One of the main reasons I wanted to start posting to a blog was to connect with all of the wonderful knit-bloggers out there. I've spent years reading other knitting blogs, and for the most part I find the discussion of yarn, patterns, spinning, dying, FOs and tips to be exciting and invaluable. I've learned a ton by reading about the misfortune and mistakes of others, and I have used and adapted many patterns posted to other blogs. I thought it would be fitting to make my first knitting related post about something that I came up with on my own: the biking sock!
What is it? It's sort of an adapted sock with a huge hole in the bottom. Dave requested something like this last year, while he was freezing his toes off during his bike commute. According to some sources, Minnesota has the highest number of bike commuters per capita in the United States. I'm proud to say that my wonderful husband is one of them. He has nice biking shoes that he inherited from a friend years ago. The foot portion is made up mostly of mesh, letting his feet breathe during the hot months. They're not exactly designed for November and December biking in this climate.
However! We came up with a solution. He wanted something like a bootie that just went around his foot, but I went with an all out sock, both because it would take me less time to think about the pattern, and because it would go up high enough to reach the bottom of his long underwear, keeping the icy air out all winter long.
The large hole in the bottom allows him to clip into his pedals without tearing up the sock. I struggled a little with the placing of the opening, and had to spend a few days trying his shoes on with the socks to figure it out. He tried them out this morning and said they worked great.
I used crap-tastic black acrylic yarn that was hidden in my stash. I inherited a ton of acrylic yarn in the past, and I hold onto it for projects like this. The acrylic may not be nice to work with, but it is durable and washable, two things that are important when Dave will regularly be splashing through wintry puddles with his socks on the outside. He wanted the toes to be brightly colored for safety. I chose white, again because it was in my stash, but also because it gave the socks a really silly look. I'm sure the fancy-bike commuters will think he's a little strange, but he'll be laughing all the way to work because he feet will be warm!
One added bonus of the toe design is that if his feet get too hot, he can flip the toes up and cool off without having to stop and take them off. I also added a small slit at the top of the shoe so he can re-tie his shoes without having to
pull them off completely. I'll have to wait to see how they look come spring, but if they hold up nearly as well as his flip top mittens, I think the project was a great success.
Dave and I got to have dinner last night with our friends Ben & Emily. It was fun to see them, and even though we saw their little daughter just over a month ago, it seems like so much has changed. She seems to have gone from toddling to running in that span of time, and it's delightful to watch her chasing the cat, then the dog, then the cat, then the dog again. It makes me feel a little sorry for what our pets are going to go through when the kid reaches its first birthday.
These two were kind enough to hand off a bunch of baby stuff to us, and we couldn't be happier. They're planning to move soon, so they were happy to get rid of the infant junk. We came home with a portable swing, a baby bath, a bjorn, and an absolute ton of clothes. They've also promised to pack up their newborn and infant cloth diapers for us, so we've already got a start on that.
We've been debating whether or not to have a shower - my SIL would very much like to throw one for us. The debate is a tough one - we know that people are excited about the baby and want to give us gifts, but having a party just to receive presents just doesn't fit with our morals and lifestyle. On the other hand, if we don't do the registering thing, then people will just shower us with gifts anyway and we won't get to pick out the stuff that we'd like. At this point I'm really leaning toward not having that shower, but that may change. Who knows precisely how we'll feel about it in January and February, and we may be panicked because we just don't have enough onesies.
In the meantime, friends like Ben & Emily are extraordinarily generous, and we're happy to start our baby junk collection. I hope we don't fill up the nursery before we can get some furniture in there!
I think maybe, just maybe, I might have felt the first movements this weekend. I was sitting in a rocking chair and reading, and for a second I felt something that was like a soap bubble popping on the inside of my tummy. I couldn't get it to happen again, and it was devastatingly light, but I'm pretty sure that was it.
