Articles in “Life, the Universe, and Everything”

Now, we thought Heather’s Eric Northman pumpkin was fantabulous—and he was.

But she’s really excelled herself this year:

(I only wish we’d taken a more lowlight picture.)

Traditional Jack O’Lantern be damned: next year, I’m lobbying for all eleven regenerations.

UPDATE:

A night-time picture of the Doctor pumpkin, courtesy of the fabulous Kirsty:

Now the baby blankets have gone to their new home, I can show them off on the blog a little. They’re hardly the greatest baby blankets ever made, but they were certainly fun.

Sensible baby blanket:

I grew to dislike the sensible baby blanket intensely as I was making it: those lozenges were frustrating to fit together, and I ended up having to strip one back and completely re-knit it, which it always annoying. But once I’d backed it with flannelette and added the velvet ribbon, I folded it up and put it away, so I could finish the second blanket. And when I unfolded it to shake it out and wrap it up, I found I actually liked it.

It’s always fun when that happens.

But it was the fancy baby blanket with which I was besotted:

As I say, I’m hardly the best knitter in the world, and this is the simplest of things: garter stitch (because, with that beautiful variegated wool, you hardly need a fancy stitch), increasing at the end of every second row, and with a deep (stockinette) frill.

But, gosh, it was pretty:

I thought it looked like coral, when it was folded up. Now I might need to knit one for myself, but not, perhaps, during a Brisbane summer.