Introducing...

I've been away for a long while. Now I'm back, and we have a new addition to the family.

I'd like you to meet Clinton Ryu.

 He arrived on December 10th, at 6:50pm, weighing in at 4156 grams and measuring 55cm. He was the biggest baby at the hospital by a full kilogram that week, although he did not come close to the hospital's record 5400 grams.
We came home on December 13th, and I got to dress him up in the hat I knit while in labor. (And yes, I made it to match my own.)

Of course, when we arrived home the cats were curious. Clint passed the security inspection with no problem.

Now I'm adjusting to my week-old son and his non-schedule of eat, sleep, poop, repeat. But he's totally worth it.
And check out that hair!

Anyway, I'm going back to sleep now.
Merry Christmas!

Introducing Tomodachi

I was reading through my recent posts, and discovered a glaring oversight: the introduction of the newest family member. No, not the little dude still swimming around my belly. This little guy:

This is Tomodachi. Tommy, for short. He was rescued by my friend Emmett from the bowling alley. (Yes, you read that right. The bowling alley.)
See, Emmett works part-time over there, and one night a couple months ago he was on a closing shift. The guys working on the snack bar side were moving some pallets around, when a tiny blue-and-white kitten fell out of a pallet, landed on the floor, then bolted to a corner to hide. The ladies working thought it was a rat, and screamed, and Emmett came running to save them from the vermin...only to discover the two-month-old kitten, cowering behind a mop bucket.
I have long been convinced that babies of all species are adorable to ensure their survival. You see someone so tiny, so cute, and your instinct is to protect them. This was Emmett's instinct that night. The problem was, his landlord won't let him keep any animals besides a goldfish. So, he called us to help.
And of course, we couldn't say no.
Tim actually drove out there to collect him. (It was pretty late and I was pretty tired and had to work the next day, anyway.) He came home, set the kitten up in the room designated for the nursery, then came and told me I had to see this kitten.
He was tiny, very skinny, had a hurt paw and tail, and a couple fleas. (Thankfully, only a couple, and once we got rid of those they never returned.) His fur was matted, he needed a bath desperately, and he kept trying to nurse on my fingers.
Well, he sure didn't like the bath, nor did he like his paw being cleaned with an alcohol swab (although he didn't mind the antibiotic ointment so much). He absolutely loved the milk-soaked kibbles we fed him and the attention we lavished on him. And once again, I was blessed with a kitten that just used the litterbox with no training.
Fast-forward a couple of months, and Tomodachi is doing fantastic. When we finally got him in to see the vet, his paw was healed, his tail was healed, he'd gained enough weight that you couldn't count his ribs just by looking at him...and he was still flea-free. Not to mention worm-free. The vet commented on how healthy he was...which goes to show how much a little love and attention can help. (Food doesn't hurt, either.)

In case you were wondering about the name..."Tomodachi" is Japanese for "Friend." What's funny is, he and Buddy are practically inseparable. (Star, in her usual aloof manner, could care less about hanging out with them.)

Weekend Windup

Well, I got quite a bit done this week!
For starters, I finished the baby quilt:

Now I just need to convince Tim to drive up to Fukuoka with me and visit Ikea, so I can get some furniture for the nursery...it needs decorating.

Next, I finished the Halloween quilt with 2 months to spare!

This is probably the easiest quilt I've made. It took 2 charm packs, a panel, plus the backing & binding. The quilting design was pretty easy, too:

It seemed so obvious, as soon as I had it basted I just knew it was going to be a spiderweb design. And it looks pretty cool from the back, as well as the front. Now, we're just waiting for October to arrive so we can deploy this one on the couch...

And I'm still knitting. But this weekend, I decided to go with a sweater, rather than another soaker. Tim tried telling me that sweaters are useless, the baby will never wear them, he never wore sweaters as a baby...I pointed out that he was born in May, which is typically warm anywhere in the States, and his family moved to Hawaii before he was a year old...so of course he never wore a sweater. Of course, I was a winter baby, and came home from the hospital in the worst blizzard of the decade, and in every picture of me I'm in a sweater, hat, mittens, and several blankets.
So I win.
Here's where I am today:

And tomorrow, hopefully, I will finish this one and start the next.

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday! Check out the button on my sidebar for more info.

Nesting by Knitting

22 weeks pregnant and I'm getting some serious nesting urges. Unfortunately, I can't decorate the nursery just yet (the crib is still making its way across the Pacific, and we haven't set up a day to make the trek to Ikea up in Fukuoka yet.)
So instead, I've been knitting baby items. Mostly soakers, since Tim can't "veto" useful items. (Sweaters are not classified as "useful," somehow, which is just his own ignorance. This baby is arriving in December. He will need sweaters.)
Here's what I've made so far:

And of course, I still have about a half dozen skeins of Cascade 220, just waiting to be knit or crocheted into something fun...
Patterns used, with links to Ravelry, from the top:
Bobbled Bloomers by Kat Coyle
Plain Wrap by Warm Heart Woolies (the two yellow + first olive green)
Snapdragon Soaker by Blossoms & Bits
I am very curious to see how these will fit, but have to wait a few more months...

