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...

Finished Objects...

I admit, I've been 'too busy' to blog lately, but I can say that I've been very busy knitting! So, that makes up for something, doesn't it?

I've just come back from two weeks of school holidays, or "Mummy and WonderBoy time" as we term it at home. I've made the most of his continuing to nap for around two hours every afternoon, using the time to rest my increasing girth stretched out on the lounge, knitting away like a madwoman. It's quite interesting, really; it doesn't matter how frenzied the knitting gets, it's still a calming exercise.

Here's the first finished object. It's Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's 'Baby Mine', something I am exceedingly proud of completing. I bought it from Blue Moon Fibre Arts, along with two skeins of 'Socks That Rock' mediumweight the day after Stephanie mentioned casually on her blog that the pattern was available for sale.Tell me that lace pattern isn't beautiful...

The pattern is just so well-written, easy to follow and understand. All this, plus the fact that there are no seams to sew, to complete it. None at all! *Sigh*. Stephanie, you're marvellous!

I loved the colourway, Pebbles, as soon as I saw it. I wasn't in love with the idea of knitting it in solid cream, green or yellow (all the 'safe' colours!), but when I saw Pebbles, I jumped. Looking at it now, I do have the odd concern that maybe it isn't quite as non-girly or neutral as maybe it should be. Pete thinks maybe he feels this one might be a girl, but we will have to find out the old fashioned way...

The next finished object is a facewasher for WonderBoy. Lately he's been into using the facewasher in the shower to pretend to be different things. When he scrunches the washer up and places it in a ball on his head, he says "Look Mummy, I'm a potato!"... Surreal. He then wraps it around his neck and tells me he's "a man". When I asked him how he's a man, he explained to me that the washer is his 'black tie'. I think he got this one from The Wiggles, bless them... The last pretending is with the washer around his neck again. This time, he tells me it's his stethoscope, which he then uses to listen to my stomach. He tells me "I can hear the baby knocking, Mummy!" and pretends to be my GP checking up on his new baby brother or sister...
I chose the design, 'Luv Bug' for WonderBoy's washer, and he watched the progress of the knitting with great interest as I completed it over a couple of days...

Next up, a baby blanket for Little One! Stay tuned...

Avast, mateys!

Yesterday be "International Talk Like A Pirate Day"!

And since I, Cap'n Bellyache, be too lazy to have updated this here blog yesterday, I be updatin' ye all now. It must still be International Talk Like A Pirate Day somewhere in the world!

Yer ol' Cap'n had to work yesterday, manning the mizzenmast and scrubbin' the poop deck (when ye be workin' with the little bilge rats as I be, ye all have ter muck in and help!), and so I brought me own brand o' pirattitude to the classroom, dressed in my approximation of piratical finery: three-quarter pants and dunlop volleys (for when I be scrubbin' the deck), a striped blue (maternity!) shirt and a red bandanna. The young lads and lasses aboard the ship didn't know what was goin' on!

Me own little buccaneer got in on the pirate act, too. Me First Mate dressed him him in his big boy 'Pirate Jammies':Now all I be sayin' is, roll on September 19, 2009 so we can be settin' sail for the next Talk Like A Pirate adventure! Weigh anchor, ye scurrrrvvy swabs!


Yaaaarrgh!

Roll up, roll up! Free gifts for... three!

Here it is again, ladies and gents! This is the part where I spruik for a "Pay It Forward" recipient... I mentioned this a couple of posts ago, and quoted from Andrea of Runcible Spoon, who is getting ready to send me a handmade gift that I feel I have done nothing to deserve... until NOW.

"The Pay It Forward Exchange is based of the concept of the movie Pay it Forward where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on.

So here's how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won't be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that's a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. I will now Pay It Forward to you THREE, I wonder who you will be?! Please, be a PIF. You will enjoy it just as much as we do! And, remember— you have 6 months to get your gifts done!"

Just leave your details in the comments, and as said above, I will make a handmade knitted gift for the first three people that do so. And to deserve your lovely gift? Just 'Pay It Forward' to more wonderful knitters.

It's just that easy!

Tell us something we don't know!

