Progress

So this is M's finished quilt.  After a couple of years, from start to finish, I still love it!  It was a kit purchased from a local quilt shop, and started before M was on his way.  I quilted it with the "Baptist Fan" pattern in the center, which is a series of concentric arcs stacked next to and beside each other.  I chose a simple cable for the border, and I think it sets off the center quilting quite nicely.

This is a quilt that my mother just recently found in my grandmother's linen closet.  The label, which you can see in the lower left corner says "pieced by Rachel Cox and quilted by Blanche Cox" .  Rachel Cox was my great-great grandmother, and  Blanche Cox my great grandmother.  I can't wait to get to see this quilt in person!

March Already...

I can't figure out where the time went, other than being sucked into the void that is life with a baby. Life is good and there isn't a dull moment, though at times I could wish for one. It seems we have finally worked through many of baby's sleep issues and we are all a lot happier - I get reliable sewing/knitting/quilting/spinning or just plain down time, and he gets the sleep he needs. So, what have I been working on in all that free time? Diaper covers. We decided before M was born that we definitely wanted to cloth diaper, and I am not regretting a moment of it. Hubby and I did the math last week and we have saved almost $1000 by not using formula, disposable diapers, and wipes. I love the fact that I don't have to keep running to the store for diapers etc., and they aren't going into a landfill to sit there for hundreds of years. Please understand that all of my family uses disposable diapers and that has been good for them, but we don't have the money or the interest. I only do an extra 2-3 loads of laundry a week which frankly isn't too much of a headache. All that just to say, I love my cloth diapers. We are using prefolds and covers and they are super easy - things have changed so much since I was little. So, here are a couple of pictures of the covers I have been making. This is one of the swim diapers that I have made for the Mom and Tot swim class that we'll start in a couple of weeks.

Light at the End

I have been noticing for the past couple of days how the light is beginning to change.  Just a little here and there, but changing none the less.  The afternoons are starting to lengthen a bit, and the mornings are brightening a bit earlier as I get up with my baby.  As I sit here in my chair, watching M playing on the floor happy and content, I am watching the sunrise from my front window.  We see so little of this liquid gold here on the West Coast in the winter that a sunny day is definitely a treasure, and I am reassured that winter is passing and spring will arrive on schedule.  There is light at the end.

Just One of Those Days

     Dear friends I have declared today to be just one of those days where I throw out the to do list and instead stay in my pjs and just be!  The laundry is caught up - well, as caught up as it will ever be when you're using cloth diapers.  (I really should run atleast a load of diapers.)  *grin*  The kitchen is clean, and my living room I can't worry about because all of the church stuff that was in the van is now all over my living room meaning I can't dust anything or even run the vacuum.  (This is quite freeing.  I've decided to quit being frustrated by the lack of walking/sitting space and instead be thankful that I can't worry about the chores in here. *smile*)  The snow is falling fast and furiously outside which is making me feel like knitting - something that has been sadly lacking with a new baby (hence the lack of posts since the summer).  Said baby is playing happily on the floor by my feet and my knitting is beside me.  I really must knit quickly as the sweaters that I knit before he came are all sadly becoming too small.  Here are a couple of pics to make you smile!

 

 

If I Don't Return....

Today I have set myself the task of entering my sewing room to start some sewing I have been asked to do.  However, I haven't been in there in a couple of months since the early span of maternity sewing I did.  After a brief foray to the brink yesterday, I think I have very good reason to be afraid.  I know for a fact that fabric has been multiplying, a loom and and accessories have evolved from the dust bunnies, and I'm pretty sure that the pattern books and binders had a raucous party too.  I'll go armed with trash bags, dust cloths, and a pith helmet, but if I don't return be sure I'm being held hostage, likely tied up with yarn and gagged with flannel.  I'll refrain from sharing any reconnaisance photos in order to protect the not so innocent.

Yarn Snobbery

I hate to admit this, but I have become what some people would consider a "yarn snob".  I really dislike working with all that acrylic stuff that seems to pervade most craft stores.  Not only do I dislike working with it, but I wouldn't wrap my new precious bundle in something made with it.  Now maybe my brain just works differently, maybe it's the time spent with living historians around open flames, but do you know what that stuff does when a spark hits it?  I've seen it, and it isn't pretty, and I would never run the risk of having it around my baby.  For my baby, and if you choose differently I hold nothing against you, it's all natural fibers and preferably wool. But this leaves me with a bit of a problem!  You see, I was given a bag of "wool" (used the way it's used where I live to denote any fiber to knit or crochet with) by a very sweet older lady to "make a blanket for the baby".  There isn't any actual wool in it.  I accepted it several months ago and put it away hoping she would forget about it and that I could get rid of it at some point.  However, I was asked last night if I had made a blanket yet for the baby with the "wool"- she even remembered the colors.  I was able to say truthfully that I haven't made any blankets yet, that my pile of knitting is huge!  Now what do I do?  I can crochet (the quickest method) a blanket just to show her and use it once to please her (this is what I'm leaning towards), or I can continue to ignore it and hope to be able to come up with future excuses.

In the meantime, here are a couple of new photos of baby things just to make you smile.

                                     Boys Booties from Natural Knits for Moms and Babies

Puerperium Cardigan

Time for Little Things

                          This is the Harvey Kimono from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms

I have been away for a while, but been very busy.  The baby knitting is in full swing, it helped that I can't seem to follow a detailed pattern right now.  Baby things tend to be quite simple and quick, and oh so cute!  Now I can't resist trolling through Ravelry looking at all the cute sweaters, hats, booties, etc.  It seems like I'm daily coming up with one or two new patterns that absolutely must be knit in the next three months.  They won't all get done so I'm trying to sort them by styles and sizes that really could be knit over the winter, or into next year for next winter.  I currently have three blankets that I would love to knit, in the next three months of course, one of which I still need to spin the yarn for.  Then there are multiple pairs of hand knit baby socks, what else do you do with the left over little bits from your own socks?  I have done two pairs of booties with leftover yarn from various projects - he's helping me destash a bit. - and I have several other pairs that I'd like to do.  The pile of handknit love is steadily growing, here are a couple of pictures, more to come as I get them taken.

                                            Pumpkin Hat from Wacky Little Baby Knits