Lions and tigers and bears - oh my!

Last Sunday my BIL was due to arrive into Sydney from Germany, to join Beloved's sister and their three teenage daughters who have been staying with us since the day Princess Grace was born.

So we all decided to take the train to Sydney from Canberra, ostensibly to meet him, but with the added bonus of a trip to Taronga Park Zoo.

It was a weekend of firsts for PJ: train, ferry, zoo. He was pretty excited about the whole adventure, and we unashamedly used the threat of not going to keep him in line all week. (This may be why I am yet to be offered an authorship deal on a parenting guide)

It was his first train trip. He nearly burst with excitement every time the train's horn blew. He wanted me to take him to the driver so he could drive the train.

We arrived in Sydney late on Sunday afternoon. Apparently there was another event on that weekend too - there were "youth" everywhere. Pilgrims, they called themselves. Central Station was packed, the park outside Central was full to bursting, roads were closed and there were more people with guitars than a Fender convention.

We walked to Surry Hills against the tide. This is looking down Albion St towards Central, if you are familiar with Sydney.

The upside was that at least it wasn't a crowd of football fans or post-Christmas -sale bargain hunters, so it felt pretty benign and non-threatening.

The next morning we were up bright and early and caught the ferry to the zoo from Darling Harbour. Another first for PJ. He wanted me to take him to the captain so he could drive the boat. (I wonder if he has his mother's control-freak tendencies??)

At the zoo, there were a few must-sees on the list. Elephants, monkeys, seals, kangaroos (well, for the tourists), lions, meerkats and tigers. But these guys were the absolute favourite.
And of course we had to wave to Mama's favourite animals.

We caught the train back to Canberra that evening, exhausted but full to the brim with exciting new experiences.

And Princess Grace, now well-travelled for 4 weeks old (especially if you include the trip to my parents, 450 kms away, when she was a week old), slept through it all.

I know you're all just here for the baby eye-candy now, so here you go:

That's your lot for this post, you'll have to wait for some more! Hopefully now that my computer is back working again after a week on stress-leave, and I'm not competing with three teenagers for use of it, or travelling around the countryside, I'll be able to answer my emails and post a bit more often.

Hopefully!

FO: Princess Grace

We've all had those WIPs that seem to linger on and on, and take forever to finish even when you finally knuckle down and get on with it.

Let me tell you, the last few weeks of working on this particular project were hard yakka. I was totally over the whole thing. If I could have, I would of put it in the time-out corner. But I guess I was kind of attached to it and felt compelled to see it through.

But then, 2 weeks ago today, I finally cast off and admired my work. I decided it was well worth it, and that I'd probably even contemplate making another one. Perhaps.

Introducing Princess Grace, born 440am (AEST) on June 28th:

Pattern: Human Baby, designed by Evolution. Although I've personalised my version, Evolution has been working on this pattern for tens of thousands of years. The design is so elegant, allowing for a myriad subtle mods to get a perfect fit. There are lots of clumsy workings behind the facade, but all in all, the outcome is rather nice. This is my second attempt, and Ive been rather chuffed with how the first is wearing. I get compliments on him all the time.

Sticks and string: I used the recommended DNA double helix, and split the strands initially before recombining strands from two different dyelots as called for in the pattern. Beloved was a big help with this.


Mods: many, but very small and probably barely noticeable. It has been noted she has lovely eyebrows; I like to think I put a lot of effort into those in week 32 or so.

Time: September-ish until June 28th 2008. (Damn it, missed the Federal Government's increase in the FO-bonus by two days!! )

Now, there are one or two rumours swirling about regarding the arrival of the Princess that I'd like to take a moment to address.

1. Yes, I did knit in labour. Much to the amusement of the midwives and obstetrician. I was laying there, strapped to a machine and with a doodad in the back of my hand and antibiotics going in - may as well put the time to good use, working on another WIP!

2. Yes, I did buy yarn online when I was (technically) in labour. I blame Tinkingbell - if she hadn't called me to tell me Wollmeise had stock in her shop, I wouldn't have even contemplated any impulse yarn purchases. Quilting Mick was my partner in crime, but she redeemed herself by looking after Pirate Jim when Beloved and I went to the hospital.