Almost There...

Tonight, inspiration on how to quilt the baby quilt struck while Tim was out catching some Taco Bell for dinner. (Don't judge. I'm pregnant and had a craving for Mexican food. In Nowhere, Japan. I'll take what I can get.)
Anyway, I'd been fretting for over a week on how to quilt this thing. Did I want to use a free-motion quilting design, or just make neat, parallel lines all over it, or make a nice diamond pattern? At one point, I had a tab open for each of Leah Day's heart designs...but decided to hold off on that until after last week's sonogram. And I'm glad we did, because I know I would've regretted putting hearts all over a quilt destined for a baby boy's nursery.
---Which is where I take a moment to say, "HooRah, we're having a boy!" On my mother's side, this is the first baby boy in 3 generations. On my husband's side, this is the first time the firstborn was a boy...as far back as anyone can remember.

Ok, back to the quilt. I realized that because the number of squares going down the long side was prime (11), there was no way I could get any kind of diamond pattern to look right. No matter what angle I used, they would all look just a little bit awkward. And I didn't really want to just stitch-in-the-ditch, but I also couldn't imagine an appropriate FMQ design.
So I compromised, and used steps...

It's sort of stitch-in-the-ditch. I just outlined those nifty stair patterns the fabrics made. The back (which I will totally photograph once the binding is done!) has zig-zags all over.
I had the binding all pinned, and was getting ready to sew it...when I realized that 1) I didn't have any bobbins filled with red thread, 2) the only red thread I have is Aurifil, which is great except that 3) my primary Brother sewing machine, a CP-7500, does not like winding bobbins with Aurifil and 4) my backup Brother was tucked away in a closet in the tatami room, with an upended loveseat blocking the door. ( Also- 5) It's after 10 pm here.)
So tomorrow, I will finish this quilt.
(At least, I hope I will.)


Linking to Fabric Tuesday...click that cute button with the sewing machine on my sidebar to check it out!

Weekend Wind-Up

Wait a minute...it's Sunday evening and I'm actually writing a blog post?
It seems I may be getting back on track.

After I accidentally stayed up until 3am the other day, I decided it was time to get back to work.
"Work" did not entail cleaning, cooking, organizing, going to the office, calling the office, ironing clothes, folding clothes, putting clothes away, making the bed, or any of the myriad other tasks that often comprise my weekend. Thank goodness.

I finished the apron I started back in...well, I don't remember. It was a while back. January, maybe?

I'm pretty happy with it.
Here's a pic of me actually wearing it:

(I assure you, my hair is not that high. It's a shadow.)(My skin, on the other hand, is that red. Stupid pregnancy hormones.)(I never had a problem with acne before.)

...notice the cool part? It's reversible! The pattern came from "Sewing Vintage Aprons" by Denise Clason. I have no idea what the fabric is; I found it in the clearance tab of Fabric.com months ago.
 
I did have leftover fabric, and used it to make a grocery bag for my sister. (She already knows she's getting it, so sharing photos won't ruin the surprise.)(Although, Babs, if you're reading and you want to be surprised, stop reading now.)

This pattern came from "Sew Serendipity Bags" by Kay Whitt:

The cool part is how it folds up and tucks into that little pink pocket on the side:

And then can hang on a hook with other reusable fabric grocery bags:

These will get dropped in the mail eventually. Really, they will. The nice thing about them, of course, is there is no seasonal rush to send them. Completely unlike with the beret and scarf I made her, then didn't get a chance to mail until March. (To be fair, though, Chicago is pretty darn cold in March, so they weren't entirely wasted.)


So now the only thing I have left to worry about is How the heck do I quilt this?

Friday Night turned Saturday Morning

The best part of the week came Friday morning, in the form of a telephone call informing me that I no longer have to work overtime. Which is really, really great, because it was honestly getting quite difficult to take care of everything. (Bending over and reaching into a knee-high metal box with a pair of pliers and a screwdriver? With 20 weeks of baby belly? Not fun.)

So this evening, I intended to work on the baby quilt. The backing fabric I ordered arrived in the mail, I had everything pressed and laid out and...well...

 ...it's pin-basted! (That's something, right?)

But I have no idea how I should quilt this thing.
Should I go for just a stitch-in-the-ditch, and let the fabrics show? Should I make parallel diagonals? Should I stipple? Or bubble-quilt it? Or something else entirely?
Unfortunately, Tim is zero help on this. He usually gives color approvals or vetoes designs he doesn't like. But that's it.

So, any ideas? (Seriously, I need suggestions.)

In the meanwhile, I've got a crochet afghan I can work on...