Leg Warmers, Hair Cuts, and Baby Food

This post has been shortened for the sake of your attention span.

Let's start by saying that I have given up on sewing diapers. Yes, I am disappointed in myself.
While waiting on some covers I ordered from the wonderful Pinstripes and Polka Dots I decided to do something crafty and make Peanut some leg warmers.

The purple ones are actually out of an old shirt of mine that was too small for me. If you look above her you can see the black knee highs of mine, Cadence's old red shirt, and her blue and pink striped tights. They turned out pretty cute right!?! I figure any kind of knitted tube can be a leg warmer. I think I will need to put some elastic in the top of the ones that were sleeves to help keep them up over those thighs of hers, but other than that they work pretty well. Although I think the ones out of my old knee highs are too tight so I may just throw them out.

 

So after that whole week of waiting, when I should have been cleaning, I finally got my new covers. I also ordered a pail liner from kissaluvs, a planet wise wetbag, and some kissaluvs diaper lotion potion spray (which I saw recommended on a flat folding tutorial on youtube).

Now, looking back I regret getting the wetbag, because at the end of the day I could have just used a couple walmart bags, but what's done is done. I'm pretty excited about this lotion potion spray. I'm thinking I will take all that flannel from my diaper sewing days and just serge them into squares.

Anyways the Rumparooz cover was a bust, because Penelope's thighs are HUGE! She could wear it for maybe a week!

So I talked to the wonderful lady at Pinstripes and Polka Dots and she agreed to just credit it to my account if I return it. That store is simply amazing! They have an easy to navigate website and they are right here in Illinois, without being in Chicago. (Not that I don't love Chicago, but you guys have enough stuff already!) She also has a reward system. I'd love to buy from a WAHM, but I don't know of any that can beat her prices!

 

This is the new Thirsties cover. You can't really tell, but it's lavender with pink and black circles and birds. I put her leg warmers on her after she woke up, but totally forgot to take a picture! Don't worry though, because pinstripes has a TON of sales for Christmas so I will be making more purchases, which means more pictures!

 

This was my back yard the other day! Now I could tell you this horrible story about Nate getting stranded in the middle of that Draco blizzard and being in his car for over 10 hours and then spending the night in a shelter before the state police returned him to his vehicle the next afternoon. Well there, story told. Can you imagine how much I was freaking out the whole time?

The day he came home my dad had ridden the train down for a visit. So Nate finally got his hair cut (I can't cut hair and take care of a baby. I'm not wonderwoman!), and so did Cadence! My little girl is 6 yrs old and has never had more than a couple inches off at one time, but she's been begging for short hair for about two years now. So this time she got what she wanted!

She has always had super fine hair that won't do ANYTHING!

This is how she wanted it! Well maybe I cut it a bit too short. It's longer in the front, but since it's always behind her ears you can't really tell. You can see from her serious expression that she loves it!

Also this week we began our egg yolks and liver! She LOVES food. Tomorrow we will start organic veggies, which I'm also going to learn how to jar so I don't have to think about it during next semester. Today she had 2 yolks, one for breakfast and one at dinner time, after which she was STILL hungry.

Penelope also learned how to crawl backwards. This means I had to drop everything every fifteen minutes and pull a laughing baby girl out from under my couch. What a fun game she thought this was!

One last thing! These are the last couple things I made in ceramics last semester. I discovered the red glaze on the right by layering AA Green and Grey Green. Don't ask me the details, because I don't know a thing about glazes!

 

So I guess that's it for now. Next time I will post a picture of that entrelac scarf you saw me start. I don't have decent lighting after dark or else I'd show you now. Also I might let you know how those cloth wipes and my baby food jarring experience pan out. Oh! And Cadence's disaster of a room! I told her we are not getting out a single christmas present until her room is completely gone through and redone! Don't worry, there will be plenty of pictures.

 

Merry Christmas!

Baby. Baby. Baby.

Random Tip of the Day:
Bake your breakfast meats. Even the cheapest bacon is delicious after being cooked in the oven!

