Pimp my Baby Jogger

It is that hot and humid time of year here in Queensland, so I desperately needed cool cotton seat liners for the twins' Baby Jogger City Mini Double, as they were getting so sweaty in it. I found some to buy online here but being the crafty type I decided I should make my own. I didn't really want to wait the 3-4 weeks the website indicates, nor pay almost $100. 

I found this great tutorial on the Floating World blog, took a few measurements and drew up a pattern. The fabrics were purchased from Lindcraft but I couldn't find cotton batting there so I found this great eBay seller and bought it there (also got some toy rattle and squeaker inserts for future knitted toys - I've never seen these anywhere before!). I even pre-washed the fabric. It's not something I normally do (although I know I should) but after a recent shinkage disaster I didn't want to take my chances. Unlike the tutorial, I didn't use binding to finish the edges, but rather sewed it together with right sides facing, turned it in the right way and then top stitched it. 

The tutorial instructs you to make friends with the buttonhole function on your sewing machine. Unfortunately my buttonhole function and I are no longer on speaking terms. After a couple of hours of screaming and swearing I got there in the end, but not before chewing up all of the green cotton I was using, so 12 out of 14 buttonholes are black. 

After the stress of it all, I am very happy with how they turned out. Mind you, next time I might just buy them!

Twin Baby Kinas

I finally got a chance to download some photos from the camera so now is my chance to show off my first two Baby Kina cardigans (and my growing bubs). Olive and Eliza are now 7months old and were more interested in putting the cardigans in their mouths than cooperating for a photo shoot. I might try to photograph them again once they can sit up unassisted.

This pattern is a simple knit but my knitting of it was hampered by lack of sleep, teething twins and carpal tunnel (I had carpal tunnel after Nina was born and have it again now). I'm very happy with the outcome and absolutely love the yarn. I'm now a quarter of the way through a third Baby Kina for Nina but only seem to be able to manage 3 or 4 rows a night. Slow and steady...

Buttons for Baby Kina

As a mother of twins it is now impossible for me to go anywhere without encountering total strangers who feel compelled to offer advice. One thing people often say is "you mustn't dress them the same!". I'm a pretty easy going type of girl and don't really go in for must dos and don'ts. I also know that the twins have very different personalities and get treated as individuals regardless of what they are wearing. I often dress them in matching or coordinating clothes because (a) it requires less thought and makes my life easier, (b) if they are wearing the same I know that one won't be any hotter/cooler than the other, and (c) my mother-in-law always sends 2 of every outfit.

So at the moment I am knitting not one, not two, but three Baby Kina cardigans. I had always planned to knit one each for the twins using the Debbie Bliss Eco Baby cotton, but originally I thought I would knit Georgie Hallam's Acacia for Nina using the Cascade Ultra Pima. Once I started knitting the first Baby Kina Nina saw the pattern and told me that she wanted one too. I decided she would get more wear out of a light cardigan than a knitted singlet, so I am going to fudge the pattern using thicker yarn and bigger needles , and maybe a few extra stitches, and hopefully end up with something that will fit a 3.5 year old.

On Monday we went on a little expedition to the local haberdashery shop to buy buttons for all three. I took a skein of each yarn and came back with two options for each. Now I just need to decide which ones to use.

Here's what I'm thinking...

• Small shell buttons on the mauve

• Square peach buttons on the peach

• Large round pink shell buttons on the pink (these were actually Nina's choice and I think it was a stroke of genius. On it's own I thought the pink was too dark for the yarn, but held against it the sheen of the shell and the cotton complement each other perfectly!)

Or should I use the shell buttons on the peach to match the mauve cardigan?

Stripey Baby Blanket #1

I was planning on waiting until both baby blankets had been completed before posting about this but, seeing as the second blanket is languishing in the ends-need-to-sewn-in phase, I don't think I can wait that long. And hopefully showing #1 off will help inspire me to finish #2.

So here it is....Stripey Mitred Baby Blanket

I used this pattern and included the picot hem. I'm a sucker for a picot hem and I think it really makes the blanket. It's knit in the round, which means nice short rounds to begin with and long, slow rounds as you get to the outside. After a good strong blocking it turned into the lovely square it was supposed to and the yarn relaxed nicely. The result is a lovely floppy baby blanket that is the perfect size for the cot or the pram. For more details, see my ravelry project page.

The yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 8ply, an affordable and reliable choice for a blanket like this. It is warm, wears well and is machine washable.

Without sounding too proud, I have to say that this has to be one of the projects that I am most happy with. Usually I pick fault with everything I make but every time I see or touch this simple blanket it makes me happy. Maybe it's because it was made with love? Who knows.

The twins love it but will have to share it for the time being.

New Beginnings

Our gorgeous twin girls, Olive and Eliza, were born on April 5th. They are lovely, healthy little girls with very different features and temperaments.

A few days before I went into hospital I optimistically (or perhaps foolishly) decided to cast on these socks...

A nice and easy pattern that kept me company through the 6-odd hours of the classic BBC version of Pride and Prejudice watched marathon style whilst my daughter was in daycare and I had some precious time alone (alas, those days are now gone). This is as far as I got. It was hard to get overly inspired to knit these when the weather was still so hot and my feet and ankles were swollen beyond belief. The weather has finally cooled down now and my ankles are once again thinner than my calves so I will have to get knitting these again soon.

In the meantime I have started a more pressing project...pram blankets for the twins. After much consideration I decided to go with a colourful stripey mitred square knit in the round.

The yarn is Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 8ply and the green colourway ties in with the green of our Baby Jogger City Mini Double stroller (love it!) nicely. Now I just have to finish two of these before Winter arrives.