A realisation...

I have recently made several observations over recent time, and have come to the following conclusions:

This

plus this
equals this:

Either my daughter hates my knitting, and she's only six weeks old, or she's jealous of me and wants her own needles... I swear she can sense, all the way from her cozy bassinette in our room where she's sound asleep, when I've picked up the needles, and bam! Unhappy baby.

She'll learn over time... I'll make sure of it.

Blanket squares and breastfeeding lamentation

The February squares for the 2009 Blanket KAL are completed and blocked - this is turning out to be a fantastic project for me having just come home from hospital with Little One. The squares are small enough to be completed quickly and can all be varied so as to maintain my interest, and I'm able to put them down and pick them up easily and without losing my place. All in all, good 'instant gratification' for the first couple of weeks in the month, leaving the last two months open for me to keep going with bigger projects - at this moment, it's the Raspberry Clapotis... Here are February's squares:

The first is also my first crack at Fair Isle, which was challenging but fun!
The second; done simply in textured stripes so I could complete it quickly and not have my sleep-deprived brain trickle out my ears when trying anything more complex...The third is my very first try at knitting cables, which I loved! I couldn't believe how much easier it was to knit than I thought it was going to be... and now I'm really excited, because feeling success on this square has opened me up to SO many more projects that I would have been too much of a wussbag to even try...And now, family picture time! Don't think I was going to let anyone off that easily! Here's me with my beautiful babies...
... And WonderBoy, gently giving Little One her diddy back after she spat it out. My sense of maternal accomplishment swells with pride looking at this picture - with the tears and tantrums that have inevitably come with our second arrival, it makes me feel like I've done at least a couple of things right when I see this brotherly behaviour...
And, a photo that makes me feel accomplished as both a mother and a knitter: here's my very own Baby Mine, dressed in her own "Baby Mine". I just can't quite believe that I've dressed her in something I knit in a 'six months' size... at the ripe old age of two-and-a-half weeks old!!! We breed 'em big here...
I do find myself thinking about knitting A LOT lately, usually at 4.30am as I'm sitting up in the family room, breastfeeding my little girl. Often my knitting bag or the current project itself is sitting in view of the lounge, and I either find myself considering further stash and project directions, or repeating my melancholy mantra over and over,

"How much more knitting could I be getting done if I could knit while breastfeeding?"

*sigh*

Welcome

A quick post today, especially to welcome the newest addition to our family:

Lorelei Margaret Sofia, born 5.19pm on January 26, 2009.
Our little Australia Day girl!

We're all still settling in, especially WonderBoy - he loves his new little sister to bits, but just can't help pushing things a bit with Mummy and Daddy. But we'll get there!

There isn't a huge amount of knitting going on right now, truth be told - but I am slowly continuing work on my Raspberry Clapotis, and I must knock off a couple of squares for the 'February' part of the 2009 in a blanket KAL...

Block Party

Finally. The reason why I have had so few posts to feature finished objects lately?

I've been too damn busy/lazy to block the little buggers, and I think it all just looks so much nicer to post once blocked. Call me a perfectionist, but there you go!

First up, there's the Fern Lace Scarf. I've enjoyed knitting this one, don't get me wrong; it's just that I had to put it down so I could jump into the 'Baby Mine' cardigan as soon as the yarn and pattern arrived from Blue Moon. It feels like an age since I completed that one, too! This has been knit with Noro Kureyon, sock-weight that I bought on an anniversary weekend away with Pete in Sydney. Nothing says 'I love you' like a trip through Morris and Sons, looking for a 'souvenir yarn' while Pete sits patiently in the husband chair!A word on my stashing: when we go places, particularly if it's a special occasion or a place I've not been before, I love to go to a local yarn shop and just pick up one skein of this or that, as a bit of a souvenir. It might be enough for a pair of socks, a hat or a scarf, and the finished item always reminds me of that trip. It's also great because I can get away with buying one skein, rather than breaking the bank on a jumpers' worth of yarn, particularly if I have no idea of the pattern, yardage, etc. With the bigger projects, I'm a planner - I need to know exactly what I'm doing with the yarn!

Next up, the very first square in my "Year in a Blanket". I joined this Ravelry group in December last year, loving the idea of commemorating Little One's first year as a blanket made up of all different patterned and pictured squares. Since my squares are smaller than the average, I'm aiming to get at least three done each month. Debbie Abrahams' books on knitting squares for blankets and afghans are a real inspiration - I picked up 'Blankets and Throws to Knit' from our local Angus and Robertson, and it has lots of good ideas for squares with lots of detail and textures (lots of beading and sequins, too - but I can't really put them on a baby blanket), as well as funky stripes combinations to set the detailed squares off beautifully.Here's some blocking. A whole lotta blocking goin' on. Most of these items though, were fished out of boxes from storage after WonderBoy had outgrown them. The little blue jumper with the sailboat (my first attempt at intarsia) was never even worn, as I couldn't finish it in time and he'd outgrown it!Two newer items though are a little crossover jumper I've knit with more of the Blue Moon 'Socks that Rock' mediumweight I used for 'Baby Mine' - It's an Erika Knight pattern, from her book 'Simple Knits for Cherished Babies' and knit up quite quickly. I've still got more of this yarn left, hopefully enough for a little pair of socks - we'll have to see. To its left is the second blanket square, a wee blue-and-purple giraffe. Better shots of that once it's dry, I think.
And the reason I'm still blogging from my lounge here at home? Little One shows no inclination whatsoever to make any movements south, so to speak. I was due last Tuesday and am still hoping against hope that something will happen soon, without too much intervention...

Making preparations for the next Big Project

This weekend, Pete and I attended our birth preparation course, calmbirth ®. It's a pretty full-on weekend, even this time, which is the second time we've attended.

Peter Jackson, who has developed and run this course, is just the most wonderful, lovely man with such passion, interest and concern for mothers, fathers and babies to help couples work together to welcome their babies into the world in the most peaceful, calm and beautiful way. WonderBoy joined us in 2006 in just such a wonderful, joyous experience and we wanted to make sure we did all we could to birth Little One in the same way next January.

I'll let some quotes from the calmbirth website explain it properly...

"calmbirth® is a childbirth preparation programme where,

during the calmbirth® classes, pregnant couples learn:

• to access their natural inner resources to alleviate the fear , anxiety and tension experienced during pregnancy, labour and childbirth
  
  
• the practical skills of Relaxation, Breathing and Visualisation which are used during pregnancy, labour, childbirth and beyond
  
  
• how the mother's body is beautifully designed to birth her baby naturally and calmly and with the right preparation, to work with the process rather than resist it
  
  
• the importance of a mother's beliefs and attitudes about birth and how these can be one of the major differences between a positive or negative birth experience
  
  
• the importance of bonding with their baby and how this effects their baby’s future life
  
  
• to be empowered to take control of their own birthing experience"

If you, or someone you know is expecting a baby, this course is well worth it. Do go and visit the website if you're interested. We can absolutely and wholeheartedly recommend calmbirth® - and we can't wait to meet Little One very soon!

Pictures

A quick post, but with pictures... Here is our first photo of Little One, due in January...
Meanwhile, it being past 9am on a Wednesday morning, I really must get up and do something useful! WonderBoy and I are set to paint a masterpiece for my mum's (his Nana's) birthday present... if I can drag him away from the ABC's children's morning programmes!