With Christmas break approaching, I told myself "No more posts! You will focus on school and blog only after finals are said and done!" I believe I have been pretty faithful in this practice, but you see, now it is the day before finals, and I have a million things I should be doing to wrap things up.
So naturally I'm researching and preparing to spend break with the baby.
I feel as if I have been ignoring her all semester. I am at school all day about 3-4 days a week and as much as I love it, I hate it. We have totally reverted back to disposable diapers and I daresay she's had half a can on sensitive tummy formula. Awful, right?!?
Now let's be optimistic.
Peanut is 5 months old and has been exclusively breastfed with the exception of when I'm on my monthly, at which point my production is cut in half! If I had been better prepared for this we would have been fine but you live and learn.

Warning: The next section is about cloth diapers. Therefore you will either totally appreciate the insight or feel completely lost. Feel free to skip!

Also, I made about a dozen cloth diapers. In my stash there are about 6+ flannel RRPs with a hidden layer of PUL. There are 2 or 3 flannel RRPs with a hidden layer of Fleece and velcro to secure. There are maybe 3 or 4 of the flannel RRPs with PUL that I attached cords to for tie securing. I have homemade inserts of old towels and flannel and some microtowels from the automotive section. This week I got my first pack of Snappis and splurged on a Thirsties cover and a pack of cheap flat diapers.
Can you tell I've been doing my research? Basically, I have a bunch of cloth diapers. ;-p
So far everything works, but I am a bit tired of folding these flats just because of the fact that she can't stand the moment they get even a little wet. I even added a towel insert to hold her over. Also these cheap cloth flats are SO thin! I feel like the claws on the Snappi is hurting her. So I plan on serging a layer of flannel onto each one for cushion. Maybe then I won't need the insert, but we'll see. I'm going to try to exclusivley use cloth over break, which means I may need another cover.
Did you know you can get a Thirsties cover from Target for like $13? I was pretty excited.

Where do you get your cloth diapering needs?

 

Now today is all about baby food. My original plan was to get some teether bisquits and do cereal soon etc. But I know better and eventually I beat myself up mentally enough to really work for a healthy baby. So we're going grain free with this one! I'm going to start her on egg yolk and maybe some liver at the end of this week. She has almost no more thrust reflex and has been trying to grab any food in sight.

If you would like to do some reading check out:

foodrenegade.com

thehealthyhomeeconomist.com

babyfooddoctor.com

traditionalfoodadventure.com

Also I recently added nourished and nurtured to my circle, and plan on reading up on her posts on a regular basis!

So I guess we will wait on the teether bisquits. I was most excited about them, but I'm sure it will happen eventually.

 

How are you introducing solids?

Do you have any cheerio/teether bisquit alternatives?

 

More importantly,

How are you going to handle proposing this kind of eating to your daycare?

 

This is something that I find to be the biggest problem with raising my Peanut. I want to use only cloth diapers and I want her to eat super healthy with no grains! But how do I enforce all of this while going to school full time? The daycares around here are horrified enough about her having no vaccines, which is something I am fighting with my doctor over, because all doctors in our area follow traditional practices, which includes every newfangle vaccine on the market!

*sigh*

Is it so bad for us to care for our babies, and research what is best for them? When my older daughter was born I was 17 and completely ignorant. I had to fight just to keep her, let alone give her what's best, and now she is living with the consequences. Thankfully I have my dad and Penelope's father, who are both incredibly supportive of every new article on parenting methods and all that "stuff".

 

Who do you talk to about what's right for your baby?

Am I really the only mom in my area that wants to go this route with my child?

 

When I was pregnant I got addicted to the forums on mothering.com, but since then they have reformatted, and now I have no clue how to find anything. They had a section on finding your tribe. I love the idea of finding moms like me in my area, but noone ever stepped forward. So I have pretty much abandoned that forum, and I continue on this mothering treck on my own. (Is that right? treck?) Although I appreciate the help and support of the 2 males in my family, it would be so nice to have a peer in the mothering world.

