Baby Oh Baby – Page 3

The Princess and the Pea

31 Comments / August 4, 2016 August 4, 2016 / Baby Oh Baby

I had baby cuddles last weekend! We visited FinallyAGirl and her parents and mostly just laid around. And took some pictures! SweetiePie saw a baby picture months ago that we liked, and we decided when the time came, it would be fun to try and re-create it.

I’m generally of the less-is-more camp when it comes to pictures – especially for babies. But, once in awhile it’s fun to play, so we did. First, a few tools were required. I scavenged some old pallets from work (well, I didn’t really scavenge – they cost me $5 – the only part of this project that I didn’t have at home), gathered the tools, and cut the pallets up and re-sized them.

It was time consuming, but, really not that hard (except for a few stubborn nails). After the pallets were cut to size, I covered the fronts and sides with fabric that I raided from my stash/etsy shop.

We hauled those pallets with us on our little visit, set them up, and then, Ta Da! The Princess and the Pea.

Fun, huh? Kind of a lot of work for just a few pictures, but I figure the bed can be used for dollies later, right? Or, if you need a picture of your little princess, you know who to call for the bed LOL.
While we were playing, we took another fun shot.

It was a little nerve-wracking to have the baby hanging there, but we hurried, and protective arms were never far away.

Ok – that’s all I’ve got. The weeks of summer are flying by – I hope you’re having a good one!
XOXO,
Anna

Baby Bibs

22 Comments / July 17, 2016 July 17, 2016 / Baby Oh Baby, Sewing, Store

Ok, I gave you a break from baby stuff with the little backpacks on my last post, so, now I’ll make you suffer again LOL. Really, it will slow down after this because I haven’t been working on any more baby stuff.

I made FinallyAGirl a few bibs before she was born. I love to make bibs — you can do almost anything with them. When TheFirstChild was born, someone gave me two really cute little homemade bibs and I loved them so much that I traced around them to get a pattern that I’ve been using for many years. I was going to say that I used my embroidery machine on a few of these bibs, but, as it turns out, I used it on all of them. First up — some elephants that I’ve used before on terrycloth with a simple bias binding.

Next, simple cotton with a ric rac edge. SweetiePie loves polka dots and monograms. I think this one might be her favorite.

She also love pompoms. This little bib is like the tied quilt that we made at the baby shower. I don’t think those pompoms will last very long, but they’ll be easy to cut off if they start to look ratty. ;-D

And this last little bib is my favorite. A little pink plaid ruffle, some big stitches, and a Peter Rabbit embroidery. I know it looks like Mama Bunny is putting Peter to Bed, but she’s actually feeding him. Poor little Peter must be sick. I Love Peter Rabbit!

Now it’s back to regular programming. I’ve been working on a new shirt and I need to get started on FinallyAGirl’s quilt (I keep saying I’m going to get started!) It’s also that fun time of the year when market purchases start to trickle into quilt shops. These fun crochet-edged double bias tapes arrived last week. They’re SO cute and I’m looking forward to using them on clothes and quilts.

Have a great week — it’s supposed to be blisteringly hot here by the end of the week … Think SNOW LOL!
XOXO,
Anna

Baby Sweaters

26 Comments / July 1, 2016 July 1, 2016 / Baby Oh Baby, Knitting

Thank You so much for all of your very sweet comments about FinallyAGirl. I’ve been missing her terribly this week and luckily, we’re going to see her this weekend. Yay!

I’ve been busy over the last few months making a few baby sweaters that I couldn’t show you until they were given to SweetiePie – which we did when the baby was born. I love little knitting projects because I can take them to work and knit at lunchtime a few days a week. The first sweater is the famous Baby Surprise sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman. This was a super fun sweater to knit, but boy, the first time, it takes a leap of faith. This is what the sweater looks like when you finish knitting.

Does that look like a sweater to you? Me neither. But, have faith, a little change-o presto and it looks like this:

I don’t even remember how I twisted it to put it together, but I do remember that the only seams are along the top of the sleeves. No side seams, so that was nice! My only frustration with this pattern was that there was no indication as to what size the finished sweater would be — maybe it’s because you can use this pattern for babies all the way to adult sizes, depending on the size yarn and needles that you use. I was hoping for a 3 – 6 month size, but I think this is more like a 0 – 3 month size. For those interested in the details, I used US size 3 needles with a Koigu yarn. The pattern has been published in several books and all the details, along with pictures of other Baby Surprise sweaters, can be found on Ravelry, here. Not included in the pattern is the little picot edge along the front and bottom of the sweater and around the sleeve edges. My buddy Bonnie mentioned that she had a friend who did a picot edge on her baby surprise sweater, so I googled a picot edge and crocheted it when the sweater was finished. I think this makes a really fun baby gift and I’ll definitely be making it again!

The second little sweater I made is the Nouveau-né by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka The Yarn Harlot). This was another fun little knit, and oh, what a pretty little sweater pops out at the end! This sweater is knit in a much more traditional manner — top down on circular needles, so there are no side seams, which I love. I also LOVE that beautiful little honeycomb stitch on the yoke and around the sleeve and body hems. It’s so pretty and and it’s fun to run your fingers along the top to feel the bubbly texture.

The pattern also has instructions for little booties, so I made them too. It only contains instructions for a 0-3 month size — oh, how I wish it also included larger sizes. I’d definitely make it again for when our little miss gets bigger. The booties seem large to me — more like a 6 month size, but what do I know — it’s been a long time since I’ve been around little baby feet.