This little article was snuck into the social pages of yesterday's Sun-Herald newspaper, describing trends and buys that are becoming more popular or less popular right now... I don't really think any more need be said, except for 'duh'!Although, "it's cheap"? Clearly they're not taking the whole 'stashing' exercise into account, are they?
I've found a good use for wine glasses whilst pregnant... the first baby hat is complete!

Is it weird though, that I'm unusually proud of the first lot of I-cord I've ever attempted? Does it ever stop being entertaining, knitting and re-knitting the stitches where they feel like it's supposed to be flat, and yet... a little wee tube!I love it.

Babies, babies everywhere!

August has truly been a fertile month. I know of at least four friends and family members who have popped in August or are well due to pop late August (ie. now!).

So at the moment, I've put aside my Noro lace scarf (which is probably the best option for me at the moment - I can't knit more than three rows without screwing up! I'd like to blame pregnancy hormones for my total lack of ability to count, but I know it's because I still try to watch DVD episodes of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' while knitting...

I have taken up one of two wee hats that I really should have got started, like, the day I found out these two little darlings joined the world, but I was more than a little waylaid with my scarf. And then there's a little face washer for each in the queue. Here's the first hat, nearly there. I hopefully should have it done by tomorrow afternoon, especially since we're off to Sydney. I do all my best (by my best I mean my most productive, of course!) knitting as a passenger on long car trips.The yarn is Shepherd 'Colour 4 Me' 8 ply. I don't think it has a colourway, per se, but it doesn't have a bunch of numbers that are probably irrelevant to most people. I bought it under consultation from WonderBoy, at Lincraft... he's pretty good with colours. Loves purple, for some reason.

Still, it'll be good to get going of some baby stuff for my Little One!

I do love knitting and using face washers. I find that they're the softest to use on delicate skin, even more so after each wash and trip through the dryer. I use the patterns that most people knit to use as dishcloths, but... I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I just can't bear to use these lovely handknits to scrub dishes and wipe the benches with!

Which is why I've recently spent a heap of expanding my face washer yarn stash (Peaches n' Creme) at The Wool Shack, in Perth. They are a great bunch of people to buy from; exceedingly helpful and friendly - they called me once after I'd ordered a heap of Peaches n' Creme, to apologise that they had run out of one of the colours I'd asked for and to ask which I'd like instead. Such lovely, personal service! Sadly, however, they are now unable to stock Peaches n' Creme because the freight costs are just too expensive. I sympathise with them - I tried to order from their American website and found that the cost of the yarn was fantastic, even with the exchange rate, but the cost of the shipping was about three times the cost of the yarn itself. Boo. :(

I just wish I knew of a similar worsted weight cotton yarn for face washers and dishcloths available in Australia. Any ideas?

Knitting queue overload!

I can't believe I'm contemplating saying this, but I have a feeling I may be adding too many new projects to a queue that I'm not going through at the same rate.

But that's normal, right? Right? Maybe that's what I just cheerfully refer to as 'my stash', and keep merrily knitting at the rate that I'm comfortable with. Yeah, that's what I'll do. Sorry to disturb y'all!

The most recent addition (and a worthy one I'm sure anyone would agree) is the recently made available "Baby Mine" cardigan designed by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. It's available through Blue Moon Fibre Arts, for the extremely decent price of $6.50. I ordered mine a couple of nights ago, along with two skeins of Socks That Rock Mediumweight (you only need one to make the newborn and six-month sizes, but I wanted to be absolutely certain I'd have enough, just in case) in the colourway, 'Pebbles'. I wanted colours that would suit either a boy or a girl, since (a) we're only going to find out the sex the traditional way - when it comes out! and (b) I'm just not fast enough to knit both a "Baby Mine" and a "Baby Yours" in both pink and blue, just in case.

I've been hoping to knit up a storm during this pregnancy so that Little One would arrive home to at least a couple of completed garments, but I'm at the twenty-week (halfway there) mark, and seem to be still knitting lace scarves for myself!

On the needles right now (she said, clearly avoiding any thought of the WIP Drape Cardigan in a bag in the stash cupboard) is a skein of Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn that I picked up at Tapestry Craft in Sydney, on Pete's and my Anniversary weekend away last month. I'm enjoying the pattern, too - enough to look pretty and a little complicated (to the untrained eye, at least), but simple enough so I can knit it in front of the telly of an evening without too much tinking and cursing.

