On the needles this week ...

October 28, 2009
I'm working on a dress for Haley. This is the body of the dress; I still have to do the sleeves and bodice to add on.


I like the way the bottom came out. I translated a knit-flat pattern into a knit-in-the-round pattern and for some reason (baby brain?) messed up the garter stitch at the bottom (which is shown as the upper brown stripe at the bottom). After some contemplation I picked up stitches at the bottom of the stripe, knit in stockinette with the varigated yarn for awhile, and then did ACTUAL garter stitch for the bottom. The way the messed up section curls inward makes the section I added on afterwards look as though it's a ruffle from underneath. Pretty neat, considering it was a mess-up-fix-it kind of thing.


Here's our model with the partially finished dress. Again, I have to finish the sleeves and bodice before it's really done. She's very excited about this dress as she specifically requested I knit her a dress!

Hat, Skirt, 2 more diapers!

October 17, 2009 --
These knitting needles were hard at work the past week. In that time I've finished Haley's skirt for Halloween (she wants to be Minnie Mouse), Baby's coming home hat, and drawstring cords for all the wool pants I've knitted.

Haley's skirt. The white drawstring will be tied like a great big bow around her waist. We've got a red shirt, black leggings, red shoes, and Minnie Mouse Ears for her. I'll post pictures around Halloween. I didn't use a pattern for this -- just sort of knitted it up. Haley now wants me to make her a dress!

Baby's coming home hat. I can't post this with the outfit I've picked out because that's a surprise but here's the hat. The yarn is super soft, chunky, and knit into those stripes without being asked. It ends in a little yellow circle at the very top!

The newborn diaper stash. In the left corner we have 2 dozen preemie prefolds. The three top most rows are fitteds, the row with UCONN is a set of AIOs, and the entire front row is waterproof covers. The four blue covers are THirsties Duo Wrap (size one) and fit newborn - 18lbs so I'm pretty excited about the versatility of these covers. For those of you new to cloth, there are snaps in the front that extend or shrink how tall the covers are and, of course, the velcro extends the circumference.

**If you look at the row to the right, second diaper down from the top -- it's new. It's a really cute bird pattern that I picked up last week when buying the fabric for my gigantic quilt. I made one up in newborn and one in small, as well as making teal fleece pants (not pictured) to match.

The SMALL stash.

We have 2 dozen infant prefolds, fitteds, AIOS, and 3 Fuzzi Bunz pockets.

September 30, 2009 --
All of these pictures show not-yet-completed projects.

First we have huge, monstrous, incredibly absorbant post-partum mama cloth. I applied snaps to the back and I just have to figure out the best design for stay-in-the-panties wing design.



These are my other pad sets. Top left you'll see 8 heavy flow pads and then top right and entire front row are the regular flow pads. The patterned portion of the pads wrap around the panties and snap closed, just like disposable sanitary napkins. Best thing about mama cloth (like cloth diapers) is you spend $x.xx and then you don't have to buy again -- and no garbage! Plus aren't my pads way cuter than yours?



Haley found some giraffe fleece in my sewing box and requested I make her pants. As I was sewing HER pants she requested I make a pair for the baby as well. She's convinced it's a girl. I'm can't commit to a specific sex so I made the pants but won't be buying a pink shirt to match.

September 23, 2009 --
I found a free pattern for fleece longies (pants). I made a quick pair last night for the baby and then branched out to make an outfit for Haley.


The pants and matching t-shirt. I didn't make the t-shirt but I did add an embellishment to make it a complete outfit.


Action shot! Here's our model posing for a picture in her new outfit.

September 21, 2009 --
FINISHED!! I actually finished it yesterday but didn't get a chance to take a picture or post it. I had to move my kitchen table just to lay it out.



I didn't knit these; I had them done for me. I didn't think I'd have the time to make wool pants for the baby with the quilt and other things I had going on so yes, I outsourced. Robin did a wonderful job and even made matching hats!!

(For those of you that don't know about wool pants, they serve as wonderful water proof barriers over non-waterproof cloth diapers. They also serve as clothing so they do double duty.)

September 20, 2009 --
One more border to go and then we're quilting. I'll update once I get that last border on!

