Hi. I'm Leah, and I'm a recovering librarian. I am addicted to theoretical organization and order, but in reality, my stuff is everywhere. And I'm ok with that.
My dad, upon learning that his first child was on the way, decided that Obadiah would be a swell name. My mom decided that it would be wiser to get a dog, call him Obadiah, and nip that one in the bud. I don't *think* Dad would've pressed for naming rights when it was discovered that I am a girl, but... Nope. Leah. My mom says they liked the sound of my name. Leah Rebekah. That's me.
Nope. Leah. I don't recall having any positive or negative associations with my name until I heard the account of Leah from the Old Testament. I always identified myself with characters in books. I wanted to be like the demure, beautiful princesses who seemed to float through life in their flowing dresses, gentle curls softly drifting behind them, tiny toes peeking beneath ruffled hems as they danced through meadows, singing with the wildlife. Never angry, never clutzy, always saying the right thing and charming the cufflinks off passing princes, and never, ever sad except in a beautiful, somber way that would cause all the woodland creatures to dry their pearlescent tears with bushy tails. That was who I wanted to be. Nope. Leah.
The Leah of the Bible wasn't beautiful. She charmed the cufflinks very much ON the man who came to live with her family for seven years. It was her younger sister, Rachel, who had mice and birds to dress her in the morning. It was Rachel who had the grace and the beauty, and who won the heart of Jacob. It was Rachel who was worth seven years of farm work. But, at the end of the wedding... Nope. Alas, it was Leah. Alas... Leah. I realized that I wasn't the graceful princess; I was more like the oafish, temperamental, crass scullery maid, from whom the woodland creatures would run and hide. If I tried to dance in a meadow, the flowers would wilt. If I tried to sing with the birds, squirrels would throw things. And the news must've gotten out to the princes, for none of them were passing by, regardless of cufflinks. Nope. Leah.
I always tried to get sick when my story was on the docket in school. Naturally, when a classmate's name is mentioned, everybody turns to look at them, and that classmate prays that they're the good guy in the story, not the one who eats the three little pigs or steals the protagonist's kickball, because you're GONNA hear about it at recess. But I always knew what was coming when my story was told. Leah was unloved. Unlovable. The pictures didn't help. You never had to ask which one was Leah and which was Rachel. The Leah in the pictures and I were actually pretty similar - stick-straight hair that wouldn't hold a curl to save it's life (I wonder if the Biblical Leah endured two home perms that did absolutely nothing, despite going to McDonalds with her hair in rollers?), a large nose (covered in blackheads, no doubt), plain, boring, out-of-fashion clothes (I truly believed red sweatsuits with black Scottie dogs embroidered on them were perfectly fine school wear until 7th grade), and unremarkable features (including eyebrows that could conceal several woodland creatures). Overall, I felt we both had better focus on developing "wonderful personalities."
I'm not saying none of this would have been an issue if I'd had a different name; in high school there were a number of Leahs who seemed complex-free. I wanted my name to conjure the images theirs did: Leah, the self-confident, artistic and cute; Leah, the petite, beautiful and trendy; Leah, the tall, lean and athletic. But I was Leah, the nerdy (this was before "nerdy" became "hipster"... or at least, it never did that for me), quiet, and slightly sweaty.
It wasn't until college that a teacher revealed the other side of the story: Leah's husband never favored her, but God did. God saw that she wasn't loved, and he gave her children. Ah, she thought, NOW my husband will love me more. Nope. *sigh* Leah. More kids? Yay! Now...? It was as if God were saying, "Nope. Leah. I love you. Jacob's an idiot." And that would have to be "enough" for her.
To further engrain The Leah Complex into my psychological development, right around the time this other side of the story was revealed to me, I was falling in love for the first time. I was wary, very wary, because I knew I wasn't the princess with the beautiful hair and perfect manners... or perfect anything. I knew that I was surrounded by stunning young women, who had actual wonderful personalities to boot instead of the crippling insecurities I thought MUST be visible to everyone who saw me. But for some reason, he chose to date me. I was petrified in his presence. I was afraid he'd see the woodland creatures scatter before me. So I didn't let myself out. I tried to be demure and perfect and I denied the existence of anything about myself that didn't fit my idea of ideal. The relationship was crap. He wasn't getting to know me at all. He could sense that something was amiss and therefore couldn't be himself either. So, inevitably, The Worst Thing that could happen to my guarded, walled-off heart happened. We broke up. I loved him, but I couldn't let him know that, not until I was a beautiful princess because I thought that was what he wanted and deserved. And, to top it all off, he started dating another girl, whose name was... Rachel. She was cute. She had great fashion sense. Her hair did what she told it to.
