Duh!

When I was making my coffee this morning, I saw another paper on the fridge with "2 square dishcloths" and "8 cotton pads" and their  weights written down.  Then I thought--did I blog those yet?  No.  Yesterday's comment about "another" two dishcloths would have made much more impact if I had already shown these dishcloths and pads, LOL!

So far, I've done 5 dishcloths and 8 cotton pads from this cotton yarn.  Years ago, when my 9 year old was a baby and I had just gotten into babywearing, I saw a pattern for a knit pouch.  Having gotten into machine knitting, I knew I could do it on the machine--though it was very difficult to figure out how much the fabric would stretch until it was sewn up and a baby put in.  To sew it up meant grafting 95 stitches, because of course I wasn't going to have a seam show!  Luckily, I hadn't woven the ends in, so I knew where the graft was and could unpick it (ugh.  Anything to save a few yards of yarn LOL).  I must have used those giant balls of Bernat Handicrafter, cause I have yet to find a yarn end.  I still have a fair bit left of this sling, and one more in the bin to unravel.

 I experimented with the  puff stitch pads.  The original pattern called for 11 loop puffs.  I found that really pouffy, and I wondered how well they would dry.  I tried both 7 and 9 loop puffs, and liked them both, though the 7 loop puff one was a slightly smaller diameter.  I will say, I think the puff stitch ones feel more like cotton pads though--not exactly fluffy, but the ones done in single, hdc, and dc have a much firmer, textured feel.  I really should try these out myself.

I tried two different patterns to get a solid square.  Well, I also tried a third idea before these two, but it wasn't quite right.  The top one, it started out having two chains in the corners, but I found that still pretty open, so I tried one chain.  Not a whole lot of difference.  The idea I had tried had no chains in the corners, but I was using hdc and perhaps the stitches were just not high enough.  The bottom one starts off with making a circle, then building out the corners.  It's a little wonky as I wasn't sure exactly where to start each side.  Funny how the colours made vertical stripes on the lower section!

While on the topic of crocheted/sewn baby slings, I just want to point out two pictures circulating.

 This one is probably not too bad, it's most like a real sling, though a little narrow at  the shoulder.  The pattern is no loner available on etsy though, so I'm assuming there was some flack about it by the bigger sling makers.  I also saw pictures of crocheted slings using an open mesh stitch (like what I've used for bottle holders).  What does it feel like after laying in a hammock for awhile?  I can't imagine it's all that comfy for baby to be pressing against the crocheted knots.

This one makes my blood boil.  If you click on it, you should be able to see it larger.  It actually says you can have your hands free!  Tell me, what will happen if she lowers her right arm? Whomp, there's baby on the floor.  This is a horrible design.  Narrow strap, NO head support.  Please don't make it.

Crocheted and knit fabric stretches.  Sometimes, that is a good thing.  A stretch wrap, made in a knit cotton, is awesome for a newborn, but we're talking knit at like 20stitches per inch.  T-shirt fabric.  In thicker yarn, the stitches are bigger, so there is more stretch over the length of the item.  Knit/crochet it tighter to reduce stretch, and you've made fabric cardboard.  As well, crochet stitches are knots.  It's never a smooth surface, like knit stitches.  I hate crocheted slippers because of this.  A sling would feel the same.  If you want to make a sling for a new mom, make a sewn one.  There are also decent no-sew ones you can create.  Or, support a WAHM and buy one.

Yarn In:  500gr
Yarn Out:  55gr (dishcloths) + 42gr (pads) + 1827 = 1924gr
Balance: 1424gr more USED than bought
Costs:  $21.19/57days = $0.37/day

Happiness

I opened up my Blogger dashboard, and found out I had a new follower! I'm up to 10! That thrills me much more than whatever my Facebook friend count is! I feel like I should have a contest! I'll think about that. I'm actually planning a contest/fundraiser for early December, but I need to find some plain white roving, and that's proving much harder than I thought it would be :(

I also looked at my stats, and see I had another busy day last week, with 35 page views in one day. One page that got 4 views was not what I would think of being an interesting one--showed my pink fingerless gloves from early 2009 (I think...).

