Knitting Update

Happy Monday Everyone . . .

Thanks for all the nice comments on Carter and his room (from my last post).  When I posted those pictures, I forgot to ask everyone for help locating some fabric.  I would like to make a bed skirt for the crib and possibly some valances.  I found this brown and green dot that I like, but I really wish the dot was aqua blue to match the walls. 

I have done some searching, but haven’t had any luck.  Has anyone else seen anything matching that description?  Any help would be really appreciated.

 

Now I have a few knitting pictures to share.  I started this easy little cardigan before Carter was born.  The reason I selected this pattern, was that I wanted something easy to work on in the hospital during labor.  My thinking was that I would have about 12 hours during labor, then a couple of days in the hospital to get lots of knitting done.

Silly Goose. 

Turns out I didn’t pick up my knitting at all during those days in the hospital.  Or the days that followed, for that matter.  I did eventually get the sweater done.

It’s a very simple design, so I chose a fun yarn, with good color, nice sheen, and a slightly slubby texture – kind of like how simple quilt patterns require fun quilt fabric to make the design work.  I wish I could share the name of the yarn with you, but I lost the tag that comes on the yarn and can’t remember what it was called.  (I am blaming it on the mommy brain.  I hear I get to use that excuse for the next 18 years.  I think I will be using that one a lot, because I don’t think I see things improving any time soon!  lol.)

You can find the details for the sweater here.  If anyone happens to recognize the yarn, I would love to know what it is, so please leave me a comment

I also wanted to show you some pictures of my Baby Sophisticate sweater again, this time on Carter.  He has just grown into the sweater, so now he can model it for you.

I also made a little hat to go with it.  The funny thing is now that the sweater fits, the hat is too small!

It doesn’t quite cover his ears anymore.  I guess that isn’t a huge deal, because he doesn’t like to wear the hat anyways.  He just rubs his head back and forth until it slides up off his head, and down over his eyes.

 

Lastly, I want to share a sweater that Carter got as a baby gift.  I wish I could claim that I had the mad skills to make it, but I have to give the credit to my “Moron” friend Maria. (click here to check our her blog, Passing Down Crazy).

Let me clarify that – in this case moron is a compliment.   We have been using this word to describer her for many years now.  She is always tackling “moron” projects that the average knitter and quilter wouldn’t think of trying.

Like doing intricate colorwork.

Or knitting with a size 1 needle.

Or doing steeks and fancy buttonholes.

See what I mean?

Yep, she’s a total moron. 

It’s such a beautiful sweater and I can’t wait for him to wear it.  I still can’t believe we got to be on the receiving end of her moron skills!  You can check out Maria’s Ravelry page on this sweater here.

Carter’s Room

I’m just popping in to share some photos of Carter’s room.  A few of you have reminded me that I haven’t shown pictures of the finished room yet.  I usually have troubles pulling everything together and his room was no exception.  Half way through, I sort of lost my vision.  So, I waited until I felt ready to move on, adding a few things here and there.  I have some things I am thinking about adding yet, but again, I am letting my thoughts simmer first.

This is the view when you walk into the room.  You might remember me talking about the argyle that I painted on his walls?  The room started with this idea and the colors are based on that.

I also knew that I wanted a book wall.  I have always loved kids books and book covers.  This idea incorporates both.   

The next items to make their way into the room were the crib and changing table. 

I wanted them to be orange, but as I mentioned before, after trying about 6 different colors of orange spray paint, I still don’t have quite the right color. I have had to learn to live with it.  I’m sure Carter will be forever traumatized by not having the right shade.

Next, I dyed the rocking chair in an attempt to not have to recover it.  We also tried to turn it into a rocking chair.  It made for a lot of work for Joel, for a chair that slightly rocks.  Not quite what we had in mind, but another long story.  (Can you see where I might lose my vision?)

Then I went on a hunt for baskets for the changing table.  I found some at Target but when I went back, they were discontinued.  More hunting. . . .  Then I found these at Walmart and they are almost the right size .

A couple of weekends ago, I spray painted these frames and printed off a few pictures.  The frame with four photos shows how much he as changed from 2 weeks to 8 weeks.

We received some fun toys as gifts, so I started looking for a way to store his toys.  I found some cute cubbies like the ones below at Land of Nod.  They were $40o.  I found these at Target for $65, plus free shipping and 5% off with a Target red card.  That free shipping thing is a bit dangerous, as I now have some more organizational things on their way!

