Back to work!

One more leg to go.

Why Rugby stripes will cost more

Stranding just doesn't work well... So I have alllllllll these ends to weave in.

I've been naughty

I've not beeing knitting... I've been Christmassing. I'll get back to work. I promise.

Stripey!

I'm having fun with this one. It's another one for Lacey, but she's given me free reign on the stripe pattern -- she only said she didn't want them to be all the same size. So I'm going for the rugby look so much like my favorite shirts when I was in middle school. You can see the stripe pattern starting to come together now.
Knitting is on the slow side due to the weight of the yarn, but this should see completion by the end of the week at least. :)

'Tis the season

I have to admit that I haven't been as diligent in my knitting as I usually would be because of all the Christmas activities I have going on. Cookie exchanges, shopping, decorating, and untangling lights takes a little time out. Not to fear, I'm still working, just a little more slowly. At this point, medium pants are taking about a week.

Meaghan's Mango Papaya

Fever: 2, Milli: 0

Well the fever pretty much stole 2 days of my life away. I'm back again, coughing, but I'm back.
Here's where I am on Lacey's 2nd pair of knitted pants as of 2:45pm on Monday. They're really cute, thought the texture is something that I didn't plan on. Some of the thinner sections of the yarn lined up, and the thicker ones did too. It makes for a kind of bumply texture which I think is pretty cool. I only hope she feels the same way!

Knitter for Hire

Do you want me to knit for you? Simply email me to be added to my waiting list.  I will email you back so you are sure that I've got you down.
No payment is necessary to reserve your slot. Once it's your turn I'll try 3 times to contact you before your spot is bumped.

The time it takes to knit for you depends entirely on what it is that I'm knitting. I can usually give a guessing guideline of when I expect to finish, but please understand when life gets in the way. I strive for excellent communication with anyone I'm knitting for, and promise I won't drop off the planet. I won't require a deposit for smaller items, but I will need some sort of deposit for larger things. I'm investing a great deal of time and care in knitting for you, and getting a promise payment helps protect that investment. I will never require full payment until the article is completed.

If your item does not fit properly due to my error, I will be happy to take it back and fix it properly. If, however, your item does not fit properly due to your error in measurements, it's up to you to find a new home for your wool. I use a set formulary of my own devising for my woolen diaper covers, and can only knit to the measurements that you provide! If you have questions about how to measure your baby, please see this page about measuring properly, and send an email if you have any more questions.

Pricing is as follows for hats. Pricing for wool diapering items is YYMN. I can hunt down yarn for you if you need help, though!
Sizing for woolen diaper covers is based on hip measurement. Things like elastic waists, embroidery, ruffles, stripes, etc. will cost extra, but not too awfully much. We can talk about it.
Want me to make something I haven't listed? Ask! If it's made out of yarn, I can make it. 

Basic Hats:
Newborn: $12
Toddler: $15
Big Kid: $18
Adult: $20

Fancy Hats:
Cupcake
Dinosaur
Cabled
Brain Eater
Custom Design
Pricing based on yarn yardage and intricacy

Soakers:
XXL: 23" and up - $45
X-Large: 21-22" - $40
Large: 19-20" - $35
Medium: 17-18" - $30
Small: 16-17" - $25
Newborn: 15" and under - $20

Short pants:
XXL: 23" and up - $50
X-Large: 21-22" - $45
Large: 19-20" - $40
Medium: 17-18" - $35
Small: 16-17" - $30
Newborn: 15" and under - $25

Britches:
xxl: 23" and up - $60
X-Large: 21-22" - $55
Large: 19-20" - $50
Medium: 17-18" - $45
Small: 16-17" - $40
Newborn: 15" and under - $35

Thanks!

How to measure your baby

There was a discussion on Diaperpin about how to measure a baby for a pair of knitted pants, so I thought I'd add a note about how to do it. I hope this helps some of you out! Of course, I can measure a baby, but measuring a baby while photographing is another story! So Rowan graciously stepped in to fit the bill. Thanks little buddy!

Hip: Measure your baby over the diaper at the widest part


Inseam: Measure from the crotch to the ankle for pants, or for how long you want shorts to be. There are two ways to measure an inseam

Diapering inseam: Measure from the crotch of the diaper to the desired length.

