As for other family members, colleagues, friends or acquaintances, it’s common to wait until after the first trimester, when the risk of miscarriage is lower. And then Saira can’t refuse the bride-to-be’s invitation to a luxury getaway—where she’s forced into sharing a villa with Nathan! After sewing the shoulder seams, with the right side facing you, pick up 17sts along the front edge of the neck, up to the shoulder seam, 18 stitches across the back and 17 stitches down the other side of the front.

The interesting dots where the stripes change colors was achieved quite simply by starting all stripes on the right side of the work, then knitting the first row a strip with alternate stitches in the old stripe colour and then the new stripe colour.

After they complete the first pair, swap out the other pair with baby shoes and see if they get the hint!

Things to include are custom-made T-shirts with ‘Dad’ or ‘Auntie’ on them, baby essentials like dummies, chocolate bars for surviving late nights and a baby book. If you and your partner have a favourite film, TV show, book or song, do something fun with a famous quote or lyric, adding your own play on words to deliver the message. This is one of the most sentimental ways to announce your pregnancy to your family in person, but it only works for yours and your partner's parents, who are becoming grandparents.

For ideas on which fruit or vegetable to use, check out our pregnancy calendar and find your pregnancy week. Take a photo of you on your surfboard or paddleboard and place a mini version next to you or between you and your partner. Think back to your childhood for this baby announcement idea and gather those cute traditional wooden blocks.

Create a cute T-shirt or do a chalkboard illustration indicating your due date as the expiration date of your little one’s ‘only child’ title. Take a photo of you and your partner with lots of adorable rubber ducks floating around you, such as while sitting on a dock or next to a blowup pool (just make sure the rubber ducks don’t float away if you’re out in nature! Make them stranger with each bite: Smother peanut butter on a pickle and take a crunchy bite; dunk meatballs in a glass of milk and dribble on your face; put hot salsa on a chocolate-chip cookie and lick your fingers. Different effects occur depending on how stripes are placed when working the back section of the hood.

Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Surprise Jacket has truly proven to be timeless, growing in popularity since its conception in 1968. Commonly referred to as the “BSJ”, the baby surprise jacket is a very entertaining piece of knitted engineering.