No news is good news

Or so the saying goes.

The official news is that there is still no news. I fear bub has become confused as to how to get out - the last few days there has been lots of kicking and pushing on the tum I think it is trying to break out Alien-style. I have taken to crossing off the dates on the calendar in our toilet, counting down to eviction day. The end is in sight one way or another.

I’m glad bub is clearly still well and feisty but would never have thought I'd be going overdue. The hot humid weather isn’t helping my sleeping/temper but apart from tiredness I am still disgustingly healthy myself. My friends rock.

Jayne's Hat

My friend Karen introduced me to Firefly, a quirky, intelligent and completely compelling sci-fi space western series which sadly only lasted 14 episodes and one film.

In the twelfth episode the character Jayne, a tough fighting and talking mercenary, receives a bright orange knitted cap, with ear flaps and a pompom, that his mother has sent him. He immediately puts it on, very impressed, much to the amusement of his crew mates.

"A man walks down the street in that hat, people know he's not afraid of anything," quips crew mate Wash.

The hat has become a fan favourite and there are at least half-a-dozen different free patterns for it on Ravelry. I used the one designed by Kath Loeffler to make a hat for Karen to thank her for lending us her DVDs of the series. It was a very quick and easy knit.

Waiting, waiting...

The bub was due yesterday but despite 3 weeks of intermittent contractions everything is still "locked up tight" according to the doctor. Accordingly an eviction notice has been served on the bub - if it's not out by next Thursday morning, I will be induced.

The always-funny zephyrama (Ravelry link) has written an appropriate notification for the bub.

Dear TheknitaholicBABY,

In accordance with the Womb of Maternal Bounty rental contract of 2009, we are giving you one week’s notice to vacate the premises.
In doing so you are required, as per the WOMB contract, to leave the premises in the same state that you found it and take with you any-all belongings.
If by the end of the week’s notice you haven’t seen fit to a: leave the premises or b: clean it, the owners may exercise their rights as set out by the WOMB contract.
This may involve the hiring of contractors to assist your move and subsequent cleaning and this can be done with or without your express permission. Such hiring of contractors will be done at your expense and payment by means of humiliating baby stories will be due on your 18th or 21st birthday, or as suits the owners.

If you have any queries in regards to the WOMB lease termination we suggest that you move out before the end of the week as it is not the owners fault that you did not read the fine print.

Yours, Zephyrama acting on behalf of the owners of the property set out in the WOMB contract.

If in doubt knit the next size up

This is my friend Sonya's gorgeous daughter, Georgia, wearing the Giant Peach dress I knitted her. Georgia is four months old and the dress is the 6-9 month size. It was supposed to be for her to wear this winter - thank goodness that being short sleeved she'll get at least a couple of wears out of it before she grows into the next size.

Must remember - if in doubt, knit the next size up. Nothing more frustrating than when a kid doesn't even have a chance to wear something one has spent weeks knitting.

Knitting WIN!!!

I had to post these pics of my Faraway, So Close shawl knitted out of Mosaic Moon Snow Blossom on Aran BFL with the pink trim. I used virtually 3 full skeins of SB plus virtually all the pink trim.

I am SO HAPPY how this shawl turned out - I think it is the most flattering garment I have ever made for myself. But for anyone else thinking of making the shawl please note that I am a 9-month pregnant plus-size woman; the large size when blocked (and probably knitted on too large needles - I didn’t bother checking my tension) would overwhelm a petite woman.

Faraway, So Close Shawl

The problem with many variegated yarns is that while they look fantastic on the skein, they pool badly and look rather ugly when knitted up.

However I think I have now found the ideal shawl pattern that makes the most of a good variegated yarn - Carina Spencer's Faraway, So Close Shawl.

I found this pattern while browsing Ravelry wondering what to make with my Mosaic Moon BFL Aran yarn in the Snow Blossom colourway. The yarn was deliciously soft but seemed a bit intense for anything I had in mind. One thing I noticed, however, was that every single Faraway, So Close Shawl made with Mosaic Moon yarn looked fantastic, no matter what the colourway.



I had 3 skeins of Snow Blossom plus a choice of 2 trims (green or pink), so plenty of yarn to make the large size version of the shawl.

I've already knitted up one skein (in just 2 days despite having to go quite slowly and take lots of breaks due to the crap-al tunnel) and am very impressed with how the shawl is turning out. This pattern could have been designed just to showcase the variegated Mosaic Moon yarns - very easy and fast knit that gives a lot of ‘bang for the buck’ in terms of results.

Rainbow love

Despite my crap-al tunnel, I managed to finish my 'Witch Cats Hat', an adoption of a Halloween Hat designed by Christine de Savoie.

I tweaked this pattern a bit. I cast on 168 stitches and started with 3 inches of 4X4 ribbing - this made the hat more of a ‘large’ size rather than a medium. I added 2 more stitches when I got to the stocking stitch part (170 stitches). After chart 3 I decreased 10 stitches.

By the fourth set of cat heads I felt the hat was getting too long, so I skipped the final black patterns and just decreased fairly sharply.

A little fudging was required at some parts to keep the pattern.

This is one of those knits where I’m very happy with the final result but didn’t overly enjoy the actual knitting. I used stranded knitting the whole way but as some of the motifs were wider than 5 stitches across this required me to catch the carried yarn at the back while knitting the motifs.

I used 70g of Kauni EQ - and still have another 70g left for matching mitts or the like. I'm really impressed with the yardage I've got out of these 2 balls! (I used 160g for the Rainbow Forrest Canopy shawl).

I also have some Jolly Jumbuck Baby Alpaca Gradual Gradient Gypsy Rainbow coming. This is meant to be super soft. Not quite sure what I'll make with it. After receiving a huge box of delectable baby clothes in 3 sizes from a friend whose bub is barely 4 months old I'm realising how fast babies grow, and am less inclined to spend weeks knitting something that a bub might only wear once or twice before growing out of.