WIP

Seriously good news is springing up everywhere at the moment. Not only has the mojo come back but there is a new WIP which is thrilling, exciting and scaring me a bit too. Any guesses?

Yep, it's a new baby. Due to arrive sometime in August, so I'm trusting that Edinburgh will be as cool as usual and I wont melt in the heat of a fierce Scottish summer. After all the shenanigans of last year, we are really thrilled, and now that the first (horrid) trimester is over, things are starting to get exciting again. Yesterday we saw a midwife for a booking in appointment - another lovely homebirth has been ordered and life seems pretty good.

As if this wasnt enough, my knitting mojo has crept back into view and yesterday I took knitting with me to the hospital. I snatched a few rows here and there while we waited. It feels good to have something growing on the needles again. I had cast on for Lottie from Rowan Junior the other day - there's a first birthday coming up and a stash to consume. If we're going to have another wee person in the house, toy storage will become even more important and the stash will have to make way!

Joining in

There is good news to report, my mojo has been seen (somewhat fleetingly) and I actually managed to finish something teeny and tiny over the weekend, as well as starting to sew up the bobble cardigan, which I blocked sometime before Christmas!

More of that another time. I was struck today by Ysolda's recent post about designers rights (even if I'm not knitting, I do like to keep up with the blog world). It's an important thing for all of us who knit - whether designing or 'consuming' patterns. When I buy food I like to buy things which I know (because of the fair trade marque) have been produced within a system which pays a fair price and which supports workers rights (it isnt perfect, but it's the best thing we've got at the moment). It seems to me that as grown ups we should also be prepared to suppport knit publishers and knit publications which also operate on a fair trade basis. I have written to Vogue Knitting to tell them so (email below) and I urge you to do the same.

Hello

Did you know that the blog world is talking about you and the way that you treat designers? (see: Ysolda Teague's blog, and Anne Modesitt's blog). I'm joining my fellow knitters and knit designers and walking away from your patterns and magazines until you begin to treat your designers more fairly. Why would I support Vogue Knitting over the Twist Collective or Ravelry or IK?

You know, the fair trade movement has been pretty powerful in relation to food staples (coffee, tea, sugar, bananas) and is now starting to shape the fashion industry. How about a bit of fair trade in the knitting world?

New Year New Mojo?

Mid winter goblins have been at work in Edinburgh this year. One of them moved my mojo, and I havent yet recovered the poor wee thing. I've been trying to coax it out of hiding with a couple of quick projects, but alas, alack without my mojo both of those small things were sent off to the frog pond.

Something will rescue me soon I hope. There's unblogged Christmas knitting to report and lovely knitterly gifts to tell you about. Soon my lovelies, soon.

Lucky

Anyone who hangs out in the knitblogoverse will have seen numerous posts over the last week giving thanks for various aspects of life. As a britblogger there's no thanksgiving to prompt these sentiments, but I wanted to join in for other reasons.

I'm Lucky. Lucky because I have a job, a home, a loving husband, an adorable son and all the material things which make life more than comfortable. I'm saying this for two reasons - firstly, because it's true, and secondly because I am engaging in a concerted period of positive thinking.

The reason for this is deeply personal, and if I explain it, then I will also account for my absence over the last month. 3 weeks ago I had a miscarriage, my third in 6 months - all of them lost in the earliest stages (5-6 weeks) along with the hope that they had brought. I had some time off work, I stayed at home and lost myself in domestic life - baking, knitting, shopping, tidying. It was a brief interlude in a hectic work schedule and I am glad that I listened to my husband and my GP who told me to stop and take some time.

For someone who researches for a living, it's tempting at these times to read and digest all that the internet, message boards, cranky organisations and the medical establishment has to say about recurrent miscarriage and its causes. Last night, it struck me that I should tackle this in the way that I - and many other women - tackled the prospect and reality of labour, by thinking positively about it. Hypno birthing and the words of Ina May Gaskin prove (to me at least) that physiological processes are affected by psychological ones, and that it's possible to use this to your advantage. When I was labouring with the bean, I used the mantra 'I trust my body' to reinforce a belief that I could birth my baby gently, at home in the way that I wanted. It worked well - my son was born under water into my hands, 20 hours after SROM, and I managed the entire labour without drugs, just TENS and water for pain relief. It was amazing, and I found the birth a very empowering event.

Coming back to the present, my mantra is still 'I trust my body' but I'm adding other thoughts too: 'I'm lucky' is another. I want to DO something to increase the chances that there wont be any more miscarriages, and this seems a good way to go. We're booked into the local hospital for tests in the New Year, but I'm hoping we won't need them.

