Housewarming gift

My sister and her husband moved into their first house this past weekend. I'm working on a housewarming gift for them, though at the rate I'm moving it'll be more like a Christmas gift. The first part of the gift is a dish scrubby. I saw the idea on the Berlin's Whimsey blog. My sister had leftover netting from her wedding so I cut that into strips and tied it together. It's knit together with Lily Sugar 'N Cream in Summer Splash on size 8 needles.


The second part I'm working on is the circle cloth by hakucho to match the dish scrubby. I'm using the same yarn and needles as the scrubby. I think it would look a lot better if I would have used white as a contrasting color, but I didn't feel like messing around with two colors. It still looks pretty neat. The finished product looks much more complicated than the pattern actually is.

Calorimetry, take 2

I needed to make something with pretty much instant gratification. I made Calorimetry for my sister last year. It was such a quick, easy knit that I decided to make one for myself. I started a week ago and finished today (that's quick in my world). I had some beautiful Noro Kureyon just sitting around, so I used that. Stash busting is always a good thing. Here's what I've come up with. It's not the greatest of pictures, but it was taken between football plays (go Hawks!!). Just look at those colors! The gray and purple-ish color fade beautifully into that vibrant teal and green. I love it!

It's good to be green

In an effort to be more environmentally friendly and to save money, we are using cloth diapers on Baby G. Most everyone's first thought is of the diapers our moms and grandmas used on us and plastic pants. Well, that's just not the case anymore. Sure, you can buy prefolds and covers for the most economical diapering system, but the world of diapers has expanded. Pockets, fitteds, all in ones are just a few examples.

And what about the ewwww factor? Well, yes, it can be messy. But so can disposables. Breastmilk poos are water soluable, so you can throw those straight in the wash. Solids you can shake off in the toilet. It's a little more work than a disposable, but I think it's better than throwing all those non-biodegradable diapers into landfills. Diaper laundry is easy. You just throw it in the wash straight from the diaper pail.

The savings are another great benefit. You'll spend thousands to diaper your baby until they are potty trained. You'll spend maybe about $500 or so on cloth that can be used for multiple babies.

And the best benefit? Baby G is much more happy. She always had a rash with disposables. I felt so sorry for her. She's so much healthier with cloth. It's much cuter, too.

My two favorite cloth diaper stores are:
Cottonbabies
Kelly's Closet

When we were at the photography studio getting her pictures taken the other day, I ran into a mom in the bathroom that also used cloth on her kids. I know a few others that do it, too. I'm so happy to see the trend catching on!

A hat for Baby G

Since Baby G's blanket is going nowhere, I decided to knit something with instant gratification. What better than a baby hat? With a little one at home, I only get a few minutes here and there to pick up my knitting needles, but I was able to finish this in only a few days. It's too big on her, but she'll grow into it this winter, I'm sure. I made the pattern up, so I don't really have anything exact to post. I didn't keep track of rows or decreases or anything. It could be prettier, but I just wanted quick results.


Caron Simply soft
size 8 needles
cast on 70
2x2 ribbing for an inch or so
row 1: *(ktbl, p)*
row 2: p
row 3: k
row 4: p
Knit until desired height. For decreases:
row 1: *(k2tog tbl, p)* to end of row
row 2: p
row 3: repeat row 1
Do this until you have about 12 or so stitches left on the needle. Pull yarn through and seam up the side.

Is anybody out there?

It's been a crazy year. I got pregnant then dropped off the face of the blogging world. Now here I am, with a three month old, ready to get back into my knitting, learning to sew cute baby girl clothes, and blogging again.

I'll give a quick pregnancy and baby story. I was hospitalized on July 9 with pre-eclampsia. I went to a routine doctor appointment one day and was told I couldn't go back to work because I was being admitted. I went into premature labor on July 16. After 20 hours of labor and 4.5 of pushing, Baby G made her entrance into this world 6 weeks early. She spent 10 days in the NICU for jaundice and to learn to eat. Other than that, she was as healthy as a full term baby. I was on maternity leave through October 5. I loved spending every minute with out little girl and was very sad to go back to work. We're getting into a good routine now. I can't believe she's 3 months old!

Now that things are settling down and my hands aren't terribly and painfully swollen like they were when I was pregnant, I have picked up my knitting needles again. I'm still working on my blanket for her that I started in March. I also started a hat the other day since it's getting so cold. I have some pictures, but those will have to wait for now. I need to figure out how to post them again since I've forgotten.

But for now...I'm back!

I've been MIA

I don't even know the last time I posted, like a month or two ago? I thought I was just getting lazy when I didn't feel like knitting at all and wanted to go to bed at 8:00 each night. No, it wasn't laziness...it was pregnancy! Believe me, it was a shock to me and DH, but of course we're thrilled. I just haven't had the energy to do much of anything after work, be it knit, blog, cook, or move off the couch. It's getting better. Now I'm starting to get a little more motivated to knit because I'll need to make blankets, hats, and booties for my baby. As slow as I knit I'll need to start now if I want anything done by August.



In other news, The Preemie Project's Craft-a-Thon is coming up this Friday. As the name suggests, it's a day long knitting marathon. There are classes and drop in lessons for beginners and a contest. There's still time to sign up for classes or submit an entry for the contest. Betty Christiansen, author of Knitting for Peace will be our guest speaker. It should be a fun day, so join us if you can!


And now I need to lay down because the heartburn and fatigue are too much. :)

A few things...

1. Don't forget about The Preemie Project fundraiser at Glassando this Sunday, December 9. 20% of in-store and online purchases will be donated to The Preemie Project. It's a great cause and a great selection of jewelry in all price ranges. Please show your support on Sunday!!!

2. I thought I'd give an update on the problems we've been having conceiving since I received so much support (thank you to all my friends!). The medication unfortunately hasn't worked. I could move on to giving myself (or more appropriately, my husband giving me) shots in the stomach or butt for 10 days and go under a lot of medical monitoring. However, we have decided that is not the right path for us for a number of reasons. If anyone wonders, I'd be happy to tell you those reasons.

Yes, we are upset about the news, but coping as well as can be expected. We're looking at this as a new beginning for us. We hope to adopt in a year or two. I already called an adoption agency today to start researching. The woman I talked to was absolutely wonderful and made me know in my heart this is the right move to start our family. It's an overwhelming process, so we'll start slow. First things first we'll decide on domestic vs international then go from there. With a happy ending in sight, we are very excited to start our journey and share it with our family and friends.