Idle Hands

Drapey Jersey Shirt

2011-08-20T20:46:00.003-06:00

I saw this tutorial the other day and new instantly that it would be a hit with Abby. She needed a shirt to go with a skirt that I made for her last week using my reconstructed denim skirt tutorial. The only thing I did differently is I serged the edges with a roll hem stretching as I sewed so that it would make it ruffle. We are both really pleased with the end product.

Reconstructed Denim Skirt

2011-08-11T19:00:00.008-06:00

Things you need: A pair of jeans that fit, sharp scissors, pins, heavy jeanstitch or topstitching thread, denim/jean needle, and of course a sewing machine.

First thing is to decide where you want to cut your pants off at. I decided I wanted mine cut off at the knee. I plan on adding a ruffle or something to the bottom.

Then split the inside seam of the leg.

Next, cut off the inside seam of the inner legs.

Split the back crotch up far enough so that when you lay the curve down it lays flat without any puckering.

Pin in place. It's best to stitch along the seam that's already there in a matching thread color.

If your pants have a deep crotch you may have to split some of the crotch seam in the front and lay it flat as well. Pin it in place and stitch like you did the back crotch seam.

Next take your leg pieces that you cut off and open one of the side seams.

Slide the leg under the open V where you split your leg seam on your garment. I turned my legs upside down since they were tapered. Pin it in place. (At this point if you do not want raw edges you can trace the shape on to your piece and add a seam allowance and then stitch your right sides together. Personally I like a little fraying so I just left it like this.)

Now take it to your machine and stitch along the edges of your fabric where it's pinned.

Once it's stitched you can trim off the excess fabric.

You can shape the bottom now. I wanted mine to come to a point in the middle and I also wanted it slightly longer in the back than the front. You could leave it just like this (though I would run a line of stitching about 1/2" away from the raw edge to keep it from fraying too far) or you can add a ruffle or something. I'm still trying to decide what I want along the edge of mine so I'll post a final pic when it's complete.

ETA: finished pic!

Blah Jeans, cute fabric = Super cute skirt

2011-08-11T00:44:00.004-06:00

The thing about having children with long legs and skinny waists is they grow out of their pants in length before they grow out of the waist. What a waste to throw those away right? Well, tonight after doing my ruffle tutorial and saying something about how cute it would be on a denim skirt, I just had to try it. Cue Hannah's drawers... Found a pair that were too short but we are still cinching the waist with the built in elastic and buttons (man I love pants like that!)

This print is from the Heather Ross Lightening Bugs and other Mysterious things. It's out of print now which is sad. I've never loved a fabric collection quite like that one.

I chopped the pants off at the knee and split the legs. I also had to split up the back of the butt and stitch it down to make it lay flat. I took what was left of the leg, cut it open and attached it to the v left from cutting the pants open. Attached a ruffle and now she has a cute skirt. And of course who would I be if I didn't make her a matching headband and flower to go with it. :)

Hopefully tomorrow we can get an action shot. She's going to flip when she sees this tomorrow.

I think it's safe to say she loves it.

Gathering

2011-08-10T22:00:00.013-06:00

It's one of my most hated tasks ever. I shy away from garments with ruffles/gathers because I simply can't stand sewing them. I have a ruffler foot for my machine but can't stand it even more then I can't stand gathering. I put together a quick little tute for a friend (and my mom, Hi mom!) so that it's easier to understand a method that I found works great for getting your gathers spaced a little more evenly and keep them from getting caught in the seam like mine use to.

Lengthen your stitch to the longest length and set your tension to 0 (it's very important to make sure you set your tension to 0 otherwise you won't be able to pull the bobbin thread). Stitch two parallel lines down the length of your gather/ruffle being sure your seam allowance falls between the two sets of stitches.

Pull your bobbin thread up gathering your fabric as tightly as you need it.

Pin, pin, pin. Those that know me know how much I hate using pins but they are a necessary evil when gathering. I also wrap my bobbin threads around the pins on the end to keep it from unraveling and losing the tension in my gathers.

Stitch using your seam allowance and then remove your bobbin threads and the top thread will come right off. Also, when I stitch any ruffles/gathers I stitch it so that the flat side of the fabric is on top by the pressure foot and the gathers are next to the feed dogs.

And voila!

Now, there's a second type of ruffle... One that sits on top of your garment and has a cute perky ruffle at the top and a longer ruffle on the bottom. It looks really cute on the bottom of skirts.

