stacking rings

stacking rings, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

I made these stuffed fabric stacking rings for Amelia. Once she can sit, I'll make a little wooden post for her to stack them on. For now, she likes to practice her new ability to hold things with the green and blue rings.

unstacked rings

unstacked rings, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

I wanted them to have hidden properties, so:
the orange one jingles,
the green one rustles
and
the yellow one stinks.

I meant for it to smell pleasantly of jasmine, but I overdid it, and my entire apartment reeked for a week!

knitted cat toy

knitted cat toy, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

I used Fuzzy Mitten's siamese cat pattern, with minor modifications--I did the ears differently than directed, and modified the face shape very slightly.

I used a great alpaca/wool/silk blend for the body: nice and firm, but soft. The darkest brown yarn matches Amelia's baby blanket

kitty profile

kitty profile, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

the way I attached the head, kitty wants to look up. It's endearing from certain angles.

Amelia and kitty

Amelia and kitty, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

I put jingle bells in the body, so I can shake it in front of Amelia--she seems to like it.

I want new clothes!

wow, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

After 3 months of wearing whatever would go over my distended body, I've been dying for some new clothes. Specifically, I want a dress: dresses are so cute this season, and I like dresses best anyway. Unfortunately, they're also the hardest thing to nurse in, so I'm planning to make a couple myself, engineered for easy nursing! They may become prototypes for a line of nursing clothes I'm considering making...

To prepare, I padded the boob area of my dress form (which I made) to match my new, nursing proportions. Of course, the rest of me doesn't look like that yet, but: wow.

Ugly baby hat

Ugly baby hat, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

Presley's mother gave me the little yellow baby hat on the left; it's one he wore when he was tiny-tiny. I love the pattern, but it's acrylic yarn, so I decided to copy it in nicer yarn. In the middle, you can see the yarns I choose. On the right, you can see the hat in progress.

Maybe she thinks it's too ugly?

Maybe she thinks it's too ugly?, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

The hat came out so-so. The melon-colored yarn is too floppy for the style, and I think the original knitter changed needle sizes for the neck band, which I didn't do. All in all, the original has a much nicer shape.

I'll post another photo when she get's old enough to actually wear it.

Very Small Hat

Very Small Hat, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

When Amelia first came out, she had a Very Small Head. The lovely volunteers at the hospital make baby hats, but that was her only hat, and it was acrylic (okay, I'm a yarn snob).

I tried to buy her another one, but apparently, baby hats don't come that small, so I resolved to make one.

Wasted Yarn

Wasted Yarn, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

Somehow, I've never knitted anything in the round before, so I didn't know about the Pit of Mobius Knits, and got my first attempt hopelessly twisted. When I finally realized I couldn't fix it (I tried), I cut it in frustration.

Oops.

3 leaves

3 leaves, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

I spent waaaaay too long designing this hat. There are things I like about it, and things I'd like to fix.--I'm knitting a revised version for my sister's unborn baby.

Oh, and BTW--Amelia never wore this hat. By the time I finished it, it was too small.

milk paint

milk paint, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

...I (mostly) finished the dressers after two weeks of frustration and great deal of help from Presley's mom, Andrea. I learned that lesson: "accept help". I didn't learn the other obvious lesson: "keep it simple": I stubbornly stuck with my original design, including the inside of the drawers in a contrast color!

milk paint

milk paint, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

This is a project I undertook the first week after Amelia's birth. ...Well, actually the first 2 weeks.


I quickly realized that all those tiny little clothes, etc. needed a place to go, so I ( okay, my mother-in-law) bought some little dressers. I've always wanted to do a project with Milk Paint ever since my husband started using it in his art, so I chose unfinished wood dressers.

I designed two color schemes and sent Presley and his mom out for supplies. The problems began almost immediately: The pink dresser required two colors: Salmon and Salem red--the art store was out of Salem red. They're still out, that's why the top drawer is unpainted!

If any of you have worked with milk paint, you know it's a project just to get it mixed. I did a pretty bad job at first, and ended up needing more white to make up for waste. I also discovered that certain colors--including white & light tints--gel up in the fridge and become unuseable!

The day I started this prect was the first day I experienced "baby blues"--I felt hopelessly incapable.

In the end, I mostly finished the dressers