Bib-o-rama

Bibs! In anticipation of lots of drooling, spilling and spitting up, I sewed up a whole bunch of little bibs, modeled here by Mr. Bear.

The bib pattern is a free one from Chickpea Sewing Studio, and you can find it right here. There isn't as wide a fabric selection around these parts, but I did manage to find some prints that I liked at Joann's. The pattern recommends making the backing piece with flannel, terrycloth or something a little bit thicker for absorbency, but since I didn't have any, I made the backing with muslin, and sandwiched a piece of cut-up bed sheet (leftover from this project) in between to lessen the seepage factor.

If you look closely, there are mini Gatsbys marching across the bib...

It's been so long since I've done any sewing, I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it until I started these projects last week, so I feel like I'm on a bit of a roll. There's that quilt I started way back when that is mostly stitched up, but lacking a border, backing and the actual quilting part. That will be next. And I've got some curtains to make for the bathroom, which I have procrastinated on until now (fabric which I bought in September)

Duh, I cut the print out upside down and of course put it at the top of the pile to photograph.

We had a quiet Halloween weekend and gave out candy on Friday night (the city decided that trick-or-treating should intuitively NOT be on the 31st).

Gatsby and I spend a lot of time together these days, and he sat on the couch helping me take pictures of the bibs. He is looking very healthy as usual, and has been in a major showing-off mode for our guest...racing up and down the stairs, roughing with the catnip toys, and being a generally quite rambunctious.

Is that a pumpkin under there?

It's been four weeks since my last growth chart! Here are a few more photos of my middle since then:


Last Sunday we went to a pumpkin patch and I wondered if I would be accused of stealing a fat, round pumpkin under my shirt...There have been bibs galore over here. I pulled out the sewing machine and have been stitch stitch stitching away.

We will be giving out candy on Friday night (it's a Lehigh Valley thing, not scheduling trick-or-treating on the actual holiday - weird) and then Chris is visiting us this weekend! Yay!

Happy Halloween!

Booties, Beanie, and Stuffed Buddies

Lots to show you today! I have one item on backlog, the blocked Amelia, but I'll get to that eventually (she turned out really well, and I have been wearing her quite a bit). First, some baby knitting. I was thinking that winter babies will need some warm things to wear, so I found this cute garter stitch booty pattern on Ravelry and made a few pairs... Aren't they super cute?!

The little hat is made from the Freshly Picked Baby Hat pattern also available on Ravelry...yes, I know it's not garter stitch to match, but whatever. What I didn't realize is that babies heads are shockingly large. Maybe that's why they're so cute. But man, their heads are BIG. I cast on 96 stitches for this on US4 dns, which is pretty huge! I just cast on 96 stitches on US6 for a hat for myself, as a comparison...


I also made a blue pair for baby Audrey (which I forgot to photo), and her mother says that they should stay on well (apparently socks can fall right off newborns, chilly feet being a bad thing). It takes about 4 hours to knit these up, which isn't too long, and I've got lots more DK superwash merino to make a couple more pairs.

Then we have: more animals! You might recognize these from a few (?) months ago, and sadly it has taken me this long to get around to putting faces on them now, and making a little bandana for bunny. I love, love, love this pattern (last minute knitted gifts)...I've probably made 6 or 7 of these toys by now!


That's about all for knitting. Now for some ultrasound pictures! Meet Jenny Junior, who is, in fact, 90% likely to be a girl:

Waving her fist at us...stop scanning me!

The anatomy scan was totally fascinating, and I pestered the technician endlessly about what we were seeing. Prior to this experience I had no idea you could see things like brain ventricles, heart chambers, kidneys, diaphragm and bones! From what we could tell, she wasn't missing any important bits and things looked just fine.

This one is my favourite b/c you can see the profile so clearly...along with the spine and heart too. Cool, eh?

Wee Update

The Knitticrafty household is seeing some big changes this year. First a house...

...and now Gatsby is getting a sibling!

I've been sitting on our happy news for a while, and now seems as good a time as any to share it. We'll get to meet the wee one in February, and in the meantime I've got lots of little baby projects in mind to keep me busy. I figure that once baby arrives, my crafting life will be put on hold indefinitely. Must fit in as much as possible between now and then!

