... clean washing on the washing line, blowing in the spring sunshine
... making easter decorations with my children
... collecting the mugs we painted for daddy's birthday surprise
... getting into a pilates class with my favourite teacher
... working at home on a sunny day, reading and marking dissertations in the garden
... a quiet house, waiting for the small ones to return from their adventures
... the last day of work before a week of holiday
... hearing of a new baby, gently and safely born. Welcome to the world little Dylan, and many congratulations to your mama and papa. We wish you all much joy, sleep and love as you grow together in your new family.
Showing posts with label babies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label babies. Show all posts
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
New Year New Knitting New Babies
Happy New Year!
It's been a whirlwind start to the year. I'm teaching again so there is lots of thinking and reading and preparing and photocopying and tinkering with the university VLE going on. And, there has been plague in this house. I am the only one not to have succumbed and the only one not to have antibiotics. DH is still laid low and although ordered to rest by the GP, as a self-employed person, he is inevitably tucked up with his laptop... So time to knit and blog has been small.
Anyway, there is new knitting and new babies to report. First, some old friends welcomed their second child, a girl named Zoe, last week. She was born at home, like her big brother, and on her mama's birthday! A day later - near neighbours Lorraine and Trevor welcomed a little girl called Sophia Rose. Welcome to the world little ones. We wish you much love, light and peace as you grow. And, to your dear parents we wish much sleep.
On the knitting front, I swapped one of my Christmas presents (a sock book) for something I was a bit more excited about: Rowan Winter Kids.
It's stuffed full of gorgeous projects and the bean has already requested one of the sweaters... not sure I'll manage it in time for his birthday (next week!) but I have already cast on for one project - Ava - a girl's cardigan knit in one piece in a chunky yarn.
I am using something from my stash rather than the colourscape yarn specified. It's a shame not to have such lovely colours to work with, but stash busting is *still* the challenge in 2011! I'm hoping to gift Ava to a friend's daughter, but it will depend how it looks in my tweedy yarn...
Oh yes, and one last thing, I had some scrumptious sock yarn from my mother for christmas. It's Jenny Cook's again, and so tempting that I wound the skein on Christmas day and started knitting straight away. The first sock is done, and the second on the needles...
It's been a whirlwind start to the year. I'm teaching again so there is lots of thinking and reading and preparing and photocopying and tinkering with the university VLE going on. And, there has been plague in this house. I am the only one not to have succumbed and the only one not to have antibiotics. DH is still laid low and although ordered to rest by the GP, as a self-employed person, he is inevitably tucked up with his laptop... So time to knit and blog has been small.
Anyway, there is new knitting and new babies to report. First, some old friends welcomed their second child, a girl named Zoe, last week. She was born at home, like her big brother, and on her mama's birthday! A day later - near neighbours Lorraine and Trevor welcomed a little girl called Sophia Rose. Welcome to the world little ones. We wish you much love, light and peace as you grow. And, to your dear parents we wish much sleep.
On the knitting front, I swapped one of my Christmas presents (a sock book) for something I was a bit more excited about: Rowan Winter Kids.
It's stuffed full of gorgeous projects and the bean has already requested one of the sweaters... not sure I'll manage it in time for his birthday (next week!) but I have already cast on for one project - Ava - a girl's cardigan knit in one piece in a chunky yarn.
I am using something from my stash rather than the colourscape yarn specified. It's a shame not to have such lovely colours to work with, but stash busting is *still* the challenge in 2011! I'm hoping to gift Ava to a friend's daughter, but it will depend how it looks in my tweedy yarn...
Oh yes, and one last thing, I had some scrumptious sock yarn from my mother for christmas. It's Jenny Cook's again, and so tempting that I wound the skein on Christmas day and started knitting straight away. The first sock is done, and the second on the needles...
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
FREE Pattern: Baby Beanie
While the chicken stock is bubbling on the hob, and a new sock has sprung onto my needles (the twisted sock wasnt working, so has been ripped in favour of a plain sock knitted with the rest of my crazy zauberball sock yarn...), I thought I would share this with you.
It seems too grand to describe this as a pattern, but rather it's one of those unvented and unoriginal set of instructions for a wee hat.
