Quick Baby Knit

We're really doing our best trying to get our house sold. So for the past couple months we have been packing boxes for the move to try to empty our house out. This means that my yarn stash has found a new home in temporary storage (boo hoo!) But while packing my yarn I went through it and put it into three piles:
1. Keep and pack away
2. Make something quick with it (usually single skeins that were asking to be kept but were single skeins)
3. Donation (which I just shipped a big package out to the some people on Ravelry)

After going through my yarn I was stuck with a little pile of yarn that I loved but couldn't justify packing. So I quickly knit up some fun baby knits (hats, socks, mitts, etc.) The one project I've been meaning to try is the flower bib from "One Skein" by Leigh Radford. So using a little yellow cotton skein I knit the bib in an evening. It's a fun little project (even though I really had to pay attention to remember to knit the wraps back into the bib since there are a LOT of short rows).

Here it is:

Sleep Sack

It's so hard to decide what type/size of baby clothes to buy. You always hear, "babies don't wear newborn sized clothes. They wear 0-3 months for only a couple weeks." So I never know what to buy, especially since I don't know when the little man will arrive. But I decided that you can't really go wrong with sleep sacks. But while looking at sleep sacks I realized that either the quality really lacked or they were crazy expensive. My solution? Make my own!I searched Etsy for a sleep sack pattern and came across one. I won't list the pattern because frankly it was a bear to work with and had a lot of problems - and I don't want to publicly insult the pattern maker. But after receiving the pattern I met with my mom for the afternoon and we worked on the sack. It was the perfect afternoon project. We picked out some polka dot fabric for the outside and blue stripe for the inside. After cutting out the pieces and reading the directions like 32 times (I'm not exaggerating. She read them, I read them, we read them together, we read them aloud, we read them silently, etc.) we just decided to wing it. A sleep sack is a pretty straight forward pattern (even more bewildering how the pattern managed to be so insanely complicated and backwards!!)After a couple hours we ended up with an adorable sleep sack for Little Man. Hopefully he enjoys it!!

Dexter is almost one!

I can't believe that in a couple months Dexter will be one year old. Time sure does fly! I still remember picking up a little pathetic looking animal from my mom's farm and holding it in my hand. It was a tiny kitten just barely a week old. I didn't know if the kitten would survive and what I was getting myself into. But our love for this kitten grew and he was named "Dexter" and became a part of the family (and Mia's, our maltese, best friend).I always swore that I would never own a cat. They are affectionate at times, but they have no boundaries (always jumping and walking on everything) and they can really demand a lot of attention. But perhaps it's because he's still somewhat of a kitten. But nevertheless, here Mr. Dexter is - all big and grown up. Hard to imagine he used to weigh 3 oz...

Lots of wool baby knits

I bought this knitting book a couple years ago because I couldn't resist the cute knitted bear outfit on the front. Well I finally got around to knitting some items from this great book. I first started with the elastic waist pants - I wanted to make some wool soakers and thought that pattern was perfect to knit up with some wool. They were quick to knit and turned out great. I still need to insert the elastic though...

After I was finished with the pants I had TONS of the aqua wool skein left. So I knit up the vest located in the book. I actually made a ton of changes to the pattern (knitted it in the round, omitted the buttons up the side, and only made it button on one sleeve). I wanted the vest to be as seamless as possible. I still need to add the buttons to the left shoulder...
After all this knitting was said and done, I still had some navy yarn and aqua yarn left over (I started with one 100G skein of each). So I knit up the hat in the book as well. It turned out so cute! All I have left is the tiniest bit of aqua left. I might knit it up into a little ball and felt it for a toy (either for the baby or for the dogs).
So that was a little knitting I've done in the last month. I still have TONS of projects to post to the blog. Currently I'm working on a sweater out of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino for this winter for the baby. The pattern I'm using is out of Vintage Baby Knits. We'll see when that makes it to the blog (only the arms need to be knitted). I also have a couple of baby shower gifts that I need to finish for my friend who is expecting twin girls this September/October. All this knitting!