Today was a good finishing morning - I finally sewed in loose ends, kitchener-stitched toes together, and blocked. Here is my first FO for baby, the placket neck pullover from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I know, I've already made it four other times, but it's just so cute. And you can't beat the minimal seaming - it's all knit in the round! The yarn is Kraemer Tatamy Tweed DK, an acrylic cotton blend that should be easy to machine wash. It's made right here in Nazareth, PA too!

Yarn: Kraemer Tatamy Tweed DK in Birch
Needles: US 7 dpns and circulars
Pattern: Placket Neck Pullover (Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Hoverson)

Next up, my mom's socks are done!! Yippee! I don't think she'll mind the fact that one is slightly taller than the other - can you tell in the photo? I guess I over-enthusiastically added half a pattern repeat. Not sure how that happened since I was trying to follow the chart...

Yarn: 2 skeins of Plymouth Happy Feet (from Conversational Threads in Emmaus),
with enough leftover for a pair of baby socks
Needles: US2 dpns
Pattern: Pomotamus Socks

Amelia is coming along as well...I've got the sleeves pretty much done, minus a couple more increases on one arm, and I've got about 4 inches to go on the body. Sadly, this cardigan is not going to fit around the girth of my ever-expanding middle - I should be able to button it up at the top for now. I've made a few mods so far: cast on for size 34" sleeves, but for the body I cast on 191 stitches to get approximately a 36" size (the pattern jumps from 34" to 38") and I played around with the positioning of the stitch markers to get more or less the right ribbing placement. I'm a little worried about washing this yarn...I touched it with a wet hand a few weeks ago and ended up with deep teal streaks across my palm. There's probably something I can wash it with to help set the colour or remove the excess dye.



Have a great week! I'm off to knit night tonight for a piece of chocolate cake...mmm.

Big Bad Baby Blanket

First, some chatter, and then the baby blanket.

How on earth did it get to be July already?! I've really been slacking with my blogging (sorry!), but it really doesn't feel like that long between posts until I check the last date. When I started the blog, I wasn't sure how much I'd be actively posting, but 2008 was a pretty good blog year, and I credit that to being much busier (with work) and thus motivated to multitask and write about all the things going on. Crafting for me seems to be directly related to how busy I am - growing substantially the busier my schedule is. The other change this year, though, is that I've joined a knitting group and I think that has become my new outlet for showing my finished crafts. And once I've shown it there, or talked about it there, I guess I feel less like writing about it on my blog a second or third time...but since I know you are all dying to see new crafts, I suppose I can try a little harder. :)

My other excuse is that June and July have been incredible busy for us. I think I mentioned a while back that we bought a house. Then we went on vacation for a week in June, and as soon as we got back we closed on the house, moved, and have been living in a state of semi-chaos up until now...I hope we never move again for a long time! Ugh! We love the house though, and it's great to be settling in. It looks a little bare, actually, since it's more space than we've ever had/needed. We're 95% there, but the last bit is always so hard to get done! We're lacking some serious closet space in the bedroom, I guess people didn't build houses with built-in closets in 1900.

Bakery work has been on hold since May...I've made a brief switch back to health care work, and I'm volunteering at a community non-profit organization for mental health, as well as the nearby hospital. In the fall however, I'm hoping to pick up a couple days at a bakery (or perhaps chocolate shop!) We'll be heading back to Toronto in a week or so - we're going to a wedding and looking forward to seeing friends and family very much. We'll be visiting all the babies that are sprouting up like crazy, and eating loads of delicious sushi and other Asian goodies. Yeah!

My recent knitting includes this baby blanket for baby Sophie, who was born on June 30. It's the Big Bad Baby Blanket pattern from Stitch n Bitch, knit in Bernat 100% cotton yarn, the biggest skein I have ever seen, and get this, not a single knot or break in this yarn the whole way through! It's probably about 400-500 yards total, I'll have to check.


Oh, and here are some pretty flowers from our garden! Unfortunately, Gatsby decided to eat have the bouquet and then promptly regurgitated it on the newly washed carpet. Dumb cat.