I struggled. A lot. For a year. Until one day I thought about Leah. Unloved by Jacob, loved greatly by God - not because of how she looked or acted, but because of grace. And shouldn't that be enough for me, too? Some days, no, it definitely wasn't. But God still loved me through my "scatter the woodland creatures" moods. He loved me as I made peace with my eyebrows, learned to be comfortable in my skin (and less-than-desirable fashion sense), called a cease-fire on the perms, and even grew into my nose. It took two years, but I gradually came to be comfortable with me as I was made to be, not the me I thought would be most attractive to the world. I had to throw my shoulders back and jut out my chin to say it sometimes, but God loved me, and that was more than I could ever ask for or deserve. I still had to cling to God when I saw That Guy walking arm-in-arm with Rachel. I still had to physically remove myself from windows so I wouldn't be tempted to time them when I knew they were headed out on a walk. I still had to make myself sit in the front of chapel so I wouldn't spend the whole service spying to see if they were holding hands or sharing a hymnal. And I still had to pray for forgiveness and contentment. A lot.
In God's inscrutable time, when I was ready to be Leah, everything changed. I've been married to That Guy for three years now. Our son is waking up in the next room, currently. My husband tells me every day how beautiful I am - and he's always looking in my eyes when he says it, not at my body. I know he thinks I'm physically beautiful, too, but the important thing is that he knows me better than that; he knows who I really, truly am... and he still loves me. The grace of God is reflected in my marriage. I'm a lot like the Biblical Leah: nobody's going to put me on a magazine cover or ask me where I got my shoes; but I am deeply, dearly loved. It's undeserved and sometimes underappreciated, but regardless of whatever other names I might have in this life, I get to carry God's name eternally.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Saturday, September 7, 2013
BUDGET madness.
Like many new parents, we knew there would be financial ramifications to starting a family. Also like many new parents, we didn't know exactly what these ramifications would include. So we saved as much as we could and paid off the credit cards in anticipation of Jr.'s arrival and planned to deal with the rest as it came. Well, it's here. We would have had enough saved to cover the standard medical bills surrounding a relatively uncomplicated delivery... but, of course, the car suddenly needed $500 worth of brake work done and our beautiful baby boy had some issues that required monthly specialist visits and EKGs. (Those issues seem to be resolving themselves and we're now going once every six months.) So, by the time the last hospital bill came, we were pretty close to tapped out and had to charge it. Long story short, some friends suggested looking into Dave Ramsey's financial advice. I read his seven baby steps and used a calculator tool to get a general idea of where we needed to start. We tweaked and adjusted to find a manageable plan that, with luck, will help us reach our financial goals (1. Pay off debt. 2. Not starve. 3. Retire before 95 years old.). Here follows our method:
The Envelope Method: Simply put, this method uses a cash-based approach to ensure you don't overspend. (We were using mint.com, which tracks spending in categories really well and will alert you if you're going over by automatically connecting with your credit card companies and banks. This worked well for us for a year or two, but our current bank doesn't play well with mint's software, so we had to find a different way of accounting for spending.) You take one envelope for each category in your budget and withdraw the allotted amount of cash for that category on a schedule. That's all you have for that category until your next withdraw date. (We withdraw twice a month. We're paid twice a month and I don't want to carry a full month's worth of cash. I withdraw one day after the first pay day of the month so there's time for the check to be solidly in our account and 15 days later, so my cash periods are evenly spaced.)
I didn't think the envelope method would work for us at first because we pay most of our bills online. This is a time- and sanity-saver because I can sign up for alerts and reminders, the payments go through quickly, I get email receipts, and my track record with the whole getting-it-in-the-mailbox thing is not great. But, when drawing up our budget, I realized that most of those bills are pretty similar, if not exactly the same from month to month. Mr. Ramsey has some forms to help you get started, but I realized that our needs are so different from those templates that I created my own. I have three categories: Predictable (for those amounts that don't change, like our church offerings, car insurance, student loan payments, etc.), Variable (for bills that fluctuate, like water, power, gas, etc.), and Till it's gone (TIG) (food, gas, clothes, etc.). We pay the first two categories online or by check, and the last section is my true envelope-ly budgeted area.
Breaking it down: Dave's calculator tool breaks this down very well and provides explanations. His recommendations will be italicized and what we do and why will be in regular print. . Your goal is to account for every dollar.
Church/charity: 10-15% (Predictable) We spend 10% on church offerings. This works out to different amounts per week over four weeks or five weeks. I write checks and fill the church envelopes at the beginning of the month so I don't have to remember whether we're in a 4-week or 5-week month on Sunday mornings.
