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 :-)

3 weeks 'til Christmas!

Arghhhhhhhhhhhh!

Ok, I feel a little better now. I always hit this time of year expecting to be organised and every year I'm shocked to find out that I've done as little as the year before. At least this year I managed to drag the boys out on Dec 1st and do most of the overseas shopping. In fact we had a very productive day. Then of course we all got gastro! I'll spare you the details but it was absolutely horrid. I couldn't even keep water down. After throwing up for a good 7 or 8 hours I eventually made it to the Dr who gave me a shot and sent me home. After a little while I could start drinking a little and steadily improved from there. Euan had a small bout of throwing up and Dan has woken up today with a dodgy tummy. Everyone I know is or has been sick over the last few days so I guess it's just a nasty virus doing the rounds. Still, I really felt like I was going to die for a while there. Luckily Dad was brilliant and helped look after Euan while Dan looked after me. Thank goodness for being near family!

Of course this means that I have only just finished the purple thingy that I showed you last time. I'm just getting ready to block it now so you'll have to wait a while for photos. I have to deliver it first so it could be another week or so (I'm staying quarantined. I don't need to get sick again!). I have just started on a skirt and soaker combo which should be pretty cute. I'll wait until I actually have some progress before taking some pics. It's only about 4 rows so far.

The pregnancy is going along very smoothly now. I have spent a lot of time reflecting on my last pregnancy and how things have differed. Last time was really hard on me physically as I was in the lab full time and had no chance to rest, eat or drink during the day. I know that's why I ended up with pretty impressive oedema and a severe kidney infection. This time I get lots of relaxing when Euan has a nap and he is pretty happy for me to lie down during the day. I am also going to the osteopath regularly and watching what I eat, so my body is much happier. Mentally, however, it is a completely different story. Last time I didn't know anyone with kids, had no pregnant friends but really felt like my friends cared and were interested in what was going on. I felt like I had support and it was really great. This time I have all the friends with the kids, the experience, but I have never felt more alone. It is really bizarre as I had expected the opposite. Sometimes I think I could post on JB that I was going to kill myself and my family and get no response. I really thought I had friends out there but maybe I really don't fit in. I don't know.

Anyway, the important bit. Here are some pics of our little bub. They aren't the best as the scan wasn't great quality but they are beautiful all the same.


There's a cute little foot.


And a slightly hard to make out face.

Isn't she beautiful! Unfortunately most of my friends (acquaintances?) have jumped on the "scans are evil" bandwagon so I can't even share my joy with them, so I'll just tell cyberspace who I know doesn't care so I don't have any expectations.

Oh, and if anyone feels the need to leave a nasty comment, don't bother it's very tedious and a waste of my time. If you don't like me don't read my blog.

Going off to knit now. Bye!

Back again!

Peace! Dan is out for the evening, Euan has gone to bed early and without a fight, so I am writing a quick update while running the bath. I really need a nice relaxing time so I'm going to enjoy myself!

Last weekend we went to Sydney as Dan has never been further east than Kalgoorlie (which is only 600kms east of Perth) and I thought it was about time that he saw the nations commercial capital (our political capital will have to wait). Oh, and it was also our 5th wedding anniversary so that was a bonus excuse. We headed off on Thursday afternoon, running very late for our flight but making it with minutes to spare, and arrived late Thursday night. The flight was fine. We flew Qantas on my frequent flyer points and it was just ok. The staff, food, entertainment etc was rubbish compared to our Emirates flights to Europe. The staff were not very helpful and not that good with kids. Luckily Euan adores flying and just likes playing with the headphones, eating the alleged food and looking out the window. Sydney airport was hell! I have never seen a queue so long to get a taxi. There were literally hundred of people waiting and almost no cabs coming or going. Everyone was saying that it was extraordinary. Luckily another family with a kids told us that if we asked for a child seat they would sort it out quickly and it worked wonders. They could see Euan was really tired so they got us a cab straight away. Dan was amazed. He is always impressed by the level of customer service in Oz, especially after living in the UK where they take equality very seriously, so if you have a baby you wait like everyone else.

