like a weed

Baby D's been growing pretty quickly, so now he's actually big enough to fit into some of his handknits. Which is great for D, but it means Georgie's out of a modeling job:

Hat from the Sweet Pea set & the Baby Yoda sweater

I much prefer handknit hats for him over the cotton store-bought ones, because they do such a better job of keeping his head toasty. If I were my old self, I'd have already cranked out ten of them by now. However, after the hand surgery, knitting doesn't come so easily yet--it may be a few more months until I can comfortably knit English-style :( I guess it's time to learn continental?

easy peas-y

(Not the most clever play on words, I know, but running on 4-5 hours of fractured sleep tends to diminish my sense of humor.)

First of all, many thanks to each and every one of you who have sent congratulations and well wishes for my son's arrival--I've hardly had time to personally reply to any of you, but please know that I read and truly appreciate all of your kind words. I know my presence here has been sporadic, at best, over the past couple of months, and it's probably not going to get better anytime soon, so it's nice to know you're still reading.

After three weeks of motherhood, I've picked up on a few key lessons: 1) nursing is not going to magically melt away all my extra pregnancy pudge in a matter of days like everyone promises, 2) my baby does not appreciate my milk when it's made from sweets and fast-food burritos (he pays me back in volumes of dirty diapers and fitful naps), and 3) my days of cooking anything that takes more than 20 minutes are over for the foreseeable future. Basically, I'm now faced with figuring out how to get back to some semblance of a healthy diet on very little time in the grocery store or kitchen.

Pre-baby, eating healthy meant I made myself a huge, lovely salad for lunch every day and scoffed at most pre-packaged, processed foods. Post-baby, I'd be lucky to get done chopping all my veggies before he wakes up again. But still, I have to squeeze fresh nutrients in somehow, which brings me to the next-best option: soup. Today's version was pea soup, which I know is totally out of season, but still, it's a quick & easy option. The recipe is really no big deal, and I'm sure someone's done it this way before, but anyway, here you go:

Pea soup
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. butter
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
2.5 c. water or vegetable broth
3 c. fresh or defrosted frozen peas
Leaves of one celery heart, chopped
salt & fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

Sautee celery & shallot in butter over medium heat until translucent, but do not allow them to brown. Add water or broth, simmer for several minutes. Add peas and celery leaves, simmer for 5 minutes--don't let it go too long, or the peas will lose their color. Using a food processor or stick blender, puree the entire mixture until smooth. Add salt & pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls, garnish with a dollop of creme fraiche or sour cream and some chopped chives, serve.

Happy Halloween!

From our fun-sized treat to you:

It's a boy!

I'm so happy to tell you our precious Baby D finally arrived this past Monday afternoon, after two false labor alarms last Thursday & Saturday. He was born at 5:31 pm and clocked in at 6 lbs. 11 oz., 20.5 inches, and he's very healthy--we're doing great!

Needless to say, we are completely beside ourselves with happiness and amazement at our beautiful new son:

Many more photos are posted over at Flickr. I'm sure you understand my hands are rather full at the moment, so I'll have to let pictures do most of the talking for a little while :)

Thanks to everyone who's been checking in & sending well wishes!

RIP, Ben Ali

Dear Mr. Ali,

Thank you for creating one of our favorite low-key DC eateries, for making my first cheese-fries experience possible, and for putting veggie chili on your menu even before it was trendy. You will be missed.

~P

is this a test?

With all the work, house and baby stuff going on, I didn't think things could possibly get any more chaotic over here. I knew I was already cutting it close by making plans to close on a house today, move on Friday and be due to give birth next Tuesday, but then, two days ago, I went & threw another wrench in the plans. The short version of the story: I got a bit too careless with a knife in the kitchen, sliced my hand and landed myself in surgery to repair a severed digital nerve. If only I had a nickel for every time someone on the hospital staff looked at me as if I had two heads and said "um, your chart says you're 39 weeks pregnant, so what are you doing in surgery?!".

Thankfully, the finger still functions and the sensation should return in about four months, but for at least the next week or so, there will be no crafting or cooking around here. Which is frustrating for many reasons, not the least of which is that I was *thisclose* to finishing my Weekender--I only had to hand-sew the lining in. And nevermind Sheepish; knitting will be off limits even longer than sewing, I expect.

Sorry there's no photo to accompany this post today; handling a big camera is a bit of a challenge with one hand. Hope to get things back to normal--or some semblance of it--soon...

a pie of spontaneity

It's cloudy and gloomy outside, the workdays have been long, and I just kind of needed a pick-me-up. So I made an apple pie. And while it's just out of the oven & still too hot for me to taste it, the smell of it alone has been enough to lift my mood substantially:

If my pie plate looks a little weird, it's because it's not really a pie plate. It's a kadai. Because, when 75% of your stuff is packed away in a bunch of moving boxes, you make do with what you've got.