The colours are so unusual. I love the big slash of hot pink in the middle of all the greens best of all, I think. Here we are so far:And, in other knitting-related news:

Several months ago, I was hopping around, looking at other people's knitting blogs, and came upon "Runcible Spoon", where Andrea's most current post talked about a 'Paying it Forward Exchange'. This is a copy of what she had linked in originally, describing the whole concept...

"I like listening to the Changeling's Knit and Stitch podcast, and when I heard she was looking for someone to participate in an exchange, I checked it out. When I saw the terms of the exchange, I put my hand up straight away to participate.

You can participate, too! The conditions are as follows:

The Pay It Forward Exchange is based of the concept of the movie Pay it Forward where acts or deeds of kindness are done without expecting something in return, just passing it on, with hope that the recipients of the acts of kindness are passed on.

So here's how it works. I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won't be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that's a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. I will now Pay It Forward to you THREE, I wonder who you will be?! Please, be a PIF. You will enjoy it just as much as we do! And, remember— you have 6 months to get your gifts done!

So let me know if you would like to participate, and I will create something just for you within six months from the time of your comment. In turn, you will need to make the offer to three other people. Pretty simple, eh? I look forward to making whatever it is for whoever you are."

So, on the off chance that I may not have left it too late, I was the first to respond on Andrea's comments page... and wondered what might happen next.

Well, I was very pleasantly surprised to receive an email from Andrea earlier this week, saying that her Pay it Forward gift to me is almost ready! It's terribly exciting, and means that I need to be getting ready to make a similar announcement... in the vague hopes that I do get a response, of course...

Watch this space.

Photos

Just a quickie tonight... some photos of a couple of completed projects...

This cardie has been finished for some time now, but I've added photos now because WonderBoy is finally big enough to fit it properly! I mean, it has been knit for a size three so the sleeves are slightly long yet, but because he's grown into such a tall young man, the body fits him well already. When I put it on him, and asked how it was, he rubbed the sleeves and front, saying, "Oh, it's so cosy... Thanks, Mummy!"

These photos were taken on Friday last, when I took him into work. One of the other teachers complimented him on his wee cardie, and he responded, "Is yarn. Yarn! Mummy knitted yarn!"That's my boy.

And these shots are of the completed Linen Print Scarf. I'm so pleased with the way the fringe worked out - it's kinda nice to frog some knitting and end up with something usable!Crikey... the belly's got started already! Or maybe that's the chocolate.

Fortuitous weather

WonderBoy put up with a trip to the RTA today so I could renew my license, as well as our grocery shopping (which he has come to view with distaste, usually saying "No shopping, Mummy?") and a walk up to the butcher's, so we went to the park on the way home.

Did I say the park trip was for his benefit? Silly me.

While he enjoyed the slippery dip, over and over, I enjoyed close to an hour sitting in the sunshine, working on a little summer scarf.

I'm knitting it from leftover Rowan 'Linen Print' that I used to make a lace top last spring. I think it's been discontinued now, which is a shame 'cause it knits with a lovely drape, and it gets softer with every wash. Once it's done, I'm planning on adding a loopy sort of fringe, and I'm looking forward to teaming it this spring and summer with a crisp white shirt and jeans that have been mucked around with to accommodate my belly as Little One grows bigger!! Speaking of whom, since she or he is due in January (a bit hot for wool!) I ended up buying more Linen Print that I'm going to use in an attempt on an Elizabeth Zimmermann 'Baby Surprise Jacket' for him or her...

Here we are. I'm around or just over the halfway mark.I enjoyed a fabulous two nights away with Pete last week to see 'Phantom of the Opera' for our anniversary (it's been ten years since we met!), and took the opportunity to get over to Tapestry Craft on York Street, where I picked up thisskein of Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn. I've earmarked it for yet another lace scarf (I'm into those at the moment!), the pattern being the 'Fern Lace Scarf' by KnittingPixie (Ravelry link). I'm totally in love with the colours - I first caught sight of the lime, then the yellow-orange, and then had to look a little closer, where I saw *gasp! Oh, joy!* hot lolly-pink! I can't wait to get stuck into it and see how the colours work out.

