Just a little knitting...

I've got to say, quick and easy projects are the best! This only took a couple days to finish off, and is a very simple knit. This sleep sack was made using the "Sheepy Sack" pattern, and was knit with Patons Merino in the Retro colorway. It is a gift for a special mama, so shh! Don't tell! ;) It is being modeled by a Cabbage Patch preemie doll I've had since I was a girl. I usually have funny issues with pooling when I use Patons, but I was quite pleased with how the colors distributed in this sack!


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Listening to: Alicia Keys - Karma
via FoxyTunes

Haven't done this in a while...

Time for stash pics again! All the diapers but one are clean, so why not, right? ;) The stash has gotten so much smaller since I last blogged it, about half the size it used to be!

First up are my fitted diapers. The left row and the ABC print diaper are ones I made from my own pattern. The two middle rows (except the striped diaper) are diapers I made from the Fattycakes pattern. The striped diaper is a First Class Baby. The right row is a Pattynaps (cow print) and a Hidden Pearl Creations.


Next up are my AIOs and pockets. On the left are two Dream-Eze AIOs and a medium Robin's Fanny Fluff fleece AIO. The other diapers are all GADs (Green Acre Designs). These are by far my favorite pocket. They are built well, fit great, and the business is run by a wonderful WAHM! What more can you ask for?





We are currently using Pocket Change pockets for our night diapering system, but plan on switching back to fitteds and wool once I get some decent night-worthy diapers sewn up. These are a decent diaper, and fit forever, but aren't a favorite here.







These are our poor, neglected covers. We don't use these ones much anymore since we use wool covers at home, and use pocket diapers when we're out. We keep these on hand for times when the pockets are dirty and we've got to go out but don't want to use wool. There are two Bummis Super Whisper Wraps, and one Bumkins cover.





Last but not least... All our wool! We have two pair of knit longies (blue and camo pairs, knit by me), a pair of recycled longies, two pair of shorts (blue/green pair and orange/brown pair both knit by me), and a camo colored soaker knit by me. Our "night wool" consists of a babyology soaker, babyology longies and an aristocrat soaker.





Not pictured are the prefolds, as well as one of the Pocket Change diapers.

The new bag!

I recently sorted through my yarn stash, and filled an entire laundry basket of yarns I didn't know what to do with. Two of those skeins were Reynolds Lopi, in a nice denim color. It's a bulky weight wool yarn, but was too rough to knit something for Kaiden with. Instead, it became a purse for Mom!

I used the Sophie pattern from MagKnits. Since Mom isn't a fan of small bags, I didn't bother adjusting the gauge to compensate for the bulkier weight wool, so it's larger than the pattern states. I also didn't add the handles, since I was running short on yarn. Instead, I plan on sewing on some wooden handles. I just need to get some handles now!

Here is a picture after completion. It has since been felted, and is now drying. Another picture will be coming soon!



Edited to add the new pic! It's all dry and had a good shave. Now to get some handles...

Fluffy mail!

I got some WONDERFUL fluffy mail last Thursday! Thought I'd better share all the goodness with you all. It is 100PureWool, ordered through a co-op (Man, I love those!). I ordered Caki, Fresh Blue, Warm Ice, and Blauer Reiter. (Note, they've since changed the names to numbers, and discontinued some colors, so these may not all be available now) They're all hand-painted 3-ply, 100% wool, and SO incredibly soft! The colors are rich and vibrant, the pictures really don't do it justice.

From left to right: Blauer Reiter, Fresh Blue, Warm Ice, Caki


(L to R) Caki, Warm Ice, Fresh Blue, Blauer Reiter

On the Needles - Skirty!

My first girly item! Woo! I dyed some more Patons merino to match my "Sweet Tarts", and decided to make a girly knit with it. It's a surprise for an online friend, and a very fun knit! I don't have a pattern for a skirty, but was able to get some help to figure it out.

Currently I'm ready to bind off the leg cuffs on the under-soaker, then I'll be picking up the stitches on the purl row near the waistband, and starting the skirt portion. I can't wait to see this finished! I tried it on K, so it should fit the recipient well. :)

Dyeing for a Crock-Pot!

I finally dyed some "mini-skeins" of yarn to match my last dye project. I took a skein of Patons merino and split it in half so I'd have two smaller skeins (just under 2oz each). I decided to use the crock pot to dye them, since I wouldn't have to worry about checking on the yarn constantly while taking care of Kaiden.

My first step was to soak the yarn in water and vinegar for a while, about half an hour. While that was soaking, I prepared the pink dye. I put water and 1/2 c of vinegar in the crock pot, and set it to low. In a separate container, I mixed a little vinegar, two tablets of easter egg dye, and some hot water. After the tablets were dissolved, I dumped this in the crock pot and mixed it all together. Next step was to add the yarn to the crock pot, and turn it up to high. As the yarn "cooked", the color saturated the yarn, and after only an hour, the dye was exhausted, and it was done! The yarn will be saturated, while the water will now be clear.

At this point I turned off the crock pot and let the yarn cool. Once it's cooled down, I rinsed it with warm water, spun it out in the washer, and hung it to dry. After drying, I put it in a hank. I love all the subtle variations in the color, and it matches the original skein wonderfully!

