twenty eleven… January 1, 2011

…and a Happy New Year!!

What a year. I spent exactly half of it waiting, growing, stitching towards a goal, a tiny person born 6 months ago today. Happy half-birthday, Phoebe!

The other half, well, to say she changed my life would be an understatement. I have never in my life been so elated, so drained, so energised, so frustrated, so overjoyed, so tired, so sore, so proud, so sad, so fraught or so totally at peace, all at the same time. I have watched this tiny human, this little, fragile being get bigger and stronger and smarter by the day. I have watched her learn simple lessons, things we absolutely take for granted, like holding up her head, or reaching out her hands to grab something. I have heard her find her voice. I have seen her grow before my eyes.

At six months, she sits by herself, rolls off anything and everything, reaches very much further than you expect she can, says ‘ba-ba’, ‘ga-ga’ (music fan?), ‘ma-ba’ and ‘waa-waa’ (we’re still working on ‘mama’), giggles when you throw her in the air, tries to eat anything within reach. She is a person. She is my person.

It was a year of lots of things. Lots of change in lots of ways, and my hope is that this year will be very much calmer.

Increasingly active baby-frolics aside, of course.

My resolution for 2011? Keep calm, and carry on.

Happy New Year xx

new beginnings… December 14, 2010

So, the world’s most blanketed baby grows ever more blanketed.

Not a little baby sized blanket this time, though. Oh no. She has lots of lovely little blankets. This is going to be a big blanket. A big blanket just for her.

I’ve been flirting with the idea of making a Babette for a long time, but after spending approximately 56 years making Baby Granny Blanket, I needed to get some instant gratification type projects done. Now I’m rested, I’m revived, and I’m ready to go. Bring it on, Babette.

I’m using my go-to yarn for baby projects, Jarol Heritage DK. It’s cheap, soft, machine washable, and at 55% wool, it’s nice and cosy to boot. Best of all, a lot of the colours were in my stash already. Perfect.

Beginnings are always very exciting, don’t you think?

well… December 6, 2010

Remember last year when eight inches of snow fell in one day, and we feeble islanders were all in a kerfuffle about it?

The last day of November saw fourteen inches fall in one day. FOURTEEN. See?:

Now I snowboard, I’ve travelled, and I’m aware that in a lot of places fourteen inches of snow is a mere sprinkling, but over here this is a BIG DEAL. I heard on the radio that this is the worst December weather in our region since December 1981, and the worst single day of snow since some time in the 60s that I didn’t commit to memory cause I wasn’t even alive then.

And due to our driveway and the road out of our estate looking like this:

…(they’re both under there somewhere), we have been a weeny bit stranded. For a week. So I’ve got a good deal of knitting to show you. Just gotta wait for better light.

the wonder weeks… November 19, 2010

Just as I was allowing myself to think that I had this whole parenting business down, I was introduced to wonder week 19.

Wonder weeks, if you are unfamiliar with them, are weeks in the life of a baby where, alongside making significant developmental leaps, they become a right pain in the behind for the duration.

Right on time, a 19-week-old Phoebe learned to grab a toy and shake it, pick things up and put them in her mouth, sit supported and roll from her back onto her front. She also cried about nothing in particular, didn’t want to be put down, slept in chunks no longer than 2 hours at night, and totally refused to nap.

Yesterday she hit 20 weeks, and has begun to allow me the luxury of a morning nap again. A nap for her, that is. I’ve been knitting.

I finally found the perfect project for a couple of skeins of Rico Creative Poems Aran that I’ve had stashed. I saw a couple of great looking Baktuses (Bakti?) using it striped with a plain grey. So that’s what I did. Dead easy project, but I love love it! It’s so soft and squooshy and warm.

It’s going to look just the ticket with my new grey wool winter coat.

Yum.

Hopefully it won’t be so long before my next update. I have a few projects which aren’t a million miles from completion, so all we need is for the elusive afternoon nap to click back into place, and I should have a whole bunch of stuff to show you!

Think sleepy thoughts for us…

hat’s the spirit… October 17, 2010

This week, autumn has brought me 3 things:

1. Light so bad I have had to take my photos with the flash on (boo).

2. A three-and-a-half month old baby.

3. An obsession with crafting for the aforementioned baby. I’m on hats just now. After the disastrously small earflap hat from a few weeks ago (turns out it wasn’t me and my terrible gauge-measuring, it was me and my awful pattern-following!), I decided that actually a cheery little fair-isle hat was just what the knitdoctor ordered. I based it on the same pattern, with a fair amount of winging in there. Those elephants were based on the ones from the Ella Funt pattern, and the hearts, well, they’re just hearts.

Because old BigHead is on the 75th centile for head size (bang on 50th for height and weight now), I decided to make a toddler size, knowing my gauge is always a little tight, and other than being a bit long, it fits her well. And the little purple elephants go SO WELL with her little purple elephant t-shirt!

Don’t mind her expression, she does actually like it! She’s just the least photogenic baby in the history of the world. She can be all smiles and giggles, but the second you point a camera her way, the sullen face comes out. We’re going to have to change that, I think!

Before I go, I’d just like to thank people who comment on these entries. I’d like to take the time to reply to you all individually, but my spare time is kind of precious at the moment! I appreciate that you read, and I appreciate when you take the time to comment.

