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Now that I sort of have my crafting mojo back, I have a million things that I want to do. I'd like to finish Henry's cross stitch birth sampler. I think the last time I worked on that was the day my water broke (hmmm, I wonder if I would have finished it if he hadn't come so early)?

I also want to do some (a lot) of sewing. At the top of the list

• swim diapers
• bibs like this (I have some of that exact fabric)!
• one of these (I even have a pattern already)
• a bag for sew, I knit! (I can't make up my mind what kind)

of course I have a few problems--nowhere to set up my sewing machine at the moment and no time to sew (I think the machine would wake up mr. light sleeper even when he's napping in the other room). sigh. Maybe this weekend I can figure something out...

posted by Stephanie at 2:04 PM

 

G is for Grandma!
This photo was taken a few weeks ago when I went to my knitting retreat and Anthony's mom came to help out with Henry. Her name is Ljubica (which means "Violet") and she was born in Croatia (the island of Vis). She currently lives in the L.A. area with my BIL and my doggie Jackson. Henry is her first grandchild and she loooves being a grandma.
posted by Stephanie at 10:22 AM

 

Here's my progress so far on the New England sock from Knitting on the Road (Cherry Tree Hill supersock in spring frost and US0 needles). I like it, but you do have to pay attention to the chart all the time. Soo, I also cast on a plain Regia tip&top sock for mindless sock knitting.
posted by Stephanie at 11:21 AM

 
Yesterday was a busy day for me--DH watched Henry so I got to run around like an idiot trying to get things done. Dishes, laundry, post office, long walk. I went to the farmers market and then the produce stand (because the farmer's market sucked). I made organic zucchini babyfood and ABC nutloaf (yum, btw. we had it with chicken-flavored vegetarian gravy, mashed potatoes, and salad).

Knitting. I couldn't decide what socks I wanted to work on. I knit a few rounds on some ufo socks and then put them away again. Ripped a different ufo sock because I had to face the fact that it was really too small for my foot. Thought about starting a sweater for Henry using sock yarn. Finally, I decided to start the New England socks from Knitting on the Road. I'm using Cherry Tree Hill supersock in spring frost (note that this is a superwash yarn, but the dye tends to fade a lot if you actually put it in the washer and dryer. I'm using this because I had it in my stash, but I won't be buying it again). I had a pic to post but blogger won't let me. pppffftt.
posted by Stephanie at 9:47 AM

 

Here's a small blanket that I just finished up for the preemie project. It's about 20 inches square and I used a basic diagonal garter stitch dishcloth pattern. The yarn is Valeria di Roma Topacio that I bought quite some time ago from elann. It's 60% cotton/40% acrylic and I used 3 skeins. I actually have a sweater's worth of this in orange to make something for me!
posted by Stephanie at 6:21 AM

 

• Look what came in the mail yesterday from elann! 3 balls of Regia cotton surf and one ball of tip and top. I love this cotton blend. I've actually already made 2 pairs of cotton surf socks--one went to my sister and one for me. love love love. I'm resisting the urge to cast on immediately, although the bottom one is Padres colors so I might have to bust that one out soon (opening day is less than 2 weeks away)! The thing is, I have several sock ufos, I'm behind on the KOTR KAL, and I want to see what the new sock will be for the 6sox KAL.
• I must make one (or 5) of these. Cute! and a good stashbuster.
• Henry has rotovirus. The ped said there's nothing that can be done about it (other than giving pedialyte). Poor guy.
• I'm hoping that we can make it to our parent-tot class at the Waldorf school this afternoon. We missed the last 2 weeks due to illness and me being out of town. His nap schedule is totally out of whack today though, and when (if) he finally goes down for a nap I'm sure as hell not going to wake him up to take him.

posted by Stephanie at 11:09 AM

 

pattern: Simply Lovely Lace Socks by Karen Baumer. Interweave Knits Spring 2006.
yarn: Artyarns Ultramerino
modifications: I used US1 needles instead of US0.
posted by Stephanie at 9:52 AM

 

My sweet baby is ten months old today! He isn't crawling yet, but he does cruise along the floor on his tummy with amazing speed. He can get wherever he wants to go. He also figured out how to open the lower kitchen cabinets so we need to get safetly latches installed asap. He is still having stomach problems, but his mood is better. Hopefully he will be back to 100% very soon.

