A Post Less Car-Wrecky...

Is it possible to instill a compulsion while a baby is still in utero? If yes, then my wee little girl is going to inherit a shoe problem. Behold...



Hand-me-down Robeez for Christmas from Pinta's Auntie J and cousin K who has long outgrown them. WHEE :) So excited. But that's not all...



The collection I started long before even getting pregnant. Um...yeah. I got nuthin'.



These little owl ones I bought just the other day at The Teazer in Mahone Bay (20% off mind you) simply because they go PERFECTLY with the little sweater. Lighting is terrible, but the pinks match up like you wouldn't believe. I spent half an hour putting what outfits I have with the bombardment of shoes I received. It was a good half hour. And, uh, I may have ordered two more pair (also on sale) online. C'mon...it's free shipping. I'm a sucker for free shipping. I'm likely to buy just about anything if you'll ship it to me for nothing. Heck, gimme two.

Anyway. I'm getting the inkling that it might be customary to to an FO tally for the year, as just about every blog I visit regularly has done so today. I however, do not have the brain power for this. It may be as simple as logging onto my Rav page and counting, but believe me, that is a monumental task for me today. I's tired. I can tell you I knit 3 adult sweaters and finished an afghan, with the help of one of my fellow Knitterpudlians. And a bunch of socks. And some kids stuff. Toys, sweaters...that sort of thing. Ya know...knitting.

Speaking of which...



A WIP. Another Top Down sweater by Cabin Fever, this time for Pinta Bean. It's sized one year, but that's alright. Nice to make stuff in advance. I like the colourway. It's busy, but then so are kids. This was the yarn that was in my stocking from the constable (wink wink, nudge nudge). He congratulated himself on being such a thoughtful guy when he saw it.



And one final Christmas gift was delivered today. A new rocker for the baby's room, perhaps the final installment of items to complete the picture. Well, some trim around the window would be good I suppose. I'm sure we'll find a minute or two before March to attend to that. Looking forward to spending many an hour here.

And that, my friends, is it for 2008. Have a good night y'all. Stay safe and party smart. Catch up with you in '09.

Until then...

On the 2nd day after Christmas...

My true love rolled the Jeep.



He's totally fine, which is just the most awesome Christmas present ever. His neck was a little sore and he had a slight bump on the head, but no cuts or scrapes or broken bones. And I was not in the Jeep with him at the time, which is also awesome, as you can clearly see the passenger side took the brunt of the damage. Snowy roads...total fluke. And now the Jeep is no more. Let the insurance hassle begin.

I think it took me until this afternoon to calm down. The rollover happened just outside of Lunenburg yesterday after his hockey tournament (he coaches little guys). We went back there today to where he'd had it towed to get all of the stuff out of the back (namely his hockey equipment, as he also plays). A quick stop at Have a Yarn helped to sooth my nerves a little bit. But I'll post about that another time. For now, I think I need a little lie down. Until later...

Foreshadowing...

I got a small taste of what I might be in for in a few months over the weekend. The constable was sick, the dog was weird and up all hours and the wind was howling, threatening to tear the house apart, or so it sounded at times. All of those combined conspired against my getting any sleep whatsoever, and so I saw the briefest glimpse of a me without much sleep for only two days. The extended version should be oh so charming indeed.

I did manage to knit a bit in between fits of sleeplessness and desperately trying to nap. First up, these:



Saartje's Booties knit out of Sirdar Denim DK for Pinta's soon to be cousin for Christmas. Soon to be as in like, likely to be born around the same time. Too cool. Oh yeah, Pinto Bean has now become Pinta Bean, and since the constable and I are having a bit of a hard time coming up with a name we're both sold on, I'm trying to convince him just to go with Pinta and our troubles are over. If only she were one of a set of triplets, I would be all over it (get it? Nina, Pinta, Santa Maria?).

Anyway...this is a great pattern. You can whip these little buggers up in a couple of hours. I plan on making a pink pair for Pinta and perhaps convince the BIL and SIL to take a photo of their bean wearing his and I'll do likewise. Matchy-matchy :)



I also brought this out the closet, where it had been hanging in anticipation, and added a little detailing which I think is charming. I can't decide between knitting a pink rosette and adding a snap closure or picking up the pink baby safety pins I saw at the store to use as a closure. I'll give it some more thought.



