Summer Cleaning

Everyone in the GrimmWitch clan is getting ready for L. Mom has been cleaning out the attic and found some pretty interesting stuff. She has a lot of pics on her blog along with a new belly pic of me.

First pic...some Ewoks ca 1983.
These poor guys were in good condition but smell so bad from a poor storage environment in the attic. I'm going to try to clean them up.

Poor Rainbow Brite! She just looked terrible and smelled not so fresh:( We chucked her:..(
I used to have a big one too, Mom just found her in great condition.

These wall hangings are I believe faux retro, but a bit too not me, and I assume, not L.

I loved these guys when I was young. I know the albums are around somewhere.

Knitwise, I frogged the Kanoko pants as I said last post. I started again in Bobcat by Wool in the Woods. This is a CTH colorway, wild cherry. This is the same yarn Id been using for my mother in law's shawl, also mentioned in my last post.

Here is the pretty much finished Baby Surprise in chunky Zauberball. I need help with button selection.

Nesting

So as I type this, only 54 more days until L's due date. I'm starting to have trouble sleeping. I'm also beginning to get tired more often. And the pelvic pain is getting more noticeable. This week I went to the mall and had two instances of people being shocked at my size. L is due in late September and I look like this...
So am I too big? I for certain don't know. I'll ask the Dr. next week what he thinks. All I know is that I feel fine other than those little nuisances listed above.

Getting ready for L to come has been my top priority. We were living with the construction for quite a long time for such small projects...over a month. Well over the estimated time the contractor originally gave Mr. G and myself. He seemed to not really be paying attention to the project, and mistakes and carelessness lengthened the work. The tile and fixture installer, however, was great, and did a wonderful job. We are currently waiting for the last inspections.




If you live in Jersey I recommend looking up Fuda tile if you're looking to renovate. The tiles are beautiful and the employees are great. One employee, thankfully, actually caught one of the mistakes my contractor had made involving the tile and was able to help us solve it before it was too late. Not to worry; he had plenty more mistakes up his sleeve to make up for it....




One of many mistakes...that is not my sink. I mean, it's my sink now, but I didn't pick it. I had a period looking sink picked out. I asked the contractor numerous times to measure and check the sizes of the fixtures. He apparently did not, and my sink didn't fit. Had he checked it as soon as it was delivered we could have ordered a smaller, but still Victoriany sink. He never checked, so the day of the installation the sink didn't fit. He went out to Joe Shmow hardware and bought some sink. He also had the nerve to blame the ill fit on Mr. G not measuring. He did this in front of Mom...Mommy don't play that. She knew that the only reason we'd hired a contractor and not handled hiring each individual on our own was b/c I'm pregnant and didn't want to over burden myself...she interjected, "Aren't you the contractor! Aren't you supposed to do that." Apparently he opted not to blame my husband any more after that...again...only one of many mistakes.

Sorry to go on and on, I could keep going too, it was just not a nice way for him to handle a gig, especially for a pregnant lady. The work went on for so long it bled into Mr. G's vacation...we couldn't go on our babymoon to Lancaster, and spent our 5th anniversary with all the construction going on around us. This was Mr. G's gift for me...



He got me dyed and dried black roses for a Valentine's day before we were married. The flowers were damaged during the construction and have to be thrown out. Here are my replacements drying in the closet. They are beautiful!!

Mom kept me company when Mr. G was at work all the other days of construction. She brought me, or rather, brought L a butterfly cupcake to help us manage:)



It was delicious!!:)


While the work was getting done Mom and I opted to do some nesting and reorganize my sloppy yarn stash so it would be out of L's way. We frogged some stuff I barely remembered knitting, like a thick winter hoodie with pocket done in Lionsbrand done in Chunky WoolEase and Homespun. I'm using the Homespun to make a blanket for Mom.



I also frogged the shawl I'd been making for my mother in law when she passed away. This was knitted in Wool in the Woods Bobcat.




I had to think for a minute a while back about what my mother in law would want me to do with this yarn. I hope to knit a hat and scarf for all three of her granddaughters...my two nieces and L.

Now, neatened up, my stash looks like this.



Mom and I organized it by gage. Yes, there is a lot of it. There is one shelf that has novels on it, another that has knitting and crochet books, and a third with supply containers...everything else is yarn.

Directly adjacent to this new knitting storage is what will be L's playroom/guest room. It was our bedroom and will be again when L and whomever else we end up raising are old enough to be upstairs alone. Today we got the sleeper sofa and glider we'd ordered.



On the knitting front...

I frogged this bugger!

I really like this pattern so far, it's called Kanoko. An earlier pic is on a previous post. I may also be using the Wool in the Woods Bobcat to complete this project. And the Trendsetters Merino VI seen in the pic can be used for something else. It just wasn't coming out right. it was too stretchy in some places, and had no give in others.

