Baby Bump No. Six

Here is my self portrait taken today. I am 38 weeks pregnant with baby number six.

Shag carpet

Ok so the yarn harlot has mentioned about the risk of intarsia becoming a shag carpet but I think I out did myself with this one. See above pic.
I was using Rowan Big Wool which I like because it is such a fast knit but this time that advantage worked against me and I had finished the entire front of the sweater before I noticed it was all wrong in just so many ways - color, shape and size.
Luckily I have little boys just looking for any chance to cause destruction so I instructed them to go to it and rip back. I told them they were helping me "frog" and they loved it even more jumping around the room like, you guessed, frogs!
The problem only started when we got to the intarsia part which I have now given up on and will have to resort to using as stuffing in the future.
This is one knitting project I am glad to see the back of and hopefully I will have something better to show you soon.

Snow In Dublin

We had enough snow for snowmen and snowball fights after the holidays. It has been cold here but now it is improving and all we have to contend with horizontal rain again.

London at Christmas

Visiting London over the holidays with a friend was the best present. We had such fun and for an extra treat went to see "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" the play at the Novello Theater - it was fantastic.

New Year morning 2010

Just a little glimpse of life in the Siegel Family kitchen on New Years morning. We didn't make it to midnight as all our days start early regardless of bedtimes! But we did have a glass of champagne at nine with family. Hope 2010 brings lots of good times we are certainly off to a sweet start.

Fair Isle

This is my first attempt at Fair Isle and I love it. I made a few mistakes with the sizing I wanted to make the smallest size but ended up with the larger one pure human error. Also the button holes are a little too small in fact I can't even find them! Oh well it is fine without buttons.
Finished just in time for the New Year roll on 2010.

Hair - cruel or cool.

We had a little issue with hair in our house and so there has been a transformation. As you can see we went from the long haired surfer look to the crew cut. The fact is the boys love their new cut and in school the other kids want to follow the Siegel trend. Sure if we had only shaved one head it would be cruel but all five kids makes it cool.

Christmas Vest

I finished a little knitting as I have been very sick for two weeks and haven't been able to leave the house. Let me state I do not go in for deadline knitting and so if knitting happens to get finished in or around christmas it gets labeled christmas knitting. This vest was made in a week and so will be given said label. Due to being stuck inside I now have a dozen other things on the needles and hope to have lots done by the time New Year rolls around. Sometimes there is a silver linning to feeling rotten!

The coming holidays

We have decided that this year (and hopefully forever after) we are going to buy only consumables or things made of paper, wood or materials that will decompose rapidly. It is going to be our effort to reduce the mass of "things" that end up in the land fill. This will hopefully make for very creative holiday gifts and we invite you to join us in this effort. Please pass on any good ideas you have for gifts that don't "cost". We would love to hear what you are doing.

Knitting done

It has suddenly turned quiet cold here and so I have been inspired to finish up some projects. This sweater was intended for Eoin but turned out big enough for Liam so he can pass it down when he is done. This is the great advantage of having four boys age range from six to two I don't have to be too careful about guage - it will fit someone!
The second is an Elizabeth Zimmerman hat that I love she is genius. It is a Norwegian design I think but it taught me how to use two different colors at once. I can't wait to try it in a sweater.

Cauldron cakes

These are the best cakes in the world. Jonathan makes them without sugar but with the darkest richest chocolate available. He is only allowed make them once every few months as they are just to good to have around:) Intoxication is the word for these.

Stripes

This little sailor sweater for Eoin turned out even better than I hoped for. I think I will stick to making stuff for the kids it turns out better than adult projects and they get done quicker too. The wool is a very soft cashmere mix which is lovely to work with but I suspect won't stand up to wear and tear. We will see.

Halloween

Liam took these photos of our Pumpkins. He is only three so I miss calculated and thought he would be able to get closer to the floor than me. Obviously not!
Being six months pregnant I am not able to bend over easily any more.
We had a great Halloween - Maxim declared it the best day ever. I mean what is better for little boys than getting to dress up and go out in the dark with a flash light AND everyone gives you candy. Wonderful holiday maybe a little too much sugar for us moms but other than that very entertaining.

Pumkin Pie

This was the best tasting Pie ever. We ate it after Dad ran the Dublin Marathon. It just hit the spot. Maxim liked his with maple syrup and cream on top. Lex ate a whole piece as did Zoë. Liam and Eoin both suffering with colds this week have no appetite so more for us. This is all the thanksgiving dinner we are going to do this year so next up Halloween and costumes.

Some action

Sick again

Well winter is really here. Last night the wind blew all the leaves from the trees. As you can see above. It howled and roared all night but that is not what kept us up. It was the cough and whoop of Eoin. He woke at two and four and six Jonathan slept with him on the floor just listening to his labored breathing. I do hope this won't last long but that said with five of them to get sick in relay it might be a long month.

Cuala

Maxim is just six and we have been waiting for this oppurtunity to start team games. All the boys in his class at school attend Cuala on a Saturday morning and Jonathan brought him this weekend to try it out. Well our weekend was filled with hurley sticks and balls. Jonathan even encouraged Maxim to bring his stick to bed with him! Liam and Lex have joined in and we have some great video of practice in Belgrave Park that I will try to post. But I think Zoë takes the prize for cutest player see for yourself.

Progress

Now here you see I am almost finished the back of a little sailor sweater for Eoin and feeling much better. I was wondering does knitting ever make you feel sea sick? I sometimes feel motion sickness coming on even while sitting in the living room knitting fast. I can't ever knit in the car while driving or as passenger. Planes I can do a little but not hours. Am I doing something wrong? Going to fast looking up too often? I do watch movies at the same time as I knit or listen to audio books but I know others do this and it is perfectly acceptable to them.

Creating problems

Some how I have created something I think I am really going to hate. Does this happen often to other knitters or creative people in general? It has happened too often for my liking to me. Now normally I buy wool in colors that are easy to match - blues and greens and sometimes pink for the new baby girl. This week I sort of lost the run of myself and bought liliacs and orange and well I am not sure what to call it which would all have been fine except for the pattern I choose. Well now I look down at this sleeve and think what have I done??
In order to calm myself I do what any other knitter in my position does abandon this project and immediately start something completely different even though it is the middle of the night and I should really be going to bed!

Pretty in Pink

Zoë has the hang of eating with the big boys and often Liam has to watch out or she will swipe his food from under his nose. She is a serious eater while Eoin and Liam are just in it for the amusement! She is going to rule these boys just wait and see. The best part is she has no idea she is the youngest. But even that is not going to last long as number six is less than four months away.