First step is to finish all of your raw edges. Either turn and topstitch, roll hem, or serge. Then run double basting stitches at least 3/4" apart.

Then, gather it to fit your fabric or garment.

Make sure the edge of the fabric/garment you are attaching it to is finished as well.

Pin it to the fabric making sure that your basting stitches line up along the bottom edge of your fabric/garment.

Stitch two parallel lines making sure they fall between your basting stitches. Pull your basting stitches and and here's how it should look when it's done.

The biggest thing is to make sure that your seam allowance falls between your basting stitches. That's what will give you the nice even ruffles. I hope this is helpful for someone.

Cabin Fever!

2011-04-25T11:39:00.006-06:00

It's been such a cold winter. We didn't see much of the white stuff. I'm ok with cold if there's a purpose. (IE: Where's the white stuff?) But now ya'll? It's spring. We've had lots of rain. Thankfully we had a nice beautiful day on Saturday and so we went and had an Easter Egg hunt with some friends. In true "me" style, I forgot to take pics of all the kids and their loot but I did catch a few of Jake since this was his real first experience with Easter egg hunting.

I did catch a little video of Jake running after the eggs and Will is in it briefly. He was excited as well. :)

I hope you all had a lovely Easter. I am so happy that spring is here! I can't wait until we can do visits to the park to play. The kids only have one more month of school left. I'm sure May will be full of adventures!

My Poor Neglected Blog

2011-04-21T12:50:00.003-06:00

There are times where I remember it. I didn't realize that it had been so long since I'd posted though. :-/ The kids are doing great.

Jake is growing by the day. He's no longer nursing, and I was ready to be done. I love when he wants to just snuggle me.

Will is one of the most kind hearted kids I've ever had. He requires lots of mommy and daddy snuggles which we are more than happy to provide.

Hannah is so smart. She got E's on all of her grades except for music (weird). E stands for Exceeds Expectations. She loves to read which is always encouraged.

Michael, well, I think he's found something that he loves and really cares about! He's on the "track" team at school and loves it. He also attends an after school program where they do homework and spend time reading and doing other activities. He's improved on his grades quite a bit since 1st grade. I'm hoping that track gives him more ability to focus on his school work a little more.

Abby, she's 13 now. So hard to believe that I'm a mother of a teenager! I love that girl with all of my heart. I know she has the ability to be someone who can really make a difference. She just needs to embrace it.

As for me and Cliff, well we are busy parents of five of the most beautiful children on the earth. Cliff also accepted more hours and is now working full time. Sometimes the job is a little stressful but I think that's pretty typical. We also Independent Product Consultants for a company called doTERRA. Their products have made such an impact on our lives. We have such a wonderful group of people helping us to achieve our dreams and look forward to growing so much more.

♥ I hope that you all are doing well.

Settling in

2010-08-22T22:58:00.002-06:00

I think it's safe to say we are settled in to our new home. The kids started school back this past Wednesday and we are settling back in to a school "bed time" schedule.

Work picked up for me this past week and for the most part I think I did fairly well. :) I didn't exactly keep up with the house very well but my kids and honey were mostly cooperative in helping me reclaim it over the weekend. I just finished sorting Mount Washmore and realized I haven't done laundry for a week! Umm... Yeah 7 people really make a lot of laundry in a week! But no worries, I'll have it all caught back up by tomorrow night!

We are meeting new people in the complex and are loving our new ward (church). Everyone has been very welcoming.

Still trying to make things fit in the new house. It's a little bit of a challenge but I'm learning what I need and what I really don't.

Til next time!

Changes... How many can one take?

2010-07-28T23:01:00.004-06:00

The baby, he changes daily. He learns something new like nodding his head in answer to a question or climbing up and down the stairs. In just one more month he will be a year old. Gosh that went fast.

Changing to a new job for my loving husband. It has a learning curve. Don't they always? Sure he's done maintenance before, but each supervisor has their own way of handling things. The only way to find that out is to learn them. This change also brought on a change of scenery. A change of space for my family. We have to live on site in a "town home" of sorts. It's smaller. I like to think of it as more cozy. yeah.... cozy... It's in an apartment complex so we share a wall. That's interesting. I've only ever shared a wall with another family one other time. Changing schools for the kids. Abby had a uniform last year but won't this year. I hope the schools are decent. A change of Wards. This was very hard for me. It's the first time in a long time I've felt like I belonged. Not that one really needs to "belong" but it does make you feel special.

