have to lay to be comfortable (which is a relative term at this point) makes it hard for me to knit without my elbow hurting because of the angle it has to be bent at, which makes me take too many breaks for my taste. So, I'm not nearly as productive as I could be if I could just sit up, but that is not what I'm supposed to be doing, so I'm not. I am being very good. Probably better than a good number of people who get put on bed rest, so I am proud of myself. A great example of how good I'm doing: today a package was dropped of at my house before 10 am. I did not get up to get it, even though it is about 5 extra steps to the front door as it is to the bathroom. BUT, I waited until almost 1 when my mom came by with lunch and she brought me the package... so there....

I have been listening to an audio book all week, which I was loving. It is nice to be able to "read" and knit at the same time. But, I finished it this morning and don't have any others, so I have moved on to podcasts. If you have any suggestions for podcasts you love, let me know, because I pretty much spend 6 hrs a day by myself (not all at once, someone visits to feed me for lunch in the middle of the day) so I have plenty of time to listen! I might have W move my TV from my sewing room into the bedroom tonight. I can lay on the couch, but it isn't nearly as comfy, and he normally likes me to hang out with him out there when he is home, so I like to save my couch time for the evening.

Dogs are still doing well with me not being able to take care of them. Actually, surprisingly well. They take turns laying with me during the day, which is sweet. And, wow, this is a long post considering I have pretty much been doing nothing. I am going to go finish that turtle now and ask nicely for W to help me take pictures so I can show you tomorrow!!

Surprise!

So, this baby was just a little too excited about joining our awesome life... I was admitted to the hospital on Monday for pre-term labor. I was between 1-2 cm dilated and having contractions that I couldn't feel. So I was on bed rest and monitoring for a while. They gave me some meds to stop all the stuff, and it worked, so I was able to come home yesterday. I'm still on super bed rest, I can only get up to go to the bathroom and I am only allowed to sit completely upright for 20 mins a day while eating. And I can shower and go to my dr appointments. But that is it. Nothing else. I'm in bed. All the time. Luckily, I can knit. What would I do if I didn't knit?!?

Baby is excited to be home, so much happier.... I don't think Baby liked being on the monitors at the hospital and was starting to protest by sleeping all day and moving whenever they were trying to find the heartbeat. Since I have been home, Baby has been having a party! They were telling me how to do kick counts if I was concerned about fetal movement, but that shouldn't be a problem if this keeps up. :) I also know the baby likes to be around W and the pups. Always gets excited when W gets home and talks with me.

The pups are glad to have me home, but confused on why I'm so lazy. Granted, it is only day 1 of being home (well, I was home part of yesterday...) but they are doing pretty well. W gets up and walks them before he heads to work so they don't go too crazy. They have been taking turns laying in bed with me, which is sweet.

The verdict is that I have to be on super bed rest until 34 weeks, which is 5 weeks from yesterday. Then, if all is still going well, I might be able to do a few more things... not like before, but I might be able to leave the house on an errand or something... So I probably won't be posting too much... nothing too exciting should be happening. I will hopefully be getting a lot of knitting done, so there may be some FO pics, but we will see. I'm just glad to be home and still pregnant. My job right now is to lay around and gestating, so that is what I will be doing. And knitting... knitting, knitting, knitting.....

August?!? WHA??

How is it already August?? Is there a pause button I can push somewhere?? 12 weeks before baby... which might not really be 12 weeks. ACK! Exciting, but ack!!! I'm not ready. Maybe I will be soon... I do have a car seat, so at least baby will be able to come home with me! :)

And, I think I blogged about it the other day, but I am IN LOVE with this knitting book.

LOVE it. I literally can  not stop looking at it. I have picked out my first project from the book, project 48, the starfish hat, and I will probably cast on today. This is just a wonderful collection of patterns, and because most of the projects only use one skein of Cascade 220 you can make something for $8 or $13 for something washable. Totally reasonable!! I'm making a lot of presents out of this book. Plus, the book is $18! Amazing...

I also got my Interweave Knits magazine in the mail yesterday, and it is quite the collection. I love the article on twisted stitches and all of the projects that go with it (the hat will be one of my next projects). There is also a great article about Barbara Walker. And, a wonderful mitered square baby blanket. I really want to knit that, but after working out the price for the yarn, I don't think it will be a do-able project for me... I don't really have $100 laying around to knit a blanket. Oh well.... Baby already has one knitted blanket and two finished quilts. Probably more on the way.... so I'm not TOO disappointed. 

Another knitting collection that was released this week was the new Twist collective. And man, oh man, do I wish that I knit big projects. I would LOVE to have the leaf jacket that is on the cover... I just know myself well enough that I would start it and it would never get done... then I would have invested a ton of money in the yarn that will just sit in my closet. Maybe one day... There are some other projects that I like and have saved to think about knitting later. There is one hat that I LOVED and a shawl as well. 

W is still working away on the shed. He has all the siding up and will be putting the roof on this week I think. Then he can put the windows and door on and have a closed structure! Everything after that will be finish work, so not as urgent. I think he is going to put a dog door in too for the pups. I think that will be cute and appreciated. 

Speaking of the pups, we have learned that Snickers is just too smart for his own good. One of our friends brought his dog over, and Snickers was kind of tired of him. Snickers tends to bully this other dog, but it normally isn't a big deal... they will just avoid each other once they are done playing.  Apparently, Snickers decided to show him who's boss of the yard. He dug up a bone (the other dog LOVES bones), put it behind the shed to lure him, and then hid under the shed and waited for him to come and get the bone. Then he jumped out and started barking at him... he is nuts. Luckily, the other dog just ran away and it wasn't a big deal. But, seriously, that is a bit too smart and sneaky....

Alright, I have to actually run errands today... blah...