Moving and stuff

Well, we're moved in and all, and the flat is lovely! But we only have the internet on Paul's computer at the moment, and my photos are on my computer and Paul's computer is really uncomfortable to sit at, so blogging is gonna be a bit of a pain for a while.

Here is one photo of the day we moved in, clutching my beach ball belly. Even though I didn't do any lifting, it was still exhausting. More photos to come soon.

Meme

It's a rainy Friday evening and I just spotted this meme on na's blog, so decided to play along...

10 years ago I was 26 years old, renting an overpriced room about as big as a walk in cupboard that didn't even have it's own toilet. Everything was in one room, my single bed, a desk, a wardrobe, a shower, a two-ring electric cooker and a fridge. It was off the Portobello Road in Notting Hill. The walls were so thin I could hear everything my next door neighbours did and said. I hardly cooked because the smell of it would linger for days. So I visited the local chip shop far too often. I didn't think it was cool at all, it was dingy and depressing and my first taste of living alone in London. I despaired of ever finding anywhere affordable and decent to live by myself in London and definitely never imagined that in 10 years time I'd be expecting a baby. 10 years ago I probably didn't even want children.

5 things on my to do list

- Finish packing!

- Send out change of address cards to people not on email

- Buy some newborn baby clothes, nappies and a Moses basket before we move, just in case

- See the Hammershoi exhibition with Mad

- Go to the Psycho Buildings exhibition at the Hayward

Things I'd do if I was a billionaire

- Give millions of it away to good causes, I hate the idea of being that rich. Anyone that rich has probably had to exploit a lot of people to get that way.

- Use some of the money towards building a green home and setting up some sort of sustainable living / permaculture scheme to grow organic food for local communities

- Set up a fund so that such schemes could be set up all over the UK

- Put money away for my baby's future

Three bad habits

- Irritable when I am tired

- Very judgemental of noisy people

- Buying too many books that then go unread

5 places I've lived in the past

- Jerusalem, Israel

- Damascus, Syria

- Long Island, New York, USA

- Rawalpindi, Pakistan

- Nicosia, Cyprus

5 jobs I've had

- bit part in a Cypriot chocolate commercial

- babysitting

- envelope stuffer

- substitute ESOL teacher in a family hostel

- Administrator

Have a great weekend. I probably won't be posting anymore till after we've moved house.

P.S. The photo above was taken last summer, during a walk through Kensington Gardens where I found some fallen flowers, brought them home and kept them. I made several drawings of them once they had dried and I still have those dried flowers today!

Below are some of the drawings I made from the flowers...

From our trip to the seaside

But we did take a break from the packing and went on an impromptu trip to the seaside, just before the weather turned stormy the day after we got back...






















There are more pictures from that trip on my other blog.

Suddenly it's all happening quite quickly...

So here's Lottie "helping" me pack. She loves climbing into containers. I wouldn't be surprised if she accidentally gets packed into a box on moving day.

If all goes well, we should be moving in just over two weeks. We've been giving stuff away, throwing stuff away, selling stuff, packing, sorting through donated baby clothes, going to ante-natal classes and I have been trying to see as many of my friends as possible without tiring myself out.

Suddenly I'm 32 weeks along and in the process of moving house and changing midwives. And I have about 5 weeks of work left before starting maternity leave!

Some days I take it all in my stride, other days it seems so unreal.

Life and all that...

So after not drawing for many months, I had the urge to pick up my pen the other day. Not with the aim of making a good picture or creating art, but just to look and see and be quiet and be in the present moment and draw. So here it is, my page of just drawing...and yes, that is Jakey in the bottom corner there. He settled himself in front of me and purred away happily.





























The sun has also finally graced us with its presence, it's actually really warm now, it actually feels like the season has changed and I can wear my summer dresses! Hurrah!! Indeed, here is a photo of me enjoying one of those dresses, with a view of the bump from above. Not even the hoardes of tactless acquaintances and perfect strangers remarking on my enormousness (and I only have about 3 more months of this to go!!!) can put me off enjoying the sunshine and my summer dresses!

Only thing about the warm weather is that I feel less like knitting. But perhaps I will start a little hat knitted with cotton yarn soon.














And finally, after the reprieve we got from our landlady, we decided to move sooner rather than later after all. We got talking to some people with kids and they all said it would be easier to move before the baby comes than moving with a newborn. So we went out and found ourselves a gorgeous flat to rent in my old neighbourhood. Not only is it cosier, homelier and lovelier in many ways, and on a quieter street, it's also cheaper. Sometimes, it's easy to believe that life is on your side.

Wishing you many happy sunny days...

It's finished!!!

