There is an epidemic of babies around here at the moment. Actually, forget that, it makes it sound like a bad thing, let’s call it a multitude of happy events instead.

Now some of these babies have been around for several months, and some of them haven’t even arrived yet, but the one thing I can guarantee they all have in common, is that they couldn’t give two hoots about knitwear. Nevertheless, in my knit-addled mind, it is of course imperative to swaddle them in woolly goodness as quickly as possible. Any failure to do so is a catastrophe of my own making and the knitting gods will punish me accordingly.

I realise this is moderately insane, since the babies are oblivious, and the parents, although happy to receive knitwear, are by no means expecting it, so there really is no pressure. Even though I recognise this, I have still been operating a baby-knitwear factory for the last couple of weeks.

I was looking forward to a catch up with two dear friends who both had baby girls last year, and although I have given them both baby blankets, and one has had a tank top as well, I wanted them to have a proper jumper. A little extra bit of woolly love to keep them cosy. For some reason I decided to do this about a week before seeing them, so there was some intense knitting to be done. Luckily, babies are small, so it really didn’t take too long to end up with these.

This is the In Threes cardigan, a brilliantly quick knit for little girls. The sizing is generous and the swing shape and short sleeves mean that people seem to get a lot of wear out of the design – a nice bonus, given that most baby knitwear seems to fit the recipient for about a week and half. I was using stash yarn, so I combined two colours of Rico Merino Aran. As you can see, I didn’t have any matching buttons, but I quite like the mish-mash of colours.

Babe number 2 is older, and received the Little Coffee Bean Cardigan. I knit the 12 month size, which came up about right for an 8 month old to have some growing room, although I think I could have made the body a little longer. It was supposed to have long sleeves, but I worried I was going to run out of yarn. This one’s quite hard to photograph as it’s actually a dark navy blue, but you get the idea.

Because their Mums are utterly charming and lovely people, who are inexplicably enthusiastic about my knitting, they immediately bundled the girls into their new sweaters for a couple of modelling shots. Which was clearly the last straw for little Miri, despite Juno’s attempts to reassure her with a friendly shoulder pat:

These two are so adorable and were really very tolerant of the pesky knitwear (and the knitter, who managed to bag some cuddles).

Then there’s a Playful Baby many of you will know of, who obviously deserved some special knitwear too. I had been hoping to meet her before Christmas, and had made this a while ago, but in the end we only managed to catch up last weekend. Another gorgeous girl and, luckily, she should still fit into this:

Another In Threes Cardigan in a pretty shade of green (that’s a bit more vibrant than in the photo).

But the knitting factory can’t stop yet – there’s one baby arriving any moment, another coming in a week, and two more due in March! But I think it’s well worth it if it means we can nab them while they’re young, and get in there early with some woolly goodness.

I am still here. Promise. I realise I’ve fallen slightly off the map lately, and the funny thing is, it’s been quite nice. I think it’s healthy to step back from my online alter-ego(s) now and again, especially when there’s a lot going on in the Real World™ that needs attending to.

In addition, this is the year where the film Four Weddings and a Funeral becomes a reality for me, as it seems there’s hardly a weekend where I’m not attending a hen party or a wedding. All very lovely, but it does rather eat into my podcasting time.

Nevertheless fear not, there’ll be no pod-fading, and I have all manner of schemes up my sleeve. I am busy planning and plotting; knitting and baking; keeping an eye on the Sheep’s latest antics and sampling his gin. Watch this space and there’ll be a new episode up soon.

Ages ago, when I was utterly gripped by the fabulous first series of Danish crime drama The Killing, I desperately wanted my very own Jumper of Wisdom. However, I didn’t want to make an exact replica, more of an ‘inspired by’ version of my own; a sheepy, fairisle jumper in which I could to fight crime, solve puzzles and run through badly lit basements, car parks and storage lockers.

I ordered lots of wool from Jamiesons, set about swatching, came up with all sorts of exciting ideas, and even cast on a jumper – which then languished at the bottom of the WIP pile for the better part of a year.

However, a few weeks ago, armed with my new copy of Mary Jane Mucklestone’s brilliant 200 Fair Isle Designs, I started again. This time, I opted for top down, instead of bottom up; I went up a couple of needle sizes for a looser gauge (and up another needle size for the fair isle, to stop my tension getting too tight); and then I winged it.

I cast on, and did the neckline and basic raglan increases like I would for any simple jumper. Then once I split the sleeves, I picked out a pattern from the book and off I went. I didn’t map everything out, I didn’t have much of a plan, I just had fun with it.

I didn’t do any waist shaping, and I just left two stitches at each side plain, so the pattern is broken in half, front and back. With a bit more planning, I could have made it a continuous loop around the body, but I was too impatient.

The main snowflake is centred, but one thing I would change next time is to centre the other two patterns in line with it. Also, I didn’t have enough of the main colour to make it long sleeved. But considering it was a bit of a rush job, I’m really happy with how it turned out. It’s sort of a prototype for my real Jumper of Wisdom, but in the meantime I’d like to think Lund would approve.

