I dream of cupcakes

I have been busy this week. I mentioned that I was given the opportunity to write a pattern review for Sew, Mama, Sew. September is Kids’ Clothes Month over at SMS, and following that theme, I got to make AJ some pajamas.

These jammies come from the pattern “The Little Jammies“, by Favorite Things. The cupcake fabric is Robert Kaufman Sweet Tooth, and the pink dot is by Maywood Studio (I got it from my LQS). I really had a ball making these pajamas, and AJ loves wearing them. She prefers the long-sleeved top over the cami, which is fine, because she wriggles out of her blankets at night.

I made some changes to the original pattern. My two favorites are the contrasting hem,

and the bias-bound keyhole neckline on the cami.

I think I need to make myself a matching pair of those pajama pants, or maybe even buy enough fabric and find a pattern to sew a whole set of jammies. I just love the cupcakes and the pink polka dots!  And DJ already wants a pair of his own jammies with monster trucks on it.  Anyone seen Gravedigger fabric anywhere?  Yeah, probably not.

Knitting news…I started AJ’s reindeer sweater. I’m reacquainting myself with fair isle, and it’s going pretty well. It’s not too bad, stranding in wool. Hopefully I will feel as good about the intarsia part, when I get there. And the Knit Picks Merino Style is great to knit with.

Have a great long holiday weekend!

Ha! I do still knit! See, I made a dishcloth. First, the more styled, attractive photo (if you call the playroom’s shag rug in the background “attractive”).

But that one doesn’t show what it really looks like, so here’s the plain, yet more informative, shot.

This is the really cool Four Corners dishcloth designed by Abigail. It was really fun to knit, once I got past the first corner and understood what was happening in the pattern. After that, I didn’t have to count any more. The one thing I would do differently would be to start off with maybe just 14 stitches. I like much, much smaller dishcloths than the one this produces. It’s maybe 10″ square. I didn’t appreciate having to graft in garter stitch when the whole thing was finished either, but hey, I knew that going in. And I might (begrudgingly) admit that it’s good practice. If I ever knit a Tomten, I will need to do some garter grafting at the hood. And a Tomten is definitely on my list for AJ when it gets colder.

I also received the yarn for D & A’s reindeer sweaters!

It’s all from KnitPicks. Wool of the Andes for DJ, and Merino Style for AJ. I was hesitant to order any KnitPicks yarn, because I hate-hate-hate the gray WotA I bought a long time ago for some forgotten project. The dye job was dull and horrid. But, I needed something inexpensive for these sweaters. I looked at Peruvian Highland Wool, because it’s actually wonderful, but they didn’t have anything resembling navy when I looked. So, KnitPicks it is. And, it’s actually quite nice, except for one thing.

The natural yarn for DJ’s sweater (on the right–AJ’s is on the left) is yellow. I thought it looked yellow-ish on their website, but I talked myself into believing it would be okay in person. But it isn’t. (And note that the color’s name is “Cloud”. Have you ever seen a cloud of that color?) I guess I will go back and look at Elann’s natural PHW, but this makes me so mad. All I wanted was a navy and natural color combo in a regular worsted wool. Apparently that’s a tall order.

Well. I’m off to do some house cleaning. And maybe some knitting.

Finally, we’re all over the plague here at our house. Seriously, this was the worst cold I ever had that wasn’t accompanied by a fever. I felt so bad on Saturday that I stayed in bed all day, and on Sunday I didn’t feel much better. But then, I woke up Monday morning, and it was all but gone, unless you count the nose blowing I’m still having to do. An unexpected side-effect of the plague was the severe threat of toilet paper rationing, though, due to the fact that we ran out of Kleenex and had to start using the TP for our nose blowing (three people with colds = very reckless usage of TP). And a TP crisis is never good. But, the crisis was averted, and all is now humming along smoothly here in sunny SC.

While I was lying around the house letting my husband do everything I usually do (well, you know that isn’t true; they never do everything we do, even when we’re sick–but at least he kept the kids entertained) I read In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. I had read A Walk in the Woods a few years ago and loved it, but then I forgot all about Mr. Bryson and his lovely humor. Reading his books is like reading Dave Barry, if he was more academic, and if he traveled to interesting places and wrote about them. His sense of humor is of the Austin Powers variety, and this may or may not surprise you, but I love that. And it was fascinating to read all about Australia*. I have always thought it to be a beautiful and mysterious country, and so peaceful, too, if you don’t count the snakes and spiders and crocodiles. I’d love to visit one day, but truth be told, I’m not sure I could stand the 24-hour plane trip.

