Germany and knitting for babies

Still in Germany, enjoying the hot weather - or rather, hiding from it. I love the sun, and I love the heat, but right now it is making me incredibly slow, so I've spent hours and hours indoors, when really I should be outside, enjoying it while it lasts. I'm off back to the UK tomorrow (with an overnight stop in France to break up the journey and prevent me from being over-cooked after 10 hours of sitting in a car without air conditioning), so I should really soak up all the sun I can get!

I have been busy here, though. There will be more pictures when I get back home and after the house move, which is bound to mess things up for a while (I don't have an internet connection sorted for the new house yet... come to think of it, we don't have a phoneline yet either!), but for now, I have to say that even after years of living in the UK and really getting to love the country, I am in love with my beautiful hometown. Isn't it pretty?

Above is a street in the centre, and below is the view I enjoy from the balcony of my childhood room:


I've met up with some friends while here, including an old school friend of mine whose baby is due in 3 weeks. We even managed a big belly picture! Other than meeting up with family and friends, I've been knitting. My sockapaloooza socks are finally in the making, and I even have an FO to show for - the baby cardigan for the friend of mine who gave birth to a little girl a few weeks ago:


The pattern is the Baby Yoda Sweater from Dogs Steal Yarn, and I have found it a quick and satisfying pattern to knit up - hopefully it won't be too warm to wear, though. I have used a 100% cotton yarn (Debbie Bliss), but it still seems rather thick and warm to me...

Other than a quick hat and booties a while back for another friend, this is the first bigger baby item I have knitted, and I love it. Soooo quick and rewarding! I can see lots of baby wear in my knitting future!!

I have also managed to go through all the stuff I have kept here - isn't it amazing how easy it is to forget what you have stored somewhere? While going through my old wardrobe I came across all the different fabrics I have collected over the years. How could such a load of goodies just slip my mind?!


Needless to say, I am taking all of it back to the UK, plus a whole load of other things I have not photographed yet, such as three old suitcases, all turn-of-the-century, which used to belong to my gran and an old aunt, and which I was never able to take with me before, because they are not particularly suitable for transport on a plane.

Right, and that is it for now, more when I get back to the UK and things have calmed down a bit after the move...

Hello from Germany

Just a quick hello to the blog world. I am enjoying some free time and am settling alarmingly well into my new routine of leisure... I predict a nasty waking up when I get back to the UK and have 6 days to write a conference paper, but for now I am enjoying the sunshine and the reading of none-work-related books, and the knitting time. I have even brought my camera so I can take pictures of my progress! First knitting-related update will come tomorrow, when I can present the baby cardigan that I made for my dear friend N, who just had a little baby girl. After that, it's a mix of socks, baby cardigans and blankets for which I have brought yarn with me.

Something else, though, which ocurred to me yesterday - do any of you have any wishes for stuff I could bring from Germany? Sockyarn? Rebecca magazines? Something from the Season Store, which is just round the corner from here? Let me know, because I am here by car, so transporting anything back to the UK isn't an issue. :-)

Hullo? Anyone still there?

*looks around cautiously, listens to crickets...*

Well, that's been longer than I had anticipated.

How have you all been? I will have to sit down for a long session of reading all your blogs!

I can't believe that my last post was at the end of February and now it's June. JUNE! Everything always takes longer than you think... soooo much has happened in the meantime, or, well, not sooo much, but what has happened has been fairly big, at least for little old me.

1) I have submitted my thesis - THIS MORNING! The last few months have been a complete nightmare, and I can't remember the last time I've had time off, but it's finally done. 368 pages long and bound in the naff and ugly red leather-imitation binding that the universities want. I submitted my two copies this morning, and now I am trying to get used to the idea that no matter what I still want to change and re-write, and research, I just can't. It's done and I will have to let it go, at least until the Viva, which is another nasty thing looming over the horizon, but we won't think of that yet. :-)

2) We are expecting a baby at the end of September. So all you wise people who commented on my post about the sudden obsession with ginger that I was developing in February - you were right, I was indeed pregnant. I'm 23 weeks now, which again makes me realise how long I've been MIA for! We even had the 20 week ultrasound scan and know that the little bean is going to be a boy.

3) We are moving up North at the end of June. The house is still a disaster zone, but never mind that, we are moving anyway! At least there is plaster on most walls yet, and the office for D is painted and will have carpet in the next few days (he has to start working there from the beginning of July, so this was a priority). Still no kitchen or bathroom, but we are getting there - I've stuck some tiles on the wall, and we've found a bathroom suite and have bought an oven and hob for the kitchen, so things are moving in the right direction.

Right, that's my three big news. Quite enough for me, but I think the pregnancy is making me mellow - I am taking it all in my stride. Right now I am just looking forward to sitting in the sun for a little while, driving to Germany to see my family on Friday, and staying there for 2 weeks for some more sitting in the sun. And knitting. Lots and lots of knitting. I've missed it so much, but last week was the first time I've even touched a ball of wool for months. There are sooo many things in the pipeline, though - a baby cardigan for a good friend of mine who just had a baby girl, some baby things for our own little bean, and finally my long postponed Sockapaloooza socks. Thankfully I've been blessed with a fabulous and very patient and understanding sock-pal, who didn't mind waiting a bit longer for her socks. They will be a priority as of now!

I shall post pictures of 1) the thesis, 2) the bump, and 3) the house in the next few days, when the batteries of my camera are recharged, but for now I am heading off to sit in the (totally neglected and hence totally overgrown) garden. I've even bought a magazine so I can read something suitably mindless. ;-)