I feel relief - I finally felt something that I think was it, and now I can rule out everything else. I had been having little twinges in my abdomen that I now think was just muscle pain and ligaments stretching. I'm glad to know the baby is there and reaching out. Since today is the official half way mark, I was beginning to think it would never happen.
We've got our second ultrasound scheduled for this Friday, and I'm very excited. Though Dave and I agree that we don't want to know the sex of the baby in advance, I'm tempted to try to look and figure it out. I want it to be a surprise, but a tiny part of me also wants to know that little secret. Even though I've been pregnant for 20 weeks, I feel like the baby doesn't really have any individuality yet - and knowing the sex might help me characterize it in my mind, allow for that individual personality. Then the logical/liberal takes over to remind me that our culture over sexualizes and gender stereotypes children enough, we could do without it in-utero.
If I knew though, I wouldn't tell everyone. I wouldn't splash pink or blue everywhere, I would just hold onto it, know it, get used to it. Try out names and see what fits, start using "he" or "she" in my mind. I've been dreaming and having strong feelings that it's a boy, but Dave mentioned me to yesterday that he has similarly strong feelings that it's a girl. The temptation to know is there, but I think on Friday we'll make our wishes known to the ultrasound tech and continue in our ignorance. Coloring things in green, brown, grey, yellow (which are better than pink and blue anyway).
At the recommendation of Gail and Clare, my two favorite midwives, I have begun to drink red raspberry leaf tea every day. At first, I was skeptical, having never been much of a tea drinker. I always thought those who drank tea every day were people who had an inner calm and meditated regularly. I can't quite fit those things in, but I have found the tea to be a wonderful addition to my daily routine. A cursory google search turned up many articles touting the benefits for pregnant women. It's a traditional herb used to tone the uterus with calcium and magnesium, and some say ease and shorten labor.
Gail told me at our first meeting that even if I didn't like it at first, to keep trying and eventually I would come to crave it. Perhaps it was just the power of suggestion, but she has been correct so far. We buy loose tea from the co-op for the evenings and weekends, and I keep tea bags at work. The loose tea is more flavorful, perhaps because I'm brewing it stronger. I add lemon balm to it and find it absolutely delicious. The tea bags are convenient and usually contain nettle, another herb which is said to be beneficial for pregnancy. It may even help to prevent UTI's, something that have always been a problem and a pain in my past.
Pregnancy has been so different from what I expected. I vowed to do things naturally, not to freak out about every little thing, and remain true to who I was before I got pregnant. When I look at my routine today compared with a year ago, many things are different:
I take folic acid and fish oil daily
I add metamucil and sometimes protein powder to my banana/raspberry shakes
I have completely cut out caffeine and I drink tea with a vengeance
I have traded my desk chair for a ball at work
I swim laps 3 times a week
All of these things are good, healthy habits, but sometimes I feel surprised that I'm so dedicated. I tried to be a healthy person before, but it's a lot easier to practice beneficial habits when it's not just about me. Even though I still haven't felt a sure-fire kick in my abdomen, I'm pretty sure there's a baby down there somewhere. That makes these changes all the easier - it's hard to be selfish and skip my trip to the gym or the extra protein in my diet when I know that it will make a difference to the baby.
Irene looks so classy, she could be someone else's dog.
One of the main reasons I wanted to start posting to a blog was to connect with all of the wonderful knit-bloggers out there. I've spent years reading other knitting blogs, and for the most part I find the discussion of yarn, patterns, spinning, dying, FOs and tips to be exciting and invaluable. I've learned a ton by reading about the misfortune and mistakes of others, and I have used and adapted many patterns posted to other blogs. I thought it would be fitting to make my first knitting related post about something that I came up with on my own: the biking sock!
The large hole in the bottom allows him to clip into his pedals without tearing up the sock. I struggled a little with the placing of the opening, and had to spend a few days trying his shoes on with the socks to figure it out. He tried them out this morning and said they worked great.
pull them off completely. I'll have to wait to see how they look come spring, but if they hold up nearly as well as his flip top mittens, I think the project was a great success.