But what I really wanted to write about....babywearing! Yup. Now, I know, you're saying, this is a knitting blog now, take that child stuff to your other blog. Well, I did sew the sling, so does that count? :)

The week before Thanksgiving, a woman posted on Freecycle that she had borrowed a sling for the weekend, and loved it, and was hoping to get one for herself. I didn't think I had one to offer, just a knit pouch that was sized for me, and what's the chance of finding another me? But I responded, giving her some suggestions for making her own, places to get instructions to sew one, and let her know that I had the one pouch, and had some fleece I could sew her one for free, or if she wanted a ring sling she could pay for the rings ($5) and I'd sew something, either with her own fabric or something from my stash.

I was her only response! She came over later in the week, and Meg had hidden the pouch sling, and wouldn't you know...the lady, Amy, was short and big busted! However, her baby was already 4 months old so a cotton knit pouch would be limited in longevity. I showed her some fabrics I had and she feel in love with a green paisley fabric....a different colourway of the pink fabric I used to make Lucy a sleeveless dress way back in 2008 (that seems so long ago, but I guess it really wasn't). She would be coming back through town the day after Thanksgiving, to go to Sick Kids (hospital). I was aiming to have it done for then.

It'd been over a year since I've sewn a ring sling, so it took some refreshing, LOL. And I was having one of those days when I felt like I had never sewn anything before in my life. But it all came together, and I tested it with Meg. OMG. I could get her hoisted up, but she is one big girl! Where'd my little peanut go?

When Amy stopped in, her baby was sleeping in the car so she didn't disturb him. But she had done her research and seemed confident and on her way. She sent me an email later saying that he loved right away and they never even bothered to take the stroller into the hospital! She added a picture, and indeed, she looked like a pro!

I'm not going to post her photo, but I am so excited that someone else is babywearing! I got so frustrated with giving away slings before, and finding out the people never/rarely used them. One woman had a 7 month old baby, and a 4 month old foster baby. She seemed really interested in babywearing and the convenience it would offer her, so I gave her one of my slings. A month later I hadn't heard anything back from her, so I asked her how it was going. She replied that her baby had been sick and she hadn't had a chance to try out the sling. What?! Most sick babies I know of what more holding, not less. And with two babies under 8 months? How could you not have ONE chance to try a sling? So now I ask for $5 to cover the ring cost.

I have been knitting, not with the greatest, or most interesting results, but I'll get to that later. Off to look for more Hallowe'en costume items!

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!

I Made a SSC!!!

SSC=Soft, Structured Carrier. Like an Ergo, a Beco, or, for the more mainstream, a distant relative of the gastly Bjorn. A cross between a Mai Tei and a Bjorn. LOL.

Funky, eh? I bought that canvas at Wal-Mart. They had a few different, similar patterns, but I just had to have the pink one. I have wanted to make this style for a long time, but there is no one, single, pattern on the internet. In the Yahoo Slingsewing group there is a sketch and most measurements to make a 'psuedo-Ergo', but there aren't detailed instructions, and a few of the measurements are missing, or open to variation. In the DIY forum at http://www.thebabywearer.com/ there is a bit of a fuss about copying commercial carriers (like the Beco), and posting the measurements. One woman had made an awesome carrier with a similar fabric, based on her Beco. She had said she' d post instructions, but it's been a few months now. So, I gathered up all the measurements I could find from different posts, and all the different tips, and created my own!!! I am so incredibly proud of doing this. There are a few issues, but overall, I can't believe I planned, designed, and constructed this! Me, who two years ago, didn't even know how to cut a long length of fabric to half it's width, LOL.

I can't believe how skinny my legs look, and how big my boobs look! LOL. You're supposed to wear it lower, but Megan likes being up high.

For those of you who don't care about the sewing details, you can move on now ;) For those of you who are hoping to find a step by step instruction page, well, I'm not quite going to post that. Much of making this is similar to a regular MT. I will share some of my tips that I figured out, and if anyone wants more detailed info, email me at TracyKM at yahoo dot com.

I took all my measurements and made a sketch. Then I took a roll of paper we had gotten at IKEA (I would actually recommend not using rolled paper if possible, even though it laid flat, it has a weird grain to it, making the pieces be ripply once cut out), drew out my pieces to full size, and did NOT include a seam allowance. I wanted to be able to use the tracing around the shape as my sewing lines, so it wouldn't matter too much if my seam allowances were cut a bit wonky. I laid them out on my fabric, traced them, and cut them out. I did notice some errors with the paper parts as I was cutting them, and tracing them on the fabric, but I did still end up cutting the shoulder straps wrong. Not a big issue, the fix is actually an improvement.

