It has been almost exactly 8 months since I posted last, and it seems like a pretty obvious thing to say, but, things have happened in that time! Most notably, life-wise, L and I are expecting our first baby! If you follow me on Instagram, this isn’t new-news (and maybe it doesn’t come as a surprise anyway). To catch you up either way: I am due in mid-November, we didn’t find out the sex, we are very excited.

A week ago, I was put on bed rest. The baby, it seems, is eager to meet us, so I have been assigned the task of fighting gravity by spending my days reclined and calm. Of all the reasons to be on bed rest, this one seems like maybe the best one. The baby and I are both in excellent health, and I feel really good, so besides the very abrupt lifestyle change (no more work, no standing, no more most things, actually), the last week has gone pretty well.

As the title of this post suggests, I’m on strict rest until I reach 36 weeks (a little over 3 weeks from now), and since knitting is one of the few activities I actually can do, it seemed like a good time to get back to this blog that I never really meant to give up in the first place. I have quite a back-log of knits to talk about, most of which are even photographed (thank goodness, since my limited mobility means new photos are going to be pretty basic, styling-wise — see the photos in this post for an example of what I mean), but my main motivation is really just to break out of the little bubble I’m now in. Bed rest is a bit isolating, especially if you are somewhere you haven’t yet lived for a year, since that limits the number of visitors you can expect.

But, in the spirit of making the best of things, here I am! I have been meaning to get back to blogging for months now, and finally I have the perfect excuse. So, hello! Maybe a chronological recap would make the most sense, but oh well. For a baby set to be born on the doorstep of winter, little hats seem like an item we probably can’t have too many of. The three in this post (presented in reverse-chronological order — the green striped one was my first bed rest project and very speedy) represent three of the typical styles you see for baby hats, and I find each one charming in its own way.

The middle one is the smallest. I really should have gone up a needle size, but it is so friggin’ cute (and if the baby is early, it might even fit). It took almost no yarn at all, so I might just knit a second, larger, one and then have two. It was fun to knit and very quick, so I don’t see that as a terrible compromise. The bobble one was also a fun little knit, and of all the similar patterns out there, seems to have the best fit around the bottom (so many bonnets in this style look loose around the base of the head, which just seems draughty). I really like the vintage look of it, and can definitely see myself knitting more bonnets in this style. The top one, in green, is so absurdly soft. I whipped it up in just a few hours (spread over a couple of days) and it was one of those delightfully simple knits that seem to make themselves. It is small, but stretchy, and should fit no matter when the baby comes.

Three hats is probably sufficient for now, but I will probably whip up a little Garter Ear Flap Hat too, sized for the baby to grow into. I cannot resist that pattern, and if this winter is anything like the last one, a cozy selection of hats will not go to waste.