grumpygirl

A month to go

When we moved, I culled down my work clothes to a very small pile:

• 2 dresses
• 2 suits
• 3 skirts
• 4 shirts
• a pair of pants.

I tried it all on today and I'm left with less than half:

• 1 suit
• 1 skirt
• 2 shirts
• a pair of pants.

These, along with my new work shoes which I bought for 50% off, should last me a few weeks, hopefully, seeing as I'm only working 3 days a week. I mean, they got used to seeing me in the very small range of maternity wear for the 4 months of my pregnancy, they can get used to seeing me in my very small range of pre-pregnancy wear.

Then, maybe after all the rushing to and from the car park and the train station (and the giving up of the cheesecake), I might fit back into the rest of my clothes and/or be ready to buy new ones.

I might, however, buy a few plain cotton tops, just in case. Luckily, I've got a month to do it.

Confessions

I watched Confessions of a Shopaholic today. So funny I snorted.

I must also confess that I barely left my armchair this weekend and I have finished another 21 crochet squares of the pinky/purple blankies. So now I can put it aside, as I've done the major thinking/planning work in terms of mixing the colours and getting the most mileage that I could out of colours of which I only had two balls each.

I'm now left with many, many balls of the two main purples to crochet at a more leisurely pace.

I'm back on the teal squares and I must say that 100% wool is MUCH easier on the hands that even 50/50 wool/cotton, soft and squishy as it is.

So many ands

I'm being weighed down by blankets. Well, actually it's the thought of them, but really, there isn't a huge difference.

So you know I'm making a Rowan Purelife in pink, cream and silver for my bed right?

And you know about the lacey ripple apricot one for a girl baby as yet unknown. (This one has stalled as 3.25mm is not my size of choice at the moment.)

And there's also the Teal Blanket Mark III out of Bendigo's Luxury yarn that has been swimming along quite happily. I've got 47 squares so far. I'm going to need either 54 or 70. The wedding is in March I think, so have some breathing time.

You'd think this was enough to keep me going, but a few days ago, it occurred to me that I'd like to thank the lovely guy from whom BD bums lifts to and from work with by making some blankets for his young daughters. (Having him home by 430pm most days IS priceless). I'm making these with the Rowan Wool Cotton that I got from two separate sales in pinks and purples. I've got 38 balls and have 5 squares made up so far. I'd like these done by Xmas, so we'll see how we go.

And yesterday, it hits me that there is a baby boy who's arriving in December who I've yet to pick a project for.

And then there are another 3 girls of various ages who I'd like to make blankets for too. And oh my god, I really should stop thinking or I'm going to Stop Breathing.

I mean, I'm only going to be PT'ing it to work one day a week from November, so when exactly am I going to find the time to become my very own sweat shop?

Did someone say drool?

15 months

A rare instance of intense concentration.
Usually, he's off exploring the world with confidence. Such a delight.

We had our 15 month visit with our MCHN on Monday. It wasn't a formal assessment one, but he did get measured and weighed.

Here are the stats of growth in the last three months (average height and slightly lighter as usual):

Weight: 1520g (+882g)
Height: 78cm (+2.5cm) I think he's taller than this - he wasn't fully stretched out
Head circ: 47.5cm (+1cm)

We also have a molar to report. It explains the recent mozzarella droolage.

The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club

I read a nice and easy book about a knitter last week, Gil McNeil's The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club. I've really got only two comments.

Firstly the name. It doesn't really have that much of a relationship with the book itself. The protagonist moves to a little seaside town to take over her grandmother's knitting shop and runs a stitch and bitch on Thursday nights, but they're not a 'knitting society and yarn club'.

