Well, whoops, didn’t mean to go yet another month+ without posting here! This whole “cooking a munchkin” thing is exhausting, especially when combined (as it was until a week or so ago) with teaching an intensive summer course. So I’ll just start by thanking all of you for your wonderful comments on my last post – we’re so excited about our little munchkin! We get to see them tomorrow morning, at our 20-week ultrasound appointment. We’re not planning to find out the gender ahead of time, so that aspect of the munchkin will remain a mystery until we get to meet them!
Since my last post, I completely finished up that secret project I mentioned (you’ll hopefully be hearing more about it in late July!) as well as teaching that class, so now my needles and my mind are free to roam a bit. As is my way, I’ve got lots of plots and plans for new designs; some for me, some for the munchkin, and even one for my beloved husband, since our 7th wedding anniversary is next Spring, and I’d like to give him a sweater in honor of it (what with the traditional gift being “wool”). So, expect to hear more about those things if I can ever get my head on straight enough to post regularly this summer.
Also in the plans: a post about the design process for Addie, and a tutorial for the Ganseyette I knit for the Tour de France. I’m not officially participating in any TdF-related knitalongs this year, simply because I’m stretched a bit too thin for them to be any fun for me right now (I don’t have the energy to keep up with forums and such), but at least if I can post about Addie and the Ganseyette, I can honor my tradition of obsessing over Ganseys during le Tour.
Today, I decided to take a moment to swatch for another planned project that I mentioned in my last post: a mashup of Grumperina’s Budgie pattern and my Stripes! pattern.
I’m using Knitpicks Chroma Worsted, and my gauge is a fair amount bigger than that called for in the Budgie pattern, so I’ll be reworking things with my own numbers, as well as substituting details from my Stripes! pattern.
One such detail is the Twisted German Cast-On and corrugated rib hem and collar, to which I’m adding a little vikkel braid, simply because I’m still obsessed with them. I’ll need to go up a needle size or two for the hem of the actual sweater, since my gauge is a bit tighter in corrugated ribbing than it is in stockinette.
I’m also going to transition to garter ridges at the yoke, just like in the grown-up Stripes! pattern. I just love the extra pop the garter ridges give to the yoke!
whit::knits 
We aren’t planning on finding out the gender either. I like the idea of the old fashioned surprise, and we don’t want to be deluged with little girl or little boy things. I’d like to have gender neutral gear so that it’ll last for multiple children. (Not that I’d hesitate to use a pink chair for a boy)
Can’t wait to see more of your design stuff. I’m planning on finishing up a few things this summer too. The goals are set, we’ll see what actually happens. :)
Those are our reasons, too – especially the not wanting to be inundated with very gendered baby stuff. I also just think it’s so weird that in one generation, it’s become the default to find out the gender, to the point where people think you’re kind of weird for not finding out – I mean, my mom didn’t know what she was having when she had me, and it’s not like I’m *that* old!
Good luck with your plans! I think I’m a lot better at planning than actually following through right now, so we’ll see :)
I plan on being childfree myself, but I infinitely applaud not wanting to receive very gendered items as gifts. I don’t understand what makes pink “female” and blue “male”. And what happened to the rest of the colors on the spectrum? Just because a baby is one gender or another doesn’t mean they have to have all of their things one color. I also celebrate all colors.
Speaking of, what lovely muted tones in the colors you chose for your Budipes! (Stridges? Maybe Stridges works better.) Welcome back! I can’t wait to hear about all the things you’re plotting.
Yeah, I’m all for colors! It’s really frustrating, if you try to look for baby clothes – most websites have them pre-divided into “boy” and “girl” clothes. Thankfully, many of the “boy” clothes are really quite gender-neutral (the “girl” stuff is all pink and purple and glittery with unicorns and/or princesses, I swear).
The Chroma yarn I’m using for the babyStripes! sweater has so many colors in it! I really love those greens that showed up in my swatch, but there’s a whole spectrum of colors waiting to make an appearance in this little sweater.
-whitney
So fun! As long as it’s bright and happy, we don’t care what color the sweater is. Same with the baby, sort of. You want them to be happy and healthy. Nothing else matters.
Soon you’ll be feeling MUCH more energetic. Then pregnant really is fun.
Yep, exactly – healthy and happy is all I ask for :)
I’ve had a bit more energy the last week or two, which is a good sign – hopefully it keeps up!
-whitney