Just Another Reason....

....that I am not interested in having a pet live indoors in addition to children:

Eventually, those will be finished projects that I can share here =)  In the meantime, that little Luke sure does keep us on our toes!  He's quite a change from Rachel, who is the next oldest.  She was always (and still is) so quiet and cautious.  She didn't start walking until 18 months old!  This little guy is 6 1/2 months old, and is cruising everywhere.  And, boy, does he get into stuff (obviously ;)

While he can sit all by himself, he much prefers to crawl....

Yesterday, I caught him doing this (the photo is a bit wobbly, but so was he, so it was either get a decent picture, or get him from falling!):

What you can't see in the picture is that he was cracking up laughing at his big brother =)  Those two are SO cute together!  It's obvious Luke adores Andrew.  But, then he also adores the screensaver on our computer....you know, that thing that bounces around the screen, while changing shapes and colors...

What's even funnier is watching Rachel, the 2 year old, sit and watch this, saying, "circle....square....balloon...star...."  hahahaha.  I love my kids!

Needless to say, we'll take this crawling, drooling, little boy over a dog any day =)

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep, Have You Any Wool?

Over the summer, I knit up a few of these wool diaper covers for Luke (it's the Very Chunky Diaper pattern link).  They came out very cute, and they work really well, too!  And, apparently, you only have to wash wool covers once every few weeks.  All you have to do is air them out between diaper changes, and they are good to go.  The really don't smell...it's amazing!  And, I've had NO leaks with them, yet.  Wool fiber has some other pretty interesting characteristics, as well....here's a link from The Diaper Pin on the properties of wool, and why it is ideal for cloth diapering, if you're a research-nerd type, like me.  Apparently, I've also become a yarn nerd since I picked up knitting.  I mean, seriously, how many people do you know that rant and rave about the properties of wool yarn on their blogs?!  

 The only catch with wool covers is that you have to take some care when washing them.  You can't just throw them into the washing machine, or it will ruin them, and then your heart will hurt.  So, they have to be hand-washed/soaked in warm water with a little bit of baby soap and lanolin.  Did you know that sheep naturally secrete lanolin, which makes wool a natural repellent of water...just in case you opted out of reading the link, I couldn't leave you without some useless, random fact about wool ;).

***several days later***

So, I tried washing these things.  Washing them isn't so bad, but it takes FOREVER for them to dry!  I'm going to have to see if I can find some tips and tricks on how to dry them faster.  In the meantime, I think I may have to knit a few more wool diaper covers...there are some very cute patterns on ravelry.com =)

A Few (too many!) New Projects

Lately, I've been on a bit of a project rampage.  Sewing, knitting, painting, and yes, even putting ear tags on our cows!  

I finally found some time this weekend to continue working on our curtains for the house.  We've been here almost a year, and the only ones that are 100% complete are the living room shades.  But, that's OK....instant gratification is over-rated ;)  Saturday, I managed to sew the second of the four curtain panels for our bedroom windows.  The valances have been done since last February, and I bought the material for the windows several months ago, but I just haven't had a free weekend to work on it since then.  They are looking really nice, even if I don't have any pictures to show for it yet.  Here is what the valence pattern looks like, though:  

The curtains for the bedroom match the darker shade of tan in the leaves (it's hard to see in the picture, though).  I also got the valence for one of the kitchen windows hung, but I still need to finish the curtains for the window to go with it.  Hopefully, it will all be done by the 2 year mark!

For Natalie's birthday, she received a couple of Barbie dolls.  Now, I'm not against the girls playing with Barbie dolls, but I am turned off by they way those dolls are dressed!  One of the dolls she got was a teacher Barbie with a little girl student, and a bunch of classroom stuff to go with them.  I LOVE that, because we home school, so it's cute to watch Natalie pretend to home school the little Barbie girl.  But, when the teacher doll came out of the package, she looked like this...

 scandalous!