Secondly, there is one weird bit about c-sections. She tells the pregnant movie star for whom she consults that most midwives hate c-sections "because they don't get to be in charge". And that

"Natural births aren't always flute music and getting your breathing right, you know. And having your baby delivered by forceps isn't exactly ideal, especially for the baby, or having the poor little thing dragged out with one of those horrible plastic suction cap things so it gets a pointy head. And what's so natural about crawling about in agony on all fours for hours, anyway, that's what I'd like to know. It can't be very nice for the baby, can it, all that yelling; I've always thought it was pretty daft spending nine months playing the poor little sod Mozart, then for its introduction to the world all it gets is yelling and screaming and hearing its mum telling everyone to fuck off."

Huh? So elective major abdominal surgery is the answer?

Slightly random

I managed to get about two rows done in the sandpit this morning. I hope it gets better with more repeats. I'm using some leftover 8ply cotton I have; the Sublime Organic Cotton and some Bendigo 8ply cotton. These yarns are DK weight, but are waaay thinner than the Rowan Handknit Cotton DK or the Debbie Bliss DK Cotton (both of which I also have leftovers for).

However, it's the first time I've mixed different types of yarn, so yay me! And yes, it's random stripes, but I must admit there are a few rules. Like the 3 base colours must alternate with the slightly stronger colours of pink, green and blue. And there must be an even number of rows. And that I can't use the same repeat as the previous. And um, whatever else I make up as I go along.

I've been testing out different needles with this one. I started on the Addi Click interchangeables, but for the first time, I found addis slippery with cotton. And I've been reading whilst I've knit, so I think I held my hands funny in order to see the book, so I got a bit of RSI in my left wrist.

So I switched to my Brittany Birch straights, but they were too short for 186 sts. I then switched to my Addi Natura circulars, but the 60cm cords were too short. I then finally remembered about my Knit Picks Options, which are perfect for this knitting. Lucky. I was beginning to think twice about my plan to get stiletto points when I eventually get my Signature Arts needles, because I was beginning to fear that longer points would mean that my knitting would sit really far away from the end of the needle. But it isn't sitting as far back on the Options as on the Clicks, so it's all good. Geez, I really need to get better with the sentence structure and punctuation once I get back to work!

No coffee, no wine

I'm bone-dead tired this week. The boy has a chesty cough and a runny nose and is feeding up a storm. So no coffee to keep me awake or wine to send me quickly off to the land of snooze.

On the plus side, I've finally sorted out child care arrangements for when I return to werk, so that allows us to do some planning.

This is given me the kick I needed to start his child care blankie. I was just going to use Bendigo 8ply cotton, but when rummaging through my knitting basket, found some leftover Sublime Organic Cotton DK, and as they are supposedly the same gauge, I cast on! Just random stripes, but I'm hoping to get it finished sooner rather than later, so that there is time for WB to start using it enough to know it's his. Then it can be a comfort item for him at child care. Ok, one more row in bed then I'm off to get some sleep before he wakes for a feed.

Impending sale

Oh dear. My LYS is having a winter sale starting Saturday. At least 30% off off discontinued lines and colours. I really really don't need more yarn. I've got at least 3 girl blankets yet to be cast on, but I was planning on buying some Bendigo yarn (loving their Luxury) for these. argh!

Of course, I will be there when it opens, but I shall try to take some restraint with me.

Cakes and pooling

We went to a 3rd birthday party today.

Best overheard line of the day was: "Don't worry about your costume Batman, just run!" Superman also made an appearance:

The birthday girl's mum (of three, one of whom is practically a newborn) baked up a storm and made the coolest Upsy Daisy cake:

I am such a sloth. WB got a home bought cake and a candle.

On the continental knitting front, I think I am getting a bit faster. If nothing else, I'm knitting much more loosely than I was. I'm even tempted to go down a size. But it wasn't until loosened up a bit that I realised that I'd I had been so focussed on the technique that I didn't pay sufficient attention to the pooling, that eventually started to annoy me with it's ugliness:

So this morning (or was it last night? I'm a bit vague these days), I bit the bullet and frogged back. Luckily, I was able to knit in the car today without getting carsick, so I'm now back to where I started. It still pools a little, but not quite as bad as it was. I'm almost ready to join the second skein and start the decreases. Hopefully the scarf will be big enough.