Pigs and Bears

Here in the United States, the H1N1 (Swine Flu) vaccine just came out a couple of weeks ago and on our local mama yahoo group there’s been much a flurry about what to do. Everyone’s getting their two cents in- to vaccinate or not to vaccinate. I’ve read some interesting thoughts on both sides. What I like the most about this e-conversation is that people are being really nice about the whole thing. I haven’t heard anyone say anything mean about someone else’s choice. That’s how it should be. Everyone’s doing what they feel is best. How can I argue with that? Now, if someone wants my thoughts on this whole thing, they’ll get me on my preventative care soap box before I even enter the vaccine debate. Well, maybe; maybe not. Depends, I suppose.

I did want to share what our naturopath said about the vaccine. He doesn’t recommend it. Also, it appears that the complications have not happened among healthy families. Now I suppose we’d have to spell out what healthy means, right? Here’s what I do when someone in my family is sick: No sugar (including fruit), no dairy, but lots of Vitamin C, Elderberry tea, and other warm tea drinks all day, and lots and lots of rest. I also make sure that they’re eating things that will help them heal. Ginger is a good one for the beginning of a cold and will warm up the body very nicely. Bilingual papi and I also use the neti pot and do gargles with lemon juice and baking soda.

I think prevention and good health go a long way. Now, on to bears.

I was knitting a bear for baby brother from a Debbie Bliss pattern. You have to knit all these little pieces and then assemble them while stuffing it. I’ve got a couple of the pieces knit up but I’ve really lost interest in it, so I’m considering ripping it out and starting another bear pattern from the Drops Design site. It’s a bear you knit up in the round, with double pointed needles, and it looks like there’s only a small amount of finishing to do. Click here for the pattern.

I have to admit that as I write this I feel like I want to finish the other pieced bear and then make this one as well, just to see how they compare in the end. I’m almost done knitting up some wool leggings for baby brother and I have a bonnet I’m working on for him so we’ll see what gets put in the knitting queue.

Hiatus is now over

I think it’s safe to say that my blogging hiatus is over. Last week, with its wonderful warmth, was just the initiative I needed. All that vitamin D absorbed affected just the right parts of me and did its dutiful job. I’m in full creative mode. Every time a the sun streams into our living room I find another idea brewing in me and pull out materials for its execution.

On ocassion during this last week, I have gone to wash my hands and been dumb struck by the person in the mirror, looking back at me, shell shock. So it’s also safe to say that despite my productivity I’m still adjusting to having two kids. I figure at some point I’ll arrive at the new normal (chime in, please). I recall feeling the new normal settling in around crawling/walking with bilingual baby, which was just before her first birthday. I get the sense that it takes me longer than others (or so I’m lead to believe) to adjust to new motherhood. I think that, in light of that fact, having fall babies and heading into winter to hibernate with them is perfect for me. It gives me a chance to settle in. But, hey, that’s all I know. Perhaps if I had had winter babies and had a 2 month old in March I’d be saying that I love being able to walk around with my new baby, yadda yadda.

With my sewing machine nearing permanent removal from the room upstairs, I can see many sewing moments ahead. A moment is all I get sometimes. I sew one seam and attend to baby brother; one more stitch and serve food to bilingual baby. It breaks it up a bit but at least I get some sewing in during the day. See, once bedtime sets in, I am confined to bed with both kids. Granted that’s my choice and I welcome the rest but it still limits me. I just know, now from experience, that it doesn’t last long. What’s a year? If you had a job for only a year you’d be asked why you left so soon, right? That’s my perspective.

Spring projects:

Another podeagi

Family of knitted bunnies

Knitted wool wet bag

Small sewn bags (I’ll go into the details of this project as I’m excited about the design)

there’s more but now is my time to read with bilingual baby while baby brother is napping.

Finished baby

Here it is! I finished it about a week ago but didn’t get time to post the picture. The head actually has wool that gets stretched across the top of the head, to make it nice and round, and then is gathered at the bottom of the head to form the neck/chest. The bottom half of the bunting holds the millet while the top is cushy thanks to the wool. I do think I filled it up with too much millet. My instructions said to put in 4 cups and it didn’t look full enough so I added another cup. I hope its not too heavy for bilingual baby.

I still have clothes to make for heavy baby (bb’s name for the baby) but everyone seems to be happy for the moment so I’m gonna wait for a bit. In the meantime, I’m making a family of bunnies for bilingual baby.

I did finish a scarf for bilingual baby. Short rows. I’m blocking it right now.

Doll progress

I’ve been plugging away at the doll I’m making for bilingual baby. For those who are just tuning in, it’s a weighted doll; no legs, but rather it is filled with baked millet, treated with lavender oil to preserve it. I already have the head done, with “skin tone” fabric and all. After waking up drastically earlier than usual to take bilingual papi to the airport (more on that later), the kids took a super long nap. I got a nap and had time to cut and sew together the bunting- which will be filled with the prepared millet. So fun. I even got one hand sewn on.  Here’s what the body looks like so far.

