It’s 4:30am

And I’m up.

Normally, when I can’t sleep, I turn to my knitting to calm me down and get me back in the headspace of sleep, but this time, I know it’s not going to work. Over the last month of my third trimester, a good night’s sleep has been harder and harder to come by. I wake up often to go to the bathroom, to change positions, or because the baby is now wide awake, and making it’s presence known – usually by kicking or stretching into a tender area. Beforehand, I hated being woken up in this fashion, I often had a shift to work at 9am, and I needed those precious hours of sleep that were being stolen from me. But now, I’m on maternity leave, and it no longer matters what kind of schedule I keep. If I’m up at 4:30am, then who cares? I can take a nap at 9am if I feel like, or not even nap at all.

Last minute preparations have been made over here, the only thing that hasn’t been done yet is the last last-minute vaccuum, and the cleaning of the bathroom. New sheets were made for our odd-sized basinette by my wonderful mother, and all the clothes have been washed, folded, and put away. My bag for the hospital is packed, as is the diaper bag for the baby. Morgan stayed with us an extra week last time, so she’ll be staying with her mother an extra week this time, in order to not have to worry about where to drop her off when I go into labour. The furniture has been rearranged for when we set up the Christmas tree, and I have already set up my Christmas Village. We have finished most of our Christmas shopping, and even wrapped about 90% of the gifts, and tagged them even!

So now, it’s just a waiting game. My body is showing all the signs that it’s getting ready, and my doctor has recommended that I get my membranes stripped at my appointment tomorrow morning. This isn’t considered a form of inducement, but it is considered a procedure that can often get things moving a little faster. With my small size, she’s a bit worried about me going too overdue – it’s more likely to end up with me getting a c-section because the baby could get too big to fit through my birth canal. I’m hoping that the procedure does put me into labour fairly quickly. I’m a compact pregnant woman – it’s all up front, and it’s also all being pushed into my ribs and diaphragm. I’ve been uncomfortably short of breath for the last month, and even though the baby has dropped somewhat, I still feel sometimes like I’m being slowly suffocated. The experienced mothers I know all have said the same thing – it’s the easiest to care for the way it is, and so I should be grateful, but really? I just want to be able to draw in a decent breath. So yeah, the baby can come anytime as far as I’m concerned.

Before I wrap this post up, I’m sure you all want to know what’s on my needles, right? Well, small, intricate projects are impossible to work on at this point. My hands are swollen like a catcher’s mitt, and very clumsy with small projects. I managed to finish the knitting I couldn’t talk about in a timely fashion, and it’s now in the hands of my test knitter. As soon as I can talk about it, I will, I promise, and provide pictures too, but for now, it’s still not able to be discussed. To keep my hands busy, I cast on another feather and fan baby blanket, this time in the leftovers of the yellow and white Baby Coordinates I made the first yellow and white blanket in. Yes, it’s acrylic, but it’s also washable, and really only meant to be put down on the floor for the baby to play on, or tucked around them in the carseat when we make the cold journey from the house to the car. The yarn weight and needles are big enough that I’m not fumbling with them, and the pattern is easy, yet keeps me entertained. 1 out of the 4 rows in the pattern actually has a “pattern,” the other three are just knit and purl. And the best part? I’m destashing! I didn’t have to buy any new yarn for this project, whatsoever!

Yes, my knitting life is pretty boring right now, but I figure it’s about to get even more boring after this baby is born. But I guess we shall see, won’t we? Wish me good luck for my appointment tomorrow, and an easy labour please!

Knitting I can’t talk about.

The blog has grown quiet, I can hear you whispering about it. But I have a good reason, I am working on knitting I can’t talk about. I sort of have a deadline, which I’m attempting to set even earlier than the one I already promised, which was the end of the month, because I have Peanut arriving in the world in approximately 15 days. So yeah, I’m sort of rushing to get this project done. I promise that as soon I can talk about it however, that I will make a post. Until then, I’m silent as the grave.

I wish I could tell you that I have something else that I’m working on, just so I could at least show you a sock in progress, or another tiny baby sweater, or even another cute little stuffed toy, but sadly, I have nothing to give you. Just that I can’t talk about my knitting, and as cool as that is in some aspects, it sucks in others. So, before I blab my little secret all over blogland, I’m checking out. I’ll post when I can talk about Peanut, or knitting.

Oh, and for those of you who are curious, this is my last work week coming up. I’m tired but still doing well. Baby is still healthy, and my body is giving off a lot of signs that things are almost ready to progress to the next level – the head has engaged, certain body parts are doing new things, and all sorts of exciting changes can be seen and felt. I got my flu shot for both of us, and I’m excited to finally be able to walk into my bedroom, and not just have baby blankets draped over the side of the basinette now, but to actually see a baby in it. Can’t wait!

Finished Object: Elijah

Too cute, if I do say so myself!

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Designed by Ysolda Teague, this little guy is knit without seams of any kind…gotta love that! Though I must admit, at times, picking up the stitches for the various parts was a little tedious, but because it avoided sewing, I was happy! I knit him out of Patons Classic Wool, and I made one modification, and that was to add his tail. I picked up three stitches on his behind, and knit I-cord until I was satisfied with how long it was. Then, I did three two-strand fringe pieces, and then took another scrap piece of yarn, and wrapped it around the place where the fringe met the tail, then tied the ends together, and trimmed all to the same length, so the fringe has 8 pieces of yarn. Pretty charming, no?

And don’t forget to enter the contest I’m running for a skein of Oceanwind Knits sock yarn! Head over to Ravelry and look up the details on our new Ravelry group: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/wcknitwit-designs