, originally uploaded by AMK.

The sweater is for a friend's baby shower, so I'm not going to post a picture of it at this point. Knowing I need to have this done by July 28 has knocked me out of my knitting rut. Well, getting to the second trimester of my pregnancy has also helped. I finally have some more energy and the pregnancy is starting to feel more real now - and both of those things are making me much more motivated to pick up the needles!

I stopped at Double Ewe yesterday and picked up three baby sweater patterns and some yarn. I have many more than three baby projects on my mind at this point. The sweater I'm currently finishing is of my own design and it's been such a satisfying experience designing it that I'm starting to get a few ideas for other baby sweaters I'd like to design.

I can sense already that I'm really going to enjoy designing baby knits. They're small, don't require a lot of yarn, and the trial and error part of designing isn't as painful when you're working on such a small scale.

Check out that sale. At those prices, I can live with a little “hurt.”

So today I'm at 10 weeks, 2 days. The end of the first trimester is within sight and I'm glimpsing the hope that I'll soon have that energy I hear so much about. The energy that will make it possible for me to knit and set up a nursery and do all those things I'm supposed to (and need to!) get done before I have a baby in my life.

Till then, I'm still just trying to get through each day.

There are moments it's all worth it. Like this morning. We got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time. Our little Muppet's heartbeat sounded strong and sure: BOOMBOOMBOOMBOOMBOOM, racing along at 160 beats per minute. It was pretty amazing.

This picture is from last week, when we were eight weeks pregnant. I think he/she/it is already pretty cute. But then I'm supremely biased.

Anyway, I seem to be running out of interesting way to share my news, so the news has gone unshared here. But Mom is forcing my hand. Well, played, Mom, well played.

Well, perhaps this will give you a hint. Or this.

Yes, a new era begins in the land of Pink Argyle (specifically, on or around January 19, 2009). And I think it's safe to say this new era will include a lot more baby knits.

The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1) What was I doing ten years ago?
This is a downer, so sorry. Ten years ago I was dealing with the loss of one of my sisters to complications of systemic lupus. She died six weeks before her 50th birthday. A major reason for my recent trip to South Dakota this Memorial Day was out of respect for her (and some other people I dearly miss). And to spend some time with the living as well!

2) What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today?
• Doctor’s visit this morning for routine skin check. When you’re my age, fair-skinned, blue-eyed and freckly, you do that.
• Change cat litter (and I also need to buy cat food).
• Work some more on baby blanket.
• Stop and buy coffee (decaf and regular) on my way home from work.
• Call plumber (slow-draining bathroom sink … ughhh!).

3) Snacks I enjoy
• I pick salty before sweet, and am more likely to seriously pig out on something disgusting like circus peanuts or candy corn than on chocolate, though I absolutely love chocolate.
• Anything cheese (not good for the cholesterol, but probably worth it).
• I’m crazy about fresh, raw vegetables.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire
• I’d quit my job. Yes, I think I would quit my job. And do fun things like travel, take some classes to learn things I know nothing about or do things I suck at.
• Hopefully I’d do something to improve the world like support work to find cures for some of the really devastating diseases out there –autoimmune diseases like lupus, cancer, heart disease, diabetes. Or maybe spend my money and energy beating the “come on, people, could we work on feeding the starving masses, and on education and health care, instead of war?” drum.
• I’d pay off my mortgage and all other debts, and those of my kids as well. I’d set up trust funds for some people: my kids of course, but also for some of my family who need really a lot of help and haven’t exactly managed their own lives and finances so well.

5) Places I have lived:
These are in alphabetical order by state, then city/town.
• Illinois: Chicago, Libertyville, Waukegan
• Minnesota: Appleton, Canby, Milan, Minneapolis, Montevideo, Olivia, St. Paul
• South Dakota: Gary, Pierre, Presho
Most of this moving around was done when I was a kid. I’ve lived in Minneapolis since 1972.

6) Jobs I have had:
• Working in my parents’ retail store when I a kid.
• Waiting tables. (I was not good at that!)
• Detassling corn (redefines “sunburn”).
• Various clerical jobs, mostly in medical research settings, while in college.
• Office manager and consultant for human resources consulting company.
• Self-employed while raising kids (mostly computer input and coding for electronic typesetting).
• Currently managing small IT Department.
• The best, most important, challenging, rewarding job ever: Mom.

