Changes

As many of you who know me IRL already know, Vitalay moved out of our house several months ago over the winter holidays, and we are now getting a divorce. This has been an unbelievably devastating and stressful time. At first, I was so overwhelmed by what was happening, I couldn't really talk about it, and instead poured all of my energy into taking care of my sweet little Leo, and finishing my last year of school, and trying not to get pulled under by the weight of my own sadness. For a long time, I didn't want to tell everyone because I felt like I was in a nightmare that I might just wake up from; maybe if I just waited a little while, V would come back and everything would be OK.

I have finally gotten my head around what at first was so incomprehensible, and have adjusted to life as a single mom. Things are certainly not easy, and every week seems to hold a new challenge, but I am dealing with all of them. And I finally feel like I can talk about it here and elsewhere, because it is my reality, and it's time to face it.

The truth of the matter is that ever since Leo's birth, my life has been filled with so much joy, I sometimes feel as though my heart will burst with it. We are both healthy and have a stable, happy home. I graduated magna cum laude from Columbia in May, and gave my sweet baby a snuggle afterwards.


 I am moving on and looking forward to our future. And I have so much to be thankful for that I go to sleep grateful every single night. We are going to be OK.

 Thanks for listening.

Leo says Happy New Year!

Leo says Happy New Year! And good morning!, originally uploaded by Jess Yarnmonster.

Hi everyone! It's been a while. New year, new blog post.

I have 2 resolutions for this year:
1. Get in shape.
2. Make more time for friends.

Getting in shape includes both eating better and exercising more--and getting more organized about both. Life has been so hectic since wee Leo arrived on the scene, but I think that doing a little more planning ahead with meals and workouts will help to ease some of that.

Making time for friends--enough said. More knit nights, more dinners out, more girly-dates with my pals. Babies have made us all more busy, but it's important to give yourself a break once in a while.

Besides all of that, I'm looking forward to reading some good books, spending lots of time with my tiniest buddy, Leo, and [finally] graduating in 2012. Happy New Year, indeed!

OMG, Summer's Here!

Clearly, we're very excited.

Leo's 10 months old now--10 months!?!--and is Everywhere. He started crawling during our final exams--awesome timing--and was off like a rocket. I am racing around all day trying to keep him from falling and climbing into the fireplace, etc. Is this how people lose those last 5 pounds of baby weight?

It's been a busy semester--as it always is, but this one was particularly challenging, being my first ever as a parent, and also Vitalay's last as an undergrad:

Yep, V has graduated! I am so proud of him; he always dreamed of coming here and going to Columbia, and he not only did it, but graduated magna cum laude. My smarty-pants!

I just wish I'd graduated too! Just a couple more classes to go....

But now, it's summer! And there are so many things I can't wait to do. Take Leo to the beach for the first time, sign up for some mama-baby swimming classes, read LOTS of books, maybe actually get to SEW or KNIT!

Strangely enough, I do most of my knitting during the summer months, probably due more to my academic schedule rather than an A/C-inspired chill. I'm hoping for another good summer of projects, since the last thing I finished was this:

Pattern: Seed Stitch Baby Jacket by Elinor Brown

Yarn: Cascade 220

Raveled!

I love this little jacket--it is squishy and warm and has kept Leo toasty all winter. But I did finish it a while ago, so it's time to get those needles dusted off and start something new! We've had kind of an epidemic of pregnancies in the Spiders in the last year (Don't want kids? You'd better not knit with us, it's contagious!), so I've got a bit of baby-knitting to do. But I'm really looking forward to knitting something for myself for the first time in almost 2 years.

Time to get on Ravelry and see what all of you are knitting out there! Something good, I'm sure.

Um, Happy New Year?

A friend visited my blog recently, which reminded me, it's been quite some time since I posted. It also reminded me that I had planned to get back to posting to my poor neglected blog in the New Year. Ha.

So, things have been, um, a little busy, but I did manage to knit Leo some thick wooly pants. Because yo, it is COLD this year in NYC! Not going to say any more about that, since you probably already know, but seriously.Raveled here!

Poor Leo--his mother won't stop knitting him things. Better get used to it, kiddo.

I also did some baby knitting for--gasp--OTHER PEOPLE. Check out Illanna's baby, Desi, in his Owls Vest:

Raveled here!

Gah, he is such a cutie! These photos, obvs, are from months ago; neither of these babes is cavorting outdoors in anything less than a full-on snowsuit these days.

I also knit a very big Snug for Steph's little Deanna, and--argh--forgot to take a photo of it. But D is growing in leaps and bounds, so who knows, maybe it will fit her before this winter's done. And there is also a giant cowl which has been too busy keeping me warm to be photographed. But other than that, knitting has been slooooow.... And we won't even talk about how much my sewing machine misses me.

