Catherine's Crochet Corner

So….you know how sometimes you have every intention of doing something, and you really mean it this time, and it’ll definitely happen today and then it all just sort of…doesn’t happen for months at a time?

That would be me and writing a blogpost.

In my defence, I do have some excuse. I’ve spent most of my third trimester with undiagnosed iron deficiency (not anaemia, just low in stores of iron), and that was, let me tell you, absolutely exhausting. As in, I was sleeping 10-12 hours a night AND napping for 2-3 hours a day, and still was barely able to do things like brush my teeth or sit up long enough to eat a meal. I spent most of it lying on the sofa wondering what the hell I’m doing, getting pregnant at all. Writing a blog post was absolutely beyond my reach, even if I’d felt I had much to say.

However, this iron deficiency has now been diagnosed and I’ve been on iron tablets for a couple of weeks. I don’t need to nap! I have energy! I can do some crochet again! I regret the 7-8 weeks of exhaustion, I wish I’d pushed the midwives/doctors harder, but at least I’m feeling better before, you know, I have to actually give birth.

Which could happen at any point. As of today I’m 38 weeks and 4 days, so Little Miss could come out at any time. Really she could. I love her dearly but could do without her foot lodged permanently in my rib cage, and I could do without incubating an extra human now it’s over 20c!!!

But, to anybody who’s been wondering where I am, I apologise. It’s not been the easiest few months, but the good news is that she’s healthy, and I’m doing a lot better, and soon there will be an actual live baby disrupting my life and making me forget what life was like before she arrived.

And apart from that, I’ve also been so hard at work on my forthcoming blanket pattern (CAL to come in the autumn, fingers crossed) that I’ve not really had anything I can talk about on here! You know I’ve been working on a cable blanket, but apart from that I’m keeping details to myself and a select few until a grand reveal 😀

However, I do finally have a few other finished objects I can share with you! Because yes, of course I’ve been making things for Little Miss, especially now I actually have some energy back. I’ve been digging into my stash and pulling out all the odd one or two balls of (often discontinued!) yarn that’s been lurking in there for goodness knows how long, and I have a lovely little pile of baby clothes to show you all.

This is the Angel Wings Pinafore, by Maxine Gonser. As you can see, I made two of these – one for newborn, and one a bit larger using various adjustments nicked from other projects on Ravelry. For the first one (upper row), I used King Cole Cutie Pie in ‘Custard Pie’, and a 6mm hook. For the second one (lower row), I used James C Brett Baby Twinkle DK ‘BTP34’ (I love a twinkly yarn!) and again a 6mm hook. And spot those adorable cat buttons! I picked them to go with the yarn but hee, kitty buttons. You can find my adjustments for this one, as well as the helpful other projects, here on my Ravelry project page.

Then I made the Loopy Love Baby Sweater by Tamara Kelly, and the matching newborn booties. Both used Stylecraft Batik DK, in ‘Old Gold’. I used a 5mm hook for the cardie and a 6mm for the booties. I must admit, this is not my favourite pattern ever. I could not match the gauge for both dimensions (width and height) no matter what I did, so I went with the 5mm hook and the 3-6m size – and we’ll see at what point it fits Little Miss! I think it’ll be more newborn, but we’ll see.

Then I made the Easy Peasy Baby Cardigan by Crochet’n’Create, and this one I absolutely loved. Partly because of the yarn choice, partly because of how easily and quickly it worked up. The yarn is Stylecraft Batik Elements (see, I told you some of these balls had been lurking in the bottom of my stash for years!! it’s been discontinued for ages) in ‘Platinum’, and a 4.5mm hook. 0-3m size, and I’m just kinda hoping it gets cold enough for her to wear it before she outgrows it, heh.

I’ve also made this dress, ‘Little Miss Allison’s Dress‘ by Theresa Knapp. It’s sort of made ahead of time – it’s about a 9m size – but I saw the pattern, found suitable yarn, and thought hey, why not just do this now. I used a 4.5mm hook and two different yarns – Stylecraft Naturals Bamboo+Cotton in ‘Deep Sea’ and ‘Mulberry’, and Stylecraft Organic Cotton in ‘Gypsum’. It’s a lovely, sweet pattern, pretty easy to follow, and it worked up nice and quick. The cotton/bamboo yarn gives it a lovely weight and swing – I look forward to seeing it on Little Miss 😀

Finally I made this cute Fish Rattle by Anne Bank Nielsen, using odds and sods of cotton or cotton/bamboo yarn and a 3.5mm hook. Do not ask me what, the ball bands are long since lost! It was all in a little stash of ‘this yarn is good for decorations/toys/etc’, and although the pattern is a little fiddly, I think it’s turned out nicely.

I’ve also been working on a wreath for Little Miss’s bedroom door – which is made up of my own designs, flowers and leaves and things. I’m still in the process of photographing those bits and writing it up, and obviously I could go into labour at any point now! But hopefully within the next six weeks or so I will be able to get that written up properly and share it with you all.

Next time I check in, it’ll be to let you all know that Little Miss has arrived 🙂 I don’t know how crochet is going to pan out over the next few months – I suspect lots of bog-standard granny squares to keep my hands busy while my mind is kaput – but we shall see. Meanwhile, I hope you’ve all forgiven me for my long absence 🙂

xx

Catherine