Nearly there...

Well, tomorrow I'll be officially 38 weeks pregnant and in the home stretch.

After all this waiting around it seems a bit surreal that Tick will be here with us so soon. I had a midwife appointment yesterday and when we arranged for another appointment in 2 weeks time it ocurred to me that if Tick is anything like Bean was I won't have that appointment - he will be here by then.


Things have been well - much better really, than a few weeks ago, when I felt tired and exhausted and big and lumpy. It seems that I am experiencing that surge of energy that so many pregnant woment have right before they go into labour. And the nesting very much continues... I even managed to squeeze in a trip to Ikea two days ago (much to D's annoyance because he is the one suffering from all the 'imaginary' tasks that I come up with that, at least in my deranged and pregnancy-addled mind, can't possibly wait and URGENTLY need to be seen to before Tick gets here). I bought another bookshelf for the living room (will post pictures once it's up and full of books), a small shelf unit for Bean's room (I am trying, in vain, to keep the flood of multi-coloured plastic in check that threatens to engulf us one of these days) and a little wooden stepping stool for the bathroom so Bean can reach the basin to wash his hands. Also, more boxes for clutter collection, a few frames for Bean's 'artwork' and some x-mas decorations. Gotta love Ikea...

I'm also knitting. Socks, even! A few weeks ago I started on a modified version of Knitty's Satchel, mainly to use up some ancient Ebay yarn, but all that stocking stitch is starting to get to me so I suddenly felt like knitting something more intricate. Despite the fact that I rarely knit socks I own a lot of sock yarn (got to love the wonderful colours you get for sock yarn...) and I finally got round to winding a few balls and casting on:


This is the Widdershins pattern from Knitty, and so far it's rather fun to knit. The yarn is a handspun sock yarn from Hipknits. It was a horrific tangle and took me about 2 days to wind into a ball, but it is wonderfully soft and I love the soft earthy colours of the yarn.


PS: Now that I am settling into my maternity leave I've been starting to wonder if I should join a swap again. I do so love parcels (both sending and receiving them) and it's been a looooong time. I don't even know where to look for a swap these days. Are any of you aware of any interesting swaps starting in the near future?

Embracing the home life...

I'm finally on maternity leave (yay!) and I've been trying to wind down a bit. It's hard, in particular as I still have an article to finish up before Tick arrives. It's in the final stages, but I do find myself fretting over it late at night after yet another visit to the bathroom (if Tick could just be a little more kind to my bladder we'd both sleep so much better...).

In preparation to embracing the homelife I am hoping to enjoy in the coming months I have splashed out on a few books though:



There is a Kath Kidston book on embroidery - I thought it would be a bit more about actual sewing, but it's nice anyway - and two cookery books. One is a lovely little book on homemade edible gifts - cakes, biscuits, chutneys, jam, marmelade, pralines, alcohol... and it's beautifully photographed. I can't wait to try some of the recipes. The other one is a cookery book based on the wonderful food that is always mentioned in classic children's books. Who can't remember reading children's books and, for hours after, wanting pancakes, muffins drizzled with melted butter, and homemade lemonade? The book is compiled and written by Jane Brocket of Yarnstorm, which is something I only found out after I had already bought it!

Hopefully all the cookery books will have the added side-effect of providing me with a few cheap x-mas presents for friends and family. I'm no good knitting things for a deadline, and I have a rather disasterous Sockapalooza experience to vouch for it, so I am not even attempting knitted gifts - they happen when they will, but not usually in time for birthdays, anniveraries, or x-mas - so I am hoping that perhaps I can make some luxurious chocolates and cakes and maybe bottle a few chutneys for people. The Bean will hopefully help - we've recently ventured into the real of cupcake making together. We made Postman Pat mini muffins and apart from the fact that he managed to eat quite a bit of the dough and about half the icing they were a great success.

I even have some knitting content today:


Yes, I've dipped my foot into the dangerous waters of sock-knitting again. This was an internet pattern that was knitted inside out. I will edit this post and give you a link once I find the pattern and can confirm the name. It was an easy enough knit, although socks are always painfully slow for me. Unfortunately, though, I don't really like the socks. Nothing to do with the pattern, I hasten to add, just that the yarn really didn't go with the style of the socks but once I had finished one of them and had realised this there was really no way I was going to unravel the whole thing again. It had taken me months to get to this point, after all!! Instead I quickly cast on for the second sock and finished it in record time, just to get this project out of the way. I will still wear the socks, obviously, but I really wished that I was happier with the result...