I say "technically" because even though my membranes had ruptured a few hours earlier (on the kitchen floor - thanks for jinxing that Kuka!!), nothing was happening.

That's Farn on the left, and Red Hot Chilli on the right. No photography can do the colours justice - they are quite breath-takingly beautiful and jewel-like.

Does any one have a problem with either of those things? Hmmm, thought not.

And finally, it is my great please to announce the winner of the Arrival of the Bump Competition is Jan, who was only an hour and forty minutes early in her guess! Email me, Jan, so I know where to send your prize. Well done!

Oh, one last thought (the hormones make me a touch philosophical) - perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself in calling Princess Grace an FO? It's probably much more accurate to consider her still a WIP....

Edited to fix incorrect link to Jan's blog!

A very special post

I'm still here.

I contemplated taking Rosered's suggestion to save my 100th post for the arrival of the bump (who's ready for the live streaming?? Kidding!!), but an opportunity to good to pass up has presented itself.

What nicer way to mark one's 100th blog post than with a celebration of the kindness and generosity of knitters, crocheters and bloggers?

I have commented before on the joy and acceptance I have found with the Canberra SnBers. Ive been going for a bit more than a year now, and look forward to the regular gatherings so I can catch up with those whom I now regard as friends, ooh and aah over everyone's projects, paw through new books and pat new yarn and meet new folk. I was introduced to blogging, and a whole new world (literally!) of blog-friends, through SnB.

On Tuesday evening, at one of the regular gatherings, I was reminded once again of the importance SnB and blogging now has in my life.

I was presented with the most gorgeous, thoughtful, generous gift for the bump.I cant do it justice with any single photo, but you get the idea: a blanket made from squares knitted and crocheted by a raft of SnBers and bloggers, sewn together and edged in crochet.

I'm not sure if it was evident, but I was quite speechless and overwhelmed that this has been going on behind the scenes for so long and with so much enthusiasm!

I love it - both because it is so lovely and snuggly and perfect for the Bump, but also because it represents all the things I love about being part of the SnB and blogging communities.

I would like to thank everyone involved, both local and remote: a special one to Beth Bynnag for organising, coordinating, sewing up and edging, and to all the contributors: Jejune, Othlon, Kuka, Taphophile, Happy Spider, Quilting Mick, Silkydoll, Luckycat, Twitchy Fingers, Rosered, Tinkingbell, Monnsqueak, Olivia, kms, Bells, and the bloggless Jacqui and Krissy.

So finally my 100th post (you were so right Bells! June - and only just!) and Im so glad I had the opportunity to make it about something special. Since the Bump Sweepstakes is still going, I think there will a random celebratory competition sometime down the track.

Thank you all, more than you can possibly know.

G x

p.s. The Bump Sweepstakes are still open, of course, but enough with the middle-of-the-night predictions already! Please!

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ETA: It had to happen, It nagged at me when I wrote the list, and I thought "I bet I'll forget someone".

And I did: Caffeine Faerie, Im so very sorry!! It wasn't on purpose, I promise!

Did someone say nesting?

I guess maybe I have been. Just a little. That big long list of Things To Do Once I Start Maternity Leave is slowly getting shorter. I have been cleaning, washing, baking, making (more) lists, sewing, and yes, some knitting too.

I figured that despite recieving many gorgeous gifts already (about which I will blog later), I really should knit something for the Bump myself.

Inspired by Bells, I started a Pi Blanky a couple of weeks ago, in Bendy 8ply Classic in Tuscan.

You need a nice warm, bright blanky in the Canberra winter. I'm keeping it simple, just the YO increases for the pattern, although now I'm in the "knit 48 rounds" section, I've put in an extra row at 24 rows.

Although it's great, mindless round-and-round knitting, Ive decided to put the brakes on because I've got some outstanding gift knitting on the needles.

That didn't stop me casting on a pair of longies in Happy Spider 8ply Wakame.


