Gradually Getting Through Them

Last time I posted I had a lot of projects on the go. I am working through them at a great rate now and wanted to share a few of them.

Charlotte has been snuggling inside her jumper for a week or two now. She loves it and wears it all the time so we're going to need to stock up on some long sleeve tops for her to wear underneath.

Then my Mum's cardigan required finishing, and I can honestly tell you that I've never wanted to finish something so much in my life, the pattern repeat was fun at the beginning, but once I reached the sleeves I was dreaming about it, waking up in a cold sweat. So pleased I knitted it for her though, she loves it and it is definitely an achievement. I had a small issue with the button holes being too big, I had to sew them closed and that wasn't particularly aesthetically pleasing, but overall I am pleased with it.

The ripple blanket I was making for my friend is sitting exactly as it was left, I have however made a few little bits for Lacey, who was born last Tuesday.

It's Been a While

Well, it's been over a month to be exact. Being super busy coupled with not really having much to blog about has been the cause of this. I need to get better at making my everyday life sound interesting ... actually, I need to get better at making my everyday life actually BE interesting!

My last blog was about my wonderful boy turning 3 and starting nursery, everything was rosy. It didn't remain that way. Gradually he has disliked nursery more and more, not crying when I dropped him off but being very sad when I picked him up. For a week or two I considered it was all just new and overwhelming, then a random sentence from him put everything in to place. "I don't like storytime. I don't want to sit on the carpet" was suddenly and randomly proclaimed one day. Turns out that he's just not wanting to be told what to do and wants to just play with the toys all day! Actually having to stop and listen to a story is far too inconvenient for him! Anyway, we tried lots of encouragement, lots of "well, just enjoy the rest of it and put up with storytime, it only lasts 10 minutes". Nothing has worked and the past 2 weeks he's been crying as we've gone in, yesterday he cried before we'd even left the house. He only goes 2 mornings a week, they think this is why he's not settling quicker so after half term he's going to go a third morning (ssshhhh! don't tell him!!) and hopefully he'll just get used to it! Apparently he's not crying for long (as is often the case) so I'm fairly sure it'll improve within a month or so. I've been very brave though, only one morning has brought me to tears!

Knitting wise I've been mainly concentrating on a cardigan for my Mum's birthday. It the February Lady Sweater pattern and I'm now about half way through I think. My Mum knows its coming and although her birthday is next week she has said it doesn't need to be completed by then if its not possible so not too much pressure.

I'm really enjoying knitting it, the pattern repeat is complicated enough to keep my brain engaged but simple enough to not have to keep check on the pattern or count rows. This is the first item I've made that has to actually fit someone, you'll see a great range of toys and blankets from me, but no wearables as yet so I'm quite nervous about it. Mum has tried it on and it fits, although I'm still a bit concerned about how tight it seemed round her shoulders and chest, but looking on other peoples project notes it does stretch out once complete and blocked so fingers crossed! The colour is gorgeous, I'm not sure this photo quite does it justice.

I'm also knitting my gorgeous girlie a jumper/poncho that I am making up off the top of my head after seeing something similar that a friend was wearing. It's a poncho with a heavy, chunky ribbed roll neck that buttons under the arms (at the waist) creating a loose sleeve. I've done the back and am halfway through the front but I need to finish Mum's cardigan first, not just so that I can give it to her, but because I need the circular needle for the rollneck and refuse to buy another one when there's a perfectly good one 20 rows away from being free for use! Do you like the sparkly buttons? What a great find!! This is half of the back, the cables go sideways and the top is rolled under in this photo (darn stocking stitch) but it'll lay flat once I sew it to the front! Can't wait to finish this, Charlotte's really looking forward to wearing it too.

Lastly, I'm starting another ripple blanket for my friend who is due to drop a baby any time soon. We know she's having a girl so its a lilac blanket and I'll do cream edging I think. I'll show you a photo, but there's not much to see yet, I started it while I watched the Chilean Miners being rescued on Tuesday and Wednesday nights (how amazingly awesome was THAT?) but didn't get very far ..... didn't get much sleep either, think I managed 3 hours on Tuesday night and 4 on Wednesday!!She lives quite far away so I'm fairly sure I wont be able to get up to see her as soon as the little bundle is born, hopefully this will give me time to finish it off, history has shown I can knock one out in 4 days if I knuckle down to it so I think we'll be ok.

Phew! For someone who had so little to say I've surely filled my blogging brief for today haven't I? Now I'm off to work on making my life interesting .... and to finish that cardigan!