Oh, herro there!

I am still alive! But to be honest, friends, it was a very close thing. Very close indeed.

To make a long story short, on Jan 4th I went to the hospital with mild contractions. My doctor did a blood panel, and I was diagnosed with HELLP syndrome - something that affects 0.2-0.6% of pregnant women and is characterized by renal failure, liver rupture, and general ickyness. I was already in renal failure when they sent me to Denver. They could not stabilize my condition for more than 24 hours before the boys started showing signs of stress.

As a result, Elijah Joel and Edward Charles were born by emergency c-section on January 5th at 6:35 and 6:36 pm. They are still in the NICU, with round the clock care by some of the most fantastic people imaginable. These nurses and doctors - they have answered our every question, they have explained patiently everything that is happening to our boys and their best options for survival while still allowing us to feel somewhat in control of the whirlwind around us. All of this while I'm still recovering my kidney, liver, and platelet function in addition to a c-section - trying to manage the whirlwind around just recovering me. That is an amazing thing, people. If you EVER need care, come to Denver and University Hospital.

The boys are 3 pounds each - so tiny - and yet they are so strong. They cry vigorously and throw fits and then calm down to hear my voice. It's amazing. They are amazing. As my doctors have and continue to remark upon, I am a very VERY lucky woman.

For now, I spend most of my days either at the hospital with the boys, or home resting and recovering myself. Blogging content might be a bit slow for a while - I'm attempting to keep up with the knitting, but between the drugs and the general recovery, I am doing a LOT of sleeping. I'll try to photograph what I knit and keep you all up to date though.

And more pictures of the boys are SURE to follow. :D

four little booties sitting in a row....

...waiting for owners to fill them with toes!
Are you surprised to hear from me? I have taken a short hiatus to... well... grow a few people. And to knit them wee garments. Double of everything. They have little sweaters to go with these booties and little hats to match. I have actually been quite the knitting fool, in between eating ridiculous amounts of food and sleeping 13 hours a night. And still working full time. And getting the nursery set up. And did I mention sleeping whenever possible?

Where were we? Ah, yes. Knitting for the babies. At some point I realized that as a knitter, I cannot in good conscience clothe the new monsters in anything I have not knit for them myself. Ergo, baby knitting. Which ROCKS. I've been using Debbie Bliss patterns for the booties and cardigan, and a Louisa Harding pattern for the beanie caps. Here's one of the cardigans:
I just need to sew the snap bands on these guys and they will be good to go. Cuz buttons on a wiggly baby? Not so much. Especially not with TWO wiggly babies. :D

Baby knitting is fast becoming my favorite pastime. It's quick, it's easy, it uses up remnants, and it's SO FREAKIN CUTE. What's not to love?

The skinny bitch is skinny no longer

I realize that I have been quiet for some time, and I do apologize, but I actually have a very good reason for my silence. For the better part of two months, I've been unable to do much besides try to get through my day. Yes, dramatic and sad sounding, right? Not so much.

My husband and I decided that after almost 10 years together, it was time. Yup. I'm expecting. But that's not all. I'm expecting TWINS.

If ever I needed my knitting mojo back, it's now. And lo did the sun did shine down and I started going through the many baby patterns that my loving Nana left to me. Yes, I will knit again. I MUST knit again, and I must start post-haste. I need to get it all in now before the twins are born because heaven knows I'll have NO time after.

Anyway, now that I can look at a computer (or anything else for that matter) without getting ill, I will be writing more often. Hopefully with knitting content. :D

It's not knitting, but it's not nothing either

The knitting mojo has gone. She is on summer vacation - probably hanging out with Santa Claus on some beach in the Caribbean. On the other hand, the sewing mojo has returned. Since the niece turned one, I figured I'd make a little somethin somethin for her...Cute little monster, isn't she? This is Simplicity pattern 4243, and it was so easy it was almost ridiculous. The edging is just red hem tape. There's a hat in this pattern that might make it to my sewing board too - I have plenty of the Amy Butler fabric leftover....
Schmoo.

I also made myself a nice summer dress... pics to follow shortly...

Hope you all are enjoying your time outdoors! Hooray for summer!

Success!

The wedding was a resounding success, and my dear friend Andy has pledged his life to a wonderful woman. I wish them many years of love and happiness!

Wherefore art thou?

I must say, after that behemoth of a project, I'm feeling rather... uninspired. I have enough stash to knit around the world and back (egads. wait till you SEE what's in my stash now.) and I've been perusing Ravelry and finding a few cute patterns, but nothing that I must cast on for NOW.

Come to think of it, the only moment of emotion during my Ravelry hunt was when I found a rather cute baby pattern on a weirdly deformed baby, until I discovered that the aforementioned deformed baby was under a smudge on my screen and it was actually quite a cute baby.

Other than that, meh.

Mojo, oh mojo, what has happened to thee?

I really really hope

That the recipients of this gift are not reading my blog. I hope. Hope hope hope. Because here she is:

Pattern: Girasole by Jared Flood

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Superwash - ~15 skeins
Needles: 9 circs
Mods: I left off the last repeat of chart G (last one before the edging)
I liked the 3-2-1 effect of it, plus I wasn't sure if I was going to
run out of yarn or not.

This is a wedding gift for a very dear friend of mine. I had thought it was going to be a wrench to give away, but actually, I'm kind of looking forward to it. She's going to have to go out for a few more photo shoots though... once she's done blocking.

I'm pretty sure I'll knit this again - the pattern is really well written and easy to follow, once you remind yourself how to read charts. Plus I think I would like one for my own living room - maybe in a deep burgundy red... jes?