Twenty-two centimetres is roughly ten thousand, three hundred and forty stitches;

And ONE CENTIMETRE in garter stitch is a LONG TIME...

Let me demonstrate*:

I've been motoring along on the Debbie Bliss Duffel Coat, which I'm knitting in a nice bluey-purpley-heathered Cleckheaton Country 8 ply 'Heathers' that I gained in a stash dive at Mum's (free yarn is good yarn!).

The first three pieces - back, left and right fronts - were knit up pretty quickly, even for me, and I'm quite pleased to be able to say that this piece, knit entirely in garter stitch has actually taught me to be able to knit without having to look intently at my knitting - without too many errors!

The next step was to join at the shoulders then to knit across both fronts and back to begin the hood. Crikey, I'm glad that I'm knitting this for a six-month-old and not an eighteen-month-old! Ninety-four stitches across, over twenty-two centimetres, in garter stitch, seems like it's taking forever! I of course, have made it worse on myself by measuring that I take about five rows to knit one centimetre, and so I've led myself to the calculation above of a rough total of 10, 340 stitches to complete the hood - phew!

Here we are, with countless ends to weave in, showing just how far I've gone in hood-stitchery.I quite like the double-breasted thing this coat has going on. I bought little wooden duffel toggles yesterday, anticipating a quick finish on the sleeves and sewing up... though just saying that would certainly be tempting the Knitting Fates to step in and stuff me about at this point!
I'm nearly there... nearly! Looking forward to the next step...

A couple of weeks ago, I had quite a vivid dream about going to hospital, knitting whilst in labour, only to find out that I hadn't packed enough yarn to keep going on this duffel coat project, and that I just had to send Pete home to get more out of my stash cupboard... clearly something in my mind has snapped, or I've come to the much more sane conclusion that I should have some sort of (non-complicated) knitting project cast on and ready to go, should I want to knit in labour. I don't see why not - knitting calms me, and will certainly give me something to focus on as I go through the first stage, at least.

Anyone think I'm entirely crazy?



* Anyone familiar with the film 'Yellow Submarine' will hopefully understand my adaptation of that line!

Embracing Toddlerhood

I am in the calm point of my day at the moment, and thank goodness for that because I am having such crappy thoughts about today that I felt just about ready to punt my firstborn out a window.

That's kind of why I'm not saying 'today is crappy' or that 'I'm having a crappy day', as it suggests that the day you experience is subjected on you, which is bollocks. You are the person in control of how you experience your time and perceive those experiences, so I certainly do not like to hand responsibility for my time over to some omniscient presence.

I feel really crappy about today because I am reacting to WonderBoy's (developmentally appropriate) toddler behaviour in such appalling ways, and I cannot begin to fathom why - especially since over the last few days I have been ultra patient with him and really enjoying time spent with him.

Today, ever since we got up, I'm losing my temper so much more easily and shouting when he does something wrong or silly, or just plain doesn't listen (all things he's supposed to be doing now - he is only two years eight months old), and that is sometimes the worst, because then you see what a hypocrite you're being when you're asking him to speak politely to you. Sigh.

I'm going to knit on Little One's duffel coat for awhile, then put my head down and practice my Calm Breathing. I'm going to focus on a few (there were a few) of the happier things we did today, and on how much I love the little bugger. Hopefully when he wakes up, I can behave like the mother he deserves.

All part of being in a family, isn't it?That's me, lying on the floor under the whole family. Or, I could give that statement a positive spin and uplifting attitude and say I'm being the foundations for my family.

Or, I could go for the correct option, which is: WonderBoy placed his amoeba-like representation of me there in a totally random and uncontrived manner because he is two years old (!)

In the meantime, here are the socks I finished last week...
As I've mentioned earlier, I'm happy with the way they've knit up, and they're even and comfortable... I just wish I knew the magic spell to really get those Jupiter stormclouds patterns swirling the way I'd envisaged all along...

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!

Your expensive, or my expensive?

I'm motoring along on the sock, which is good. I have sock yarn on the brain at the moment though, which probably isn't terribly practical, as I really should be either finishing the Noro lace scarf I began back in September (?), or knitting more baby things - I have the rest of the 'Baby Mine' Socks That Rock mediumweight earmarked for a little hat (the 'Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap') to use up the lovely yarn and to have something nice to go with 'Baby Mine'. There are other patterns queued up to be started as well, including several I already have the yarn for... which, when used, would pave the way for more yarn purchases.

Logical, yes? Then why am I still dwelling on socks?

Yesterday, when I had the luxury of a browse through the yarn shelves at Lincraft without WonderBoy in tow, I bought a little something for Santa to deliver in my stocking this Christmas. I was *supposed* to be looking for interesting colour combinations in 100% wool, DK weight to use for a restart on the OpArt blanket but I just didn't feel it, y'know? Nothing was speaking to me.

I had trawled the shelves several times over, and I stopped to look right at the bottom, thinking I might see more colours. What I did find was Lincraft-branded self patterning sock yarn! I have been over those shelves many, many times and never, ever seen sock yarn. EVER. No price tag, around twelve skeins of only five colourways, and all just sitting there!