InstructionsCast on 100 stitches, divide evenly between needles and without twisting, join the first round.
If you would like to make a stripey hat using the grumperina technique (e.g. stripes with no jogs), then I use both colours for the cast on, alternating colours for each new stitch. Work the first round in the colour of the first stitch, and then when you return to the place at which the second yarn is languishing, pick that up and work a round with that instead. As always the rule with grumperina stripes is to always work with the *lowest* yarn available. If you dont want a grumperina stripe then knit plain or patterned as you will.
Knit in stocking stitch until the work measures 11cm or so, then start crown shaping. You can work the decreases in any way you like (e.g. ssk), but I have written it here as k2tog.
round 1: [k8 k2tog] rep till end, 90 stitches
round 2: knit
round 3: [k7, k2tog] rep until end, 80 stitches
round 4: knit
Continue in this vein until you are decreasing every 3 stitches (e.g. your decrease round is going k3, k2 tog). From this point on, decrease on every round.
Work until 4 stitches remain.
Now work a short i-cord stalk to finish the hat. Transfer all of the stitches to one needle, and work until the i-cord measures the desired length - I normally aim for about 8 cm which allows me to make a single knot. You can stripe your stalk, or leave it plain.
Cast off and weave in loose ends. Wash, dry gently and apply to the first wee head that crosses your path. Enjoy!
[This pattern is shared in the spirit of craftivism, stash busting and generally living a goodly life. Please do *not* use it for commercial gain or profit. Thankyou]
It seems too grand to describe this as a pattern, but rather it's one of those unvented and unoriginal set of instructions for a wee hat.
To fit: 0-3 months
Needles: 2.25mm dpns
Yarn: 4 ply/sock yarn, you'll need roughly 25g
Gauge: 13 stitches to 5cm (knit in the round)
Instructions
If you would like to make a stripey hat using the grumperina technique (e.g. stripes with no jogs), then I use both colours for the cast on, alternating colours for each new stitch. Work the first round in the colour of the first stitch, and then when you return to the place at which the second yarn is languishing, pick that up and work a round with that instead. As always the rule with grumperina stripes is to always work with the *lowest* yarn available. If you dont want a grumperina stripe then knit plain or patterned as you will.
Knit in stocking stitch until the work measures 11cm or so, then start crown shaping. You can work the decreases in any way you like (e.g. ssk), but I have written it here as k2tog.
round 1: [k8 k2tog] rep till end, 90 stitches
round 2: knit
round 3: [k7, k2tog] rep until end, 80 stitches
round 4: knit
Continue in this vein until you are decreasing every 3 stitches (e.g. your decrease round is going k3, k2 tog). From this point on, decrease on every round.
Work until 4 stitches remain.
Now work a short i-cord stalk to finish the hat. Transfer all of the stitches to one needle, and work until the i-cord measures the desired length - I normally aim for about 8 cm which allows me to make a single knot. You can stripe your stalk, or leave it plain.
Cast off and weave in loose ends. Wash, dry gently and apply to the first wee head that crosses your path. Enjoy!
[This pattern is shared in the spirit of craftivism, stash busting and generally living a goodly life. Please do *not* use it for commercial gain or profit. Thankyou]
Friday, 1 October 2010
Babies: one, two, three
My old friend has had her baby - Elias arrived in fine style slightly earlier than planned, as he decided not to wait for the scheduled c-section, but started making his way into the world a day early.
Yesterday I heard that little Elias - now two weeks old - is very sick, and now in Great Ormond St Hospital in London. His heart has been affected, and his chances of recovery are not known. We are sending all our love and prayers in his direction, and of course to his parents and brave big sister. I will be sending them some more practical help too, following the advice in indietutes blog. I can send his Freddie too, once I've sewn it all up (I finished the sleeves whilst watching Spooks on i-player).
This morning I heard that my cousin is due to have her identical twins by c-section TODAY! They will be arriving a few weeks early, but we are keeping our fingers crossed that they are a good size and do not need much help once they are born. Once I know their gender/names/size I can whip up something for them too.
ETA: Little Girls arrived! Well done Emma and Paul. We are thrilled for you!!
Because all babies are precious: here is a picture of my two gorgeous babies.
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