T'would appear as though I have pink on the brain. This lovely mess is the dainty pink sweater I alluded to in a previous post. What I find exceedingly frustrating is that I seem to knit lovely things for other people and when I sit down to crank out a project for myself, arse it up more times than I can count. I haven't ripped back, cuz I flat out refuse to where lace is concerned, and I'm sure the mistakes aren't as plentiful as I think they are, but I do know that there are some spots where I've mangled the pattern and well, that will have to be part of it's charm I suppose. In any event, this is going to be wee so I hope she's not going to be the huge baby that her father insists that she will be. What is up with that anyway? I keep hearing, 'TEN POUND BABY' to which I keep asking, 'Do you hate me or something?'



More pink, this time for me. Plain vanilla socks in Tanis Sweetheart. Still adore this yarn. I had a pattern in mind for this yarn, but then went a-travelling and vanilla seemed more practical. Looking forward to finishing these, as they make cozy socks. And of course, I plan on making little ones out of the leftover. Mommy and me socks.

I've got last minute shopping to do and have been stalling all morning cuz it's cold and windy and I just don't wanna. Meh. It's just too cozy in here these days. Hank begs to differ. He'd much rather be out in the snow while it lasts. Maybe if he can keep from driving me nuts for 20 mins, I'll indulge him. Up again at 4 am to be let outside has not put him on my 'nice' list for today. Although he was allowed to open a present this morning. But that's really only because he needed a chewy to keep him occupied and the cupboard was bare. But he was pretty excited at the prospect of opening a present. So that was cute.

Anyhow, I'm off. Until later. Have a great holiday y'all.

Near Miss...

It's been one of those weeks, ya know? Nothing major, certainly nothing to get in a big stink about, but just an accumulation of about a dozen small things that when combined with pregnancy make me just want to sleep in tomorrow until my bladder simply refuses to let the sleeping go on any longer.

One of the things that had me in a bit of a tizzy was a sick computer. It had contracted some sort of virus, a rather recent one so I am told, which encrypted all of my photo files and hid them away somewhere. This was mildly devastating, as I, like most of you I'm sure, have a lot of photos on my computer. That's pretty much what the laptop is...a photo storage device. There was some redundancy built in, I had a lot of them uploaded online and about a year ago, had put a lot on disc. But of course there have been quite a few photos taken since then. Anyhow, long story short, the computer guy that came over today managed to find my photos and put them back where they belong and tomorrow I'm putting every single one of them on a disc, whether I truly value them or not. So that's a relief.



Speaking of photos, here's one of our Christmas tree. First official family Christmas tree in the new digs. It's real, which I haven't had for years, and really, there's nothing like that smell. I'm quite pleased with it, and I gotta say, living next door to the Christmas tree capital of the world has it's privileges. Sorry, but you can't get a tree this nice back in ye olde Ontario for $20.00. And it's so nice and full you can't see the trunk. Anyhow, it's exceedingly difficult to take a picture of a Christmas tree either a) lit up or b) so that you get a real sense of what the decorations look like. This was the best I could do. And it's the only time you're likely to see the blue tulle garland. At night, it's completely invisible. I thought it might show up with the lights, but well, it doesn't. At least I know it's there. Guess that's all that matters.



Here's someone else who seems to approve of the tree. There's been no issues with him and the new livingroom fixture whatsoever. He's not a leg-lifter, so that wasn't a concern. If anything, we thought he might be obsessed with sniffing the tree, as he's a huge fan of pine scent. I'm not kidding. I take him to Pine Grove, a nice little nature trail not far from here, and every two steps he's got to stop and inhale. When we first brought the tree in he seemed a wee bit confused by the whole bringing the outdoors into the house. I suppose that would be a bit counter-intuitive to a dog. But other than him grazing it with his back every time he walks by, he pretty much ignores it altogether. He's always been good like that; never one to get into things and chew.

Knitting has been slow. I feel like I'm back in the first trimester again where getting my brain into pattern reading mode is a challenge I'd rather exchange for sitting like a lump in front of the television. I have started a dainty pink sweater for you know who, so I'll post about that in a day or so when there's a little more progress.

For now though, I'm going to go into lump mode until it's time for sleep mode. Until later...

It's a...

I've been trying to come up with some cute and clever way of doing the 'big reveal' of the results of the 3d ultrasound today, as I know there are at least a few people out there who are mildly interested in finding out what we're having (I've gotten your messages ladies).

Anyhow, all relevant immediate family have been contacted now and it's late and I'm tired, so I guess it's time just to be out with it.

We are having




a little





GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



To my Knitterpudlian compatriots, have 'atter with the pink yarn.

