My Jaywalker is progressing SLOWLY. I don’t know if I am all socked out, if it’s the pattern, the pregnancy, or if I just need to be knitting baby stuff right now, but whatever the case I am not feeling the love for this project. That said I think it is going to fit quite well and it’s the first time I have started a pair of socks for myself so I am not completely giving up. I am going to leave it in my hand bag and knit on it when I am out and about - most likely sitting in Drs waiting rooms, which is something I do an awful lot of these days. What I am not going to do is kid myself that I will knit it at home and then not knit at all.

Having made this decision let me introduce Baby Project #1. No, it’s not a great big hanky. Its the very mindless start of a Stonington Shetland Shawl:

I bought this yarn more than six months ago I think, with this shawl in mind. I believe this may be the first time I have actually used yarn bought that far in advance as intended. I am thrilled with the colour but it is not as soft as I would have liked, I am hoping it will soften up with washing.

I have been thinking about putting a star like the one on the recent hat in the centre of the main square. I would do this in some sort of contrast stitch, not intarsia. What do you think? Would it work and in what stitch? I could also do the star thing on each of four sides instead of in the centre, or I can do a more traditional lace pattern. The possibilities are endless really. And at this rate I have plenty of time to decide.

Pattern: Loosely based on the Debbie Bliss Simple Hat, different gauge, in the round, with a moss stitch band. Star from Knitty’s Hipster pattern.
Yarn: Hat in Rowan All Seasons Cotton “Dim”. Star in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino scraps - shade 340503.
Needles: 4.5mm Addi circs, 4.5mm Bamboo DPNs

Thanks for all your kind words on the first star/frog, unfortunately it didn’t look enough like either of those things to leave it as it was. As is so often the case Knitty came to my rescue with a chart for one very cute star. Plastic needle in hand I managed to have some semi knitting fun on the plane to Hobart Thursday night, I finished it off in the hotel room while Jesse was out hunting for some dinner. Using a finer weight yarn for duplicate stitch is less than ideal and there are some brown bits peeking through but I am happy enough with the result.

This is a wonderfully simple hat pattern, easy to churn out and a very cute result. However, I am still struggling with the question of how much hat to knit before starting the decreases, I think this one may be a little short, and yet it seemed so alarmingly long at the time. I think I may try for 11 or 12cm next time. And yes I am sure there will be a next time! I am starting to wonder if baby hats are more my thing than socks.

So I went in search of patches for the hat and they had some really great ones for little girls, not so much for boys. I hear mothers of boys complain about this all the time - how limited the clothes and pattern choices are for boys - but this is my first personal experience with the problem. I did buy two just in case. but I don’t love either of them and I am going to have another try at the duplicate stitch star, then a crochet star before trying one of the patches on the hat.

The upside of the shopping expedition was finding a bra! Generally speaking my skin does not respond well to lace so I only bought one in case I react badly, but none the less I am excited by the possibility that it might work. I have to say bras are one of those things I would rather buy than knit.

Julia is right, some times projects sneak up on you.

Some new(ish) friend’s had a little boy this week. I hadn’t planned to try and knit him anything because, well, we haven’t known them that long and I am not exactly churning out the knits at the moment. But when the father calls you personally less than three hours after the baby is born how can you not knit?

As you can see my first attempt at a star leaves something to be desired. Well actually maybe you can’t in this photo, but trust me it’s not good - Jesse thinks it looks like a frog. I am thinking about crocheting a star and sewing it on, buying a patch of some kind to sew on, or trying to make a decent star chart and giving the duplicate stitch another go. What do you think?

Thank you all again for your kind, sweet words. I am feeling much better, I still feel a normal for me level of pregnancy crappiness but everything else has settled done. And look - knitting!

I really appreciate the sentiment of your comments, that I shouldn’t feel rushed to knit and blog about it. I must confess - I don’t! As much as I love to have knitting to blog about, I am stressing about the knitting because after all this time worrying about jinxing myself by knitting baby stuff while doing IVF, it’s finally ok to knit for our baby and the numerous other miracle babies in my life that are due around the same time. The fertility clinics of Australia seem to have suddenly gotten their act together late last year and I have much crafting to do! The knit blog community has given me so much in the last year that it really does make my day when I feel like I have something really worthwhile to blog about. But this urge to knit is about wanting hand made gifts for my own baby and for the babes of dear friends who have been waiting far too long.

Anyway last night it felt great to be knitting again and I am looking forward to starting the first of the baby projects as soon as the Jaywalkers are done. I have plans for 4 quilts (yes I know that is not knitting), a couple of blankets, some hats and a sweater or two. Will I actually be able to manage all that before June/July? That is the question.