 I mean, what teacher actually wears this outfit to school?!  And, exactly what is Mattel trying to teach our daughters about how women should dress?!  I probably shouldn't be surprised, but still!  Anyway, while I appreciated the concept of the doll, the attire just had to go.  So, I thought:  "hey!  I've got a decent amount of scrap fabric laying around...I bet I could make some really cute Barbie clothes for her!"  How hard can it be, right?  Naturally, I hopped onto Google and set out for the perfect Barbie clothes tutorial.  It took some digging, but I managed to find it.  Then, I enlisted the help of my sister-in-law to make a few outfits for me (who is becoming quite the seamstress!), and voila!  Another project on my list of already too many =)  Today, I whipped up a new Barbie skirt and dress:

Ahh!  Much better:  now she is at least halfway on her way to looking less like a Victoria Secret model, and more like a fashionable, yet tastefully dressed teacher =)

 And, the partially finished dress...it still needs velcro in the back, and cap sleeves (the skirt needs velcro, too):

  

The tutorial I used for these cute little numbers come from a really neat craft blog called 'Craftiness is Not an Option'  She has some GREAT stuff on there.  You can click HERE for the link to the tutorials....the Barbie clothes are all the way at the bottom.  I did do a few things differently than what she recommends.  For example, you can see from my skirt picture, I made the waist band a bit thicker than hers, simply because my sewing skills are not that professional, so I needed the extra room for error.  She calls for the band to be 1.25" inches (before it is complete), but I cut it to 2".  And, I added length to the skirt...I did 5" instead of 3.5".  Also, instead of zig-zagging or serging all the edges of the fabric, I just sewed a narrow hem (turned the raw edge 1/4", then turned another 1/4" and sewed down) to give it the finished look.  I'm not good with the zig-zag stitch, and I don't have a serge machine.  That worked out quite nicely, but I had to add an extra 1/2" around for seam allowances.  I also sewed the darts on the bodice of the dress differently than she suggested.  For one thing, I had no idea what a dart was before looking at her pictures (except for those goofy things you throw at a target, that I can NEVER land in the bulls-eye!).  And for another, she has you sewing along side the pins, but that makes me *really* nervous...I've broken too many of my machine's needles by accidentally sewing over pins.  I know there is a way to do it without removing pins and without breaking the needle, but I don't know how.  So, what I did was pinned the bodice on Barbie, then marked where I wanted the darts to go with a pencil:

Then, I took the bodice off, made sure the markings were dark enough, and added a second set of markings about 1/8" to the outside of the first ones:

 Still with me??  Ok...then, I folded the fabric on one of the inside lines, and then sewed down the line that was marked on the outside of it.  Then, I repeated for the opposite dart.  After I sewed it, it looked like this:

front view:

Come to find out, in sewing, a dart is basically there to help shape the bodice of the dress...you learn something new everyday, I guess!  I'm not sure if that is technically correct, but it seemed to work.  It may even be way more complicated than using the pins like the tutorial said to, but it worked for me.  Also, I used a rotary cutter and rotary board to cut all my fabric to size...this made sure it was nice, straight, even, and that all the ends matched up properly.  That skirt is actually my second attempt...I didn't even take a picture of the first one.  When I went to sew the back of the skirt together, the lengths of the skirt completely didn't match up!  And, I tried to sew a snap on it, but I sewed one of them on the wrong side, and it just didn't work properly (please don't ask...).  I tried doing the zig-zag thing on the first skirt, but there were loose ends everywhere, and it looked sloppy.  Plus, it was too short.  Oh well..it was fun to make, anyway, and it was a good test run =)

this photo also shows an example of the narrow hem I used in lieu of the zig-zag/serge technique:

Now, all I need to do is go to the fabric store and get some velcro to finish these pieces off!  I think I may get a batch of fat quarters to make some more outfits.  I have scraps, but it's not really little girl-ish stuff.  I'd like to try and make at least one of each of her items.  Ok...enough Barbie clothes talk!  I know I keep going on about it, but these were so fun to make!  I thought it would be difficult sewing all these little pieces of fabric, but it really wasn't that bad.  The hardest part was pinning the stuff together.  

Alright...on to the next project that I've had fun with recently.  Have you ever heard of 'Painting with a Twist' or 'Corks and Canvas'?  I'm not sure if those places are all around the country, or if they are just in our area, but I was invited to two birthday parties at these places.  Basically, it's a 2 or 3 hour acrylic painting class, and you can drink wine while you paint.  It's really fun to go with a group of girl-friends.  And, while I didn't have the wine, I did have fun painting, and I think I actually learned something!  They have all kinds of different paintings you can choose from, but the birthday girls picked out which paintings we did at the two classes I went to.  The first was Van Gogh's Cafe Terrace at Night.  It was supposed to look like this:

(I realize this isn't *exactly* like Van Gogh's, but it was the sample from the local artist who teaches the class, and it was very good).

