"Ahhh Deee"

Ahh dee in Bear and Bunkin speak means "all done" and is accompanied by their little attempts at signing the phrase. Adorable. Almost as cute as them is the completed baby sweater set I finally finished, so thought I'd share here. Again, this was such fun to knit because it was so quick, even with my accidentally sewing up the legholes and having to undo that! Here's the set laid out--forgive my unvacuumed floor, please.

And here is the little model showing off his baby rolls. That is, of course, me and my big ol' belly trying to stay out of the camera but needing to keep Bunkin still.... By the way, Brownie, that's a shot of our "new" furniture... at least you can see it!
This will be my last post for a while as I'm visiting Memphis this weekend. I'll be back in a week or so--have a great rest of the week and weekend!

You can call me (domestic) Diva

Oh, my, where to start? How about a little randomness? I'm a member of a local AP mom email group, which has been a pretty good source of information on things like natural-minded pediatricians, etc. Every once in a while a mom will share that she's getting rid of cloth diapers or that she wants a partner for a co-op, that type of thing. Well, the latest cloth diaper advertisement caught my eye, because the mom was selling her gently used FuzziBunz for at least half off retail price--that's a GREAT deal, and I really love them. (We just have a few large sized and Bunkin and Bear can both wear them; at this age, they're just a lot easier than prefolds [especially since I lost my Snappis], and with Bunkin's rash of rashes [ha!] lately, the microfleece liner keeps him dry and is soft without chemicals sitting on his skin. All that being said, I love them!) She was selling 7 small size, and I told her I was interested. She invited me to her home to look through all her leftover diapers. She lives about 30 minutes from us, and let's just say I got terribly, terribly lost on the way to her house. And the GPS in my phone was not working that particular day (grrrrrr) and she hadn't given me a home phone number, just her address. Just when I figured all my time was lost and I'd have to drive until I could ask for directions, I saw The Woolie Ewe. I even recognized it because it's where I bought my latest yarn for my friend's recent baby arrival (they are the closest yarn shop to where we live). I had to stop in... you know, for directions! Well, let me just say I walked away with a crazy deal, but still spent way more money than I ought to have. I bought this gorgeous angora yarn made by Classic Elite called Lush, and it is indeed one of the most luxurious and luscious fibers I have ever touched, and the Ravelry raves have been extremely positive on how wonderful it is to knit (though, apparently, it sheds like crazy). Very exciting. I even have a sweater in mind.

Oh, and just for the record, I did end up finding her house and buying some cloth diapers, though not the Fuzzibunz I'd set out for. She was asking a bit more than I'd hoped, and after spending money at the yarn store, I felt I got a much better deal with some of her infant fitted diapers and contour diapers that I'd been wanting to try. Bear and Bunkin had so much fun playing with her 5 and 1 year old sons, so it was a trip well worth it all around!

And of course, as you can see from my yarn picture, I'm still in love with my new fabric for Bear's quilt. In fact, the night I originally posted about it, I cut out all my 3" and 6" squares. I can't believe I made the math part so difficult! Just cutting it was so much easier! Tonight I cut out the 9" squares, and thanks to Hunny, we got a picture of a layout that makes me very happy. It is so bright and so colorful, and it was so cute watching Hunny poring over the layout to make sure there wasn't too much "color clumping" going on! I'm so excited about this quilt (and I'm sorry I keep saying that!).

And of course, Phineas had to "own" my newly cut out fabric pieces, and was not happy about me trying to shoo him off!
Love those legs, Hunny!

After my long evening of cutting and arranging, I was ready for a break, and thanks to our trip to Central Market today, I had the perfect snack waiting for me:

Don't worry; I didn't actually drink the Lambic OR eat the Lindor Balls... they were very tempting, though!! (G, that cheese is divine; It's a New York triple cream cheese; I'll find the name for you--it was heaven and the very reason I'll not be a vegan!)

