OMG I am so slack!

I can't believe it has been well over a month since I last posted. I'm so sorry about that. I guess all the late pregnancy stuff just got too much for me and I haven't really had the energy to do much. Things got really hectic around here when our little girl turned breech which meant I couldn't birth on the government funded homebirth program. It turned out to be a bit of a blessing though, as I really didn't like my midwife and I am so much happier with the lovely independent midwife that I have chosen instead. Of course as soon as I found a midwife I was happy with our little one went head down so there are no issues with that any more. Cheeky little thing!

We've also gone through the wringer a bit with the house. We gave up on the first builders as they were twats but luckily found someone else who could do what we wanted for a much more reasonable price. We spent a while tweaking that plan and discussing various bits and bobs and finally signed up with them a few weeks ago (at Easter in fact). So they are now working on our plans and we should have something happening fairly soon. Luckily we won't have to move until after the baby arrives.

On the knitting front I have been fairly unproductive. I just can't seem to find the time or energy to knit. I have a heap of projects on the go or in my ravelry queue but I can't see when they'll ever get done. I would love to finish Dan and Euan's jumpers before winter so I'd better pull my finger out on those. Luckily I have at least one knitting project to show you. It's a little set that I made for the bub. I don't really know what the yarn is. Some Spotlight rubbish that I picked up ages ago because it was worsted weight and that stuff is like hen's teeth in Oz.

The top is a free Debbie Bliss pattern and the pants are just my usual made up pattern. I think I put a few extra short rows in the back for the bulky newborn nappies. They're not 100% wool so I'm not sure how they'll go as a cover but I think they'll be ok. I think the top will look cuter on than flat. It's hard to make that ribbing sit well.

In the last week I've found my sewing machine and had a burst of energy. This was mainly spurred on by the fact that I didn't have any newborn nappies and lots of fabric lying around. So using Shar's Newborn fitted pattern I made up a bunch. Aren't they the cutest.

It's been years since I made nappies and I actually found these quick, easy and enjoyable to make. My wonderful friend Pip has also lent me some little nappies so now we have a decent stash for when this one finally arrives.

While I had the machine out I made up a few things for me for the days and weeks after the birth. I know these aren't everyone's cup of tea but they are so comfortable and I'll be doing loads of nappy washing so they aren't any more work.

I've been meaning to make these for years, and once again they were so quick and easy to make. I'm thrilled with how these have turned out. They look just like ones I've bought in the past. I feel so clever :-)

So here's a nice little picture of all the baby things I have made so far.

Not a huge collection but I'm happy with it. I just can't wait to have some pictures with a baby in the clothes. 39 weeks now so it won't be long but it will always be longer than I want!

A good day!

Things have been going a little better lately and not before time. I seem to have stopped feeling ill (touch wood) and have now made it to the 3rd trimester. Only 10-16 weeks to go and I sincerely hope it's closer to the 10. I'm so bored of being pregnant but at least I haven't got any of the major ills that I had last time. I won't list them, it's not pleasant reading. Suffice to say that everything is working fine thank you and I have normal sized feet. I'm sure the 39 degrees tomorrow will challenge my feet but that is why we have air con. The bub has been spending most of her time head down so at least she knows which way is out. This does mean that I constantly have a sore pelvis but it's better than a breach birth.

Even though I keep saying I won't start new projects until others are finished I guess I don't really mean it. The Swallowtail is coming along slowly as I can only work on it when Euan is asleep, which doesn't seem to be too often these days. The Cobblestone is easy and brainless but far too big to carry around all the time. So you see I just had to start something new. Something portable and requiring little though. I though this was just perfect. A little baby sweater. Straight out of my new Elizabeth Zimmerman book (actually I bought 2 books but they are knitting essentials...honest!). I have seen some gorgeous examples before and new I had to knit it. Anyhoo, here's a progress shot after about 4 days of on off knitting:

Sorry it's blurry. It was getting dark outside and I just couldn't get it right with the flash. But you get the idea.

It's a nice knit with a really simple lace pattern. Easy to memorise so I don't have to carry the pattern around. The sleeves will be a quick knit so it should be done before the weekend. I might even have enough yarn left over to make something equally useless for little babies like a beanie or booties :-)

Another positive this week is that our house plans are coming along nicely. We got the second version and they are much closer to what we wanted. We are still tweaking a couple of things but we are almost ready to go onto the next stage. Unfortunately the next stage is when they cost it all up and we faint at the price. We know what we can borrow and we know what we can afford and they are not quite the same thing. But it is a lovely house and we really need a new one. Maybe we should start seriously looking at the lottery!

