Exhausted Sunday

I woke up so exhausted this morning, I think Rowan nursed all night last night. Still tired of course but things needed to get done so I pulled myself together and got some stuff done. I finished up some sewing, went for a walk in the rain with Rowan in the Ergo and an umbrella. Changed two beds, put away my sons laundry (possibly my least favorite chore!) fetched the eggs, made banana blueberry bread. It feels good to get so much done in such a fog.

There's more work to this afternoon including shop listings, another bed to make, washing diapers, and making a batch of homemade leftover soup. Making soup from leftovers is so fast and my family loves it. This batch will have a base of some of a leftover curried chick along with some rice and pasta from the week and a bunch of veggies thrown in. So easy :)

Here's a sweater I got finished up yesterday, it's made with a whole bunch of leftover hand dyed yarns. I cast it on just before we left for our camping trip and I surprisingly had time to work on it. My son picked out the bee buttons, he really wanted some red fire truck buttons but the sizing didn't work. It's made using the Mossy Jacket pattern in the 18 months size, I wish I'd knit the body a couple of inches longer. Hopefully it fits through the winter.

Here's another scrappy project, it's a double pocket wetbag that I should be able to get listed in my shop later on today.

And a quick custom pad (yes, custom orders can be just 1 pad ;) ) I love this Heather Ross print.

A Quick Stocking Note

I'm doing a quick stocking today, I'm stocking a couple of wetbags and some wool backed pads (yes, wool backed! it's been so long!).

My 4 Simple Goals

I love Elsie's idea of 4 Simple Goals so I'm joining in too http://abeautifulmess.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/08/4-simple-goals-before-2011.html

I'm very goal oriented so I had a hard time narrowing it down to just 4 goals, but it'll be worth it ;) So here's my 4 Simple Goals for the remainder of 2010.

1. Move more, bike rides down the road and walks up the hill. The reward? Feeling great, and possibly a new nursing shirt to go along with those pre-pregnancy jeans that have been hanging unworn for way. too. long.

2. Playgroups with our youngest. As soon as the older kids are back to school, at least once per week we'll plan to get out of the house to meet other toddlers an mamas. I'll be rewarded with a happier toddler (she loves to be out and about) and hopefully some new friends for mama.

3. Make a batch of homemade soap. A new skill is certainly a reward and we'll get some soap, hopefully enough to share for holiday gifts too...and maybe even trades?

4. Sew for me! I've got two patterns waiting for me (I can count this as one goal though right?!). The first is an incognito diaper bag pattern called 'Go! Mama' the second is the 'Schoolhouse Tunic'. The reward, a new shirt and bag...plus overcoming my fear of sewing shirts.

ok, my goals are out there I'll update as each is accomplished! Good luck to all others participating!

Trade Mail

Remember I posted the nonpaper towels I made up for a trade? I got my portion of the trade last week. It's hand blown glass baby wearing pendant, isn't it beautiful? Even my partner and kids were amazed by it, you should see the family and birth pendants Brooke does, they're gorgeous too. I'll cherish this as I can see our days of baby wearing are getting further and further apart. You can find Brooke here https://www.familytreeglass.com/

oh my!

I got the sweetest email from a customer last night, so sweet I have to share it because it made a great day even better!

"Your pads are unbelievably comfortable. I'm new to cloth pads and really had my doubts about them working for me. Yours work so well I'm changing them less than the store bought super maxis. I can't believe there is no leaking especially out the sides, that was always a problem for me. The fabrics you chose are perfect, I love the patterns and colors.Your pads are unbelievably comfortable. I'm new to cloth pads and really had my doubts about them working for me. Yours work so well I'm changing them less than the store bought super maxis. I can't believe there is no leaking especially out the sides, that was always a problem for me. The fabrics you chose are perfect, I love the patterns and colors." ~j~

how kind! It's always nice when I get such wonderful feedback. This email also reminded me of how reluctant I was to try cloth pads way back (5 or 6 years ago!). I was also so surprised that cloth pads can actually work better than disposable pads. I thought I'd have to change them more often, that they'd be gross and smelly. Those are all myths. The idea that disposable is the way to go has been worked into our brains for the last two to three generations....just know that you have options ladies...pretty options!

Here's another custom order that's on it's way to Australia. It's a mix of 13.5" and 12.5" sizes in minky and flannel.

back from camping

here's some pictures from our camping trip, we had an afternoon and night of pouring rain, we let the boys play in the rain-they had a blast! The next day cleared up and was beautiful. We've found a new favorite spot for camping.

I'm back at my sewing machine and moving along on custom orders.

Saturday Yard Sale Find

Near our house we have the most wonderful yard sale, it runs every Saturday and it has the greatest stuff. My find today was this little vintage doll cradle for $1.00. It's in great shape, nice and sturdy. All it needed was a wipe down (which was done post pictures). I'll soon sew up a little mattress pad and blanket for it. Other finds included some needed mugs and glasses, lots of clothes for the kids and a Christmas decoration too. Did you thrift any great finds this morning?

Happy World Breastfeeding Week!

I've been wanting to create a post in honour of World Breastfeeding Week, I've has some unique breastfeeding experiences between my two children that are probably worth sharing and one day I'll post them. Today though I'd like to share my two most favorite things about nursing our 17 month old daughter....how she plays with her fingers while she doses off nursing and my most favorite is when she's nursing during the night she rolls over and snuggles into me when she's done

To celebrate World Breastfeeding Week I'm offering two pairs of washable flannel nursing pads in my Etsy shop as a Pay It Forward listing. All you pay is the listing fee of 20 cents and the shipping...enjoy and happy breastfeeding!
Here's a little peek at some wetbags I'll be listing later on today....

A new sweater

This is the sweater I knit when I wasn't supposed to be knitting. It seems I got lucky with the little ones sleep habits last week I was able to stay on top of sewing and get this knit up. I had *just* enough yarn, actually the second arm is a row or two short of the other so I barely made it. It's kind of a cropped version of the original pattern which is the Elliot Sweater by Teresa Cole it's a freebie on Ravelry. It was a nice easy pattern and I'll probably end up knitting another later one in the fall. I think my next knitting project will be the Mossy Jacket http://fpea.blogspot.com/2007/01/free-pattern-friday-mossy-jacket.html But with a camping trip next week and some new custom orders (yeah!) I really won't be starting this one for a couple of weeks.

(she loves it by the way!)

Buttons

I finished knitting a sweater for Rowan last night (after I said no knitting for the week). It needs buttons so I got out the button jar. Most of these buttons are vintage from my mom and aunts, I decided to try letting Rowan search through them too. My son used to love to just sit and look at the buttons actually he still likes to look through them. Rowan though....I wasn't sure how it would work out, she still (at 17 months) likes to taste everything and sometimes doesn't transition well from things. It worked out all right though and I did find some buttons for the sweater. I'm hoping to get them sewn on while she naps so I better keep this short!

More canning, these are some bread & butter pickles. I'm branching out a bit in canning recipes and it's keeping me motivated. I also made a double batch of relish this week it's yummy. I'm going to get another batch made so we have enough to share and last through the year. I'll try to post the recipe, it's a good one.
And a custom order. I had two custom orders to complete this week and they're both done (yaaa!) This is a stack of flannel topped pads.

Off to sew on some buttons.