When I got there, they gave me this:

And, by the time I left, it looked like this:

Now, keep in mind that I have absolutely NO artistic ability, whatsoever.  I know mine was not the best in the class, but I was pleased.  At the second class I went to, we did a Fleur de Lis with circles.  I didn't get a picture of the teacher's painting (which was really beautiful), but this was the blank canvas:

It's kind of hard to see, but this it has a Fleur de Lis outline on it:

And, this is how mine turned out:

Again, I claim no artistic ability.  So, masterpieces they are most certainly not, but it was a lot of fun making them!  If you ever get a chance to go to one of these classes, I really recommend them.  I think they would be fun no matter what your skill level at painting.  Here's a link to the website:  Corks and Canvas or Painting with a Twist.  I think it's the same franchise company, but don't quote me on that....

Ok, onto the last couple of projects I've been working on.  I've been really getting into knitting lately.  What I love about knitting, besides the therapeutic and relaxing aspect of it, is that I can pick it up for 5 or 10 minutes at a time, and then set it down and come back to it later.  You can't really do that with sewing...when I sew, I have to really make sure that I have a large block of time carved out where I know I won't be interrupted.  Knitting, on the other hand, can be stuffed in my bag to do while waiting for the doctor, or by the bed to work on while laying the kids down for a nap, or even brought outside while I watch the kids play.  I have a lot of different things I want to try and make with knitting, but I'm trying to exhibit self-control here!  Phil makes fun of me for having a bunch of different projects going, but I'm convinced it's normal...right???  Right now, I have 2 knitting projects I'm in the middle of.  One is a baby sweater for Rachel.  I've been working on this for probably 6 months now, and the back is finished, and I'm more than half-way done with the front.  The problem is, I think the yarn is the wrong gauge for the needles.  My stitches are way too tight, and the sweater is kind of stiff.  I think I want to rip it out and try something else with the yarn and properly gauged needles.  I'm also working on a baby blanket from this pattern.  I'm just about finished, so pictures to come soon!  It's a really cool pattern.  I also attempted a pair of leg warmers recently.  I didn't finish them, because I was just trying to figure out how to use double point needles.  Again, the needles were too small for the yarn, so the leg warmers came out really stiff, but they were super simple, cute, and didn't take long to make, either.  I want to make a set with the proper needles for the yarn.  Oh, and I finally finished my set of wool diaper covers that I was working on over the summer!  These are one of my favorite things to knit.  They take an afternoon to make, and the chunky yarn and big needles are fun to work with!  They have buttons on them and everything =)  Can't wait to try these out on the new baby!!!

And, last, but not least, the final project I participated in was to help Phil tag the cows.  Now that we have 9 cows in our herd, and will hopefully increase that number come springtime when a few of the females calve, Phil decided it was time to start tagging them, so we could keep track of who's who, and of what kind of care we give each one.  So, we got to really test out the new cow chute for the first time this weekend.  And let me tell you...I am no cattle farmer!  I'm really just along for the ride.  I love having cows in the yard, the beef they provide, and the milk they will soon provide (when we get our milk cow...hopefully this spring), BUT I really don't enjoy messing with them.  If Phil asks me to, or he needs a second person to help him out, I'll do it, but it is a sheer act of love, because quite frankly, those things intimidate me when they get within a certain distance of me...especially if there is no fence to keep them from charging at me.  Like I said, I love having them in the pasture, and the benefits of beef/milk cows, but up close and personal...I feel so vulnerable around them.  And, according to Phil, they can sense my fear, so that doesn't help.  We have a love/hate relationship, me and those cows =)  But, anyway, this weekend, Phil needed an extra hand, so I went out there and helped him get tags in the cows ears.  Although, I'm not sure how much help I really was...I think all I did was bother the cows (that whole fear sensing thing), and make weird faces while trying to hold the nose pincher things, so the cow would be still, while Phil pierced its ear.  Yes, that was my job...the nose clamp holder.  It was interesting.  I'm hoping that the more I'm around them, the more comfortable I'll get.  But, they stare at me funny!!  On the plus side, when I told Natalie that the way Daddy put the tags in the cows ear was the same way that girls get their ears pierced, she decided she doesn't want to do it anymore =)  Hopefully that will keep her at bay for a few more years...

 one of the calves, unhappily waiting for us to do what we have to do:

Phil demonstrating how I should hold her:

Success!

Sorry...no picture of me in action.  Phil had to act quickly...I wasn't very good at holding the cows.  I was afraid of hurting her.  Go figure. 