Pictures are amazing. I think she actually looks like me. So weird and cool at the same time.

Anyhow, gotsta sleep. It's been quite the exciting day. Until later...

Oh So Happy...

Chicken Betty tagged me for a Tree of Happiness meme and I think I'm supposed to list six things that make me happy. Seeing as I'm suffering an awful bout of reflux/heartburn at the moment and though dog tired, the whole laying down thing makes it worse, perhaps listing some happy-inducing items might take the edge off. So here goes.

One: My home. Alright, I'm just going to give up now and let you know that the majority of this list is going to be touchy-feely fromage, but it's all true. The fact that I have a home and it's ours and it's cozy and warm makes me tremendously happy. It's my ultimate haven, my shelter in the storm (literally I suppose), the only place I want to be most of the time. I'm a true home body, totally content to be here and putter around.

Two: The people in it. My home that is. The constable, Hank...they're always glad to see me, and I them and we share our own strange language and rituals and we just generally enjoy one another's company. They both make me laugh tremendously, and there really isn't anything better than that. Plus Hank is really soft and fuzzy, so there's a tactile component as well. You can't help but get a little happier when you're kind of grumpy just by petting his head.

Three: Sleep. Oh how I treasure my sleep. There is nothing in this world better than a really good nights sleep or a long guilt-free nap in the middle of the day. I defy you to convince me otherwise. And with this whole pregnancy thing, though I haven't encountered much sleep interruption, I'm even more keenly aware of the difference a restful night can make the next day. And yes, I'm well aware I'm on borrowed time with this one. Just let me enjoy it while I can.

Four: A great meal. Much like sleep, there's just nothing like it. A great meal enjoyed with equally great company is the marrow of life. And it cannot be rushed. You must be able to languish over a meal for a good long time, with lots of wine and scintillating conversation. Those kinds of moments not only feed the belly but the spirit as well.

Five: Along with friends and family, which I was going to go into greater detail about, I think I'm going to have to reserve this one for solitude. Chicken Betty touched upon this one as well, and I too find it vitally important that I carve out my alone time in my day. Which at the moment isn't terribly hard to do. I work from home and my hubby works shifts, so being alone is an almost constant state of affairs. But there are times when things are busy or I'm around people more than I'm not and I find that to find that inner equilibrium, I need to just be alone and collect my thoughts. Whenever I get out of balance, being alone brings me back to center and makes me much happier.

Six: Again, kinda cliche and a little on the sugary sweet side, but I gotta say it: being pregnant. This has been one of the happiest times of my life. Everything has gone so well so far and seeing as this is something I (and we) have wanted for quite some time, I've tried not to take a moment of it for granted. I've wanted to be totally present for every experience and just soak it all up, letting everything else fall by the wayside if need be. Despite the discomfort and crankiness at times, I feel very lucky to be a part of all this. It's, like, uber-cool.

See? Heartburn is gone. Attitude is everything. I'm off to bed then. Until later...

Last Solo Flight...

One round trip ticket to Ontario on Westjet: Reasonably priced, with a seat sale on both ends

One rental car picked up in Hamilton: Also reasonably priced, with a ten percent discount

Being able to surprise your BFF on the day of her baby shower: Priceless.

Her husband and I had been planning it for about a month, sending super secret squirrel emails back and forth and it went off without a hitch. She was all surprised and discombobulated and I was delighted that I could be there for it. I left Friday, returned Monday so was back in my hometown area in Ontario for, what, a little more than 72 hrs., but it was a blast. The shower was a major success, if I do say so myself.

When she mentioned that she would be having a shower way back sometime in October, I went berserk and didn't stop for an entire month. Behold:



And that wasn't everything. I included another receiving blanket, a sleep sack that I had sewn, a memory book and some stuff to throw in the diaper bag. Included in this photo are a pair of Fetching in alpaca, some felted slippers, socks knit from Fleece Artist Nova Socks, a top down cardigan from Top Down for Toddlers...umm, what else...a couple of knitted washcloths. Too fun. I did actually get a few photos of the opening process, but for some reason, my computer won't recognize them on my memory card. Must print them soon lest they be lost forever.



I think this may have been the biggest hit all 'round. My Knit Nite ladies went nuts for it while I was in the process of creating it (which spawned two more like it from NovaKnitter) and it seemed to resonate with the shower attendees as well. It's Debbie Bliss' Cabled Tank Top knit with DB Baby Cashmerino. I have two balls of deep indigo in my knitting basket waiting for my own little version of this. It's so so sweet.



