knitting gifts given

ok, i can finally blog about some knitting that i was doing for a friend who is due about a week and one half after i am :)

i've known Valerie since sophomore year at slippery rock. her and her roommate, natalie and another friend, carrie, and i quickly became friends and the following year we all decided to move out of the dorms and live in a house together. out of the three of us, i still see Valerie the most. she's a great friend and i really value her friendship. we always seem to pick up right where we left off when we visit :) and that's awesome!

i'm going to retell this story, some of you know it, others don't but this is the story about the day that Val told me that her and Nathan were going to be parents.

chris, max and me had just returned home from the beach and it was a monday. chris was out of the house working on a project and i was home with max. i got an instant message from valerie asking if she could call me. i knew right away why she wanted to talk instead of IM.... so a few minutes later the phone rings, it's val, and my hunches were correct :) she was in fact expecting and due mid febuary according to her calculations. we chit chat, i'm excited as heck for the two of them :) and at that point i knew exactly what i was going to make for her. IN FACT, i really had that planned out for a while prior to her announcement, i was just waiting for the cue, her announcing that she was in fact expecting, to start said project. following our phone conversation her and i exchange some emails, i asked her for guidance in regards to color, she wanted something colorful but not too bright. i had found the perfect color combo and was soon on my way.

however the funny part of the story actually takes place the afternoon of the day she called me. it was lunch time, i was feeding maxwell a jar of baby food peaches and for those of you without jarred baby food experience, peaches are actually quite tasty. so i crack open the jar and the smell just about knocked me over. i KNEW at that moment that something was up... no the jar was not bad, the food was perfectly good.... it was me that had something else going on.... so after lunch, i packed max up and headed to the dollar store for a few pregnancy tests. i got home, peed in a cup and sure enough, a big old positive! OOPS! so chris gets home, i tell him, we're both pretty much in shock, max was only 10 months old at the time and frankly we really weren't ready to start trying just YET..... so that afternoon, i decide to call valerie back. the two of us had a pretty good laugh about it :) and i was super excited to get to be pregnant at the same time as one of my best friends :)

so onto the knitting portion of the post, i knew that valerie and nathan were trying to have a baby so i knew i had to have a project in mind for when i got the call. the project in mind was Moderne Baby Blanket from Mason Dixon Knitting. i just love the basic log cabin technique and really wanted to give this one a shot. it was on the smaller side as far as blankets go so i thought i would whip it up in no time and be done with pleanty of time to spare.... yea right... i picked out my yarn, Line Brand Homespun, a yarn that i don't see me using again anytime soon, it breaks and pulls and bunches while knitting and that's a pain. however the final product is very very soft and thick so i'm happy with the output just not with the enjoyment factor of knitting with it. needless to say, it turned out beautifully and i'm pretty sure that valerie is happy with it too. i'm also pretty certain that i somehow had a moment of clarity while choosing the colors because valerie and nathan went on to find bedding that has the same colors that i used in it. she had no idea what colors i had chosen or what i was even making.

Here's the finished blanket:


i also knit her a set of adorable booties, pattern can be found here at Saartje Knits they too were a big hit. i used the exact yarn that the pattern calls for, what a dream to work with :) and i'm making another pair for another friend who is due in march :)

here's a photo of the booties:

i plan to also make a pair of these for our new little one :) they whip up in a flash and are so adorable :)

for right now, i leave you with this, chris came to the shower and took a photo of the two of us. i'm 31 weeks and valerie is just about 30. it's funny to notice the difference in how you carry with it's your first vs. your 2nd :)