Archive for the 'baby' Category
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I’ve had this blog post in the works for DAYS
Thursday, July 17th, 2008
…but things keep popping up!
Like today, for instance. I thought I’d have all day to get some stuff done. Photos uploaded to Flickr, get my Ravelry notebook updated, finish up some pattern math, and other computer-y things like that.
But then. Mazie had her 6-month “well-baby” visit. And you know what that means. SHOTS. She had THREE shots today. Shots + Mazie = screaming, tears (which are SO hard to see!) and just general malaise. So instead of getting to the computer and getting my shiznit taken care of…I’ve been trying to get her to go to sleep. Finally, she’s sleeping in her swing. Hopefully long enough for me to get this post posted!
So I told you that I had a bunch of early July deadlines and that I was exhausted from that. Well, I’m still finishing up a couple details on two of them. Fortunately, I should be able to get everything done today. It’s eating at me, though, I hate it when stuff (through my own fault, of course) just lingers on and on.
ANYWAY…in the meantime, and as a relaxer, I guess, I’ve been finishing up some projects. You can see them randomly sprinkled through the post…there’s a quilt (three, actually) and a Clapotis, and a sock, and even a sweater or two.
I’ve got a big fun event coming this fall, and I’ll tell you more about that tomorrow if I can get to the computer!
(Yarn that I dyed)
Today in the waiting room at her doctor, Mazie started a conversation with the lady next to us. The lady was in a wheelchair, and was sitting with a guy who could have been her son or grandson. She was speaking Spanish and Mazie was just loving her. She (Mazie) was bouncing up and down and flapping her arms and clapping and telling a really detailed, really loud story.
The lady was commenting on Mazie’s chubby cheeks and asked her companion for the translation for the word “Gordita” (Which I’ve heard many, many times in reference to the Mazer…) and the guy turns to me and leveled his eyes at me and just says one word, with a really bored expression. “Fat.” And looked away. It was so funny!
The people across the room started going, “NO! It means chubby! It’s just chubby! Not fat!!” Anyway, she gets called “Gordita linda” all the time. People come up and talk to her wherever we go, and a lot of them want to touch her…I’ve even had strangers ask to hold her.
It’s so interesting, because before Mazie, i could just walk through the shops or downtown and not talk to anyone, but now we stop and talk to everyone! I like it!
Mazie’s 6-month stats:
height: 27 inches
weight: 21 lbs. 10 oz.
Posted in baby, just chit chat | 6 Comments »
Little Ms. Big Girl!
Friday, June 13th, 2008
In knitting news, I’m still in hustle-mode, getting a few inches here and there done on my projects. Here’s another preview:
In other news, Mazie turned five months and suddenly outgrew EVERYTHING.
We’ve had to buy new clothes, go up a Robeez size, and today she gets a new carseat.
My mom’s coming over in a few minutes, and we’re going to drive to El Paso to go to Babies-R-Us. I’m oddly excited about this car ride. It’s an hour down and an hour back. With Mazie safely strapped in and occupied (or sleeping.) So…I will get a full 2 hours’ of knitting time in. In the DAY time!!
I’m also really looking forward to going to Babies-R-Us. We have no dedicated baby toy store (or even a toy store!) here in town. There are little boutique-y shops where you can buy a blanket for $60, but nothing with just a lot of toys. Mazie has been going on a lot of play dates lately, and one unexpectedly great thing about them is seeing which toys the other kids have that she responds to. She’s one of the youngest babies, so the others have all kinds of things that I wouldn’t have thought she’d be ready for…but is!
It’s just so fun to see her progressing from a baby-baby to a standing, almost-crawling, incredibly vocal, happy, laughing, cat-petting baby, and I’m excited to pick out some new toys that will challenge her and help her to that next level.
Posted in Patterns, baby | 2 Comments »
Getting ready for TNNA (in Columbus, OH)
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
So, here it is a few nights before TNNA and as always, I’m excited to go, but feeling a little bit behind in my preparations. I’m not *quite* as fast a knitter as I used to be…or at anything any more! Having a 4 month old baby does that! 
Speaking of whom…
When we go on walks, I put her hat on, her sunglasses on, and slather her in spf 50. She’s fair like mamma.
But back to TNNA…
I’m putting the finishing touches on one sweater that needs to be Fed-Exed tomorrow morning, working on the pattern for another one, and gathering my display stuff together for the Stitch Cooperative booth. At TNNAs past, I’ve had my own booth.