 

It's too bad my voice is so small and the internet world is so big.

 

With school approaching it's end, I am preparing for the ceramics sale we always have during finals. Check it out!

 

And since you've been such a patient and awesome reader, here is an adorable picture of an adorable, cloth diapered, breastfed, vaccine free, grain free diet baby.

Notice we're still using disposable wipes. Possible tutorial post on cloth wipes?!? Maybe, dear readers, just maybe..



Internet-Cred

Hey, look! I remembered to come back and write more! Maybe this means I will actually stick to this stuff, or it will stick to me. I was searching yesterday for a better cast on method for my entrelac, because as much as I love entrelac you would think I'd know how to make it look right when I cast on. Well anyways, I found an ancient blog from a wonderful knitter (who now has a new blog, hence her 'ancient' blog). And so my first ever reference to another person in my blog is given to the wonderful Jeshknits. She has a blog and an etsy shop. Plus there are lots of cute kitties and she does everything I want to spend my life doing!
Oh that's a good segway for my next topic. I've been thinking about when I get done with school. I'm currently enrolled in a BFA program with a focus in watercolor. You probably won't see a whole lot of that here, because well I tend to keep my fine art and my craft stuff seperate. I say this but then there are my things that cross back and forth. We'll get to that later though.
Anyways, we are currently dealing with the economic crisis that most people in this country are having. (I'm not getting political but omg the election this year!) So when I finish school it is assumed that I will get a job. Now I am the type of person that can't stand to stay couped up all day, so getting a job seems ideal to me. But then there are people out there like the lovely jeshknits and well I don't want to sound whiny but I want to stay home and knit all day and make money for it and make whorls and spin!
*sigh*
Plus Penelope is still a baby, and I want to be there until she starts preschool. So maybe I could do this. I could blog and knit and sew and make crafty things! But then again have you noticed the horribly mumble jumbled broken up english that is my typing skills?
Maybe I could improve my english skills. Anywho, I've been thinking about my online-cred (like street-cred only cooler, obviously). So here are some pictures, because what's an awesome craft blog without pictures!?!

Here are my ceramics from school last year. They aren't very good, but I have totally fallen in love with throwing on the wheel. Wouldn't it be cool if I kept up with this messy habit?

Okay, this picture is sideways. (I'm learning this whole blog thing so bear with me. Also how do you move pictures? I try to drag them but maybe I am just incapable..) Anyways, there's some food. I do that sometimes, because I have an obsession with eating. Who doesnt?

Yarn! This is my blueberry purple dye I did a couple summers ago. Isn't is marvelous? I should do some dyes again..

This is where my fine art and my craft start to overlap. Bookbinding is such an epically amazing thing that I don't even know where to begin. Some day I will have a bookpress and you will see more of these. These are completely handbound sketch books with white sulfite sketch paper. I ♥ bookbinding.

More dyes! These are kid-friendly egg dyes on wool sock yarn. I used them to make multi colored booties that are now up at my local knit shop, because the owner is awesome and takes consignment.

Another sideways picture and not a very good one at that, but this is a fingerknit handdyed rainbow scarf. I think I gave it to an old friend of mine. Not really sure.

This is one of my first Rita Rump Dipes. They are wonderful!

These booties were made for my friend's baby girl. I took a picture because I knitted them with different tension so they are a little off in size.. hehe.

The reason why I want to stay home all day. This is my Peanut. Her name is Penelope and she is almost 5 months old. Gorgeous right?

One of my best RRPs. Oh, I should tell you that they are pocket diapers and made out of flannel I either purchased at the local thrift store or received as a gift from my mom or Nate's mom.

 
 Ok I don't know what happened to my layout, but this one turned out wonky. This is a very poor picture (sorry) of sweet spoons. They are plastic spoons with vanilla sweet stuff melted onto them and sprinkles. My older daughter took them to school last year for Valentines day.

