Tag, I'm it.

So I've been tagged by Senja to do a seven random facts meme. I'm pretty sure I did something like this a few months ago, but whatevs. So here goes:

7 Random Facts About Me:

1. The sound of someone either chewing or drinking too loudly or with their mouth open actually makes me nauseous, which in turn makes me a little irate. Even my husband has felt the wrath when drinking water too loudly for my taste. I blame my mom, she does has the same thing.

2. I have a severe nut allergy that I only learned about last September. Surprisingly enough, I had a huge peanut butter cookie the day before my allergy test. Apparently it could have killed me. I've had one severe anaphylactic reaction--from almonds.

3. I am currently testing out as many non-alcoholic beers as possible. I love beer, but can't drink it pregnant, so I'm trying to find the best N/A beer out there. So far it's O'Doul's Amber. Surprised even me.

4. Due to my pregnancy I now have a rather impressive gag reflex. I can no longer do dirty dishes, take out the trash, or pick up the dog's poo without gagging about 10 times in a row.

5. Unlike most married folks (from what I've gathered, at least), I am a wierdo because I think my in-laws are fantastic! They have always been extremely warm and kind to me and the rest of my family. I am lucky.

6. I find the term "furbaby" repulsive. I'm not entirely sure why. I love animals, and my dog is part of our family, but somehow "furbaby" sounds disgusting and wrong to me.

7. I can only drink milk if it is either EXTREMELY cold or very hot (as in steamed milk, not boiled milk).

I got skills.

I stole this from another knitter, who stole it from someone else's blog.

Bold for stuff you’ve done,
italics for stuff you plan to do one day, and
normal for stuff you’re not planning on doing.

Afghan/Blanket
I-cord
Garter stitch
Knitting with metal wire
Shawl
Stockinette stitch
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Knitting with camel yarn - I have a crapload of vintage Spinnerin camel in my stash, so yeah.
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Hat
Knitting with silk
Moebius band knitting
Participating in a KAL
Sweater
Drop stitch patterns
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Slip stitch patterns
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Domino knitting (modular knitting)
Twisted stitch patterns
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Two end knitting
Charity knitting
Knitting with soy yarn
Toy/doll clothing
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Slippers
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street)--I like my knitting too much to leave it for strangers
Continental knitting
Designing knitted garments
Cable stitch patterns (incl. Aran)
Lace patterns
Publishing a knitting book--I wish.
Scarf
Teaching a child to knit
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Knitting to make money
Button holes
Knitting with alpaca
Fair Isle knitting
Norwegian knitting
Dying with plant colors
Knitting items for a wedding
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, tea cozies…)
Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars
Olympic knitting
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with DPNs
Holiday related knitting
Teaching a male how to knit
Bobbles
Knitting for a living - I wish.
Knitting with cotton
Knitting smocking
Dying yarn
Steeks
Knitting art
Fulling/felting
Knitting with wool
Textured knitting
Kitchener BO
Purses/bags
Knitting with beads
Swatching
Long Tail CO
Entrelac
Knitting and purling backwards
Machine knitting
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Stuffed toys
Baby items
Knitting with cashmere
Darning
Jewelry
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Writing a pattern
Gloves
Intarsia
Knitting with linen
Knitting for preemies--I hope not.
Tubular CO
Freeform knitting
Short rows
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Pillows
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Rug
Knitting on a loom
Thrummed knitting
Knitting a gift
Knitting for pets
Shrug/bolero/poncho
Knitting with dog/cat hair
Hair accessories
Knitting in public

It's a Boy!

We had the big ultrasound today. And it's a boy. Yes, I was hoping for a girl, but really, the only reasons why were 1) all the insanely cute girly things to knit, and 2) Josh and I had already picked a girl name. So now we have to decide on a boy name and I'll just have to find some adorable baby boy knits.

Unfortunately, there was something wrong with their computer, and the techs weren't able to print off any of the pictures for me. However, they ARE going to send me them via snail mail. So as soon as I get those photos I'll post 'em!

Baby Surprise Jacket 2.0

It's finished! I made it with Dale Svale. It's so soft and purty. And I used vintage buttons. See?



A special thank you to the dolly for modeling.

I'm a lucky bastard.

Look.

Just LOOK at what my secret pal sent me!



That's right, a crapload of chocolate! And not only that, it's from Vermont Nut Free Chocolate, so I don't have to worry about dying and all... Oh, and they're crazy delicious. It's really good chocolate. Thank you secret pal!!!

In other news, Josh set up the crib today while I supervised and lent a tiny bit of assistance. It's awesome. I'm an adult.



Is that a DOLL in the background, you ask? Yes. It is. And no, we haven't found out yet whether we're having a boy or a girl. That's Monday. Hold your horses already. Josh and I bought a doll for a couple of reasons. For me, the main reason is so we can carry it around and put it in baby-like places so Marley gets used to something that he can't mess with that's about that size. The other reason is so Josh can learn how to diaper and we can both learn how to use a baby sling without subjecting an actual child to our inexpertise. And yes, there is a diaper on the doll. I couldn't help it. I had to check to see if I could still do it.



Oh, the doll also cries and makes other noises if you press in different areas. Marley gets very concerned when it cries. It was in the crib and Josh pushed it's foot to make it cry and Marley came up to the crib, stuck his nose through as far as he could and tried to kiss the doll. Awww...

I promise, this is the last you'll hear about the doll (in this post at least--hey, who knows...). When we were driving home from the store I realized one of the doll's eyes (which are the open-shut kind) was stuck open. So I shook the baby. I know, I know. NEVER shake a baby. Which is exactly what Josh immediately said to me and nearly made me pee myself from laughing.

20 weeks and 2 soakers

I'm officially half-way done with my pregnancy. Here's my 20 week photo:



In knitting news, I've finished two diaper soakers recently. The first was made with self-dyed Lamb's Pride (my first try at Kool-Aid dying!) and the second was made with a variegated Galway. I think they're purty. I tried both leg opening styles. We'll have to wait and see which hold up better in the long run.

Baby poll

Enter your guess in our baby poll! Guess the weight, date, length, and gender!

Wedding Shrug

Not mine, silly. I'm already married.

I'm going to my friend Jay's wedding this weekend and the maternity dress I have, while totally adorable, has spaghetti straps. So needless to say, I needed something over my shoulders. Especially considering it is a May wedding in Wisconsin. I mean, you just never know how cool it's going to be... I decided to make the bed shrug from the latest Interweave. It was one of the patterns you had to get online. So here it is in all it's glory:



And the obligatory lace close-up...



I am pleased.

I can't wait for the wedding! A bunch of my college friends will be there, some of whom I haven't seen in YEARS. Yay!!!

Handspun Goodness

I had my last spinning class on Saturday. We learned how to ply--both standard and Navajo! I plied two skeins and left my smaller two as singles. Here are my finished skeins. The purple/brown skein is wool and alpaca and is my first skein. The brown skein is pure alpaca (thanks dad!) and is a little more even, as you can see in the close up...





I think they turned out pretty decent.

Also on Saturday, I went to Craftstravaganza and purchased a lovely skein of hand-dyed and spun Corriedale from my Yarnery co-worker & pal, Lara. I'd show you the skein, but I've already knit it up into this:



Lovely, isn't it? It's SOOO soft! I love this pattern too. It was a super fast knit. Lara sells her yarn here on Etsy too. I believe she'll be updating pretty soon with a bunch of stuff that was also available this last weekend. It's truly lovely yarn and I highly recommend it.