26 weeks

Some of you have asked about tummy growth updates. Well, this is me, right now, at 26 weeks. And trying to stay positive about having to move soon. We just found out our landlady wants her house back. This is one of the perils of renting of course, but why did it have to be now? We have a month or so to sort something out.

UPDATE: Our landlady has given us a 6 month reprieve so we don't have to move now till November. Phew! I had been considering showing up at her door and guilt tripping her with the bump but now I don't have to.

For Na (shadowsandclouds)

Thinking of you. With love.

my first baby hat!

Here is my first ever knitted baby hat! It's for the Save the Children hats for newborns campaign that I mentioned a few posts ago. Yes, it really is dinky - the circumference measures 10 inches. This is because the babies they support tend to be small.

I really enjoyed knitting this. I followed their pattern and it was the most complicated thing I have knitted so far. Considering my lack of experience, I am very pleased that I figured out how to do it all by myself! It even looks like it should! Yay!!

The wool was a skein of handspun Debbie Bliss "Maya" that I bought about 5 years ago when I first thought I'd learn to knit, but never used. Sometimes I'm glad I never throw things away!!

Have you knitted a hat for a baby yet? Tell me about it!!

All the squares!!

So I finally finished knitting all 56 squares for my baby blanket. Now I just need to sew them together!!

Here are all the squares laid out in the design I want to use. I had to change the layout slightly from the earlier design, as I ran out of wool for certain colours and had to make more squares in other colours to compensate.

This sewing together looks complicated! Every other square needs to be rotated 90 degrees and I still need to work out which is the "right" side of each square and which is the "wrong" side! They look the same to me! Wish me luck.

Painting the cat

So here are the next stages of gessoing and then painting the papier mache cat... I decided to make him as a tribute to our beloved Caesar who passed away in January. That's why he's blue and has stars on him.















He just needs some finishing touches until he's completed, though I'm still not sure what colour to paint the stars.

For those of you who asked, I only used newspaper (folded into a tube, balled up, or twisted or manipulated into various shapes as needed) and masking tape to make the cat's body, tail, paws and head. Card was used for the ears. No wire or other support was necessary, but you can be quite creative about what to use as support - including the cardboard rolls from finished rolls of toilet paper, old plastic yoghurt pots, pipecleaners, chicken wire, you name it. It doesn't have to be fancy and it all depends on what shapes you are trying to create.

You just have to make sure everything is tightly packed and secured before you start laying down the strips of newspaper with the paste, and ensure you paste 3 - 5 layers of newspaper over the entire cat. Then, leave to dry completely before painting. Don't worry if it seems messy while you're pasting. Once it's dried, it looks much better.

I did reshape the cat after one round of pasting and drying, by cutting away bits I didn't like with a craft knife, adding new bits, and then repasting and drying again before painting. Use acrylic gesso as a primer, then acrylic paints for the colour, and if you want to varnish it, you can use an acrylic gel medium instead of other types of varnish.

Crafty weekend

Hello all, here are a few pics from my recent crafty weekend making a papier mache cat. Finally! I've been wanting to do this for years. I have my friend S.S. to thank for the inspiration and starting it off with me. Sheila McGraw's book Papier Mache Today was also a great help.

The cat's not finished yet, he still needs gessoing and painting which I will hopefully make a start on today.

I had planned on taking pictures from the beginning and through the different stages, but it was too messy! I made the paste out of flour and water and used my hands to apply it. I haven't gotten that messy in years, what fun!! It was a lot easier than I thought it would be too.

P.S. Only 5 squares to go on my baby blanket!!

Knit a hat for a Tibetan baby

Save the Children are running a campaign that calls on knitters to help save newborn babies' lives.

Click on the link below for details and to download their knit kit.

http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/knitting

Get knitting everyone!!

PS - If you are knitting hats to send to Tibet, please don't use white wool as white is associated with death in Tibetan culture. I think this is the same in some other cultures too - Chinese, possibly Indian and also Japanese. So maybe it's just best to avoid white altogether!

Other projects on the go...

So I've now got just 16 squares left to knit for my baby blanket!!!

And just to make life a bit more interesting, I've also started another couple of projects - a chunky red scarf for moi (using Rowan Classic Cashsoft Chunky wool) and a second baby scarf (using Debbie Bliss's Cashmerino Aran wool), this time in moss seed stitch in a light lilac colour.

Whatever you're up to this Easter weekend, have a good one!

Halfway there!

So I've now knitted 28 squares and this is how it looks with all the squares laid out so far. Below is the grid I'll use to decide which squares go where.





















When finished, the blanket will have 7 squares per row and 8 squares per column and will measure about 24.5 inches x 28 inches.

By the way, we found out yesterday that we're having a boy! I still think it's a good idea that I've included hot pink / fuschia coloured squares in his blanket. :-)

Back from holiday

So we're just back from a week's holiday in Paphos, where it was warm and sunny and on a couple of days even hot enough to take a dip in the sea. The water was still pretty cold though, so we didn't stay in long!

