Cast On

I just cast on the arms of my first (baby) sweater. It’s the easy one at the beginning of the book.

I’ve decided that having several projects on at once is the way forward. You can go back and forth between projects and not get bored.

I bought the yarn for the wrap sweater and cute little two-toned tank dress. I’m especially excited about the dress. It looks so adorable in the picture.

I’ve just realised that everything I’ve been doing is very girl-centric. I wonder if subconsciously I can only make girl things because I am a girl?

On a totally different note, H in Santa Fe told me today that you can use an ovulation kit to (try to) determine the sex of your child. Now that is interesting… Sounds like a real pain.

Prolific!

I knew this weekend would be this way.  R is gone unexpectedly, I have no other plans, so all I did today was knit.  Here is another pair of those cute bootees.  This time I didn’t bother changing from the 3.25 needles on the sole to the 3.00 needles for the rib.  It works just fine and actually looks more reasonable and less tight on little baby’s feet.

I’m now going to carry on with that stripy sweater.  It’s almost time to increase and make the sleeves.

Baby Bonnet

I finished my baby bonnet.  It is a lovely shade of lilac-blue so I think suitable for either a boy or a girl.  I have no idea who I will give this to.  At present, I soooo don’t want to give it to anyone.  However, that’s silly.  I will think of someone.

I’m going to do another pair of bootees today because they are so cute.  Then, I’m going to move on to making a pair of more complicated bootees in the baby book.

New Supplies

For some reason, buying new knitting supplies is almost as rewarding as finishing a project.

Today I ventured into town to go to John Lewis to buy some much needed stuff.  The haberdashery department at the Oxford Street store is incredible.  I don’t know where I’d find something like it in America, if not a proper sewing shop.  I just don’t think our department stores do things like this anymore.  It’s like taking a step back in time and being firmly rooted in the present too…  It has everything from sewing machines, to walls of needles to every possible type of scissor you could possibly need.  They’ve moved since the last time I was there and now it’s on the 4th floor rather than the basement.

The other beauty of this department is that even on Saturday it’s almost completely empty and there are a plethora of salespeople to help you out.  This is most definitely NOT a typical service experience in Britain.  Last night I went out with an American friend of mine who lives in Portugal.  She couldn’t imagine a country with worse customer service than Portugal.  I am absolutely, 100% positive that England has much worse service.  I regaled her with stories about the diabolical service I got from the Manager of the Scullery in Muswell Hill and about the time I asked for masking tape at a hardware store (also in Muswell Hill) and the guy just looked at me blankly and shrugged his shoulders.  He couldn’t even be bothered to speak.  (And I don’t think this is just a Muswell Hill thing — I’ve had plenty of other bad experiences, these just stick out in my mind.)  There will only be two things that will ever send me packing back to America — customer service and a potential burning desire to have a massive house.

So, today I bought the following:

1 crochet needle
1 pack of knitting needles, size 4.0
1 pack of knitting sewing needles
6 balls of yarn (for various projects)
1 large stitch holder