Drafting (Again)

I've been working on the 11 inch size again.  Selfishly, I wanted this size to be more like my own favourite 12 inch style...a bit curvier and a bit more flared.   I need to re-design the shape of the core to match those flares, and it needs to be a tiny bit narrower, then it will be ready for 

testers and feedback.

gifting

 a shiny ribbon dress and crown for a niece who just turned four

 a retro inspired turtle print baby blanket and burp cloth

recycled sweater mitts & strawberry jam for a wonderful teacher

Valentines Day gifts for the kids (extra bonus: when the boys outgrow those slippers, they'll be mine!)

All Bagged Up

I suppose it's a stay-at-home mom phenominon but I do love Mondays, my afternoon school volunteer stint keeps me near home and focused on a busy morning and a good start to the week.  

This morning after snowshoeing and starting some rice pudding I finished up some wet bags I had started over the weekend.  There's new pad wrappers too, in black and white chevron.   Some of these prints I haven't used for wet bags yet,  I'm excited to see what you think!   

There's a big (really big) stack of pads to sew over the next week or so too.  For now though, there will be new wet bags and wrappers going into the shop.

County Cloth Creations Etsy Shop

A Rowhouse Hat

::Knitting::

A Rowhouse Hat, it's my first stranded project and I love it.  I deviated from the pattern a bit so that I could use the yarn I had available.  A great knit and I'll be making many for gifts.

I've since cast on a Mama Vertebrae for myself, and even though I really need to spend time on mending and sewing things for my family.


::Reading::

I'm not reading anything wonderful at the moment, I'm finishing up a book that's just ok.  It's good for  now, since this book isn't interesting enough to keep me up late reading!

Last night I read over the new (free!) sewing pattern by Deer & Doe for the Plantain T-Shirt.  I'm pretty excited about this one, it looks like a pattern I can manage it and it's just the kind of shirt I would go for in a store.  And look you can even make it into a dress!

Joining Ginny for a Yarn Along

New Wet & Dry Bags

Aren't these pretty? They're also very practical. These are wet/dry bags, after having a couple of custom requests for these (and making myself one) I decided to add them to my Etsy shop.

The front zippered pocket is lined with cotton (great for storing clean, dry pads) the top zippered section is lined with PUL to contain messy stuff. And of course you can hang it.

Use them for your cloth pads, cloth diapers, and family cloth. This bag is going to be very handy when potty learning starts, and for the pool/beach.

11" size re-drafted (again)

While working on a custom order a few weeks ago (for some 12.5" pads) it occurred to me that it would be great to re-draft my 11" pattern with a touch more flare to it. I hope you like it! It's not a huge flare, the back flare measures just a smidge wider now at 4.5".

I have three of these new 11" pads to list in my Etsy shop, plus a few other pads. Rowan *just* woke from a much shorter than normal nap so the listings will show up a bit slower than I'd hoped, sigh.

A Catch All Post

I know there's ends that need tying up here, things I said I would post about and haven't yet...so here goes. Get ready to be overloaded!

I said I'd post about my Waldorf doll making experience and really all I can say is make one! It's a fun and easy project. That said be sure to have a thimble and bandages before you start...don't be scared! I just found that while forming the head I cut/pricked my fingers a few times (who said crafting was easy?) injuries aside it is NOT good to mark your work with a little smudge of blood, so just get some band aids in case.

I used this pattern for the body, it's a wonderful pattern. Read it through a couple times so you know exactly what you're doing. This seller also just came out with a 16" doll pattern which I grabbed up. I used this tutorial for the hair (the pattern I bought also has hair directions too, I just wanted a different style).

This is how the doll has sat recently, unclothed and one sock is missing. Truthfully Rowan rarely reaches for her, though I'm sure there's still time for her to become a favorite.
Another picture of Rowan painting which is almost a daily event here. She's painting with Q-tips here, but all painting experiences usually end up with finger painting which is fine with me. She was moving her tray of paint and it tipped into her face (and hair) she then thought it might be good to try and lather some paint in her hands and rub it through her hair. A bath followed that night.

I posted in my last Yarn along post about my girlie Milo vest. It worked out just as I'd hoped and it was fun to knit some scraps up. It did take much more yarn then I'd expected. I'm adding my notes here because I would like to repeat it.
I followed the directions for the bodice section of the Milo pattern, though I shortened the bodice a bit (I used 9 month size).

-switched from size 7 needles to size 10's and switched yarn colour.

-k 3, M1 around

-knit 3 rows

-k5, M1 around

-keep knitting until almost desired length, switch back to bodice colour (but keep larger needle size) K1 row, P1 rown until desired length. bind off

It's soooo soft and snuggly (& warm!)

Now the flannels, I mentioned I'd bought some new flannels and I finally found my pictures of them. I'll be adding a few pads to my shop later this week (or this weekend) and there's a couple from these prints. I'll be showing you a new pad design soon too :)

A New Turkey Tradition

These wild turkeys turned up in our yard yesterday afternoon, there was nine of them. They wandered around our yard for a while and showed up again this morning though they didn't stay long with our dog outside. The boys watched them for out the windows yesterday and it provided some slow and gentle entertainment that they were in need of. Last year a larger group of turkeys showed up on December 26th and spent a very long time exploring the yard. Wouldn't it be nice if it happened every year? When Rowan woke up from her nap we went sledding and came home for stew from the crock pot.