They aren't the most inspiring, amazing, write home about it colours, but they are attractive and will knit up nicely. I grabbed one of each, disregarding the fact that there was no price listed anywhere, and made my way to the checkout.

The lady attending the till saw how pleased I was, and in response to my saying I'd never seen sock yarn at Lincraft before, remarked "Well, we've always stocked this" (I didn't think you did, but I'm not going to argue over sock yarn), and added as she scanned each skein, "It's expensive, though".

'Oh crap', I thought on one half of my brain, as the other half said 'How expensive could it be? This in Lincraft'. I was informed that each skein was the princely sum of AU$12.95. As the second half of my brain said 'Nyah-nyah, nyah-nyah-nyah' to the chick at the till, the first half did some quick calculations and made the executive decision to ditch two skeins (don't worry, I'll get them next time - I don't think anyone will find them!).

What I found a little interesting was the personal interpretations of the word 'expensive'. When I told this lady that most to all of the sock yarn I've ever bought had been online, and I have paid upwards of AU$30 for a skein before (I didn't tell her it was Hand Maiden and was a cashmere blend, mind you), she looked at me with a half sympathetic ('you poor idiot'), half derisive ('you poor deluded idiot) look on her face as she asked for payment.

THEN, I got the "I'd never knit socks anyway, why would anyone want to do that" comment. I figured I had not met a kindred spirit, to quote the lovely Anne Shirley, so I thanked the lady and moved on.

And now all I want to do is knit more socks!

By the way, I did find two colours I really liked for OpArt this afternoon, a kind of grown-up lime green and a nice winey purple, but since they were Jo Sharp DK, priced at AU$7.50 per ball, and I knew I'd need a minimum of eight balls, and because Pete was with me... I knew it was 'too expensive'.

For me. Today, anyway.

Second Sock Syndrome and an Unhappy Beginning

I cast on Knitty's OpArt blanket a couple of weeks ago, and I'm not happy with it. Well, I'm not happy with my yarn and colour choices, actually. I just don't think the circus-type colours are going to have that cool 'OpArt' effect that the pattern is capable of...
Trouble is, I don't know if I really want to go with the black and white which, striking though it is, just doesn't quite say 'baby blanket' to me.

So, which colours??

Dark pink and light pink... what if it's a boy?
Dark and light blue... what if it's a girl?
Dark and light green... I'm warming towards this combination. knithole on Ravelry has gone with this combination, and I think it looks quite effective. As I've looked through the 95-odd OpArt projects, I've seen another few colour combinations that look good: This one, by Mav, uses blue and purple and looks really good. And this one, by chaoticcrafter, looks very cool with teal and burgundy.

I think I'll have to trawl a few shops and try to think creatively.

In the meantime, I've started the mate for this sock. It's Yarn Harlot's 'Plain Vanilla' sock pattern, in Regia Galaxy, colourway 'Jupiter Blau'. I originally started it on what seemed like incredibly small needles (close to 2mm, I think) and it took me till well past the ribbing and into the leg to realise just how small this sock was turning out (and how bloody long it was taking to knit!).

I frogged it a couple of weeks ago once I'd finished the Linen Baby Blanket and began again on 2.75mm needles, and it's knit up so much faster!

And so to sign off, I'm going to indulge in a couple of wedges of what my family calls "airport Toblerone" (the giant ones that they make - in my family, if you travel overseas, you bring an airport Toblerone back for each family member. It's what you do.) and then I shall get back to work on the second sock!

Photos photos photos

A quick post, purely to show off the Radiating Star Blanket for our Little One that I've just finished in 'Rowan Linen Print'... I'm feling quite pleased with the way the colours turned out, personally, so I've taken quite a few photos of it both indoors and outside in the sunshine... lovely stuff...

Mama loves to knit... Baby does too!

Delicious news to report - I know that I'm more likely to feel Little One kicking when I'm at rest, rather than when moving around (the movement rocks the baby to sleep, and he/she wakes up for exercise when I'm still), but over the last couple of weeks, I've discovered that more so when I rest to knit, Little One really gets going!

I've just finished another baby project - a summer blanket knit from Rowan 'Linen Print'. The yarn is now discontinued, I think. I got a big bag of it from a local yarn and embroidery shop who were trying to get rid of it. Usually priced at $16.50 per 50g ball, I got each ball for $4.00 - good stuff! It has a lovely feel and drape to it when knit up; I've already made a lace top from it for myself, and with each wash and wear, it just becomes beautifully soft. And so, with Little One due in January, a lighter blankie made of linen seems quite fitting. The pattern came from Ravelry, called 'Radiating Star Blanket' by Alexis Layton. It's quite a nice one to knit and very easy to pick up the repeats, especially when knitting in front of the television! I'm still weaving in the ends (many of them); in fact, it's something I'm supposed to be doing right now - and I'll post photos once it's blocked and looking bee-yewtiful...

I've also started the OpArt baby blanket from this season's Knitty, but I have to say, I'm not enamoured so far. I just don't like the colours I've chosen, and I think I need to use the 'colour-and-white' combination that the pattern suggests... I just can't bring myself to pick a single colour!

Photos to come - I must get going and keep weaving in the ends...