Non-Knitting Things

This weekend was filled with non-knitting things.

I won my facebook contest for free LASIK surgery from Focal Point Vision Correction! I'm in disbelief that it's true, but I went Friday for the consultation and it's true. It's going to happen next year. If you're thinking about LASIK and you're in the San Antonio area, you should definitely go check them out. I'm not just saying that because I won either - a very dear friend of mine, Kat, had her lens implants done through them (much more serious than plain old LASIK). The professionalism and friendliness of the staff at the office and at the surgery center was the best I'd ever experienced (I was her driver). After she had her surgery, I looked up the doctors online because it struck me as odd that they were MDs. Difference between an optometrist and ophthalmologist - OD and MD. Look it up - very interesting stuff. Anyway - Focal Point Vision Correction - top notch ophthalmologist and staff. I'll keep you posted on all the goings on when we get down to the surgery time. It'll be good stuff - promise!

I am working on Christmas knitting but haven't finished anything yet, so gimme time on the knitting stuff. I'll get back to it!

We nailed up baseboards in the master bedroom, cut the cove trim, and painted it as well. We still need two pieces of corner trim. Then we'll have to cut, paint, and hang those plus fill the nail holes, caulk the seams, and finish up with a quick touch-up paint job. The main bedroom part of the room will have the trim completed!

Before we move in there we'll just need to replace outlet plugs and light switches and put on face plates! That is rather exciting!

Of course the bathroom will still be mostly unfinished, but we are sort of coming into a time crunch here. You see, we are pregnant. Six months, one week, to be exact. So this master bedroom push is in an effort to be out of our room so the baby can live there. Plus, what good is a master bedroom if the 'parental units' don't live in it?! Some things are supposed to be a certain way. Being a parental unit and occupying the master bedroom of a house is how it's supposed to be.

Whew! Now that that's out in the open - let's discuss this parental unit thing. I was never someone who envisioned myself being a 'parental unit' - meaning I wasn't one of those girls who wanted to grow up and start a family. I wanted to grow up and get a job. Strange - I know - I was a weird kid. I never really remember processing 'having kids' as part of the growing up scenario in my head. Here's the deal though, it's extremely strange to find yourself meeting the expectations of 'growing up'. It creeps up on you and you wake up one day thinking 'Holy crap, I just became a grown up.'
And you just sort of chew on it for a bit.
Because it didn't happen overnight... you don't just become a grown up. You grew up.
I still feel the same inside as I did as a little girl dreaming of what I'd become one day. Deal is - today is one day. And today, I'm on my way to becoming a mom. Weirds me out that I haven't reached my job goal but I'm going to be a part of a parental unit which is definitely a 'grown up' status marker.

#1 question from random people about being pregnant - 'how is it?' Well, it's happening... And I don't mean that to be a snot. But.... it's just happening. I don't really have anything to do with it. There's a living growth inside of me that going to become a human being - it's weird.
I'm not a fan of being limited by what I can do - and not in the 'I'm pregnant and can't clean' - I mean I can't clean every room in the house non-stop top-to-bottom from Friday night to Sunday evening (while cooking, baking, bathing the dogs, and doing some yard work that involves a chainsaw) and not pay for it somehow the next day. I can't go run three miles (as someone who doesn't workout regularly at ALL) and not hurt myself or feel like I'm going to pass out.
I never really thought of myself as 'extreme' but the biggest answer to 'how is it?' would be it's showing me I operate on extremes. I want to finish what I start without stopping and being pregnant has limited the ability to finish things without stopping. I'm not sure I'm explaining this properly, but hopefully you get the gist.

So, you may think - wow this chick is not digging this being pregnant thing - well, I'm not. I'm also not excited about how the pregnancy thing ends - childbirth. The logistics get me all hung up.
But I am digging the fact that there is about to be a small person in the world that is going to be a mix of the person I love the most in this world and myself. I am digging the potential of this little person to become whatever they wish and hoping they become a good person. I am digging that my husband is going to be a really great dad and that I'll be able to watch firsthand.

I know I've said this before - every life event is bitter sweet for me. I always get excited and the reality that my mom and dad are not here to share in it knocks me back down. This life event has been EXTREMELY hard on the knocking back down side. Questions about family medical history, complications your mom had during her pregnancy, people asking if your parents are excited, not having anyone to ask some questions about being pregnant who has the same gene pool as you - it's been heavy on the knocking down side.
Don't get me wrong - our extended family is excited and happy for us. My 'adopted' family have been AMAZING! Tears come to my eyes just thinking about the kindness, helpfulness, and happiness that has poured out of this family toward us. I cannot thank them enough.
But I still miss my mom. :P

Christmas is fast approaching!

Howdy!

The Christmas stockings were delivered to a very happy customer! They came out a little different than her original stocking, but they are similar enough she seemed happy with them!

I'm in complete disbelief that is it December already. I think mostly because it was 85 degrees F here in Texas...makes it hard to get into the Christmas mood/listen to Christmas music/even think about putting up a Christmas tree when it's practically summer outside still.
Good thing I am realistic enough to recognize that regardless of the heat, December is here and that means Christmas is right around the corner!

I've been working on Christmas project for that very reason. I've almost got four items completed.
This Holiday Lights Tam and scarf (the title has something to do with rain drops) both from different Interweave Knits magazines.

I'm trying to work on my lace knitting skills. The scarf was the main attempt and came out rather well. The tam was chosen because I've never worked with beaded knitting plus I've never knitted a hat. I really enjoyed the beaded knitting and the pattern was fairly simple.

 

In my typical style - I had to look up 'tam'. Apparently, tam is short for tam o'shanter and is a nickname for the traditional Scottish bonnet worn my men. This tam is obvious a very femine styled hat. How interesting is that word!

This beret and mitts are both from Crochet Today! magazines. The beret is in the 2010 holiday gifts issue - which seems to be a really good issue because I've used several patterns out of it for holiday gifts!

 



 The mitts are my first time doing crochet cables. A very intriguing concept and easy enough to work.The fact that these mitt work up quickly helps. I was super surprised how fast they worked up!

My goal for this weekend was originally to get the baseboard trim hung in the master bedroom, but Jamie worked this weekend so we didn't get around to it. So, I changed my goals and decided the goal would be to reupholster my mother's rocking chair.
I forgot to take a 'before' picture until after I had already removed the cushion, but you get the idea.

Before:

After:

 A close up of the fabric.

 Heather went with me to try to find fabric. This fabric was the original stuff we both liked, but I didn't buy it that day because we thought it wouldn't be big enough (didn't bring the cushion dementions with me). I ended up coming home with a reddish/orangish retro styled fabric that is super fun. Even though I like the first fabric we picked out - I couldn't stop thinking about this fabric. So I went back to the store and picked it up. I really do like it. The lightness of it really makes the darkness of the chair pop. It's really gorgeous! This was our first go at upholstering somthing. There are mistakes, but it came out okay. I'm sure this fabric won't last the 30 years the original fabric lasted, but I'm okay with that.

In non-crafty news, we took our annual trip out to Mitre in November. We had lots of fun hiking and hanging out at Artwalk. We didn't purchase any artwork this year, but I always enjoy looking at all the shops!
Erica and Loren joined us this year as well. I was so happy they had a good time and seemed to appreciate the less populated area of Alpine and the great outdoor opportunities camp provides.

Well, that's all for now. I'll keep you all posted on my crafty Christmas projects as they are completed!

Happy knitting!
-Em