Fall is in the Air.

I realized I never posted a finished picture of the sweater I made for Loki. Pulling it out of storage in preparation for the crisp weather that is in the air made me want to share. It's such a wonderfully light weight but warm sweater. Taking it out makes me want to knit another, but I gotta get those pants done 1st.

Close up of the buttons.  There is a close up of the stripes here.

The pictures are from last year when it was finished. 

I just never put them up.

Two at Once

I was going to post this as kinda off topic but then it occurred to me that really it's not at all. Why not? I was figuring this blog is as much about me as it is my crafts. So many blogs are about the person behind the art not just the art. (There is a whole other blog post brewing in here regarding art and craft.)

This evening I took my 1st foray into double babywearing. Two babes at once (well one toddler and a babe).

Astas is in a Pfau Didy wrap  and Loki is in a Babyhawk.

Not the best picture as this was taken right after we got home and it turned out about 30min was all we could handle. Loki was ready to jump out, but I made him pose for a quick pic for proof that it happened at all. 

I was surprised at how "easy" it was to throw two kids in carriers and trot off into the woods. I bet if I keep it up I'll be back to my fighin' weight in no time.

I Sew Too.

You may know that I've been working on a quilt for my dear Loki for well over a year now. I have come to an "I'm almost done point". This is usually where I stall out. "I don't wanna" my mind whines.  I will push on. I have all three layers quilted. I just have to bind the thing up and voilà! I will be done and my kid will be warm when he sleeps.

See, proof, sewing does happen!

I realized after several posts about said quilt I never mention where the pattern comes from. So here goes: It's from Bend The Rules Sewing by Amy Karol ( AKA Angry Chicken) , the Easy Lap Quilt. My quilt is a tad longer too make it fit on a twin bed without hanging off at all. I'll give all the nitty gritty measurements and what not when the thing is all finished.

CHECK OUT THE FINISHED QUILT HERE!!

The Proof Is In The Knitting.

Hey, look I'm knitting! Wonder of wonders! Wonder what I'm knitting?

Can you tell yet? 

I'm sure you may recognize the yarn. Why yes, it's Swish Worsted, again ( I bought way, way to much for the moderne log cabin baby blanket). The colors are Lawn and Marine Heather. 

What about now!

I'm making a pair of wee pants for Astas. I'm using the Cargo pattern from Knitty Summer 05 issue. I'm knitting 2 legs at a time on one needle using magic loop. I'm super lazy and any way to get stuff done that even seems faster and easier, I'll take it!  Someday soon I'm going to do a blog tutorial on the old 2 at a time magic loop I just got to get all the info together in an easy to understand way. Anyway......

My plan for these pants is to, 

A: not put pockets on ( refer to aforementioned laziness) 

B: make them into a jumper of sorts (you'll see when I'm finished what I'm talking about)

I'm using the jogless stripes technique from TECHknitting™

A sort of terribly lit close up of the color change

It's working great although I think I could be pulling a bit tighter to have less of a seam due the magic loop and it kinda bulges because of the floats of yarn from the stripe changes.

One thing about working two pant legs (sleeve's, socks, ect..) at a time and in stripes is that you have kind of a yarn nightmare you really have to stay on top of or you will spend precious knitting time untangling the mess.

Note the mess on the right! 

(It's really not that bad, as I am keeping it under control)

I hope to finish them before Astas is too big to wear um!

Oh, Summer, how I never even knew you.

 I've been away again. (I know hard to tell.) This time on vacation up north here in Michigan. It started out all rainy and cold and blah. The weather perked up and by mid week it was warm enough to dip a toe into Lake Michigan.

We had a lot of firsts on our trip:

Loki's  (and Astas') 1st boat ride! 

Loki's 1st time "fishing".

Loki's 1st Kayak ride!

Loki's 1st ever taste of superman ice cream that for some reason I forgot to get a picture of. Let me tell you that flavor is gross, trust me on this, as I was the one who licked the edges to keep them from dripping. I should have just let it drip but the thought of the  crazy bright colors staining his clothes was too much to bare.

And a dry bed overnight for Loki. That was a first and so far has been an only.

We mostly just hung out and took it easy. I was super lucky to have 2 kids who napped and went to bed AT THE SAME TIME. 

Really it was amazing. I read several magazines and 

I even had time to knit! Woo Hoo! (more on this in the next post)

So I'm back and a bit saddened by the fact that I feel summer has past me by. I didn't get to the pool enough or spend enough time outside. I feel like my new little one is growing fast and that time is slipping away from me. Hopefully with falls arrival will come a sense of motivation and productivity.