7) Peeps I want to know more about:
Shyness apparently runs in the family. I’ll do my best, though. Let’s see, a couple of these are from blogs already listed on our site; some are people/blogs that I know little about but that look interesting, most found on Ravelry:
Rose
Annie
Laurie
Sara

The rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1) What was I doing ten years ago?
Ten years ago I was in college at the University of Minnesota, still trying to figure out what on earth I wanted to major in. I had been toying with biology at that point but was wrestling with the ethics of it and becoming a vegetarian (I ultimately got a degree in studio art, instead). I guess it must have been my second year living in the dorms and I was getting ready to move into my first-ever apartment, a run-down place near campus with five roommates, treacherous stairs up to the third floor, and a wooden fire escape (good idea, no?) with an old abandoned toilet down at the bottom of it. It was such a dump, but I have such fond memories of those times.

2) What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today:
Is it bad that I really can't think of five things on my to-do list that have nothing to do with work?
- Have dinner with a good friend.
- Remember to eat good foods (I'm on a nutrition kick right now).
- Um, empty the dishwasher?
- Go to bed early (had a bad night of sleep last night)

3) Snacks I enjoy:
Chocolate (especially dark chocolate), fruit of almost any kind, nuts. But I don't always eat healthy. My favorite movie snack: Sour Patch Kids. Yum.

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Besides the obvious paying off of my and my family's debt and financing future generations' college educations? Travel the world. Give money to a cause that isn't getting enough money. Maybe for Pancreatic Cancer research. I wouldn't get a massive house, but would instead buy small apartments in a few favorite places (New York, maybe somewhere international once I'd traveled the world and figured out which places I liked the best).

5) Places I have lived:
I've never lived outside of Minnesota (other than being born in Illinois and living there for, what, a year?), but I've moved around the Twin Cities a bit since leaving the nest. The longest I've lived anywhere since moving out of my parents' house has been at my current house, in which I've been living for three years (and am getting quite antsy to move on, honestly).

6) Jobs I have had:
Babysitter, software company intern, newsletter writer, typist, web developer, graphic designer.

7) Peeps I want to know more about:
I don't really feel like tagging anyone for the meme. Maybe I'm too shy.

Mom, your turn.

I’ve knitted this particular blanket before (for a baby girl) and the mom really liked it. She says she uses it all the time, so why mess with success? It’s from a pattern booklet I bought at JoAnn Fabric a year or so ago. The booklet contains four easy baby sets, all of them really cute.

I’m doing only the blanket (not the whole set) from the “Little Boy Blue” pattern. (I think that’s the name of it.) The last time I knitted from this pattern, I used a yummy-soft washable chenille yarn in a light shade of teal and cream. I wish I had a picture of it, it was a nice combination. This time I'm using an equally soft but more satiny acrylic yarn in blue and white, so it should look pretty much like the photo. Ya, I know, acrylic. But sometimes easy care is the most important criterion. And this is machine wash, machine dry so hopefully mom will feel like she can use it and use it.

I actually have several projects stacking up … some knitting, some spinning, and some things that have nothing to do with either (like gardening).

We’re getting a late start on Spring here (chilly, rainy weather). If I'm going to plant anything this year, I'm going to have to get seriously crackin' on it! I was just visiting Princess Pea’s blog and am so envious of her garden! Lovely, lovely!

Oooh, exciting, huh? Not really.

So my coworker is pregnant and has now found out she's having a boy. That means I can probably start figuring out what to knit for him. When my other coworker had a baby, I made this:

(pattern: Mary Lou Egan's "Lace Baby Sweater No. 33")

I love the pattern for many reasons (probably the biggest is there are NO SEAMS) and I wanted to make it again, but it's not particularly boy-friendly. So I'm on the lookout for a knitting project for a baby boy. Any ideas? My only real requirement is that it's not garter stitch.

Hope you all have a fun Memorial Day weekend! I'm gearing up for some contractors to invade my house next week (nothing exciting; just some water-damage repairs from a storm we had last summer) so I have some work to do at home, but I hope to get out for a bike ride and at least one barbecue. And maybe I'll finish my skirt so I can wear it next week?