Half an inch of a Jaywalker toe. I started exactly a week ago, almost to the hour. This really is a week’s worth of knitting. It’s sad I know. In my defence it’s been a really crap week.

I am 13 weeks pregnant today, I am starting to (oh so slowly) wean off of some of the drugs I am on. This was supposed to be the week where some of the restrictions would be lifted and I could start to exercise more etc. Isabelle started preschool and I was going to get on top of the book keeping again. Blah, blah, blah. Instead I spent monday night in hospital and what feels like the entire rest of the week in doctors’ waiting rooms. My completely benign, but never the less irritating heart condition has been playing up - aided and abetted by excessively low blood pressure. I am fine, just tired, nauseas, cranky and depressed to be less rather than more able this week. Hopefully next week will be better. Heck I might knit more than half an inch and shock you all.

I do have grand plans to knit again. One day. Maybe tomorrow.

And to everyone who has emailed me or left a comment in the last week, I am so very sorry I haven’t replied, I will be trying to catch up in the next few days.

Ok so I guess I am joking. But I am getting desperate here, desperate enough to wonder about sewing my own, and I have more faith in my knitting than my sewing. Here’s the problem, or the whole list of them:

• I haven’t quite outgrown my normal bras yet, but the underwires are bothering me.
• My options sans wires appear to be a) nursing bras b) granny bras more scary than nursing bras c) bralet things intended for teenagers with no gravity or shape problems to speak of
• I wore nursing bras for 3 years with Isabelle, they were comfortable and actually gave me a great shape. They also came up to my chin and wearing the exact same bra for so long (all be it in many different sizes and a few different colours) gets really really old, I don’t know how many more years I can face.
• I have yet to try on a single other nursing bra that works with my shape or is even remotely comfortable. This is Australia, the choices are very limited.
• So I have one nursing bra option and I just don’t want to go there out of boredom alone but the coming up to the chin thing really is an issue, at least while pregnant. I am so hot and that is before the temperature gets to 45C (I think that is like 115F). Nursing bras require covering up with more/bulkier clothing than I am comfortable wearing at the moment. The granny bras are obviously no alternative given they are even bigger.
• Which leaves us with the bralets for people who don’t need bras in the first place. Although my breasts are growing again they are still small enough that I can get these contraptions in my size. But given that they don’t actually do anything there doesn’t seem to be much point. I gained about 18kgs (40lbs) when pregnant with Isabelle, then I lost 32kgs (60-65lbs). Along the way I breastfed for 2.5 yrs and went first up 3 or 4 cup sizes and then down about 5. My breasts aren’t large, they don’t require scaffolding that comes up to my chin, but there is no denying they need HELP

Why is it that nursing bras are so damn huge and ugly? Why is it almost impossible to get nursing bras in a B cup? Why can’t you get pregnancy bras, given the idea that nursing bras bought in early pregnancy will actually fit when nursing is laughable? Why is there no middle ground in the underwire free world, somewhere between scaffolding and window dressing?

I realise that knitting a bra is a stupid idea but I don’t have any better ideas at this point.

Happy New Year everyone, I hope it brings you lots of challenging (but not too challenging) knitting! I haven’t knit a stitch since I finished Mum’s christmas socks, and I haven’t wanted to. Isabelle starts preschool this week though, and I am supposed to go with her, which I suspect will be a complete waste of my time as she is so independent already and may be a little startled at my not leaving immediately as she is accustomed to with Daycare. So I am expecting to start knitting again at preschool. Jaywalkers, I think. In the mean time I have been trying to figure out what to blog about on my knitting blog if I am not knitting….

2005 was a long hard year for us, mercifully with a very happy ending. Writing that last sentence I first typed “with a very happy knitting”, which is also true. The knitting, the blogging about it, the reading about it, the friends I have made, all of these things helped me through the last year. I don’t know if I would have stayed sane without them. Thank you all.

I think the knitting may continue to be a little thin on the ground in the four to six weeks ahead. I will be slowly weaning off of most of the drugs I am on during that time and I am sincerely hoping to feel better by the end of that process - because I have a LOT of knitting to do before July! Before June in fact, as two dear friends are due four weeks ahead of me. Winter babes all of them…. So I plan to knit the Jaywalkes in January and I hope to get serious with the baby knitting very soon after - blankets, hats, cardigans. Amazing how I can be so excited by the idea and so not interested in starting now, that’s early pregnancy for you.

I think 2006 is going to be a good year for us, I hope it is for you too.