I was really pleased with how this one turned out as well. I wasn't so sure in the early stages of knitting if I would like how it turned out, but when it was finished, I thought, and still do think, that it's as sweet as can be. Top Down Cardigan from Top Down for Toddlers (Carrie, you should seriously get this book, you'll love it) sized for one year knit out of Bernat Jr. Jacquards in the Country Kid colourway. Acrylic and nylon I believe, but quite soft. Perfect for early fall weather over top of those denim overalls!

So that was my stealth knitting for most of the autumn. What a blast it was to get it all together and keep it all a secret...whee. I had a few comments that perhaps a nearly seven month pregnant lady shouldn't be travelling in the skies and on the roads alone at this time of year, but I figured, as the title suggests, that this will be my last solo flight for a very long time. Plus, the baby is easier to lug around like this than any other possible configuration. Less stuff to contend with. Only my own.

Now it's time to settle into the long dark winter and wait for the excitement of the spring. Tomorrow we find out what this little bean will be and perhaps even what he/she might look like (one of those funky 3d ultrasounds). I'm quite excited. Pinto seemed to enjoy flying (or perhaps not, as the case may be...one never really knows) as I was kicked all the way from Halifax to Hamilton and back again, the most active in one sitting that the baby has been. It's hard to believe that there is only 90 days or so left...it's gone by rather quickly. And with Christmas and New Years and then my b-day tacked onto the end of that, I'm sure this next little while will buzz by as well. Exciting times.

I've been tagged to do a meme as well, and I will get to that in another post but for now I'm still a bit knackered from the trip and I have some Christmassy type things to attend to, ie. get packages ready for sending. I'm forever dragging my feet on this and end up paying dearly for it, literally, in the end. Last year I decided to let myself off the hook with any sort of Christmas related knitting, except for perhaps myself and the constable, so that's a relief. No pressure there. Just looking forward to enjoying the holiday with my feet up.

Until later...

Lame Duck Pregnancy...

According to my ticker, there's one hundred days left. One hundred days to that rather arbitrary number of a due date. Whee.

Some drive-by blogging coming up...



Hat. Skull Isle pattern from Son of Stich n' Bitch. Knit this in like, two and half days. Haven't picked up the needles since. But I love my new hat.



Two more sleep sacks. I love these things...they're so sweet.



Doing some more onesies as well. I was hunting around at Frenchy's for some and it was just more of the same of what I've already picked up. Then it dawned on me that I could scour the bin of men's t-shirts for usable material, most of which wasn't worn at all. So I've got a stack to work on, some of which I'm thinking might be good for gifts.

And that's it. I'm starting to tire easily again, getting back in the habit of napping, which I must admit I'm not all that upset about. The fact that they are more like three hour complete and total black-outs is a little bothersome, as the better part of my day has disappeared once I regain conciousness. Sleeping at night is getting complicated...just not comfortable. I suspect, like everything else, this will no go away or improve. *sigh*

Anyhow, I'm trying to blog and watch Dragon's Den at the same time and I must admit, Dragon's Den is winning. Until later...

Celebrity Sighting, Canuck Style...

I am useless today. Completely wiped out. And I'm a little baffled, cuz while I was out and about yesterday, I really didn't do anything.

I had to go for an ultrasound at the IWK in Halifax yesterday afternoon. No biggie, just my stubborn little bean of a baby wouldn't co-operate for the first 2 ultrasounds that I had down here at South Shore Regional and so the powers that be couldn't see all the views of the heart that they wanted to see. Which lead me to taking the entire day to get to, wait for, go through and come home from a one hour ultrasound in the city. Honestly, it took all day. Not that I am really begrudging the event. I mean, I did get to see the little weirdo once again, this time being able to sync up movement I saw with movement I could feel. And seeing as it was my third ultrasound, I could definitely see a difference in size of all the essential parts. Although I still mistook the belly for the head, so ya know, there's a learning curve with this stuff. And I don't know why, but seeing those itty-bitty hands and feet just delight me like nothing else. I've giggled every time.

Anyhow, after an hour of trying to coax this willful, still in-utero child to, I dunno, flip over I guess by getting me to walk around the room, empty my full bladder, jiggling the camera-wand thingy half a dozen times over my belly, having me lay on my side and yes, even going so far as to tip the bed backwards so that my feet were above my head, the tech gave up and called in the radiologist, who, in about two minutes or so, got the view she wanted and we were away to the races. It's nice when a doctor calls your baby's heart 'gorgeous' and all of the measurements 'perfect'. Leaves a warm fuzzy feeling. So that was good.

