When Babywearing Ends....

Ever have those times when everything is going along just perfect, and then suddenly a whole bunch of unexpected projects just 'have' to be made? A few weeks ago, I had only a couple projects on the go, and a few more waiting to start. Life felt balanced, predictable.
Then, I saw a cute little knitted elephant on another blog.


I showed it to Lucy who insisted on having one immediately. Sure, it's a quick little project...except for running to Wal-Mart for the poly-beads, doing laundry, cooking, night owl toddlers....It's almost done and I'll post it soon.
Then, on the Yahoo LK150 group, Ray mentioned he designed a new hat, so I checked it out. No pattern, but he said it was coming, so I checked again a few days later, and he was asking for pattern testers. I was the first to respond! So, last week and last weekend, I knit up two tuck stitch hats. The first one took about 5 days, the second, maybe 5 hours, LOL. I send him photos and he wiped out Meg's cute face, LOL, and posted the first hat picture. It was supposed to be adult size, but there was a little tension issue. You should go check out Ray's site, he dyes some beautiful yarns and is a success story after Hurrican Katrina. This is the second hat I did with the revised pattern, and it fits Rob. When it's on a human, the top is NOT that pointy!



Then I remembered my self-promise of knitting a dishcloth on the machine after each project, so I had to whip up a quick one, and I used a similiar tuck stitch. I haven't used the LK150 in a long time, the Singer 327 took it's space. It's such a nice machine to use....more sophisticated than the KnitSmart/Bond, but not as scary as the Singer 327. The KnitSmart is hibernating, LOL.
Okay, now for the reason for the title today. It's all Sandra's fault. I was reading her blog, and she posted a link to someone else's. I went there to see a pattern, but started scrolling down through her blog. Up came a CUTE little dress that instantly reminded me of my favourite babywearing wrap:
I followed the links and started looking at the thread on Craftster. I'm up to page 30 or so out of 123 pages, LOL. I dug through my fabric stash. I have some stretch velvety stuff with an interesting pattern, but it seems too wintery. I have a burnout velvet, but the burnout parts are stripes and I think they'd show too much ;) I have some grey interlock, but less than what the pattern called for, so I didn't want to start cutting it. Then I pulled out this wrap. I know we looked crazy, with her facing out, but it was much more comfy than a Snugli (because she's held closer to my body), and with her facing it, it was always a delight to carry her.
But, she grew. I've been holding on to it, hoping to find someone else who would understand the thrill of a stretchy wrap, but not mind it being handmade, not store bought (not like the Moby D I bought Rob's co-worker, who a few months later told me she wasn't able to figure out the 'rope sling').
I'm still too emotionally attached to this wrap! Then, I found another rectangle of the fabric--I thought I had Freecycled the leftovers! The rectangle would be enough for a skirt, not as full as the original dress, but still nice. The wrap is made with two 2.5m pieces, overlapped by a foot. I took it apart, and sliced one of the pieces so it was half as wide.
I made the skirt with an elastic waist instead of a band, and stitched the two long pieces onto it. Those pieces aren't as long as the original either, but they work:
This way makes me look a little busty, I think. And, it can get a little revealing on the sides, LOL. I think my straps need to be a little wider. This way, below, is like the blog I linked to. It's a little more covered and secure, and how I have it on today! I already have fabric for the next one! You can also make a top if you're not into dresses.

It would have been a great dress for the cruise...the size is very flexible, LOL. Stay tuned for more photos of the next one!