Change from childhood to young womanhood. Abby turned 12 this year. She is no longer in Primary. She's old enough now that she's moved on to Young Womens. I have very fond memories of the Young Womens program. She got to go to camp and bond with the girls in our old ward which made it hard for her to leave too. I can't believe that my little girl is growing up.

I also got to attend the Temple this month. And as every faithful LDS member knows it also brings about some changes as well. I loved it though. The temple is so beautiful and peaceful. I could go and just sit there all.day.long.

It has been a busy many months and has brought lots of changes. The dictionary has this to say about the word change: To cause to be different. I think it's safe to say that change can be good, and it can also be hard. I think we've experienced a little of it all.

Change. That's all for a while please. I don't want any more change.

2010-05-02T14:24:00.001-06:00

Blogging gone mobile... uh oh...

Finished SweetPod!

2010-04-28T14:59:00.004-06:00

jakefrontcarry
Originally uploaded by fastknita

I've only had the pattern since December when Jessica released it. :-/ I love it so much! It's very comfortable and ridiculously easy to flip him onto my back with out taking him out of the carrier. I was able to switch him from my front to my back IN COSTCO while talking to another mom about how cool my carrier was. She stopped me to ask what kind of "model" it was and explained that they were flying in the next week and it looked mighty handy. She was really surprised when I told her that I made it. :-D Thank you so much for a well built, extremely useful pattern Jessica!

Bloggity, Crafty Sort of Mood

2010-04-28T00:14:00.002-06:00

It seems, at least, that it's the way I've been. Maybe it's because I'm pretty sure my husband is tired of listening to me. Today some of my friends and I had a sewing craft day planned. Well those plans were foiled for me because of sick children. However I just crafted from home. I got my fabric for my carrier that I've been wanting to make since December in the mail this afternoon so I quickly washed it then set to using it. :) I'm not going to spoil it by posting pictures just yet. Be sure to check in later for some action pics.

A Crafting We Will Go!

2010-04-25T01:13:00.003-06:00

My latest obsession is Waldorf Dolls. Mostly because I love the way they look but they are crazy expensive. I have a little girl that loves to mommy every thing. She would love a doll like this. My pocket book said: "No way can you afford one!" so off I set researching for the things that I liked about them and how I could make one.

Well she still needs hair and facial features but I'm pretty pleased with the way she came out. :) She has a perfect fitting dolly diaper too. I have plans to make her a few more so that she has a "stash" of them for her little baby. I also plan to make her a carrier of some sort so that she can carry her new baby every where, and some clothes.

Daddy is getting involved too. Tonight I mentioned to him that I really thought this little baby could use a cradle so that she could be tucked in for naps. I could be wrong but I *think* I saw a spark in his eyes.

Stay tuned! This is going to be one heck of a birthday gift!

Easter Already?

2010-03-27T10:34:00.002-06:00

How'd that happen? Oh geeze, I swear the older I get the quicker life seems to move. :-/ Oh well... So Easter is almost upon us and I'm trying to figure out what to do for Easter baskets for my kids. Normally I make them some sort of bag. This year mom may be copping out. I considered making them some Capri Sun Bags but we would have to suck down about three cases today before lunch so that I could make them for our ward's Easter Egg hunt. For some reason or another I don't think THAT is going to happen. Well crafty mom may just have to pull out last years bags. Hmm... wonder where they are...

Goodbye Christmas...

2010-01-10T00:17:00.004-07:00

Hello New Year! It's been a pretty good start so far. Kids back in school, hubby back at work. What a year we had! Baby, birthdays, holidays. Lots of good memories! One of my resolutions is to be more on top of making posts here. Sure life gets in the way sometimes but I need to make notes about our family. After all that is why I started this blog anyway. :)

Hope your holiday was wonderful! Many Blessings!

XO
~Jess

These are a few of my favorite things...

2009-12-07T11:48:00.003-07:00

Sweet boy smiles:

Snuggling and knitting by the fire:

CHRISTmas Decorations:

And snow:

What a beautiful Birthday! I was born the best time of the year!

Life in the baby lane

2009-10-23T06:28:00.003-06:00

I love him. I love being a mom. It's just hard to get much done sometimes. He's the sweetest little boy though. Currently he's sitting on my lap enjoying life, kicking his feet and waving his hands. It's really hard to believe that he's already almost 2 months! Where does the time go? They grow so very fast.

Baby baby !