First Time Gardeners

Happy Saturday! It's beautiful here in Bethlehem, and our vegetables are starting to sprout like crazy. I've been meaning to show you our little garden, which we started from seed. First I have to say that I am truly a non-gardener, and D did 98% of all the hard work (I get points for observational participation, with a little bit of hands on work) The lettuce has finally grown big enough to eat, and we've been having some nice salads with our dinner. Everything is coming along slowly, hopefully soon enough to enjoy a bit before we move on to the new house.

I can't believe these things grew from seeds. They were so widdly and pathetic back in March, smaller than alfalfa sprouts, that I just couldn't imagine them turning into enough for a salad. There might have been just enough for a little tea sandwich. Two months later, the bunnies are feasting away on the lettuce, but there is still enough to feed us too.

These are teeny tiny carrot tops! We might get a birthday candle-sized carrot by the time we move...

Tomatoes! I guess the next tenants will get to eat them. Boo!

Radishes...we usually don't buy radishes at the grocery store, so I'm not sure why we decided we should plant some. What do you do with them besides eat them raw? They are flourishing anyway.

Things are progressing with the house process. We are waiting on our mortgage application, have house insurance, have a cleared inspection, and are showing the rental to prospective tenants. It's been a busy month. And I started packing already.

I started the Whisper Cardigan a couple weeks ago and it's about 2/3 done. The next time I blog about it, I'll probably be in the new place! I may have a post or two in between, so stay tuned. Have a great weekend!

Saartje's Booties and MDSW festival

Happy May!

It's been a bit of a crazy few weeks. First, a little finished project to show you before I get into all the updates:

Soooo cute. These are for baby Bunny who is due in early July, and she'll be getting another handmade item to go with the booties. The pattern is Saartje's Booties (it's free!) and make great baby gifts, and also a great way to find a good use for those little balls of sock yarn leftovers (recognize Pomatomus III?) I used US2 dpn needles and it probably took me a few hours to finish them, including sewing on the buttons. Actually, the buttonloop was the trickiest part, but I found a little tutorial over at My Fashionable Life that was a big help.

Onto the updates! I'm not even sure where to start, since there's yarn and baking and home updates all over the place...


At the beginning of May, I went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival - my first time at a yarn conference - it was so much fun. I have never been surrounded by so much yarn, roving, sheep and all things knitting and spinning related.

Everywhere we went, there was silk, merino, bamboo and all sorts of lovely fibers to grope and pat. I am proud to say I acculumulated only a modest stash consisting of 3 skeins of sock yarn, 2 skeins of wool/silk DK, and some dpns. It was very, very hard not to buy more than that. :)

My bakery internship, sadly, finished at the end of April. I am quite disappointed, but what can you do. After a few weeks of unresolved drama among the company, my pastry chef decided to leave. Fortunately, I have met some great people in Bethlehem and have gotten some offers for introductions at other bakeries, which I may explore in the fall. In the meantime, I have a lot more time on my hands for knitting, and an abundance of partially completed projects piling up.

Last piece of news: Pending inspection and all that (fingers crossed), we bought a house! Yes, we did. It was bit of a whirlwind...everything happened very fast. We started looking around a couple months ago, and only recently decided to begin working with a realtor. Everyone's advice was that home-buying could take a long time, so it was a good idea to start early. So of course, we immediately found a house we really like. Then we went back and stalked at night to explore the neighbourhood. Then we went to see it again. Then we stalked some more. Then we slept on it. And then we decided to put in an offer. I really thought the process would take a heck of a lot longer, that there would be some feet-dragging from the sellers, delays....Friday we put in the offer, on Sunday we had a deal. Surprisingly efficient! We're very excited, and still kind of shocked. Hopefully things will go smoothly through to closing.

That's about all for now. I've got a baby shower cake to show you soon, I promise. It won't take me another three weeks inbetween posts!

Chocolate-spotting in NYC

Happy Saturday! I love cute chocolate mice...spotted them at a patisserie in NYC and snuck a photo.


No new crafting pictures, unfortunately. There were several cast-ons for new projects, but I screwed them all up and had to rip them out. I'm doing another Ene's scarf and about 1/3 the way in, I realized I had totally messed up the border. But I'm still chugging along... I'm hemming some bonnets, still cutting out pieces for my quilt, and starting to think about more baby shower gifts for the many pregnant ladies I know.

This afternoon we're doggy sitting and also going to a garden center to check out the goods. Maybe we'll buy some seeds to start at home!