This lamp base is one of my best purchases.  It’s a touch lamp, so no fumbling for the switch in the dark, in the middle of the night.  Just touch the base for a dim glow, then touch again for a for more light.  There are four settings. (From Pottery Barn Kids)

As you leave the room, this is hanging by the door.  It’s to remind me about how fast this is going and to cherish every moment with this little guy.

Which, by the way, I am having no trouble with.  Can you see why?

Carter’s Baby Quilts

Carter’s baby quilts got started back when I was working on my Little Quilts 4 Little Kids book.  I didn’t put the quilts in the book because we kept his name a secret until he was born.  Without a deadline, his quilts didn’t get finished up in a very timely manner.  I have been anxious to finish them so I could get his room together.  Somehow, they just seemed to put the finishing touches on his room.  I will show you that in my next post, but for now, I will share the photos of the finished quilts.

First up, he had to have a puppy quilt.

The pattern is called Puppy Love and can be found in this book.

The feature fabrics are Woodland Tails by Sheri Berry.  I purchased them from Hawthorne Threads.  The rest are from my stash.

This quilt goes on the rocking chair in his room.  Right now it will probably be more for looks than use.   When he gets older, he might decide he wants to use it.  In the meantime, he loves his blankets with the silky edges so we are using them more.

His second baby quilt is the Here Fishy, Fishy quilt.  My Mom started this one when I needed the pattern tested for the kids book.

I had her hold off on finishing it because I wanted to add more fish to it (at his Daddy’s request.)

Here is a shot of the original – with only two fish.

I have to say, I love the one with more fish better.  I always hesitate to add that much applique to the projects in my books, because it scares people away from making the quilt.  In this case, I think it is totally worth it.

This quilt hangs over the crib in his room.

I love it!  I hope he will too someday.  I will have to start sharing my love of chevrons, googly eyes, and bright colors with him at an early age

I’ll be back shortly to share the rest of the room . . . .

2 Months

I can hardly believe it, but Carter is over 2 months old already!   Today he is 9 weeks and 2 days old, so I am a little late in getting to this post.  Over the last month I have been trying to take lots of photos of him.  I am so painfully aware of how fast this is going, that I don’t want to miss a minute of it.  I also don’t trust myself to remember, thus all the pictures to remind me.

So are you ready for picture over load?

Just warning you.

This photo was taken at about 6 weeks.  The next photo was at 8 weeks.

As you can see, he is now ready to try out for the pee wee football team.

At his 2 month checkup, he was in the 90th percentile for height and the 96th for weight.  Nicely proportioned, don’t ya think?

He is now full of these cute little rolls.

I especially love the one above his wrist.  It’s so kissable . .

We are so grateful to have such a healthy, happy boy.

He has made some great strides this week.  He is now getting up only once a night to eat.  It was three times a night, so I am grateful to be getting more sleep now.

Secondly, he has started napping more regularly.  (again, see how kissable he is?  Check out those perfect little lips . . . )

For a while there, the napping thing wasn’t going so good.  He would only nap about once every four days.  On the days he didn’t nap, he would finally fall asleep at five in the afternoon.   He wasn’t usually too fussy, but there were days when a nap would have been nice.  My job doesn’t come with maternity leave, so there were always a few things to attend to every day.  This week he has taken a morning nap and a long afternoon nap each day.  What a difference that has made!  I have finished up a few projects and I feel better knowing that he is getting some rest.  During those long naps, I find it a little hard to wait until he wakes up.  I just miss this little face!  Sappy, I know.

The third big thing was that he rolled over yesterday.  He hasn’t been the biggest fan of tummy time  (as you can kinda see in the photo below – no smile). 

He squawks the entire time and yesterday he was so worked up that he pushed hard enough with his arms to roll himself over. We thought it was a fluke, but when he did it a second time, I wondered. Can a 2 month old learn things like this?  Hmmm . . . . Not sure about that one.  I guess I will have to see how often he does it.

At 2 months, his favorite things are the swing, his silky blankets, a flashing musical star, smiling, talking, and obviously, milk.  His least favorite things were napping and tummy time. 

I wonder what 3 months will bring?

Knitting Update

I have been getting a whole lot of nothing done lately, but I do have a couple of knitting projects that I finished a while ago that I can share with you.

The first is this owl hat that I made for my nephew.