But! Leo is a whole 6 months old now, AND I have gone back to school part time. L hangs with Daddy on those days, making messes and doing stuff guys do, and finds his inner peace at mom & baby yoga on the days he's with me. He is the Most Fun Thing. Ever. And he smells like candy.

I Had A Baby!

Leo was born on July 21, at 3:13 PM after 15 hours of labor. I was not a happy pregnant person, and I ended the pregnancy by going through my labor drug-free--ouch--and let's just say I am REALLY glad that it's all over! Leo is a sweet and delightful little baby--he is completely a mixture of his mom and dad, and we are fascinated by his every move.

Needless to say, I haven't been doing much knitting since Leo's birth, but I did quite a bit in preparation, and as always, my Spiders girls were ready to warm my little boy with lots of warm wooly goodness.

They crocheted this insanely gorgeous hexagon blanket for my wee Leo, creating the Best Baby Blanket Ever. In fact, V and I love it so much, we decided it needs to live in the living room with us. It matches my house!

With the blanket came lots of sweet knitted/crocheted goodies:

And other beautiful things have been arriving in the mail! First came some sausage-dog awesomeness from Pam:

And then a beautiful cardigan from Mai:

Leo is going to be so fancy this fall and winter! I have been jumping the gun a bit, trying to deck him out in handknits before the weather is really appropriate.

And now the knits from me! There is his hippo:

And his Rhinebeck sweater, a Tomten Jacket, in Malabrigo Sock (green) and Koigu (gray). I hope he grows a lot in the next week, because it is still really big on him!

This one fits him now! The Super-natural Stripes Cardigan, in Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton:
Then I knit him Ysolda's Hap Blanket, in Cascade Eco Wool:
And to finish with, Minty's pattern for a tiny crochet birdie--miraculously completed AFTER Leo arrived!

OK, now I'm going to try to do a little knitting before it's time to feed this hungry baby again!

Babymoon!

Hey there! It's been a long time! I sort of hate doing the catch-up, I've been sooo busy post, so I'm just going to skip all that and go ahead. I think the major news is kinda obvious.... We're having a baby!
So, this week was Spring Break for V and I, and we actually went to Puerto Rico for a babymoon!!! We only planned this 2 weeks ago, and I never dreamed we'd get a chance to do something like that. For all of the preggers girls out there (and there are many these days), if there is ANY way to get away for a couple of days on a warm sunny beach with your husband, do it! Between school and 2 months of morning-sickness-hell and general pregnancy-tiredness, I was really wiped out. PR was so beautiful, and we had such a relaxing, rejuvenating time, I feel like a human being for the first time since... I don't know, since Rhinebeck? Pretty much.
Some photos:
In the meantime, there have been a couple of knits.
A BSJ for Carrieoke's sweet baby boy, Charlie:
A pair of Owlings for Minty, for our annual Spiders knitting swap:
And that's about it! Back to school tomorrow--we'll see when I resurface from the library again....

Sylvi, Rhinebeck, and Autumn in NY

Pattern: Sylvi by Mari Muinonen for Twist Collective
Yarn: Briggs & Little Atlantic, Fern
Raveled here!
More photos here.
My 2009 Rhinebeck sweater just barely had made it to the festival--I literally sewed in the last end as we pulled into the motel parking lot. It was a lot of finishing, but totally worth it in the end--I love my big snuggly Sylvi.
Rhinebeck was awesome. Vitalay and I drove up for the whole weekend this year, which was a nice change, and so I was able to spend a lot more time seeing friends who travel from afar to be there. Especially my very oldest friend, Mary Heather:
photo by gleek
How awesome is it to still have a friend who knew you when you were 9, playing in a muddy creek and capturing frogs and turtles? MH has only gotten cooler over the years, but she was still one pretty cool chick in the 4th grade....
My sweater got quite a bit of attention at the festival; in this dramatic reenactment Pam is diving in to cop a feel while I am trying to act natural. MH looks on, worried. ;)
photo by gleek
There was also some serious marryin' going on around here. In the last year, no less than 5 Spiders (myself included) have got themselves hitched. Here are a few, waiting for Marie's nuptials to begin:More photos here.
My sweet husband, who has always thought the knitting obsession was actually pretty cool, recently discovered the wonder that is a pair of handknit socks, and so his enthusiasm for my hobby has increased substantially. Since I really didn't need all THREE of my skeins of STR from Rhinebeck to myself, I whipped him up a pair in his favorite colorway:
Pattern: improvised (pattern notes on Ravelry)
Yarn: Socks that Rock mediumweight, colorway: Puck's Mischief
Raveled here!
I'm all about how fast this mediumweight knits up! What better way to make man-socks, no?
So though it is now chilly November, and our leaf-viewing days are pretty much over, here's a bright bit of the glory that is autumn in New York:
I hope everyone is keeping warm and toasty in your handknits!