I made this sweater in 1997. For some baby. I can’t even remember. But I fell in love with this little cardigan. It’s from Kim Hargreaves Tadpoles & Tiddler book. It was my first attempt with intarsia and such a complicated smocking pattern.

But when I finished this sweater I did something that I thought was just a wee bit crazy. I kept it. For my baby. My unborn baby girl that I knew I was going to have one day.  That’s who the sweater really belonged to and I knew it would have an owner one day.

I continued to date for the next six years. And then I found The One. And then I became pregnant. With a girl. My girl.

It was worth the wait.

This little cardigan reminds me how lucky I am every time she puts it on.

It is not the best made sweater, but it is the dearest sweater I’ve ever made.

And it suits the Peach to a T.

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As a new mother, I spend a good chunk of time nursing the Peach in bed. And being a new mother, I live in blood curdling constant fear that my child is going to roll right off the bed and onto the hard wooden floor almost three feet away!

Here is a re-enactment with Raggedy Anne pretending to be the Peach on the edge of the bed! So scary, right?

I’m too crafty for that anxiety! So a half hour later with some foam, nice fabric and foam core board, I give you this:

I have never been prouder of my craftiness! OK, I will go back and make the fabric a touch tighter, but I am too busy to do it right now and felt the need for it to be greater than my need for perfection.  This is more for the remedial Slap Dash School of Craftiness.

Anyway, I call it “the paranoid mother board”. The Peach seems to like it too!

Pure genius!

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An unexpected box from a beloved store.

An unexpected hand on my shoulder when I needed it.

Calming powder. Calming friendship.

I’m a very lucky girl to have such a good friend.

Thank you, Rocket Girl!

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Remember when I used to do this crazy thing with two needles called knitting?

Since the Peach  came into my life and the purchase of our little keep, knitting has been pushed aside sadly. Why, the last thing I knit were booties for her and since then–nothing.

But every fall just as the birds start to head South, I head to the yarn store, thinking about knitting.  But what to knit?

I really want to knit something for myself. But the Peach is such a good little model… But she does have quite a few knits ready fo her.

But I’ve been kinda crushing on a little Swiss miss shtick right now. Something knit from the top down in green with red accents maybe? Total Fair Isle awesomeness, yeah? But then I am also digging these patterns.

Wendy from Knit ‘n Tonic’s Fair Enough: A simpler and more sophisticated take on the fair isle. And God, I love me some Wendy!

Flint Knits’ February Lady Sweater: a great take on the wonderful Ms. Zimmerman’s iconic baby sweater. And this chic lady seems so rad what with her glasses. J’taime those glasses!

Garter Lace by Ann Budd has been calling me since I saw it featured in a Knit Picks catalogue this summer, but the Knit Pick’s cotlin is on backorder until October. Boo!

Or maybe I should just jump and finally knit that Norah Gaughn Nantucket sweater that I’ve been lusting after for oh…three years. Please forgive the cruddy picture.

Or, here’s a brilliant idea: ACTUALLY FINISH KNITTING THE SWEATER THAT IS SITTING UPSTAIRS–the cable luxe sweater that I was determined to knit as a cardigan… hello old friend.

Thoughts, commentary? What should I do? AGONY!

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The Peach’s fauxhawk has been subdued by gravity, and my wonderful daycare provider loves to kit the Peach out with some stylish barrettes.*

Which just means that I have a reason to shop for baby barrettes, like the cute one she’s wearing, which I am ashamed to say I don’t remember the maker, but I bought it at a craft fair months ago and just love it!

But there are some really cool ones out there. I just ordered some of from CuckoBoo from Etsy!  I know the woodland creature trend is big, but it should be when people are creating such cute stuff like this:

And check this one out this  this stunner from Pretty in Posies. It might never make it to the Peach’s head, because Mama wants to wear it out! Naughty Mommy!

But a beautiful bow still gets my heart. Like this gorgeous brown and turquoise polka dot one from Brown-Eyed Babies. Can’t you just see it in a little girls hair?

I’m still on the look-out for those old school plastic barrettes that were made of molded plastic of three flowers or a ribbon that I wore in my hair when I was a child.  Anyone know the ones I’m talking about? They used to come in a 12 pack. Anyone else remember them?

*Note: I miss the fauxhawk…

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When I was pregnant I wrote about my amazement that newborns could go through 80 diapers a week.  I was terrified about changing that many diapers. Then the Peach came along with her little pooping bottom and lo and behold! I don’t mind changing the diapers!  Albeit the Peach makes it so very easy to enjoy as she spends most of her time on the changing table cooing and smiling.

But what really surprised me is that I’m using cloth diapers. Well, a mix of different options. Cloth and gDiapers.

But what really sold me on cloth diapers were the covers.

Like this one:

Pretty stinky cute, eh?

