She's Finally Here!!

Clarissa, of Clarissa's Baby Kimono and Clarissa's Bucket Hat and Clarissa's Baa Baa Blanket, is finally HERE!!



Isn't she beeyootiful?

Mother and baby are well and happy.

And yet another finished object

But before you think me too productive, let me tell you it was a hard fought battle against UFO-dom.

First, I thought the baby shower was NEXT weekend. Said a coworker on Friday "Your friend's having a baby shower on Easter?" which made me think hmmm. So I pulled out the invite to discover the shower was Sunday (yesterday). Okay then. One day to finish.

So I had on the schedule this baby kimono, a sheep blanket (as in a blanket with wee little sheep on it, not a covering for livestock), and fearing the kimono was too simple, a darling little bucket hat. As of Friday when I discovered the sudden lack of time, I had the kimono top assembled but not trimmed or embroidered or snap-ified, one pant leg done, the other 70% done, but neither assembled or trimmed, no drawstring. The blanket was 15% done and the pattern for the hat was selected but not cast on. I was also running low on the Berroco Plush for the sheep.

So Saturday morning rolls around, I (hung over BTW) knitted and knitted and knitted, ran to Suzoo's for Plush (no white), called Yarn Lady (no white Plush), Red Bee (no Plush), Tall Mouse (no Plush), went to Joann and Michaels (finally sub-bing out the something else for the Plush). It took me until after midnight to finish assembling the pants and trimming the top. I didn't dare start the embroidery.

At 3AM IN THE MORNING, I finally had to call it quits - an inch and a half into the hat.

I got up in the morning and finished the sweater. I think I was just so darned tired - the french knots wouldn't knot. Then I thought there was one too many, so I cut it off - and CUT through the sweater. IN TWO PLACES. I yanked up the ends and knotted them together, threw the whole thing in a gift bag and ran out the door half an hour late.

I have never seen so many gifts in one place. HUGE gifts. Bags overflowing with gifts. I thought at least mine in handmade - it might be the smallest bag here, but it's filled with specialness. So what happens before she gets to mine? She opens FIVE other gifts of hand-knitted sweaters and blankets - and one quilt.

Sigh.

I gave up the struggle and promised Karen to give her the hat and blanket some time before she gives birth.

Baby Kimono

Working away on a baby kimono for the aforementioned preggers friend. It's the Kimono Set by Ann E. Smith from Knit It! magazine. (BTW - does anyone know - is that no longer being published? I can't seem to find a website.)



I finished the pieces for the top, and joined them tonight, but have to pick up stitching around the outside for a border. I need to find a crochet hook to help pick up the stitches - it's just too tight.

In the meantime, I also started the bottoms. Once I finish this up, I'll have no excuse not to get back to work on the sheep blanket.

On a roll

Ta-DA!

(drumroll)

Tempting is FINALLY complete! (Weaving in loose ends as we speak)

An actual, honest-to-god FO

Yes, I finally finished something - truly finished, even with the weaving in of the loose ends and quasi-blocking. (Translation, I pinned it out, but then discovered that you shouldn't block acrylic, so I unpinned it. But at least I tried.)

This is a SDSU-colors throw for my daughter's dorm room. I have been working on it for a couple months as a Christmas present, but of course, it took until well past 12/25 to finish it. On top of that, she recieved several blankets from others (figures) as gifts for the holidays. (But mine is hand made, so of course it's better. And by hand-made I mean MADE by fricking hand, not tying together two pieces of fleece for half an hour.)

She goes back to school tomorrow morning, so it's done just under the gun. (4pm today).

I'm so high on finishing, that I think I might go whip out the Tempting and finish that bad boy off too.

What Makes a Pattern Sexy to You?

As part of the next issue of the Sexy Knitters Club newsletter, I want to find out what makes a pattern sexy. It's amazing to see the diversity of styles that are nominated each time for the KALs and I'm fascinated by what makes a pattern such a hit with some and a dud for others.

What Makes A Pattern Sexy to You?
	It's all about the fiber
	It looks good in "my" colors
	I feel comfortable when I'm wearing it
	It's hot without being obvious
	It's hot AND obvious
	It looks like "me", but a little bit better
	A nice tailored fit
	Something with a little room to breathe
	I don't know what it is, but I know it when I see it
Free polls from Pollhost.com

SDSU Throw

It's not exactly rocket science, now is it?



I'm exactly halfway through the SDSU blanket for my DD. I did forget to change the stitch pattern when I did the first white stripe, which threw it off, but oh well, it's moving along pretty quickly and I can do it fairly thoughtlessly while watching TV or listening to an audiobook.

Continuing my repeat journeys into the off-topic, I've also been playing a little bit in the kitchen. I've been pretty glued to blogs about bento (carefully arranged, balanced meals, usually boxed, originally from Japan but adaptable to anything) lately. If you haven't seen bento before, you might want to check out some of these:

• Cooking Cute -not updated very recently, but the archives are great
• Lunch in a Box - bento for mom and child, regularly updated with some great non-asian lunches, as well as post-lunch reviews
• and my favorite, Just Bento, from the creator of Just Hungry (another favorite in the Bloglines feed) - both asian-inspired and weight-control conscious, with an emphasis on good cooking and smart portions, and not so much with the making faces on your food (a surprisingly popular bento "craft")

So here are the bentos I made recently:

Stirfry zucchini and green onions with shrimp (for those of you on WW, only 1.5 points) and a half cup of brown rice - originally onigiri (shaped rice ball with savory filling and nori wrap) that I smooshed down into the side cup so I could close the top

and a slightly larger one for a hungrier day

Crisp steamed french beans tossed in sesame oil and soy sauce (they look much oilier than they were - the darkness of the photo makes them seem greasy), sprinkled with sesame seeds, salted salmon, WW red potato salad and two white rice onigiri.

And then totally not healthy, in the re-assembling comfort food genre:

Tuna fish casserole, turned into individual tarts using repurposed refrigerator biscuits. I am almost too embarrassed to admit that there is nothing in this little bit o' goodness that did not come out of a can (oh wait - there's the deep fried potato chips!). Oh well, boy and man gobbled them down and licked the plate, so some days you just gotta go with it.

Fingers crossed, prayers said

My girlfriend? Pregnant again. I am so happy for her - really, just deliriously happy. She's made it past the first trimester (they didn't tell anyone in case of a repeat of last time) and the testing has all come back clear and healthy.

I have to send a little positive-ity for her health and happiness into the blogosphere.