In this picture you can see that his shorts would be 2.5-3", and his pants would be 9.5" for a good fit.

actual inseam: In the picture here I am measuring from his actual crotch. I like to do this for my own longies because it ends up giving extra length in the leg for growing room.


Rise: Measure from the belly button, down through the crotch, and up to where the belly button would be on the back.

Lacey's first pants are done

I'm now winding skeins of yarn into balls.
Lesson If people want to send their own yarn, have them get it wound before they send it.

24 hours later

I'm back to where I was 24 hours ago when I realized that I can't count. Didn't get as much done as I planned today. Teething monster baby was on the loose. Tomorrow will see the end of these pants and the beginning of Lacey's second pair.


We lost Uncle Larry today. Peace be with you Aunt Wanda. We love you.

Lesson

Do not count stitches when you are in a car half asleep.
Lacey's first pair of longies would be done by now if I had counted properly. But for some reason when I got 17, 17, 17 instead of 15, 15, 16 it didn't phase me. Lack of sleep? Too much turkey? Who knows...
In any case, I had to tink the legs and am back to starting them over tonight.
durn tryptophan...

There will be no knitting today

Niall has decided to have a stomach bug, so I'm on puke patrol.

Questions people ask

What kinds of yarn do you knit with?
The easiest yarns for me to get my hands on are Cascade 220, Patton's Merino, and Lion Wool, but I'll knit with anything. I usually have a stash of purewool on hand.

What if I want yarn that you don't have on hand?
Not a problem! Should I be ashamed to admit that the ladies at my local yarn shop know me by name?
If you want a color that I don't have, I can either buy it or dye it. Just write me and ask!

Will you knit with my yarn?
Sure! Send it on! Just take about $8 off the base price for your size for longies, or $5 off for shorts and soakers.

Will you use acrylic?
Not a problem. But I refuse to use Red Heart Super Saver. It feels like plastic. :P

Do you smoke or have pets?
No smoking here! Well... unless you count the occasional burned toast, but that's in the kitchen. If you can figure out the gremlin in my toaster, be my guest. :) Seriously, we don't smoke but we do have a dog. She doesn't knit but she does spend a lot of time hanging out with my feet while I knit. I do wash everything before I send it out, but if you have severe allergies you might need to consider this. Those little hairs are my nemesis.

Sunday morning

I love Sunday mornings. I didn't work on Niall's pants yesterday because we had a birthday party and then church, but I intend to devote my afternoon to them. I also have 4 sweaters in the washer to make in to pants for him. One of them is a deep rose -- a popular color with men this season, but how can I make them boyish enough pants? He already gets called a pretty little girl when I dress him in anything but blatent boy colors. Embroidery suggestions are welcomed!
Then a walk through the leaves after the boys wake from their afternoon naps. There's something about knitting when the weather starts to turn colder... It might actually start feeling like fall around here if it gets lower than 70 degrees.
Becky's pants are all ready to go. I will miss them. They were so cheerful on my drying table, but they belong on a baby so off they go!

First Nibbles!

Thanks Rachel for forwarding this site on to your playgroup.
I'm still in early workings here and hope to add more things, but I feel like I'm on my way!

On the needles today...

A pair of pants for Niall, in Rowan denim. I'm about halfway done with leg one.
I'm holding off on posting a link to the pin yet. I just have to take the plunge, but I want a gallery available first.

Becky's pants are done!

Now that I'm going to be blogging my goings on, I can say that Becky's pants for our swap are done!

I'm very pleased with how they came out. I might have to get myself some Caramel Apple some day!
I emailed Heather to see if she wants hers next. :)
Soon I will put a link to this blog on the bottom of my siggy on diaperpin, and hope that other people want me to knit for them.
In the meantime, pants for Niall and a sweater for Helmi call me to duty.

Waiting list

This waiting list may or may not accurately reflect what I'm up to. I tend to forget to update it. If you are supposed to be on here and don't see yourself, you might want to pester me.

I do have young children, so turn around time on an XL pair of longies could take up to 2 weeks (usually less) once I begin knitting. Of course, smaller items take less time. And you can always check the blog for updates as to where I am on the waiting list.
Thanks!

Cindy -- fingerless mitts -- done | monster hat -- casting on
Lori -- hat and scarf combo -- choosing pattern
Tanya -- short pants/capri length -- waiting for yarn

What's the cost?

