wow, how is it already thursday? i swear that i meant to post monday, tuesday, and wednesday. i really don't know where those days went. they are a blur of baby toys, "the wire", and teething. the peanut is teething again. i saw her chewing on the side of the coffee table and i just knew we were in for trouble. incidentally, i'm very glad we bought this cheapo coffee table from ikea. just sayin'. her two top second teeth are coming down. they broke through her gums almost TWO MONTHS ago!

as you know, saturday was her birthday and we had a nice big party for her.

sarah, camille, and KP

we distracted her from all the people by putting her in a corner and giving her lots of books to play with.

most of our families and good friends were there to celebrate. it was a lot of fun!

thirsty nut

we sang happy birthday to her and she got a little freaked out but didn't cry. i was so proud! actually she barely shed a tear until someone she didn't know tried to pick her up. oh well. we're still working on that.

birthday cake

i wanted to show off two of the handmade gifts that she got. first, my aunt cyndy knit her a baby surprise jacket!

this jacket will be great in the spring

it's got a little 3/4 sleeve action going on it and will be a good little coat for the spring. she made it using berroco love it colors which is nice and squishy and stretchy. i really like the colors! i may have to get some of this yarn for myself.

and cathy whipped up this very cute munkee.

chillin'

we all love him to death and he's chilling on the couch next to me each night. thanks cathy! more pics from the party can be found here on flickr.

so now what? hhmmm, good question. still working on the peanut pants. i'm through to the first leg so we're making progress there. i also started a bath puff (check out the pics at ravelry) which i hope to have done in the next day or so. i'm putting in a call to artfibers later today to see if they have more of some yarn that i have. i really didn't buy enough zodiac (which is now called zoe) so i'd like to purchase at least two more balls and get started on something.

man, i am waffling about starting a project for myself. i've been thinking about it for months now! what is my deal?

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only two more days and the peanut will be ONE YEAR OLD! holy crap. we managed to make it through her whole first year without any fatalities. amazing. i'll have photos to post after this weekend. tomorrow we're heading upstate to my parents' place for some R&R before the big party on saturday. KP's hoping to golf with my parents and i'm hoping to get a little knitting done. we'll see. it's a whole new house to explore now that she's crawling.

mobile!

here she is in action. i can't stop her now! good thing i ordered a baby gate from amazon yesterday.

in honor of the peanut's big day, i made myself that skirt. the drafting turned out pretty good and i got to work last week on the actual sewing. had some problems with the zipper, of course. i guess you can't install a regular zipper like an invisible one like i thought i could. lesson learned.

skirt done!

here it is! it fits reasonably well and it's lined with the cotton sheeting that i used as a template. check out that blind hem stitch! i used this tutorial to figure it out. in the end, my zipper looks passable.

my zipper install

but here's what i'm going to do different for the next skirt.

• install the zipper along the center of the seam. i used this video tutorial to install it and she had it placed to the side of the seam. well, it didn't turn out that great and i think that my stitching would be straighter if i placed it on center. if anyone has any tips, please pass them along.
• i'm going to make the rise the same in the front and back. currently, my pattern has an extra .5" rise in the front and 1.5" rise in the back. this is what my measurements said to do but i think that i can cut it back to .5" on both the front and back and just use one pattern piece.
• i'm going use this technique for hemming a curved hem. MY GOD i wish i had seen it before i tried the first time. my first hem was ATROCIOUS. so much so that i ended up hacking off the damn curve along the bottom. i made the hem straight and, while it doesn't look bad, i think that it would look better curved.
• still gotta cut out a little more on the hips. man this patterner's got HIPS!
• i'll make the next one a little shorter.

so all in all, a good experience and i like the outcome. now what? i think it's time to cast on for the second sock. this one's a little lonely.

in randomness, one of my favorite authors, arthur c. clarke, died this week. i distinctly remember reading childhood's end and rendezvous with rama as a teenager. ah, summer reading on our sun porch back in michigan! these two books really ignited a spark in me for great science-based fiction that has yet to die out. i really loved this article at wired about him. he was a truly great man and will be missed.

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i don't know why i have so many problems starting a project. i can think of at least ten things that i'd like to cast-on for but then i get all nervous and think, "what if it doesn't work out? what if i wasted all that precious free time on it and it turns out to be crap." yes, i really do think that. lately, it HAS to be a sure thing. so i'm waffling. i really think that i should swatch and cast-on for flair but i hesitate. ugh.

in the meantime i've done some other crafty things. i'm working on a simple A-line skirt for myself. i've had this bonfit skirt patterner for years (i remember buying it at my old apartment so we're talking like SIX years now) and i've never used it until now. i think that i was a little intimidated by it seeing as my sewing skills are less than stellar, but i've got a little more confidence now and i gave it a shot.