Tottie Tank Tops Two

Winter is here - I'm chilly inside the house and yesterday DH had to work in the snow! I'm not sure what happened to autumn - I think it blew away in the gales. The crazy weather is no doubt a sign of the terrible things we are doing to our planet.

Regardless of the weather outside, my needles have been clacking away and I've managed to finish two stripey tank tops (age 3-4) from the Rowan Family Collection. Between the two I managed to bust almost 3 balls of Jaeger matchmaker DK (left over from DH's Celt) and 2 balls of Patons DK (I think) out of the stash. A modest inroad, but it was worth it. I love these tottie tank tops!

I knit both flat (as instructed) using 4mm dpns (not mentioned in the instructions), so that there was no need to cut the yarn in order to achieve the original stripe pattern. I also changed the shoulder shaping on the second tank - and rather than cast off 3 stitches on one row and the last 2 on the following row, I just cast them all off together. I dont think such refinements are required in this pattern or for boys of this age. The different stripe pattern on the second tank (light grey with dark grey stripes) was dictated (or inspired!) by the yarn available.

Both tanks are nestling in the gift stash ready for despatch. I tried the first one on the bean the other day - he's 21 months now - and although the tank was big on him, it was quite wearable. As a result I decided that the smallest size (3-4) would do for a 2yr olds birthday, and immediately cast on for the second tank. All in all I think the second one took about 2-3 evenings to knit and one to finish. The bean will get one too once I've got a few other things out of the way...!

Between tanks I managed a bit of WIP wrestling and finished the first sleeve on the bobble cardigan. One sleeve and one front to go, so the end is in sight (yoohoo). Yesterday I cast on for another gift project - some child's mittens from 'Hats, Scarves, Gloves'. I'm knitting both mittens at the same time, and I'm already up to the thumbs. Thumbs, is it hallowe'en yet?

Autumn knitting & babies

Well, the autumnal air has done something to me, and I just had to pick up some odds and ends of copper coloured yarn and knit myself an autumn. I decided to go with the gift pouches in last minute knitted gifts, and turned out two in no time at all.

These are knit with an unknown yarn that I inherited from my grandmother. It's soft and light and has a slight sheen. I knit the first one as instructed, fastening the base with a 3 needle bind off. For the second bag, I decided that I preferred a seamless look and used good old Kitchener to close the base.

With those out of the way (filed in the gift stash) I started ferreting for another project (completely ignoring the current WIPs..). With various small birthdays coming up (one aged 3, 2 aged 2) I thought I would get started on a stripey tank from the Rowan Family book. It's proving to be a quick and addictive knit (I've finished the back, and I'm up to the armholes & neck shaping on the front). It's made much easier by knitting flat using DPNs - this means I can manage the one row stripes without having to cut the yarn. I'm already planning to knit another one or two of these - they look so good...

Finally, huge CONGRATULATIONS to friends Helen & Stephen who recently welcomed a new daughter to the family. Baby Iona was born at home in a pool - the same pool that her older brother Digby was born in, and the same pool that our little bean was born in! Welcome little one - cant wait to meet you!

Edited to add:
Congratulations also to Gayle - a near neighbour - who had a little girl on Sunday last. Her son Jack is a day younger than the bean and we shared many coffees and chats about baby things in the early months. We bumped into her on Saturday: she was ready to pop and slightly trepidatious about the prospect (Jack was a breech baby and born by c/s) but with a head down baby this time, she was all set for a normal delivery. Go girl.

Catch up #3: socks again

Despite the disappointment of the yarn shopping in Denmark, a couple of weeks ago I went to see my parents. Because of building works at home, the bean and I spent a week in the Marches where I grew up. While we were there, we nipped over to Hay-on-Wye - a small market town, nestling high on the banks of the river, and just across the border in Wales. Hay is most famous for its numerous second hand bookshops, and latterly its literary festival. I just know it for its crooked lanes and stone cottages - the same today as 30 years ago.


While we were there I stopped in at bedecked - which not only has scrumptious buttons, but also has Rowan, Colinette and other delicious yarns. I fondled quite a few things, but nothing asked to be carried away home. Just across the way on the other side of Back Fold, I stopped in at another shop - a cooperative of weavers, spinners and knitters, which has many wonderful things inside. Some handpainted sock yarn - an alpaca merino mix - looked rather good, was well priced and just had to come home with me.


Its from Jenny Cook in Gladestry, and feels lovely. I couldnt wait to wind the skeins. I'm itching to cast on for some new socks, but I must finish Other Things. humph.