Pulled the sewing machine back out...

I finally blew the dust of the sewing machine and got back to work! Since Kaiden is crawling, and I only have two pair of babylegs, I really needed to make some more. They work great for keeping his knees from getting dirty or banged up when he's cruising around. Also keeps his legs warm while being able to show off his adorable diapers!

These homemade babylegs were created from a pair of tights. I was able to get two pair of babylegs out of them, though I'm only showing off one pair! The other didn't come out so nice, but is still plenty functional. The ankle cuffs are a tad too wide, but otherwise these fit him well. Great news for those thunder thighs!



I also have a diaper I started tonight. It's from the Fatty Cakes pattern, and is a fitted diaper. The outer is a cotton woven print, hemp french terry internal soaker, and a cotton velour inner. I still need to add the snaps, the external soaker, and sew the back closed. I'll have pics for you when I'm done, as well as a sneak peek of the rest of the future fitteds stash! In the meantime, here's a peek at the dipe-in-progress. Enjoy!

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.

See Kaiden! See Kaiden Crawl!

I mentioned in my last blog that Kaiden had started crawling. In just a few short days, he has completely mastered it! He's now getting into EVERYTHING, and just today got himself stuck under the couch. Time to get a baby gate before he figures out those stairs!


May 2nd, his first attempts at crawling!


Yesterday, he's mastered it!

Happy 9 Months Kaiden!

Kaiden turned 9 months old today! Seems like just yesterday he was born!

It's incredible how much he's grown and changed, even in the past couple weeks. He's learned how to go from laying down/rolling to sitting up. He can pull himself up, and stands with assistance. He's started figuring out his pincer grasp, and does it all the time now. He's very proud of himself with that. He's been practicing crawling, and took his first "crawls" today! I attempted to get a video, but the batteries in that camera were dead.

Peek-a-boo is a favorite game. He loves pulling a blanket over his head, and pulling it off to "surprise" us! Too funny! He's such a funny boy, and SO happy! It's amazing how happy he is, and all the time too! I always get people asking if he's always like that, and they never believe me when I say yes.

He's understanding the world around him so much more now. He knows what we're saying most of the time, and while we've been lax teaching him new signs, he knows what up, milk, bath, kitty, grammy, daddy, mommy, diaper, and a few other words mean. "Kitty" (Oliver) is his best buddy, and he lights right up every time he sees him! Oliver loves Kaiden as well, and gets very jealous whenever you play with K and ignore him.

He really loves the outside too. This weekend is supposed to be really nice, so I'm hoping to take the twins and Kaiden down to the elementary school down the road to go play at the playground. They'll have a blast, and I'm sure Kaiden will love it too!

Happy Nine Months Kaiden!

Welcome home boys!

Tonight my friend Kim and her hubby Mark came over for dinner. While that was pretty good, my highlight of the evening, next to finally getting to hang out with Kim again, was getting my new "kids"! There was a rat dumped at an area shelter Kim used to work at, and she was lucky enough to foster the litter of amazingly gorgeous babies! As soon as we saw she had named them all with Boston Red Sox names, there was no saying no! lol

We adopted Dice-K Matsusaka (I have NO idea if I spelled that right!), Manny Ramirez, and Jason Varitek. Dice is a blue rex boy, Manny is a blue self, and Jason is a black self. They're SO friendly too! Tonight I was playing with them, and had a great time "wrestling" with Manny and Jason. Dice is a bit shyer than the other two, but I'm sure with some time, he'll warm right up. :)

Nate bought me their new rat cage as an early birthday present. It's a Midwest Ferret Nation, which is THE closest thing I've ever seen to the perfect rat cage! I sectioned it off so my current boys (Charlie, Henry and Finnegan) are up top, and the new boys are in the bottom section that has been screened in, since they're still small enough to fit through the bars. Once they're a bit bigger, they'll be introduced to the other boys and they'll all share the cage.

Pictures coming soon, but for now here's a pic of the cage, a pic of Charlie, and some older pics of the new guys. Enjoy!