Our apartment was in Darling Harbour, which is pretty central Sydney, and we could walk to most places. We spent one day at the aquarium which was absolutely fantastic. Much better than the one in Perth and the one in London. Euan just love all the fish and especially the crocodile.



We then spent a day at the zoo. It was transport heaven day for Euan. We started on the monorail, then took the ferry to the zoo, a bus from the ferry to the main gate, then ended the day taking the cable car back down to the ferry for the trip home. Taronga is a fabulous zoo and one of the best in the world. Every time I've been I've been amazed by it. Both the boys had a great time and we saw as much as we could with a toddler.



We spent the next day visiting friends down the coast a bit and that was great. The last day we had to check out by 10 ish and tried to spend the day around Darling Harbour before heading to the airport. Unfortunately it was a 34 degree day and just too hot to be out and about. Euan was really tired so we found a quiet cafe with sofas, bought a cold drink and he passed out on my lap. When he woke up we headed to the aiport for some airconditioned plane spotting. The flight home was fine again, but not great. We were delayed taking off and delayed getting to our gate in Perth so it was tiresome. It was also well passed midnight when we arrived home so everyone was tired and a little crabby. Still I'm glad we went.


The silly thing was that I completely forgot to visit Australia's biggest yarn store when I was in Sydney. Tapestry Craft was just down the road from where we were staying. I had fully intended to go but ran out of time (and money) and actually forgot about it until I got home. Damn! I was hoping just to play with some beautiful yarn. I'm a bit of a lousy knitter aren't I?

Anyway, I didn't get a single stitch done the whole time we were away and haven't managed anything since I got back. I've been extremely tired, actually fatigued, and just don't have the energy to do anything. I'm off to a naturopath nest week to see if she can help because I think this is more extreme than normal pregnancy tiredness. I want to be able to stay away past 9pm so I can see my husband and get some knitting done.

On a positive note I finally got my acceptance letter from the Community Midwifery Programme which means I can have my government funded homebirth. I am now just waiting to hear from my midwife, who sounds like she is pretty good from all reports. Of course I have no idea where this birth will occur because we are hoping to do something drastic with this place so we may be in a rental property. Luckily I really don't care where I give birth as long as it is peaceful and private.

Ok, bath is all ready now. I will try and get some knitting type stuff done really soon so you don't all get bored!

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.

Here they are!

Yesterday was the big scan day. Dan and I had been really stressed leading up to the scan for various reasons; some sensible and understandable, while others were not. I can't begin to explain our huge relief to look at a screen and see our little bub, with all their bits, moving around, waving, kicking etc. I just felt relieved, Dan shed a tear and Euan couldn't quite work out what all the fuss was about. It's such an abstract concept to a 2yo. We talk about it a lot but I can't expect him to go "yeah mum, makes perfect sense". But he's happy with the baby in the tummy thing so we'll leave it at that until we get closer to the birth and then we'll start talking about that.

So here is our new little one:


Aren't they cute :-)

Funny thing is, since the scan I have been feeling a bit better. I haven't thrown up today which is exciting and I'm not feeling nauseas. I even been able to drink some water again. I'm not going to get my hopes up though, as morning sickness is very mean and likes to give you a few days off before flattening you again.

And because I'm feeling a little better I've actually started some knitting again! I know, what a shock. Talking about knitting on a knitting blog, it's just not the done thing any more. After the list of possible projects I wrote about a few days ago it was very easy for me to pick something. Of course what I picked was not on that list. I decided to knit this. And wouldn't you know it but I have the perfect yarn for it flying its merry way across the globe to me and it arrived yesterday. How's that for coincidence? I'm trying some Missions Falls 1824 cotton which seems a bit rough but as I've never knit with cotton before I have no idea what to expect. I think it'll wash and wear pretty well though (I guess I could've tested a swatch but, honestly, who does that?). I'll get a little more done and put up some pics.