This year, I’ve gotten together with a few other talented indie designers and we’ve gone in together on one big booth. The idea is “One Stop Shopping” for indie designs. This way, a yarn shop only has to fill out one order, pay shipping once, and write out one check…and they can order from several designers all at once. Shannon‘s also setting up an ONLINE wholesale ordering system! Check US out!
We’ll be in booth #1056, so stop by and see us!
I’m looking at the weather for Columbus and it’s in the 70s and 80s for the next few days, then jumps up to 90s for the weekend! I’ve learned to check the weather…not everyone is in the 100s in May and June like we are here in the L.C.. This has been a rude surprise more than once while traveling. I’m from Iowa, you’d think I’d know about these things…but I’m acclimated to the desert now, I guess.
I have Rapid City on my iGoogle weather-watching-widget because we’re going there later in June for a week. Mazie’s going to get to spend some tiem with all of her cousins this summer! Yay!
Posted in Trips, baby | 3 Comments »
Baby Knitting: (Ruffle-butt soaker)
Friday, May 23rd, 2008
I can’t help myself. Even though I’m up to my eyeballs in projects (writing, designing, co-ordinating) I still just can’t stop making baby clothes.
They’re so fast. And it’s so much fun to knit something that’s so truly over-the-top. Here’s a soaker that I made for Mazie. The structure is based on the “Down Under Soaker” pattern… but very heavily modified.
This is knit from 100Purewool, dyed with Wilton’s cake dye, and then hand knit (duh.)
I love this pink Wilton’s…it gives a really neon result. It’s the same pink as the one I used for the pink and black sock yarn.
Today Mazie had her first play group date! I know three other new moms and we decided to start a New Mom group. Our babies range in age from 4 months to 13 months. It was interesting to hear the other moms’ birth stories, and to share experiences that we’ve had with the kids. We have a lot in common, it turns out. I also really enjoyed watching the babies together. The other 3 kids are all boys, all crawling already. I’m hoping that Mazie will find them inspiring…sitting up, crawling, talking.
She’s doing great, actually, and I’m completely pleased with where she is, but it can’t hurt for her to see babies that are at that next stage.
Posted in Patterns, baby | 9 Comments »
Aunt Tonnie’s rabbit
Tuesday, May 20th, 2008
Aunt Tonnie knit Mazie a rabbit! We got it in the mail today.
She loves the long (i-cord) ears to hold onto and also to chew!
(This was one of the free stuffed animal patterns that my sister Tonya got for signing up to receive Knitting Daily.
Posted in Patterns, baby, gift knitting | No Comments »
Sock yarn dyeing, better weather, and happier baby!
Monday, May 19th, 2008
(eek! Incredibly picture-heavy post today…I guess that’s what you get when I take a few days off from posting!)
Saturday, I taught a dye workshop at the Las Cruces Museum of Art. We dyed sock yarn using non-toxic dyes. I taught how to dye solid, variegated, and self-striping yarns.
Everyone had a good time, and I really enjoyed it, too. We made some pretty cool yarns.
Here’s one that I dyed as a class example:
Here’s Mazie modeling her Las Vegas Tee from SweetPepita:
In other news: Our weather is officially back to normal!
We’ve got 97 degrees and bright sun today…and we LOVE it.
Mazie and I put the sun shade back up over the patio, since the winds have died down and it won’t blow away. It’s perfect weather to sit in the shade. We had lunch outside today with Grandma and Daddy. I planted a couple of rosebushes last week, and one died. So yesterday I dug it up and exchanged it for a live one. Mazie and I put that one in the ground this morning. It’s so nice to be able to hang outside!!
Posted in Uncategorized, baby, events, just chit chat | No Comments »
Ugly weather and unhappy baby
Monday, May 19th, 2008
The last few days have been cloudy and pretty cool, with highs only in the 70s. There’s also an evil wind that’s been blowing. We’re used to cloudless skies, balmy temps, and just pretty perfect days. It’s not just a little breezy, it’s WINDY. The sky is gray, and we can’t see the mountains from all the dust in the air, and there’s a fine layer of grit that settles on every surface (and inside our noses and ears.) It feels like it’s going to rain, but it doesn’t, and that pressure just stays in the air. When it’s like this, people are just on edge. A lot of people have worse allergies, I, personally, get headaches and my eyes itch. So. You can imagine what it does to a baby.
Mazie had her 4-month doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. She got some shots and that in itself makes her cranky. Combine it with this dusty windy crappy weather, and you’ve got a VERY unhappy little girl. She seems like she’s just unable to get comfortable.