2009-09-10T10:27:00.002-06:00

We welcomed Jacob into our family and home on Sunday August 30th at 12:25 PM. He came just MINUTES after arriving at the hospital! He was a healthy 10 lbs. 7 oz. and all of his brothers and sisters are so glad to have him and fawn over him. They often will ask to hold him and get disappointed when I tell them no that he's eating or sleeping. I promise he won't always eat or sleep... :)

It's been almost 2 weeks and for the most part I feel like I've healed really well. We didn't have any pain medication during the birth. For that matter I didn't even get an IV. There just wasn't time. I gave birth in my tee shirt instead of a gown! Unfortunately for my wonderful husband neither of us realized I was that close to giving birth and he didn't make it into the room until I was cutting Jake's cord. I think he was slightly disappointed to have missed it but he's totally loving snuggling Jake.

I found my camera this morning so hopefully I can get some updated pictures of him. For now here is the one we took of him in his car seat on the day we came home.

Another long little while

2009-06-16T08:55:00.005-06:00

It's been a while again. I have to admit I'm a lazy blogger. LOL! The past month I've spent in front of my sewing machine making all kinds of fun stuff. I have a few things that I totally adore.

Baby Jacob now has a full 2 dozen diapers for pooping and peeing in. :) I love using my cloth diapers. These will be no exception! They came out totally cool!

We also have matching wetbag sets for the diaper bag and wipes that should last us a while. He has matching clothing sets and I even managed to squeeze in a few things for the older kids. Will got lots of things this time because he just didn't have much. He's grown so much from last summer and didn't have shorts or shirts that really fit him anymore.

I'm sure I haven't seen the end of my sewing for a while. There is still so much to be done! My kids need PJ's and I could use a few shirts... Abby could also use a few more pairs of shorts! But at least I can take a short breath and know that I don't have to worry about getting stuff done for the baby.

We also had family photos done just before Memorial day. The turned out beautiful! I'm so very happy with them. Without making this post super super long and posting all of my favorites I'll leave it with just the one family picture that I adore. :)

Knitting...

2009-05-03T22:02:00.005-06:00

I've been doing lots of this lately. LOTS. I've been crafting in general a lot really.

Preparing for a baby is always something that has been a little fun for me. Since I've learned how to knit it's become even more fun. I really enjoy knitting. It's a productive hobby. I love how the fabric grows under my hands. I love the yarn and watching how the colors unfold into a project. It's almost always a surprise. :)

The longies I just finished for Jacob are by far one of my favorite pairs that I have ever knit. EVER! The cabled owls were a ton of fun to do. I could count down to how many I had left. It really keeps me going.

This can also be a bad thing. LOL! My poor, poor house was neglected since Friday. I have some "make up" work to do for sure!

Well they were worth it! I can't wait until Baby Jake gets to wear them. Though it will probably be way into fall/winter and we are barely into spring. :-/

Lots more to do. I have more sewing to get done for him. Lots of diapers to make! I think I might start on that tomorrow AFTER my house is clean. :)

Blogity blog update

2009-04-15T23:54:00.003-06:00

Ok, so it's been a while. We moved mid February into a house better suited for my growing family. We finally have a yard that the kids can play in where I won't have to worry about them... much at least. :)

I've had an ultrasound. I'm currently 22 weeks and 2 days. Definitely having a baby boy. He didn't leave much of a guess. LOL! We found that I have an anterior placenta which explains why I'm just now beginning to feel my active baby move around.

I've got loads of sewing and knitting to do and some already done. I promise to come back and update my blog when I get more of it done. I have about 36ish diapers to make for this kiddlet so I guess I'd better get started soon. I don't want to have too much to do in the heat of the summer. :P

Hang in there... I'll be back hopefully in the next few days.

Sour mood...

2009-03-05T11:08:00.002-07:00

I'm just in a foul mood. I've had a child with an "unexplained" headache all week and another that woke up at 3 with a fever. I'm still in the middle of a move and I can't do jack because of my sick kids. Problem is... we have people from church coming over on Saturday morning to help move the rest of our stuff. What to do... if said kid was old enough I would leave his butt at home to deal with it on his own in his bed but he's not.

Hubby is working such long hours and it makes it even harder to get ANYTHING done. That's all... just in a sour mood. :P

Ugh!

2009-02-23T17:59:00.002-07:00

It's really hard when pregnancy hormones get the best of me. I'm especially tired today too so that's not helping. :-P I have so much work to get done. I have lots at the old house still to prepare and pack. Not to mention all of the cleaning to do. It definitely doesn't help that it's grey outside. It totally had dampened my mood.