Anyway, things are going well at the moment. Doesn't it make a nice change :-)

First FO for 2008

Well I said I was going to try and make some headway on my Branching Out and yesterday was the day. While the boys were out playing I got 7 repeats done and then a few more in the afternoon. After 32 repeats Dan and I decided that it looked about right so I got it all ready to block overnight (it was going to be a minimum of 20 last night so I knew it would dry pretty quickly). It was all done this morning and I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with it. Here are some photos, though I warn you that I have trouble taking good pictures of scarves.

The whole thing blocking:

A close up of the repeats (the colour really isn't good in this one)

And Koshka doing a bit of modelling for me (this is probably the truest colour)

So now we just need to get it in the mail and on its way to France.

On a sad note I have decided to frog my Something Red. It just wasn't working out between us. The pattern is fine and easy to follow but I think my choce of yarn was a disaster. It was the most horrible to stuff to knit. It was Mission Falls 1824 Cotton and I really think my biggest problem with it was needle size, but I just don't feel like changing the pattern to suit a bigger gauge so it's gone. So sad.

But to fill the hole it left I have started another project. I know I said I wouldn't until my WIPs were finished but this replaces Something Red so I don't think it counts. All I really wanted was something I could wear while I was pregnant that would be wearable later. Oh, and something that may be useful during summer, which cancels out most knits. So I'm knitting a shrug. It is loosely based on the Shrug This from One Skein Wonders but I'm changing a few things around. I'm stash busting some Sidar Just Bamboo that I had laying around which should be perfect. I was a little worried about how it would drape (it's a bamboo tape and looks pretty heavy) so I actually decided to swatch, which is very unlike me. I'm so glad I did because it looks much better when it's washed and actually loses some of it's openness.

Before:

After:

I'm hoping this will be a quick project as it's on 6mm needles and just a top down raglan. Progress so far:

Another hot day here today and it'll be worse tomorrow so Euan and I will probably curl up in front of the cricket with the air con going and I can get some more knitting done.

Oh, and we have some plans from the builders. They were all wrong so I have redrawn them, given them a list of amendments and sent them back. Hopefully they hurry up and get it right so we can get it off to the council. I just hope to find out where we might be living when this little one arrives.

Tidying up

I decided that since I was having so much trouble coming up with project ideas, or had ideas that weren't that sensible considering my current state, I should sort out my stash. I did have everything in boxes (sort of) but there was no order and every time I looked in a box I would go "wow, I'd forgotten I had that yarn" or "you're kidding, that's actually worsted?". So I sent Dan down to Bunnings (the Aussie equivalent of Home Depot) for more boxes and got sorting. I had one great afternoon of organising and then of course I got distracted and lost interest. But here is a progress shot.


I wonder if I should add this to my side bar? Nah, it'll never get finished.

The boxes with labels are the wool and the ones on the floor are too. The other boxes are fabric. I think I have about 5 other fabric boxes in storage somewhere. I really must get back to sewing. I'm trying to convince myself that I will make nappies etc for this bub but I can't see how it'll happen. Anyway, look I'm trying :-)

Knitting wise, I have made fairly slow progress on my Something Red. I've been so tired lately that I've been going to sleep with Euan every night and so I have lost my normal knitting time. Today I picked up the needles again because I decided that I would really like to take this to Sydney with me. We go on Thursday so it's a bit of a pipe dream but at least it spurs me on. I've just taken the sleeves off the needles and I'm onto the body. See...


It would be going a little quicker if I wasn't purling like someone who had lost all their fingers in a terrible knitting accident. That's why I love circular knitting, no purling. My technique is terrible but at least the stitches look fairly even. It should go a little quicker now that I'm onto the body. I might even stay up tonight and work on it.

Morning sickness is still hanging around and it's been a pretty crap week. Still haven't heard anything from a midwife yet and would really like to. It would be nice to know who my care provider is likely to be. Another thing making life a little difficult is that we have decided to renovate our house. We had originally hoped to have it all finished by the time bub was due so I could birth in our own home, but we doubt that'll be done. I guess we'll have to start looking for a rental somewhere for a few months and bubs'll be born wherever I happen to be living. No point stressing about it. Having a bigger house is more important than where I give birth.