So far I am eating much better today. I won't bore you with a food log, although I am thinking about setting up a separate food blog. You know how sometimes you eat better if you have to actually write it down. And probably even more so if other people might be looking. I just put this together while H was napping so tonight I can pop it in the oven (for 30-45 minutes, I would guess).
posted by Stephanie at 10:45 AM

 
Remember how I said I was going to start eating better? Um, yeah. I say that pretty often and it rarely ever happens. Today started off ok--a juice spritzer (you know, instead of a diet Coke), a bowl of almond-flax granola with plain soymilk, and a little bit of coffee. Later I had the diet Coke anyway with a small organic date-almond-coconut bar from the co-op. It was very much downholl from there--Arby's drivethru AND an entire box of Andes mints for lunch. Ahem. Now I have a tummy ache--imagine that? I don't think peppermint tea can help me this time.

Poor Henry is still having stomach problems. We are going through about eleventy million (disposable) diapers a day. His doctor said that it could last for a week. Oy.
posted by Stephanie at 1:56 PM

 
F is for Feather and Fan! Here is Henry's blanket, blocking on my bed.

Uh, it's a small blanket, if you can even call it that. It's about 25" square. But I don't care. I mean, he's almost a year old so he's probably not going to be using a lace blanket all that much anyway. It looks pretty draped over his crib

Pattern: from Vogue Knitting on the Go Baby Blankets

Yarn: Joslyn's fiber farm laceweight

posted by Stephanie at 2:21 AM

 
It's been a decent day so far, although poor Henry is getting over a stomach bug. This morning I went to Starbucks, had a decaf mocha frappucino, and decided to work on Henry's feather and fan baby blanket. I worked on it at the retreat and of course I made a mistake because I can't knit lace and talk at the same time. I am really sick of this blanket so I just bound it off! It's amazing that I had over 500 stitches on the needle (in the round) and it's still quite small. I know, it was laceweight yarn and size 4 needles (I think) but it seems like I was knitting this thing for about 100 years. My plan is to wash it and see how big it will block out and then I will decide what to do with it.

Then I went to the food co-op and naturally I forgot to bring my shopping list. And the food co-op is way across town. Oy. I got lots of fun things like wheat germ and soy ham (I am trying to eat healthier).

On the way home I stopped at the vegetarian restaurant to pick up lunch. While I was waiting, I popped in to the thrift shop next store (which benefits an animal welfare group--I forget which one). I didn't spend a lot of time there but I did manage to score these 4 cute pink cloth napkins and 2 balls of GGH Esprit for a grand total of $1.08!
posted by Stephanie at 3:05 PM

 

• I finished the first simply lovely lace sock! woot! sorry, no pic since it's too dark at the moment. It fits well and it looks pretty spiffy.
• I can't believe team USA is out of the World Baseball Classic. How embarrassing.
• Henry is feeling better. yay!
• so. tired.

posted by Stephanie at 9:06 PM

 
I'm back home again and I've been a lazy blogger. Henry hasn't been feeling well so I'm using him as an excuse. I'm not really sure what's wrong since he seems to be over his cold--ear infection? teething? constipated? missing his grandma? One minute he's fine and the next minute he's crying like the world is coming to an end. I was getting ready to start weaning him but I guess that will have to wait.

The retreat was wonderful. I didn't take my camera so I don't have any pictures to share. I got to relax, knit, drink wine and coffee, eat great food, sleep, chat with the greatest gals ever, sleep, eat, knit.....I made some progress on Henry's baby blanket, but it's slow going since I now have over 500 stitches on the needle. Oy. I also started a pair of socks (and when I came home I joined the knitalong)--Karen's Simply Lovely Lace

Socks in artyarns ultramerino (IK Spring 2006).