These prices are NOT YYMN prices
Size is determined by the hip measurement, over a diaper.
Embellishment is extra, depending on the design.

Soakers:
XXL: 23" and up - $45
X-Large: 21-22" - $40
Large: 19-20" - $35
Medium: 17-18" - $30
Small: 16-17" - $25
Newborn: 15" and under - $20

Short pants:
XXL: 23" and up - $50
X-Large: 21-22" - $45
Large: 19-20" - $40
Medium: 17-18" - $35
Small: 16-17" - $30
Newborn: 15" and under - $25

Britches:
xxl: 23" and up - $60
X-Large: 21-22" - $55
Large: 19-20" - $50
Medium: 17-18" - $45
Small: 16-17" - $40
Newborn: 15" and under - $35

You will be able to check the progress of your custom knit at any time.
I will post updates on the blog.

Basic Embellishements

Stripes - $5 per color
Rugby Stripes (up to 4 colors) - $20
Ruffles - $8
Flares - $15
Contrast waist and cuffs - $5
Elastic waist - $3
Hidden drawstring - $3

Cupcake hats
Available with pink or yellow frosting
With or without sprinkles
$25

nothing new

I won't have much new for a bit here. I'm going to begin collecting all the nuts I can, but in the meantime I'm reading the book Wild Color so I can learn a bit more about this craft.

What is that smell?

OOOOH it's the smell of burning blueberries!
Yes yes. I forgot the blueberries on the stove while watching Lost. Hey. It's Lost. I got sucked in.
Soooo the yarn from this batch will be called Burned Blueberries once I get it done.


HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! JOHN GUESSED IT WOULD BE DESMOND!

See? I was still sucked in.

So, look forward to Burned Blueberries in the next few days... If I can find tartaric acid that is. Otherwise I'll have to freeze the dye so it doesn't spoil and do it once I get a proper mordant.

In the pot

The batch of tired blueberries from Fran's house are in the pot.
I found a place that sells alum mordant, but I think I'm going to try making my own first... just to see

still here

I'm still here. We've just been working on the sleep issues in this house, which leaves little time for playing in plants.
We also went out of town for the weekend. I picked some old dried out blueberries off my mother-in-law's bush, so we'll see if I can get a good run out of them. I was eyeing the red clay they have, but I think I'll save that one for next time. I just didn't have the energy to drag home a bucket of dirt.
Hmmmm a project to do on-site next time, Fran? Could be fun!

it's still in the shower

It was still damp on the bottom (see picture, it's still darker at the bottom) so I haven't been able to do anything with it yet. I also won't be dyeing more yarns until I find tartaric acid and make a good mordant. That will be the goal for this week.
And researching plants.

A sort of success

Well here's the end result of the first blueberry dye. The color is much lighter than I thought it would be, but I've since found a site recommending a salt fixer for berries instead of the vinegar that I used. I think that next time I'll give my yarn a soak in an alum mordant first too.
I asked for and received offers of acorns and walnuts this fall. Hee hee! When the nuts start to drop, beware!
Another lady in the area who gardens has also offered to let me have some plants from her garden. Oooooh joy! I need to get some better gloves, because if I get any good at this I'm going to be purple (or some other color) to my armpits.
Mwaaa haaa haaa haaa. Fall will be an excellent season this year.

blueberries started it all

I was making blueberries into baby food last weekend, when I realised just how much stuff I was straining out. It was such a pretty color I couldn't bring myself to throw it away. I'd been knitting soakers for my son to wear over his diapers, and had dyed some covers with koolaid. How much of a leap is it to use blueberry leftovers?
A ball of Lion Brand was hanging out behind my couch. I got it on sale anyway... so if it totally flops I won't be too upset. Except this is taking some time to do, so I guess I'm out the time.
At first I just took all the leavings and put them in a pot with the yarn (which was a pain to rewind into a loose hank let me tell you...) and cooked it a bit. I got a nice gray color out of that but neglected to take a picture. Then I left it to sit for a week.
Blueberries will be out of season though... so two pints later:


I've changed my method a bit, boiling and straining. It's soaking now, and I'll rinse it tomorrow and see what we get.

Let's begin!

testing testing...