On another topic, I am desperately waiting/trying to figure out if and when I might be able to get a hold of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's heart-meltingly gorgeous 'Baby Mine' pattern. I've just found the her blog entries for the 'Baby Yours' and 'Baby Mine' jumpers in July 2008, but for the life of me, I cannot link just the one entry! It's worth it. Go and have a look, trust me. I have a little bit of a feeling that Little One might be a wee girlie, and this is just the sort of thing I'd love to have knitted up and ready to wear.

It's a good thing I like wearing hats

... because I have created this weekend, a hat that would have to be titled one of two names:

The Biggest Ever Hat Intended for a Six-Month-Old

or

The Greatest Gauge Cock-Up the World May Ever Witness

I jest not. Our darling Little One is due to arrive in January, which I do admit is quite some time from now. Plenty of time for me to be knitting, calmly and in a planned manner, but 'planned' and 'knitting' are words that for me just don't really go together in the one sentence. I will 'plan to knit', so to speak, but I mean I will plan to knit... instead of doing the washing... while I supervise WonderBoy in the bath... on a trip to Sydney. I don't plan projects, projects tend to find me and demand to be placed at the top of my to-do list.

So, I grabbed a very colourful (not gender specific!), slubby single spun Adriafil 'Baba' from a yarn/tapestry/needlework place nearby, thinking if I knitted into a hat to fit a six-month old, but the time the weather had cooled to winter, Little One would be just the right size to gaze up at me adoringly from under its rolled woolly brim.

Ok, so far so good. I pulled out Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's "Knitting Rules" and had a geez at her recommendations for sizing. I even pulled WonderBoy's baby medical record book and checked to see roughly what size head he had at the age of six months. Now, I would like to make this clear from the very beginning - this is most certainly my fault. As much as I followed the Yarn Harlot's guidelines, I paid little to no attention to the enormously chunky gauge of the yarn I was working with. I mean, I did knit and measure the gauge, but I either didn't knit far enough before measuring or I cannot make a basic mathematical equation work.

I'd say 'a little from Column A, and a little from Column B'.

And here is what the mixture of stupidity, denial and stubbornness got me this afternoon:Part of me wants to rip it up and actually knit a hat for a six-month-old, but the larger part of me that is bored with the yarn and wants to knit something else is saying "Sod it, let's get a skein of Noro Silk Garden and have another crack at it later". You never know, I might end up with a hat for me made of Silk Garden.

Next up, my most recent pride and joy: my "Paris" scarf, knit from the most delicious skein of Hand Maiden wool and cashmere sock yarn...I was able to wear it up to Sydney, the way I'd planned, and I was so thrilled with the way it felt and draped. The colours have just striped and blended like a dream, and I really enjoyed the pattern as I worked it.

Oh, and as promised: another tale of hat woe... I knit this monstrosity for WonderBoy, thinking it would be good to whip up another winter hat for my huge-headed darling boy. Now, I really did research this one. I measured WonderBoy's head and worked on the largest size possible. All I can surmise is that I've knit it tighter than I should have, or possibly on needles slightly too small.

But here it is, on my darling WonderBoy, looking like one of those weird leather gridiron helmets that George Clooney wore in his film 'Leatherheads'...

And yet, he still looks so cute. The necklace-type business he has on there, for those who may be curious is the waistband from an old (clean) pair of my husband's boxers I had just cut up for cleaning cloths.

Maybe the hat isn't so weird after all.

Playing Detective...

I did a stupid, stupid thing... While I could have got this scarf finished in the last week, I have gone back to work, thus rendering me unable to maintain intelligent conversation, let alone knit lace of an evening. I just need to get back into the routine, I'm sure.

But in the last few days of the holidays, where I always end up cramming in way more than I should in an effort to have 'done something worthwhile' with my time off, I only managed the odd row or two and stupidly, stupidly left the scarf halfway through the the ten-row set (I usually go to the end and stop each time so I already know I'll be back at the start when I pick the knitting up again). On top of this, I've left the Post-It marking a row I had already completed, thus compounding the problem...

I've managed to sort it out, thankfully. I've tinked back a row to see whether the number of stitches had changed, and the began to tink the row before, to determine the pattern of stitches I had finished that row with... I'm hunched over the knitting, held backwards, muttering, "Right, so there's the K3 I've finished with... the one before it looks like a K3tog, but it can't be. No row has finished on that before... unless... a-ha! I thought so. It's a sl1-K2tog-psso! It's Row 7!!"