I found the pattern on Ravelry (link here).  I changed the pattern only a little bit by making the hat a bit shorter, the beak bigger, and the eyes a bit smaller.  I wish I would have made the eyes a little bit bigger, but I didn’t realize that making the beak bigger would result in my eyes being smaller

This was a really fun hat to make – but then again, I always enjoy making little kids hat.  I will probably make another one for Carter, once I see how he does with wearing hats.   In the meantime, I will enjoy seeing it on this little guy!

You can find my Ravelry link for this project here.
I also finished up this little sweater vest a while ago   -   like a couple of months before Carter was born!  The pattern is Pembroke by Kirsten Kapur.

I made it from some leftover yarn from this project. (ravelry link here)

I had two skeins left, which was just barely enough for this little vest.  Thanks to my yarn scale, I could weigh my yarn as I went to make sure that I had enough to complete the project.  I worked the back first (shown below), as that took slightly more yarn than the front because of the v-neck.

I took this photo of Carter wearing the vest several weeks ago.  He didn’t really cooperate very well for the photo.  He just kept wanting to curl up and go back to sleep!  I will try for another photo again later . . .

You can find my Ravelry link for this project here.

Anyone knitting anything fun lately?

Baby Showers

Hi Everyone!

Just thought I’d pop in for a quick Hi and to share a few pictures from a couple of baby showers.  Joel’s sisters and Mom threw a shower a few weeks ago for me.  I just had to show you the cake that they had made.  Look closely and you will see some feet and a little green bum.

Now check out the side version and you see it’s a little baby hiding under a quilt.  It’s that the cutest thing?  The quilt design was fashion after the argyle that I did in Carter’s room.  Remember?

The shower was outside,  where we took a 4 generation picture with Joel’s Mom and 98-year-old Grandma!  98 – Isn’t that amazing?

We received lots of great gifts – including some hand-made items from Joel’s sister.  She made a “hooter hider” and “peepee tepees” for me.  I was surprised at how many of the people didn’t know what a hooter hider was!  I will admit that I had never seen peepee tepees, but I now had 18 of them to help cut down on the occasion showers that happen while changing Carter’s diaper.

My Mom’s sisters threw a shower for me last Friday and there were two more great cakes (both made by my Aunt Sheri – Thanks Aunti She-She!).

The first was a chocolate truffle cake, cut and decorated to look like a baby buggy.  Too Cute!

The second was this great diaper cake, loaded with fun things for Carter.  It makes for an adorable center piece at the shower, yet practical because I get to take it home and use everything in it (unlike flowers that only last a few days). 

Carter is now 7 weeks old and growing like a weed! He is weighing in at 14 pounds and has grown 3″ in length.   As you can see, he is quite a bit bigger than the last time you saw him!

Over the last week he is getting on more of a sleeping schedule (knock on wood) and getting so much more interactive.  I love all the smiles and coos we are getting.

I even love his cute scowls!

I also love all the great people in our lives and the wonderful gifts that have been given to us over the last two months!  It has been quite overwhelming !!  Carter says Thanks!!!!

I better get back to my baby and my sewing – which is now a little more possible thanks to this shower gift – it’s called the Moby wrap.  It keeps my hands free to work, Carter seems to like it, and it usually results in a nice nap!

Lucky Winner!

Thanks to everyone who participated in the give-away!  I enjoyed reading all your comments on what you have been up to over the past weekend (and all your nice comments about the fabric and Carter).  A surprising number of you were getting to quilt, so that’s great!   Soon, one of you will be getting another reason to quilt – as this Fat Quarter pack will be arriving at your doorstep!

That lucky winner is:   Wendy T!!!

Please e-mail your shipping information to:  hmulder@wecnet.com

Yesterday I was lucky enough to get another quilt finished with this fabric.  Carter took two nice naps in the studio with me, so I could get the binding sewn on. 

I will admit that my binding is totally machine done and that is part of the reason it is finished.  If I have to choose between hand-stitching my binding and holding my baby, I am gonna pick the baby!

I love the way the red letters just POP on the brown. 

I also love the backing . . .

This pattern is from my “Little Quilts 4 Little Kids” book.  You may remember when I showed you the original versions from the book ~

As you can see, this pattern doesn’t have to be a name quilt – Just change the name into one of your favorite sayings!  (tho these fabrics would work for a little girl too, don’t ya think?)

You can find several different fonts for making your own letters under my Tutorials tab. 

You can find the kits for this quilt here.  (By the way, the kit will include the words, full size and ready to trace.)

One more thing – Henry Glass is offering a free pattern for the fabrics.  Have you seen it?  Click here to see the quilt and here to download the free pattern.