And speaking of ovens, here's about how mine's looking these days:

Although we're still hoping that bun keeps baking for its predicted two (eep!) more weeks.

checking in

My apologies for the long lapse in posting, but hopefully this massive update will make up for it. House-hunting has effectively turned our lives upside-down, and it hasn't left much time for fun stuff around here lately--hopefully we'll wrapping that ordeal up by the end of the month, so I can finally start grasping the fact that I will be holding my firstborn in my arms in about, oh, three weeks. Give or take a couple weeks, of course--we're rooting more for the "give" than the "take", because we need all the time we can get. At least I've had the presence of mind to squeeze in a few crafty projects even when I don't feel like it, because I know this is the last chance I'll get to do these things for a while.

First up was a Hooded Carrying Bag, which I finished knitting over a month ago, but the process of installing the zipper got the best of me. Three tries later, I figured fate was telling me to go another way. I installed some snap tape with the sewing machine instead, and thankfully that worked out, because my next plan involved tossing the whole thing in the trash.

(Project details on Ravelry)

The Weekender is under way, too, however slowly. Just cutting out all the pieces was a three-day affair, but forcing myself to set everything aside whenever I feel frustration creeping in has helped keep major disaster at bay thus far. The main panels are done now, and I'll be treading into zipper territory next, which has me a bit nervous. Here's a sneak preview of the fabric, from Amy Butler's Nigella line, which I got for a steal on eBay:

My sewing machine has actually seen a fair bit of action lately; in addition to the Weekender, I've turned out 6 Simple Bibs from Bend the Rules Sewing, and made 12 matching burp cloths a la Chickpea Sewing Studio. Both are great, quick projects that were good for briefly taking my mind off the house and baby anxiety without requiring too much concentration; they also help quell some of my nesting urges, which I can't otherwise indulge until we get our "nest".

(Fabric from Superbuzzy)

Now, I'm working on an adorable little cardigan called Sheepish, by Alana Dakos. A couple of months ago, Alana sent me the pattern kit as a baby gift, and I've been saving it for a time when I could appreciate the peace and quiet of knitting again. I cast on during a spontaneous road trip to Knoxville, TN over Labor Day weekend--our last "trip of freedom," as we called it--and haven't gotten too far yet:

The kit's available for purchase on through Dancing Ewe Yarns, with more details on Alana's website. I think the best part of the kit is the precious sheepie buttons!

I think that brings us up to speed on all crafty matters. Nevermind cooking, because I haven't really been doing any of that. We've been frequenting burrito joints more than I care to admit over the last few months... let's just leave it at that.

comfort pack

My mother-in-law had knee replacement revision surgery on Monday--hopefully the final chapter in a very long and arduous saga to fix her knee. She's the kind of no-nonsense, no-fuss lady who is impossible to shop for, because she truly never wants anything. So, as you can imagine, we were at something of a loss as to what we could send to her for her recovery, since we couldn't be there ourselves to help out.

I came across this comfort pack pattern over at Sew, Mama, Sew!--I could sit and browse those tutorials all day--and knew it would be perfect, especially since I had a large bit of fabric leftover from the market bag. H says that the last time she had this surgery, she relied heavily on bags of frozen peas to ice her knee during recovery, so hopefully this will be a little nicer for her to use.

Instead of a Velcro closure, I just made the back piece with two overlapping rectangles, like a pillowcase, so the outer cover can still be removed for washing. I filled it with short-grain rice, without any essential oil, because a) I didn't have any, and b) I'm pretty sure the pack will be used mostly cold anyway, so there won't be much concern over the rice smell.

If I'd had more time, I would have liked to try flax seed instead of rice, but seeing as my own mom may be a candidate for the same surgery in the near future, I might be making another one of these sooner rather than later. I'm even tempted to make one for myself, to take to the hospital--less than 9 weeks to go! I don't know where the time's going...

Farmer's market bag

A dear friend recently moved to Minneapolis and has quickly taken to the farmer's market there, so for her birthday I decided to add to her gift a simple bag for her to carry all her market spoils home.

I don't know why, but most market bags are low and wide--not exactly conducive to carrying around a crowded market, unless you like whacking complete strangers with the sides of your bag, is it? So I made this one narrower and a little taller (good for fresh baguettes!). I used a reusable Whole Foods bag for some rough measurements, but otherwise made it up as I went along; it's really just a basic lined tote with a center pleat on each side.

This is the first time I've sewn by the seat of my pants without ending in complete disaster--hopefully this means I'm improving! Especially since I've decided to bite the bullet & take on a difficult project I've been eyeing for over a year, but never had the guts to attempt it: Amy Butler's Weekender Bag. I've read many a horror story about this pattern on the internet, and I myself have had some awful experiences with Butler patterns in the past, yet I just can't resist this one. May the force be with me?