But I think the coolest part of the day was actually lunch before the exam. We stopped in Bayers Lake, the big box store shopping area just before the city, hoping to hit a few stores. It was lunch time by then and I was desperate to hit a Burger King, since there isn't one in our area. I was like that guy on the BK commercial where they fool people into thinking that they don't serve the Whoppers anymore and he gets rather agitated and yells, "I WANNA WHOPPER." So that's where we went.

Immediately upon entering the fine establishment we see the guy who plays Julian on the Trailer Park Boys. I mean, you couldn't mistake him for anyone else. Though he wasn't holding his signature drink in his hand at the time, he was holding his cellphone, just like he would his rye on the rocks and it was at that very moment that the secret, silent communication that only married people possess kicked in without missing a beat. I was ahead of the constable and I immediately turned around, to which he responded with a slight smile and a nod. Without saying a word, it was as though I turned and said, 'Is that...?' and he replied, 'Uh-huh'. So that was cool. And while I've never spotted a celebrity in the States, I have spotted my fair share of Canadian ones here on home soil, and I have to believe that there is something uniquely Canadian about how we treat our celebs. Though the BK wasn't full of people, there were definitely a few others who recognized him as well, though no one approached him at all. Could be cuz it's common to see him around these parts, I don't know. But everyone just whispered and made head motions in his general direction and let him alone to have lunch with his kids in relative obscurity.

Onto the craft content. Seeing as I'm pretty much stuck on the chaise today, figuratively and quite literally (with this growing belly, it's getting increasingly more difficult to get up from the chaise), I'll share some recent FO's for you, the first of which I like to call The Gift That Just Wasn't Meant to Be.



I bought some Patons SWS in Natural Denim to make my sister something for Christmas. At first I was thinking hat, but was having a hard time coming up with just the right hat. It had to be 'just the right hat' cuz even by her own admission, my sis would say that she and hats don't always see eye to eye. I cast on for a couple of different patterns, all of which just didn't seem to want to work (one of which was Le Slouch, which was absolutely the wrong hat altogether...I think I had more me in mind at that point) so I sought the knowledge of my Knit Nite compatriots and the consensus was a resounding 'felted slippers.' NovaKnitter sung the praises of the felted clog and had me pretty much convinced by the time I got home. I checked the yardage of the pattern, 500 yrds, with what I had, which was just a little over 300, so I went with the felted ballet slippers instead. Yadda yadda yadda, everything was sailing along smoothly until I got to the part where you pick up around the sole of the foot. I had knit the ladies large sole, so I thought, but only managed to pick up around for the ladies small. Hmmm. Something fishy. Ah well, I'm sure it will all come out in the wash. Literally. So I went ahead and finished the first slipper. When I got around to the same point in the second, I realized where I had made the mistake. For the ladies large sole, I was supposed to knit 29 garter stitch ridges, decrease, knit another eleven ridges, decrease, then knit another eleven. It was the second eleven that I had omitted. What this all really means is I am now the proud owner of a lovely pair of felted slippers and still have no gift for my sister for Christmas.



Numero Deux; I finally finished my Flying Arrows (not a link to the pattern, but these are lovely in red) socks out of the buttery and obsession creating Tanis yarn in the Lagoon colourway. Love. More than love. Adore. I did the garter stitch short row heel on these as well, and they are quickly becoming my favourite heel of all time. Perfect fit.



C) Sock one of the pair to match the orange onesie I made. Kertzer something or other. I'd forgotten that there were other colours in the yarn than just orange and yellow. Ah well. I'm not going to try and make them match anyway, and still very cute.



Quattro and Five: A sleep sack sewn by yours truly and a little cotton hat knit out of Cloud Cotton Eco Cotton in what I'm going to call a natural colourway. Very soft. The sleep sack, size three months according to the pattern, looks huge to me. But it turned out well and I like it (I managed to haul my carcass off the chaise to get this photo...quite a mistake...not doing that again.)



Currently on the needles; Skull Isle Hat (Ravelry link, sorry for those of you not on Rav...couldn't find it online elsewhere) from Son of Stitch n' Bitch in pink and red Wool Gatto. I've been wanting to make this for a long while, and figured as it was winter already, now is as good a time as any. It's going quickly, which I like. Just gotta do some simple colour work every once in a while. This is supposed to be a stash busting project, but I've got this sneaky suspicion that I won't be content until I have the mittens to match. I'm also a little worried that it's going to be too small. But we'll see.

