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:)

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!

The Knitting Bag

So, I've been knitting a BSJ in stockinette. It's turning out nice. Here it is, in Araucania Ulmo with my many pictures of my kid. I keep thinking how weird it seems that I'm so proud of this person. She's done nothing but grow, probably sleep, absorb nutrients, that's it. But I think she's super amazing. I'm saying/typing she for two reasons a. I hate that he is the default pronoun to this day, and b. I really think it's gonna be a girl. If she is really a he I'll apologize:)



After taking that shot I went to go pull out the Dax sweater from my knitting bag to take a pic of that and found that one of my survival banana's had remained in the bag since Friday and had expired into a frothy, sticky mess. Thankfully, there were few casualties, but I found that there was an enormous amount of crap in the bag.



I have to carry around survival supplies now because the legendary morning sickness that comes with pregnancy is translated in my body to all-times-of-day sickness. I am not complaining, but like the honorary boy scout that all tom boys are, I do like to be prepared. So I always have Canada Dry, crackers (not in pick - sadly they were a casualty of the banana incident), oranges, breakfast bars (not in pic because they've all been eaten), and the dreaded banana. The pic also features an advert for the upcoming gem show in NYC...I'm super excited!



Also in the bag, my pretty new Anne Taintor knitting bag from Yarn Diva!



I always carry around reading material. Right now in addition to the two night table books I'm reading at home I'm finishing Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, just finished Blood + Water, and just got the new WeirdNJ special issue. In the center, surrounded by all this wicked dark stuff, a picture of my kid. She's going to either accept all this and become the most awesome darkling on the playground complete with Wednesday Adams braids, or she'll rebel and be a *GrimmWitch vomits in mouth a little bit* cheerleader.

I have friends who were cheerleaders and they've turned out okay, so even worst case scenario she'll be fine, but the poor thing will be the only one on the squad who's biggest fan sports an Ozzy halter, black long sleeve bolero, Betty Page bangs, and knitting accessories with prominent skull decorations.



The Dax sweater, in Bamboozle by Crystal Palace Yarns is turning out great. It feels wonderful, and the pic doesn't do the colors justice. The blue is a gentle gradient of light blue, sea foam, and all the good stuff in between.



Ah, the casualties of the famous banana explosion of 2010. You can see my Raymore and Flanagan envelope...we finally bought a bedroom set after five years of marriage.



Last night at the Lowes I went berserker with gift money from my parents and took care of the whole new room with curtains...



Paint (sea foam)



and curtain rods...it was a great day with only one hitch....



In moving up to the new room we discovered that the furniture would not fit up the stairs. So Dad and Mr. G removed the banister.



This was the room as the previous owners had it...


And this is what it looks like so far...




The chair surprisingly goes great with the furniture but it's my brother-in-law's, not ours. I don't know, however, when he'll be able to send for it to be shipped to Texas, so I guess it can stay:) I do wanna put a mini fridge in the spot where it is for baby stuff so I don't have to run downstairs at night.

I'm really happy with the set.

And last night, Mr. G and I, reveling in our last months of freedom, went to see Shutter Island. It was great and I highly recommend it. I dare you to guess the ending within the first ten minutes.

New Floors! & Some Beautiful Stuff

Got prefinished wood floors in the bedroom upstairs. There used to be nasty 80s purple rug up there with stains in it. Now it's pretty pretty. Slowly but surely the place is coming along.

And I was wandering Etsy and found Siam2U's merch. I'd love to hear from someone who's ordered her stuff. It's beautiful!

Long time no see, long post to come

It's been a long, long while. What have I been up to...honestly, being an infant and surrenduring to a "hard time". I kept moving and shaking, but inside I've really allowed myself to surrender to my frustrations one too many times...but I'm human, you know. I stuck to my guns and didn't go to library school this semester. I'm glad b/c I had more time to devote to moving in. This house is a definate highlight in my life! I don't care what anyone else would have to say about it...too tiny, to old fashioned...I thought I'd never have one and now I do and I think it's great!:) We have done quite a bit in the short time we've been here.

Some B4 & afters...
the bedroom...
All we did here was paint. Is it blue? Is it purple? My husband's grandfather painted the pre-raphielite there.

Dressingroom?

It's a previous bedroom that joins our own through a blasted out wall. They were using it as an office. We're kinda leaving it open incase we need a nursery (cross your fingers, but it's been like two years and no dice yet).

Sunroom!:)

Mr. GrimmWitch has his compputer set up in there and we have a window seat sort of table with Smudge stuff and a round table covered with graphic novels at the moment.

Diningroom...

All the gross wallpaper is gone! Haste-La-Bye-Bye!! You may not be able to see it from here but it seemed almost 5 mm thick and was textured. It was pealing off in most places and gross! I have my Mucha reproduction and my devilish boozer art there. The wooden box is filled with my grandmother's silver...retro 50s stuff with six pointed nuclear-y bursts etched into the handles. I love them. Thanks Mom!

the Livingroom...

My mom has been calling this room "table city". We don't really have seating in here...nothing but that chair currently being used to hold some of my husband's weapons. The color is a gray green...and again, ALL THE FREAKIN WALLPAPER IS GONE! The same kinda stuff was in here, textured and thick. Also, this room, the stairs upwards, and the hall were carpeted. This beautiful wood was beneath that. We had this done right away.

Finally, my favorite room, the Family Room.

I love the color we painted the wall...it's "Pumpkin Pie". The sunroom is just beyond. The rug is still here, but there's no hard wood here so we'll wait until we can aford to do a planned remodel of the back of the house.

Smudge seems to be warming up to the place just fine. He had a cold when we moved in, but now he seems okay. There's his condo, and the cardboard structure on the left is a maze.

He started exploring immediately. This was his first night. He has not gone beyond this room yet.


In other news, work sux! It's gotten to the point where some days I actually hate my job. I love my kids... my supervisor was asking me if I like math. Shamefully, I am a write who's grown to love teaching math:) That's not it. i just have so many problems with the execution of my job for many reasons, the severe student apathy and poor work ethic (lord knows I don't expect the theory of relativity, but they just don't work, and I put bells and whistles on everything! How can such creative, fun people be so turned off when I toil to make the learning fun?). I also feel like my school community is going through a transitional period, like those first akward teenage years when your face is so greasy it has reflective qualities.

I am knitting quite a few things. I'm still working on that tomten.





Yarn Diva had buttons like the one's I used on Mrs. B's Sophia Baby Surprise in just the perfect color for this tomten (for a different Sophia:)

I had to take a tomten break to make this Baby Surprise for Henry L.




For whatever reason, who knows, i just wasn't as happy with this one.





Love the buttons. Same as Griff's.


Some of The ChalkDust Knitters are making this Debbie Bliss shawl scarf. Here's a very blurry picture of my still tiny on. My mom's is already so long!

Last, but not least...Here's the Shmed...