What did stop me, however, was getting to the gusset of the longies and needing a second pair of 4mm dpns. Now I know I have at least one more set (I'm sure I've two), but do you think I could find them?

Not in my needle cases or boxes (just dont ask. I am in dire need of needle storage solutions.)

Not in this knitting basket......

And not in this knitting basket.

What I did find, though, was a huge bloody shambles of WIPs, random small purchases, sample cards, ball bands and general crap.

It called for some cleansing. I am pleased to report that I frogged no less than five languishing WIPs:

• a BSJ in Happy Spider 4ply (I just can't get the hang of this pattern, as much as I long to),
• a beanie in Jet that I can't get the cable pattern to work for,
• a baby kimono (from a Sirdar pattern - in pieces! Why would I knit one in pieces and then sew them up? Hah!)
• a Debbie Bliss baby jacket both in pieces (hah!) and 5ply (w-a-y too slow)
• a baby beanie in Peaches and Cream that just wasn't working.

And relocated no less than 25 balls of yarn back to the stash cupboard.

Still no 4 mm dpns.

But it feels much better! And I have identified some good hospital knitting:

• Cobblestone jnr for PJ; Im up to the sleeves and just need to concentrate
• Monkey socks that have been OTNs forever
• the rest of the Pi Blanky

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got stock on the stove, 2 loads of washing to hang out, and I believe there's the back of a cupboard somewhere that might need cleaning....

Bump-date

First, a public apology to Bells, for suggesting she could ever be anything approaching unkind. The irony of the rudeness of calling her unkind (even a teeny bit!) is not lost on even me! I claim a failure of my brain to come up with a better word and lack of rigorous editing, rather than intentional slander. Sorry Bells.

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Now. It has come to my attention that there have been questions asked about The Bump.

So I thought - even at the 11th hour - I'd make sure everyone has all the information they need.

Listen carefully, I will say this only once.....

Everything is fine. No issues with the Bump, no issues with me. Apart from mild annoying wakefulness in the middle of the night (usually 1:56 am to around 4am, then 5:01 am to 6-ish) and an unspeakably painful pelvis, we are both very normal (quiet in the back) and healthy.

My due date is 26th June. That's the doctor's due date. Mine is 3rd July. We'll see. Place your bets**.

No, I don't know the gender. I'm not ready, and once you know, you cant unknow. I did half-wish I knew when I was browsing the baby clothes sale at a local department store but.....no. Still not ready.

No, we're not particularly hung up on gender-specific colours. Bright is good - of any colour. Pale yellow is not. Frills and fluff are not a favourite either. I'm right with you on the pale pink frou-frou thing Amy. (this is not intended to sound presumptuous - but I know it has been asked)

As I mentioned last post, there has been some expansion. Even though everyone keeps telling me I look very "neat" or "compact", I feel like a hippo.


I was going to entertain you with a photo of what used to be known as my belly-button, but decided against it.

Despite my very best intentions, and an ever-increasing Ravelry queue, I am yet to knit a single thing for this baby. Not a sock, not a hat...nada. I do have one thing on the needles, nice mindless knitting, but it's got a long way to go.

Bad Mama.

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**Kate's comment on the last post arrived just minutes after I wrote that sentence and I say YES - lets have a guessing comp!

Leave your bet for date and time (Australian Eastern Standard Time please - no way am I figuring out where you're from and what time it is there compared with here.....) in the comments and there will be a prize for whoever gets the closest!

It can be either side (before or after) - just the closest. Entries close when I go into labour - although I wont be blogging that, there will be some who know when it happens.

Note to Beloved: if I give away some of the stash, am I allowed to replace it?

Breathe....

Yet again, another week (and more!) has slipped by and my blog lies neglected. Ive missed yet another This is....but I dont think you really want to see a photo of my forehead, since my brain is my main creative space right now - I dont really have a physical space right now.

My first blogiversary was sometime in April, a date which I duly missed. I voiced my regrets to Bells, and said "that's OK, my 100th post is coming up, I'll celebrate then". I thought she was being a teeny bit unkind when she said "Oh, sometime around June then?". But of course she was right. I just checked - this is post 97.

