Wonderling

where have I been?

I haven't been posting much lately, but I have been up to a lot. The colder weather has caused my mind to obsess with knitting (is that a bad thing??):

not done yet, but this will be a pair of gloves. yay!

The band has also been busy. We've been working on a lot of new songs and even bought an awesome camping van for touring. One of these old Toyota vans:

We broke it in by taking a band trip to Red Robin yesterday. 

So now that I've finally posted again I solemnly swear to post on a regular basis. Even if I'm feverishly knitting 12 things at once.

Knitting for a natural baby

image by Wool Windings

On Saturday I went to the baby shower of a good friend of mine. She's going as natural as possible with the birth and baby accessories, which is wonderful. Knowing that she's going to be using cloth diapers I thought it might be fun to whip up some soakers for her. I haven't really been knitting much lately, but I found that soakers are insanely easy to knit. I actually knit one up the morning of the shower in about an hour and a half. Because I was pushing it with time I didn't stop to take pictures, but I'll share a few tips and patterns. 

There are a few free patterns on the web and I'd reccommend them over buying a pattern. It's not hard to customize or tweak the basics of a soaker patter, so the basic pattern is really all you need. 

I used this Punk Knitters pattern by Ms. Crafty Galore, but here's a site that lists other free soaker patterns.

Some interesting things to note: 

 - soakers should be 100% wool. Some people say at least 75%, but it's much easier to fine 100% wool.

 - soakers may need to be treated with lanolin from time to time to maintain their waterproof quality. They make spray lanolin now, which makes this much easier. Some people recommend treating them right away, other say that's not needed. 

 - the soaker will eventually stretch. I altered the pattern by using much smaller needles on the ribbed waistband and not including a drawstring, but in the end you will probably need to string an icord or shoestring through to hold them on. One way to be sure your soakers keep their shape is to lay them flat to dry. NEVER wring them out.

 

 - you don't have to wash them after every use. I know it sounds gross, but wool has a natural reaction with urine. Once it's dried there will be no smell, so you can reuse them a few times before washing. Just be sure to wash them if they get more than urine on them. Hand washing in cool water with a wool wash is recommended, but you can also toss them in the washer if you use a cold, delicate cycle. Be aware that their color may bleed. 

 - Babies come in all shapes. Not every baby will fit into the same pattern. This is kind of a trial and error thing, but again, altering the pattern is super easy if baby needs some more or less room in some areas. 

For some great diaper patterns (sewing and knitting) visit Cloth Diaper Sewing. I have a slew of fabric at home that I didn't know what to do with....now I think I know!

progress

amid the chaos that was this weekend, I managed to almost finish the first of the Tiffany mittens...

As you can see I still have the thumb and finishing left. They really aren't taking that long :)

I am inspired

now I absolutely must try felting. My plants are looking so cold without sweaters on them! via Papervert's Etsy

New Project - Tiffany mittens from Knitty!

To replace the diamond mittens that I recently abandon, I've picked up the knitty winter 06 mitten pattern called Tiffany. Here's what I have so far (sorry for the really bad picture, it was taken with my cellphone last night right before I gave up the fight with my eye lids)

I've changed the color scheme quite a bit and I'm not sure if I like my choices, but once I started with the main body of the mitten I decided that the more I knit, the more I like :)

So far this pattern has been amazingly simple. I was really intimidated by fair isle and by such a complicated pattern (I have some dyslexic tendencies), but it's knitting up so fast and easy!

Between school, work and the band I'm not able to devote much time to this project...I'm just hoping to get them done before mitten season is over :)