Ah, the triumph.

I tried last night, but I found it more important to focus on the screening of 'Jamie's Fowl Dinners'. I make a point of only buying free-range eggs, but this show really opened my eyes about just how crappy the life of a meat chook is before it's offed for our consumption. Crammed into overpopulated, shitty barns to eat and eat before being knocked off at the ripe old age of forty weeks old. They're bred to gain something like sixty grams a day, they can barely stand and walk; their bones just can't cope with the excessive weight. I'm certainly not saying we should go veggie (I tried it once and wussed out pretty quickly!), just that we should really try to find out where our chicken and eggs come from and trying to buy the best welfare bird or eggs we can afford. I'm a big Jamie fan anyway, but I think he's going above and beyond being just a chef; he's doing some good things in a lot of areas.

Back to the scarf.

Oh, and could anyone think why, when I spellchecked this post, it wanted me to change 'knitting' to 'antitank'?

Photo Mosaic Meme

What a crack-up! I had lots of fun setting this up this afternoon. I love going through whatever flickr brings up in response to your search query and choosing the best one to go in the mosaic. This is such a fantastic idea, and all the credit has to go to Amputeehee and her blog (which I accessed in a series of clicks and links, through the Yarn Harlot's comments page. I won't bore you with the details!). I will definitely be back to the Mosaic Maker in the future - it's a fun and very easy tool to make use of!

What's that? You'd like to do one too? Go for it! Here's the instructions...

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.


My answers:
1. Jenny
2. Chocolate
3. The Hills Grammar School, Kenthurst
4. Green or blue
5. Ewan McGregor
6. Water
7. Wandering through Europe
8. Lemon meringue pie
9. Happy and knitting!
10. My family
11. Unusual
12. Bluejude1980

Photo Credits:
1. Cascade Canyon from Jenny Lake 2. eye candy! 3. Terry Pratchett's Authoring Hat 4. wham: a different corner 5. Ewen McGregor 6. Prenent un Bany. Taking a Bath. 7. Wandering through Assisi 8. Lemon meringue pie anyone? 9. Happy Valentine's Day! 10. "Nourouz" is coming! 11. Just a Orchid 12. 'Cuarto mio' Version 1.1


The only thing I can say I was annoyed or frustrated about was that one of the photos I liked the best was not available to be used. The cool thing was though, it was the picture for 'My Family', and I'd chosen a very funky group of Golden Monkeys. And it was the only one that was not made available. :(

Well. That's one hour of the afternoon gone. Maybe I should get back onto that knitting...

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!

Finished objects! And some news...

Roll up, roll up! We got finished objects here!

And some news... but I'll leave that to the end...

First up, we have my little yarn monster, inspired by Henry Watts, Esq. His adventures with the humans he lives with with may be followed here, at "A Little Bit Of Happy". I can recommend tripping over there to catch up on Henry's exploits, and urge all and sundry to put a vote in for the fabulous "Henry" t-shirt being modelled as of June 30. I'm certainly not pretending that young Ruby-Lou here is even in Henry's league, but I certainly did try with this striped hussy! The original post where I documented starting her can be seen here.Next on the chopping block (literally, I think), we have the hat I knit for WonderBoy. As I mentioned, I'm a little unhappy with the way it turned out, or more specifically, unhappy with the somewhat gargantuan size of my son's beautiful head. I still haven't washed and blocked it, so you'll have to see it as it stands right now, so to speak. I am happy with the yarn I used (a good, basic, cheap, 100% wool from my local craft chain shop), and I do like the way the colours worked out...And then... the hat I was working on for WWKIP. It's a little larger than I'd have planned, but let's face it, I'd rather a hat be a bit big rather than a bit small! I used a lovely pattern on Ravelry, called "Robin's Egg Blue Hat", by Rachel Iufer. The only thing left to add is a big button on the brims where they overlap, but since I haven't yet got around to finding a suitable button, I'm just wearing the bugger anyway. Meh.We also have a new sock, started so I'd have something to knit on a Preschool excursion to Sydney a couple of weeks ago. I'm using Regia Galaxy, and knitting the Yarn Harlot's "Plain Vanilla Sock Recipe". No issues with the sock and the pattern, but I'm a little disheartened with the fact that it just doesn't seem to be knitting up in the beautiful Saturn's Rings type pattern that I was anticipating. Ah, well... we'll see how we go.Since the Drape Cardigan and I are having a trial separation, I've taken up with the beautiful, gorgeous, almost edible Handmaiden Casbah 'Paris', and started the "Branching Out" lace scarf by Susan Lawrence. This is how far I'd got as of June 28.Then WonderBoy decided to bring it to me. "Look, Mummy... big ball!" My heart sank as my eyes followed the thread of yarn as it left the kitchen, wrapped around his little table and chair set as it wound its way into the family room. Bless him, it wasn't his fault; he was just bringing it to me... but the needle had slipped about half the stitches and I just couldn't salvage it and get them back on... so we took a trip to frogsville, just me and the scarf. sigh. When I cast on again, it will be the third time I've attempted this scarf. Someone up there doesn't want me to get this done!