I decided to space out her shots, so she didn’t get ALL of them on Tuesday, but even so, it was a lot for her. The last few nights, she hasn’t been willing to go to bed without a big fight. Tuesday night, Mom even had to come over and use the Grandma-magic on her. Normally, I’d put her in the stroller and go for a long walk until she quieted down, but it’s SO cold and windy…too much for Baby.
Mazie’s stats at 4 months:
Height: 26.25 inches
Weight: 17 lbs, 12.5 oz
That puts her in the 95th percentile for height and off the chart for weight.
Posted in baby, just chit chat | 1 Comment »
What I did Mother’s Day weekend
Monday, May 12th, 2008
What *didn’t* I do?!
(kidding!)
Saturday we goofed around the house. I cut out a bunch of things to sew for Mazie. I’m on this new kick where I think I can really sew. (I’ll show you the fruits of my delusion later…) I heard from some old friends (Geoff and Shannon.) They have a 20-month-old baby now, and Shannon is the brains and brawn behind Sweet Pepita Clothing. She combines organic cotton and repurposed T-shirts to make the most darling baby clothes. I ordered this Las Vegas tee for The Mazer. I think she’ll LOVE it.
Speaking of Mazie, there’s been a demand for new pics and an update. She’s 4 months old now! Mazie’s smiling, giggling (especially at Daddy.) She LOVES to be outside. If she’s ever cranky, we just take out for a walk and she quiets right down. She babbles a LOT. She loves standing. We bought her an exersaucer. She really likes it, but it overwhelms her in abot 10 – 15 minutes. She’s still pretty bald, but her peachfuzz is definitely RED.
I also finished The Stevie Nicks Series of 12 new diapers. These are sewn from the Little Starter pattern. They’ve all got hand-dyed (by me) outers made of either cotton interlock or bamboo velour. The inners are animal (either leopard or snake) print panne, and soakers are quad-folded microfiber towelling. They all have applique, too.
Sunday, we had a great Mother’s day, we went for a long walk, hung out together, and BBQed in the evening.
Posted in baby, just chit chat | 4 Comments »
MAZIE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!
Friday, April 18th, 2008
AND YES, I’M YELLING AT YOU!
This was the first time ever ever ever that Mazie hasn’t woken up at 3:30 am for food!
I don’t want to jinx anything…but what if she starts sleeping through the night more and more often?
What if I get more than 3 hours’ sleep in a row on a regular basis?!
Can you imagine the productivity?
Can you imagine how much nicer I’ll be to my friends and family?!
It’s almost scary to even talk about it!
WOW.
The alarm went off at 6:30 and we were like, wait, did we set it wrong? Because Mazie’s tummy is like a clock…right at 3:30 every night, she wakes up. Once in the night, Nate woke up and checked to see if she was breathing, she was so quiet. (She was.) I’m trying to remember my yesterday and what all I did differently…and I think she may just be growing up!
Aw. My Big Girl!!
Posted in baby | 5 Comments »
Mazie’s 3 months old today!
Friday, April 11th, 2008
And so serious!
She knows how to smile now, but something has to be reeeeeEEEEeeeally good to get one.
I’m wearing my Sunset Cardigan Experiment, made from the yarn I dyed back on October. I’m really really happy with how it came out. It looks awesome with my new empire-waist summer dresses. I made it that length and with that lower body flare-out so that I could wear it while I was still pregnant. It’s great in that I *did* wear it back then, but I don’t feel like it’s “Maternity” now.
…aside…I’ve got to go through my closet and put all my maternity stuff in a Rubbermaid to go in the garage. I’d put it on eBay, except that I’m *hoping* to have another baby before TOO long and that stuff is expen$ive. If there’s one demographic that pays a LOT for EVERYTHING it’s pregnant people. Anyway…I’m leaving this sweater out, because I still love it and wear it quite a lot.
So the YARN. I bought a 1 kg cone of Blue Faced Leicester to make baby soakers out of but liked it too much to use it to soak up urine. It works out to about $37 / lb if you buy it that way. BFL is so soft and really has a great sheen. It’s a long staple yarn, so won’t pill as easily as Merino, say. It takes dye really nicely, too.
ANYWAY…
I dyed it myself in the crock pot using cake dye. All 4 little skeins that I did are slightly different, so I designed the sweater in sections so that the color diffs wouldn’t be so obvious. If I re-did it, the only thing I’d change would be to do the button bands on a smaller needle. They’re a little wavy, but good enough for “just me.”
I started a sweater out of the green/purple stuff, but it’s not done yet. Just knitting it in my “spare” (ha ha) time.