Utilities: 5-10% (Variable) This one is a thorn in my side. You can't really control the percentage of your income this will take up; it is what it is. Yes, you can do things to conserve, but your house HAS to be heated in winter and you NEED those fans or A/C in the summer. We average out what we spend per year and hope it will all come out in the wash. We budget 8% of our income for this category, which includes water (and trash pickup), power, gas, and cell phones. Our church pays for our landline and internet since they're used mostly for church business, but most people's would fall in this category too.
Transportation: 10-15% (Predictable & TIG [Till It's Gone]) Our car insurance (and car payments, if applicable) are predictable. Gas and service are TIG. We have budgeted 10%, with cash per pay period for gas and service and an online payment per month for insurance. In the last month we've switched car insurance carriers, so now it's less, but I haven't redone the budget yet to reflect that. The savings is currently just being rolled back into our checking account.
Health and Medical: 5-10% (TIG, though we don't take cash out for this category, since those bills are paid by check.) We budget 5%. This covers those lingering medical bills, contacts, etc. It's kind of weird right now, as we've met our deductible and we're waiting on reimbursement from insurance for out-of-network eye exams. But this is how we can tell if I can afford to go to the chiropractor again this month, or if I need to wait to get a new retainer.
Recreation: 5-10% (TIG) We do 5%. This is kind of our slush section. We've used it to pay for camping and we're saving now to fix up our bikes, get a trailer for the baby next summer, and renew our community center membership this fall. It's also for movies, dinners out, etc. Technically dinners out should be "Food," but if that budget gets tight or I feel I can't justify a special edible item, it comes from the Rec envelope.
Personal 5-10%, Clothing 2-7%, and Housing 25-35%: (TIG) We wrap these all into one since we live in a parsonage (no rent or mortgage) and we don't buy clothes often. Our budget is 18%. This pays for pretty much every incidental item that's not food. Dave's explanation of each section is good; go read it. :) Right now the %age that should be going to housing is paying off debt. In the next few months that should be gone, and the money will go toward amping up our savings to someday buy a house.
Food: 5-15% (TIG) We budget 10%. We are also on WIC, which has been very helpful in this category as well as Health, since it's free to stop by for breastfeeding or weird rash help from their nurses. The food we get from WIC is stuff I buy anyway (except the canned salmon. Eww.) and it saves us an average of $20 per week on food.
Savings: 5-10% (Predictable) We officially save 5% per month. Again, we are currently working mostly on debt reduction so that number will go up substantially in the next few months. And the first month's savings amount went to start an account for the baby. Still can't decide if that was the best move, since we don't have a technical savings account ourselves yet.
Debt reduction: 5-10% (Predictable) We budget 13% since we don't have housing expenses. Once the credit cards are paid off, we plan to budget 5% toward student loans and put the other 8% into savings.
Taxes: Dave doesn't have a percentage for this since most people pay taxes automatically. My husband is self-employed for tax purposes, however, so we have to make quarterly payments. It's 16% of our income. We leave it in checking, because that's where it will come from on Tax Day.
The Wrenches: Of course, there are problems with this system. My husband, who is a pastor, will buy something for church and sometimes forget to tell me when that money is spent or when he's reimbursed. (We're looking in to having church get a credit card so those expenses don't have to come near our family budget.) We'll sell some books or stuff online and that's unexpected income. The car will need work or our water bill will be high for some reason. Hubby gets paid outside his regular salary for weddings and funerals. And then there are the budgetary nightmares that are childbirth and Christmas. Crazy unexpected expenses, crazy unexpected gifts. And the tax return. And cash that's leftover in the envelopes on withdrawl days. Dave recommends a $1000 emergency fund for those expenses. We're still working on that. When we get unexpected income or gifts, we will usually put a small portion toward a treat or special project we're saving for (minivan, what?) and put the rest into the bank.
We've also started backup envelopes for the leftovers. We often have money to spare in the gas section, but we're planning a trip to Wisconsin next summer that will cost an estimated $350 in gas. We write our goals on the Extras envelopes in pencil, along with what we estimate each item will cost, then we continue to save for those things. Extra food money will go toward Gingerpalooza 2013 and holiday meals. Our Personal cash is being saved for an imminent car seat purchase, Christmas gifts, and a grill. The car seat could come out of the regular personal budget or even the Emergency or Savings funds because it's something we simply have to have, but since we've got a little time before that purchase needs to happen, we're choosing to save for it instead.
