What a Life!

With all this talk about baby knitting, one might think I have forgotten that I have two charming boys to knit for as well. Actually I haven’t forgotten about them. I’ve been planning things for my little girl and buying yarn (and fabric) for projects for her, but I’m still finishing up knits for my boys that I started before we found out we were expecting a little girl.

I’m making a pair of cardigans for the boys to wear this coming winter, as is my usual custom (though this year I didn’t wait until August to decide on a design and order the yarn). I did the colorwork for Ben’s this weekend (shown above). Before that, there really wasn’t much to photograph.

This pattern is from an self-published designer, and I am one of the first to knit the pattern. There were some technical errors that I found by editing it before I started knitting, but there are also some design short-sights that I’m coming across as I go along. I’m for sure going to redo the dark blue portion after the colorwork, but I’m debating redoing the colorwork as well.

And yes, I spent most of my knitting time this weekend working on this project. Steve finds my sense of urgency hilarious since the boys won’t be wearing them until October, but I would like to get these sweaters finished just the same.

I’m also working on a nursing shawl for myself – something to wear on my shoulders to stay warm while I nurse, especially in the middle of the night. It, too, was started before we learned we were having a girl. The final dimensions of this shawl will be 72″ x 22″. There are 640 rows, and I have completed a little over 20%. At a rate of 32 rows per week, I should finish around 36 weeks, in time to block it and have it ready to go when baby arrives.

When I take this project with me to Wednesday night knitting, I complete 20 rows or so in 2 1/2 hours. When I work on it at home, with interruptions, I can complete 6 rows in 45 minutes; without interruptions, it takes me just shy of 30 minutes. That means that when all is said and done, it will take me somewhere between 54 and 80 hours to complete this project. Accordingly, in order to complete what remains, I need to spend 2.5 to 4 hours on it per week, outside of all of the baby knitting (and quilting) that I have planned.

So, in reality, I haven’t been doing much baby knitting. In fact, I’m realizing more and more how prepared I was for another boy. I had all sorts of knitting lined up so I wouldn’t have time to be disappointed that I wasn’t knitting for a little girl. Yes, indeed.

Last Monday, I did actually start one of the little girl projects I have. It’s a long-sleeved wrap made out of a cotton-linen blend. It’s size 12 months, so she might be wearing this next spring. Shall we say, not urgent. It’s a fun knit, though the cotton-linen blend gets hard on my hands after a while (there’s no “give” in it as with wool yarn).

I will say that the planning stage is pretty much over. I haven’t been adding much to my queue in the past few days. And I’m looking forward to making all of the little projects, so they are by no means hanging over my head. I’m also making a list of projects I love but simply won’t have time to do. Like this. I’m trying not to be heartbroken, but there are only so many hours in a day.

I did make some decisions on baby quilts and room design this weekend, so I’m working on that as well.

Dare I say, with all these projects, the next 19 or so weeks are going to be passing by very quickly?