Anyway! On to the craftiness. I haven't gotten too much done because it gets really really warm in the dining room where I sew, and also I can't sit in a regular straight-back chair too much these days. I've at least managed to get several strip sets sewn for the new babe's quilt (this is just a few of them):
These are then cross-cut into 2.5" segments:
Then the segments are sewn into 9-patch blocks, with a finished size of 6.5" (in the quilt they will end up at 6"):
Hmmm...I could maybe press them.
Most of these blocks are not yet sewn up, but here's the idea of how I will lay out the quilt:
It's going to be way scrappy, which I hope will end up looking quaint and sweet rather than dorky and mismatched. We'll see when the blocks are all sewn and the final layout is done. I'm thinking the back will be made up of the remaining large chunks of fabric I used in the blocks, for a truly scrap-tastic feel. Also, then I won't have to buy a big piece of backing fabric. As it is I'll have too many blocks and may end up having to make matching pillowcases or something. I'm antsy to use up these fabrics as I'm sick of seeing them in my stash. They're stale or something. Bleh. I want to be able to buy some new stuff with less guilt, too (when I rob a bank or win the lottery or whatever).
And on the knitting front:
This is the sweater I'd started last week and goofed up. The photo is a little crappy because my camera is a little crappy, but you can sort of get the idea of the shell pattern, right? The tricksy thing about the pattern is in the setup rows before you make the actual shell stitches - you start out with 253 stitches and it balloons up to something like 457. If you miss one yarn-over the whole row has to come out until you figure out where the mistake is...ask me how I know this. It is slow going and I can only get about 1 pattern repeat done per night. But I think it's really pretty and I'm in it for the process anyway, so it's worth it.
I'm working on a couple other knitted items as well, which are intended as baby gifts. I was going to blog about that - my thoughts on who (whom?) to gift with handmade items. But this post has taken up half my day already so I'll hold that thought.
In other news, I took Daughter for her 15-month checkup today. The doctor says she is perfect (which we knew already, har) and actually somewhat advanced for her age in language skills. That doesn't surprise me because she's home with me all day and we just read book after book and talk a lot. She tries to repeat most things we say...guess we'd better watch our mouths. I was praying she'd be 20 lbs so I can turn her carseat around finally, but no, she is 19 lbs, 8 oz. So it's a few more weeks of hefting her in and out backwards. She has no complaints about facing backwards, it's just my discomfort at cramming her in and out with my large frontage in the way. She is, however, 32.5 inches tall, which is almost off the chart - she is the height of the average 2 year old. Tall and skinny. But she is doing all the age-appropriate things and developing nicely, so we feel quite blessed.
I'm blowing some quality naptime here...time to go lay down for a bit.
4 comments:
That quilt is going to be darling! I know how you feel with the scraps. I have a box that I toss scraps that are too small to use but too big to toss without guilt in hopes that someday someone will teach me how to quilt. It's getting really full.
Your vintage knitting books are en route!!
You're explanation of how you made the blocks for your quilt just made me slap my forehead in a resounding "duh!". I attempted once to make a very simple quilt top out of too-small receiving blankets I'd recieved but could not, for the life of me, get any of the corners to line up. But sewing strips together then cutting them. That would have made a lot of sense... Next time!
As for your carseat situation, throw a pair of jeans on the kid (for a little extra weight) and turn her around! Wait, pretend I didn't say that - that would be terribly unsafe, I'm sure. But we had the same issue with our older daughter. She didn't get to turn around till she was about 15 months. It was a huge hassle since I had a two door car and was pregnant, so manuevering her in was a pain. No such issues with the younger kid. She was 20 lbs by 11 months. You daughter's legs must be all scrunched up to get her in rear-facing at that length, though, eh?!
Sorry for the novel!
Check with your pediatrician, if he/she says it's okay to turn Daughter around a pound early it might be worth the call.
In answer to the peanut butter question on my site, my pediatrician (who I love and respect greatly) has always said one year - basically at one year he says they can eat anything I can. I've heard of doctors saying anything from one year to three on the peanut butter issue, though. I don't give her tons of it, though, just to be safe. Marianne had her first pb&j on her first birthday. Ruth's was a couple days later. I figure that's worth celebrating :).
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