I made some really adorable bootees yesterday. They took no time at all and combine all my new skills — pick up and knit, buttonholes, patterns, etc.

This has been an incredibly stressful week. Work has been really stressful and then all the problems with my flat that need sorting out are really weighing on my mind. I’m really glad I have my knitting at the moment!

I’ve had no time for knitting this week. I still have a fair bit (4-5 cm) to go on the back of the lovely baby jumper I’m making. I’m hoping to catch up tomorrow night and Saturday morning. I really need the calm that is knitting right now. I’m seriously stressed out.

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.

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.

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.

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

Here are the adorable bootees that I’ve made out of the Easy Baby Knits book.  To be honest, I just want to make about 10 more pairs of these.  They are so fun and so cute!

I had a very eventful knitting weekend this weekend and am now almost finished with 2 projects!

I’ve been knitting from Easy Baby Knits by Claire Montogomerie.  This weekend, I had a 2-hour session with Aneeta (who also teaches classes and does drop in sessions at Loop in Islington), which was really helpful.  Most helpful because I was having real problems reading Claire’s patterns.  In the baby bootee pattern, she calls for increasing where she really means knit front to back.  I’d never in a million years have figured this out.  Thanks to Aneeta for getting me on my way.

Aneeta was really great.  I can highly recommend a session with her if you live in/around London.  She had me to her lovely flat in Stepney…  She’s got a great sense of style (sumptuous pink and purple living room that I loved) and a very warm heart.  I’m definitely going to schedule another session just as soon as I get another list of questions!

So, my baby bonnet is almost finished.  I just need to pick up an knit a final side and do the finishing.  My bootees and scratch mitts are almost done too.  I need to finish the last mitt and then weave in the ends and finish the lot.

R. going on his extended trips in the coming months means loads more time for knitting, sadly.  I think I’ll have this book finished by August. 

I may skip my KU reception in Kensington tonight and go home and do this… Kensington is such a long way from Islington and I am such a lazy lady lately.  I’ve been wanting to meet more Americans, I know.  But I just can’t be bothered to go down there tonight.

I’m struggling with increasing stitches in the middle of the row.  It’s infuriating me!

I found this pretty pin cushion at work today… We used it as part of some stimulus for a project we did on positioning a candy brand. It was about to go in the bin and I rescued it. It’s now going to be useful this weekend when I put my baby bonnet together. Hooray!