Miss T

Let me tell you about my fun 'pin friend Miss T. Not only is she the coolest gal on earth, she knits beautifully and is willing to work up fun trades with me! I made Tanya a knitting needle holder in exchange for an "umbilical cord" hat.



What did I receive in my mailbox? TWO hats, PLUS a lovely soaker!



She did spill the beans about going above and beyond our agreed trade, so I sneaked some stitch markers into her needle roll as a a surprise, too. Thanks, T! You're the best!

been moving... which means slacking on my blog!

We closed on our new house 2.5 weeks ago, and boy have we been busy! Here are some craft projects from the last few weeks...

First, some painting in the house (I think it counts as crafty!)
dining room before:


dining room after (ditched the electric blue for a nice green and added a green stripe)


entry way before


entry way after (again, ditched the electric blue)


and just a fun shot of the whole living area in the new house


baby's room after painting it blue and the crib skirt I made (curtain in the same stripe to come...)


and my first ever garment--my "hippie skirt". I wear this thing several times a week, so I need to make a couple more! So easy and so comfy! Here's the pattern...you should try!


In the next blog update look for Tanya's knitting needle roll, Courtney's mei tai carrier, and the babies' room curtain!

more babywearing fun!

You can answer a few questions and enter to win your own Ergo carrier on this website through the end of May! Try it everyone!

Ergo contest

Spirograph, anyone?

Here is Miss Sydney McNeil's super cool Spirograph MT, complete with (blurry) pictorial instructions for her mother of how to wear it. Enjoy!



Instructions...

First, tie the waist straps (the short ones) around your waist and let the body of the MT fall down in front of you as if it were an apron.


Second, pick up "Syd" and froggy her legs since she's too young to straddle your waist. When she grows, you won't need to do this. (note: the part of Sydney McNeil is being played today by Stella the doll.)


Next, pull the body of the MT up behind Syd's back and throw the straps back over your shoulders. Keep at least one hand on Sydney the whole time!



Then reach behind you with one hand and pull a strap across your back and to the front on the opposite side. Keep holding Sydney with the other hand



Hold both the now-in-front strap and Sydney with one hand, while you reach behind and pull the other strap to the front.



Give both straps a good tug and tie them in front, behind Sydney's back. When she's older, you may prefer to tie them under her rear.



Back view:


It'll be in the mail to Lubbock tomorrow! And again, my sincere apologies for the blurriness. I was too lazy to re-take them. Let me know how it goes!

the week in review...

I have not updated my blog in over a week, but does that mean I have not been crafting? Oh, no! Of course not! Here's a summary of this week's projects...

first, the "mini tai"...
I made a small mei tai this week. I saw a post on www.thebabywearer.com where a woman had made a small MT, with a narrow seat so that her young infant could sit down on her bottom and not have her legs "froggied." Since our Hancocks is going out of business and I stocked up on some cute MT fabric, I thought I'd give it a try for my (anticipated to be) small foster babies. Here's the result. I just love it!



I have loaned it to a 'pin friend with a one month old boy who does not like any of his current carrier options. I can't wait to see it in action!

second, speaking of the Hancock's going out of business sale...
I have chosen the fabric I want to use on a crib skirt and hopefully a curtain in the foster babies' room. I've bought as much of it as my two Hancocks have, and Lamar is checking the one in College Station to see if I can get my hands on any more. Here's a swatch...



Picture it with pale robin's egg blue walls. Cute, huh?

and finally, a bitty bootie baby gift....


close up...


for my friend Katie from church. I love bitty booties! Oh, and inside the package are some fun board books--a girl's got to be scholarly as well as stylish, you know!

a family of mei tais

I made three mei tais for the Goodyear family. Jessica requested one for her to wear Tessa in, and I volunteered to make 2 toy MTs for her big kids so they could wear their dolls. All three are finished and will ship today. I'm so excited to hear how they like them!

Jessica/Tessa's mei tai is pink corduroy with a girly twill print.


Claire's is red twill with a soft yellow print, and Grant's is denim with red bandanna fabric.


Have fun babywearing, Goodyears!

sling city

all for little girls to carry their dollies in!

a pink fleece pouch in action...


and some others...




I did one more, too, but forgot to take a picture of it. And yes, they're shaped differently on purpose. I'm still experimenting with how much curve I like.

cute cuddly baby blanket

I made this for Sydney McNeil. It's pink camo on one side--since I'm sure she'll be her daddy's girl! and pink minkee (oh, so softee!) on the other. It's so snuggly. I can't wait to get it on it's way to Lubbock for her pending arrival!

lots of free fabric and time on my hands

What does a woman with a lot of free new fabric (thanks, Mom!) and time on her hands (Spring Break!) do on a Wednesday? Make baby carriers! No, it doesn't matter that she has no children. The fabric was calling to her!