Oh good, we're back to our old layout. This is my sunflower yellow yarn from 2 yrs ago. Done the same day as the purple you already saw. Did I mention all of these were done on wool? Anyways, way too much fun if you ask me. And so pretty!

This is Teddy. He is my older daughter's and I had to return him, so for now he is a retired model. There are no pictures of Penelope in her diapers, because she just had a growth spurt and I have no time to sew her new ones. I'm thinking when I get the chance I will make some AOIs though.

I dyed this yarn to make a sweatshirt for an old friend that now lives in Kentucky. I used my kid friendly egg dyes on wool. Oh here is a chance to show you an epic picture!

Yeah that's right! This is my friend when her and her boyfriend went cross country. My sweatshirt made it to the Grand Canyon. How cool is that right!?!

 

So there you go. Some cool pictures, because every blog needs pictures. At some point I will post pictures of the entrelac scarf I'm making. It is my first commission and therefore very important! Oh and if you guys get tired of my using exclamation marks I'm sorry! I get excited, but I promise I'm not yelling at you!

 

! ! !



I Wish the be Less Metaphorically Clumsy

Sometimes I think back to past artistic conversations and wonder if I'm ever going to get over my craft ADD. I have to work on 2-3 paintings at once in order to keep my focus, and I don't even know how many knitting projects I have tucked away in my little..
..I'm not sure what it's called other than 'my latest thrift store find'..
Then there are the many projects around the house which usually revolve around the kids and general upkeep.
It reminds me of the summer of 2011 right before Nate went to his sculpture symposium. He talked about making one of those sculptures of people getting crushed by huge columns. How it was symbolic in so many ways, of people trying to stand upright no matter what pressures they are met with, like Atlas and the weight of the world, only they were just people and some of them occassionally got crushed, but usually they were just left in awkward poses.
So here I sit thinking about Black Friday, money, school, the kids, Christmas, art history, my show this May... and I feel the column gaining more and more weight over my head.
Speaking of Black Friday, I had an accumulation of gift cards that are officially all used up. I can't say what all I got, but I spent about $150 on gifts for 3 people, a waffle maker, a deep fryer, new stockings for the whole family, and a 4ft prelit tree. I only stayed up until 2am and only went shopping at 2 department stores.
Is it silly that my favorite part is that the waffle maker is one of those ones that flips over while it cooks!?! I've always wanted one ever since I was little and my mom introduced me to continental breakfasts.
Here's some ADD for you, next spring my dad is thinking about planting me a madder plant. That could work right? I need to be properly taught about natural dyes, since what I've been reading on my own is apparently not working out as much as I'd like.
I need to put some photos on my posts. Too bad my phone is dead right now. Maybe next time I need to procrastinate.

Possibly the Beginning of Something?

It rained today, and therefore I could not find it in myself to leave the house. This seems like a silly thing to say, but when you have a 4 month old girl and a 2-door 1993 Mercury Cougar, you don't need much of an excuse to get out of leaving the house.
This week is Thanksgiving break. That means this is the week that I was planning on devoting to catching up on my Non Western Art History class. Usually I love these classes, but with it being my last year, I guess I am just burnt out on reading and writing. Also, this semester I have my new little peanut, and Nate is working two (now three) jobs. And I thought it was a lot of work to be in college with one little girl...
I'm hoping to fill this blog with my discoveries. Maybe you'll find them useful. Here in this house we make a lot of crafty things. My little girls are natural born artists, Nate is a painter who plays guitar and is always super supportive of my random array of projects and ideas.
So what do I do? Well, what haven't I done? I started out with just knitting and some painting. Now I knit, paint, bookbind, sew cloth diapers (amongst other things), use natural dyes, Batik, Shifu, and umm...
Well there goes my attention span. Time to figure out what's for dinner.
Soon I'll tackle budgeting/meal planning, organizing a 6 yr old's black hole, and dealing with the dreadful holiday season. All while making glorious art for my BFA Show this spring.

♥ ♥ ♥

P.S. Anyone have creative recipes ideas for tuna? Or any other random thing that has accumulated in my pantry...