How close do you live to your grandchildren?

I live 280 miles away from my only grandchild.

I have friends whose grandchildren live in Australia, so I think I'm lucky compared to them, but compared to my friends whose grandchildren live close by, I'm not so lucky. That;s how I feel anyway.

I see my family at intervals of between one and two months. When we visit each other we usually stay for at least 3 days. We also meet up on holidays, so I guess that I do get to see a lot of the little one. Maybe, as we spend whole days together and we stay overnight together I might see more of my grandson than someone living close by who just pops round at frequent intervals for a short time?

I guess for most grandparents the proximity of the grandchildren is out of their hands.

We work with what we have.

We just love being grandparents. Is the much overused phrase about how it's "lovely to have them but lovely to give them back"  true? Probably, as the idea of revisiting full time child care all over again (at my mature age) is not appealing.

Any comments?

Favourite knitting patterns for babies and toddlers

I picked up the knitting needles as soon as I knew that I was going to be a grandmother. 15 months from the big day, what have I knitted?

Quite a lot!

From Debbie Bliss' great book of baby and toddler knits I made a first size wrap jacket, a "baby's first coat" and the biggest hit of all, a cable tank top.

I also made booties from another pattern in the same book. Here's the book. Superb value. I used the recommended wool, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.  It knits a little bigger than 4 ply. The quality is excellent. The yarn shows every stitch and pattern and rewards the knitter with a brilliant quality finished piece of work.

Here's the "baby's first coat" in Debbie Bliss Baby cashmerino Duck Egg Blue and Ecru.

If you love to knit, and want only the very best , I 100% recommend this Debbie Bliss knitting pattern book and her lovely yarn.

I've knitted lots of other items too- hats, mitts, other jumpers and cargigans- of which more another day.

Gift for grandson's first birthday.

What to give my grandson for his first birthday?

Well, I've decided upon a wooden pull along train. Of course we've already given him lots of things, and he's got one of the best selections of handknitted jumpers and hats made by yours truly Doting Gran, but I loved this wooden train for the following reasons

1. It's wooden ( I like wood better than plastic)
2. It has good patterns and colours
3. It has stacking bits
4. You can pull it along
5. Simple to use
6. Classy 

You can buy it here from amazon uk.

If you live in the US or Canada, there are very similar wooden pull along trains from amazon.com like this one



I really , really don't approve of giving or opening birthday presents early, but rules are made to be broken aren't they? He was staying with us last week, 2 weeks before his birthday, and as he was away from home with not many toys,so we gave him the train set early. He liked it- but maybe his dad liked it more- for now! He'll get loads more gifts on the day, so it was nice to give this as a one off.

Doting Gran's new grandson is now nearly ONE!

The return to blogging by the Doting Gran. Where have I been? Who knows? Distracted, busy, life getting in the way of intended plans.

Anyway, time has rushed on and our lovely grandson is now crawling, playing, smiling, making talking like noises and is a huge bundle of joy to us.

He gets hungry all the time, and snacks in the bag are essential. When I returned home from a visit to him last week, here's what I found in my handbag- a little box of organic raisins. My daughter in law has bought a bag of these, and little grandson loves them. Perfect for filling a hunger gap. Perfect distraction if tears threaten.

You can buy them from Amazon!

What should I give my new Grandson for his first Christmas?

There are so many choices it's confusing, but I want to give my new ( first) grandchild a gift that will last.

I've looked at a few ideas and gathered them here in a page about Gifts for Baby's First Christmas. It's by no means a complete list, and I would like more suggestions please.

This looks like being  one item that's on the list.

If you, like me, really treasure the Winnie the Pooh books by A A Milne, do make sure you buy the original versions with illustrations by E H Shepherd, and NOT the Disney versions. Is that being snobbish- I hope so!

Living close to grandchildren or far away?

I live 300 miles from my grandchild. I saw him the day after he was born, and again at 4 weeks old. That was two weeks ago, and it's 3 more weeks until I can next see him.

 Talking to friends who are surrounded by their grandchildren I feel jealous- they can see them anytime. Then I talked to two more friends who each had one grandchild- in Australia. They Skype a lot, but they feel the distance. Maybe it's not so bad for me. 4 hours door to door thank to Virgin Trains is not too bad.

 I've joined Gransnet, the Grans' version of Mumsnet. Gransnet is full of useful tips and discussions. It's nowhere near as big as Mumsnet, but it's well worth taking a look.

I'm also on Twitter . You find me @DotingGran. I'm looking for people to follow, so please follow me and I'll follow you ( There's a song in there somewhere- Peter Gabriel I think?)

Recommended knitting for doting grandmothers.

If you want a great book of knitting patterns for babies and toddlers up to 2, I think you can't beat The Ultimate book of baby knits from top designer Debbie Bliss

So far I've knitted two jackets and two pairs of booties using patterns from this book, and there are lots more for me to do in the months ahead. This makes the book really great value, and I really recommend that you use Debbie Bliss yarns for these patterns. So far, all my knits have been made using Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, which is a beautiful fine yarn, a little thicker than 4 ply.Many of the patterns use this yarn, but there are also some using Debbie Bliss DK and Aran weights.

Here's the little jacket I knitted

Jacket knitted in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino.

I used Ecru edged in Duck Egg Blue.

I've written a review of the Debbie Bliss Ultimate Book of Baby knits which you can read here.

You can buy it from Amazon- just click on the picture below.