Last, but not least, I have two superfluous Cute Baby photos... I mean, this post doesn't have nearly enough photos just yet, does it? :) Here is Bunkin wearing the sweater I made; ignore that it's a girl sweater and obviously too small. I wish he were looking at the camera so you could see how pretty his blue eyes are, but clearly Desitin is waaaay more interesting! (Don't you just want to cuddle those rolls!)

One more, because he's just so stinking cute
Well, I've had a blast being crafty and showing off, but I have an EARLY doctor's appointment tomorrow and it's after midnight... Off to bed!!!

Baby Sweater

I just haven't felt like I had anything to say lately, so that's why I've been keeping quiet (quality, not quantity, right?). However, I've gotten over my knitting funk by knitting a super quick and super easy little girl's sweater and diaper cover. I'm quite thrilled with how the shirt turned out (I'm still knitting the bloomers), and think it is just darling if I do say so myself! It made me wistful that I don't have a little girl of my own to knit for--it's just so much more satisfying to knit girly things!

Anyway, here are some pictures of the sweater, the front, detail, and back. I tried to get an "action" shot of it on Bunkin, but at 16 months, he's wearing 24 month clothing, and this sweater is sized for 12 mo (tho possibly a bit smaller because the turquoise yarn was a smaller gauge than the white). The pattern is from The Expectant Knitter (thanks, again, Biz, this book is my new fave knitting book!), and the yarns are Debbie Bliss eco cotton (white) and I can't remember who made the turquoise yarn; I think it might be a Rowan cotton. [If this yarn looks a little familiar, it's from a baby sweater I made for a friend, so handsomely modeled by the unsuspecting little Bunkin, and yes it is indeed Rowan Cashcotton.] Oh, and the little lazy daisy is stitched in yarn from my recycled sweater.

Should I put a french knot or some beads in the middle of this daisy? should I add two smaller daisies on either side? It looks very plain to me (this was my first lazy daisy--way easier than I thought it would be!).
(Yup, those are my rubber ducky PJs sticking out at the bottom of that last pic! Ooops!)

Can I make a confession about this sweater? I feel like I *should* give it to my sister K for her daughter Skylar. However, K is..... unappreciative of the time, effort, and joy involved in knitting for me. I truly do not think she would appreciate it. But something in me thinks that shouldn't be the merit for offering a gift, huh? I asked her when she was pregnant if she wanted something, but she pretty much said it didn't matter, which is why I've yet to make her anything, despite my love of a chance to knit for baby girls. The other problem is the sizing issue: Skylar turns one year in September, but is very petite. She's in 3-6 month clothing right now (much of what K says is still loose on her), so even come September, while it'll be warm enough to wear this, I'm not sure it'll fit. What do I do? Offer it in love and not grimace if she doesn't take care of it or appreciate it, or find another little girl to give it to?

Boys, boys boys

Just a very very quick blog update.... we are having another little boy!!!! I'm very excited, and Hunny is .... beyond thrilled! I think he may have smirked a little. He, at least, has a clue of what is to come, whereas I am completely naive sheltered! So, here's to the next half of our pregnancy. Oh, and I did meet with my dietitian today, and she wasn't as alarmed by my glucose readings as I have been, so I hope that is good news. I'm still trying to be diligent.

On unrelated notes, I'm about to pull out my hair with this silly baby romper, and if anyone wants to volunteer to make it for me, help yourself! Lastly, if anyone wants to pray that our house gets well soon, we'll take it; I'm just very very ready for all of us to be healthy and well and stay that way for a while!

Why diabetes sucks and projects to distract me

Ok, I rescind all that about being fine with the whole diet thing. I was trying to be fine, but I'm not. Can I just rant for a moment and shout out to no one in particular that I HATE DIABETES. HATE IT. I was still encouraged by ranting talking to G (who also has this stupid disease), but after a whole weekend of eating correctly and my numbers still being out of whack, I feel like giving up, or to be more precise, drowning my sorrows in the largest slice of cake I can find. (That would be "happy birday to Edah cake," if it were Bear speaking--he's obsessed with blowing out candles and singing happy birthday to his cousin Ethan since his birthday a couple of weeks ago). While that kind of indulgence is highly impractical, it's also completely wrong, but I'm so aggravated that doing things the "right" way still isn't yielding the results I need. In fact, it's even more annoying given that I have to count calories, carbs, proteins, and all the while try to feed two little boys and menu plan for a family. Oh, and did I mention the whole pricking your finger thing? At first it doesn't hurt, but now every one of my fingers is calloused so I have to use the larger needle size and it does hurt! If you want, you can imagine me stamping my foot in a moment of childish petulance.