Weekend Cat Pics

Last weekend Gatsby became a member of The Seniors Club at our local vet clinic (!) I guess 9 isn't that young anymore in cat years. He's mellower, friendlier and lazier...but the gleam in his eye informs us he can still be a feisty beast. And the yowling around meal time has only gotten louder. Ah Gatsby. You lovable pain in the neck.

Here he is in action, running to the fridge at mealtime:

Seeking attention while D tries to work:

Friday night Yuengling...


"Do I look fat to you?"

D and I took a little trip down to Philly and participated in some touristy stuff, and ate a lot of Chinese food...the non take-out kind. It was awesome. On the way home, we also scored some IKEA goods to furnish our little house, so now I'm typing on our new coffee table which I think makes our living room a bit more complete.

More to come later.

Daina Mittens

A finished project to show you! The Daina mittens are finally complete. This was my first fairisle project, and when I started them I was knitting a bit too tight, so the gauge on the two mittens are a little different. Of course, the second one fits a lot better, but I didn't have the heart to rip out all that strand work. Plus, this was the stickiest yarn (Knitpicks Palette) I have ever used and I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have survived a ripping.

Pattern: Daina Mittens by Tuulia Salmela
Yarn: Knitpicks Palette in Black, cream and cloud
Needles: US2 dpns

I started these sometime in October, finished them in early December, and then they sat in my knitting pile forever waiting to have the ends woven in. It's always like that eh?

I love the picot edging...so pretty. But a pain to sew down. I avoided having to sew by just folding it over and doing k2tog when I started the mitten portion. Still, on tiny needles, it was kind of a pain.

The inside of the mitten - not bad for a first time fairisle.

And there you have it! It's nice to finally blog about some knitting again. I have another finished beret to show you so it won't be long before another post!

In other news, today is our 5th day of 'real' life in Bethlehem. D started work on Monday and moved into his shiny new office, and I helped him unpack some books and things to get settled in. We have otherwise been trying to get all our utilities and services set up, which takes a while. Yesterday we got our Lehigh ID cards, which lets me use the gym I think, and get 15% off at the school bookstore. We now have the biggest variety of insurance ever - car, tenant, life, health. Tomorrow we go to deal with the car plates and new licenses.

One of the strangest things I have experienced so far is setting up garbage and recycling service. Unlike in Toronto, waste disposal services are not provided by the city. There are a zillion little private sanitation companies, small-business style, that you set up an account with just like getting a phone or something. Ours is run by a couple who have been doing it in the neighbourhood for years. Each house can choose a different company, which is also weird - doesn't that mean there are endless garbage trucks stopping in during the week to pick up? Anyway, it makes you think twice about how much garbage you throw out, cuz it isn't cheap!! $96 for 3 months! But that's if you have 4+ bags each week. I went with the more sensible option of buying a book of 10 'bag tags' which you attach every week to your trash, and it should last about 8 weeks. I will never take Toronto garbage service for granted again!

Happy 2009!!

Happy New Year folks! Hope you all had a lovely, restful holiday and are getting back into the swing of things.

Cardinal in the holly bush in our backyard!

The past month has been crazy, hectic - but plenty of fun, and it was great being able to spend time with so many people. I know I haven't been blogging any new crafts, but I've been stockpiling a few for the new year. Thanks for checking in over the holidays though, it was nice to see that my daily hits hadn't completely gone down to zero. I promise to have crafts soon.

Lehigh Canal

Something I've been enjoying in blogland this past week are New Year's related posts - some are writing their reviews of 2008, some are making new resolutions for 2009. I've never been good at making resolutions, much less stick to them (I admit I have been one of those "I'll start working out" people - that usually dissolves before the month is out), but I do like the idea of compiling a list of things I'd like to work toward. A goal list, if you will, that I can go back to when I'm feeling like I need some direction. First though, here's my Year in Review.

**Knitticrafty 2008 in Review**

• January: I celebrated my 30th birthday; D was offered a job at Lehigh University; I turned down my first job offer in Ohio (I don't regret it one bit); we started taking pottery classes; I read many, many food books; Sonja and I took ballet classes; we visited Bethlehem where I twisted my ankle. Knits: Ene's scarf, misty garden scarf, and one striped sock.

