Author Archives: Jess

sunny winter

Last week brought us lots of sun and near 70 degree weather, so on Saturday we took a trip to the park for lots of running (with your tongue hanging out if you happen to be Ellie), jumping, tree climbing, whacking things with sticks, and a fair amount of waddling by the mama.

sunny winter

sunny winter

sunny winter

sunny winter

sunny winter

sunny winter

sunny winter

sunny winter

Hope you had a good weekend too.

This week, keep an eye on the kids’ new blog.  They’re going to take turns telling you all about the books they’re reading, the things they’re making, and what they think about it.  It should be fun!

knits for the new guy

I’ve been knitting along with all the sewing I’ve been doing.  Knitting for a baby is so satisfying because it’s almost instant gratification– well, as far as knitting goes.

easy peasy

This little sweater was knit before Christmas, before the toy making flurry was in full force.  It’s from the Easy Peasy pattern from Little Turtle Knits, and it was definitely easy peasy.  It’s knit flat in garter stitch and all in one piece– a very satisfying instant gratification kind of project.

curly purly newborn soakers

I also knit up these little bum sweaters (from the free Curly Purly pattern).  I’ve been cloth diapering my boys since Jonah was born and have often read about the benefits of using wool diaper covers.  Wool is breathable, natural, nearly waterproof, and can absorb a ton of water before feeling wet.  It’s naturally antimicrobial too.  So, since I was feeling the need to knit baby things, I bought some Cascade 220 Superwash wool to give wool diaper covers a try.  After I got one done and had only gone through about 1/3 of a ball of yarn I decided to do another, but wanted to spice it up a bit.  I took the rest of my yarn and Kool-Aid dyed it with lime and blue rapsberry lemonade (I think).  Kool-Aid dying is so easy and so fun!  My kids got in on the action too, but that will have to be another post.  What I really want are some little hand-knit wooly pants– and this picture of Jessica’s new little guy has got knitting some longies  on my must-get-done-before-the-baby-comes-list.  If anyone has suggestions for a good pattern (preferably free) and the perfect diaper cover knitting non-itchy wool yarn please let me know!

acting on impulse

Yesterday I impulsively signed up for this handmade toy swap.  Like I need to add a time consuming toy to my list of getting-ready-for-baby crafting that I want to get done in the next few weeks.  I decided to get right on it because, really, I wanted an excuse to make another doll.  It is so fun to see them come to life. Here’s today’s play by play.

First, there’s the head form.  This isn’t a totally kosher Waldorf doll because the materials aren’t completely natural– I’m using panty hose instead of cotton tubular stockinette because that’s what I’ve got laying around here.  It’s stuffed with wool, though!

toy swap WIP

Gotta cover that crazy looking lump with skin.

toy swap WIP

and give it a face…

toy swap WIP

Ahh, there she is!

toy swap WIP

Also, February 10th the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act goes into affect.  You can read all about it here, but in a nutshell congress passed a law to protect our kids from toxic chemicals in massed produced toys from China and didn’t think of all the ramifications of their new regulation.  Now ANY product marketed for use by children must undergo third party testing, which is fine for huge mega companies, but for moms sewing cloth diapers in their homes, or artists selling clothing or toys on etsy, this will essentially put them out of business.  Hopefully the powers that be will see the light and make some exemptions for small businesses.  It will be a sad day when the ONLY options we have for buying toys are those mass produced, lifeless plastic things…

more maternity sewing

Hi.  It’s me, the big huge pregnant lady.  The one you might have seen leaving her snowy driveway at 8:30 this morning so she could make it through the storm to her 9:30 birth center appointment.  The same one who called the birth center an hour later, just 3 or 4 miles from her house.  The one who left the GPS at home, but still thought she could bypass the standstill freeway and ended up completely lost.  Lost, going 5 miles per hour, frantically calling her husband at work hoping he could give her some directions, but no answer.   The one who called the birth center for directions and got the nurse who has only lived in Denver for 2 months and was as clueless as she was as to how to get headed in the right direction.  The one who finally got through to her husband’s voice mail and broke into tears, who fed her two little boys their lunch in the car  by 10 AM to keep them happy in the slow moving icy traffic, and then was miraculously called on the phone by her Visiting Teacher who gave her directions.  The big, crazy, frazzled pregnant lady who finally got to the birth center at 10:45.  After leaving home at 8:30.

Yep, that’s me.  I probably should have just turned around and gone back home when I saw how slow traffic was moving.

But, my visit with my midwives was good.  I have been Group B Strep positive with all four of my previous pregnancies– requiring that I have IV antibiotics during labor.  This time my test came back NEGATIVE!!!  I have been taking probiotics, eating lots of yogurt, and taking odor free garlic (when I think of it) and I got rid of those pesky bad bacteria in my guts!!  Is that cool or what?!

Also, I was wearing my green cordouroy shirt and the nurses and midwives were all perceptive enough to know that I needed compliments on it.  I made it after all.  Want to see?

hee hee

buttons and tummy gathers

It’s view J from Lovely Maternity Dresses.  I have made view E, but it ended up too big.  I was sure I’d need to make a pretty big size and after trying to study the Japanese size charts and deciphering what I thought were prepregnancy and pregnancy measurements and size charts I decided to opt for a size 11.  Turns out that the patterns take into account how actual people grow during pregancy, and so an 11 on my 5′ 2″ narrow shouldered, though swollen body was too big.  This one I made in a 9 and it is just right.  I’ll probably be wearing it almost everyday until this little guy pops out.

 another built by wendy maternity shirt

And here’s another Built By Wendy shirt.  Just with long sleeves.  Not quite as comfy as my green corouroy shirt, but will do when I have to take it off to do laundry.

And here’s my photography helper.

if only we could all be this cute

I’m always amazed that something this cute actually exists.  I think I can handle one more.