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! 

bag beginnings

I've started a new project!  I'm going to make a diaper bag using Joel Dewberry's newest line, Notting Hill.

After scouring the internet for the perfect diaper bag pattern, I settled on a Joel Dewberry pattern, too: the Pockets Aplenty Diaper Bag.  It's not exactly perfect.  I wanted something a little bigger and with more inside pockets.  But this one looks really good and I'm sure it will work.


I've never made a bag before, and it's a little intimidating.  I completely love this fabric, though, and the satisfaction of carrying something I love every day is plenty of motivation to make me face the challenge! 

FO: Maternity Nanook sweater

Are you ready for pictures of the tiredest pregnant woman ever?  I could hardly summon the energy to open my eyes.  It's getting to that point in the pregnancy where I wish someone would just order me on bed rest.  And I still have eight weeks to go.  Wah, wah, wah.  

So I may be feeling a little sorry for myself, but my whiny state has provided an excellent opportunity for wool to display its magical, healing properties.  When I put it on for the first time, I think I actually, physically, felt better.  It was so comforting and squishy and welcoming.

I'm not sure I would have knit this one if it weren't for a baby belly the size of Pluto.  I've liked this design for a while, but I usually knit things with a little more structure.  I'm glad I did, though, because it's incredibly comforting, and I think it will be fun once my girth is less ... girthy. 

As we were taking these pictures, I realized my husband hadn't said anything about whether or not he liked it, and he usually is quick to volunteer compliments on my makes.  So I asked him what he thought, and he said, "It's a little floppy at the top.  I'm not sure what it's supposed to be doing."  I'm not sure either, but right now I don't care.  I just like that I can wrap it around myself and snuggle up. 

Laughing at my "floppy top" sweater.

Pattern: Nanook by Heidi Kirrmaire.  Super well-written and clear.  I still need to add a button, but I might wait until I'm not pregnant anymore and add it then. 

Process: Once I got past the arms, it was a bit boring.  Despite feeling like this knit was unending, it actually took me less than two weeks, a sweater record by a long shot.  I think it felt like forever because it just got so heavy and bulky on the needles. 

Yarn: Northampton by Valley Yarns.  A worsted weight wool.  Very comparable to Cascade 220 or Wool of the Andes.  Not a luxury yarn, but still very nice.  I'd happily use it again, especially if I can get it on sale.  I think I paid $4.19 a ball, so at 5 balls, this sweater cost $21.  You can't beat that. 

New techniques: The pattern called for lifted increases, which were new to me.  I loved them!  The left and right versions were easier for me to remember than the typical M1L and M1R.  I can never remember which one is which. 

Instead of binding off the sleeves in the K1, P1 ribbing, I used the Kitchner stitch.  I put the knit stitches on one needle, the purl stitches on another level, and then grafted them together.  This makes for a very neat edge where the stitches look like they just curl around to the other side.  Binding off in binding can sometimes fan out, and I wanted a tighter, neater look.  

FO: Vitamin D

Knitting is really the perfect pregnancy past-time.  Knitting almost necessitates that you sit, and sitting is high on my list of preferred positions at the moment.  I've never felt so lazy in my life, but I just keep telling myself that it won't always be like this, and I should try to relax. 

So all this sitting and knitting has finally produced a sweater!  When I found out we were expecting, I searched Ravelry to find some maternity-friendly patterns, and this one was high on my list. 

Pattern: Vitamin D by Heidi Kirrmaier.  It's had rave reviews, and I agree with the general consensus: this pattern is graceful, both in the way it's written and in the final product.  It's a waterfall open cardigan with slightly unusual construction: top-down raglan, but sleeves are knit flat and seamed; lots and lots and lots of short rows; eyelets as decorative increases (the rays of sunshine, or little windows to let your skin soak up that vitamin D).  The pattern has several tables full of numbers and stitch counts for all the different sizes, so as long as you can read a table, you'll always know exactly where you are in the pattern. I made size 39, M2. 

Process: I knit one sleeve back in November, then put the sweater aside for some Christmas knitting.  When I picked it up again after Christmas, I knit the second sleeve ... without rereading the directions.  I forgot to cast on 4 stitches on either side of the sleeve stitches.  I didn't discover this until I'd already seamed both sleeves and was picking up stitches for the body.  I debated moving on for about 3 minutes, and decided it would be ridiculous to have a sweater with one sleeve two inches narrower than the other one, so I unseamed it and ripped it out. 

I had a big sigh when I finished the arms and started looking at more than 300 stitches on each row, but then I discovered that the main part of the body is constructed with short rows.  I love short rows.  Even if you're turning just a few stitches before the end of the row, it makes the knitting time seem, well, shorter. 

Yarn: What can I say?  Madelinetosh is amazing.  The colors in this Tosh Merino Light are just right for this sweater.  They're perfectly variegated without any pooling or striping.  The yarn was a gift from my mom, and it's made one of the nicest sweaters I have.  Even though the pattern was written for a sport weight, this fingering weight worked perfectly. 

What I learned: I learned a new technique for doing short rows: shadow short rows.  They are brilliant, and I can't see any reason to ever go back to the standard wrap and turn. 

Final thoughts: I put this sweater on, and I immediately felt several degrees less maternity-frumpy.  I'm starting to get bored with my limited wardrobe, and this feels classy, effortless and unique.  I love the way it fits around my baby belly, and I think when the baby belly is no more, it will be another kind of beautiful.  I'm completely happy with it! 

I immediately cast on the second sweater in my maternity queue, and was surprised-but-not to discover it's another Heidi Kirrmaier pattern, Nanook.  This one's in aran weight, so it should go much more quickly. 

