Freakin' HUGE and/but very productive...

I'm very, VERY pregnant (4 days past my due date) and anxiously awaiting the arrival of the little sprout. So meanwhile I'll show you some FO's before I lack the time to do so.

But first... this...

Emma, who's blog I love to read, is from Stockholm. I love Stockholm, in fact, I love Sweden. And when I told her I wouldn't be going to Sweden on holiday this year because of my pregnancy, she suggested a swap to help me get 'a bit of Sweden' this summer anyway. How sweet is that?

This week her package came and she couldn't be more accurate with the stuff she chose, it's all very, very much to my taste and liking.

There's two skeins of Drops Alpaca (always a hit!) One light and one dark grey. Perfect for a hat or a baby sweater!

A very cool rattler, handmade by these people.

A T shirt that's so cool, sprout will have to wear a sweater to go with it.

Lovely natural soap, a scrub cloth and a brush, Swedish sauna style.

and some yummy candy.

Thank you so much Emma, I'm loving it! And meanwhile I'm working my behind off to get your Dutch-style package done in time. ;-)

And now for some FO's.

Starting with the baby's room that's completely finished now. The weather was a bit gloomy when I took the pictures, so you'll have to imagine some sun rays coming trough the window.

the clock closet and the white one used to be my grandmother's. She actually grew up with those pieces of furniture in her house so they're more than 80 yrs old!! I transformed them into a zebra and a yellow cab when I went away to college. That was about 15 years ago. Later I put them in my basement and redid the small one when I got this house with Boyfriend Dear. And now they're up for their third life and look in the baby's room. I love stuff that has a history to it. (and it's really cheap... ;-)
The crib is Boyfriend Dear's family crib that was first used when his mother was born. It has 'held' a lot of baby's since and is now ready for our little one. I ordered the fabric from this Swedish wool spinning plant. And ordered a blanket and a bear to go with it. I just love Swedish design! My MIL did the whole fabric thing, the sheets too, and Boyfriend Dear's grandfather and grandmother helped in putting it all together. A true family project, again with lots of history.
The idea of the branch on the wall hit me years and years ago. I found this branch about 3 yrs ago on a hiking trip, scrubbed it down and saved it. This tree themed baby room was the perfect moment for it to re-appear.

The idea of the wallpaper tree and birds was blatantly stolen from a Dutch designer. I spent about € 12,- instead of € 200,- because I cut and 'designed' it myself. (Hey, I had the time and didn't want to spent the money...) I used scraps I had lying around and free samples from the local DIY store. (Is that stealing? or using more samples than you need??)

Don't worry, besides all this decorating, there's been some knitting too. First this baby hat for a wee girl. It's my own design. I first made it just in case we'll have a baby girl. But then my good preggy friend Karen -we had the same due date- gave birth to Puck, a beautiful daughter, yesterday and I was more than happy to give it to her.

this suit I made a few months in advance. It's made of Lana Grossa's Bingo (100% merino) and it's the most expensive piece of clothing that I have for little sprout. Which is funny, come to think of it, because usually you'd think anything you make yourself is cheaper. Wrong! But I've really thought this one trough, it'll last for about 3 months because of the -rolled up sleeve design- and so it's worth it's money. Right? And hey, mommy made it, so that must be worth something too. Oh... ánd... all other baby knitwear I've done so far has been knit from stash... So I'm doing OK here. I think...

Since I took the picture I've added a huge coconut button. It looks really 'eco-cool'. I'll take a picture with button later.

Then there's this one. A blanket I've knit in one afternoon. No pattern, just knitting. OK, so I've used 15mm needles, but still...it's not all that small. I used bits of Drops Eskimo I had lying around, the green and blue are the hand dyed, hand spun Texel sheep wool I started using for this project and then frogged. And the green I bought from Ajour for a sweet price at the last Knit In Public BBQ.
Some more handy work...

This toy bag and stroller blanket made out of a piece of cheap fleece blanket and the fabric that's also used for the crib. And this mobile, in the forest theme of the room, designed by moi. I'm not really happy with the way it works and hangs and moves yet, I'm letting this one simmer in my brain for a while.

Right now I'm working on two gifts for two kids and I might start on a hat for myself. But let's hope I'll give birth first... I'm freakin' HUGE!!

