Thanks for all of your great comments on my last entry... they definitely helped me enjoy those last few days before she was born!

Pregnancy can seem to pass very slowly -- at least it has for me. One of the things I did to help the time pass a tiny bit faster was mark off every day on a notepad on my desk at work. When I got into the office this morning, it was quite a triumphant feeling to mark off the last day of the 40th week of my pregnancy. That's right, today's Cheezit's due date! It's been surreal and exciting to see both of my due date buddies have their babies already!

One of the weird pregnancy symptons I've experienced has been a lack of desire to knit. Can you imagine? It's been so distressing. (Fortunately, others have stepped in and produced some beautiful handknits for Cheezit... more on that later.) It's also a large part of the reason that I've been so quiet here -- nothing to show!

The next time I post here, I'll probably have a newborn so I won't make any promises about the imminent return of knitting content. But it -- and I -- will be back. Wish us luck!

Rules:
Once tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list 8 random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to 8 other people, visit their sites, and leave a comment letting them know they’ve been tagged.

1. I’m an only child.
2. Before starting to knit, I was a voracious reader. This started at a young age. (See #1.)
3. Now that I’m a knitter, I do most of my pleasure “reading” by Audiobook while knitting. It’s a bit slower than reading a physical book, but better than not reading at all!
4. Number 3 notwithstanding, the most recent book I read was a physical book: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It was worth putting down the knitting.
5. Number 4 notwithstanding, my favorite genre of literature is military history. World War II is probably my favorite subject, but I also really enjoy reading about the more recent conflicts as well.
6. My guilty pleasure TV show is Las Vegas.
7. I was born “tongue-tied” and didn’t have it repaired until I was in the fourth grade. As a result, I didn’t learn to whistle until I was in high school… and though I love music and can generally carry a tune, I’m a piss poor whistler.
8. I do not like it when people arrange for birthday cake and singing at a restaurant. It’s fine when it’s for other people, but the very idea that it might happen to me, well, it kind of freaks me out. (I think this may be linked to a restaurant my family went to when I was a kid where the celebration included clowns and banging on a drum. Though it was not my birthday, the first time I saw it I must have made my parents swear 1,000 times that they weren’t going to come to our table!)

I don't usually do these kinds of things, but since my knitting content is so unspeakably lame these days I figured it couldn't hurt. I am going to break one of the "rules" above, and say that whoever would like to do this meme can consider themselves tagged by me!

Cheezit's a she! Let the knitting commence...

I added pearl beads to the pattern repeat and got to knitting back in March. And knitting, and knitting. As is my usual, I finished up at the last minute, in this case the day before the wedding. It ended up blocking in the hotel room during the rehearsal dinner... check out Jason helping pin it out!

Of course, it was 85 degrees on her wedding day... so a portable air conditioning unit would have been more useful to her than a wool/silk blend shawl. But Jillay is a good friend and a good sport, so she graciously posed for some pictures on her big day.

I have been knitting this shawl exclusively since August, and since Jillay has been known to check on this here weblog I haven't been blogging about it. But I've also been working on another super-secret, off-blog project that's been absorbing a lot of my attention.

This project -- known around here as Cheezit -- should be "done" around March 19, 2008, putting me in the very good company of fellow knit-bloggers Cara and Sarah. We'll find out if it's a Miss Cheezit or a Mr. Cheezit on October 25... feel free to put your guesses in the comments!

Right on schedule, my wonderful sock pal's package for me arrived full of goodies from the heartland.

My pal was Megan (Knitstasher11) from MIssouri, and she sent me the coolest package! First, my socks. They are made from Rowan 4 Ply Cotton, and the pattern is Laura's Fluted Banister Socks. They fit perfectly, and have just the right amount of stretch.The socks came with an adorable scrapbook of where they've been so far -- everywhere from my pal's son's soccer practice, to Arkansas for a business trip, to Texas for the birth of my pal's first grandchild! She also sent two more balls of Rowan 4 ply Cotton, a cute keychain sock-blocker (for mini socks), and some honey-toasted peanuts (mmmm, peanuts). I was spoiled!

So, you might ask, if I got my package on time... why wait so long to post about it? Because my package to my pal was not nearly so punctual! I did finally get it out last week, though, and now that I know that she's got it, I can spill the beans!

I knit socks for fellow DC-area knit-blogger Yarn Geek! She requested socks to keep her feet warm, and I hope she likes them! I included a treat for her little girl and, to feed her Harry Potter love, a book written by a certain knit-blogger all Sockapaloozers know and love. (Why no pictures of the rest of the package? Because I am lame.)

So, another Sockapalooza successfully concluded -- thank you for organizing, Alison!

And look what she had for me!

That's right, it's the yarn from the dearly departed knee-socks! I had forgotten that she also snagged a skein for herself, and thanks to her largesse, the knee socks will live again! Long live the knee socks!

It's Claudia's Handpainted yarn knit up in Conwy from Knitting on the Road. Though I would have loved to try one of the lacy patterns currently popular (like Monkey or Pomatomus), my pal suffers from perpetually cold feet. Can't have that! Conwy is all about mock cables and dense, cozy fabric. I hope she likes them!

Alison enabled the purchase of the yarn (even spotted me the cash to buy it!) from fellow Knitsmith Reese. It sat in my stash for a bit while I was waiting for inspiration when one day it hit me: I needed knee socks. Red ones. With cables.

The cable up the back of the leg was based on a cable I found in the Stitch Bible. I sort of made up the calf shaping as I went.

I loved these socks as soon as they were done. The yarn was so soft that even I, the Great Allergic One, could stand to wear it next to my skin for brief periods of time. These pictures don't really do the colors justice, either -- a bright, clear red with a petal pink. They were perfect for commuting on public transportation on a cold winter's day -- I would wear them on my way to work to keep my legs warm, and take them off when I got to the office.

I'm sad to report that these socks were recently lost in a felting incident. I'd happily make myself another pair, but both Reese's blog and Etsy store have been dormant for some time, so I think the chances of getting any more yarn like it is pretty slim.

A moment of silence, please, for the Kneesocks.

Last night, however, it finally occurred to me: why am I not knitting my way through these meetings?

If you're in the DC area, come suport the market merchants and vendor this weekend and in the weeks to come --you might see me working at the Capitol Hill Community Foundation table!

Near the beginning of the World War II section, there is a mock-up of a 1940s-style living room. On the radio, President Roosevelt is giving his "day that will living in infamy" speech to Congress as images of Pearl Harbor flashed on a video screen nearby.

My favorite touch on this scene was the fact the young girl had yarn and needles in her lap. I chose to overlook the fact that they probably placed them there in an effort to make the scene look "old-timey" when I noticed that there was actual knitting on those needles! Imagine how much fun a knitter had making that little swatch for the exhibit!

Here's where I need some help: Jill would like a some small, sparkly beads on her stole. I've never knit with beads before, but I'm always keen to try something new -- especially for Jill! I've found some good tutorials on how to knit with beads, so I think I'm all set on the how-to. We're New York-bound this weekend, and my crafty mother-in-law has already recommeded several good bead stores that I can visit while I'm there. I just don't what size or type to get for using with Kid Silk Haze.

Any suggestions?