And that's all I've got left in me. I'm now actually tired from blogging. This is sad. Guess I'll go attempt a nap. Sleeping at night is proving to be somewhat of a challenge. Not that I'm waking up, just not sleeping comfortably or soundly. And that's no fun.

Until later...

At It Again...

Pumpkin spice muffins are yummy.

So the whole refashion/recycling sweatshirt project was so much fun that I thought I would see what else I could do. I don't recall whether I mentioned it in the sweatshirt post, but I thought that I could crank out a few onesies out of some old t-shirts that I had lying around. Just so happens I have a pattern for onesies.



This isn't really a tutorial, but if you happen to have a pattern lying around for onesies or want to try this yourself, you'll want t-shirts that are a) big enough (these are men's large and extra large) and b) t-shirts that don't have seams on the sides. The front and back pattern pieces are meant to be cut on the fold of the fabric, so as you can see here, I've placed them on the sides of the t-shirt where the 'fold' is. I know the photos are a little dull, but I've just not been all that enamoured with my flash lately. Weird lighting this time of year. I'm also doing the small size in the pattern. It goes down as far as xxs, which would also be fine, and I may have been able to eek out a medium, but small was fine for my purposes. (In my amateur estimation, the resulting size is about a 3-6/6-9 month size, compared with some other store bought onesies I have already).



So yadda yadda yadda, I get a little into what I'm doing and forget to take some 'in progress' photos. But here is the the onesies all sewn, or rather, serged, together. If it wasn't for my serger, I don't think I would bother with these projects, since sewing with t-shirt or jersey material on just a sewing machine is a fast track to insanity. For the crotch area, I made sure that my pattern piece went as far down as the bottom hem of the t-shirt. The pattern called for cutting out pieces for the neck bands and for bands around the leg. Again, since I wanted fast and easy and not so much on the insane part, I opted just to serge around these areas. It gives a less finished look, but whatever. These are clothes that are likely to be barfed on. I'm not that fussy.



The t-shirt I used for this onesie was a little worn and thin, so while likely pretty comfy, would only be good for very warm weather or perhaps at night for sleeping, in a sleep sack. Anyway, I remembered that in purging a lot of his t-shirts, the constable was a little bummed out that some of his favourite logo's would also be lost to the rag pile. So I cut out one of the smaller ones, went and got some stuff called Wonder Under (or Heat n' Bond as I knew it), which through the magical process of ironing, creates a nice iron-on logo or patch. Ta-da! Funkified.



That is until I went to finish the process, which requires that you put a damp cloth on top of the logo for the final ironing which bonds the logo to the project and used a red cloth that bled all over my white onesie. DAR! Ruination. So I'm gonna wash it and if it doesn't come out, try and peel it off and do it again on another onesie or take the cursed cloth and do the same thing all over the rest of the outfit to get a mottled/tie-dye effect.



Not satisfied to stop at one, I did it again, this time with one of my own old t-shirts. I got this for volunteering for the conservation authority in my last county of residence. Does anyone ever wear these things after the fact, other than for painting houses or doing yard work? Neon orange just isn't my colour. Needless to say, it's never been worn. This time I flipped the shirt over and cut out the pieces on the back, so that I could avoid getting any writing in my cutting.



And this is how I did the sleeves; cut the sleeves off the t-shirt and through the underarm seam so that they would lie flat. Placed them wrong sides together, centered the pattern piece and cut away. The hem of the t-shirt sleeve becomes the hem of the onesie sleeve. Easy peesy, lemon squeezy.



This time around I wanted a more finished/less homemade look, so I cut the neck band off the shirt and used it for the neck band of the onesies, topstitching on the right side to secure the seam. Same with the leg bands, although this time I had to salvage some neckbands from two other white t-shirts, but I think it looks rather cute! I also added a Simple Knot Newborn Cap like the ones Carrie made, which are too cute for words (link to pattern via her website if you're interested). I thought about adding the logo from the front of the shirt to the onesie, but it was too heavy to bond well and I didn't care for it anyway. So in the garbage it went along with the scraps of the shirt and I am quite pleased to see the end of it, knowing I've at least given it a second life. The only thing left to do on both onesies is sew or hammer on some snaps in the crotch and at either side of the neck. El finito.

Isn't this orange onesie now just screaming for some matching socks? And I have just the yarn in my stash too. Stay tuned...

If Only He Could Colour in a Colouring Book...