Next up was the blue skein. While I really wanted the darker "crushed blueberry" color in the main skein, I didn't have enough tablets to experiment, and couldn't remember how I originally created it. Instead, I went with the other blue in the skein. I repeated the same process of soaking the yarn, mixing the dye, cooking the yarn, then letting it cool off, rinsing it, and hanging it to dry. Once it was dry, I wound it into a hank. It also has great variations in color, and matches well.

Here they are all together!

Sweet Tarts and Blueberries...

After Easter, I bought a bunch of egg dye with the intention of dyeing some wool yarn. Friday night I finally got around to dyeing my two skeins of natural Patons Merino. The intention was to make a pair of shorts out of each skein, but the end result of one skein is too girly for Kaiden. I think I have a plan for it though. ;)

This first skein is "Sweet Tarts". I asked my baby brother and sister what to name them, and they came up with "Pickle Pumpkin", Mom and Nate came up with the final names for these skeins.

The first step was to soak the yarn in water and vinegar. I soaked it for about an hour, then squeezed out the excess liquid, and laid it out on top of plastic wrap. After mixing the egg dye, I painted it on with a sponge brush, then wrapped it up in the plastic wrap. To set the color, I used the microwave. Cook for two minutes, let cool for a couple minutes, repeat for a total cooking time of 10 minutes. After it cooled down completely, I spun it out (on gentle, of course!) in the washer, and hung it to dry. Saturday afternoon, when it was all dry, I reskeined it.

Pretty, no? Unfortunately, way too girly for Kaiden to wear!

Here it is in a center pull ball, and a swatch I knit up to see how the colors blend.


Next up is Blueberry Fields. Nate said he wanted something blue and green, so here it is! The bright blue and neon green are original egg dye tablets. The darker shades are ones I mixed out of various colors.

For this one, I followed the same steps as above. Here it is after painting and hanging to dry. Saturday it was all dry, so I reskeined it as well, then put it into a center pull ball and knit a swatch as well. This will become a pair of cargo shorts for Kaiden, though I'm not sure what color I'll use for trim yet. I love how the colors came out though, and I can't wait to see a FO from this yarn! Here it is in the skein, before I rewound it into a CPB.

Talk about a big stash...

I decided to take stock of all my diapers the other day. I won't say out loud how many I have, but you're free to count them up if you dare. ;) What I have, with the exception of a few he'll be outgrowing soon, are all dipes that should fit him right through potty training. Even with a stash this big, I've still saved several hundred dollars compared to just a year of using disposables! Go cloth!

First up, all my fitted diapers. These are diapers that require some sort of cover over them, either wool, fleece or other form of waterproof cover. My personal favorite with fitted dipes is a wool cover. Breathable, low maintenance, and best of all, cute!



Left: Four large OC Dream-Eze, marigold and grass colors

Middle: Eight natural colored large OC Dream-Eze

Right: (back) Two tie-dyed XL older style OC Dream-Eze; (front) Two large tie-dyed OV Dream-Eze


Left: Ten bumGenius bamboo fitted diapers (4 butternut, 3 twilight, 3 grasshopper)

Middle: (back to front) Medium Sweet Dreams, Medium sherpa side-snapping Very Baby, one-size OV Muttaqin, Medium First Class Baby, Medium OV Hidden Pearl Creations

Right: (back to front) Large Happy Hempy, five semi-fitted Green Acre Designs, 4 large, 1 medium.




Next up is my prefold stash. Some find these diapers too much work, but they're an awesome choice, and great to have on hand even if you don't plan on using them. I have a dozen each in premium, regular, and preemie size indian prefolds, and eight infant size chinese prefolds. Also shown are a dozen birdseye flats.



Left: Six GAD pockets, 4 medium 2 large. (black, green, orange, green fleece, construction & frog prints)

Middle-left: Six Happy Heinys pockets, 4 medium, 2 large (cow & football prints, forest, black, light blue, celery)

Right: Two Haute Pockets (glass and grass), three Pocket Change (lapice, grass, red)

Far-right: (top to bottom) OS Muttaqin AIO, Grinch print Bumkins AIO, fleece Robin's Fanny Fluff AIO



Next are the non-wool covers. I mostly use these with the prefolds.

Left: Four Bummis Super Whisper Wraps (2 jungle, 1 froggy, 1 star baby)

Right: (top to bottom) butter Swaddlebees fleece wrap, two WonderWraps (grass and marigold)





These are all the wool covers. Not shown is the recently finished pair of Picky Pants.

Left: (top to bottom) Diamond in the Fluff soaker, BJM/Kozy Designs soaker, New Life Woolens soaker

Middle: homemade recycled wool longies and soaker

Right: Aristocrat soaker, Babyology soaker and longies

Finally, longies are done...

I finished my first pair of Picky Pants tonight! All I had left to do was kitchener stitch the crotch closed, bind off the second leg cuff, and create an I-cord for the drawstring waistband. It's now been finished, washed, and dried. I made them a size larger, so they've got a TON of growing room! The legs are way too long, but they're still cute rolled up. Considering it's my first pair, I don't think I did too bad! Now I just need to remember to work from two skeins at a time when I use Paton's again - talk about long color repeats!




For those wondering specifics, I knit these in Paton's Merino, using Forest for the body, and Leaf Green for the trim. For the pattern, I used LTK Picky Pants, size large with a 1x1 ribbed waistband, backside increases, and the ribbed leg cuff options. Now I finally have another pair of longies I can use!



Here's the crotch with the kitchener grafting. Look Ma, no holes!