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busyknitter
New Pal
United Kingdom
30 Posts |
 Posted - 02/08/2002 : 4:43:23 PM
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Does anyone have any tips which would make it possible for me to knit while I'm feeding my month-old baby. He's a greedy little chap, so the feeds take up a substantial part of my day. I guess I'm a chronically busy person, incapable of only doing one thing at a time. Anyhow, while he's happily guzzling, I find myself sitting there gazing longingly at my knitting basket.
By the way, this is my first post on these boards. I live in rural Suffolk in the UK and have been knitting of and on for 20 years. 
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chris
Permanent Resident
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 02/09/2002 : 07:58:57 AM
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A multi-tasker, thou, eh? I'm thinking back to when mine were babes, and wondering if I could have knitted while nursing them. I can just see their little heads bouncing up and down with the rhythm of the knitting! They'd probably have gone back to sleep even quicker than they did. What I did do while nursing them was read...I read The Thorn Birds aloud to my oldest (who will 25 years old next month..yikes!). I wonder if he remembers it? Maybe you could just read a knitting book or magazine while feeding?
Congratulations on your new little joy!
chris
Keep on knittin', mama, knittin' those blues away! |
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fmarrs
Guardian angel
USA
9776 Posts |
Posted - 02/09/2002 : 09:03:43 AM
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I agree with Chris, I kept a book of patterns on the table and paged through it while feeding the children (I had three babies to feed). I didn't want to get involved in reading something and ignore the kids and this was perfect because the book didn't require great concentration and I didn't lose anything if I was distracted from it. I can check out stitch patterns for hours.
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busyknitter
New Pal
United Kingdom
30 Posts |
Posted - 02/09/2002 : 11:39:04 AM
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Thanks for the replies, Chris and Fmarrs. On reflection, I think you are both right.Possibly a bit too distracting for the babe. Besides, I wouldn't want him to bring his feed up on my work!
I'm already doing lots of reading. Today's library acquisition is Richard Rutt's "History of handknitting".
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RoseByAny
Permanent Resident
USA
12598 Posts |
Posted - 02/10/2002 : 07:37:53 AM
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I have this horrible feeling that a sudden squirm (as babies are wont to do) and a knitting needle could have some not very happy results...
"Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable."
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Chrys
Chatty Knitter
USA
212 Posts |
Posted - 02/12/2002 : 7:14:00 PM
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I also read a lot while feeding my kids. Currently I can only knit while my younger one (17 mos) is asleep. She is worse than a cat when she sees the ball of yarn  I guess most of my projects are just going to take a while until she gets older.
Christy
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busyknitter
New Pal
United Kingdom
30 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2002 : 04:26:42 AM
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One thing that I can do while feeding is to use the computer. I think I'm going to spend a lot of my time over the next few months talking about knitting, rather than actually doing it!
Sarah
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BessH
Permanent Resident
3095 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2002 : 07:37:38 AM
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Back in the previous century when I fed my little one, I sang to him all the songs my mama sang to me. I was so proud of my mother who knew fortylevendyhundred songs and I believe if you asked my son now, he would say his mama does too. The wonderful thing about it is that he never judged the quality of the singing.
But when I die and go up to the great judge and I'm asked what I would like to do for eternity - I will answer:
It is summer, in the evening after the fierceness has gone out of the sun. I am barefoot with tank top and shorts on, my 2 year old son is buck naked. We're walking down the lane that goes past the west woods, talking that magical conversation of little ones who are begining to build with words - where they make up words for things if they don't know the one we use. Just past the place where the pine trees flood and freeze in winter he looks up to me and says, "Sing 'Seein' Nelly home' again for me, Mama".
That baby was gone so fast - he's a lieutenant in the Navy now - and there never was another to follow so I'm mighty glad we had that time just for us alone - with nothing else clamoring for my attention.
Congratulations on the wonderful times you have ahead. Good knitting to you.
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chris
Permanent Resident
USA
2449 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2002 : 08:34:51 AM
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Bess, dear, next time please post a tissue warning! I'm sitting here blubbering, with a runny nose! What a lovely post! I totally agree with your version of heaven. Mine are (almost)23 and 25. Seems like yesterday.....
chris
quote:
Back in the previous century when I fed my little one, I sang to him all the songs my mama sang to me. I was so proud of my mother who knew fortylevendyhundred songs and I believe if you asked my son now, he would say his mama does too. The wonderful thing about it is that he never judged the quality of the singing.
But when I die and go up to the great judge and I'm asked what I would like to do for eternity - I will answer:
It is summer, in the evening after the fierceness has gone out of the sun. I am barefoot with tank top and shorts on, my 2 year old son is buck naked. We're walking down the lane that goes past the west woods, talking that magical conversation of little ones who are begining to build with words - where they make up words for things if they don't know the one we use. Just past the place where the pine trees flood and freeze in winter he looks up to me and says, "Sing 'Seein' Nelly home' again for me, Mama".
That baby was gone so fast - he's a lieutenant in the Navy now - and there never was another to follow so I'm mighty glad we had that time just for us alone - with nothing else clamoring for my attention.
Congratulations on the wonderful times you have ahead. Good knitting to you.