• February: My first part-time job at a private practice; we went to Cleveland for D's birthday; I started doing more baking. Knits: Shetland Triangle, started the Sweetheart Socks.

• March: I started working at the bakery and was loving it; I came close to quitting the private practice job a few times; baked my first few loaves of bread.
  

• April: I started taking a jewelry class. Knits: Cherry Cardigan, Shetland II. Nothing that exciting seems to have happened as I didn't blog a lot that month...
  

• May: I went to a bunny/alpaca show; baked lots of cakes and goodies; made more pots; had my first real kitchen day in the bakery; we traveled to Paris, Milan, Venice, and Opatija (Croatia).
  

• June: I finished my big jewelry class project; came back from Europe; visited friends in Toronto; baked a heck of a lot; Knits: started the Pomotamus socks III

• July: I started working as a freelance cake decorator for a second bakery; learned how a wedding cake is assembled; bought a bike and rode it around a lot; discovered El Arapezo in Pearl Alley; practiced a lot with rolled fondant.

• August: Our big trip back home to Toronto and Deep River; lots more baking. Knits: ducky cardigan, socks.

• September: I visited Toronto again; started baking classes with Devon; first Buckeyes game; lots of cookie and cake decorating; panicked over my future visa status but then got some good news on that; made a bridal shower cake for Zarafa which I am uber-proud of.

• October: I was promoted to being an assistant pastry chef; I tried knitting fairisle and entrelac for the first time; went to Z and Ken's wedding in upstate New York; Gatsby started mellowing out; I made French Macarons for the first time; I also bought my first stand mixer.

• November: My last month at the bakery; we got ready to move; I made a practice wedding cake; I bought a nifty culinary torch; we found a house to rent in Bethlehem (this time I didn't twist my ankle); we visited a culinary school in Philadelphia.

• December: Jay and Sonja threw us a goodbye party; Devon made us this awesome cake; we moved to Bethlehem; my cousin Baryl came to visit; Dom's parents came for Christmas; our visa got approved; and I was called for my first interview at a nearby cake shop.

Things I want to do in 2009:

1) Intern at a cake shop, and learn how to use commercial equipment and scale recipes
2) Take Toba Garrett's Cake Decorating courses at the ICE in NYC
3) Take a bread making course
4) Travel to Asia
5) Make a quilt
6) Try to become a licensed counselor in Pennsylvania
7) Plan a trip to reunite our Columbus friends
8) Take advantage of unlimited calling in the US and Canada on our phone plan
9) Volunteer for a mental health organization
10) Try not to strew clothing all over the place in my bedroom, and use the nice closet instead.

We found a house!

I'm still here. It's been a crazy week. After we got back from a Bethlehem I've just been working non-stop. Anyhow, we had a successful home-hunting trip and found the cutest little house to rent in Historic Bethlehem. It is a lovely neighbourhood and we are thrilled that we'll be living there next year. It's even walking distance to work for D!

Without further ado, some pictures to share with you of our new place:

That's going to be our little house! It's got a yard, a basement, an upstairs, way too many bathrooms, and a nice red front door:

Best of all, there is a massive kitchen that is probably the size of our current living room. I plan to spend many, many hours baking and cooking in here. There is so much storage it is mind-boggling.

It was such a relief to get the home-hunting over with, which gave us lots of free time to explore the area. We wandered around Lehigh's campus...

Enjoyed the view from the public library, which is only a few minutes from our new place....

We even had time to drive into Philly for the day...we had some great pizza for lunch, took a tour of the Art Institute's baking program, and had dinner at the Good Dog. It was exciting being in a city again.

Whew! So that's our big news. I've done a ton of baking this week, so stay tuned for more!

Friday Fair Isle

Happy Friday everyone!

First of all, a big big congratulations to my talented MIL, Alison, who was recently accepted into the Deep River Valley Artisans Guild in Ontario! Congratulations! This is a big deal! It is really quite amazing what she has accomplished in one year. She has definitely moved on to being a full fledged ceramics artist now. She makes some really incredible things. I'll take pictures of her work next time I visit her, and perhaps in the near future she'll have her own website up and running! Or at least an Etsy shop of some sort!

