The Bump

Look! I'm back!

Hey, I want to apologize from being away from blogland so long. I don't even know what everyone has been up to but I'll catch up. Now I'll try to be brief and not bore you with the minute details of my absence. Here are the top 10 highlights of the past several months:

#10 - I got a Palm TX handheld for Christmas, yay! More electronic gadgets - it stores my contacts, my calendar (from work), photos, music and even documents like, ahem, knitting patterns. Plus wi-fi and bluetooth to access the Internet when I'm on the road.

#9 - I bought a new digital SLR! It replaces the very nice Canon S2 IS which I sold. The SLR is the Minolta Maxxum 5D and fits lenses I already have. Pix in this post were taken with it, I'm still a newbie to this camera.

#8 - My orchids are blooming. Inside and out. Happiness.

#7 - Despite my knitting funk I've finished two pretty scarves:

My So Called Scarf using one skein of Manos which I gave to one of my mother's friends and the other is

a heather blue mohair lace scarf in which I used part of the pattern from the Not Knit Round Scarf in The Purl Stitch. The yarn is the discontinued "Imagine" from Lion Brand.

#6 - I'm teaching myself how to crochet! Again from Lion Brand, I'm using the new Lion Wool to see if I like it and well, I do.

This skinny scarf is the cover pattern from the latest Interweave Knits Crochet. The pattern is incredibly easy, just endless double crochet for several rows. I'll probably finish up with 5 rows.

Here's a close-up of the stitchery. I'm pleased because it didn't take me that long to pick up crochet once I spent a little time practicing. Crochet really is much easier than knitting so far.

#5 - Because I missed my 20th high school reunion, I was more than happy to meet up with some old friends from the Jordan High School class of 1985 over Christmas. Denny and Lisa, it was great to see you again!

#4 - Over the holidays I was also very shocked - in a good way - to discover that one of my oldest high school friends Kathleen got married last November and is expecting a baby this March! Wowwee!

#3 - My brother proposed to his girlfriend and she accepted. They are planning a San Francisco wedding over Memorial Day weekend. I must say, he picked a very nice girl to settle down with. And I will gain a terrific sister-in-law.

#2 - All right, all right...Karl and I decided we would get married too. This March.

And the #1 highlight of the past few months - we're going to have a baby! That's why I've been so distracted from this blog and from knitting in general. I'm essentially 5 months along and just started yet another blog, Babe in the Wool, as a journal of my pregnancy. I know, it's a cheesy title but my preferred title was taken. I didn't want to clog up this space with too much baby discussion unless we're talking knitted baby sweaters or something.

This is me as of today at 19 weeks, 4 days. You can hardly see the bump of my burgeoning belly but trust me, it's there. I also see I'm getting the dreaded fat face. Or maybe my hair is making it seem so.

There you have it. It's been quite a crazy fall and early winter. 2006 will be even more exciting.

Happy New Year to you!

Until the next day in the life...