The boys went outside this morning for some playing in the snow. We're having a bit of a thaw here so it was really slushy and wet out and Rowan and I stayed in, though she would have loved to go outside. The nice thing about having much older brothers is that they make snowmen for you.

And sometimes even deliver them to the front door....

While the boys played outside I made this blanket as a gift for a co-worker of Bill's. They just welcomed a baby a couple weeks ago and these extra big two layer receiving blankets are always a welcome gift. The Christmas decorations are being packed away slowly, mostly to avoid jarring the littlest one. All that's really left is the tree, this year is certainly a record for me. I don't think I've ever left my tree up this long (not in my own adult life anyway!) Tomorrow I'll clean it off and Bill will put it out in the yard and then we'll vacuum and vacuum those needles up! I've enjoyed the slower post-Christmas this year. There's been lots of knitting and some sewing. Next week they'll be more sewing than knitting as I get a couple of orders finished....for now though I'm back to my needles :)

Have a Happy New Years!

The crafting is done!

You'd think with all the coverage this doll is getting she's the only thing I've crafted this season. I got the boys pj's done on Saturday and I love how they turned out. Last week I had walking pneumonia which really slowed me down (it's karma for all my complaining about the chicken pox - which Rowan still hasn't shown any spots). It did force me into the reality of what I really could get done though. I'd like to knit one more hat, I'll cast it on today and hope I can have it done by Sunday.

My house though is a disaster, that kind of feeling that I just don't know how long I can stand it but there's just other things I need to work on first. I'll keep puttering away at the baking, the cleaning, and wrapping. Somebody remind me next September to get started on my Christmas stuff....please?

I'm hoping to share some tips from my doll making experience in January, for now I'll just say try it! It is really is simple, what a memory it creates. I hope Rowan just loves her up. By the way do you see the sewing basket she's sitting on? It's perfect isn't it, my mom brought it out to me last weekend. It belonged to my great grandmother who passed away in September at 98. I'll cherish it for certain. It will be perfect for holding all my hand sewing supplies, I seem to be doing more and more hand sewing.

12 days of Christmas

I've been away again, as I explained in my last post there's usually just a few reasons I'm not able to blog as often as I'd like and one of them is childhood illnesses, this week it's chicken pox. Quintin (at the age of 7) finally caught them and now I'm just waiting for Rowan to show the symptoms, there's no way she'll escape it!

Though I really wish it could happen in the new year the spots will probably show up in the coming week. I'm trying to get caught up on all the Christmas baking and making that need to get done before she needs me to stop everything for at least three days. The nice thing with sick seven year olds is they can understand that soon they'll feel better and they can say my 'throat hurts' and you can do something to help them. I don't think it will be that easy with a 20 month old!

So with 12 days left till the Christmas day I've still got most of my craft list to complete. I should be doing something other than blogging right now but maybe typing it out will help me to stay on track and figure out what I can cut back...


-make a wise men or sheppard costume for the school play on Wednesday (eeepp) I can't even start this until Monday night because I don't know what he is yet!

-finish Waldorf doll (she just needs hair)

-finish knitting a hat (I'd love to get a second knit too and I've got this as a project I can work on if the pox hit Rowan before Christmas)

-sew 2 pairs of pj pants and applique 2 shirts for the boys (this is really stressing me but really it won't take long at all)

-sew gifts for my sisters (not even positive what yet....not good! at least they'll happily take a rain check on their gifts, but I do really want to get them done)

-baking (I made a triple recipe of macaroons today, I'm keeping it simple this year and only baking 4 types of sweets but in larger batches)

We still need to cut our tree and decorate it, organize and wrap gifts, and I know there's more errands to run as much as I've tried to avoid this.

phew, am I stressing you out!? I don't mean to be! I'll share some picture end on a more relaxing note...

this girl just loves to craft

This picture was take Thursday afternoon, you can hardly see the spots, but look at the next picture

See, this picture was taken Thursday night, look at those spots! Liam had the chicken pox as a toddler so he's clear.

And the Waldorf doll! I took this picture on Monday, since then I've gotten her body sewn and attached her head. She's got underwear, pants a shirt and even some bamboo velour socks. This morning I even added just a touch of blush to her cheeks. All she needs now is her hair, I just need to get some dark brown embroidery thread. I keep forgetting this or that at the fabric shop. I'm hoping to share more details and info. on her in the new year, I've so enjoyed this doll project.

So happy I had to share

I've been wanting to make myself some new pj pants for a while since mine are so worn and awful fitting (too short in the leg, too big in the waist and back). I'm so glad that I made my own and I'm not sure I'll ever buy pj's for myself again! Of course I had to make a matching pair for Rowan. It was so cute to see her looking at my pants then looking down at her pants last night thinking 'we match'.

I did a yoga style fold over waist, it's so easy (and comfy) it's become by favorite way to finish off the waist of pants and skirts. The flannel was from Wazoodle and the knit fabric on the waist was from the remnant bin at Fabricland. (I luuuurve the remnant bin, it's always worth a peek).
If you wanted to make your own pjs but a little more economical/green/ethical you could use thrifted flannel sheets and t's shirts for the waist band. I'm sure I'll make some this way too, I had these fabrics on hand so I figured I'd put them to use.

We've decided to go out for dinner tonight so I'm heading off to peel a whole lot of apples and pears to make into apple-pear sauce before we go.