Craft Basket Wednesday

Well, I've still been working on Rachel's baby sweater, but seeing as that is a longer, more-extensive project, I don't really have any updates.  But, I have been making some wool diaper covers for the new baby!  In the midst of such a long project like a sweater, I wanted something that I could work up quickly, like in a day, so I could feel at least a little gratification at completing something.  So, I found this chunky diaper cover pattern at Ravelry, and I've actually made three of them already.  They fit the bill perfectly, as they finished in a day, plus, they are so cute!  All they are missing is the button.  The pattern is for a newborn baby, but I actually shortened the length from the designated 14.5" to more like 11.25" before finishing off.  The first one I made looked too long for a newborn, so I may have to go back and fix it.  I normally use Fuzzibunz cloth diapers, but the size small is too small for my new babies.  They outgrow the newborn size so quickly, and I didn't want to spend a ton of money on smaller cloth diapers.  So, I'm going to try these out to use with my inserts.  I've never used wool covers before, but they are supposedly ideal for diapering, for a variety of reasons (I won't get into that here, but I'm sure a quick Google search can help you if you're curious).  You only need a few covers if you are using wool, which is another perk, and I was able to get three, so far, from one hank of wool...I have a small ball left, so I'll see if I can get one more cover out of it.

The front (minus the button):

The Back:

**sorry these first two pictures are so dark...

One of the button holes on the side flap:

OH!  This is a new discovery I've made in the knitting world.  I'm very excited about this!  (does that make me too weird??).  Anyway, I've started keeping my current knitting project in a gallon sized zip lock bag.  The beauty of this is that your work all stays together, I don't have to worry about the kids dropping food on my extra ball of yarn - so, it stays clean while I'm knitting - , it travels well, AND I can keep all my notions in there with the project - a copy of the pattern, tapestry needle, crochet hook for fixing mistakes, tape measure, scissors...  It's so awesome!  I'm glad I discovered this.

Here is the other hank of wool that I plan on using for a few more covers (but, if the baby isn't a girl, I'll have to save them or gift them).  You can see how the yarn comes in a big, messy bundle...It was kind of difficult to work with like that, so I just rolled it up into a ball, like the one behind it, before starting :

And, just in case you were wondering, that chunky yarn is really fun to work with!  The knitting just comes together SO quickly, so it's really gratifying.  Anyway, that's all I have for now!  Stay tuned for more progress on Rachel's Triangle Top Sweater!  It's coming along, slowly, but surely =)

Now, you can go see what other fun crafts people have in their craft baskets at Knit Together (except she doesn't have it up there yet...I'll come back and link later).

Craft Basket Wednesday

I've been plugging along on the baby sweater I'm making for Rachel.  Now that summer is here, and we are done with school, I should have a little (note: very little) extra time to work on it.  We are going on a week long beach vacation, leaving this Saturday, so I will at least have the 4 hour car ride (there and back) to make some real progress.  The yarn isn't as soft as I'd expected, but I'm still hopeful that it will come out nicely.  Maybe once it has been through the wash...

These are pictures of the back of the sweater:

As you can see, I also discovered how to use stitch markers...greatest invention ever!  Thanks to the Knit Together blog for hosting Craft Basket Wednesday!

Craft Basket Wednesday

 Sometime during the last year or so, I discovered the lost art of knitting.  Wow is it addicting!  And really fun, too =)  You can make so many cute things.  This past weekend, I finished my first project - a yellow, boucle baby blanket.

you have to be careful with knitted objects around here, so they don't get pirated:

she likes it:

Peek-a-boo!:

I still have to weave in the ends, but other than that, it's finished!  Natalie even used it to nurse her baby doll this morning =)  Unfortunately, that was before the pot of coffee was made, so I didn't think to get a picture of it.  Now that I'm confident I can actually finish a knitted item, I'm moving on to a baby sweater!  I received my yarn and needles in the mail last week, so I'm ready to get started!

I just love new, squishy yarn!!  The teal is for the body of the sweater, and the brown for the trim.  Hopefully it will look like this when it's done (only a different color):

*note:  these are the images from the Debbie Bliss pattern book, Booties, Blankets, and Bears, and they come from this link. 

I would have made the sweater in the same colors that the pattern suggests (because I'm OCD about stuff like that), but that yarn is sooo expensive!  So, I opted for something that was 1/3 of the cost, and they didn't have these colors.  I'm sure the teal will still look lovely on Rachel - even if she will probably be way too big by the time I finish.  About a year from now when I finish the sweater, I'll let you know how it turns out ;)  I'm not the quickest knitter on the block....

Now, you can go on over to the Knit Together blog to see what other fun projects are going on!  Enjoy =)