Shawl Knitting and blocking

I admit, I find the pinning out and blocking of lace shawls oddly soothing. Its guaranteed to make me feel better after a bad day - like today. I also had one last week, and when I needed it, it worked its magic then.

Last week's session, for some reason, went unblogged. It's a pretty shawl-come-baby snuggy, in 100% merino (Mirasol Hacho). The yarn was hurting my fingers, so what had been destined to be a shawl for me for those cold winter evenings turned into a sweet little triangle wrap for bubs to snuggle in on those nights instead.


Tonight's shawl was a new experience. I was trying a pretty new yarn (King Cole Riot) which has similar colourway designs to the well-known Noro. The Riot, however, is 70% acrylic - ideal for what I needed for the shawl: washable and bright colours for the Princess' dressing up box. It was my first time steam blocking acrylic and I think it went pretty well considering.


As desired, I feel much better now. Just what I needed, given that I'm dreading tomorrow - I'm accompanying my phobic other half to the hospital for a dental check-up, in preparation for arranging to have some teeth pulled under a general. This should be fun...

Stuck on my bum!

Fear not, I didn't impale myself on a stray DPN (yet!).

The current pregnancy was going swimmingly up until 3 weeks ago when I was, out of nowhere, knocked for six by SPD. I suffered mildly with this when carrying my second son, but it resolved itself around 28 weeks thankfully. Princess and youngest son's pregnancies were both free from the dreaded pelvis problems, but this time it seems I'm paying for it. My left hip is shot - slight movement causes the joint to lock painfully, the pelvic joint at the front is constant throbbing pain, and the sacroiliac joints at my lower back are, frankly, useless. Standing or walking causes them to audibly pop (it has been heard 15ft away!), and often I lose sensation in one or both legs afterwards. Not to mention, the shuffling gait I have adopted in order to avoid pain in all three of these areas is now causing both severe muscle tiredness is both thighs and calves after about 200yds, AND my back to spasm painfully across my midsection. ARGH!!!

For comic relief - imagine if you will, a 7 month pregnant woman. Got it? Okay... Now picture a tubigrip support bandage - you know the kind you get for a mildly sprained wrist or ankle. Got that too? Now... Imagine said pregnant woman squished into said tubigrip bandage (okay a body sized one, technically) from thigh to boobs. Yup - sexy eh? That's me at the moment, awaiting a physio appointment to hopefully get some crutches.

Anyway, as a result, the man has confined me to my recliner for most of the day. He has taken over the thrice-daily school runs (a 5 minute each way walk, which was taking me a total of 40 every time). In theory, I have more time than ever to craft. The downside is that the pain and the painkillers both dull my desire to pick up yarn - either I'm too stressed, my head is too fuzzy to concentrate or the pain is causing hot flushes that would put a menopausal woman to shame.

I'm managing to get little bits here and there done however. The shawl is currently one and a half repeats short of completion. The more I look at it however, the more I see wings, so I'm considering using the pattern's eyelets to thread a ribbons up the centre and adding some wristbands to make it so.

I also completed a cute little stashbuster this afternoon - a pretty crochet daisy chain to add to the dressing up box. So quick that I'm considering using the pattern as a room decoration when we finally get a bigger place and DD gets her own room. She has a cute little pink poled bed, and I'm thinking it would look even more girly with garlands of these wrapped around the bars. I know she'd love it!

KAL Shawl

Now that we've settled into a routine again, life is pretty quiet. I have my Aunt's wedding reception tonight which will be the first (and last) night out for me in a while. I should have been out last night for my baby sister's 21st birthday, but my pelvis has been killing me lately (late-onset SPD?) so I had to pick one night out or the other, there was no way I'd be able to stand two in a row :(

On the crafty side of things, I've been beavering away for the past 3 days on my christmas knitting project - well, part of it anyway. For DD's christmas, I'm going to fill a dressing up box for her, and I'm intending to knit or crochet a good portion of it.

The first project is this pretty: a shawl in rainbow colours. I started in on the 1st, as my Rav group's KAL project, and it's flying along - a great pattern that once you figure out (THAT gave me a headache, I can tell you now vintage patterns can be a PITA) you can pick up and knit without the pattern. As a result, I'm 3 days into the month's KAL and already about a third of the way through!

Back to (Vague) Normality

The older boys went back to school this week and its such a relief to be back into a structured routine. All of my children thrive when they have a set plan for the day, their behaviour and demeanour improves,and we generally have a LOT less petty arguing over the silly things that get children so irate. Mama is much better with a set routine too, I must admit.

My daughter started her nursery placement at the school this week too, and (as expected) settled in without a hitch. My kids are sociable creatures, and while they are shy, at the same time they aren't the type to shy away from a new situation - so when they've started school, there's never been tears or tantrums, or the need to extend the 'settling in' period that their school offers (shortened attendance times for the first week or so) - in fact they've always been full time after the first day of their induction, as they fit right into the class. As I said before, they thrive on structure, so I suspect that this is why.