My current knitting project

So here's what I'm knitting at the moment - squares for a baby blanket which will later be sewn together. There will be 56 squares in total. The pattern is again from Debbie Bliss's Baby Knits for Beginners, but I didn't like the colours of her pattern which were a bit too muted and pastelish for my tastes so I changed them for brighter colours, which also meant having to search for a different kind of yarn in the right weight to get a similar tension. Colours vary quite a bit between yarn types and brands, I am learning, so it takes a bit of careful planning to get the right ones. Anyway, this blanket is being knit in Rowan Pure Wool yarn in DK weight. Originally I was going to use just 5 colours, but then Paul suggested that green would look nice in the mix and he was right, so now there will be 6 colours!

It's taking me about an hour to knit one square, so it's a good thing I'm getting started on this blanket now!!

Knitting adventures

So here's proof that I have actually been knitting, photos of my first finished piece - a cute little baby scarf. The pattern I followed came from Debbie Bliss's Baby Knits for Beginners, which is a fantastic book. I am rather proud of how evenly and nicely it turned out, even if I do say so myself, especially for my first piece! Here it is being modelled by my oldest ted. (I love that he looks so happy wearing it!). It's about 55cm long and was knitted all in garter stitch using Debbie Bliss's exquisitely soft and warm cashmerino wool and 5mm bamboo needles. I finished it in 4 or 5 sittings over one week. How did I ever used to watch telly without doing something with my hands???

Knitting is addictive, and easy once you know what you're doing!! I found videos on you tube very helpful, especially cyberseams videos. Following instructions from a book alone is quite tricky. I've also joined a knitting group. I love it!!

I'd like to knit another baby scarf in a brigher colour, and maybe even a stripey one when I learn how to add a new ball of yarn.

I had thought I'd try crocheting first, having heard it's easier than knitting as it only requires the use of one hook rather than two needles. Personally, I find knitting a lot easier. But I'm not giving up on crochet - I'd love to make an afghan one day, and crocheting is the best way to do that.

Anyway, in the meantime, I'm off to John Lewis to buy yarn to start on a baby blanket. Hurrah!! Have a good week whatever you're up to.

Pet Meme

Hello, I've been tagged by shadows and clouds to do the pet meme.

Here are Lottie & Jakey's (or Latey & Jockey as I called them the other day) responses:

1. Favourite songs/music:

Lottie - I don't do human music. My favourite sounds are: silence, Mummy or Daddy typing on the computer, the key turning in the front door, the shaking of the biscuit box, the pulling away of the rubbish trucks on Wednesdays.

Jakey - the theme tune to the x-files, shaking of the biscuit box, tins being opened, kitchen cupboard door being opened, fridge being opened, name being called for laptime.

2. Favourite toys:

Lottie - anything that moves suddenly which I can chase - flies, bugs, etc, and feet, especially bare ones.

Jakey - pens, Mummy's knitting needles while she's knitting.

3. Favourite food:

Lottie - ham.

Jakey - everything.

4. Favourite activities:

Lottie - staring into space, staring out the kitchen window, staring, keeping watch for potential danger, sniffing things - especially feet, resting between people's legs and feet while they are standing, purring on laps, meowing outside closed doors, napping.

Jakey - eating, having conversations with Mummy & Daddy, licking Mummy & Daddy's hands and arms, running about the house as if being chased by an invisible fiend, sitting on laps, cushions, blankets - anything warm, and sleeping.

5. Bad habits:

Lottie - meowing (whining) outside the bedroom door when Mummy & Daddy are inside and even when they aren't, trying to jump on the dining table when Mummy & Daddy are eating, suddenly scrabbling off laps without warning and causing injury while doing so, chewing on Mummy's hair, whining when I don't get my way.

Jakey - overeating, eating Lottie's food, having a go at Lottie for no reason (see ninja paw move in picture above) though perhaps I just don't like her whining.

Changing focus

Since I became pregnant, I have noticed a change in my levels of concentration and focus. Mainly what I've noticed is that I've slowed down naturally - something I have been trying to achieve for many years but never quite managed. But now, my usually busy and sometimes manically driven mind have really calmed down. It feels good. I'm not doing as much, but the things that I am doing, I am a lot more present and involved in.

This has also meant that I am not doing as much art, hence the slowdown in the number of posts that have been going up here lately. Instead I am finally going to make the time to learn to knit and crochet. It's something I've been wanting to do for years but I never slowed down enough to do so. It does require patience. And now feels like the right time to start. So you may not see many posts here for a while, but I am not going away completely.

Thanks to those of you who keep checking back. I really appreciate it.