The first thing I realized was that if I wanted something sewed to the outside of the straps, or the waistbelt, I had to sew it to the top layer before sewing the sides together. So, I wanted D rings on the shoulder straps, to hold keys, or a pacifier, I cut a piece of webbing, folded it in half with the D ring in it, and sewed through the webbing. I figured that I didn't have to have both edges flush together, the bottom layer of webbing could be slightly inwards. That improved the look a bit, but I figured out with the waistbelt a different way that looked even better.

I wanted to pad the straps with three layers of Fun Foam, wrapped in fleece. I thought perhaps I could sew the fleece to the inside of the strap when I sewed the side seams. That worked, but made for a bulky seam, and there was NO way to insert the Fun Foam. So I unpicked that one, and asked the engineer what to do.I sewed the strap seams, and turned it right side out. We inserted the webbing through the small end, and pulled it through the other end. I wrapped the Fun Foam with fleece, and used my zipper foot (!!) to sew really close to it, and sewed the webbing to the end of this package. Then I pulled the package into the strap by pulling the webbing at the small end. This is how you pull electrical wires through walls, LOL.
Then I pinned the straps to the two inner layers. Yeah, I used two layers of white twill; it's pretty light stuff. Then the engineer and I had a 'discussion' on how to layer the body pieces to sew the straps in and the four body pieces together, and have the right side of the straps with the outside layer of the carrier, because the inside layer is pink Ultrasuede! He was certain I had messed up. I have done several reversible MTs and I have this same discussion with myself each time. I even made a diagram after I got the first one right on the third try, but I've since lost that. I've made another diagram!

I was most worried about the waistbelt construction. Other DIYers use camp sleep foam mats, or yoga mats. I asked on Freecycle twice, and finally got part of a blue sleep mat last week. All I knew was the width should be 4", and there should be two pieces of foam in the middle, and one piece on each side. Some people like it totally curved on bottom, some just slightly curved. I wanted to make it wrap all the way around and overlap at the front because I had the pink webbing, and it came in 1" width only, same with the white buckles. I didn't know how to sew it together, but get the foam in, and sew inbetween the foam pieces so they don't slide around. And before I did all that, I had to figure out where to sew the webbing on for the buckles, and the two D rings! I was almost overwhelmed. I really had to exercise my brain on this one, and in the end, it was actually pretty easy. I realized that you leave the top of the waistbelt open, and it's extended up a few inches to sew over the bottom of the body. THe middle, doubled, piece of foam is the same width of the body. BUT, that one doesn't have to go in first! Duh! I put one side piece in, then used my zipper foot to sew close to it. Then, on the other end, I used two layers of Fun Foam. The ends of the waistbelt were to overlap and I didn't want 1/2" foam on both ends, overlapping (most SSC don't overlap the waist. That would make for MUCH easier construction, but I didn't want a 1" pink stripe across my waist, digging in as well). THen I sewed close to the Fun Foam. This was tricky because it was right near the webbing for the D ring you see on the left side of the waistbelt in the picture below. Then I put a piece of the 1/2" foam mat in for the rest of that side, and sewed close to it. I was left with the middle section open for the double layer.

However, before I actually did all that sewing it in, I tried it on and decided that the end of the webbing holding the adjustable buckle end needed to be moved back. I needed to wear it as tight as it would go, and if I ever lose weight (ha ha), or more likely, sell it to someone smaller, they'd need to adjust it tighter. So I picked off the D ring and webbing, and the X-box holding the end of the buckle webbing. Turned that end inside out and unpicked the seam around the end. Folded the top layer back, and re-sewed the D-ring webbing. I went to pin the buckle webbing, and realized I sewed the D ring upside down. Unpicked that, and did it, and the buckle webbing again. You can still see all the little thread bits in that photo, on the left!

I don't have any pictures of sewing the waistbelt on. It was tough. First you have to fold the edge under (you could sew it down, that might make life easier). Then you slip the lip over the bottom of the body, and sew it with a couple rows. Uh huh. Well, there's one inch of foam in the waist band, and about two to three inches of 'lip'. While holding it in your hands, you can center the foam fine. But when you place it under the presser foot of the sewing machine, the bottom side is flat, and the top side is stepped, pulling the lip towards the waistbelt, making the lip on the top only about an inch, but still 2 inches on the underside. Not a huge deal, but it did make it tricky to sew. It might be better to cut the front lip an inch longer to accommodate this.