The Little Seedling Food Drive

The Little Seedling in Ann Arbor is having a food drive for

  Food Gatherers

Bring in non-perishable canned and dry goods that are unopened, in good condition and not expired.(Any item is appreciated, but we have many requests for high-protein items, cereal, kid-friendly foods, baby formula, soups, stews, canned meat/fish.) to The Little Seedling, 355 South Zeeb Road Ann Arbor , MI Call for more info:734-418-2392.

For your donation you will receive your choice of:

1.  1% off total order per "can" up to 10% off.  This is off the entire purchase. In stock items only.

OR

2. 10 or more cans and get 20% off any ONE in stock item. 

    DOES NOT APPLY TO SPECIAL ORDERS

    ONE per customer

The food drive will be going starting this Friday August 21 until next Friday August 28th 2009.

 

Potty Learning Fun! Or Not. (More Wool Longies!)

So I was super productive today because I decided to be try to be diaper free (or down to 1 in diapers) with Loki.

Here is my 2nd pair of wool longies :

And my 3rd: The 1st were done sometime in the winter. Check them out here and here!

The 2nd pair has no elastic at the waist. I figured that the fabric was pretty stretchy and tight-ish so we will see how it goes/ fits once the toddler wakes from his nap.

The 3rd pair have elastic at the waist and I think they are going to be too big. I may end up redoing them. We will see.

I will be using these over "training" pants at night and cross my fingers they work. I should mention that I am also planning on Lanolizing them too.

Gotta run baby is awake!

Baby Got Hat. FREE pattern

Super Simple Stripy Baby Hat

Yarn KnitPicks Swish Worsted

Content: 100% Superwash Merino Wool
Weight: Worsted Weight
Gauge: 4.5 - 5 sts = 1" on #6 - 9 needles (4.0mm-5.5mm)
Amount: 110 yards/50 gram ball
Care: Machine Washable/Tumble Dry Low

My Gauge: 5 st = 1 inch

Needle: Size 7 40" Circle needle for Magic Loop (although I think they recommend longer but this works fine for a baby hat) Here is a suggestion that I should of done: Cast on and Knit the 1st 3 round with a size 6.

Size: 16 inches around. I have a tiny babe so I made this to fit him in the fall I'm saying it's a 3-6 month size but you should measure your kids head and go with that for size. I will try to post other sizes when I can.

Note: the Stripy part is totally free hand, which means I made it up as I went. I looked at it and then said "oh that's enough of that color" then switched. I used 5 different colors and do start a repeat because there was room.

Pattern:

Cast on 80 Stitches. Divide in half for magic loop, pull cord through.

K1P1 rib for  3 rounds. (Here is a suggestion that I should of done: Cast on and Knit the 1st 3 round with a size 6.)

Change to knit only and knit until the hat measures 5 inches

Begin Decrease on next round

Decrease rd : *K6 K2Tog*    K2  37 st remain

K round

Decrease rd : *K5  K2Tog*  K2  20 st remain

K round

Decrease rd : *K4  K2Tog*  K2  17 st remain

K round

Decrease rd : *K3  K2Tog*  K2  14 st remain

K round

Decrease rd : *K2  K2Tog*  K2  11 st remain

Decrease rd : *K 1 K2Tog*  K2  8 st remain

Decrease rd 2: *K2Tog*   4 st remain

For the top you can do an i cord, but since your in magic look you can just knit till the desired length and then bind off. ( Mine is an inch long)

* disclaimer* I typed this one handed while holding the baby and quick while my toddler napped so if there is a flaw in the pattern please let me know! Also this is the 1st pattern I've ever written down for someone else, please be kind and gentle.

Super Simple Stripy Baby Hat

This is just a super quick post, more info in a few days (i.e pattern and yarn specifics) 

It's done! Woo Hoo!

Birds eye view.

Things I'm Excited About!

A bit of a departure but thought that I would start doing some posts about sites I like and stuff I am lusting after or already own and love.

Here goes:  

1st up is the shop at boygirlparty.com.

I pretty much love everything about them, like these super cute cat magnets! 

These all fall into the "stuff I'm lusting after category"

There is also awesome jewelry, T-shirts, note cards and much more. 

Stop over and check it out!

So I discovered from the above site another really groovy place:

Chocolate and Steel

Wonderful Pendants!