FO: It's triplets! Renfrew triplets!

Along with many other expectant sewers, I used So Zo's maternity top tutorial to stitch up some great tops.  I used Sewaholic's Renfrew pattern because I love it and because it has a lot of variety to it.

I followed So Zo's tutorial exactly for the front, but I did extend the back length by 2 inches.  After my first top, I thought it was a bit long and so I reduced that to just 1 extra inch of length.  I was surprised that I didn't really need to add a lot of extra width to the pattern, just length.  (Extending the front length by five inches did actually yield about 1.5 extra inches in width because the pattern flares out toward the hip a bit more.  I'm not explaining that well, but trust me.)

The first version I made out of a so-so ITYish crepe jersey knit, not exactly what I wanted for the Renfrew pattern.  (I have the hardest time finding great knits!)  It ended up working really well, and it's a little dressier.  The cowl looks great on this top, and I think I'll definitely be making more of the cowl style post-baby.

Then I made a 3/4 sleeve scoop neck for a slightly more casual style.  I did give myself 2 extra inches in length on the sleeves.

Finally, I made up another long sleeved cowl neck in white.

It was getting really dark and stormy when we took these pictures.

The purple and white fabric are the same kind from Joanns.  They are super stretchy and prone to pilling.  Not the best fabric at all, but they don't have to last forever.

I love these shirts and the way they fit.  Even though none of the fabric choices are perfect, I've still been super comfortable in all of these, and I've had compliments especially on the white cowl. 

In non-maternity clothing news, I am making progress on the sewing and yarn room clean up!  I didn't realize how much I'd really have to weed out and get rid of.  I'm about halfway to a beautiful after picture!

FO: Maternity McCalls 5974

When I finally got over my first trimester ennui and felt like sewing clothes again, I knew that McCalls 5974 would be a perfect maternity dress.  I scoured google for sewers who had already done the same, and I was really surprised to find none!  Although it made me wonder if this was such a perfect pattern for maternity-ifying after all, I pressed on.

I had made this dress almost a year ago, but didn't add any length to the skirt, and it was way too short to wear in public.  But it was great to try on and see how it was going to work over my expanding middle.  After evaluating the straight-from-the-envelope pattern, I decided to added two inches to the back width and four to the front.  I added four more pleats to the front skirt so that even with the extra width, it would fit to a normal bodice.  I added five inches of length to the skirt, and also made the hem two inches longer in the front middle than at the sides, so that with a full baby bump, the hem is still even and not arced upwards. 

The color is not quite this purpley in real life. 

This dress worked so well for me, I immediately made another.  And I have been living in them both ever since. 

And I think I know now why this isn't an obvious maternity dress for the whole blogosphere.  The waistband at the bottom of the bust is supposed to hit at, duh, your waist.  Well, it definitely fits me more as an empire waist.  If I want to make this dress again post baby, I'll need to lengthen the bodice.  (But how would I do that without putting too much fabric in the bust area?  I think I'd need to do an SBA also.  And am I really going to want to wear this style dress again anyway?  I'm not going to stress about it now.)

I'm super happy with these, and I'm so happy making my own maternity clothes.  During my first pregnancy, I had a couple of super cheap knit dresses from Target, but they were too short.  I wore leggings under them, which is a fine style, but not exclusively and not for 6 months.  After I finished these dresses, I tossed those old cheap ones back in the maternity storage tub, and there they remain!

Next up: maternity tops!  

FO: McCalls 6510

I hate trying on maternity clothes.  They fit poorly, they're made poorly, and they're not really me.  And who wants to wear things that fit poorly when you're semi-uncomfortable most of the time as it is?  I've only been to a maternity store once during this pregnancy, and that was enough.  I did try on this kaftan style top that I sort of liked, but it was too big in the chest and too small in the hips.  (Seriously?  Too small in the hips?  Pregnant women are supposed to have hips!)  It was $35, and I thought that I could certainly make it for less and get a much better fit.

Source

I found some beautiful charmeuse during Gorgeous Fabric's Cyber Monday sale for $8 a yard, and bought two yards.  I also discovered that I had McCalls 6510 in my pattern stash.

Although this style is close, it wasn't quite right.  And I obviously needed to make some maternity adjustments also.

I started with view A, and then modified it a lot:

• Changed the neckline to a v-neck, and narrowed it by about half an inch on each side.  
• Made the sides fall straight down from the shoulder, ending at a right angle at the hem, instead of curving in.  I altered the seam lines based on my measurements. (No tight hips here!)
• Added 4" in length.
• When I cut the front, I put the point of the v-neck on the fold, but then rotated the bottom of the pattern piece so it was about 3 inches away from the fold.  This way, it added more fabric in the front panel without changing the side seams.  It also made the front hem slightly curved in the middle, making the hemline appear straight, instead of arced by the baby bump. 
• Added a belt above the bump by inserting button holes above the seam lines. 

Basically, I just kept the shoulder seams.  And here's how it came out:

I love it!  I wore it on Christmas and New Years.  It was comfortable and festive.  It's a little different than my normal style, but still me.  It fits a thousand percent better than the cheap one in the store, and I feel proud for making something that fit me (for less money, too!). 

I'm happy with my improvements on the original shirt and with the way I modified a pattern to get what I want.  My husband is a little worried that I'm spending time making things that I'll only be able to wear for a couple of months, but I think the biggest benefit of making maternity clothes is the confidence it gives me to alter and modify patterns to fit me.  Plus, I can always modify maternity garments to fit me after baby, if I'm not sick of looking at them by then.