And the Ultrasuede does not slide on the sewing machine. I'm sure there's a way to lower the feed dogs, but my solution was to grab a piece of printer paper, and lay it between the Ultrasuede and the machine, basically sewing it to the carrier!

My little helper and tester. We went for a short walk around the block, and when we got home, she didn't want to get out! We tried it again today, and again, she was very happy and wanted to stay in longer. There are a few issues regarding the buckles rubbing under my arms, and it's hard to pull the carrier up over her back because of the Ultrasuede, but we're working on fine tuning all that.

There's a shot, trying to show the side buckles. I don't know if the webbing holding the end to the body is too long, of if the body is too wide, so the buckles sit right under my arms instead of towards my back, or what. And, she sort of sags over the waistband, the fabric under her bum is ripply and not pulled tight. I think that's related to the Ultrasuede issue, or to the fact she wants her arms over the top. Does it come up high enough? It could be pulled higher, if I had someone other than a 7 year old to help me. But, come September, it will be just me and her! It's tricky to put on, I'm not sure I'm doing that right either. I like the feel of the waistband, but I'm not sold on the shoulder buckles. Which sucks, cause the next one I want to make, I don't have enough fabric to make the traditional long ties of a MT. Well, I might, if I didn't make them as long as what I have done....

Babywearing meets Knitting!

Remember this little number, knit a couple weeks ago? We were cleaning up on Saturday evening, in prep for a visit from Rob's parents and his aunt and uncle, visiting from England. We were in my room, and I threw on this wrap, mainly cause I didn't know where else to put it. Megan was playing around, and suddenly looked at me. She patted herself, and pulled me down to the floor. I sat on the floor trying to figure out what she wanted. She climbed on my lap and was trying to climb up me! Then I realized that she thought the wrap was a sling! We'd just started using a pouch again. She was rather upset when I showed her there was no way it could hold her! Back when she was a newborn, there was someone who knit pouches out of cotton....Tickle Turtle Pouches? I tried it on the knitting machine, using short rows to shape the curve. The knitted fabric needed no extra stretch room, making it tight to put on. It was hard to size it as it stretched quite a bit with her in it. A pouch made out of Patons Katrina would not be very good either, snazzy, but way too stretchy, LOL.

Having A Ball

Things are going interestingly on the knitting end of my life. So lets dwell there for a change.

This is a knitted ball, a baby gift for Rob's co-worker. It's a Sirdar yarn I used to make a cardigan for Lucy before Megan was born. I tried to alter the pattern so instead of grafting the last row to the cast on, I did a sort of pick up one from cast off, three needle-bind off kind of thing. But I guess I did it from the wrong side as there aren't the garter stitch bumps for that row! Oh well. I put some macaroni in a pill container for the rattle. I used to use squeakers for pet toys, but little babes can't make them squeak, so what's the point? I love making these balls, and I was very surprised when they didn't sell at a craft show. Okay, I was very surprised that nothing sold.....





I'm still working on the crochet baby bonnet. It appears to be much larger than newborn. But I think there is an error in the pattern. Yeah, I would pick the one pattern in the book with an error. I need to look it up on the Internet, see if there is an errata list somewhere, but I seem to be stalling.





Here's a bit of non-knitting adventures. I'm doing some clothes shopping lately. I know in the US, sizes have gotten larger, but has it happened here too? I'm wearing size 10 pants. Years ago, when I first wore size 10, I was about 15lbs smaller, and much of that is in my belly. And, what's with all the padded bras in 36C? When I first hit that size years ago, I was bummed to be in a C cup. I know the smooth look is great for with t-shirts now (and years ago t-shirts were no where near so snug as now), but does smooth have to mean padded? But you want to know what is the coolest thing? I put on the bra, and I have the same shape as without it!!! I don't have to hike anything up, squish it in, re-arrange during the day. So cool. LOL. But here's another bummer. Last year or the year before? there were all these cool summer dresses I really wanted, but were usually halter necks and I couldn't wear them because of the weight around my neck. Now, I can't find anything that doesn't look like it came from the far back of my mother's closest (sorry, ma! I know you don't wear them, but just having them....). Where's the cotton? Why is everything looking like my toddler painted it? I just want a simple, cotton dress to wear on those days when I tired of shorts. I though Old Navy would be the ticket (especially since we have a gift card from Christmas!), but the one dress they had did not fit. Everything was either jersey (TOO clingy on the belly) or too maternity looking (Fine if you're 16 and NOT pregnant, but when you're 36 and LOOK pregnant even when not, these new 'baby doll' tops and dresses suck!).