Ok, ranting done. Just needed to explain why I've been in a Lurch (again, a la Dr. Seuss; can you tell what I've been reading to Bear?) and terrible food-related mood. Chocolate chip cookies anyone?

However, I have been keeping my over-pricked hands busy today doing a project I've wanted to do for a long time. And that would be unraveling a sweater to recycle the yarn. Yes, I'm that amazing. :) I first read about it here, then read about it here, then was reminded how much I wanted to attempt this after reading she's doing it, too. A couple of weekends ago B and I went to the local Goodwill and there were a ton of sweater choices. I bought 3 for $12 and while I'd hoped to go with 100% cotton or wool, I did get two all-cotton sweaters and one mohair/nylon blend. I took a picture of all three sweaters, but then accidentally deleted it from my phone. I do, however have my first sweater, a lovely butter yellow cotton sleeveless turtleneck:

Following the above tutorials, I got out my scissors and starting ripping away. I ended up having to just cut out the neck because of all the "bad" seams, but I still yielded quite a bit of yarn for the $4 I paid for the sweater! Here's an in-progress shot:

And the final outcome! The only problem is I don't know exactly how much I have, and I can only guess at its gauge (I'm thinking dk or sport weight if you're curious).
This was way easier than I thought it would be, and I've already started my second sweater, which I thought was a beautiful variegated maroon and baby pink yarn; however it's actually two strands: a maroon wool and a baby pink thread. It was a little tricky beginning the unraveling of the sleeves, but once I figured out I was dealing with two strands, it made a lot more sense and went much faster. So far, I've done both sleeves and have two sizable balls to work with.
Now the fun part will be deciding what to make with my cleverly repurposed yarn, eh? The yellow will probably become a baby garment, and I'm thinking the pink would actually make a really nice scarf and hat, maybe some mittens?

Holy crafts, Batman....

Ahh, Bear has learned to love painting! A while back I babysat my nephew and Hunny wasn't going to be home, so in a moment of inspired domesticity, I decided to organize a craft (doesn't that sound ... organized?) for the over-2 crowd. I won't say it was a hit (there was some punishment and pumpkin-painting withholding going on at various points), but here were Bear's results.

And for yours truly, I got a much-anticipated box in the mail last week; I ordered some yarn from my friend Biz. The arrangement was I gave her the gauge and the pattern I hoped to knit, and she got to hand-pick not only the yarn but the color!!! I could not wait to see what she pegged me for, and I got heaven, y'all.... knitty heaven. See for yourself, though this picture does no justice to the milk/cotton blend that feels so amazing, and the color is gorgeous, and will look magnificent on me!
As I mentioned before, I saw my friend Brownie last weekend, and alas, I had made her daughter a little 2nd birthday present, which unfortunately got left behind (not in a Tim LaHaye kind of way, though). So, Brownie, here is LuLu's gift that is forthcoming:

Pretty aint it? :) In case you are awed by my photographic skills and have no idea what these are are not quite sure what these pretty blocks are, they are building blocks beautified for a young one, and for the older ones, a matching game as there are two blocks each of the different origami paper. I cannot claim this idea, but I need to look to see which blog I stole this from.

