winter garden

everyday pretty

Nice, eh? Want to make your own? Just get yourself some nice fabric, a can of multi-purpose spray adhesive, and an old mouse pad. Cut the fabric about an inch bigger (on all sides) than your mouse pad. Spray the back of the fabric and the front of the mouse pad. Wait a couple of minutes and then stick 'em together. I let mine dry overnight and then I trimmed the extra fabric off with scissors. Voila! A pretty mouse pad of your very own.

done and done

Can't knit enough these days. It's quiet and so portable (unlike my sewing machine). The perfect activity to take up to Stella's room for playtime. Stella leaps and spins about, Violet crawls and chews on toys, and I get to work on something creative. Moments of perfection. All 3 of us happy ... until one of the girls falls, or Violet wants to play with whatever Stella has set up, or Stella tries to pick Violet up, or whatever. But that's OK. Even 5 minutes of all 3 of us contently exploring our own interests is wonderful.

These stolen moments of knitting have amounted to a couple of finished projects. As per Stella's request, I've knit her a pink and green scarf. Isn't she so lovely. And the scarf is pretty too. It's made out of Patons Soy Wool Stripes in soft pinks, cream, beige and green.

Well ... she wore it for about 5 minutes before she told me it was itchy. I thought it was going to be soft enough. It is wool, but soft wool. Guess it's just not soft enough for a 4-year-old? Should have gone for the cashmere.

For my Violet, I've made some baby legwarmers. I was a child in the 80s - so I am familiar with the legwarmers. So good.I realised that I HAD to make Violet some legwarmers because we have an ergo carrier that we love, but when she's in it her pants get pulled up. And it's just been too cold for bare baby calves (even sweet chubby ones). So there you go - another knitting project.These were a joy to make. Great free pattern - Alana Dakos' Legwarmies. Great colours - dusty pink and dusty orange. Great wool - Rowan Cashsoft. Great legwarmers - Violet wore them all day and they worked like a charm with the carrier.

bib - favourite

My little Violet is beginning to show some (not much) interest in food. So far it is a mere flirtation because my baby loves her 'mama milk'. Regardless of whether she actually gets any food in her mouth, or maybe especially because she hardly eats any of the food I give her, she needs some new bibs.

I went through many different kinds of bibs with Stella and my favourite by far was a simple cotton bid, with snaps, and a vinyl-coated polyester backing. It's light, easy to put on, and it can go in the washer and dryer. I bought a couple of these bibs, but the fabric selection left a lot to be desired. And well, I might be a bit hard to please in that department. I love beautiful fabric and have a nice collection of it. So, of course, I needed to try and replicate the favourite bib in better fabric. And I did.

Here's a little tutorial for my golly g bib:
1. Materials - 11"x14" cotton fabric for the front, 11"x14" vinyl-coated polyester fabric for the back, bias binding tape (1/2" or 1/4" wide), and 2 sets of cap snaps.

2. Cut the front and back fabrics for the bib. My bibs are 11" wide by 14" long, with a neck opening 5" wide by 5.5" long.
3. Sandwich front fabric and back fabric together. Pin bias tape around neck opening, making sure that the tape covers the edges of both the front and back fabrics. Sew along the edge of the bias tape and trim.
4. Pin bias tape around the outside of the bib. Leave an extra inch of tape on either side. Sew along the edge of the tape.
5. Fold the extra bias tape to the back, pinching it between a snap, and hammer on snaps. I have two snaps (about 2" apart) on one side in order to adjust the bib size.
And there you have it. My favourite bib.

a return to knitting

I've fallen for knitting again. After having my first baby (Stella is 4 years old), I stopped knitting. Seems silly now. I guess I thought that counting stitches, following a pattern, and potential dropped stitches were too much with a baby in the house.

Funny that now is the time when I pick knitting up again. My second babe, Violet, is 9 months old and I've never been busier. But ... it's so cold outside, wool feels so good, k1 p1 is so calming, and baby needs a new hat. So there you go.