Karen, thankyouthankyouthankyou for the wonderful retreat!!!

posted by Stephanie at 8:19 AM

 
Hurrah! It looks like I will be going to my knitting retreat tomorrow. Henry is starting to feel better and so far I haven't caught his cold. My MIL is coming to help DH for the weekend (DH has a presentation to give next week so he will be working on it from home). Now I am just thinking about what to pack--mainly what knitting to pack. My main project will be Henry's baby blanket--you know, since I want to finish it *ahem* before he becomes a toddler. Of course I'm also bringing some socks for truly mindless knitting. I'm really looking forward to this, although I will miss Henry terribly. But I'll only be gone from Friday afternoon until 1pm on Sunday.

edited to add: I just finished my second cotton market bag. woo! Sorry, no pics because we moved the computer and I don't know where the usb cable for the camera is. This bag is very similar to the yellow one I posted recently, but it's terra cotta colored and I made 2 short handles instead of 1 long one. There's something very satisfying about making something so practical and good for the environment (I've been using the yellow one a lot when Henry and I walk to the grocery store with the stroller).
posted by Stephanie at 2:37 PM

 
Random Monday

• Poor H has another cold. He was up every 2 hours last night cuz he couldn't breathe. I hate seeing him sick--he gets so upset because he doesn't understand why he can't breathe or why I try to suction the yuck out of his nose. He's napping in his swing right now. I've noticed that he prefers to sleep there when he's congested, which makes sense.
• I tried out the new Cuddlebuns diaper on H this morning and I really like it. Although it's bulky, the fit is good. It was very absorbent and I can tell that it will definitely fit him for quite a while.
• So far today I made organic prune babyfood for Henry, eggsalad for sandwiches (dinner), and I have rice pudding in the crockpot (I'm trying a vegan version cuz I had lots of soymilk in the fridge--we'll see how it turns out. I also used Silk creamer, so it looks promising).
• I started knitting another diagonal garter stitch baby blanket for the preemie project using some vareigated cotton/acrylic that I had in my stash. I'm all about the mindless knitting. Still.
• I'm planning to go to my annual knitting retreat (!!) in northern California this coming weekend. Cross your fingers that the stars will align and H will be feeling better by then.

posted by Stephanie at 1:36 PM

 


Here's my first diaper made with the embroidered fabric I showed you the other day. This was also my first time using the Cuddlebuns one-size-diaper pattern. The inner is light blue suedecloth and the closures are light blue snaps. The hidden soaker is 2 microfiber towels folded into thirds. So this is one heavy-duty (all-in-one) diaper! I need to wash it and try it on H before I decide whether I like this pattern or not. Then I can figure out if I want to use the rest of my embroidered PUL this way. And yay--I'm finally getting better at sewing on the foldover elastic!
posted by Stephanie at 7:58 AM

 

I'm always thinking about little things that I can make for the preemie project. Like yesterday I was at Walmart and of course I had to check the fabric remnants. I got 7/8yd of yellow fleece (60" wide) for under $2. So I cut it in half, used pinking shears around the edges, and sewed on some baby appliques that I had picked up a while ago on clearance. Voila, 2 large blankets for the preemie project. The one on top is a small blanket (about 20" square) that I knit from some Sirdar snowflake that was in my stash. I'm also sending the 2 leftover skeins so someone else can use them.
posted by Stephanie at 7:12 PM

 

E is for embroidery. Look what I received in the mail today from WCC. Cuts of PUL (polyurethane laminate) fabric with fabulous embroidery! I picked which designs I wanted and mailed the fabric to her (the service was great btw...and fast). These will be made into diapers (or diaper covers), with the design on the butt of course. I totally cannot decide which one is my favorite. Now to find the time to cut and sew!
posted by Stephanie at 7:59 PM

 
Adventures in tie dye. I bought some blanks (mostly baby t-shirts) and the teeny tie dye kit from dharma trading company. I also did a baby onesie, bib, and hat, and 2 t-shirts for me. But what I'm most excited about is--I dyed a yard of white flannel fabric that I will use to make diapers (of course)! It was fun and I love the finished items. I don't think I will do it again soon though cuz it was just too messy (duh). And for some reason I was thinking that the kit came with yellow, red, and blue. But it actually came with yellow, fuschia, and turquoise.

Adventures in homemade baby food. I now have cute little squares of the following in my freezer

• tofu with sweet potatoes & apples
• organic black beans
• mangos
• organic yams
• organic pumpkin with barley

next up

• organic sweet corn
• organic apples
• organic butternut squash

I should probably do something green too. For the past few days he's been eating avocado with his lunch, so at least that's green!

posted by Stephanie at 5:52 PM