Rain, rain,
Go away,
Come again some other day,
So that mom can take me out to play.

Definitely Not a Monkey...

The aforementioned sheep from yesterdays post arrived about an hour after I hit the publish button. Is this not the most hilarious sheep you've ever seen? The tag identifies him as a Pudgie and I think I want one of each. I was really hoping they made hippo's too, but not yet. I can't wait to sit the baby next to this gigantic blob of a sheep once the wee bean is able to sit up.

So I had a bit of a brain storm today that I thought would be blog worthy. A while back I bought a baby pattern that was on for half price at the fabric shop. It was for a couple of little hoodies with matching bottoms. I browsed the sweat shirt fabric that they had last time I was there and there didn't appear to be much in the way of selection. Then I remembered the last clothing purge we did that resulted in a large pile of old t-shirts etc. being deposited in my craft room for dust rags et al.



Why not re purpose the hubby's big sweatshirt into a little hoodie? Why not indeed.



I cut the sleeves off, saved them for the sleeves of the hoodie, and also cut off the wrist and bottom bands of the sweatshirt. Just for ease of cutting, and they were pretty worn out anyway. The pieces of the hoodie, fronts, back, hood and bottom band I cut out of the body of the sweatshirt.



Yadda yadda yadda, sew sew sew, and now I've got a little hoodie where once there was just a sad sorry old sweatshirt. The shirt itself kinda had that distressed look to it, as I think the constable wore it working one of his previous jobs. Anyhow, imagine what you might pay at the Gap for something of a similar nature. Hehehe...

I could only go so far as to serge around the hood and fronts for now as I didn't have a separating zipper on hand. I think I'll pick one up tomorrow.

Anyhow, from start to finish I think this took about two hours. I made the largest size in the pattern, which looks to me to be about twelve to twenty-four months. I think the colour works for either gender as well. If my husband could wear it from high school on, that's good enough for me. I'll be happy to know what we're having though, once we finally find out. It'll make crafting and shopping so much easier.

So that's today's FO.

Meanwhile, in Sewing...

I'm starting to waddle now. This can't be good. By the way, this is a picture heavy post.

Anyhow, in addition to some furious knitting, I've also been doing some sewing. All baby related, of course. This past weekend was particularly productive, which was kind of a fluke. I happened upon this link via WhipUp which I like to check in with on occasion just to see what is up in the crafting world.

So here was an idea for a nice easy quilt. I like easy. Especially when it comes to quilts. I think, even though I enjoy the process just as much, I am overall a product crafter, and quilts are not the right kinds of projects for cranking out product. Unless you don't mind year or two lags between FO's. The fluke part about this is a long while ago, when I first discovered the whole pregnancy thing, I started rummaging through my fabric stash to see what potential might lie there. I had lots of flannel remnants. Lots. I love flannel. I've made flannel stuff for me, the hubby, babies in my life...can't get enough flannel. So as a brain dead project, I started cutting up these flannel remnants, all shades of blue, into different sized squares. I had no particular project in mind. I just figured that having lots of squares instead of lots of oddments of fabric was a step in the direction of fabric destash.

Then I happened upon the ragged squares link and a light bulb went off. Up to the craft room I went and after some futzing and finagling, I had this...



Insta-quilt top. Never one to follow a pattern or direction to the letter, I took the small middle square and made it a diamond. Funky. The squares are also not the exact size given in the tutorial, but whatever...I knew it was going to be a baby blanket anyway.



Here we have the binding attached. Here's the calm before the storm as well. I usually do pretty well with the piecing of quilts and then inevitably arse up the actually quilting part. I'm partial to hand quilting, but I was looking to have this done and over with last evening (re: addicted to finished objects at the moment) so I heaved a large sigh of submission and gave into the machine quilting part of the direction. I knew it wouldn't go well.



Not that it went horribly. Just that because of the diamonds, I couldn't do the quilting as directed in the tutorial, so I just did a big kinda swirly thing with the sewing machine and called it quilted. My free thinking nature has inevitable consequences.



The ragged part comes in after you wash the quilt, so that all of those raw seams get all fuzzed up. It's quite cute. And very soft and squishy.



I also have some of the crib bedding finished. I love the letters in the crib sheet...I'm hoping to inspire a lifelong love of reading through osmosis. And those are all my toys from childhood. We recently unearthed them from the mountain of stuff still as yet unpacked in the garage. I went through them all, washed them up and there are now two full big totes of stuffed animals in the baby's room. No baby yet, just a boatload of toys. I guess I'm more of a pack rat than I'm willing to admit. Anyhow, at some point I'll post a bit about them as well...there's some real blasts from the past in there.



