Danielle sent the cutest pair of koigu (mmmmm, koigu) booties for our baby! Thank you so much! They’re adorable.

I haven’t been doing anything exciting other than knitting and knitting and knitting on my latest yummy Angora scarf.

See? It’s bigger.

I’ve been messing around a little bit with a crocheted edge along the sides to reduce the little bit of curl I’m getting, but it doesn’t seem to have the slightest effect. Possibly even the reverse effect in that it looks to be curling more. And I’m thinking about adding a thick, short row of fringe on the ends.

Other than that, my thoughts have been turning to cardigans again. The VCC is great. So much so that I’m wearing it all the time, to the point that I’m starting to feel like a dork. SO, I need some more cardigans I think. Especially since I avoid coats, and wear cardigans at every opportunity. Yup, definitely need more.

Which means I need to find some patterns. There are a couple I like, but I’ll probably dive into my library of books and magazines to see if there are any I’ve forgotten about.

I’ll also need yarn. I’d LOVE to make one in Tahki’s Donegal Tweed. A sage green, perhaps? Maybe if some Christmas money comes my way…..

I’m also thinking about a cardi in Ruby Red Lamb’s Pride.

Here’s the strange thing, in looking at the way the VCC fits, I’m thinking I could actually benefit from some waist shaping. This is shocking because I always think of waist shaping as something that skinny people need. But the VCC bulges out at the waist a bit (and it’s fabric, not fat ok?), so I’m just thinking…. but I still have a hard time accepting that big ol’ me needs to shape a waist.

Of course if I’m right, it’s kind of cool, really. Unless I’m delusional. And it could be an artificial and temporary situation owing to the growing bulge in the front of me throwing all shaping out of whack.

And I’ll wrap up with a question.

In my search for a suitable cardigan, I’ve contemplated a yoke necked version, like the cute one in the second S&B book.

I’m concerned about how a yoke would look on a busty gal like me. I can’t really picture it. Anyone have any insight or opinion?

I happened upon a neat site the other day. Here are two of my favorites from the archives.

I’d love to get my hands on that fish bones chart, but I have no idea where to find it.

After spending all morning trying to get a decent photo of Anne’s doll, I finally got something usable. It doesn’t do justice to the colors however.

OK, I was wrong. It’s a CRAPPY picture. But I just can’t do better than that for some reason, and I’m done trying.

Bah.

My friend’s dog George died this morning. He has been battling cancer for a long time, and after a bad night, and rather hopeless treatment options offered this morning, they decided to send him to eternal rest. She is devastated, and if you would go and visit her with condolences, I know it would provide her some comfort on a dark and lonely day.

I have finally decided what to do with my lovely blue/gray angora yarn. And it’s going very well.

It’s the same stitch pattern that I knit the Lacy Noro Hat in, and I’m planning on knitting another one in this yarn to match the scarf. Which means, I’ll be finally WRITING that pattern out, for those of you who have wanted it. I know I’ve wanted it.

This scarf is going significantly faster than the Interlocking Balloons scarf did, even though it’s the same yarn, because the needle is bigger, and the stitch is easy. Although I won’t be able to memorize it, but it’s still easy.

Lavold’s Angora yarn is so yummy for a scarf. It has weight to it, and it’s warm, and it drapes like a dream. A want a million Angora scarves now.

Wow, the day got away from me!

I’m weighing in at 235.5 the past two days. So at 25 weeks, I’ve gained a little over 10 pounds. Hopefully, it won’t accelerate. I didn’t manage to get any exercise in this week, as it’s been very busy, but I did wear myself out.

The baby is very active and kicks me a lot. A whole lot. Heartburn seems to be more of a constant companion as well. The baby feels really high to me, as my bladder is unaffected so far, but any pressure on my stomach increases heartburn.

I’ve been eating too many sweets, but I’m still doing alright, as I’m making an effort to eat more often, and I’m trying to include healthy things.

Any news out there? I know it’s a rough time of year to exercise and eat right. January is right around the corner, however, and I expect renewed resolve from both myself and you!

We had a lovely go of it, yes? But alas, all good things….

So, what’ve we got?

Ginger’s is pretty in pink!

Crimson’s is finished and gorgeous!

Monica’s red Esther is striking.

Karen also made a lovely red one, modeled by her adorable daughter, Evelyn. (A name we seriously contemplated for Veronica. It’s one of Nate’s favorites).

Malle has finished two beautiful Esthers, and even improvised successfully on the edging. Way to go!

Judith Rosa is done, but I haven’t seen a pic yet.

We’re waiting for a picture from Danielle M, who has finished the knitting portion last I heard.

Darra is making a pretty with a teal shade of Cascade 220. Looks good so far.

Megan bravely posted a poor picture of hers in progress.