Anyway. It was nice to finally read a book, even if I had to get sick to do it. Other things that are happening around here:

• AJ is having trouble adjusting to the big-girl bed. She spends hours each night lingering at her gate, hollering to her bruh-bruh, and generally interrupting what my husband and I have come to expect as our quiet time (he comatose in front of the TV, me doing whatever, usually also in front of the TV). And DJ has started pulling his covers over his head, trying to get some sleep in spite of the racket.

• In spite of the sleep deprivation, DJ is doing great at school. And I have realized that I’m going to love reliving my nerdy school days through my kids. This morning we were the only ones in his class who had been able to find out how many pets our governor has. That was his homework yesterday, but a thorough Google search turned up nothing, so we just emailed the First Lady’s assistant. Not only were we prepared to share how many pets they have when we arrived this morning, but we also knew their names (Jeep, Julius, and Cocoa). I was SO PROUD.

• AJ is also becoming very choosy about her outfits. Here’s what she insisted on wearing today:

Those are her flip-flop pants that I made for her. And she loves her “tree shirt”–she’d wear it every day if she could.

The yarn I ordered for their reindeer sweaters shipped yesterday, so hopefully it will get here soon so I can get started. I can’t wait, which surprises me as much as it probably surprises everyone else. I haven’t had any urgent sewing feelings this week, other than to embroider this cupcake shirt for AJ.

The light is changing, and even though it’s still in the upper 90s every stinking day, I know Fall is coming. And I’m almost, almost ready to knit again.

*I could do without his evolutionary ramblings, though, because in no way will I ever believe that people came from rocks**. Which is what he said at the end of the book, when relating his trip to Shark Bay in Australia, where reside these strange things called stromatolites. He said that these “rocks” were our ancestors. Whatever. And there was some discussion also about how the Aboriginal people initially got to Australia, and how that couldn’t be explained. Well, I’ll tell you. God put them there! But, I forgive you, Mr. Bryson. You’re hilarious and you entertain me all the same.

**Nor monkeys, or anything else.  

Like Rachel, three of the four people in our house hab a code right now. My cold and my husband’s aren’t as bad as AJ’s is…but, man-oh-man. She’s a mess. She started the whole thing with a fever on Monday after lunch, but had no other symptoms (which always stresses me out–I was actually relieved when the runny nose started). I took her to the doctor yesterday morning, and turns out she has a sinus infection or something. Whatever it is, it was apparently worth antibiotics, because she’s on them now. I’m glad, though, because for some reason I have an aversion to green, ropy junk coming out of people’s noses. Anyway, I hope it kicks in soon, because she’s coughing and gagging, and can hardly eat for the gagging. This morning she ate a whole bowl of oatmeal and then puked it all over the kitchen table. Sorry, but that’s reality in my world today.

But that isn’t the only big thing going on here lately. Yesterday when I put AJ in her crib for her nap, she swung her leg up over the rail and started to climb out. She could have gone all the way, too, if I hadn’t acted quickly and grabbed her. And really, she’s almost 2-1/2 and has definitely passed the height limit for the crib. So, instead of her taking a nap yesterday, she ended up playing while I converted the crib into a toddler bed, strapped her dresser to the studs in the wall, and replaced all of the outlets in her room with swiveling safety covers*. The up side to this is that now I can let her play in her room by herself if I want to, since it’s totally childproof. The downside is that she was sick on her first night sleeping in a toddler bed, which made an already challenging situation a little bit harder. After I tucked her in, she got up, turned on the light, and climbed into her glider with a book. Then, she turned off the light, but took the book to bed with her. Then she got out of bed and went to play with her hairbows, which are clipped to a holder I made and hung from the closet doorknob. Finally, after I kept hearing all of this activity, I went in, sat on the floor by her bed, and sang her to sleep. It didn’t take long. But then with her cough, she woke up several times throughout the night, until I finally had to go in there and sleep with her. I’m hoping naptime and bedtime will go more smoothly today, but there’s no telling.

I’m very excited about Kids’ Clothes Month at Sew, Mama, Sew! I have been asked to be a pattern reviewer. I’m going to be making some jammies for AJ. I did finally get my sewing machine back, so I’m ready!

*I don’t recommend these. They can’t be tightened too much or the cover plates won’t swivel, which defeats their purpose, and then several types of plugs will just fall out of them. But it’s what I had on hand. I do love the furniture no-tip straps, though. DJ’s dresser fell on him when he was about 18 months old. He was trying to reach a toy I had put in the back of the top drawer. We were very blessed that it didn’t hurt him, and I definitely learned that lesson the easy way.

Please pardon me while I briefly turn my attention to making hair adornments.

A covered snap clip, made following directions found here.

Little bug bows, also made using instructions found at the same place.

A flower snap clip to match AJ’s newest outfit, thanks to Wise Craft.

A little button-covered yo-yo clippy.

And a nice, poofy, preppy clip.

Now, where is AJ going to keep all these bows?