Full of Stitches

Thursday, December 21, 2006

I caved..

I was wandering about online and came across a fruit & veggy playset pattern. I wanted to get her Soaker Sleep Sack anyway, so I figured 'What the hey!'

How does a homeschooling stay-at-home-wife hide that she's trying to make a Christmas present all afternoon? I don't, I found out. While sneakily stuffing the half dozen fruits and vegetables that I'd already crocheted, BB came up and started trying to help and AJ was wanting to know what it was. They ended up running off with the bag of 3 or 4 vegetables while I was trying to finish up the rest of them.
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These things make up so quick! I'd done all five vegetables and an apple to the stuffing point, so they were picking food off me and running off to play with it as I finished the touches. While they were playing, I made another apple and started the strawberry. Then dinner. Then I finished the strawberry and AJ requested the watermelon -she'd found the pattern picture. I don't have enough orange yarn right now to make them, but I'd like to do another carrot or two and the orange. There's also a plum in the pattern, which I could make, but I think a bag and 9 food items in one day is all I can handle today! And, I still need to add the seeds to the watermelon.
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There's also a tropical fruits pattern, but I don't want to spend the extra $$ today. I'd love to have a banana and that pineapple, though.. Maybe I'll wing it sometime. I also want grapes. I was thinking whilst making some fruit that it would be so easy to just do bobbles all over and -voila- grapes.

note: I changed the bag pattern to have 2 handles. My children like to wear things either around the neck (which is not allowed) or around both shoulders, so I thought I'd keep the short handles, but put two so they could wear it on one shoulder like Mommy or on both shoulders. To do this, I worked the dc border halfway around (there are 16 triangles over the diamonds, I went across 8 of them), then slip stitched back across 4 of the triangles and started the handle, worked it for about 10 inches, then slip stitch joined it to the beginning 3 dcs so that the last sl st ends up on the first dc, then I continued to dc (purl dc, really) the other way around and joined to the last dc from the first half, turned and worked the other handle from that point (9th triangle from original beginning, or 8th triangle from direction just worked) and connected it to the third triangle from there. I sl stitched to the beginning and joined/fastened off.

So, that means that the handles are worked -above the dcs- over 4 triangles.. start in one, skip 2, end in last. Then there are 4 triangles that the sl sts are worked over, then handle (start in one, skip 2, end in 4th), then 4 triangles that sl sts are worked over.

I also worked the carrot top differently. I wanted it to look more like carrot leaves, so I worked: 5 ch, sl st in 4th ch from hook, 6 ch, sl st in 5th ch from hook, sl st in next 2 (to be in same as the first sl st), 4 ch, sl in same place, sl st in next 2, repeat twice, increase length of leaves to your desire.

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Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Broken Needles

I'm trying to make a sling.

Trying. But, I'm out of larger 'demin' style needles and keep breaking what I have! The last size 80/12 is in the machine now and I still have a couple lines of stitching to hold down the ring gathers. I need to get a zipper for the pocket anyway, so I'm thinking of just waiting on tomorrow. I wanted to go today, but I'm a bit tired and put it off. Now, it's late and the viscious cycle has turned again.

I'd actually started a page of links to remind myself where to find things about making slings and lost my connection and all the info (sigh). There are a couple links that I still have:
Safe Babywearing
Problems/Tips
Jan's How-to Page -instructions for almost any type of baby carrier

There were more, but they were lost. Jan has lots of links on her pages, so lots of the info can be found with a bit of searching.

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Friday, December 15, 2006

LTK Ribby Wraps

I've just finished one and need to add gussets on the second Ribby Wrap (second pattern to bottom). I used the KoolAid dyed yarn we made with Sue this summer. The first, a newborn size, took just shy of the ball we'd dyed red, then rewound and dyed blue. The second, size small, took the whole ball -blue, dyed with end of the red- and so I used the second of the red-dyed-blue balls. I was sitting there knitting thinking, "This has got to be the world's ugliest ribby wrap," the whole time. But, they actually turned out okay. Ben loves the blue fade to red look.
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The wraps are actually even side to side (with back end wider than front end), I was just trying to show the button placement (because I found the wording slightly confusing), and didn't adjust the small wrap evenly.

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Thursday, December 14, 2006

Off Hooks & Needles

Why haven't I written? Well, I still need to take pictures of the 2 dresses and quilt I've made, but I've been busy with homeschooling and handwork. Here's a summary of the beginning of December (plus, there's still stuff in the works!):
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I need to starch the snowflakes, but they are #1-4 of the 99 Snowflakes publication.
2 bookthongs (of the 5 or 6 I made), 2 were given to Ben's friend the night I made them, then I made the others for fun.
The pineapple bookmark, and the one below, are from the Icicle Bookmark pattern online.
The hearts are cute, but the pattern was a tiny bit confusing.
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The socks are for AJ for Christmas. They're the "My Little Angel" pattern from SocksSocksSocks done in Lorna's Laces: Buck's Bar colorway (yes, the same yarn I tried to make my Jaywalkers from, now I'm just trying to use it up!!).

Tuesday, I decided to try crocheting up a pair of longies for the baby.
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As modeled by the 2.5yo. She doesn't wear diapers, so I figured she could give me a good approximation of whether the pants'll fit on a littler one over a diaper. Looks like it may be a tight fit.. and the legs may be too long! The pattern is "Peppermint Twist Pants" from Crochet for Tots.
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The closeup shows the 2 sides of the fabric when working Purl hdc every other row, hdc the rest of the rows. I'll add this to my Purl Crochet page.

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Wednesday, December 13, 2006

It’s Snowing Inside

The girls have decided to get all my Fabric Club scraps out.. There's close to 2000 of them at my last guestimate.

Trying to get video to work..

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Friday, December 08, 2006

Too Funny!

A nativity scene is nothing without a militant breastfeeding Mary!

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Friday, December 01, 2006

Advent & Other Things

My family has never celebrated the advent that I remember. But, I've been looking around online and have come to realize that the advent is the season of expectation. What a joy to be counting down the days to the coming of the Christ child. Myself being in the weeks countdown towards my next child, I can very much relate to the idea. I don't have any advent 'equipment,' but perhaps I can share the joy with the children somehow.

I joined the Ottobre-English group today. I'm going to use the 4/2000 issue dress #7 for the girls. BB is about 87cm tall and AJ is about 106cm. So, I'll make the 92 for BB and the 110 for AJ, both lengthened. The fabric is black stretch velvety stuff with red rosebuds.

Sarah just called me to tell me boy names.. She's so funny sometimes. She must of had a dream that we'd been talking about it after our visit out there because I let them know that we're waiting to find out the gender (so we don't know..). We've had names picked out for ages, just don't know if we're having a boy or girl. But, names have been running through her head so she called me to let me know. They're all off the wall, but they suit her. :) She's doing well this week, told me she's answering questions for newer MS patients. Her little boy (my nephew) is almost 2 and a half, he's 3 days older than BB.

I think, perhaps, she's wanting to reach out a little for emotional support. Our Gramma just passed away last week. Gramma's been living with Dad and Mom since last summer, and Sarah's not too far from them.

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