A few opinions on credit cards: As freeing as the iconic snipping-of-the-plastic may be, we find credit cards to be a mixed blessing but overall very useful. If used wisely and paid off in a timely and complete manner, they are essential to building credit and useful for tracking expenses with little effort. We use Capital One and they have excellent rewards; you can easily apply rewards directly to your balance. We've saved over $200 on payments simply through their rewards program. I have not been as impressed by Citi's incentives; they're not as useful to me since we don't stay at hotels or shop at their rewards retailers. We also find that until we get our emergency fund up to scratch, our credit cards are a safety net. We only use them for online purchases right now, and those are few and far between. They are actually preferable for online transactions, though, because if you're scammed or you need to make a return, you haven't actually paid for whatever it is yet. If you paid with a bank card, that money comes directly out of your account and it's much harder to get it back for any reason. Credit card companies are set up to do that kind of thing and are much more likely to sort things out for you because it's their money in limbo if you haven't paid off that purchase yet. So, in short, we are not using our credit cards often but we do intend to keep them active.
All in all, this budgetary makeover has been a rewarding experience, financially as well as emotionally since we now feel we have a better handle on our cash flow. We hope that if you're in a sticky spot in the monetary department, this information will help you regain your footing. :)
The Envelope Method: Simply put, this method uses a cash-based approach to ensure you don't overspend. (We were using mint.com, which tracks spending in categories really well and will alert you if you're going over by automatically connecting with your credit card companies and banks. This worked well for us for a year or two, but our current bank doesn't play well with mint's software, so we had to find a different way of accounting for spending.) You take one envelope for each category in your budget and withdraw the allotted amount of cash for that category on a schedule. That's all you have for that category until your next withdraw date. (We withdraw twice a month. We're paid twice a month and I don't want to carry a full month's worth of cash. I withdraw one day after the first pay day of the month so there's time for the check to be solidly in our account and 15 days later, so my cash periods are evenly spaced.)
I didn't think the envelope method would work for us at first because we pay most of our bills online. This is a time- and sanity-saver because I can sign up for alerts and reminders, the payments go through quickly, I get email receipts, and my track record with the whole getting-it-in-the-mailbox thing is not great. But, when drawing up our budget, I realized that most of those bills are pretty similar, if not exactly the same from month to month. Mr. Ramsey has some forms to help you get started, but I realized that our needs are so different from those templates that I created my own. I have three categories: Predictable (for those amounts that don't change, like our church offerings, car insurance, student loan payments, etc.), Variable (for bills that fluctuate, like water, power, gas, etc.), and Till it's gone (TIG) (food, gas, clothes, etc.). We pay the first two categories online or by check, and the last section is my true envelope-ly budgeted area.
Church/charity: 10-15% (Predictable) We spend 10% on church offerings. This works out to different amounts per week over four weeks or five weeks. I write checks and fill the church envelopes at the beginning of the month so I don't have to remember whether we're in a 4-week or 5-week month on Sunday mornings.
Utilities: 5-10% (Variable) This one is a thorn in my side. You can't really control the percentage of your income this will take up; it is what it is. Yes, you can do things to conserve, but your house HAS to be heated in winter and you NEED those fans or A/C in the summer. We average out what we spend per year and hope it will all come out in the wash. We budget 8% of our income for this category, which includes water (and trash pickup), power, gas, and cell phones. Our church pays for our landline and internet since they're used mostly for church business, but most people's would fall in this category too.
Transportation: 10-15% (Predictable & TIG [Till It's Gone]) Our car insurance (and car payments, if applicable) are predictable. Gas and service are TIG. We have budgeted 10%, with cash per pay period for gas and service and an online payment per month for insurance. In the last month we've switched car insurance carriers, so now it's less, but I haven't redone the budget yet to reflect that. The savings is currently just being rolled back into our checking account.
Health and Medical: 5-10% (TIG, though we don't take cash out for this category, since those bills are paid by check.) We budget 5%. This covers those lingering medical bills, contacts, etc. It's kind of weird right now, as we've met our deductible and we're waiting on reimbursement from insurance for out-of-network eye exams. But this is how we can tell if I can afford to go to the chiropractor again this month, or if I need to wait to get a new retainer.
Recreation: 5-10% (TIG) We do 5%. This is kind of our slush section. We've used it to pay for camping and we're saving now to fix up our bikes, get a trailer for the baby next summer, and renew our community center membership this fall. It's also for movies, dinners out, etc. Technically dinners out should be "Food," but if that budget gets tight or I feel I can't justify a special edible item, it comes from the Rec envelope.
Personal 5-10%, Clothing 2-7%, and Housing 25-35%: (TIG) We wrap these all into one since we live in a parsonage (no rent or mortgage) and we don't buy clothes often. Our budget is 18%. This pays for pretty much every incidental item that's not food. Dave's explanation of each section is good; go read it. :) Right now the %age that should be going to housing is paying off debt. In the next few months that should be gone, and the money will go toward amping up our savings to someday buy a house.
