A Tree, Yoga and the Babette Blanket, revisited

It is only during the last days of October that the leaves of the tree in the backyard of our house change into their autumnally dress and turn red. It just happened last week and now that the moment is here I realized that I had waited for it. Because it marks a special time for me. Two years ago, on this exact day today, I went to India for a month, for my Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training (I wrote about my time in India here). We had just moved to Oldenburg that summer after half a year of traveling the world. I was overwhelmed by those beautiful red leaves and the fact of going away for that one month.



Last year I saw that the red leaves only last for a couple of days into November before they all fall on the ground. I didn't go to India.

This year I won't go to India either, even though I would love to welcome the beginning of the Aquarian Age on 11.11.11 in Rishikesh. My yoga teacher Gurmukh from L.A. will be there as well as Snatam Kaur, to whose concert we went two weeks ago (blogged here). But I am totally happy staying here with my own little Aquarian project on the way.

Talking of projects: my longest sitting UFO, the chakra-coloured Babette Blanket, it's been two years now since I crocheted all those squares in India. Later I sewed them meticulously together, half of the hundreds of endings are already woven in and only the border is still missing. It is also that blanket that put me on the track of Ravelry on the Internet.





So this November I would love to get it finished, it is also one of my three 2011 resolutions ...

Make it 4

Now that I knitted pair number four of EZ's baby leggings, I think that I finally got them out of my system.



Considering the two versions of the pattern, I developed my own approach: I basically follow the directions in the "Knitter's Almanac", but cast on the number of stitches from "The Opinionated Knitter", because with the Almanac's stitch number one hole for pulling the I-cord through is missing. Ravelry notes here.

Four more weeks to go - but the fact is, only 5 % of the babies are actually born on their due date.

Four cardigans:



Four hats:


(I borrowed two from Clara's baby collection)

Four pairs of baby bootees:



If you only look on the knitting side - the baby could come.

Fresh & Organic 33

Fruit: apples, oranges, bananas, plums

Veg: rutabaga, potatoes, carrots, cucumber, tomatoes, red onions, winter purslane, broccoli, red bell peppers, kohlrabi, king oyster mushrooms

My Belly & Me

I was asked by a local baby store to do an afternoon of pre- and postnatal yoga promotion.



I arranged my flyers and some yoga reading material neatly.



And waited. It was a very quiet afternoon.
Luckily I had also some reading material.





And maternal knitting material.



The strangest thing: the first christmas tree of the (pre?)-season...



Mind the details!

Knitting Princess

... as found in Disneyland / California.

Mama & Baby Knitting two, feat. some cat, too

A very recent tradition (actually only one week old, see last week here).
Same mamas, same babies, rotating homes.

We need wool.



Babies to dress in those woollies.







A cat also comes in handy.



And before my camera's battery went belly-up, I could make one last photo of myself, my belly and the knitting.



Only a couple of weeks left before I have my own fitting model.

Inspiration Corner: Leaves

Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower. Albert Camus

Weekend

Having a cold really slowed me down, I guess my body needed some more couching right now. Just in time a surprise arrived in the mail: the new book by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the yarn harlot. I had totally forgotten that I had pre-ordered the book, even though I followed her US book tour on her great blog. Fantastic reading, that could just go on and on. Especially when you are a knitter and/or a mother.



My maternal knitting instincts made me try a pattern for a baby soaker.



The pattern is Vanilla (Ravelry link here). I knitted the newborn size first and I will see whether it will be useful for the baby and whether she will like it. A while ago I joined the Ravelry group Nappy Free Babes, because that is something I want to give a try and I have heard from other mothers that it really works. Just to be on the safe side, I ordered a cloth diaper starter kit, that got a good prewash now. Like the slings - I had already bought them when I was a couple of weeks pregnant - a sneaky glance of it you could catch in this April post, where I said I have winter plans for it...



Clara also got her own doll sling, which she tried on this weekend.



Maternal instinct.

Fresh & Organic 32

Oh, how I need those fresh vitamins with me having a cold right now!



fruit: apples, pears, bananas, clementines, grapes

vegetables: cauliflower, potatoes, cucumber, mushrooms, corn salad, avocado, red bell pepper, carrots, leek

Now also in Hamburg

Liselotte Strick's yarn graffiti (more about her here).



From a recent yoga girls' night (and day) out.





We went to a Snatam Kaur concert.



Her music is a favourite in my yoga classes.

Overcoming SSS

Success. It didn't even take me eight months to get the second bootee done (the first one can be seen here). My current attempt to tie up all those loose ends around me before baby comes helped me through it. Meanwhile the number of finished bootees went from 9508 up to 10881 on Ravelry. Yes, they are very popular and cute as a button, but I still didn't like knitting and finishing them. As I found out, there is a version for knitting in the round with no seam I might try next time (Ravelry pattern page here and blogged here).



I don't want to set them on fire.
I added the matchbox just to show you how small they are - can you imagine little feet in them?

Another Pair

Mama & Baby Knitting

With my regular Tuesday Mama & Baby Yoga class pausing right now and my growing desire for rest & nest, I was very happy to be invited to a morning spin-off of Oldenburg Knit Night. Three young mamas who met at my prenatal yoga classes last year and who also became regular knitters at Oldenburg Knit Night during their pregnancy, have started their own little knitting circle with babies, breakfast & knitting.





Lots of baby knitting.



A finished vest is examined by a young expert's eye.





The little expert also tried on mama's knitting.





One baby girl needed a rest.



So mama could do some knitting for her.





We want to make these Tuesdays a habit.