1. using the bonfit patterner, 2. draw around, 3. this was my first attempt, 4. adding in the seam allowance

my first drafting of the skirt (yes, i'm drafting on leftover christmas wrapping paper) didn't work out well in the hips. WAY too much hips. so i figured out how to cut them back and re-drafted the pattern. i'm working with some cotton sheeting that i bought at BG for my muslin, which i'm going to turn around and use as a lining when all is said and done.

fabric and zipper for my skirt

i also got this at BG. i saw those pink and red turtles and had to have it. should be cute when i'm done. so i'm thinking about installing this non-invisible (does that make it visible?) zipper as an invisible zipper. i know that i'll sort of see the zipper teeth in the seam but i don't care. will it work? i think so. i just ordered and received my zipper foot from sears the other day so i can get started tomorrow maybe.

i didn't want to be without something on the needles (and those miters? my god, i'm having trouble working on them. i think that i'll save them for our early summer trip to the NC outer banks.)

peanut knit pants

i'm making these knit pants for the peanut (ravelry) using the itchy fingers pattern i found through ravelry. i did all the measurements and the math and i think that we're on the right track. i even swatched! i took the swatch when i was done and threw it in with our regular wash and dried it. i'm glad i did this because there was a significant change in the gauge seeing as this is a cotton/linen blend yarn. so i have to count rows while doing these pants not go by inches.

under the hem

sorry this image is blurry but i wanted to show my waist mods. i did a turned hem instead of ribbing and i picked up all the stitches and knit them in except for this inch or so pictured here so that i can put in elastic. i'm waiting waiting waiting on a shipment from joanns. god, they are slow to ship.

that's what's going on here! oh yeah, and the peanut is crawling now and giving me all types of strokes and heart attacks as she does crazy stuff. i stopped her from killing herself at least three times today. but who cannot love this face?

.... ok, well maybe this face..

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i took a quick look at the calendar this morning and i'm reminded that a year ago this day i went on maternity leave from work. it seems like a lot more time has passed than a year! i can hardly believe that the peanut will be 1 year old in a few weeks! pretty amazing.

since i don't have a lot of crafting to show you today (i'm still working on my skirt and i've made some progress on the peanut pants), i thought that i would reminisce and give you a quick and certainly not-too-detailed account of my birth story which i never did elaborate on last year. it's in the extended entry. read it and weep (i always do) or not. i'll have crafty stuff in the next few days :)

continue reading -»

i cast-on for the peanut's pants but it's nothing to show yet. i also washed and dried some fabric this week that i'm going to make a skirt out of. i've been reading up on pattern drafting and i hope to do all my measurements tonight and start on it tomorrow. so, since there's not much to show, i thought that i would pass on some randomness to give you something to do this friday.

first off, i ran across this article on wired on how to speed up your mac. i did pretty much everything that it suggested and i do see an improvement on my powerbook's performance so i'm passing it on to you.

and here are some videos (click through from RSS to see. i promise. it's only good stuff.)

continue reading -»

about a week ago, i got this bug in my ear that told me that i should really finish KP's socks NOW so that i can just be done with them and move on. behold the beauty of knitting man-socks on size US5 needles.

ode to argyle socks

all the details are on ravelry. i made this pattern up but i have since seen similar ones in ravelry (just search for "socks diamond" and you'll see them) so there ya go.

diamonds

i placed them on the couch yesterday so that KP would see them when he got home. he immediately put them on and wore them all night. i suspect he's pleased! i really want to throw them in the wash though and hope some of the wonkiness comes out. let me tell you, near the end, i thought i was going to run out of yarn and have to join a new ball but thankfully i didn't. i realize now that i didn't because i totally forgot a whole row in one of the pattern repeats. whoops.

quickie mittens

i also whipped up a quick pair of mittens (ravelry) for the peanut using the SAME cashmerino i've used on every other peanut project since miss dashwood. i'm almost done with it! one more skein. i was hoping that if i made these mittens, spring would come. today it was 60 degrees. mission accomplished.

aside, do you realize that daylight saving time starts this weekend?! holy moses. where does the time go?

so, now what? the only thing i have on the needles is my miters (forgot about them, did ya) i knit on one last night and will continue tonight but i need something new. i've decided to knit a pair of pants for the peanut using this itchy fingers pattern i found (ravelry). it's a great "recipe" pattern and i already swatched for it. i'll be using knitpicks cotlin in nightfall (which i keep thinking is called "midnight".) i just threw the swatch into the wash and dryer with a bunch of clothes because that's what i'll do to the pants when they're done. we'll see what i get and then i'll fill in the numbers and cast on.

likes it!

here's a gratuitous peanut pic just for kicks. she's trying out the new stroller we got, which i love. by the way, she's crawling now!!!! just started this week. huzzah!

next up? i'm making a skirt. at least, i think that i am. i may be making it too complicated on myself by trying this pattern that i have, but we'll see. and knitting? not sure. flair? maybe. ugh, i have too many ideas of what to make and no sure-thing.

p.s. i'm starting a "food for babies or toddlers" flickr group with aimee (right aimee?) on flickr. if you'd like to join up, please do!

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