THANKS EVERYONE <3

the littlest critic… October 6, 2010

Time seems to be moving at a really rather alarming rate. One day your baby is 5 granny squares long, and almost before you have time to blink, she’s stretching to a whole 9 grannies. Yowsers.

And yes, I’m measuring my child’s height in units of crochet. That’s a bit sad, isn’t it. I’m ok with it.

Even so, my baby girl is still only 3 months old. So imagine my surprise when I look up one day to find her inspecting my handiwork.

I may have to wait a while before I can get her feedback on it.

things we saw on our holidays… September 19, 2010

We went on holiday to the Lake District and we saw…

Water, water everywhere! Lakes, puddles, HUGE rainclouds, swollen rivers, streams, tears (oh dear).

Lots of boats on the water. Pressure from other half to undertake a boat trip in torrential rain and near gale force winds (no thanks). Rowboats and yachts and steamers (oh my!).

Sun at last – hooray! And the rather misleadingly-named Grange-over-Sands, which actually features only the above marshy quicksand and grass. No good for baby’s first walk on the beach. They should rename it Grange-no-Sands.

It was mighty pretty though! I made eyes at these houses on the sea front.

And this church on the top of the hill.

We followed the sign post to ‘Leisure Facilities’, which actually turned out to be a bowling green, the world’s smallest tennis court and a disused model boating lake.

But on the way we saw a butterfly.

And a sunflower.

And then both!

We stayed in the Lyth Valley, which apparently is damson country!

See? Although TUT at whoever wrote this sign and their punctuation!

Wordsworth’s grave (behind the best gingerbread shop in the world). This photo, which is not actually Wordsworth’s grave (it was obscured by tourists), was actually taken by my husband, who later confessed he actually had no idea who Wordsworth was. Bless.

And all of this making for a very tired little baby.

the craft has got his hat on… September 6, 2010

Crafting with a baby around takes a little getting used to. Gone are the days of hours devoted to yarn or fabric or words. Crafting with a baby is quick and dirty. You get your kicks where you can.

A stripe here, an earflap there. A two hour project stretches to fill four days. But I’m getting there!

An unprecedented decision on Phoebe’s part to actually try sleeping at bedtime has got me off to a flying start, and last night I wove in the final end on her very first hat. Unfortunately, poor gauge-measuring on my part means it’ll probably fit her for all of about ten seconds, but just for now I think she’s looking very dapper indeed!

Pattern is the Children’s Earflap Hat by SweetP Knits, knit in the round. 4.5mm needles, remnant of Rowan Pure Wool from Baby Granny Blanket.

Project Projects reaches 10!

emerging from the fog… September 1, 2010

Yesterday evening, a funny thing happened. The baby monitor went quiet. Not the bad kind of quiet, and we have one of those sensor mats so a light flashes every time the little one breathes (oh yes, I’m one of those neurotic kinds of mums), but the kind of quiet which means that it’s 8pm, and my baby girl is actually ASLEEP.

Then something even stranger happened. My crochet hook found its way back into my hand.

The thing that I didn’t realise about life with a newborn is how intense it is. How all-consuming the hapless routine I now find myself in. I consider the day relatively ordered if I find the time to pee more than once. And here I was, cotton in one hand, hook in the other, about to partake in some me-time.

Before I knew it, I’d crocheted a whole granny square. Then promptly decided that I think I’d prefer the yarn (Rico Essentials Cotton) knitted. Of course, a timely squeal from the baby monitor stopped the fetching of knitting needles in its tracks, but it was a start. A tentative toe back into the craft sea. An hour or so a night (so long as it’s not a bad night) of it just being me again.

We’re back in business, folks.

things I have learned about motherhood… July 22, 2010

Thus far, I have learned that new motherhood involves the following:

Gifts. Flowers (see above), clothes, blankets with tiny zoo animals on, food! Very welcome.

Unsolicited advice regarding newborn care circa 1948/1979/1981/1992, generally followed by shock that laying your baby to sleep on their front/drinking a pint of stout a day while breastfeeding/utilising lead-based paints in your nursery is generally discouraged by healthcare professionals these days.

Poo. Lots and lots of poo. Ditto pee, sick, drool and milk (oh god, milk is EVERYWHERE).

Sleepless nights (obviously).

A great deal of one-handed 1am, 4am and 6.30am internetting.

An intense urge to craft for the baby, but a severe lack of time in which to do so. P.S. Ooh, finished sunburst blanket!

Pride at very simple actions on the part of your infant. She sneezed! Clever girl! The confidence that your child is supremely advanced. Obviously, as she was born with hair and can already fart AND hiccup AT THE SAME TIME. Wonder if Mensa has a minimum age?

Fear. Sometimes bordering on blind panic that the most simple of your actions, or inactions, will damage your child in some horrific way. The baby hasn’t slept all night, is she poorly? Or scared? Panic. The baby has slept soundly for 5 hours straight, is she dead? Panic. She is feeding too much, she is not feeding enough, is that a spot or a rash? Etc.

Did I already say sleepless nights?

Joy in simple pleasures. Such as breakfast. Or taking a shower.

Love.