more knitting

It is official I have the knitting bug. Being able to read a pattern has opened up a whole new world! And I am eager to improve and take on more challenging projects. I found the cutest pair of baby pants which I just had to try. The pattern is called Baby Bell Bottoms by Alison Hansel. She generously has the pattern for free on her blog.





























I didn't have too many problems. There are a few little mistakes, but that is the point of hand made isn't it? I have three other projects cast on. I will have to make sure they all get finished so that I do not have 101 unfinished projects! It really is lucky that my child is due in the Winter.

thank you sewing

With all the knitting my 'Stitch and Bitch' friends are doing for me, I thought it only fair to thank them. So a few home-made- thank-you presents were in order. I made some very easy bags.
All the material and doilies are sourced from second-hand shops. They were very quick to make and fun to choose the colour combinations for each one.
I thought they would make good knitting bags for my fellow knitters.

17 Week...

and feeling like a real bump now!


* On another note our hearts and thoughts go out to all who have been affected by the fires here in Victoria. It has been so sad watching all the devastation and we look forward to the hope that comes with rebuilding lives and homes.

New Zealand: Mount Ruapehu

I still have a few photos to share from New Zealand, better late then never.
We went and stayed near Mount Doom! It's real name is Mount Ruapehu. But imagine it without the snow and you can just see little Frodo Baggins climbing this to destroy the ring.
We stayed in the gorgeous Bayview Chateau Tongariro,

which had endless views of the surrounding snow capped mountains.


On our first day we hiked to Taranaki Falls. The falls flow 20 metres over the edge of a large lava flow, which erupted from Ruapehu 15,000 years ago. It was a fantastic walk with spectacular views the whole way.



On the second day we went to Whakapapa Ski Field – the largest ski field in New Zealand. The Maori pronunciation for WHA is FA, I will leave you to work out why this amused us so! It was Adam's first time ever in snow. The snow was a bit too crunchy to make good snow balls. However, that didn't stop us enjoying ourselves. We rode the chair lift to the stop, slipped around and had some hot chocolate while admiring the view.




We also learnt that you do indeed pull the safety bar down on the lift. After I initially said to Adam that it didn't seem like anyone else was pulling it down so it mustn't be the cool thing to do. After a rather scary ride, we noticed all the people in front of us pulling up their safety bars. Needless to say the second trip was a lot more relaxing.

Knitting

My mum taught me to knit years ago. I am very competent when it comes to knitting squares and rectangles in garter stitch! But recently due to a group of ladies who meet up every month or so to do some stitching and bitching ( and a lot of eating) I have developed a renewed interest in knitting.

Mum new about my renewed interest and gave me a knitting book for christmas. An even better present was the time she spent with me teaching me how to purl and read a pattern.I came up with one lone slipper (it was really to big to be called a bootee!). Since then I have completed my own pair of bootees.
The pattern called for cats but I changed them into mice.

Mum sent me a pair of cute white bootees she made from the same book. They are so small!

And one of the mentioned friends from my stitch'n'bitch group made me this hat. It is called the umbilical cord hat. It is very soft and tiny.


It is so much fun to look at baby knits and they are quite quick to whip up. I love knitting away and imaging what the little person who will wear it will be like. It seems everyone else likes to knit for babies too. Lucky the baby is being born in winter. Let's hope it is a cold one.

Now onto the next project!