This isn't knitting, but it's one of the bright spots from the last week. It's a pouch sling for Rob's co-worker. I hope it fits. I asked my online slingsewing group if anyone was tall and skinny, LOL. He wouldn't ask her to measure herself because I had already bought a Moby D for her. It's an embroidered stretch poplin, backed with a soft, dark pink, Ultrasuede. Not as cool as I was planning for summer, but she said she likes pink, and when I saw the Ultrasuede, I just KNEW that was it (especially since the price was great!). The pink shows through the white a little, but it softens the white (I just make a pouch that's white twill and a blue print, and the white is VERY white).


Here's a close up of the embroidery. Originally I had made a ring sling, and used an embroidered gauze for the tail, but I never really liked it. I had already Freecycled the leftover of this fabric (DARN!) or I would have just made it two layers of the same. I REALLY like this pouch. It looks good with either side as the outside, it has some stretch (The poplin is 3% lycra and the Ultrasuede is stretchy). Megan and I tried it on, LOL, but it's too small for us :( I hope she likes it and uses it too. I think baby wearing is one of the best things you can do with your newborn. Sure, you don't have other kids to chase, and perhaps you don't get a baby that needs to be held alot, but it still helps to ease the transition from womb to world, and babies should be held by people, not things. What do you want your baby to hold in 30 years? Things or people they love?

Anyway, that's most of the good stuff from lately. Tomorrow you can read all about the death of a baby blanket that never got fully born. Or maybe I'll continue writing about how my husband has misplaced priorities and an arrogant attitude? Mmmmm....choices.....

Knitless

Why some sad itty babies are going hatless at Headwaters:
That's Megan, this afternoon, in our favourite carrier. It was a ROUGH night for both her and Lucy. It's been a very long day. Megan was up, bright eyed and bushy tailed despite being up much of the night, at 6:20am. She finally went to sleep at about 9:30, but only for 45 minutes. She didn't go to sleep again until I finally slung her, around 1:30. And of course, I had to wake both of them at 2:30 to go get Huey. We got a prime parking spot and I was able to run into the school and drag him out the side door.

That carrier is called a FrankenKozy. It's a variation on the Kozy Karrier, a type of Asian Baby Carrier (ABC) or Mei Tei (Mai Tei). You can get instructions to make your own on the internet, and sometimes she sells them, but no one is marketing them (although Maya Wrap has created one called a Maya Tie). The leopard print is left over from Huey's pajama pants I made him. Inside the body piece is a hidden layer of fleece leftover from the pouch I made when Megan was a newborn. The black I bought. It is reversible, but I love the leopard print showing! And it is very warm, and VERY comfortable. It's what we use everyday to walk the mile to the school.

We got a lot of snow last night/today. It's nice, but I'm not quite ready. I stopped working on my tipless gloves so I could concentrate on the baby blanket. Huey needs new mitts and wants a new hat. I need a hat that covers my ears but doesn't make me look like a dork. We haven't started Christmas shopping. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and having two sick kids just doesn't help!

I messed up one of the baby hats last night and couldn't fix it till this morning. There's 7 more hats, only one is seamed. I wanted to seam and wash them today, glue the pompoms tonight, and deliver them tomorrow when Lucy goes for her speech therapy again. I don't think that's going to happen! I don't even know how dinner is going to happen, at it's almost 5:00!

For those who like felted bags, check out this site! Oh, for pete's sake, I didn't bookmark the site! If you go to the current Knitty and check the purple and green purse. Then go to the designer's link at the bottom. Or, go to Z's blog and look at the last comment I left her, LOL. And at Knitting Pattern Central, there is a great listing of felted patterns. That's a great site for just about any pattern you can imagine. Even Marie's hats are there!

Gotto go, sick baby girl stuck on chair UNDER the table.