1975 All Over Again

Two days ago I finished the second baby blanket. Well, I finished the first and am still working on the second. I really needed something simple to keep me going. So I cast on for the baby blanket from the first Stitch 'n Bitch book. I started it two weeks ago, finished knitting it after just one week and embroidered it two days ago. So I proved myself right, I have to simplify things to keep going. Lesson learned!

It's made out of a very cheap acrylic yarn that came in a huge ball. I got it as a present from my friend Kim who had it lying around for a while. Then I kept it lying around for about a year, took it to the yarn swap at Knit In Public Day and decided to take it back home with me. I just finally got a feeling and idea to match it's look. It's perfect, it's a banana milkshake yellow and cream and very durable and (important!) washable. I decided to embroider something in chocolate brown on it to match the old fashioned look. The baby's room is going to be in a tree/forest theme with trees (duh) and deer and stuff so I decided on a Bambi-ish figure. I used a stitch that would work on both sides going up and down through the knit ware and filling up the blank spots on the way back doing the same.
Funnily enough this brand new blanket reminds me of the stuff I had when I was a baby myself, it's 1975 all over again.

Today I'm casting on for a matching cuddle cloth with a loop to attach a pacifier or to attach it to the blanket or stroller. I'll make it in the same pattern but small with an i cord attached as a loop in the middle. Still thinking about the embroidered part, not sure what to do there... maybe a leaf... or a squirrel if I can find a good outline picture of one. (help is welcome!) But first I'll finish the ipod nano sock that I'm making for my friend Miriam. Yesterday she and her fiancee had their birthdays at the zoo. We got an assignment: draw our favorite animal and write a small piece to describe the animal so the others could guess which animal it was. There were prizes for the people that guessed the most animals. Lots of fun. Here are two of my favorite animals. I drew the tiger, my years in art school finally paid off, haha! Boyfriend Dear and I spent about 30 minutes watching the small clawed otters. Too cute!!

Half Sock Syndrome

As a knitter you've probably heard of Second Sock Syndrome. If you're not a knitter; it's the weird but very much real syndrome of finishing one sock but then never getting round to do the next one which for knitters is frustrating as F%*# since, well you want to wear them to show them off, but you're bored with the knitting because you've done it all before. 'Been there, Knit that...' It's actually a very arrogant syndrome, come to think of it...

Well, I have discovered a new syndrome, my name will be in all the knitting lexicons, I'll go into history as the inventor of ...

HALF SOCK SYNDROME

Yup, I'm not kidding you, it's a re-occurring thing, it's haunting me I tell ya. I can't seem to finish a sock. Not even one, let alone move on to the next.

I've had 4 half socks on the needles until today. Because today I got a little antidote consisting of sun and a cozy roof terrace so I actually finished one! Yay!!

Next up: choose:
1. finish the second sock to make a pair
2. finish one of the other half socks

I'm guessing it'll be 1.

The finished sock is actually the first sock;
- I've made for myself
- that's knitted with small needles
- that has more to it than y'r basic sock (oh no, not true, you can see half of a 'one-toe-sock' on the picture, that wasn't even clóse to basic...)
- that's knitted from the fab yarn from my magic ball

So, even though it's just the one, I'm proud! And here it is again, in a show off match with one of my new Birkenstock slippers.

I'll probably won't wear the socks for a while, the weather is great and it looks like it will stay like this for a while. I think they're so pretty, I'll think save them for giving birth. My pregnancy-yoga teacher taught me that cold feet are a bad thing when it comes to relaxation. So there, my delivery socks! (try not to picture me giving birth to a bayby, wearing the socks... I don't want to do that to you!)

Meanwhile, the first socks I've ever knitted are now officially ragged. Boyfriend Dear used them as slippers for about a year. I'm thinking should I learn how to mend the hole or just make sure the hole doesn't get any bigger and find some soles to stick 'em to? (I'm not ready to say goodbye...) (bad picture of the hole, it just hurts too much to focus on it...)

the last to gifts to come out of the magic ball; great tea and lovely hand cream (and NO, it won't get you stoned...neither the tea nor the cream) Thanks again Magic Pall, I promise I'll knit the second sock!!

In between sock adventures I'm knitting my first baby item, a blanket from Lucinda Guy's Book, Handknits for Kids. It's a fun knit but it'll take me ages to finish, probably just in time before my third baby will be born...