Food: 5-15% (TIG) We budget 10%. We are also on WIC, which has been very helpful in this category as well as Health, since it's free to stop by for breastfeeding or weird rash help from their nurses. The food we get from WIC is stuff I buy anyway (except the canned salmon. Eww.) and it saves us an average of $20 per week on food.
Savings: 5-10% (Predictable) We officially save 5% per month. Again, we are currently working mostly on debt reduction so that number will go up substantially in the next few months. And the first month's savings amount went to start an account for the baby. Still can't decide if that was the best move, since we don't have a technical savings account ourselves yet.
Debt reduction: 5-10% (Predictable) We budget 13% since we don't have housing expenses. Once the credit cards are paid off, we plan to budget 5% toward student loans and put the other 8% into savings.
Taxes: Dave doesn't have a percentage for this since most people pay taxes automatically. My husband is self-employed for tax purposes, however, so we have to make quarterly payments. It's 16% of our income. We leave it in checking, because that's where it will come from on Tax Day.
The Wrenches: Of course, there are problems with this system. My husband, who is a pastor, will buy something for church and sometimes forget to tell me when that money is spent or when he's reimbursed. (We're looking in to having church get a credit card so those expenses don't have to come near our family budget.) We'll sell some books or stuff online and that's unexpected income. The car will need work or our water bill will be high for some reason. Hubby gets paid outside his regular salary for weddings and funerals. And then there are the budgetary nightmares that are childbirth and Christmas. Crazy unexpected expenses, crazy unexpected gifts. And the tax return. And cash that's leftover in the envelopes on withdrawl days. Dave recommends a $1000 emergency fund for those expenses. We're still working on that. When we get unexpected income or gifts, we will usually put a small portion toward a treat or special project we're saving for (minivan, what?) and put the rest into the bank.
We've also started backup envelopes for the leftovers. We often have money to spare in the gas section, but we're planning a trip to Wisconsin next summer that will cost an estimated $350 in gas. We write our goals on the Extras envelopes in pencil, along with what we estimate each item will cost, then we continue to save for those things. Extra food money will go toward Gingerpalooza 2013 and holiday meals. Our Personal cash is being saved for an imminent car seat purchase, Christmas gifts, and a grill. The car seat could come out of the regular personal budget or even the Emergency or Savings funds because it's something we simply have to have, but since we've got a little time before that purchase needs to happen, we're choosing to save for it instead.
A few opinions on credit cards: As freeing as the iconic snipping-of-the-plastic may be, we find credit cards to be a mixed blessing but overall very useful. If used wisely and paid off in a timely and complete manner, they are essential to building credit and useful for tracking expenses with little effort. We use Capital One and they have excellent rewards; you can easily apply rewards directly to your balance. We've saved over $200 on payments simply through their rewards program. I have not been as impressed by Citi's incentives; they're not as useful to me since we don't stay at hotels or shop at their rewards retailers. We also find that until we get our emergency fund up to scratch, our credit cards are a safety net. We only use them for online purchases right now, and those are few and far between. They are actually preferable for online transactions, though, because if you're scammed or you need to make a return, you haven't actually paid for whatever it is yet. If you paid with a bank card, that money comes directly out of your account and it's much harder to get it back for any reason. Credit card companies are set up to do that kind of thing and are much more likely to sort things out for you because it's their money in limbo if you haven't paid off that purchase yet. So, in short, we are not using our credit cards often but we do intend to keep them active.
All in all, this budgetary makeover has been a rewarding experience, financially as well as emotionally since we now feel we have a better handle on our cash flow. We hope that if you're in a sticky spot in the monetary department, this information will help you regain your footing. :)
Monday, February 4, 2013
Cunning Baby Hat
Oh, we do love Firefly.
After being commissioned to knit a Cunning Hat for a friend's brother's Christmas gift, I decided to try to make a tiny version since said friend's brother and his wife are expecting a baby this spring.
This hat ended up being about 17" in circumference with room to stretch. I don't know how that translates into baby sizes, but it fits our large stuffed goose.
Needles: four US size 6 DPNs (because DEATH to SEAMS)
Yarn: gold, orange, and maroon/burgundy Red Heart (Walmart) worsted weight. One skein of each is WAY more than you need for one little hat (WAY more than one adult and one little hat, actually), but Red Heart (and Walmart) doesn't really do little portions.
Gauge: 16 sts in stockinette = 4 inches on size 6 needles
1. Cast on 60 stitches in ORANGE using the Twisted German cast on method. This will result in a looser, more stretchy start than a normal cast on.
2. Distribute stitches evenly among three needles and join first round, being careful not to twist (this is the trickiest part of the DPNs (how to join and knit on DPNs)). Work 6 rounds in 2x2 ribbing.