Back to work while the boy sleeps.

I'm so so so sorry!

I feel like the world's worst blogger right now. It's been almost a month since my last post and that must be horrible boring for all of you. Unfortunately my morning sickness still hasn't abated and I find spending time on this thing a bit nauseating. Couple with that my camera was playing up so I couldn't take any pictures. Oh, and I still haven't actually knitted anything due to aforementioned sickness and lack of inspiration.

But the most important thing I have to do first is send a huge, big, virtual thank you to my Secret Pal. She sent me the most lovely parcel which I received 2 weeks ago and I feel so terrible for not coming on here and thanking her. As my punishment I wasn't allowed to eat the lollies that she sent until I'd blogged about it (well ok, maybe one or two). So here's the terrible photo. I didn't notice the smudgy 2yo fingerprints on the lens until well after I took this so apologies for that.

Since taking that I have polished off the entire packet on Sunbursts and feel great (I hope it lasts). The wool is just gorgeous and I'm thinking it will make a great felted bag either for me or for a Christmas pressie. There was also some gorgeous handmade soap and some lavender scented powder, which smells just divine.

I do feel a little bit sorry for my Secret Pal though. Here was me thinking I'd get someone from overseas so I'm asking for all these things that I can't get here in Oz. The poor woman is probably reading my list and nodding, as she also lives in Oz! So Sunflower, ignore most of what I asked for. The stuff is so hard to get here that I don't want to worry you. I'll just keep hoping that designers will start writing patterns for DK wool or that we will suddenly get great, affordable worsted wool in Oz.

Another big thank you goes out to all the people who emailed and chatted to me about my last post. I know it was a pathetic case of self pity but it was very real at the time. I know I have a great bunch of supportive friends out there, I guess it is just hard to ask for help. I think now that I have got into the swing of my daily puking I'm feeling a lot less stressed (does that sound weird). The big thing for me is the scan next week. I've had too many friends lose babies recently so I'm feeling a bit apprehensive about it all. I can't wait to see this little one and make sure everything is ok.

And to help me with my knitting block I finally got my Ravelry invite (I really wished I joined when I first heard about it!). I'm OzSusie for anyone else who's on there. I'm trying to look for patterns but my pc nausea makes it a slow process.

I will try and take pics of my new yarn to show off and get this blog back to interesting status.

Big hugs to everyone!

Wallowing

I'm so sorry that I have been ignoring you. It's not actually ignoring but a severe lack of time and information. The morning sickness has really taken hold and I just can't spend that long on the pc without feeling crap. Adding to that Euan has become extra clingy so bedtime is a real hassle and most nights I go to bed with him rather than take an hour or more to settle him only to get up, brush my teeth and go back to bed. I know it is temporary but it is very draining.

None of this has helped my craft inspiration. I still can't seem to knit anything. I have started a couple of little, insignificant projects that I would normally finish in a day or two but they are still sitting around after about 2 weeks. I may have to photograph them just so there is something to look at. Thanks for the book and pattern suggestions. There is some really nice stuff there and I think I will grab some soonish, though I will wait until I'm feeling less sick as right now I'm not going to attempt something big like a top for me. I felt a bit better after reading this post. This woman is a craft queen and even she is struggling with first trimester knitter's block so it doesn't make me feel so useless.

The biggest problem I seem to have right now is that I'm really depressed. I didn't have this last time but it seems to be an issue this time. I feel really unsupported and really lonely. On paper I should have lots of support but it just doesn't feel like it's there. There are other people around me who need the support more than me so I have to take a back seat. This makes me really sad. I had hoped that this time 'round I would feel part of a group and would have great women helping me out and stuff, but I guess I'll just do it on my own again. Luckily Dan is wonderful and Euan is doing his best to deal with a sick Mummy. He is so loving that it makes me want to cry!

I have some great pictures of last weekend, which was Fathers' Day here, on my phone so I'll upload them asap. It was such a fun and hot day that they are worth sharing.