I made a Mei Tai carrier and a pouch sling. Both turned out well for a first attempt. There is already a short list of things I will do differently should I ever make a Mei Tai again, and my pouch is a little bit long, but it can easily be taken up. I used this Mei Tai pattern, without the sleeping hood, and this pouch pattern.

Here are pictures laid out flat, then modeled with Stella.

pouch...


Mei Tai...


I plan to send both home with my babywearing friend Lisa tonight after Bunco. She can use them until I have a need for them. They'll give her some variety and options besides her trusty ring sling.

my prettiest pad yet...

and of my own design! This one found me in front of the mirror in my undies with a tape measure, a piece of paper, and a pencil. Why do I admit these things on a public blog???

Here's what I came up with:


laid out flat in the first picture, then snapped front and snapped back

for the newest Mogri

David's friend from graduate school and current Shell officemate, Shilpa, had her baby this weekend. This hat is for baby Neel. Welcome to the world, little guy!


It is crocheted in Paton's SWS, in the natural denim color. Thanks to T-Bon for the yarn gift!

adding...
Since baby Mogri arrived early, and his hat certainly won't fit right now, I whipped up this pair of "bitty booties". It's a pattern I'd been wanting to try, and with my new fabric stash, I couldn't resist.

will work for mama cloth!

This knitting needle roll is for Jess, a 'pin mama. We're doing a swap. I made her a roll for her double pointed needles and she's making me a couple of pads. Fun, huh? I love, love, love these fabrics, and I hope Jess does too!

taking the plunge...

After many suggestions from friends and much waffling on my part, I've decided to take the plunge and put my craftiness to work for me. Mostly I'll be doing soakers, longies, and such for cloth diapering moms--very similar to the work I've done for my niece. I'll also do hats (my favorite!) and crochet hook/knitting needle cases. Who knows what options I may add over time, but that's what I'm starting with. If you're interested, here's my new site.

Elegant Lace Stole

I finished Grandma Wallace's shawl! David's Grandma is turning 95 years old this weekend. We all head to Kansas on Thursday for her birthday celebration. For her birthday, I crocheted her this shawl. I really enjoyed this pattern--super easy, but looks complicated. My favorite kind!

This is me, modeling. I hope to get a picture of it on Grandma this weekend!

















Here it is on sweet Grandma!

handspun yarn!

For the past 6 weeks, I've been taking a spinning class at the Fort Bend Museum. We started on drop spindle, then progressed to the great wheel, then to the treadle wheels. We could only spin on the wheels in class, but I got to bring a drop spindle home to practice. It was so much fun! I was so sad to give it back yesterday, and am looking into getting my own. They're fairly inexpensive, so I think I can swing it. Wheels, on the other hand, are not! Maybe some day...

I'm very much a beginner, but here's my first handspun yarn, spun on a drop spindle, dyed pink with Kool-Aid. Our class has a luncheon next Wednesday for our final gathering, and I'm going to try to crochet something with my yarn to take to show. I'm not sure what, yet, since I haven't counted to see how many yards I have. It will certainly be something small! And don't worry--I'll update this post with a completed picture.

Update: I had approximately 30 yards of yarn on my spindle when I unwound it. It was enough to crochet two flowers (plus a smidgen left over). I decided to felt one of them, which was only marginally successful--mostly the hot water just faded my Kool-Aid dye job! I have no clue what I'm going to do with these little flowers, but it's so satisfying to know that I spun the yarn myself and actually made something. Very satisfying indeed.

Vintage yarn, UGLY soaker!

a little background on this one...

Grandma Wallace gave me a (partial) skein of yarn that was found in Barnard while cleaning out closets before Christmas that has to be 30+ years old. It's Red Heart brand wool yarn in avocado green, orange and gold--soooo 70's! Well, of course I had to make *something* with it so I whipped up this soaker. All I can say is UGLY! But I love it anyway! Check out the wrapper that came off the skein, with the price tag from some store called "Duckwall's". It cost $1.27.

This soaker also confirms my decision that I really don't like variegated yarns crocheted. I hate that "built with Legos" look. Variegateds should be saved for knits, in my opinion. People should crochet in solid colors. Oh, and the trim is just green Wool-ease (something I had that didn't clash too badly).

a couple more hook/needle rolls...

I did these two for 'pin mamas.

a travel sized one for Freckle...



and a BIG one for Mollie...


Both of these were done on my friend Cynthia's machine (thanks Cynthie!) since mine decided to have a huge attitude problem and BREAK on the first seam of Freckle's. It's still in the shop. Boo. Hope it feels better soon!

for Marin...

I am so excited for my sweet college roommate Jane and her husband who are expecting their first little one in just a few weeks. This hat's in the mail on the way to baby Marin.

Can't wait to meet you, sweetie!

have hook, will travel!

I liked my crochet hook and accessories roll that I made last week so much I decided to make a travel sized one. This one is just big enough for a couple of hooks, scissors, tape measure and row counter, plus a ribbon for stitch markers. I always take projects with me on road trips to work on in the car. This will be the perfect travel companion!