Or this one:

A close up of the hedgehog nommy cuteness up close:

Yup! GenY diaper covers are the bomb!

And Tiny Tots diaper service!

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As promised, a minor nursery update. The picture isn’t the best, so I promise to post a better one later.

When you move houses, you see the furniture you have in a different way.

For example–my great aunt Lil’s cedar chest. I’ve used it as a coffee table for the past six years or so and it’s served me well in that role. But I hated when it started getting some nasty water stains from one too many forgotten cocktail, so I knew it was time for a reinvention or sort.

The cedar chest has gone back to its roots in the nursery as bench/extra storage. I sort of slapdashed the cushion using our old double bed foam cover (the fourth “R” of recycling mantra–reinvent!)  and covered it with some nice blue mattress ticking, which I think fits into the old school charm of the room.  I also added pillows that match the quilt and crib-skirt, but that’s it for that fabric in the nursery. One more piece and I would have been one step away from Sister Parish!

Once again, knowing that I have very limited storage and that babies just seem to sprout stuff, I tried to find storage solutions in every corner. Like this hook for favorite sweaters and this positively ancient red book bag with an elephant on it that I believe I found at a boot sale in London more than 15 years ago.  It is the perfect place to put papers or things out of baby’s reach.

Oh and the curtains are an old tablecloth I pulled out of my vintage linen collection.

And can you see the banner? The wonderful banner that Karen M. made for my baby shower? I was determined to use it and I finally put it up. I is the icing on the cake of the room for me. I think it adds a nice dash of charm. Yes?

I don’ t know if the corner is officially finished or not. I was going to put up these simply darling colorful kiddie records on the wall.  Thoughts? I would absolutely love your feedback, so please leave a note and I’ll post new pix if anything changes.

Next up, another corner soon, I promise. Slowly, but surely, I’m making progress!

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Although I know the Peach is way too young to actually pick favorites with her toys, but in my heart of hearts I think she’s a fan of Raggedy Anne. Perhaps because of my own Raggedy romance as a child, I’m a bit uneven keeled on the matter.

I had a parade of Raggedys running through my life after I loved on old ones too much. As reliable as Rudolf’s red nose would guide Santa’s sleigh that night, a new Raggedy Anne would smile at me from her plastic and cardboard box every Christmas morning.

I met a woman named Mary at a cocktail party who had her own Raggedy Anne story. She too was a loyal fan of Raggedy and would play with her until her red and white tights were leaking stuffing. At that point, Mary’s mother would sit her down and tell little Mary that Raggedy was very sick and needed to go to the doll hospital for some treatments.  Mary would carry her beloved doll outside to her mother’s car and click the seatbelt around her little rag body, wave goodbye to her and pray that Raggedy would survive her hospital stay.  Two hours later, her mother would appear with Raggedy looking wonderful, as if she went to the doll spa, with seamless tights, a perfect red yarn hairdo and a crisp white new apron.

Decades later over Christmas dinner, Mary’s mother talked about her trips to the doll hospital being a great time for her to get away from the kids, have one of her forbidden cigarette while driving after she HUCKED THE OLD DOLL OUT THE WINDOW on her way to the toy store to buy a new Raggedy Anne doll for her daughter.

I kid you not. Mary nearly burst into tears after that tragic tale of woe. But I must admit, I’m kinda thinking the “doll hospital” schtick is a pretty good one. We’ll see how the Peach reacts to that!

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All summer long people were bugging me about Glee. Had I seen it yet? Don’t I love it? Isn’t it amazing? Yeah yeah yeah. Whatever. I have a baby, people. I don’t need to worry about a TV series about highschool kids, right?

I was so wrong. Oh, so wrong.

Because I LOVE GLEE! It’s is hilarious. How can you not love a show where they say things like, “no one is going to swim over to your island of misfit toys” and not crack a smile.

And how clever to incorporate the loser L into “Glee”. Pure Genius.

OK, I promise this will be the last TV post for awhile. But TV watching means quality time to do some crafting…like knitting!

But before we go, let’s take a moment to pause on the awesomeness of Jane Lynch.

Oh, Jane, as if you didn’t make Julie and Julia sparkle enough, you sashay onto Glee dropping funny bones left and right.

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People, I tried.

Like a culinary Icarus flapping his wings out of foodie jail, I went for the sun.

I tried to make mayonnaise.

I had my reasons. Blissed out deviled eggs.  The chicest chicken salad. All for naught.

I ended up with whipped olive oil and a sore elbow.

I blame it solely on Julie and Julia. The sun was too bright. The wax melted and I went splat into wasting a whole bottle of very expensive olive oil.

Hmmm… I am if nothing, a resourceful gal and I tried to passed it off as a very glamorous salad dressing.

Perhaps I’ll try again with a blender… like Minty…

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