Keep on knittin', mama, knittin' those blues away! |
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jdroeger
Chatty Knitter
USA
224 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2002 : 10:19:12 AM
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Oh Bess - what a lovely story! I have two little ones now and hearing stories like yours just makes me appreciate my babies while they're still babies! My youngest is just 1 1/2 and just starting to talk (unfortunately, her favorite word is "no") - she makes up words for things, too and I just love it.
Busyknitter - I know what you mean about wanting to multi-task while nursing your little one. I actually didn't knit or crochet while my babies were really little. I think if I had, I might have been a little less insane, though! I also used the computer a lot while I was nursing (at least until they got too big to hold on my lap with one arm!) I think you'll find that once he gets to be about 2 or 3 months old, there will be spaces between the nursing sessions and maybe you can find time for a few rows during that time.
Jessica
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busyknitter
New Pal
United Kingdom
30 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2002 : 12:17:42 PM
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What's ironic is that my interest in knitting is on a bit of a high at the momewnt because of all the sitting about I did at the end of my pregnancy. ~I'm going back to work full time when the babe is just 11 weeks old. There certainly won't be much time for knitting then, as I also have a livewire of a 7-year old to consider.
Apologies, by the way as this thread has strayed off the subject of technique somewhat. But thanks for all your lovely replies.
Bess, I also used to sing to my first. Haven't rerally got going with the present one.
When my oldest was about 4 months old, we had a German pastor stay in our house for a week. He was amazed at the number of nursery rhymes that I knew. Apparantly it's not something they have much of in Germany. :O
Sarah
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BessH
Permanent Resident
3095 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2002 : 1:05:33 PM
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Not to worry - but if you want to take topics off the list you can make your email available. It still isn't visable, but in the line where it says "email hidden by member" it says instead, "send email to busyknitter". Click on it, then a form pops up, and if someone sends you an email it actually comes as a message from Knittersreview.com. Also, it puts you on the buddy list so you can actually leave messages here as well.
I love the nursery rhymes and we also have a book called A Rooster Crows, the American Mother Goose. Has old pioneer rhymes in it. One favorite we have is "Way down yonder on the Piankatank, the bull frog jumped from bank to bank, he skined his knee from shank to shank, way down yonder on the Piankatank." How my son loved that one because we live just upriver from the Piankatank.
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Alissa
Seriously Hooked
USA
632 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2002 : 6:54:07 PM
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Both of my children were "shopbabies" who spent much of their early life in yarn shops. If I hadn't nursed them while knitting I am afraid they would have starved!  All kidding aside, I did knit while they nursed. I never had a scary incident with the needles but sometimes had to put the knitting down until I could recover the yarn or needles from the floor. I also ate with chopsticks while they nursed, walked around rennaisance faires (with them hidden under a shawl of course!)and read. Not all at the same time.
Enjoy your baby, relish the time you get to hold them in your arms. You never should take for granted that wonderfully calm feeling of sitting and holding your darling. NOTHING else is more important and it lasts such a short time.
Alissa
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RoseByAny
Permanent Resident
USA
12598 Posts |
Posted - 02/13/2002 : 7:20:41 PM
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I want to second that tissue warning! Geez, Bess, I have to talk to 12 year olds about Britney Spears and I'm sitting here blubbering...
what a vision you carry - thank you for letting us see it, too.
"Choose your friends by their character and your socks by their color. Choosing your socks by their character makes no sense, and choosing your friends by their color is unthinkable."
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Shysmommy
Warming Up
USA
62 Posts |
Posted - 02/14/2002 : 7:52:32 PM
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I too knitted while my daughter nursed for the first few months, because she basically nursed non stop and I would have gone completely insane had I not done something. I used to get comfy on the couch and then get the BOPPY pillow out and get her all cozy on it and then I would just go for it!!! She seemed to like the motion and it relaxed me so that I let down much quicker........When I wasn't reading or singing or knitting but just trying to "enjoy" the silence I would get all nerved up and she would nurse forever and still be hungry........so it was a very good solution for us!! Now she is almost 2 and completely independant  and potty trained and I am thinking about another?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Friends Welcome |
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Smock7
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
491 Posts |
Posted - 02/16/2002 : 09:25:29 AM
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On the subject of few nursery songs in Germany....I teach in a school where almost 70% of my students are hispanic. I have found that the children do not know the common nursery songs and rhymes. They need this (background) knowledge as references are often made to them in books and movies. I spend time between lessons reading Mother Goose stories and singing little silly songs to help them build this background knowledge. (I have a terrible voice, I don't even sing in the shower, but these little ones rarely seem critical.) As first graders can often be very BLUNT....one little boy said "Why would someone want to jump over a candle stick, that is not safe because of the fire!" I had to explain to them that many of these rhymes don't make sense but are supposed to be fun (I don't think they would understand the political and satirical meanings of life hidden in these poems!)
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Hello Knitty
Permanent Resident
1069 Posts |
Posted - 02/20/2002 : 3:49:56 PM
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I just got Richard Rutt's History of Knitting too! I was perusing the library shelves and it looked good. Love the photos of the knitted Etruscan urn penny jars! Too bad there's no pattern.
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