OK, OK, OK

I'm so sorry poor blog. I have been ignoring you for so long I'm surprised you are still here. Life has been rather busy these past few months and blogging time has been non-existent. Heck, any form of personal time has pretty much gone.

Well we have actually had the baby so I didn't go to 4 months overdue :-) I was 40+15 which was hard enough. Our little girl Nadia was born on May 1st at 11.47am weighing 9lb10. It was a fairly straightforward homebirth lasting about 4 hours or so. Couldn't say that it was better than my hospital birth. Guess there were pros and cons for each. Anyway here are some pics:

Both kids in the first few days

Having a play

Our little girl

Have been doing a little bit of knitting but will update next time. Don't have any batteries in the camera. Sorry

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a great 2007. 2008 is going to be a huge year for us and I think we are a little nervous. Our little girl is due in April but just to make things more interesting we have decided to knock down our house and rebuild. We really need the extra space and thought that it would be easier to do it while we only have a toddler and a newborn instead of 2 toddlers. This may not be a wise decision but we'll have to find out the hard way.

Anyway, I have some knitting shots but I haven't uploaded them yet so that can come later. I really just wanted to include this little message from Euan that he made for my Dad who is spending the festive season in Canada.

Happy New Year All!

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!

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.

Going slowly

Sorry for the lack of activity over the last week or two. I still have a fairly bad case of knitters block. I keep myself awake at night trying to decide what to start next and how to do something without buying more yarn. I have a big enough stash right now to complete all my summer knitting if only I could decide on a pattern or two. Thanks for the suggestions last time. They are the sorts of things I'm looking for but each time I decide to knit one I get confused by which yarn to use and it all goes wrong. TBH, what I really, really, really want to knit is this:


But when I factor in the ridiculous postage costs and the horrible exchange rate it ends up being at least $100 which is a bit much really. But it is exactly what I want. ~sigh~

So to kill time while I think about what to knit for me I have start another top for Euan. A cardigan this time using the leftovers from his last jumper. I am using this as an excuse to try steeking. Something that seems like the most sensible yet terrifying technique, especially as I love knitting in the round and hate seaming. I thought it would make more sense to start with a child's jumper instead of a full adult one as if I totally screw it up then I haven't lost much. This is progress so far.


The funny ridge down the middle is where I'm going to cut it. As it's only Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece and therefore mainly cotton, it's not ideal for steeking but I'm hoping with a lot of sewing-type reinforcement that it should be ok. I'm going to put a zip in which should also help keep it together. Now if only I'd knitted it on 4mm instead of 3.5mm I'd be finished by now.

On a positive note my friend Laura recently got back from South Africa and, although she would never knit to save her life, she brought me back some gorgeous hand spun wool. Ahhhh what I great friend! She couldn't remember what type of sheep it was from but it was something African. It has such a gorgeous shine to it and the colours are just perfect for me. I really don't know what to knit with it, but I've calculated it's at least 130m so I could get something fairly decent.


Isn't it just beautiful!

Now a little family aside. I haven't put any pics of my boys up lately so here are a few of them. They both love cooking so last weekend they got together and made a great chocolate cake. Euan is so good in the kitchen now. Not only does he keep all the ingredients in the mixing bowl (better than his mum) but he also lets me lick the bowl! What a boy!

Some very serious stirring going on there.

And this is the finished creation:


It was as yummy as it looks.

I really had nothing to say until...

I finally discovered what all this Secret Pal business was (should've googled it a few months ago, lazy me) and got myself signed up for SP11. Yay!! It'll be so much fun. I just hope my obvious lack of talent isn't too disappointing for my swapee. Can't wait to start planning.

Apart from that it has been a lousy knitting week. The Tree Jacket is just lagging. You'd think that straight garter stitch sleeves would be a breeze but I'm just finding them so boring that I'm avoiding it. In fact I've only done about 6 inches on one sleeve since my last post. I'm thinking of putting it aside this week and making a little surprise. For those who know knitting it's a little Elizabeth Zimmerman surprise, and for those who don't knit, you just have to wait and see. I have the perfect yarn and oodles of recipients so I think I'll use it for a distraction this week. My only issue is that I don't understand the stitch marker placements but I think I can wing it.

I think the other thing contributing to the knitting lull is the fact that Dan has been sick and off work all week. We have such a small cottage of a house that it's been like having two toddlers under my feet all week, and one of them complains an awful lot! He finally seems on the mend today so hopefully he'll be less whingey and he can help out with Euan a little bit. It's not fair that he eats into my knitting time (joke!!). To ease my pain I did a "little" bit of yarn shopping but it is all so lovely that'll you have to wait until it arrives for further details.

