Yarn Along

My first Yarn Along was so fun I wanted to squeeze in another. I did start on my own Some Cloudy Day leg warmers, I'm hoping to have them done by the first week of February...it's been much too cold here for skirts even with legwarmers anyway so there's time to finish them.

I'm still reading 'Roughing it in the Bush' and soaking up all the local historical information. The youngest has taken to 'I Love You, Little One' and I'm also skimming over 'The Busy Toddler Book' for ideas to keep my own toddler busy (wishful thinking I'm sure).

Using the heat

I finally brought our drying rack up from the basement to start drying clothes by the wood stove. I thought this was going to be an awful chore but I'm finding it very easy. I've done lots of indoor clothes drying but as a family of five I thought it would be a major pain. It's not though, and I'm only using my dryer about 1x per 1.5-2 days. Compared to my normal 2-3x per day! Plus the dryer doesn't seem to be running that well so I was sometimes needing to run the dryer 2x for a load (not something this frugal mama likes to do!) Even the diapers go on the rack. I'm sure we'll see savings on our next electricity bill. I still use the dryer to dry all the diaper wipes, dish cloths, socks, and family cloth etc. Hanging all those little things would be a bit too much for me!

Our wood stove has paid for itself in less than a season, we're so happy that we (Bill) put it in. We've even got enough wood to get us through most of next winter too, it's a good feeling. We were shocked by our heating bills last winter. The furnace is original to the house (so about 30 years old) and it's electric. Our bills were just shocking, we managed to get through but the wood stove was a necessity.

Now, a quick stocking update...

I'm busy with custom orders, but I'm sewing them up as they come in, I'll add bits of stock to my shop here and there. I added some wool backed pads to my Etsy shop today and I've got a few more pads to add in the coming days but my computer is running painfully slow today so I need a break! Here's a peek at some :)

Yarn Along!

This is my first time joining in on Ginny's Yarn Along. I cast on a pixie hat for the youngest, her hat from last year has gotten too small (oh my how she's grown!) This time I'm making up my own simple pattern, I'm not sure what the yarn is but I love how the colour is working up. I do know it's 100% wool and hand dyed by a WAHM on Hyenacart. I'm hoping to find the details on the colourway, pastels kind of scare me (due to the ease of staining) but add in some shades of brown and pastels no longer scare me! You can also see my first Milo vest, also knit for the youngest, she's so tiny though and I knit this too big so I'm going to try adding some stitches at the back to make the fit a bit snugger and add some length to so that it will fit her for much longer. It will be worth the work to have the vest fit longer. The Milo pattern was a great knit and I can see myself knitting many more.

Quintin and I finished Farmer Boy last night, we love these books and I can't wait to start on the next book in the Little House series. Rowan has been loving Good Night Harry. I read it to her two times and nap and bed time while she nurses to sleep. She was on a Red is Best kick but Harry seems to have won out for now. I've pulled out my copy of Roughing it in the Bush by Susanna Moodie. I can't remember the first time I read the book, it was years and years ago. Possibly even before Quintin was born. I don't often re-read books but it's like I'm reading this book for he first time. The struggles of emigrant families in a new and challenging place....it reminds me that though life may seem rough at times I just can't imagine the struggles these pioneers endured and now as a mother myself the my reading of the book has changed again.

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.

About Our Pad Sizes and Absorbency

I recently did a custom order that included one pad in *almost* every size we make. The only two sizes missing from the photos are the tiny 6.25" liner and our biggest size the 15" length.

You can see below some clearer photos of each of the sizes plus what absorbency they're suited for. Hopefully this helps you decide what sizes you need, I remember how overwhelming it all was when I first made the transition to cloth pads. Please contact me if you have any more questions.

Remember that you can customize the absorbency of any of the sizes when placing a custom order. For example I've had requests for 12.5" pads with only pantyliner absorbency to act as backup protection when using a menstrual cup. I've also made 8.5" length pads for heavy absorbency.

Pictured above (from left to right, top to bottom)

10" length ~ suitable for average to moderate flow {width 2.5"}

8.5" length ~ suitable for average to moderate flow {width 2.5"}

7" length ~ suitable for light flow and cup back up on heavy days {width 2.25"}

7" panty liner ~ daily use, spotting, menstrual cup back up, wonderful for pregnancy {width 2.25"}

6.25" panty liner ~ (not pictured) daily use, spotting, menstrual cup back up, wonderful for pregnancy {width 2.5"}

Pictured above (from left to right)

15" length ~ (not pictured) suitable for heavy flow (day or night) and postpartum use {width is adjustable from 3"-3.25"}

13.5" length ~ suitable for heavy use (day or night) and postpartum use {width is adjustable from 3"-3.25"}

12.5" length ~ suitable for heavy flow users great for day or night and postpartum use {width is adjustable from 2.75"-3"} Personally I find this a very useful size, even though my night time flow isn't 'heavy' I love the extra coverage and this was my most used size during my postpartum period.

11" length ~ Perfect for moderate to heavy flow {width 2.5"}