3. Switch to stockinette stitch (knit all rounds), increasing 6 stitches evenly over the first round. 66 stitches total. Work 6 more rounds in stockinette. (13 rounds since cast on.)
4. Switch to GOLD yarn. Work two rounds in stockinette stitch. (15 rounds total.)
5. On 16th round, begin to shape the crown. *K9, K2tog* and repeat ** across. On next round, *K8, K2tog* and repeat. Continue to decrease the number of knit stitches by one each round until 6 sts remain. Cut a tail of about 6 inches and use a tapestry needle or a crochet hook to bring the tail through the active stitches in the direction you would knit another round, sliding needles out as you go. Pull tail tight and tie off.
6. For earflaps, pick up 14 stitches from the bottom edge of the hat with RED yarn using one DPN. With the outside of the hat facing you and upside down, tie the red yarn onto the first stitch on the right hand side of the needle. Knit first row, flip hat over. Knit second row (wrong side) and flip hat again. Row 3: Knit. Row 4: Purl. For remaining rows, knit in stockinette (knit on right side, purl on wrong side), and knit (or purl) last two stitches of each row together until 3 sts remain. Bind off.
7. Weave any loose ends into the inside of the hat. Make and attach a red pompom to the top. (low-tech pom pom creation There are more sophisticated methods that turn out nicer, more even pom poms, but by the time I get to the embellishment stage, I'm done being finicky.)
After being commissioned to knit a Cunning Hat for a friend's brother's Christmas gift, I decided to try to make a tiny version since said friend's brother and his wife are expecting a baby this spring.
Needles: four US size 6 DPNs (because DEATH to SEAMS)
Yarn: gold, orange, and maroon/burgundy Red Heart (Walmart) worsted weight. One skein of each is WAY more than you need for one little hat (WAY more than one adult and one little hat, actually), but Red Heart (and Walmart) doesn't really do little portions.
Gauge: 16 sts in stockinette = 4 inches on size 6 needles
1. Cast on 60 stitches in ORANGE using the Twisted German cast on method. This will result in a looser, more stretchy start than a normal cast on.
2. Distribute stitches evenly among three needles and join first round, being careful not to twist (this is the trickiest part of the DPNs (how to join and knit on DPNs)). Work 6 rounds in 2x2 ribbing.
3. Switch to stockinette stitch (knit all rounds), increasing 6 stitches evenly over the first round. 66 stitches total. Work 6 more rounds in stockinette. (13 rounds since cast on.)
4. Switch to GOLD yarn. Work two rounds in stockinette stitch. (15 rounds total.)
5. On 16th round, begin to shape the crown. *K9, K2tog* and repeat ** across. On next round, *K8, K2tog* and repeat. Continue to decrease the number of knit stitches by one each round until 6 sts remain. Cut a tail of about 6 inches and use a tapestry needle or a crochet hook to bring the tail through the active stitches in the direction you would knit another round, sliding needles out as you go. Pull tail tight and tie off.
6. For earflaps, pick up 14 stitches from the bottom edge of the hat with RED yarn using one DPN. With the outside of the hat facing you and upside down, tie the red yarn onto the first stitch on the right hand side of the needle. Knit first row, flip hat over. Knit second row (wrong side) and flip hat again. Row 3: Knit. Row 4: Purl. For remaining rows, knit in stockinette (knit on right side, purl on wrong side), and knit (or purl) last two stitches of each row together until 3 sts remain. Bind off.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
*BLARGH* Third Trimester *BLARGH*
We are hoping and praying that today is not an indication of the next sevenish weeks. Oy.
After a blessed, energetic second trimester and, up until this weekend, start of the third, it seems the fact that I am Montsrously Pregnant has finally caught up with me. Yesterday I decided to Rearrange All the Things! and immediately after the bed (yes. Oops. Bad future mommy.) was in its new position, I was seized with guilt and worry that I had hurt the baby and needed to go to bed. Unfortunately, I had a lunch date with ladies from church and grocery shopping to do after that. Lunch was delightful, but I hardly made it through Walmart afterwards and by the time I got home at 3, I was ready to collapse. That would not have happened two weeks ago. I would've come home and probably done dishes and practiced piano and built a bomb shelter and filed our taxes... before snack.
Sooo... fatigue: 1; Leah: 0.
Today I decided to relax. I got laundry folded, made soup and grilled cheese for lunch, and got crockpot chili started for dinner. Of course, by the time we got to dinner, I had completely lost all interest in anything with beans, hamburger, and... chili. Apart from that, I pretty much lived on the couch. Although there was one minor adventure...