Its a little strange having only one child in the house for the better part of each weekday - not that it will be for much longer. My youngest son is independent and, at 1 and a half, is quite happy to take himself off and play without guidance or intervention. Mama eyes and ears are in effect, but it gives me more freedom, of a sort. I can do housework without toddler help, or I can sit and enjoy a book or knit.

On the topic of knitting - I cast on for a new project this week. I had to get some new circulars for it, so I splashed out and decided to try KnitPro Interchangeables (I bought from p2toguk on Ebay for those curious, great seller). I only bought the one set of tips and a cable, as I wasn't sure how I'd like them, but they are worth every penny. I went with the clear acrylic tips, as I have a few acrylic straights and the knitting seems to fly with them.

My new project is the Shalom cardigan (Rav linky) - a nice open front cardi which I'll be able to wear with the bump and afterwards. I'm using 100% merino yarn (DK weight held double) so the fabric is thick and smooshy. Because of this, I am really enjoying working the project without rushing to have it finished (which is counter-intuitive really, as I enjoy working with it so much that it will be finished quicker than expected because I pick it up so often), its just so pleasant to pick it up and feel the knit fabric in my hands.

My Ravelry group kicks off this week too, which I'm really looking forward to. Its a lot of work, but I'm hoping it will replace my longing for a sociable knit-night in my area. I've joined the KAL (a shawl, in King Cole Riot, for my daughter's intended christmas present - a big box of knitted dress-up bits and pieces), and have plenty of ideas lined up for the stash-busting and WIP wrestling activities too.

Here's hoping that September and October are highly productive knitting months, as November is going to be otherwise occupied :D

Productive Weekend

I've been beavering away all weekend on small projects. Finishing up my second newborn cardigan was number one priority, seeing as I had neglected it for so long. I finished the sleeves late on Friday night and set about stitching the buttons on Saturday afternoon, which I completed successfully first time around (my first attempt at sewing on buttons on a handmade garment).

After that, I had itchy fingers and the urge for some instant knitterly gratification. So onto the needles went some acrylic DK scrap and an hour or so later, off popped a little alien beastie. This morning, he was joined by a friend! I think these little guys may multiply...

I can't decide on my next project yet. There's a lot of options coming from The Yarnival group, and I have plenty of WIP's, but I think I'm coming down with a bout of Startitis... not a good thing after I went to so much effort to wrestle my WIP pile down to a manageable level. I think I'm going to have to pull everything out and see what grabs me while I have it in my hands. I can see all my WIP's on Ravelry, but I think this is more of a sensual issue. I need to touch things, feel them, before I'll know what I want to be working on for a while.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

No pretty new WIP photos today, apologies.

I've been busy setting up my new group on Ravelry (The Yarnival - come visit us!), and haven't had a lot of free time to pick p my needles. As a result, the impending bump's cardi is still languishing beside my chair, only 4 rows and 4 buttons short of completion. On top of the group, I have been working on getting my stash and accumulated tools, bits and bobs re-organised. My yarn stash outgrew its storage capacity, so - of course - I had to buy more storage (yarn diet?? Blasphemy!). In turn, this means that I'm going to have to pull everything out and get it in some semblance of order. The upside to this, is that it gives me a chance to properly update my stash page on Rav.

Of course, as Scottish readers will know, school returns next week - and with 2 boys in primary and a daughter entering nursery 5 afternoons a week (coupled with a very active 1 and a half year old, and a pregnancy), life has been utter madness the past few days. Shopping for school clothes with all 4 children in tow, all day spent up town equals some very tired, grumpy (but as always, in public at least, well behaved) children. And adults.

I'm still recovering...

The postman was kind enough to deliver a parcel of cheer-up goodness today though, courtesy of a lovely lady from the UKRAK board. A whole bundle of gorgeous child-oriented buttons, a skein of smooshy sock yarn, a 30% silk pashmina wrap and a box of luscious Godiva chocolates.

What more could a pregnant knitter ask for? (Well except maybe a housework fairy, but I've yet to see those on sale anywhere!)

I've Been a Bad Blogger...

So after my last post (where I was being a loon and contemplating housework at 6am!?!) things went completely to pot. I had been ill for a few days prior and was in - what I thought was - recovery mode. You know, where you feel 75% better but your head tells you that you are suddenly running at 150% so you can do ANYTHING.

Yeah. Not so much.

Feeling 'better', I hopped on the bus and went out to MIL's to surprise and stay the night with DP and my youngest, as they weren't planning on coming back until the next day. I was having a wonderfull time until 2am when I passed a kidney stone and came down ill with a kidney infection. We came home on Wednesday and I spent the next week and a half in bed, being pretty much waited on hand and foot by my man.

Good timing being everything, I recovered (with a few relapses caused by the 75%/150% problem) on the Sunday, and my older 3 came back on the Monday. A week later and I was finally back to the status quo. Its been a hectic round of entertaining children on summer holiday from school, knitting and catching up with Rav boards since then.