September 18, 2009 --
Another border added! Next there will be a thicker border of the blue blocks (centers of windmills, blue with pink flowers) and then another thick border of the green paisley. After that we're done with the top and can start quilting!

September 17, 2009--
Pregnancy insomnia can sometimes be a good thing. There are four more sets of borders to apply to this quilt top and then it's off to the store to buy fabric for the backing and then the real fun begins: quilting!

September 17, 2009 --
Yes, I've been busy.

Thanks to my mother for helping put triangles together to get this quilt moving again. I went from stalled to 3/4 of the way to actually putting this darn thing together!! I have 48 sets of triangles left to sew and then I have to attach them to the pink squares -- and then I can start assembling the quilt top! WOO HOO!!



If you weren't tired of seeing the diapers I've been working on here is the set of newborn all-in-one diapers I made. Notice the UCONN diaper :)

And here is the set of small all-in-ones I made. Again, a UCONN diaper. Baby will be in these two sizes during the end of football season and through basketball. We have to show our Husky pride!

September 17, 2009 --
More creative works by me!!

This is the quilt I made for Haley this past Christmas.

This is the quilt I finished for Baby Christian. Since we don't know if Baby is a boy or a girl we went with gender neutral colors and lots of fun patterns!

September 16, 2009 --
I finished the Pooh quilt!! The following pictures show a couple different views. It's by no means perfect, but I never strive for perfection -- too unattainable. I go for excellence :)

The back!!

September 7, 2009 --
Lots of sewing has been going on.

First we have 5 all-in-one diapers I've made for Baby. The top 3 are size small (10-15lbs) and the two on the bottom are size extra small (5-10lbs). I have three more smalls to complete and three more extra smalls but I'm waiting on my snap order to arrive.

Next we have the entire pile of diapers I've made thus far. This includes the 5 AIOs just pictured plus the 23 fitteds in small and extra small. The fitteds are still waiting for snaps but again, I'm waiting for my snap order to arrive.

I'm working on a baby quilt for a coworker's niece. The first picture is of the fabrics I chose; the second is the pieces cut out; and the third is the inner square of the quilt all ready for borders! I should have it done by the end of the week ... if my snaps don't arrive first!

August 25, 2009 --
Here are 12 (almost finished) newborn diapers!! I just finished 11 size small diapers but haven't had a chance to take pictures yet. Both sets still needs snaps to be applied.

July 12, 2009

Welcome to my project blog. Here I'll show you what projects I'm working on and update as I get farther along. I have lots of projects in the works at this very moment!

Cloth Diapers for baby-on-the-way:

Above we have a stack of 12 (one not pictured) cloth diapers I'm working on for the baby. They're made with hemp fleece, bamboo velour, and cute outer prints. I have to trim the threads and add snaps to finish them off, as well as completing the snap in soakers.

These are three covers I've made in size newborn. These also need snaps applied, but I'll do snapping in one fell swoop. That machine is a beast!

These are the snap in soakers I mentioned before. They are three layers of hemp fleece and one top layer of bamboo velour. I think I have six of the 12 completed thus far.

Ready to be worked on are 12 cloth diapers in size small. This will fit the baby from 8-15lbs or so. The top box has the hemp fleece, bamboo velour, and knit prints while the bag on the bottom has everything for the snap-in soakers. I've got lots of sewing to do!

This is the quilt top for the blanket I'm making the baby. For those of you that are wondering the sex, this quilt gives you no clue. It is NOT a hint. This is merely gender neutral since baby didn't cooperate at the ultrasound and the state of Connecticut has banned elective ultrasounds. You'll find out in November just like me ... well, after me .. but still November!

Last, but not least, is a HUGE quilt I'm working on for Christmas. The last few years I've made quilts as the one gift I give at the Christian-Patterson family get together. I won't tell who this is for but it's for a lucky female member of the clan. You can see that this quilt is in various stages of development and trust me, there's a LONG way to go. About a week ago I had bags filled with triangles and squares only so this is a step in the right direction. This will be queen size when finished!

Isn't that green paisley fabric to die for? I walked into the fabric store and said, "Oh my goodness. I'm building this quilt around THIS fabric!!" It should be fantastic when it's done. Let's hope, anyway!