For those interested, I used US size 3 needles and the yarn is Millamia Naturally Soft Merino. Both little sweaters have flower shaped buttons (sorry, the whites aren’t showing up very well — white is so hard to photograph!). Yarn and buttons for both sweaters were purchased at my LYS, Knitting Off Broadway.

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I LOVE baby knitting and I’ve started on another new project — a few lunch times a week, week after week, add up to some fun finished projects!

And now … it’s the weekend. T minus 2 until I can cuddle that little baby — Yipee!!! If you’re an American, I hope you have a wonderful 4th of July weekend!!!

XOXO,
Anna

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Baby, Oh Baby!

49 Comments / June 24, 2016 June 24, 2016 / Baby Oh Baby

Oh Boy, what a week we’ve had here in ThimbleannaLand! Our sweet little FinallyAGirl has FINALLY arrived. She was 8 days late, but she’s arrived safe and sound, and for that, we are very grateful! Waiting, Waiting …

… and, at last, at 10:43 p.m. on June 21st, our cherub was born. At 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 inches long, she’s the perfect size. And, well, just all-around perfect. Or, as my buddy Brigette would say, she’s perfect in every way.

And, of course, there is nothing in this world to rival the sight your child holding his first child.
The Unspeakable Joy of the Amazing Miracle of Birth.

XOXO,
Anna

Tied Baby Quilts

12 Comments / May 14, 2016 May 14, 2016 / Baby Oh Baby, Quilting

Thank you for all the sweet comments about the Baby Shower. As I mentioned, the other activity we had was to tie some baby quilts for SweetiePie. Long-time readers will remember that it’s our tradition to tie a quilt for the new couple at a bridal shower, but we’d never done one at a baby shower and it never really even occurred to me — probably because they’re so small and it’s hard to get a group around a little baby quilt.

To back up a bit, the babies in our family all had little tied quilts with prairie points on them. (I blogged about them years ago, here on my old blog.) I knew that SweetiePie doesn’t care for prairie points, so I didn’t plan on making any tied quilts for the baby until she’s a toddler. (Because ALL our toddlers MUST have a tied quilt! Out of the five babies between MyDadLovesMeBestSister and me, four of them dragged their tied quilts around until they were worn out.) But, a few weeks before the baby shower, SweetiePie asked if we could talk to MDLMBS about tying a baby quilt at the shower. I was surprised at her request, but she said she loves the quilt that we tied for her at the bridal shower — she loves the idea that the people she loves all had their hand in making a quilt for them.

So … how could we refuse? Especially, since I was thrilled LOL! Even though we were a small group, I realized that we were too many to squeeze around one quilt, so I decided on two. I raided my little etsy store for fabric and then, the next issue was those prairie points — I knew they would have to go. SweetiePie LOVES pom poms, so I decided to put them around one of the quilts and just do a regular binding around the other one. I took my trusty quilt frame over to MDLMBS’s house and set the quilts up — coincidentally, in the same room where we tied the bridal shower quilt.

Look at that teamwork! I was so proud of the ladies who don’t normally sew. One of the girls told me I needed to take her picture and send it to her mom, because her mom would never believe that she was sewing LOL!

The best part about these little quilts are the ties. They’re kid-tested and definitely kid-approved. My very favorite part about the baby shower was when CuteNiece1 arrived a little late (after driving in from Chicago) and walked into the room where we had just started tying the quilts. She yelled out, “NUBBIES!!!” That’s what our children all called the little ties. And she was so thrilled that the next generation will be brought up with nubbies too. She said she still keeps one of her little quilts with her but that, by now, all the nubbies are missing. (Of course, I told her to bring it back to me and I’ll fix that!) The children love to rub those little nubbies between their fingers when they’re falling asleep. One of the little rascals rubbed them so much that he would pull them out, so we gave him a little jar to save them in ;-D.

This little quilt is made with Art Gallery’s Floral Dums Punch on the front and Sarah Jane’s Wee Wander print on the back. We had so much fun tying this one. Instead of tying in our usual grid pattern, we decided to just randomly go with the print and put a tie on each of the big flowers. And, for the first time, we used more than one color for the yarn. It’s bound with the famous Timeless Treasures stripe fabric.

The other quilt is the pom pom quilt. I don’t really expect the pom poms to hold up to years of toddler abuse, but it will be really cute for wrapping up that little baby, and then, at some point, if it gets too raggedy, it can be replaced with a regular binding.

The front of this quilt is Blend Fabrics Born Wild Patchwork on the front and their Born Wild Woodland Creatures {Looove} on the back. The patchwork on the front provided the perfect grid to use for the quilting — it was nice not to have to mark out squares for the ties.

So, that was fun, and now, I want to make a cute, tied PINK quilt for ME! Baby girl is all set for quilts — in addition to a few other little blankets she has at home, SweetiePie and I worked on a big-stitch quilt the last time she was here. It’s finish was interrupted by the fact that Hester had to go in for repairs, but it will get finished in a few weeks. And, of course, Grandma will be making a little hand-quilted quilt for her. No rush on that one — it will be a longer term project because I’m a slow quilter!

Ok — must dash — I’m leaving this weekend for a family visit + quilt market and there are a million things left to do! Have a great weekend!
XOXO,
Anna