Extra crib sheets, cuz I hear those come in handy. All flannel, but of course. These are way easy. I could make dozens.



Some receiving blankets, one with a nice finished hem, the other a lazy serged edge. I love my serger. Very nice of ma to hand that down to me.



And of course, sheep. More receiving blankets here. I don't know if you can see it on the light blue/grey one, but it says 'Sheepy Time'. I've tried very hard to resist the pull of a sheep-themed nursery, which would've been oh so easy to do, and yet they've found their way in anyway. I should've taken a picture, but on the baby's dresser, there is already a corner of sheep toys. Stuffed animals, puppets. Now blankets. When I was home last, I saw this gigantic sheep pillow/stuffed animal thing that I fell in love with and have been mooning over ever since. My mother has been itching to buy things, so I sent her on a mission to retrieve the sheep. Her first trip was a miss, but did result in a sheep, just not the one I wanted. So back she went and now there is a box on it's way here from Ontario that will hopefully contain said sheep (though for some reason, she keeps saying it looks like a monkey. I would not be the least bit surprised if when I open the box, it's actually a monkey. There is much that gets lost in translation when in conversation with my mother).

So what now? I've got nothing on the needles at this precise moment, and no projects piled up on the cutting table and I'm feeling a little woozy. Time to start something new.

Until later...

Did you watch last night? Did you see the crowds? I'm kind of a cynical, skeptical person, so witnessing a quarter million people gather in a park after dark not to see a rock star, not to be entertained, but to hear one man speak, to be inspired...well, wow...it was really something to see. It was inspirational. I can say it was truly like nothing I've ever seen before.

I stayed up till 1:30 am to watch it all and I'm glad I did. History in the making. A real and sincere feeling that change is afoot. Very very cool.

That being said, thank whatever powers there be in both heaven and earth that the freakin' election campaign is finally OVER!! BAH! May we please return to our regularly scheduled programming? And if I hear the words Jean Shaheen or John Sunnunu one more time I might lose it (candidates running for...senate?...in the great state of Mass.)



Right, knitting. Much less complicated by comparison. This here's a Ribbed Baby Jacket, Debbie Bliss pattern (found online for free...I'll link if I can find it again) with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran yarn, dark brown. Only took 1.75 skeins. Which is brilliant cuz I only had three. Great great stashbuster project, and one that I've been dying to make for years now. It's a great little pattern, super easy, only took me two evenings to complete (though I must admit I knit so much the second evening my wrists paid for it in spades the following day). Love. Might make more.



Next up, a little rolled brim hat of my own devising knit out of some leftover Noro Kuryeon that I had kicking around. Not sure the colourway, but you can clearly see that it is blue. For some reason, the little i-cord decorations at the top of hats (re: Umbilical Cord Hat) amuse me greatly, so I got a little (very little) creative and went my own way with it. Kinda Celtic-y. Anyhow, another one evening project that also busted some stash which I must tell you, is highly addictive. I've been hunting for other projects with the same MO as cranking out an FO in a day or two is making me feel rather euphoric.



I'd love to say that I knit this in a day also, but I'm not that insane. I did finish it last night though, as I was watching the election results roll in. I had it half completed with a heel flap, and decided to rip back to do a garter stitch short row heel, the way I learned it in the Lucy Neatby workshop I took in Mahone Bay on Oct. 31 & Nov. 1. My Knitterpudlian compatriots blogged about it some, so I'll just hit the highlights. Friday; socks. Saturday; Lace. She's a great teacher, super knowledgeable, very colourful and I had a good time. I would so go back to school if I could just sit there and learn about knitting for six-eight hours a day.

The pattern; Flying Arrows. The yarn; Tanis and I can't find the tag otherwise I'd tell you the colourway as it totally deserves full disclosure. I'm having such a love affair with this yarn at the moment. It's damn near perfect. The colour is so layered and intense, the fibre itself is squishy and bouncy and well spun, the resulting item is totally warm and it's an absolute dream to knit up. What more could you ask for? Well, just plain more, that's what!! No second sock syndrome here, I'm dying to cast on and finish so that I can get to the pink skein that I have sitting waiting patiently for me to give it some love too. I want a skein in every colour that this comes in. So if you're looking to buy me something for Christmas, well, you know what to do.

Now if you'll excuse me, this is taking away from some precious knitting time. Must finish something!!!