It’s turning out quite nice. I’m also thinking that I’m going to follow the original design with no facial features. I’ll be curious to see how bilingual baby interacts with it and how she has this doll interact with her other dolls who have facial features.

Pockets were made for 2 year olds.

I got it. The bug. The one I was so proud of not getting. That’s the one. It’s been mild. And good thing, too, cos bilingual papi has been focused on stuff at work. In the words of my sister, “At least it’s not mastitis.” I second that!

We had our dear friend, Alex, over for dinner yesterday. For him, it was a dinner to break the Fast. It was so nice to have him over. His visits are few and far between. My friend Liz and I made an upside-down cake yesterday. So yummy. Made with the strawberries another friend and I picked last summer.

Bilingual baby is stashing my cough drops in her pockets and is really thriving on helping her sick mami. It’s very sweet. I wonder if you can overdose on cough drops, as she thinks I should be chain eating them.

While little brother is sleeping on my back, I thought I’d get some work done on the doll I’m making for bilingual baby. I had a bit of annoyance when the amount of wool that came in my kit wasn’t enough to make the correct size head. However, that was erased by the helpfulness of the woman who sold me the kit. She quickly sent me more wool and the other materials I had already used making the “too tiny” head. Here, in it’s blurred glory, the head. (I don’t mind showing you a blurry photo since it gives a sense of how I feel today. bleh.)

A couple of friends and I started a doll-making circle and meet again next week. I don’t have to complete any parts of the doll before the next meeting but since I’ve got the time right now, why not.

I should remember to put a  couple of pockets on bilingual baby’s doll. I’m sure every 2 year old wishes everyone the joy of pockets. I know mine does.

An invention: The Random Craft Wheel

On a lighter note, I came up with another invention as I was nursing bilingual baby down for a nap. Wouldn’t it be great to have a Random Craft Wheel? I’m not set on this being a wheel but something (probably a computer program) where you would enter a certain number of preferences and you could “spin” the wheel to find what craft you could/should make. It would be really great for pregnant crafters (or others) who are having a hard time making up their minds.

Some of the preferences could include:

Type of craft (paper, knitting, crochet, sewing, etc)

Time involved (in minutes): 30, 60, 90, 120; (in days): 1-2, 3-5, etc.

Pattern needed: none, free, purchase online, purchase in store

Difficulty of project: You’d check a box on level of ease from 1-5

Tutorial available online: yes or no (and further specify with or without pictures)

Materials needed (in cost): scraps, $5, $10, etc

Anything else this program would need? Besides a creator.

Print Gocco

No, I didn’t get a Gocco printmaker yet. That would be fast. I do want to share some visuals so you can see what other people have made with this homemade printer. All the links are to Etsy.

What’s Etsy? This is taken from their about page:

Etsy is an online marketplace for buying & selling all things handmade.

Our mission is to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers.

Our vision is to build a new economy and present a better choice:

Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade.

Here are the samples:

The reusable lunch bag by shoofly

Year of the Rat tags by Bamboo Village Press

Bunnies waiting for spring by Amantha

Fairy bib by JemimaOddSocks

Brown Owl by mylittledear

This gives a small sampling of what you could do with the Print Gocco but there are so many options. If you want to, click through the search I did for yourself. Click here to go to that search on Etsy. You’ll see that I have only scratched the surface.

Couldn’t title this to save my life. Common thread: I typed it all.

When I think back to high school, both in the U.S. and in Colombia, I realize that I got good grades but by no means did I learn much about learning. I didn’t enjoy it much but I knew how to get by. I especially learnt how to get by with minimal work here in the U.S. where my little effort was seen as a lot of effort. Go figure. So, I just did as much as I had to do to get the teacher saying, “Good job”- funny, probably why I don’t care for that phrase now as a mom. I’m a product of it not working.

Anyway, as I was nursing bilingual baby to sleep, I was thinking about the difference between my high school and college “careers”. By the way, the high schools I went to were good. I’m not saying that the teachers were lousy. I am saying that expectations were painted with a much to broad stroke. When I got to college, I learned that I loved to learn but not always about the stuff that I was being taught. So I ended up doing a lot of outside projects that were somehow related to the class but not covered by the class. Luckily, by the time you get to the last couple of years and you’re focused on your major (theatre and dance) you really can study what you want and make a project that counts for your graduation.

What am I getting at? It’s implied (but maybe too obtuse at the moment) but I’m going to digress and talk about Print Gocco.