I promise, however, that normal service shall be resumed and we will get back to pretty crafting pictures and updates shortly.

Ever Wondered...

What would happen to the mind of a mother of 4, with a partner, who is left completely and utterly alone for 3 days?

Madness sets in!

The 'Mum's Holiday' is almost over (although I may be getting an unexpected extra day due to travel issues, we'll see). It has been thoroughly relaxing. I openly admit to doing nothing but zoning out in front of my favourite TV shows, mindlessly knitting and browsing my usual online haunts. It would have been perfect, but for 'Sod's Law' - that is, I came down ill. But, having no children around meant that I could relax and get over it much quicker and less stressfully (Mum's don't have time to get ill, so I'd have fought through it and taken twice as long to recover and felt twice as bad while doing so).

As I was saying: madness sets in... for the first part - I started dropping stitches in my knitting! Panic not fellow yarnaholics - the pattern said that I should. Its a gorgeous dropstitch shawl (Clapotis, for you Ravellers). It's a nice, peaceful knit once you settle into the rhythm of the pattern.

The second part of the madness, you ask? Well that would be being awake at 6am contemplating housework. Apologies for the use of such foul language, it was necessary in context, teehee. Now doing so may be normal for those I consider wonderwomen. But I am not one of those women. I will do house*ahem*, that, when it becomes bad enough for me to see. With 4 children mess is unavoidable, and I would never have time to drink a single cup of coffee or knit or blink if I attempted to keep on top of it all. Also, 6am?!? That is not even a time of day for me (barely - I usually get up at 7.30 on school days, but this is the summer holidays, and my extra-special one at that!).

I can only conclude that I am missing my brood. The house is too quiet, too still. Cabin fever must be setting in.

A Mother's Summer Holiday

Yes, apparently it is possible for a mother to have a holiday. My oldest 3 children are away with their dad for a few weeks. My partner has taken our youngest to his mum's for a long weekend to house/dig-sit. And so begins MY summer holiday.

I could have gone with them. Some may feel I should have gone. But I cannot remember the last time I had NO responsibility, other than to feed and clothe myself. Even just to sit for a few hours in the house, there's always at least one child asleep in a bedroom, or my partner sitting a few feet from me - he's grown up enough to take care of himself of course. But sharing a room with someone, you automatically allow for them. Is the TV volume ok? What would they like to watch? I'm making a drink, can I get them anything while I'm up?

So no, I didn't go. I'm sitting watching my TV shows, knitting, drinking a cup of coffee and I'm completely, utterly alone.

It's bliss.

For now :)

Quiet. Too quiet...

This house is far too quiet today and I'm not sure I like it. Mondays are usually hectic, with two kids at school and two at home. However, my oldest three children are away for 3 weeks of the summer holidays with their dad - so its just me, the other half and the mini-one. Too quiet, but it has its upsides.

Like the ability to lie in bed until 11am on a Monday morning.

Like having your dear MIL (I'm serious, she's a dream) call to say she's on her way over and do we want a MacDonald's while she's passing? Hmmmm. Pregnant - Mac'D's for breakfast? Hell yes!

The peace and quiet has also allowed me to get on with the current knitting project - my daughter's vest/dress. I've completed 1.5 cable repeats since yesterday afternoon and admit that I'm thoroughly enjoying the pattern. The yarn is lovely to work with, very silky feeling (its a bamboo/cotton blend), so it feels like its flying along.

Been wrestling some UFO's...

For those who don't speak Ravelese (or knitterese in general): UFO's = unfinished objects. I have a stack of them constantly, and decided that June was going to be dedicated to shrinking that pile.

I succeeded!

I completed a baby cardigan (for the impending bump), a pair of booties, a scarf in gorgeous handspun yarn given to me by a friend, and a shawlette for wrapping baby in, and a cardigan for my 3yo daughter. I'm feeling very accomplished, I must admit.

During that time, I managed NOT to cast on many extra projects - very different from my usual 'start something new every time I'm bored' mentality - only two. One of these was the girl's cardigan, the other is a top for her, which I'm currently dedicated to. No more of this picking up 3 different projects a day (although I will admit to intermittently picking up a now-memorised lace scarf when my 1 year old won't allow me enough concentration to work on a pattern I need to read while I work).

Intro and Welcome

This will hopefully be the first post of many. My life is hectic but I wanted an outlet for my life pleasures, frustrations, adventures and monotony.

I am a perpetually exhausted mother of four children (I think they're beautiful, but then I'm biased). I'm also pregnant with my fifth, and last. I'm very young (25) but now that my family is complete, I can relax and focus on the rest of my life - bringing up those children with morals, manners and principles; and finding out who I am as a person, outside of being a Mum.

Part of that identity is my crafting - primarily knitting, but occasionally dipping my toe into crocheting, sewing and jewellery making.

Not an interesting opening, but this is my place for emptying my brain...