Any Day Now

Over here, while we pack and sort and such, we're also waiting for news of the arrival of another baby girl. My dear friend will have her first baby any day now.

And not too long ago we were invited to her baby shower.

My older daughter really wanted to come, and luckily there was a life-long friend in attendance, since the "oohing" and "ahhing" over teeny tiny baby things lost it's charm for this seven-year-old pretty quickly. (The cupcakes, on the other hand, were fascinating to the last bite.)

I wanted to make a gift but strangely, despite being invited at least a month in advance, the party snuck up on me. So I needed something great and fast. No knitted booties. No baby quilts. And sadly, no sweaters.

I had about one afternoon and plenty of fabric in my stash to spare. One obvious solution was my modified version of the Messy Kid Bib by Oliver + S: awesome in every way, super quick to make, and utterly useful.

I made a bunch (four or five?) and a handy little gift bag (which could very easily end up being even more useful than the bibs—I use mine to stow diapers and wipes, snacks, knitting projects, you know, whatever needs to be collected).

Hopefully they'll see lots of mess—for years to come!

Happy sewing!

A Make-Again Pattern

I love new patterns. So much so that I usually can't resist starting something new (or many, many somethings) even with other unfinished projects clambering for my attention.

But I also have a few patterns that I come back to again and again because they just work so brilliantly.

Manda Ruth by Jane Richmond is one of those.

Here's the yellow version I made for the baby last year:

Of course she's completely outgrown it (funny how that happens) so I really want to start on a new one for her.

And right now I'm leaning toward some non-baby colors, such as:

Koigu :: Painter's Palette

Alchemy :: Temple

Madeline Tosh :: Tosh Merino

Most likely I won't be able to choose and she'll end up with three Manda Ruths this year! At least I know it's a great pattern...

Happy knitting!

Feeling Inspired

Right now we're still in the labor-intense, not-so-much-fun, man-we-have-a-lot-of-stuff phase of this moving thing but in my mind I've already moved on to the far more enjoyable, crafting aspect.

So these days, when I'm not sorting things into "pack," "goodwill," and "garbage" piles, I search out fun home-related projects to look forward to.

from The Purl Bee

A crocheted rug: this could be the biggest crochet project I ever tackle! I love the look of it — I have no idea how difficult it would be to make something this large, but I'll bet it stitches up fast!

from French Knot

Oh, isn't that just lovely? And it would be so simple to dress up plain white linens like that...

from Knitsofacto

I am so glad you can't see me drooling over this blanket. I suspect if I did make something as gorgeous as this I wouldn't let anyone touch it, and that might kinda miss the point.

from OhFransson!

We definitely need a new quilt for our bed and I really, really like this one. 

(Hmm, I wonder if I'm tired because there seems to be a lot of bed-related crafts here...)

from Rosy Little Things

And finally this gorgeous little alphabet. Wouldn't that just be so fun to make? By the fire? While it's snowing outside?

Ok, back to the boxes!

Happy crafting!