And last, but not least, in the early Montessori classroom, there is a work called smelling bottles (this is not the technical term, but I'm tired), which can be presented in many ways (matching scents, learning to identify scents, in general a sensorial lesson). Bear loves sitting on the counters (Thanks Daddy and Tio), and he discovered my spice cabinet. I have had the intention of making my own smelling canisters, but he kind of beat me to the punch. He LOVES sitting on the counter top, opening my spice cupboard and proceeding to open and close the jars and labeling smells as yummy or ewww (both highly technical terms). Vanilla is by far his favorite, and cayenne is his least favorite--he got a whiff of it in his eyes today (how NOT to do smelling). I love play that is learning and intuitive (I don't mean the pepper-in-the-eyes thing, just that by using his senses, he's learning: opening jars, putting lids back on, sweet, savory, he knows that Mommy uses spices in cooking, etc.) and so something that I will be implementing on the blog soon are some Montessori-inspired posts as I learn to encourage this environment in our home and prepare for home-pre-schooling.

Works in progress

Besides peach-preserving, I have a few other things on my plate. For one, I have the intention of attempting to potty-train Bear before his 2nd birthday, which is looming very near! Hunny has some exciting work possibilities that are cropping up, more on those when we learn something a little more definite.
In the meantime, I am continuing to pursue domestic crafts, such as Helen's baby sweater, even though I am going much slower than I'd like due to a HUGE mistake in the lace pattern that I've had to frog and re-do. I HATE frogging!!!
I also went to an estate sale this weekend just to browse around, and I found some quilt fronts that have been pieced but not batted or quilted, so I thought I'd finally apply what Meg taught me and see if I can quilt these, that I did not painstakingly piece only to ruin if I mess up (is that terrible?). One is very simple and pretty, with a green and pink checkerboard flower pattern. It's not very big, so perhaps it can be a baby blanket?

The second one is kind of dizzying as it's a hodge-podge of shapes, sizes, colors, and patterns! But I like it precisely for its unpredictability and haphazardness. I'm sure it's a scrap quilt front, which makes me wonder at all the other blankets that must have been made over the years. (Which makes me think of how sad estate sales are... I felt mildly awkward rifling through this person's house with little stickers on everything denoting its presumed worth, yet the children must want or need this stuff gone or else there wouldn't have been a sale, right? Does anyone else think like this?) Anyway, here is the Krazy Quilt

I will show pictures of Helen's sweater when I get past the blasted lace part!
As for gardening, I'm delighted to say that I have one tomato almost ready to be picked. It's been red since the weekend; I'm just waiting for it to soften just a tad as we will eat it as soon as it's off the vine! I think Hunny is fantasizing over that tomato sandwich! My cherry tomatoes have not fared so well as I was trying to fix the stake and knocked two little bitty tomatoes off, then today I was showing Bear how exciting plants are, and he reached out and grabbed one of the only other tomatoes off! Pele ate it, so we only have one small tomato left! And my 3rd tomato plant has millions of flowers (which it has for a while), so I have no idea if it will produce fruit or not! My bell pepper also has one pepper still in the dark green, smallish stage, and I'm waiting for my chili peppers-I want salsa!!
Oh, and I almost forgot-I submitted a cake recipe to a Paula Deen Recipe Roundup cooking contest! I have no idea what kinds of things they are looking for in a recipe, but I'm pretty excited about the one I submitted. Funny thing is, I've never technically made this cake! I combined 4 components from 4 different (but favorite) cakes that I love, and added a few embellishments of my own. I called it a Sour Cream Marmalade Cake with Almond Cream Cheese Frosting (that's a mouthful, huh?). I can't post the recipe here as I signed an agreement that it's never been published before and I want to keep it that way; however, if you think you might like the cake, I'd be happy to email it to you if you leave me a comment! I am making the cake this weekend for a welcome-home party for a friend who's been overseas for a while, so I'll take pictures of it then and let you know how the flavor actually turned out!!

Some photos and projects!