At long last the plague on my leg is healing, I’m up and about once again,  and eagerly planning blogs and podcasts. Whilst this episode of trench foot has been unpleasant (and, apparently, somewhat bizarre in a healthy person my age) it has at least provided some knitting inspiration. Even the foulest medical maladies can lead to delightful woolly wonders.

I had noticed that my wardrobe was lacking a warm scarf in a colour that would go with everything. My grey Damson is lovely but, in a fingering weight yarn, not substantial enough for sub-zero temperatures. I also wanted some comfort knitting. Something soft and cosy that would sooth my antibiotic-addled, house-bound mind. Naturally, I reached into the stash for a skein of Malabrigo. I had one in Black Forest, a great colour that is a sort of washed-out black, with a hint of greyish green about it. It’s dark and semi-solid enough to match almost any outfit, but not so black as to be difficult to knit or harsh against a pale winter face.

So, I had my yarn, but what of the pattern? I couldn’t cope with complicated lace charts and I didn’t want anything too fussy – what I was really after was something more geometric than flowery, if you know what I mean. I also wanted a shape that would be easy to wear as a scarf. Searching high and low through Ravelry, I came up empty handed, so I decided to try something a little more freestyle and ended up with this:

I wanted a very simple texture, and given the delightful abscesses covering my ankle, eyelets seemed the perfect choice. I knit a basic, top-down shawl, increasing at the edges every row, and in the centre every right side row, to create a gentle triangle that would easily wrap around as a scarf.

(Apologies for the ancient, and not very photogenic, towel on which this was blocking).

For the edging, I could have left it straight with some garter ridges or something, but I wanted to add a bit of interest to the shape and liked the idea of the cobweb effect points would give in this colour.  However, I didn’t want to detract from the simplicity of the body, so I settled on a very simple lace section, with pairs of double decreases and double yarn overs.

I’m really pleased with how it turned out and in the snow and freezing weather we’ve been having lately, I’ve been wearing this almost every day. Perhaps, rather than a plague, my Black Death will help to ward off future ills…

Whilst antibiotics are something of a modern miracle (and seem to be winning the battle against my infection – thankfully, today I am slightly less like a plague-ridden fourteenth century peasant) it’s a different cure I’m blogging about – knitting, obviously.

This is a jumper I knitted up earlier this week, and although I’ve spent the last couple of days in my pyjamas on the sofa with my leg elevated, it has brought a little joy on the one day I’ve managed to wear it so far.

This was my Christmas knitting relief jumper, made from yarn I bought on our recent trip to Berlin. It’s Bouton d’Or Cocoon, a blend of 60% alpaca and 40% wool and is so soft it was clearly spun by pixies.

I knew I wanted a simple jumper, with a little brightly coloured edging, that would go with a pair of jeans but not so sloppy that I couldn’t wear it to the office. At first I was knitting it using the recommended needle size of 4.5mm, but I should have heeded the advice of the kind woman in the yarn shop who said it was worth going up a needle size or two. So I jumped to a 6mm and the stiff, unyielding fabric transformed into a cosy, snuggly wonder.

I used an alternate tubular cast on at the neck, hoping for a neater edge, but I needn’t have bothered really. After the neckline, it was a simple raglan increase, split for the sleeves, a little waist shaping and boom! – a jumper done in next to no time.

I haven’t blocked it yet and I think a gentle soak will smooth it out a little, but I’m really happy with it as it is.

Meanwhile, I’ve been working on my brother’s cardigan and I’ve joined the sleeves and body and am about to start the raglan decreases. But with 343 stitches per row, it’s not moving very quickly. On the other hand, neither am I at the moment, so we’re kind of suited to one another. There really is knitting for every occasion.

Happy New Year to you and yours, I hope you’ve all had a lovely Christmas and that 2013 brings you health, happiness and plenty of yarn.

Here in Peckham, we’ve had a great time with friends and family; eaten too much, drunk too much, watched Christmas movies, had boardgame contests, celebrated a couple of birthdays and distributed the Christmas knitted gifts (which were ALL finished on time. Except for my brother’s jumper but I’m working on it so we’re skipping past that little hiccup).

However, 2013 has decided to take me back to the Fourteenth Century by giving me the gift of plague; I have developed the most ungodly horror of an infection on my leg. As well as looking utterly vile with an impressive range of bubonic pustules, it hurts like hell. My ankle has swollen to twice its usual size and when I stand there is a burning, stinging sensation, as though someone is pouring scalding hot water onto my leg. Fortunately, keeping it horizontal on the sofa or table seems to stop this, although every time I shuffle to the kitchen I unleash a stream of obscenities, as what feels like a dozen bee stings fire up my leg.

I saw the doctor yesterday and I’m armed with antibiotics, I’m just waiting for them to kick in. Her best guess is that it’s some kind of allergic reaction, although god only knows to what.

Anyway, as you can see, I’m feeling a bit sorry for myself. Today, I was supposed to be going for a haircut and then on to John Lewis to see what was left in their yarn sale, but alas, the plague has rather spoilt my plans. Given the current size of my stash, it’s probably just as well and, on the bright side, there are worse things to be doing than watching the last episode of Homeland and a lot of knitting. And at least my brother should be getting that cardigan before too long. Hmm, given the circumstances, maybe it’s Black Death I should be watching…