Oh. my. Why did I not know about this? Perhaps it’s because I’ve been more into the textile arts than the paper arts, though I like having paper around. So the Gocco is a home printing device to make original prints in small quantities. They are sold mostly out of Japan but there are some sellers here in the U.S. I’ve gotta get one. Check out the kit:

I found this one on etsy. Looks like a load of fun. Don’t you think? I’m thinking of the drawing that bilingual baby has been enjoying and how cute that would look printed onto a bib for her little sister/brother. Or. Think of the cool things she’ll be making drawing on paper. What a cool way to preserve them by printing them onto a canvas bag or something. Ooooh. Many ideas. Filling my head.

Before I conclude, let me share my latest sewing projects.

The brocade pants:

Red pants for my friend’s son (the one who took me snowshoeing) who just turned 1.

I made these pants long enough to be a size 12-18 month but smaller in the waist. This is what most of my sister and other friends complain about when it comes to clothes for their kids. Either the pants fit the waist or they fit length-wise; they don’t seem to want to do both. Last time I was in California, I made some pants for my nephew who is long and lean. Poor guy keeps on looking like he’s waiting for a flood in his other clothes.

Did I mention I’m excited to see my sisters. I assure you there will be a lot of giggling involved by getting the three of us together in the same house. Lots. of. giggling.

I’m almost done with a summer dress for another friend’s daughter (one who we hang out with all the time). It’s pretty cute. I’ll post pictures when I’m done.

Nighty-night.

More knitting and sewing projects to come

I’ve got a couple more projects I want to finish and have to be diligent about the time I spend writing on the blog because it uses up precious knitting time! Is anyone willing to take dictation?

Here’s the fabric I got this weekend at JoAnn’s. March is apparently Craft Month so they’re having a bunch of sales. I’ll try to get in again. Even though I’ve got bilingual baby in the Ergo, I still get her eager-to-leave squeals.

It’s not as brown as the photo makes it seem.  I’m thinking of making pants with the brocade and a top with the teal.

Things I’ve made recently

I had this old wool sweater that I had been wanting to remake into something else. When I first started having visions of what it could be, I didn’t have a kid. Now with a toddler and a baby on the way, it’s easier to think of things I would make for them- though I do manage to make things for myself, too. Here’s the sweater dress I made for bilingual baby. It did turn out too big for her this winter but come next winter, this girl’s gonna be styling- a la 80’s. I have to think back on how I made the sweater dress so I can share the directions. I know I’ve promised instructions in the past and left some of you hanging. I will try to post directions soon.

The other day, when bilingual baby and I were out for a walk on the town, I stopped by the consignment store just to look, or so I thought. What got me in the store to begin with was the sign outside that said 50% off. It is a consignment store so things are pricier than a second hand store but not as pricey as new. Plus, there’s the added bonus that you’re buying used and that’s just gentler on the environment. I found two tops that I imaged as something else for baby 2.0 but I couldn’t put my finger on what they could be. Then it hit me. I could make a baby gown with one sweater. The other sweater I’m still deciding on but it shouldn’t take me long. The material is so cozy it just screams baby. Over the last couple of days, I’ve cut out the fabric of the first project, sewn it together and am putting the final touches on it. What’s nice about using fabric that was already something is that you don’t have to do as much finishing. The hems on the bottom and the wrists are original so all I had to do was finish off the neck, which may prove to be too wide or may end up being just right for the no-neck stage. I still have to hand sew the inside of the neck but that’s something I want to take my time with.

Instructions for the gown:

To make the gown, or sleep sack, whatever you want to call it, I measured the body out to be 18.5 inches (as for a 3-6 month size, based on a knitting pattern I have of one of these), the length to be 21.75 inches and the arm to be 10 inches. Before cutting I decided I wanted the seam allowance to be 1/2 an inch (I don’t like a huge seam allowance) so I added that to all sides before cutting. I cut everything out and then patterned the shoulders based on the remnant of the original sweater. It was a rough cut, nothing fancy or that calculated. It actually worked out great, except that I could’ve left the neck a little narrower. I sewed the side seams and the arm seams and then took a step back to see what I wanted to do with the neck. I tried it on bilingual baby, who was willing. It was obviously to wide in the neck even for her but the body was near skin tight so I knew that would work well. I thought back to the polka dot dress I made for her and remembered the gathering at the empire-ish waist. I basted the top of the neck about 1/4 of an inch from the top on both the front and the back. Then I gathered it in pulling the bobbin thread. I tried to make them look a little different so that the back could be distinguished from the front but I’m not sure that worked. Then, I took some of the left over fabric from the original sleeve and sewed it on, right side facing the top of the neck front. I trimmed back the fabric and repeated for the neck back. I then folded the trim 1/4 and then another 1/4 and pinned it in place. I will then hand stitch it in place.

Also, since I’m uploading photos I thought I’d include a photo of the biscotti, which is all gone now. Need to bake more!