The baby bliss continues.

How time flies... Our little guy is already one month old. One month of never-ending bliss. He's such a sweetheart. We're all spoiling him with cuddles and kisses. His big sister can't stop caress him, she's so in love with him. My heart grows every time I see them together. 

He's such an easy baby too. He loves being bathed and changed, something babies rarely like. He cries very little, usually when he's simply hungry. Once the boobie is served, he's life seems beautiful again. All problems solved.

He's been really brave fighting his first cold too. After weeks of sickness, we all are on the mend, hoping for a quiet, healthy Christmas.

Sunday morning bliss...

Corner View: Thankfulness.

~Thank you for all your lovely comments on my previous blog post!~

There are so many things that I am thankful for these days but most of all I'm thankful for my little family. I'm thankful that my children are healthy. I'm thankful for all the love that surrounds me.

For more CVs, please visit lovely Francesca.

All is full of love...

~Baby Francesco~

Our little boy arrived on the 16th of November. He made us wait for him much longer than we expected but he's finally here and we are all over the moon. We all are infinitely in love with him. 

The labour was everything I planned and hoped for. It was a drug-free delivery and just like Gaia, he was born in water, in a calm and peaceful environment, in the presence of his daddy and two wonderful midwives. I was in full control of everything and it was pure magic. Everything went exceptionally well and we left the birth centre just few hours after the birth. Now we're resting and bonding and getting used to the new member of our little family. So far Baby F.  seems to be a quiet  and relaxed baby. Just sleeping and feeding, sleeping and feeding...

♥

Pregnancy update.

The fall this year is beautiful. The time of waiting filled with excitement and anticipation.

I cannot believe that in less than two weeks Baby F. might be with us. It seems like this pregnancy has passed so fast, way too fast. On one side I'm extremely happy, waiting with excitement for the big day but at the same time I'm a bit sad that so soon my bump will be gone. And I really love this bump. I love feeling this baby moving inside me. I tickle his foot, I gently pat his bottom (at this stage it's really easy to guess what is what). G. comes spontaneously to hug my bump. She places gentle kisses on it. I will miss these beautiful moments. I can't wait to see her being a big sister.  This pregnancy has been so generous for me and I've been enjoying it so much. No pains, no problems I had when pregnant with G. I remember that towards the end of my first pregnancy I felt so exhausted, heavy and tired that I really prayed for her quick arrival (and she arrived one week after the due date, I was really powerless by then). But this time, I feel so much different. I didn't even put on weight that much. There is this huge bump and then there is me, still wearing my maternity clothes that I bought 4-5 months ago. I feel strong and full of energy and ready to welcome Baby F. We all are.

I have my worse days, of course. Last week I went down with terrible cold and couldn't stop coughing. If the baby had decided to arrive last week, I wouldn't have been able to push him out to this world on my own. Since natural and drug free labour is the only option I consider, I'm really glad I've regained my strength and energy.

Everything is ready. All clothes are washed, ironed and put away. The bed cot is set up, the hospital bags are packed, all important phone numbers are in hand. I finished writing my birth plan this morning and the only thing that needs to be done is CD with music for the labour (I'm still choosing the songs- any ideas?). And I still need to wash the cloth nappies but I'm waiting for the delivery of some new ones.

All is good. And full of love.

FO: Caramel and honey.

I finished this little pullover some time ago and I must say that so far it's my favorite  project for our little boy who will be joining our family in November (well, I haven't knit that many garments for him yet). I was inspired by Fisherman's Pullover by talented Veera  Välimäki (I love the look of her pullover and I will definitely knit a proper version of it at some point).

I used sock yarn for this project, a whole 110g skein of Colinette Jitterbug that I bought impulsively last year while browsing in Loop, London. It knits up beautifully. The colourway is nice too, it reminds me of chocolate, caramel and honey. And I found some cute buttons again (though it took me few days of intensive search to find them).

Project notes:
Yarn: Colinetter Jitterbug, 1 skein
Needles: 3mm/ US 2½

Happy knitting!

FO: Pebble

Another baby knit is done. I must confess, I haven't been knitting a lot for the baby... yet. We still don't know if we're expecting a girl or a boy, so it's kind of difficult for me to pick up the right projects now. I'm having my second (and the last) scan in the end of June and hopefully we will be able to find out the sex of the baby. Then I will probably speed up with my knitting.

This is Pebble, a simple but adorable vest. I guess it's more suitable for a boy but I can see a girl in it too. It was a very quick knit and I absolutely love the buttons.

Pattern: Pebble
Yarn: Araucania Pomaire Multy, 0.75 skein
Needle: 4mm/ 6US

Happy knitting!

FO: Plain wrap.

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my last post!

One wee knit, first of many, is finished. It was a very quick and enjoyable work and I'm sure I will make one or two more of these for the baby. The pattern is WHW Plain Wrap, very well written and easy to follow. I decided to do version with buttons, I think they look cuter than Aplix.

I absolutely loved working with the yarn I used fort his project. It was a gift from our dear friend Karen who kindly left me her stash when she was moving back to the States. I don't know the name of this yarn but it's definitely wool, very soft and gentle, perfect for a baby project. It knits up  beautifully. There's some yarn left, enough for a hat or two.

Happy knitting!

FO: Baby cardigan.

I haven't been knitting lately as much as I'd like to but as some of you know we're getting ready for a big removal and most of my stash is already packed away. All I've been working on in the past weeks are just small baby garments- I'm trying to update my folksy shop a bit. Today I finished a simple baby cardigan and I'm quite pleased with the final result.

I used Araucania Ulmo (one hank) and all I can say is that I loved working with this yarn. It splits a bit but it knits up very evenly and gives very smooth texture. Plus, I absolutely love the vivid mix of colours: turquoise blue, amethyst purple and bottle green. I used two wooden buttons for closure- a natural touch to this fantastic hand dyed cotton.

More photos on my Ravelry page.

***

From other news: I'm seriously thinking of joining this year KCWC. It starts next Monday. I'm aiming to knit one spring/summer cardigan for little G. as well as summer dress for her, combining knitting and sewing together. I already bought some fabric but I'm so bad at sewing that I'm not really sure if it's a good idea. Well, I will try. Trying doesn't hurt, does it?

Happy knitting!

FO: Topolina.

Yesterday night I finished this grey little sweater. I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. It was an easy and very quick knit and completely seamless (yay!). 

Project notes:

"Topolina"

Pattern: from my head

Needles: 4mm

Yarn: MC: Wendy Merino Bliss (2 balls used), CC: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino DK (0.5 ball used)

Size: 12-18 months

It was first time that I worked with Wendy and Debbie Bliss yarns. Both of them are a pleasure to knit with but I absolutely fell in love with Debbie Bliss yarn. So soft!

Little B.

Few days ago I finally finished this little cardigan for my friend's baby. She's expecting a baby boy and I really wanted to knit something special for him. I decided to go against blue color (it was my first choice) and I chose these warm colors instead. I really like this combination.

The cardi is knit from top to bottom and it's seamless. I'm not sure if I will ever knit anything in pieces again. I really love knitting on circulars needles, seamlessly.

I aimed to knit 3 months size but after blocking it more looks like 9-12 months now... Three wooden buttons are the detail I like the most, I think.