Basic Foot Maintenance in the Third Trimester
If you've never attempted to clip your toenails beyond the Shoelaces Are Evil epiphany of pregnancy, you can attempt to replicate the experience with this simple experiment:
1. Take a carton of eggs, which is actually smaller than your baby at this point, and sandwich it among roughly a dozen filled water balloons. (Note: your baby is better protected than the eggs - and significantly more durable - but of course, as a first-timer, there's no way you'd believe this.)
2. Place the egg baby under your shirt in roughly pregnant-belly position. Secure with tape or large pants.
3. Now try to grab your feet and trim those nails with a sharp, pointy object.
Nick has volunteered to help me with the foot-related tasks, and while I totally trust him, it is not fair that he should suddenly be subjected to both dish duty and my feet. One foot is cute, or at least mostly normal. The other... is not. Grossness. Incarnate in foot form. I would not even pay someone without a medical degree to take on that task. Anyway, I did eventually get all ten toenails clipped to non-sock-murdering lengths.
Next time on Things You Never Wanted to Know About: Shaving when you can't see your feet (Or: Why I will try to never be Monstrously Pregnant in shorts season).
After a blessed, energetic second trimester and, up until this weekend, start of the third, it seems the fact that I am Montsrously Pregnant has finally caught up with me. Yesterday I decided to Rearrange All the Things! and immediately after the bed (yes. Oops. Bad future mommy.) was in its new position, I was seized with guilt and worry that I had hurt the baby and needed to go to bed. Unfortunately, I had a lunch date with ladies from church and grocery shopping to do after that. Lunch was delightful, but I hardly made it through Walmart afterwards and by the time I got home at 3, I was ready to collapse. That would not have happened two weeks ago. I would've come home and probably done dishes and practiced piano and built a bomb shelter and filed our taxes... before snack.
Sooo... fatigue: 1; Leah: 0.
Today I decided to relax. I got laundry folded, made soup and grilled cheese for lunch, and got crockpot chili started for dinner. Of course, by the time we got to dinner, I had completely lost all interest in anything with beans, hamburger, and... chili. Apart from that, I pretty much lived on the couch. Although there was one minor adventure...
Basic Foot Maintenance in the Third Trimester
If you've never attempted to clip your toenails beyond the Shoelaces Are Evil epiphany of pregnancy, you can attempt to replicate the experience with this simple experiment:
1. Take a carton of eggs, which is actually smaller than your baby at this point, and sandwich it among roughly a dozen filled water balloons. (Note: your baby is better protected than the eggs - and significantly more durable - but of course, as a first-timer, there's no way you'd believe this.)
2. Place the egg baby under your shirt in roughly pregnant-belly position. Secure with tape or large pants.
3. Now try to grab your feet and trim those nails with a sharp, pointy object.
Nick has volunteered to help me with the foot-related tasks, and while I totally trust him, it is not fair that he should suddenly be subjected to both dish duty and my feet. One foot is cute, or at least mostly normal. The other... is not. Grossness. Incarnate in foot form. I would not even pay someone without a medical degree to take on that task. Anyway, I did eventually get all ten toenails clipped to non-sock-murdering lengths.
Next time on Things You Never Wanted to Know About: Shaving when you can't see your feet (Or: Why I will try to never be Monstrously Pregnant in shorts season).
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Our life in the last two weeks
The Christmas decorations are still up in our house. Nick and I are hosting our circuit's Epiphany party (late, of course) next Friday, and I figured that was as good an excuse as any to leave everything where it is. Especially because I know taking the tree down will leave a gaping hole in our living room feng shui and the goddess of inspiration is not my best friend at the moment. She thinks I took her for granted when I made a mobile for the baby's room. Anyway, I was all set to leave the decorations up until after the party, but I'm starting to get sick of them. Never thought that would happen. I love Christmas decorations. And Nick wouldn't let me put them up until well into December, so it's not like they've been around since Halloween. But they come down today. Or maybe Sunday. We'll see how it goes. But once they come down, WHAT WILL WE DO FOR AMBIANCE? We have three lamps in the entire house. We are not stylish people. We have recessed lighting on a dimmer switch in the living room, so I suppose that will help, and the only other dim-able lighting is in the baby's room. Great for midnight diaper changes, sure, but when trying to be elegant hosts? "Come! Enjoy your dessert in the nursery! The lighting is perfect!"
Perhaps I need to stop reading interior decorating magazines. Then all will be well.
In other news, The Belly Grows. I thought I was brilliant a couple weeks ago when I purchased a pack of men's "beaters" from Walmart. Maternity camis are easily $15 each, which is a ridiculous price to pay for an UNDERSHIRT. Men's beaters are $12 for a pack of five or six, and they're long and stretchy enough to cover the ever-expanding middle that is my month eight figure. (Seven months done, in the eighth month, for those of you playing along at home and completely bamboozled by the insanity that is pregnancy math.) What I didn't count on, however, was the ribbing. It helps make them super stretchy and comfy, of course, but it also kind of clings to the shirt on top of it, so unless the beater is tucked into the pants, everything still follows the path of least resistance and winds up around the belly button. Still not popped out, btw. Now mostly just flat. Nick is adjusting.
