Yarn Along

So thank you all for putting up with my random musing and mumbling during the knitting blog-a-thon last week.  It was fun to think about my crafting in a new way and perspective.  Next year I will have to be more organized and come up with prettier, fancy posts but for now we are back to our regularly scheduled yarn along with Ginny and the crew at Small Things.

I'm still working on Deepak Chopra's book Magical Beginnings: A holistic guide to pregnancy. It's actually a really wonderful book, I am just finding my reading time so limited these days.  I never really thought about the mother-baby connection before.  Obviously the child is growing inside your body and you are aware of your baby in a way that no other person, even the father, really can be.  I mean you are feeling movement and kicks long before they can be felt from the outside.  I noticed with our first child that the baby seemed so much more real to me than to Frank from a very early stage and I didn't really get why at the time, but pregnancy is a really special time for you and your baby to just be together. I never thought consciously about sitting down and talking to the baby or just mentally sending some good, happy vibes his/her way. I find myself doing it but reading this book has brought me a new perspective on consciously building a dialogue/bond with this baby even from early in pregnancy.  It's a pretty amazing way to think about pregnancy and since I am really hoping for a natural, medication free childbirth this time (no induction/augmentation/preeclampsia/PPROM please) I figure it's never to early to begin discussing with this baby the manner in which he/she will arrive. The power of positive thought! 

Next up on my pregnancy reading list is The Greatest Pregnancy Ever: Keys to the Mother-Baby Bond by Laurel Wilson.  I'm also looking into Birthing from Within (the book but also taking a class) and I want to try hypnobirthing but I need to figure out how I want to do it (class vs home study and which program) and start practicing already. I also just got from the library Imagine: how creativity works by Jonah Lehrer and I'm going to have to read that one quickly because it is only a 7 day loan- yikes! I need to find some reading time...

Part of the reason that I haven't had much reading time is because I have been knitting like crazy this past week.  I was doing a Diva swap and totally procrastinated and then had to cram to get it sent out on time- which I did so good for me! I finished up these longies last week and then started on my swap package.  I made a Fae Folk hat from Carina Spencer's pattern (which I love by the way...) with Malabrigo merino in Dusty with natural trim and a natural crochet flower from this pattern. I love how the flower came out.  Frank had to help me but it's super cute and I did 95% of it myself so I'm really proud of that. Then I made some fingerless mitts from this pattern also using the Malabrigo merino in Dusty. The pattern called for a fingering weight yarn but I wanted them to match the hat so I got the smallest needles I had to knit them with and while they are a bit long they actually fit James pretty well. Because I knit them on pretty small needles they are nice and dense which I think will be good for gloves. Hopefully they will fit their intended recipient... After I finished the gloves I cast on a Toasty Sleeper for the babe and I've knit 12 mind-numbing inches of stockinette so far.  I imagine the bodice will go a bit faster once I get there. I'm using Manos del Uruguay Maxima yarn in agua and the variegation is coming out completely differently than I expected.  Next week you'll get to see pics...

Happy knitting and crocheting...