Maybe July then? Har har.

I finally finished work on Thursday, after scrambling a few last minute items for my manager. Despite all his claims that I didnt need to do any handover notes, and trying to brief him for several weeks, I spent an hour with him on Tuesday morning explaining one small part of the what Id been doing for the last two years - how I'd put it together and where the files were.

At least they gave me morning tea!

Today is really the first day I've felt like I can settle and take a breath and "start" my leave - we went to visit Mum and Dad on Friday for the weekend, then Monday and Tuesday have been full of appointments and errands.

Including one with my OB, who calmly said "So 10 days to go then?". Hmmm. Yup. 10 days. 8 now.

That means 8 days to get through the huge list of things to do that Ive been compiling for the last couple of months: "things to do when Im on leave". Like catch up on our 7 or 8 loads of washing, find and wash all the teeny tiny baby clothes, the cot sheets and the spew cloths, set up the nursery room so I can find said things, clean the pram, clean the grusome alien life-forms out of the fridge, try and get through some more unpacking / re-organising / decluttering (that's wishful thinking!). I'll be a lady of lesuire.

That also means 9 days until the next tranche of Germans for 2008 arrive - Beloved's sister and her 3 girls (aged 10, 11 and 13). In their (and my) defense, they booked in first, a whole year ago. Its just a quirk of timing.

But it does mean 4 extra people (5 when their dad arrives 3 weeks later) at a time when things are already likley to be somewhat busy. However, they're very self-reliant and although it will be crowded and busy and hectic, it wil all be OK.

There has been some knitting, but that will be blogged later when it's gifted. Hopefully soon - it's already overdue.

There has also been significant expansion in the bump department since I last updated you - but that's another post.

Who knows, now that I'm a lady of lesiure, maybe I'll get to post 100 this week!

This is....my favourite holiday memory

Eek - has it really been a week since I posted last? 7 whole days? No one nicked any....positive? I guess being my second last week at work, I was unusually busy. Colleagues finally realised I was GOING for 6 months and that if they wanted anything from me, now would be a really good time.

So, thanks to Hila, here is my favourite travel memory.

You may or may not know that Beloved is German, from a small village not too far from Cologne. When I say small, I mean 550 people. His family has lived there for nearly 900 years, and he is related to about half the inhabitants! We try and visit every 1 - 2 years (although that is of course less possible now with kids and costs), and I love going back. It's very grounding.

We went for Christmas 2004, and as Beloved's godson was having his first communion at Easter in 2005, we decided that I would take leave without pay and stay there for the in-between time. We found out 2 days before we left that I was pregnant with Pirate Jim.

Beloved returned to Australia at the end of January, and I stayed with his younger brother, his wife and their 3 months old daughter. (The very same who visited us earlier this year, although Miss M is now 3 years old of course). I had a fabulous time. My German improved out of sight, I got to experience a Karneval in the village, and did some travelling around to visit friends and family all over the country. Nothing like getting caught on an inter-city train without the correct ticket to give one's language skills a run!

This photo was taken a few days before Beloved left the village to return to Australia. The village is nestled in a little valley between several mountains; I am standing on top of Limberg, with the village and it distinctive spire behind me (although you cant actually see that! But what you can see is a bit more than half the village).





There was snow, and there would be a lot more that winter, but it was a period of several warm-ish, rainy days - hence the patchiness of the snow and the umbrella I'm carrying.

It was my first "white Christmas", and very very strange to be celebrating all rugged up with short, cold, overcast days, when Ive only ever had long, balmy (or baking) days in swimsuits and sundresses with post-feast naps in the shade. Athough the post-feast nap is apparently universal.

I have a dozen travel memories I can draw on, but I think this is my favourite because its the time when I really felt that I became part of my German family. It also gave a very strong appreciation of just how hard it was for Beloved to leave here and relocate to Australia (Bundaberg) in his 20s, with no family and only school English.

And PJ was there too!