Well, I've finally bribed my Hunny to upload pics from the camera phone to the computer, and so I can share a few of the things I've been working on! Remember when I said Meg came in town? While she was here, she helped me to get a garden started, and we planted tomatoes, chili peppers, bell peppers, and herbs. I'm so excited to have my first stint at gardening, and so far I've stayed motivated enough to actually weed and everything!! Anyway, here is a picture of my herbs (I have rosemary, cilantro, thyme, and basil).
I can't share pics of the tomatoes (not much to see anyway, just yet) because the lighting was never good enough. I hope that does not bode ill for my cool plants!
Next, I am knitting again! I am working on Helen's baby sweater (meet Mama here), and it feels so good to be knitting again-I'd gotten into a bit of a funk from inactivity I think! Anyway, I bought a lovely sagey/mossy green yarn (Rowan 4ply cotton) as seen here:
(Brownie, look away if you want the design of the sweater to be a surprise!) The pattern comes from a vintage Coats and Clark pattern for Red Heart Yarns, and it looks just sunny!
Last, but not least, I met Melissa on Ravelry, but she lives right here, and was lovely enough to loan me the use of her kiln to fire some projects that were WAAAY overdue (um, Christmas 2003!). Actually, she did the firing, too, but I did the slabwork and glazing myself. These leaf bowls were a project that my Montessori directress and I worked on for our students; this one was a prototype, and meant to be a gift for Meg. Basically, we gathered leaves with the kids (and found their names so that we could incorporate science into art!) and then pressed them into thinly rolled out clay. The other leaves were extras, so I made them into ornaments, hoping I could make a windchime out of them. However, I think I like them as is, so don't know what to do with them besides add them to my so-called "nature shelf."

So, there are a few of the things I've been doing when I haven't been trolling blogland and playing with the kiddos!! Speaking of, we finally went to the Pedi, and both boys are in good health, and just lil' monsters! Bear is a whopping 32 pounds and 32 inches, and Bunkin is just under 19 pounds and 26 inches! They both got each other today--Bunkin grabbed Bear's face and scratched him, and Bear bit back--on Bunkin's face! Yikes! Hunny tells me this is only a glimpse of what is to come. I also have to say how blessed I am by Hunny--not only has me been responsible for the house staying clean, I came home to a stunning bouquet of flowers and a mini-cake just because he loves me! What more can a girl ask for?

WIP wednesday

I'm just slightly bored with knitting these days, but mostly because I am not working on anything really exciting. Getting done with Catalina's sweater was great, but now I'm feeling unfulfilled, so I'm doing a couple of filler projects: I'm STILL working on my first pair of socks, and to be quite honest, nothing has ever bored me as much as this. Ok, maybe the guy's sweater I tried that was all stockinette, but at least it was on 8's and I eventually got to do some seaming. WOW, this sock is taking forever. But I love love love the yarn, so that sort of justifies it. I'll post pics when I figure out where we placed our digi camera, or just do another cell phone pic, which as you can see, does not do much justice. Second project on the needles is a Rowan hat pattern called Aura, and it's a jaunty little lace knit. Nothing complicated, and at least interesting to do, but it's just a hat that I will probably never wear (I don't wear hats), and the yarn is a little bit too blah for me. It would be fabulous in some actual Rowan yarn. :/
On a side note, I'm officially cloth diapering Bunkin... yay! This little man is huge, just so you know. He's already fitting into a prefold fairly nicely, and is wearing 6 mo clothes on top of that... he's only 10 wks!!
Ok, off to watch some Law & Order!!

Latest FO!!

So, this winter I've been busy as I just gave birth (naturally, I might add) to my newest "FO," who I call Bunkin. He's precious, eh? But I also had a preggo-buddy who gave birth to her first little girl a month behind us, so in between nursing sessions, I worked on Baby C's sweater, and I finally finished it (ok, ok, it's 3 wks too late, but really, she can't possibly wear it just yet anyway). Here it is! It's "Matinee Coat" by Debbie Bliss (from Simply Baby). The pattern was a joy to knit--a straightforward lace pattern that I memorized easily, and I made no modifications (I'm just not that good yet!). It's sized for 3-6 mo, but my chunker is not too far off! I used Rowan Cashcotton DK in SH602 which translates into aqua. :)