My friends are awesome.

What, you don't believe me? I have proof...

At our semi-monthly get together Monday, the girls gave me a 'Happy Pregnancy' gift basket. It's filled with lots of stuff to pamper myself while I'm pregnant- cushy socks, heat patches for my back, a bunch of chocolate, not one but two bottles of antacids (in berry flavor- my favorite!!), body butter, and this awesome Pregnancy Wedge Pillow. I'd never heard of those before, but I put it to use tonight. I think I have some sciatica going on, and if you're paying attention to the minute details, you'll see that I also have some insomnia going on.

Which is usually OK, since I only work 3 days a week, but it sucks when I wake up at 3am on the nights before I work, only to know that I have to work a 12 hour shift in just a few more hours.


Anyway, I've started to use this time to catch up on things, like my knitting, or this blog.

Speaking of knitting, I started on this cute vest a few weeks ago.

It's from the Essential Baby book by Debbie Bliss. The patterns in this book are all so adorable, but several of the cutest ones are gender specific, and I don't know the sex of my baby just yet. This vest is neutral enough to be paired with something blue for a boy, or with a cute flowered blouse for a baby girl.

So far, I just have the back done. The pattern is very simple, and therefore kinda boring, so I've been putting off casting on for the front. I really wish I'd taken the time to calculate this out to be knit in the round, but I was afraid I'd mess it all up. Remember what happened when I tried to make my own sleeves without a pattern?
I ended up with a vest.


A couple of years ago, I started a baby blanket for my friend Kathy's baby. It was just a simple basket weave, made out of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece on size 6 needles. I knit on that damn thing for an entire 6 months. No joke. The final weeks of knitting were in the middle of the summer, with this blanket in my lap, about to cause me a heat stroke. (However, the recipient was worth it, and she actually uses it.)
Once the blanket was finished, I swore I would never do that to myself again; If there was anyone else who I felt I needed to knit a baby blanket for, it would definitely be on needles bigger than a size 6.

So, shortly after I found out I was expecting a baby of my own, I cast on for a lace baby blanket.
With Cotton Fleece.
On size 6 needles.
What the hell is wrong with me? I don't think I even realized the extent of my foolishness until one of my friends at the Knit Nook said "Man, that's gonna take you forever to finish."
Ummm, yeah.

The pattern, in case you'd like to partake in my craziness, is 'Daisy Chain' by Kimber Baldwin. Her (very cute) patterns are available at the Knit Nook.