Pixie Purls

Something has been going on for a while here at Pixie Purls, but I have kept it hidden because well that's just how I am! So now it's the proper time for me to come out of the closet! No, not that closet... the closet in my guest bedroom that now has a job. It's going to be housing some interesting clothing in a few months.

Pixie Purls has a bun in the oven! :)

I have been such a bad blogger haven't I? I like to think things are returning to normal, we can hope! All I will say is we tried for 6 months, and it was a frustrating 6 months. Turns out 6 months is actually fairly average but I don't care what they say or what is average. It was frustrating at times and I'm sure that came out in some of my fall podcasts. I can empathize on some level with those who have been trying longer.

As it turns out I was pregnant in London!!! Boy this baby has been around the world! When in Paris I got snockered up on some champaign (opsy) but about halfway through the trip my pants wouldn't fit, I had to wear my jeans the whole time. It never occurred to me WHY! So then a few days later I realized something was late so when i got sick late in the trip and the husbeast told me to take some meds I decided not too. I also made sure not to drink anymore. I didn't THINK I was but well ya know just in case... So the night we got home from London I took a test and low and behold it was positive!

Here is the sad truth, I have not knit one stitch sense I got pregnant, it should have been an early sign huh? Who needs pregnancy tests, when you don't knit after having knit straight and avid for 3 years, something HAS to be weird. I always thought it was weird the pregnant bloggers hardly knit at all. Now I know why. No I didn't have bad morning sickness even, I have only tossed my cookies once so far, when willow (our dog) burped in my face about 2 weeks ago. haha.

So why haven't I wanted to knit?? I HAVE NO IDEA!! I feel like I have a disease. It's just plain weird. I am hoping things start to return to normal now that I am in the 2nd trimester and supposedly your supposed to feel more normal then.

If you all don't mind too much I might be posting about some quilting, but I strongly believe if you make it through this pregnancy with me, that we will find some knitting on the other end! I plan on taking about 6 months maternity and I'm sure that if Alison can manage to knit with twins AND a new baby, then I can manage some knitting too! Thanks for hanging in there with me. I plan on atempting to podcast as well, when I am able!

Posted by pixie at 06:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (74)

Okay well I only ever did it once, and everything turned out horrible crooked... check out this tutorial and I bet you won't fear triangles anymore either.

Posted by pixie at 07:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Man what a trip, we didn't stay nearly as long as last time but it felt nice and long. The husbeast was ready to come home by the last 2 days, so on the second to last day when it rained we stayed in bed all day (besides going out to eat) and caught up on sleep. Then on the last day we moved over to the Sydney Harbor and visited a lovely quilt shop and Manly Beach. We definitely prefer Bondi over Manly.

The conference went great! I didn't "mess up" when I spoke and I got some excellent feedback. I was very pleased. My husbands session went well too. I was so relieved once it was over.

Australians are some of the most lovely, friendly people you will ever meet. Sydney is great for a vacation, there is loads of stuff to do, and many chances to take scenic photos.

(this is the room I spoke in! I think I had like 60 to 80 people in my session)

These little sheep peelies are from the Sydney Rocks Market. You can get them online, and they are adorable.

The husbeast and I have a new tradition, we dye his hair everytime we go to Sydney. Last time we dyed his whole head red, so this time we got blonde highlights at the QVB and he brought some Manic Panic along for the plane ride and we dyed it in the hotel bathtub. Might sound odd but it's a lot of fun!

So here is Material Obessesion an adorable little quit shop located in Hunters Hill near Sydney. The shop owners are beyond sweet and very good teachers! I called them up on our last day to see if by chance I could have one of their hand quilting lessons and they fit me into one of their regular classes. I very much enjoyed the handquilting, and it's not nearly as slow as I imagined.

This photo below has some of the fabric I purchased along with if you look carefully to the right, the "frame" thingy and fabric I used for my lesson.

Here is our view from the Novotel on the Harbor we stayed in on the last night. Pretty nice view!

So that was our trip! We just got back tonight so I am going to go crawl into bed for the next 24 hours.

Posted by pixie at 09:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Well we made it through the 14 hour flight! That's always the big part to look forward to having over with. I actually didn't pull out my laptop once. I listened to "The Amber Spyglass" on my ipod and watched Dreamgirls and Casino Royale on the little on-demand screen each seat comes with. The big planes have 2 choises for first class, normal first class with bigger seats and then the super-duper first class (no idea what it's actually called) but the seats look like little pods and are very spread out so I guess you can lay flat in them as well.

We lucked out (back in the normal seats), in a center row with 4 seats the other two were empty so we could stretch out. As usual I still can't tell what the heck some of the Australians are saying, in particular the older men. We checked into our hotel room which for the first night I got us an Oceanfront at Bondi. I guess because we only stayed 1 night they upgraded us to free up a regular room for longer. So we wound up in a very large suite, newly refurnished with 2 flat screen tv's and a very pretty bathroom.

It's now wednesday morning and now we are preparing to leave to go to the conference hotel. I still need to work on my documentation for the presentation. I meant to work on it yesterday but I pretty much slept form 2pm (waking up every 4 hours) until 7am this morning. I didn't sleep well on the plane and I want to make sure I don't get sick (I was feeling hot at the airport before we took off) and I feel pretty well rested today! I was sad to have missed most of the a day at the beach but well the first day is always for recovery when the time is so different. I think it's 4pm tuesday in the US. It's already wednesday here! It also was 80 degree's yesterday. Wow!

Australian Breakfast

Posted by pixie at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Lots going on at work and home, and we leave for Australia very soon. I'll be back by April with loads of pics and hopefully an adventure to a quilt shop in Sydney. If I have time I might take a hand quilting class, they offer private ones whenever from the looks of it.

I promise to have exciting stuff when I get back, worth blogging about! Thanks for hanging in there with my durring this stressful time! Love and miss you guys! I'll podcast once I get back as well.

Posted by pixie at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)