Beautiful Baby Shower

Both my mother and mother-in-law threw me some amazing baby showers. I don't have any pictures from my mother-in-law's shower but I do have some pictures from my mother's shower.
My mother went with a bird nest theme for the shower. She held it at the local city park in a room overlooking the river. It was beautiful!She placed flower garland down the tables with little nests from Pottery Barn nestled among them (and filled with chocolate eggs, yum!) Candles were placed in antique blue Mason Jars filled with cracked corn.
The plates and glasses were all vintage/antique and again were mostly blue.

My mother surprised me with a beautiful baby quilt that she had made for the little man. Every guest was asked to write a little note for the little guy on the back. It was fun to read everyone's blessings when the shower was over.

And we can't forget the food!!! My dad was a huge help (as well as other family members). We had delicious chicken salad (my mom used dried cherries instead of cranberries) that we could put in huge croissants. We also had my Grandma's spinach salad, strawberries, and some amazing desserts. First off was my dad's famous hamentashens (we aren't Jewish, but my best friend was growing up and every Purim festival we would eat HUGE hamentashens and I begged my dad to come up with a recipe and we've used it ever since!) These are apricot, my favorite.
My dad also made some red velvet cupcakes and banana cupcakes that he decorated with coconut nests and little bird eggs.

The whole afternoon was just beautiful. And I received so many thoughtful presents and enjoyed catching up with people and celebrating the soon-to-be birth of our son. Our cloth diaper stash surely grew.

2 months later...

I can't believe how long I've neglected this blog for! I'm so sorry. But I've been busy with a new job, being pregnant, and finding a new home in a new state. So I have a couple excuses... right?

(image via DryIcons.com)

Well, I guess I should publicly announce that we are expecting a little BOY. I know I didn't announce on the blog when we found out because I was waiting to surprise my family. The secret has been out for a while but I haven't been around to declare it publicly yet. We are super excited for his arrival and can't wait!
In the crafting sector - I've been busy at work with all sorts of projects for our son as well as a couple for the house and the dogs. The most important project that I have completed recently was my FIRST QUILT! Yes, you heard right - I finished a quilt. I'm a member of the Bernina Sewing Club at our local quilting store. Once a month they hold a class and teach you a new technique on your Bernina Sewing Machine. It's a nice afternoon that I spend with my mother (who is a great quilter). One of the projects last fall was a quilt that you quilted as you went along. So it was quilted block by block instead of quilted at the end. This was what allowed me to finally make a quilt. With my back injury I can't quilt the top of a large piece of fabric because it just makes my back throb. But since they were 16 inch blocks (I believe) it was much easier and I could do a little at a time. I started the project last November and finally finished the quilt which was laying in the closet last month.
Here it is! The fabric (I can't remember it's name) was purchased in a fat quarter bundle from Fat Quarter Shop online on SUPER SALE. I think it turned out summery and bright (I can't stand baby blue stuff for the baby). What do you think?

Cloth Diapering

I apologize if baby posts take over this blog for a little while. But I'm getting so excited now that I'm almost 6 months pregnant!
My nausea has finally subsided and I'm able to function. Good thing because I started a new job a couple weeks ago! So I'm a busy lady lately. But I had managed to fit in a project or two in my spare time. The biggest project on the horizon is that I need to start sewing up some cloth diapers. We're planning on cloth diapering and I went and registered for them last weekend and was astounded at the price. $16-20 per diaper is so expensive! But I figured that I could try my hand at making some myself. I still plan on buying most of my cloth diapers (they will last longer and will be made of better materials) but I think I could also try to make a few. Here's my attempt this past weekend.
The first diaper is using a left over tank top of mine for the knit fabric outside and it's got a flannel lining. It's a soft pink and really beautiful. The next diaper is a blue knit fabric and lined with diaper cloth for the lining. I actually think the diaper cloth lining works better. Both have soaker pads made out of flannel and diaper cloth. I'll see how they fit once the baby comes. I purposely posted a blue and pink diaper because I didn't want anyone to know if this baby is going to be a boy or girl. I also figured that the color really doesn't matter since they will need a diaper cover anyway -- so truthfully they'll be covered up.
bAnyone out there sew their own cloth diapers? Any patterns you recommend? I used the pattern by Celtic Cloths available free online. I also tried the pattern by Little Comet Tails but I wasn't as successful at that one. I also didn't make the diapers "All in One" with a waterproof P.U.L. outer since P.U.L. is quite expensive and I don't know if these will even fit!