I finished these lacy socks. The pattern is something I came up with using two others...

Taken from a previous post...

"Aussie Sock in hot pepper purchased at Yarn Diva. Pattern Step by Step Cheat Sheet for Socks by Yarn Harlot and I added the diamonds using Interweave's Lace & Eyelets book."

If anyone wants to know how I meshed the two patterns let me know; I wrote it all down. These will go to my Titi Fina (Titi is aunt in Spanish) in Puerto Rico. I think she'll get a kick out of them:)

Finally, a picture of a lazy lay about:)

Five years ago today...

Happy Anniversary, Mr. G. I love you.

L's room...

Started these Kanoko pants for L in Trendsetters Merino VI. The Ravelry link to the pattern is HERE.

Her furniture came, so here are some pics of her room.

Yippy!

Almost ready for Little L

Poncho is done, and I didn't post the Whirligig.

The pattern is from the book Knit Baby Blankets by Bev Galeskas. Here's the Ravelry LINK.

For mine I changed the color scheme, used a size 5 needle and Vintage by Berroco.

The yarn for the Whirligig by Stephanie Japel is called Let's Twist by Ellyn Cooper. Later this summer Mom, Dad, Sis, and I are hopefully going to take a drive to Mystic Conn. pretty much for me just to pig out on this woman's yarn. It is amazing. I wish she'd sell online b/c I love her yarns.

Here's the Ravelry LINK to the pattern info (pattern for in Interweave Weekend 2009) and the LINK for the yarn info.

So...the belly...

Once upon a time, when L was as tiny as a grape in there I looked like this. This shot is from a trip to the Martha Stewart show. Mom has more pics here. I included the bottom of my face so you can see what it looks like when I'm semi normal.

Now she's bigger than a ruler and tumbling most likely over three pounds and I look a bit different. The first pic is from our quick trip to the Met Museum in NYC last weekend.

And you can see the difference in my face here. My kid is huge. And I really do look different. It's very startling b/c I feel like just yesterday I took the pregnancy test.

Finally, if you need a movie night I highly recommend Inception.

IMDB LINK.

The Money Pit

Construction has been the order of the day at the GrimmWitch home. In preparation for little L's arrival in September we wanted to break down the wall between the dining room and the living room.

Shot from the living room:
before (this was a shot with the previous owner's stuff):

after:

Shot from the kitchen/dining room
before:


after:

That project is pretty much done now, new pics to come.

My mom has new pics on her blog already.

Now the contractor is working on the bathroom. It still looks like this, minus the tub...

Every day my entire house is covered in a new layer of dust and crap. Poor mom has to help me clean constantly. Had a few friends over for the 4th and my family pitched in to help clean.

Mom also bought L a ton of stuff for her room. Here's the bedding we got.

The room was yellow when we moved in, Mom and my sister, Pepper, painted the room sea foam.This color looks amazing with the bedding and these wonderful letters I ordered from Pint Sized Designs on etsy. Here's one letter.

I love them!!!

On the knitting front I've done a bit more with the poncho. I adore the pattern. It's nice and easy, but looks great.

I'm also working on a Baby Surprise for L out of a chunky Zauberball.

Only about 11 more weeks until the due date!

Thank the Gods it's the Weekend!

This week was exhausting, but I've had a nice weekend so far...
On Friday night, after work I went with eighteen of my co workers into NYC to see the Broadway musical, Memphis. We ate at Carmine's just across the street from the theater. The food was amazing. Since entering my second trimester (I'm 6 and a half months now) I feel like I can't stop eating so the meal was great for me, delicious and seemingly endless. The musical dealt with prejudice and race issues, but had a lot of humor and upbeat music. The set design was great. Not even a seriously ripping migraine could have brought me down.

And for sure I was out yesterday Knitting in Public @ Stix - n - Stitches in Montclair, NJ. Haven't been there in a super long time.

There's Mom armed with her camera. She'll have more pics from the day...
Here's Pat working on a crochet skirt for her granddaughter




While there, I purchased yarn and started on a poncho for the baby (still weird to say I'm having a baby sometimes...was beginning to feel like to would never happen towards the end there).




I'm using Vintage by Berroco to make the poncho. The pattern is from the book Knit Baby Blankets by Bev Galeskas. Here's the Ravelry LINK.
I'm only doing two colors instead of the three the pattern calls for. I have never used this yarn, but love it. It has all the squishy springiness of Ultra Alpaca without the slight fuzz - good for you to use, Mom.

My sister presented me with a beautiful diaper bag...but I'll post about all my baby stuff later.

In the evening we went to a surprise 60th birthday party for our friend, Karen. The cake was frickin' remarkable.




How cool is that!
Karen was totally surprised. The baby and I chowed down on tons of food...




All in all, a scrumptious weekend...I love my students, but do I really have to go back on Monday????