On knitting for baby

Milo Vest in Rico Essentials Merino DK in Khaki | This was such a quick and lovely knit.  I actually cast it on just before I had Samuel and finished it in the first couple of weeks afterwards.  It's my first attempt at cable knitting and it was a lovely introduction piece.  You can choose your cable pattern and since it's such a small section with plenty of plain stocking stitch in between, it's not too taxing for the brain.

Samuel's Blanket in Rico Soft Merino Aran, Various (Natural, Fuchsia, Mandarine, Jeans, Eucalyptus, Grey, Pistachio) | I've made a blanket for each of my babies, though I still haven't finished sewing the ends on Isaac's.  This yarn was recommended by a friend and it's lovely and squishy.  I chose a neutral colour palette because we didn't find out the baby's sex before he arrived.  The granny square is from Little Tin Bird.  I finished the squares and the cream border but ran out of the eucalyptus with about 6 inches left to do.  The colour has been discontinued but I found a ball at The Homemakery, I can really recommend this store, the service is excellent.

Puerperium in Sirdar Snuggly Smiley Stripes, Bambini Blue | I finished this little cardie just before Samuel arrived but didn't manage buttons for a few weeks afterwards.  I did it in newborn size, which fit for about a month but then I do breed decent-sized babies.

Magic Coffee Hat in Rico Soft Merino Aran, various | I didn't manage to make hats for Isaac or Anna but I used the odd ends of my blanket yarn to make a simple striped hat for Samuel.  This was while I was waiting for the extra teal to edge the blanket, which is why it doesn't appear in the hat.

On a little knitty fun

I still haven't scrapped these photos and I really must!  I bought some lovely lovely yarn, which was so soft and squishy in a gorgeous colour and decided to make a cardigan for Anna.  The pattern is called Granny's Favorite and I found it on Ravelry.  It was the first time I've ever tried any lacework in a project and I ended up starting it about four times before I finally got the hang of it!

It took quite a while and I had to go back to the shop for another ball of yarn to finish the sleeves.  God bless local yarn shops who will check their shelves to see if they still have the dye lot in stock and put some aside for you!  It took me ages to get around to attaching buttons so Anna could wear it but I'm really pleased with the finished result.

And she looks so cute in it!

On my desk

I've had precious little time to myself this last month; there's always something housework-y that needs doing at any given time.  But I'm not too far behind on my project life albums and I've managed to fit some 12x12s in as well.

I took these photos intentionally so I could make this page documenting Sam's love of his monkey toy.  I wanted to pull out the bright red and orange alongside the pale blue of his babygro so I dug through my scraps and paper collections to find some different options.  It's simple, but it's another important story ready to go in his album (once I actually buy one for him....).

I made this for a class over at Big Picture Classes; the Art and Science of Scrapbooking, which looked at the concept of right- and left-brain tendencies.  The challenge was to find a beautiful photo and use this to make a layout (this is how I make most of my 12x12s, left-brained anyone?!).  I love the way Anna is looking at Andy.  I made 10 page-bases recently, using up the left-overs of a few collections that I loved, and this was one of them so this page came together really quickly.  The little deer diecut comes from the Studio Calico Printshop line but I really didn't think the colour went with any of the papers I bought from the line so I'm glad it got used here.

The realities of a photoshoot with three children - you get twenty or thirty crazy shots before you get the perfect pose with everyone smiling or at least looking at the camera!

Samuel's 3 month photoshoot; I'm adding the vest stickers as embellishment on these pages, mostly cos I can't throw anything away!  For this page, I pulled papers to match the stickers from the Simple Stories Baby Boy stickers, those elephants are so cute!

These two pages go next to each other and tell the story of the Easter Egg Hunt we went on with some of my mummy friends.  We've never done an egg hunt before and the children loved it.  I think the bit they enjoyed the most was playing around in the park and woods with their friends.  These are two more page bases with some similar papers to tie them together nicely.  I got to use up some really cute Easter project life printables from last year and a few random bits and bobs hanging around on my desk.

On the 11th of June

At 5 months old, you;

eat | still exclusively breast-feed every 3 or 4 hours.  You're awake once in the night around 3am to feed;

sleep | in your moses basket in the cot in the nursery, under a pile of handmade blankets (I love this about your bedding, so so much).  You're having 2 short naps in the morning and evening and a 2-3 hour mega-nap in the middle of the day;

wear | 3-6 month clothes, mostly just babygros.  It's still an event if you're wearing proper clothing.  I have pulled out some rompers for the hot hot days and you're not wearing a vest under your gro much these days;

poop | in cloth nappies all day, disposables at night;

love | your big brother, so so much, he's the funniest thing you've ever seen! Having your nappy changed so you can grab at your willy, and the baby wipes, and the packet, and pretty much everything else!  Being naked!

hate | waiting to be fed and not getting attention, you've turned into a proper little diva lately;

do | you stretch and try to roll but you can't quite sort your shoulders out to get all the way over, you have rolled from your front to your back on one occasion but you won't repeat the performance!  You still love to stand up and look around.  You can sit with support and you're straining to pull yourself forward from lying down;

say | burbling to yourself and blowing raspberries, with plenty of spit everywhere!  You're a social little thing and love to smile at the people who talk to you when we're out and about.  You've learned to laugh properly this month too, a lovely belly laugh;

grow | you cut your first tooth on the day you turned 5 months, so early!  You're bringing everything to your mouth for a good old chew.