I have three pairs of maternity pants that I wear regularly. They are rotated with the three pairs of sweatpants that are the uniform of a soon-to-be Stay At Home Mom. A pair of high-banded gray corduroys (my favorite), a pair of flare-legged, high-banded but a little snug jeans, and a pair of tapered jeans with a low, thick elastic waist. The last pair of jeans is the most versatile, since they're a) denim (in the loosest sense; stretchy maternity "denim," which is probably mostly spandex or lycra or some synthetic blend) and b) not prone to falling down. The problem is that this baby has never liked things pressing on him. He tries to get away from the doctor every time she tries to find his heartbeat. He pouts whenever my stomach gets too full or I become selfish enough to take a deep breath, only assuring me that he is, in fact, alive when I've digested enough to make his little acrobatics possible again. He's kind of territorial, it seems. Anyway, when I wear said jeans, he spends most of his day kicking at the waist band. I enjoy feeling his movements more regularly, but he has found one specific spot, and those of you who have been pregnant might know which spot this is, that actually hurts when pummeled. Not fun, little one.
Finally, Nick and I were discussing our dreams over breakfast this morning. I've been having vivid pregnancy dreams for months now, none of which are appropriate for this blog. Last night Nick had what I would call a sympathetic pregnancy dream. Vivid. Weird. But totally blog-appropriate. He said he came into the living room and was apparently not surprised to find two of me watching tv. One of me was in a nest of pillows on the floor and the other was on the couch. The big dilemma in this dream was deciding which of me to cuddle. He picked one and as soon as we touched, the two of me became one of me. Psychologically speaking, I surmise that this dream had something to do with the whole me-having-another-person-growing-inside thing, but Nick insists it was just a "more of you to love" thing.
That's all from our neck of the woods! Have a lovely weekend (almost)!
Perhaps I need to stop reading interior decorating magazines. Then all will be well.
In other news, The Belly Grows. I thought I was brilliant a couple weeks ago when I purchased a pack of men's "beaters" from Walmart. Maternity camis are easily $15 each, which is a ridiculous price to pay for an UNDERSHIRT. Men's beaters are $12 for a pack of five or six, and they're long and stretchy enough to cover the ever-expanding middle that is my month eight figure. (Seven months done, in the eighth month, for those of you playing along at home and completely bamboozled by the insanity that is pregnancy math.) What I didn't count on, however, was the ribbing. It helps make them super stretchy and comfy, of course, but it also kind of clings to the shirt on top of it, so unless the beater is tucked into the pants, everything still follows the path of least resistance and winds up around the belly button. Still not popped out, btw. Now mostly just flat. Nick is adjusting.
I have three pairs of maternity pants that I wear regularly. They are rotated with the three pairs of sweatpants that are the uniform of a soon-to-be Stay At Home Mom. A pair of high-banded gray corduroys (my favorite), a pair of flare-legged, high-banded but a little snug jeans, and a pair of tapered jeans with a low, thick elastic waist. The last pair of jeans is the most versatile, since they're a) denim (in the loosest sense; stretchy maternity "denim," which is probably mostly spandex or lycra or some synthetic blend) and b) not prone to falling down. The problem is that this baby has never liked things pressing on him. He tries to get away from the doctor every time she tries to find his heartbeat. He pouts whenever my stomach gets too full or I become selfish enough to take a deep breath, only assuring me that he is, in fact, alive when I've digested enough to make his little acrobatics possible again. He's kind of territorial, it seems. Anyway, when I wear said jeans, he spends most of his day kicking at the waist band. I enjoy feeling his movements more regularly, but he has found one specific spot, and those of you who have been pregnant might know which spot this is, that actually hurts when pummeled. Not fun, little one.
Finally, Nick and I were discussing our dreams over breakfast this morning. I've been having vivid pregnancy dreams for months now, none of which are appropriate for this blog. Last night Nick had what I would call a sympathetic pregnancy dream. Vivid. Weird. But totally blog-appropriate. He said he came into the living room and was apparently not surprised to find two of me watching tv. One of me was in a nest of pillows on the floor and the other was on the couch. The big dilemma in this dream was deciding which of me to cuddle. He picked one and as soon as we touched, the two of me became one of me. Psychologically speaking, I surmise that this dream had something to do with the whole me-having-another-person-growing-inside thing, but Nick insists it was just a "more of you to love" thing.
That's all from our neck of the woods! Have a lovely weekend (almost)!
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