Freaking 4 ply

It amazes me that kntting still surprises me. I have been knitting since I was a teeny badger, and have knitted all kinds of garments and toys. I've used all different weights of yarn and all different fibres (including one experiment with novelty yarn which was quite traumatic - we'll say no more about it), and so whilst a pattern or technique may cause me to give a surprised "ooh", the basic bare bones of knitting shouldn't cause mass anguish.

Baby knitting is the ultimate misleading knitting. I always think I like knitting for them because the clothes are so ickle, and so will be nice and speedy. WRONG WRONG WRONG! I mentioned a while ago about knitting a bear suit, and now is the time for me to acknowledge this garment and pay some attention to it. Basically, it goes from ankle to crown with wrist length sleeves and is by Debbie Bliss, so it's on the roomy side. And it is knitted almost totally in one colour stocking stitch in 4 ply. It is taking forever and slowly sapping my will to live. It is so dull and so slow that I can only knit on it for an hour or so at a time before I start wanting to gnaw my own knuckles to the bone to relieve the tedium. Anyway, I am going to go and see the young Mr James P Badger (for whom the suit is being made) on Sunday, and so now I have a deadline i'm hoping it will be spur me on. Maybe I'll finally remember for future baby knitting that a large garment in 4 ply is not a quick knit, but a serious commitment that requires fortitude, dedication, planning and copious amounts of red wine.

Busy busy busy

So very busy :(

Still, I did manage to knit a few things in the last couple of weeks. First, another bib and pair of bootees.



And I finished my angora socks too.


Hopefully life will calm down soon and I'll be able to post properly (and regularly). In the mean time, apologies for not commenting on other people's blogs - I'll try and catch up with them all at the weekend :)

Public service anouncement

Attention please. We interupt the feverish baby knitting session to bring important news. At some point in the week, a little furry woodland creature was spotted behaving in an unusual and worrying way. The creature, known to some as "Badger", was seen entering a yarn shop on Wednesday. Outside the shop, she looked around furtively, pulling a cap down over her eyes, as if she didn't wish to be recognised. Upon entering the shop she sat down and removed an unusual implement from her bag. This reporter was confused, as instead of producing the normal pointy sticks, she pulled out a solo stick from her bag. A stick with a hook on the end. Having brought the stick out, she than began using it in conjunction with yarn, muttering strange words to herself, such as "double" and "chain". She remained doing this activity for nearly 2 hours, and then left, looking mightily pleased with herself.

It was presumed that she would return to her sett and pick up the bear suit to resume knitting. Instead, she continued waving the solo hook stick thing around, and at one stage was even heard to declare this activity to be "fun" and "dead good". We have been able to take one picture of her strange yarn/hook combination, although it is our understanding that it has since grown substantially.



If seen, Badger should be treated with caution, as she is clearly unhinged. We can only hope that the knitting is returned to soon.

Thankyou for your cooperation.

Must. Knit. Faster.

So many babies arriving and so fast! A friend has just texted to say she's gone into labour, another mate has dropped her sprog 2 days ago and a member of the Badger tribe has also just produced a baby badger boy (we badger's are a large and fecund tribe, so there will be even more coming soon). I've knitted plenty for the friend's baby but I'm feeling the urge to make more now that the little lady is actually on her way. The second friend's baby has also received knitterly goodies, but she's so dinky small I want to make something teeny tiny for her that will actually fit now. And the latest joinee to the tribe (currently known as James Patrick, but this may change apparently) needs a knitted token of love from his Aunty Badger. So no time to do a proper post as I need to get back to the booties, the hat, the all in one bear suit and the socks. I love babies!