Well we finally have a sunny day after weeks of rain so I'm off to do loads of washing and then start my next little project. Hopefully I'll have some progress for you soon.

As there are no pictures here's a little yarn p0rn for you:


Old stuff of mine, but ever so pretty.

Frogging Life

Do you ever wish you could rip back a few weeks, months or years and make a few minor adjustments to improve the current WIP (or life as some people call it)? I sometimes look at my son and think "if only I had added this bit or not done this, then things might be a bit easier". I wish I'd inserted a lifeline to I could rip back with impunity. That's not to say he isn't a great kid but he has a few habits that I'd love to change but they seem a little embedded now even though he's only 2. Anyway, just the rambling thoughts of someone without much sleep.

Finally finished the Surprise Socks, which were actually my Dad's birthday present. I started them a few weeks ago and raced through the first sock only to run out of yarn 2 inches before the end of the second. As it was hand dyed yarn I couldn't just order more so I was lazy and ripped back to the start of the gusset and took a few stitches out (my Dad has narrow feet) but that made the yarn pool horribly so I had to face the music and rip back a few inches before the heel flap. I was so upset as I found the heel a pain (these are only my second socks) but I actually found a good mini-tute to pick up the stitches on my heel flap and so they came out better the second time around. Anyway here's one of them with my Dad modelling:


Pattern: Gentleman's Plain Winter Socks from Knitting Vintage Sock by Nancy Bush. My only mod was making them a bit shorter. Used the same amount of rib but less stockingette. I liked the longer look but just didn't have enough yarn.

Needles: Addi 2.5mm 40cm (started on dpns but just couldn't get my fingers around them and found 2 circs much easier and quicker)

Yarn: Hand dyed 100% merino fingering weight. Used the full 100g.

Duration: About 2.5 weeks due the all the problems. I didn't really read the pattern properly. It's written for men's size 8-9 but my Dad has size 12 feet so I needed a lot of extra yarn.

And just for posterity here's a picture of Dad and Euan:

Euan is wearing my first ever FO which was a beanie I made for my Dad's 40th birthday when I was 9. It was an acrylic, garter stitch monstrosity which he still treasures. I hope he likes the socks as much. He seemed a little under whelmed by them but I'm not sure he realised that I'd made them. He did ask if they were machine knitted which I am trying to take as a compliment. I guess someone in the family will let me know what he thinks of them (he's not that good at expressing himself).

And here's a little WIP. It's the argosy scarf from Knitty in Noro Silk Garden. This is after a day and a bit, so I'm hoping to finish it today.

Missing in Action

I am so so sorry that I have been ignoring my blog. Life has been so hectic over the last 6 months that I haven't found any time to keep this up to date. Of course the longer you leave it the harder it is to get back to. But I love reading other blogs so much that I just can't leave mine out in the cold any longer. I promise I will be a more dedicated blogger from now on.

Anyway, a quick summary of the last 6 months:

• Angel Blossom went to hell and Bec pulled out. Not sure what will happen to it now. I am really enjoying the break and the mental space to do creative things for myself but I miss the thrill of selling stuff. Watch this space...
• Had a lovely 6 week long holiday with my boy in UK and France. Euan finally got to meet the other side of his family (well except his useless grandfather) and we all had a ball. Didn't go to as many yarn shops as I would've liked but did see a lot of playgrounds. Quite different travelling with a 2 year old than as a couple.
• Euan turned 2 which was very exciting. He has a huge vocabulary now and can even count to ten in french!
• Dan has got a new job starting at the end of this month which gives him more autonomy and more money. We're so excited, especially as his current boss in a twonk.
• Still no baby no.2 happening yet. Still trying. Watch this space...

And here are a few relevant photos:

Father and son on there first flight together

The carousel in the Tuileries, Paris

A playground in Saumur, Loire Valley, France


Euan and me enjoying a lunch break at Galleries Lafayette in Paris. They have a lousy wool section. I was so disappointed. Bute they have the most wonderful toy department so that made up for it.


And the lovely, lovely wool shop that I found in Bristol, Get Knitted. They have a great selection and I treated myself to a heap of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino that I have been lusting after for ages. Hopefully I will get around to making Rouge with it one day. I have to say that I was a little disappointed with their customer service, but you get used to that in the UK.

Holiday snaps

Just a few pictures of Euan over the festive season. He had such a great time on Christmas Day and got more presents than we could ever have imagined. Anyway, I think he's cute so I like everyone to see what he looks like :)

Christmas breakfast with Nona

Boxing day in front of the cricket

Enjoying having Dad home for the holidays