I've started my first fair isle mitten, and it's actually not as difficult as I'd imagined. My main challenge so far is trying to knit more loosely than usual, which will probably mean that the second mitten will be totally different than the first, but what can you do. Hmm. I guess I could have gone up a needle size, but apparently I thought of that too late.

These are called Daina Mittens by Tuulia Salmela. I am loving the pattern - easy to memorize too, which is a plus. If only I had a little bit of red yarn for the little dots between the circles, but, oh well. I am really trying hard to make do with what's in the stash right now.

This Sunday we are traveling to Bethlehem, PA for the next 5 days to find ourselves a new home. We've got several appointments lined up, but I'm finding that a lot of people don't allow pets. How can they turn away a cat as cute as Gatsby?? Anyhow, I just hope that we're not still hunting by the end of our five days. Aside from apartment hunting, I'm hoping to stop by the Tuesday night knit group at UnderWired to meet some new friends, and on Thursday I'm booked for a tour at the Art Institute of Philadelphia. I can't wait to see Philly - I've heard only good things about the city.

Have a good weekend, y'all.

Wish us luck!

The Cat is Mellowing Out

After 8 years of aloof, anti-cuddle, anti-lap behaviour, Gatsby's personality is beginning to change. Occasionally, you will find him seeking a cuddle these days.

Only, he's not fully committed to the full lap cuddle yet... He's started doing this funny half-draping thing on your lap, with his hind legs firmly planted on the couch.

Too funny.

Happiness is a KitchenAid Pro600 Mixer

When I started my freelance cake work, I decided that I'd use my earnings to buy myself a stand mixer (actually, this may very well be the first gadget I've ever saved up to buy). When I was paid for my work in September, I finally had enough for the mixer - except that now I was short a coupon - you know those 20% off coupons from Bed Bath and Beyond they send through the mail all the time? That would take about $80 off the price! Sigh. I should wait for the coupon. Wait. Wait. Still no coupon.

So, I had been waiting for weeks (4 to be exact) for one of those coupons to come in the mail, and it finally arrived on Monday, and so I went out and immediately brought home my brand spanking new KitchenAid Professional 600 series stand mixer, with 6-quart capacity - that's a whole 14 cups of flour you can put in there!

Yes, I realize it's huge and clunky and takes up all my counter space. But I don't care. This things does wonderful, magical things - no more aching arms hand kneading bread dough, no more standing there for 15 minutes to whip egg whites! I can even walk away for a few minutes to go read the recipe!

I have been happily bonding with my mixer all afternoon - not a hugely high tech piece of gadgetry, but still totally exciting. I made cream cheese frosting (OK, a bit boring but whatever) but next I'm going to make a cake. And bread, to try out the dough hook. And then whipped cream to try out the beater. And many many more...

Red, red and more red!

Lots of red today, from the weekend and from cake baking. On Tuesday I made a red-striped birthday cake, similar to my other yellow fondant cake. I was in a big rush because I baked, iced, covered and decorated the cake in one morning. Phew. It was cutting it a little close. I really wish I hadn't felt lazy the night before, but watching No Reservations just seemed more important. I free-handed it a bit more in this cake, so I've only photographed the nicest sides and hidden the cracks and messy bits from you.

I want to get a little more creative with my decorating. I'm starting to exhaust the flower and dot cut-outs, and need something with a little more wow! to it. I've got some fun baking to do this coming week, which I'm looking forward to. If it turns out, I'll show you in an upcoming post.

Last Saturday Z.Knits took me to my very first OSU football game (thank you Z!!). That morning I had run out to buy a Buckeyes shirt, and I felt pretty cool parading around campus pretending to be a real fan. You have not truly experienced Columbus, Ohio until you attend a Buckeyes game.

Dedicated fans filing into the stadium

Now, I am totally not a sports person, but I have to say that it was tons of fun and just amazing to see live. The sea of red filling the stadium was incredible and the energy pulls you right in. At several points I caught myself actually cheering and whooping! Me! Imagine that.

Check out the funny headwear:

Probably the highlight of the game: eating steamed hotdogs in OSU baggies, and nachoes with fake cheese (D hates this stuff; I love it in the right context)


All the running back and forth had me a little confused, but Z was able to explain what the heck was going on. The marching band was awesome too. All in all, a really fun cultural experience :)