Bean Prep

Howdy! I have great news: carpal tunnel syndrome is on its way OUT, and I started knitting again. Hurrah! I still have to wear a brace at night--apparently I sleep with my head on my left wrist--but typing is no longer as painful, and knitting isn't much of a problem at all. Still, I'm taking it easy (the knitting, that is; I don't have a choice but edit the dissertation like a maniac, and that won't change until my November 5 deadline), but slow progress is better than no progress. After two months of a little bit of knitting here and there I finished a baby blanket:

The pattern is Jared Flood's Tweed Baby Blanket, and there's nothing I don't love about the blanket. Love the garter stitch, love the fan-and-feather border, love the yarn (Knit Picks' City Tweet DK), love the colors, love everything. I had dreaded picking up 440 stitches and making an i-cord bind-off, but neither one was terrible.

Today the third trimester starts (?!?!!), and there isn't much evidence other than my growing belly that soon there's going to be a baby with us. So I made my first baby purchase. Just to have something to look at. I've been staring at these all day long:

So cute! Whether or not we'll use these is besides the point. It was an impulse purchase, but since the pair cost less than a fancy espresso drink--which I no longer buy--I don't feel bad about it.

And now that I'm so close to being completely done with grad work and decided not to do anything but knit baby clothes in December, I placed a huge order with Webs to have everything ready for a post-defense knitting marathon. You heard right: a marathon! I'll be in pajamas all day long, lounge on the sofa, listen to NPR, and knit knit knit. How about it? I've been daydreaming about December for weeks, especially once it became obvious that I wouldn't be able to make it to Rhinebeck this weekend. There's just too much "footnote fiddling" to take a weekend off... *sigh*

Here's recent me (already three weeks old and four pounds behind):