Some stash shots:

This delightful raspberry concoction (modelled by a cranky-looking Luna) is merino/cashmere sock yarn, handpainted by 'The Knittery' in Victoria, and purchased through the lovely people at the Wool Shack. With this yarn, I shall be joining the Clapotis club - I was feeling a little left out!And this is be a ginormous ball of my own handspun! I *think* I've worked the weight out to mean that I'll need 5mm needles (yes, I swatched!!), and I have a cabled scarf planned for this stuff. I figure now is a good enough time to try learning to cable!

And the big news?

Pete and I are expecting another wee knitter in the family! I'm twelve weeks gone, with a due date for our little friend set on or around January 13 2009. Should be fun! I'll add a ticker to the blog in the next couple of days... should I actually drag my lazy butt back here to get it done!

World Wide Knit in Public Day

And what a fabulous day it was.

I left WonderBoy in Pete's excellent care and headed up to Sydney in one of CityRail's 'finest' trains, ready to meet faces, marvels over projects and NOT spend more money on yarn.

I followed Brenda Dayne's advice to plan, choose and work on a 'train project', and brought with me the pink/cream/green soy+wool hat I'd started, as well as a big ball of my handspun that I was thinking of using to start a scarf with cables. Didn't get to that one, but I got lots done on the hat, to and from Sydney later that day.

The timing and location of the World Wide Kit in Public day itself worked out beautifully, as the Sydney Quilt and Craft Fair was being held right next door, in the Sydney Convention Centre at Darling Harbour. Always good. I'm personally not too interested in taking up any more new crafts, as I'm finding it hard enough to knit and spin as much as I'd like to; so I was able to pinpoint the yarn and knitting stands and get myself straight to each one, saving myself extra time for touching, holding, sniffing and generally pining over some of the gorgeous yarns on offer.

Hilarious scenes ensued at the Bendigo Woollen Mills stand, where grown women were bent double into baskets and crates of yarn, grabbing armfuls and armfuls... I don't know what kind of sudden sale had been called, but it looked like the Boxing Day sales had started well early. I stayed back. Way back... Mostly cause I already know just how fantastically inexpensive their wonderful Australian yarn is, and it's so readily available over the internet.

I did end up making two purchases, however: a set of Addi Turbo dpns so I could start the crown of the hat on my way home (so it was a necessity!), and a wee sock kit from Sarah Durrant, comprising a skein of Colinette Jitterbug in the colourway "Dusk"... as modelled here by young Luna), with a set of Addi Turbo circulars, and a pattern to make said sock on said circs. I figured I wanted to learn this technique anyway, and since it came with the needles, well... I couldn't argue with the price tag ($28)!
The turnout for WWKIP was stunning. Last I checked on Ravelry, we had fifty-three proud knitters, all confusing the locals. I met several lovely crafters, whom I have since 'friended' on Ravelry, and I'm hoping I'll see them again soon. It was also great to put a few faces to names, so to speak - my only big gripe is that I could only stay to knit for just over an hour. :( I'd already missed the train that I'd planned to take home, so I had to pull the plug at some point, sadly.

Stay tuned; I will be posting the most recent finished objects!