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

Baby blanket

knitting a baby blanket, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

The first project I made for Amelia was a Baby blanket I started when I was 6 months pregnent. Really, it was just an excuse for me to fondle baby alpaca yarn for three months.

Here it is partway completed--I knitted this much mostly over my Christmas vacation--the rest was knitted mostly during my commute to and from work. Keeping it on circular needles made it easy--I just wore it around my neck when I was in between locations. I wore the skein of yarn over my shoulder--someday I'll post a pic of that--It's a really handy way to knit on the go.

knitting detail

knitting detail, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

Here's a detail of the leaf pattern.
I found the original pattern on the internet, but I tweaked it a bit to look more defined. (compare the top leaf with the bottom one).

leaf pattern

leaf pattern, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

Here's the pattern I ended up with, after tweaking the decidedly less complicated original. I have to translate regular knitting patterns into charts, because all that text gets lost in my brain. Charts stick much better...until I memorize it, that is.

The symbols rom the charts were adapted from ones I found on a Japanese knitting site.

The color coding helps me keep track of where I am in the pattern--it's easier for me to remember "pink" than "Row 2."

Finished Blanket

two recent projects, originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

...and here's the finished blanket draped neatly over Amelia at 3 days old.

Mostly, it's not draped this artistically, and it's pretty misshappen and full of pills, but still very soft and warm and useful, and I hope she likes it.

Starting a blog!

I see lunch..., originally uploaded by wildjinjer.

Amelia has inspired a distinct upsurge of creative crafty energy, so I've decided to start a blog dedicated to her. I'll be posting photos and accounts of my projects for her & pictures of her. Here she is, in her first week of life, warmed by the blanket I knitted while pregnant, and anticipating her next meal.

Luckily, she's a "barricuda"--she latches onto boob real quick and starts sucking without much help from me. Which means I can nurse and knit at the same time!