Danielle’s is green and underway.

Kathy has formally forfeit due to an unrealistic commitment of Christmas knitting. We wish you the best.

In the no picture yet relm…

Minxxy has sent emails and claims she’s working on it. We want to see it!

Christall said that hers is done and lovely. She’ll get it on the blog when she can.

Allison’s is started.

Katie’s is near.

And that’s what I have on our Esther Williams knitalong. It was fun. Thanks for participating. I would still love to see pictures from the rest of you when you’re done, and I still have more Esthers to make myself.

I also have heartburn. Hate it.

Today is the LAST day for Synchronized Knitting. Send me your pictures! Send me your links! I spent way too long in my inbox last night gathering what I could find, but I need your help.

The official post will come later today. See you then.

My list of things to do today is tremendous. Mostly due to the staff treats thing I’m in charge of at the school tomorrow. I didn’t have a lot of people sign up to help, so I have to do a lot myself. But it’s ok.

Yesterday, we made our first baby purchase.

cute cute cute!

I also found the coolest thing. I’ve been looking for some sort of Christmas Countdown calendar, and when I was at Costco yesterday, I saw this

It’s a 3-dimentional, wooden tree on a base that sits on a rotating base. And the base has 24 little, numbered doors

that contain little, wooden ornaments. So, you put one ornament per day on the pegs on the tree, which we did last night to get caught up

I’m so excited. It’s very fun.

Right now, I’m heading off to a friend’s house, and I’m taking a few knitting projects that need some weaving and finishing before being mailed South for the winter.

Then we’re going to do some more shopping, then we’ll be back and I have a ton of work to do in the kitchen.

By tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be done with most everything I have to do for Christmas and school, and I’ll kick back and knit me an Esther. I think.

Remember- tomorrow is the last day for Synchronized Knitting. Email me, comment, send pictures, do whatever to help me get you linked and/or mentioned in the post. And quite frankly, if you’ve already done so, and you aren’t in the sidebar yet under “Done”, it wouldn’t hurt to email me again. I can get lost in my inbox when looking for Esther updates. I’d hate to miss someone.

Anne’s doll saw some progress while I was having a blood sugar episode after drinking a glass of juice yesterday with lunch. I was stuck on the couch for a couple hours, and so I finished up the sweater and attached hair.

Sorry for the weird angle. I was holding her above my head with the window to my back in an attempt to get as much natural light as possible. So you also get a look at my pretty, butter colored ceiling.

What’s left? Well, I need to make feet still, (I’m thinking barefoot instead of shoes), weave in some ends, block the pants, give her a haricut/style, and create a face. Because her skin tone is so dark, I’m thinking about doing the eyes in a lighter color, not black as I usually do. The problem is, this doll is already so wildly colorful and loud, I’m not sure what color I could use that would look good. Any ideas? If you can’t tell, the body is a dark plum sort of purple.

The sweater turned out fantastic! For those of you who knit this pattern, (Summer 2002 issue of IK), I’d recommend it. It’s just the “Vertical striped, cuff to cuff sweater” in the pattern, but once you cast on the extra stitches for the body, start working in seed stitch, transitioning back to stockinette when you bind off the body and continue on the second sleeve. In the past when I’ve made this sweater, I’ve had to pick up stitches around the neck to make a turtle neck, because the boat neck opening the pattern is written for looks dumb. But being in seed stitch, it has a much more tailored look, and doesn’t need an additional neck treatment. Which is cool. Picking up and then knitting those little stitches around the neck is a pain.

First of all, my mom sent me a link from her local newspaper about a boy with cancer complications that needs financial help for continued treatment, and the family is thinking about asking for hand knit hats to sell to raise money. If you’re interested…

As for me and my little bit of knitting…

This is yet another modification to the cuff-to-cuff sweater from the Best Friends Doll pattern in the Summer 2002 issue of Interweave Knits. It’s been awhile since I made one of these, and I forgot that the sleeves don’t need to be as long as the arms before starting the body, because it ends up being a bit of a dropped shoulder sweater. So, the arms are mutant long, and since I don’t want to rip out the seed stitch body I’ve started, we’re probably going to roll the cuff.

Also, Veronica asked Santa for a small, soft toy, “like a teddy bear”. I don’t know why, as we have an abundance of them, and I’m frequently giving them away, but that’s what she wants. So, I’m probably going to finish up the bear pattern that I’m test knitting for a friend of mine, and give her that.

Lots of small knitting in my immediate future. Especially since someone I know is hinting around about the doll I promised to make her so long ago that I really can’t remember how long it’s actually been.

Plus, there are a lot of friends/relatives having babies in the upcoming weeks and months, so I could probably stand to knit up some baby hats.

I’ve never been good at that, (knitting for friends’ babies), but I’d like to start.