Time Out Tuesday

I realized this morning that today is Tuesday and I have nothing prepared for Timeless Tuesday. I'm not sure what came next in my knitting history. There's Rob's hat, the Kaffe Fasset vest, Rob's sweater...I'm sure I must have made more than that during the two years we were dating! I'll try to do something tomorrow. I'm feeling crappy today, thanks in part to sleepless nights with Megan. When I don't get enough sleep my arthritis flares up, and my neck is taking a beating today. Hopefully once she weans she'll sleep more, and I can take something better than ibuprofen. Which is not working today :(

Some photos to share instead. Those are the pumpkin hats I've been making to use up a ball of Red Heart. had to buy a ball of green for the stems, LOL (but bought from my LYS!). Despite 'following' a pattern, they seem to be a little long. There was no gauge given in the pattern. In the close up you can see the one I did with random stripes of two different oranges. I like that one. In the top photo you can see the tuck st. hat, which still needs a leaf. I'm going to give these to the maternity ward/breastfeeding clinic...next year, LOL. They were all made on the knitting machines (KP 30 on the KnitSmart, I dont' know, for the LK150...maybe T6).
This is called a "FrankenKozy" style MT. It's not the one I was using on Saturday downtown. This was the first one I made. I took apart a stretch twill pouch I had made and used that for the body. The straps are made from the long skinny piece left over from making the gauze wrap. The body is a little short if Megan falls asleep, and it's' more comfortable if I wear it on my front, but I still like it! I even tried it with Lucy on my back. She's heavy! I've tried several times now to load that photo with Lucy, but it won't come up. Edit to add: Those jeans are actually regular size low rise jeans. How sad is it that I'm so short-waisted that low rise jeans still come up to my waist? I swear I don't buy Mom jeans! And my boobs don't normally look like that either--I was trying a new way to tie the straps. Now I know, I won't leave the house like that!
And here's some shots of Megan helping Daddy install a pot drawer. I've been asking for 7 years for a pot drawer. He was going to make one...but this one came on sale at Canadian Tire. It's a little smaller than what I wanted, but at least it's in! Megan was the star of the show at story time when she shuffled across the circle. Instead of walking forward, she shuffles sideways. And she has finally found her voice. She chatters quite a bit now, although still not quite at the level she should. And she is laughing now too! Before, she'd laugh only if you tickled her, or sometimes if Huey put on a really good show right in front of her. Now she's laughing at lots of things! We call her Pteradactyl Girl because she squawks and squeals. She's pretty cranky right now. Wrapped up in our crazy pink 'Moby' wrap, she is fighting falling asleep.
Time to get the kids ready for dinner, then trick or treating!

Your Opinion Please!

Went to get the mitten/hat yarn this morning....Lens Mill doesn't have the new colours of Patons Decor! So disappointed. So we choose Shetland Chunky. I know it's not a lot of wool in it, but any amount is better than mitts made out of Canadiana/Satin/Super Saver. Also picked up some odd balls of Decor to add to the bag, LOL. And some Divine :) OH, I LOVE that yarn. Like wearing a bunny. A nice purple colour to add some trim to Lucy's hat/mitts.

Took the kids downtown for trick or treating. Lots of fun! Lots of loot. Several stores ran out--last year there wasn't a good turnout. Lucy even got a carnation at the flower store because they only had one treat left...which Huey grabbed, LOL. As we turned to leave the jeweler store, the owner called out "Have you been to China?" I thought...what the ? Then I realized she'd seen Megan in the MT carrier on my back. The woman was Chinese. She was very impressed :) She said her husband wouldn't let her wear her babies out in public, only at home, because people would think she's crazy :( So we chatted for a minute, but I still don't know how to pronounce Mei Tei (Mai Tei? Mei Tai? I'll have to look it up again!).

Thanks for the lovely comments on the blanket! I try to plan it so if I take it to knitting group, I'm working on a plain knit row! Hee Hee. Really shocks the ladies when my fingers fly, LOL. Otherwise, it's for boring road trips, not-too-late nights, and afternoon soaps :)

Opinion time! The older kids are Huey, Lucy, and what shall Megan be? Meggy, or Meggie? Her middle name is Anne. I think Meganne would be neat....but cause the problems that we hate with unusual names, LOL.

No pictures today? Forgot to take some while trick or treating!