I feel a bit negligent about my blogging! I have just been busy as can be though. I think I've got a form of prenatal nesting that only knitters must experience that comes well before the last weeks of pregnancy!

I have started feeling the urgency of getting things done to prepare. This baby is due in early December, so there is much to be done fiber-wise! I've looked at all my WIPS and started trying to clear them out, and begin making the projects that are for Christmas gifts!
  • The second baby blanket for the twins - I only have 19 more rows to knit to finish the last panel. I did some blocking and seaming on the parts that I already had completed, so as soon as I finish this last panel, I will finish the blocking and seaming and sew on the attached i-cord trim, and then that project is complete!

  • The Rebecca ballet wrap - I took a break from fisherman's rib to make both sleeves and do the blocking and seaming. After that, I went ahead and wove in all my ends and sewed in the first sleeve. (I got in a finishing mood one day last week, and as finishing is the absolutely worse part of any project, I figured I better take advantage of it!) Now all I have to do is complete the length of the wrap and sew in the second sleeve. This will make a great winter item for me as it's long enough to still wrap even when pregnant, and will be a great nursing cover-up after the baby arrives.

  • Socks - I have 3 pairs of socks to complete. These will be very comfy,cozy during my homebirth labor time!

  • Beaded Clapotis - I think this one is going to be a Christmas present for some one special, so that is right up there on my list.

  • The Prince bag - I've GOT to get back on that and hope to this week. (I'm so sorry Tina! I'm a slow-poke!)

  • Twin girls Christmas - This first Christmas they aren't going to know what's going on really one way or another, so I'm making them something very special to go into their hope chests for when they are big girls.

My veggie garden is also going nuts! We look to be starting our harvesting soon and I plan to can and freeze some to use throughout the year, make some casseroles to freeze for quicky meals during crazy-new-baby-time, make some into baby food and can it for when the little one is ready - all natural, no chemicals, yeah! - and my son is planning on doing a farm stand to sell the rest to earn himself some money. I'm a little concerned about it all coming ready for harvest at once. We planted ALOT! We've got carrots, broccoli, green peppers, squash (2 varieties and TONS of it!), peas, cucumbers (homemade pickles!), okra, 3 rows of 3 varieties of tomatos, pumpkins, and about 80+ stalks of sweet corn, watermelon, canteloupe, green beans, and jalapeno peppers! We are going to be very, very overwhelmed if it's all ready at one time! It would be great if it were ready for harvest like one veggie per week so I could pace myself and keep up, but somehow I don't think it's going to work out like that!

In the acid-pot at this very moment is 8 skeins of merino for dyeing, and there is another 32 skeins upstairs ready to be processed. Plus I have more blue-faced Leicester to spin and dye, and some dyed silk noil that I'm learning to spin. We also need to get out to the farm and pick up our alpaca shearings from this year so I can start dealing with that.

I feel tired just thinking about all of it!! And never mind how much needs to be done to get the house ready for a new baby!!

Regretfully, I don't have any pictures of any of this stuff right now. I'll try to get some pictures done in the next day or two and come back and add them to this post. For now though, I'm off to the dye-pot and to do the bookkeeping whilst the yarn simmers in the crock pot!

Oh, I can show you this picture. This is some handpainted and handspun blue-face Leicester yarn that I'm adding into the store today: