I'm still here!

There's something about having a baby that makes me want to go outside a couple times a week and shout, "I'm still here!"  And then there are other times when I'm glad that having a new baby means I can hunker down at home and not have to worry about my normal responsibilities, and just take care of Baby O.  My knitting and sewing have fallen right between these two poles.  My knitting and sewing are still happening ("I'm still here!"), but at a slower rate (just hunkering down). 

So here's what's slowly creeping off the needles:

This is the Windsor Cardi, which I started before Baby O was born.  I started the sleeves a week or two after he was born, and I slowly started to hate the sweater, mostly because I thought it would never be done.  Now that it looks like I might not actually be working on it during the little one's high school graduation, I think I like it. 

Yesterday I took the little one out and we bought buttons.  We bought them quickly, because he started crying ferociously not long after we got there.  The thing is, Joann's only had six buttons, and I needed eight.  These were perfect buttons, so I arranged for an interstore transfer, which meant I have to pay $7 shipping on $2 buttons.  And I had to give them my address while holding a screaming, angry infant.  While shouting over his crying, I thought, This is what it means to be a knitting mom.  You pay $9 for two buttons because you have 3 minutes to finish this project, and if you don't fork over the money, you won't get your sweater finished.  I want it finished, so whatever about the money.  This sweater will be done soon!

I also started a Brynna, a sweater that I see ads for all over Ravelry.  I really like Bonne Marie Burns' patterns, and I'm thinking of knitting another Cinnie for the summer also.  You know, with all the extra knitting time I've got piling up.

I have fabric to make another McCalls 6073, but that hasn't happened yet.  Maybe tomorrow. 

It's a boy!

 He arrived!  And he's a he!  We've been getting to know our new little one for almost three weeks.  He arrived on Friday, March 29, long before the due date, April 9.  Labor was pretty quick.  I had some contractions over night, but I mostly slept through them.  I went in to work to do a couple of quick things before maternity leave (which was to start April 1), but decided I better go home as contractions were increasing.  We went to the hospital at 11:30 am, and he was born just before 5:00 pm! 

We're doing well, with more sleep some nights than others.  Pregnancy is full of anticipation and mystery, and it gives you this false idea that when the little one is born, all the mystery will be revealed.  But I still feel like our little one is pretty mysterious.  What is his personality like?  Who will he become?  What will he do that will make us laugh and make us proud?  What new gifts will he bring us?  What will he teach us?  I will love finding out, and I'm glad that it will take a while.  I'm grateful for all the time to spend getting to know him, and grateful for all the new steps his big sister is constantly taking, and grateful for the time we will all spend growing together as a family.

And am I still knitting?  Oh yes I am! 

FO: A couple of baby blankets

Time is waning!  I think this baby is going to be here soon.  Fortunately, I think we're as ready as we can be.  And slightly less importantly, I've finished most of the projects I set out for myself for the baby and our daughter.  In the last week, I finished up two blankets, one knit and one sewn. 

I originally set out to make the High Fidoodlity blanket, but it was just ugly.  So instead I went with the Chevron Baby Blanket from Purl Soho.  I used Berroco Vintage Chunky, a wool/acrylic blend.  It's very squishy and cozy, and should be very easy care as well. 

Our daughter is already using it to wrap up one of her baby dolls in the baby's bassinet.  That's a good sign, right? 

The other blanket I made is a little quilt made up of scraps of Notting Hill from my diaper bag. 

While I didn't use a pattern for this, I did find inspiration from Bailey Girls Boutique etsy store.  I figured, Hey, I can do that.  (And I think this counts as my quarterly Pinterest crafty completion New Year's resolution.)

I made 5" squares and sewed them together with a 1/4" seam allowance.  Then I backed it with white dotted minky fabric, which is really incredibly soft. 

I am really very happy with how both of these things turned out.  I'm looking forward to wrapping up baby boy or girl in both of them!

FO: Pockets a-plenty diaper bag

I've turned into a bit of a baby-making machine, in more ways than one.  For a while there, everything I was making was either kid- or baby-sized.  I'm finally making a couple of normal people items, but I still need to document the baby things.  Here's the biggie:

Why did I decide to make a diaper bag?  Because I wanted a new one, and it's somehow easier to justify spending $45 on fabric, $15 on a pattern, and $12 on notions than it is spending $75 on a ready-made bag.  Why is that?  Also, I loved this fabric, Notting Hill by Joel Dewberry, and this was a great excuse to use a bunch of the prints.  This project also gave me the chance to use some sewing skills on something other than a garment.  

I really love the finished product.  The bag is really big enough, and there are indeed plenty of pockets.  It has a flat bottom so it won't flop over and spill everything when I set it down.  I added purse feet to the bottom to protect it further. 

It has a zippered interior pocket and a cell phone pocket, so I guess I could pop my wallet and lipstick in there and not have to carry my purse.  We'll see. 

I had a helper!

It latches with a magnetic clasp, which is very user friendly. 

Those are the things I love.  There are only a few things I didn't love.  First, the rings on the strap are very heavy.  They really pull the sides of the bag in whenever I set it down.  I had trouble finding 2" rings as the pattern called for.  If I'd used the 1.5" rings, which were more available, they wouldn't have been so heavy.  So next time, I'd use those. 

The only other issue I had with the whole experience were the directions.  They were terrible!  I've never used a crafty pattern before, so maybe this is par for the course with these home-dec-ish projects.  But are you kidding me?  The drawings were not to scale and not very helpful.  The directions included lots of pictures for edging something in bias tape, which is a pretty common skill, but not enough pictures for things like sewing the bag sides to the bag front.  I had to rip that part out and start completely over once I realized that the bag sides actually curved around under the bottom of the bag.  In the picture, though, the bag sides ended way above the bag bottom!  Annoying. 

Also, how hard would it have been to throw a couple of notches in those pattern pieces?  That would have solved all my confusion.

Maybe this is just something that I struggled with because I never made a bag before.  But seriously. 

In addition to the bag, I also made a changing pad!  I love how this came out.  My mom came to visit for a week to help with the baby prep, and she actually sewed all the elements together and finished it off for me.  I think it looks fantastic. 

Again, though, the directions were horrific.  In fact, they were way worse for the changing pad than the bag, and made me think that no one had actually made the pad.  It felt like a complete afterthought.  The pictures showed two layers of fabric when the directions indicated one.  And it suggested sewing lining, batting and cover together with wrong sides together, then flipping right side out, then edging with bias tape!  If you're going to finish it with bias tape, why wouldn't you just sew wrong sides together and save yourself a lot of bulky edges?  That's what we did. 

There's a little holder for wipes, which folds up inside.

As bad as the directions were, though, it seems to be a great design, so maybe I should stop whining. 

I love the whole thing, and I can't wait to use it!  Although I can wait.  I only have about three weeks left, and I still feel like there's so much I need to do! 

Ugly baby blanket

This blanket is not working.  I was in denial for a few days, but I've accepted it.  It's just ugly.

I haven't completely given up on the pattern.  I think the problem is my color choice.  So I'm going to rip it out and switch out some colors.  I think I'll get rid of the green and yellow, and swap in white and coral.

Blah.  I hate when things don't work out as planned.  I'll concede poor color choices, but I'm not going to give up yet!