I'm totally loving my new house though. It would be so nice just to get rid of the rest of our stuff and become the minimalist. LOL!

I finally have a doctors appointment on Thursday. It will be my first one. The kids will all get to go with me and we are also having an ultrasound. I'm secretly (well ok not "secretly") hoping that we will be able to find out the gender. That would make my knitting and sewing so much easier. :)

'til later. :)

Binding a diaper cover

2009-01-19T09:38:00.002-07:00

I posted this to my Cloth diaper group but I'm putting it here too for others to see.

I did this cover using the Very Baby Side Snapping cover pattern. (I guess they have discontinued it so you could easily substitute the New Conceptions Quick Snap Cover.) You could do this on any cover but I've found it easiest on covers with straight edges vs. the round corners of the Very Baby Snug Wrap or New Conceptions Quick Wrap.

I've straightened the edges of the cover pattern to accommodate this type of binding.

I cut two pieces of PUL for the inside and outside of the cover.

Carefully stitching close to the edge (no wider than 1/4") stitch all the way around the cover so it doesn't shift.

Mark your elastic anchor points for reference.

Using a three step zig zag and 1/4" elastic, stitch your elastic on from anchor point to anchor point.

Do this at each elastic anchor section all the way around the cover making sure to put it right on the edge so it's easy to bind.

(I forgot to take a picture of this part but you will cut your PUL binding strips 2" wide across the 60" width of the PUL. You will need two of the strips for the size L cover.)

Next you will fold your "bias" into the binder foot and load it. My binder foot is a snap on making it much easier to snap on and off. I find it easiest to snap off and on each time I load it.

Starting with the front or back of the cover, slip your cover in between the slot in the bias foot sandwiching it between the top and bottom of the binding in the foot. (We are going to be stitching the front back and leg areas first.)

Sewing with a straight stitch, stitch to the elastic. Once to the elastic you can stop and take a break for a second. You will want to stretch your PUL binding slightly and stretch your cover so the elastic isn't gathering it and continue sewing.

Make sure to get the elastic all the way into the middle of the binding so it won't stitch the elastic again when you are stitching the binding on.

Stitch to the end and then you can stop and take it off of your foot.

Clip the edge of the binding all the way to your diaper cut so that it's flush.

Continue doing the legs and back or front clipping right next to the diaper cut after you finish.

Next we bind the sides. You will want to leave the end pieces of your binding long enough to fold over to the back when we finish the cover. A little tip: If you already have your binding stitching perfectly don't stop after each side. Just simply slip the next side in and keep stitching. This is one less "load of the binding" that you have to do.

All finished binding. Now you can see the tails on the side. Don't worry we are going to take care of those. :)

Turn them to the back side and carefully stitch it down and clip it close to the stitching.

All that's left is to mark and add your snaps.

Here is what our finished product looks like on.

These are very similar to the Mother Ease Air flow covers and I LOVE them. :)

If you made it through the whole tutorial and have questions please let me know. I bought my bias foot on Ebay for $14.

Diapers! Diapers!

2009-01-13T06:47:00.002-07:00

I got 4 dozen BRAND NEW regular size prefold diapers for a STEAL! Thanks so much Monique! *MUAH* I also got 3 dozen infant diapers for the bean as well.

Alas, the prefolds in all their washed up fluffy glory...

Number 5?!

2008-12-24T12:42:00.003-07:00

Yep. Well at least that's the way it looks.

If all goes well we should have an August baby. :) Cliff and I had talked about having 1 more but we weren't exactly completely ready for it. Ready or not... Heavenly Father has a way of doing things on his time.

I've been trying hard not to get stressed out about things. Baby won't need much that we can't provide for at least the first year.

In other news, I think Will has finally weaned. We started out with him just going to sleep without booboo, then he quit getting it when we got out of bed in the morning, and then we went all day without. Last night he slept completely through without waking to nurse. So when he woke this morning and wanted to nurse I told him no. Simple as that. He cried for a minute and then went back to sleep for another half an hour. I think it was just time to be done. It got to the point where he wouldn't just snuggle with out having booboo, and now he sits on my lap happily and watches TV with me. :)

Well I'm going to try to get some pictures of Christmas morning. The older two are going with their Grandparents for tonight and into tomorrow morning. Hopefully we can work it all out so that the kids can all open gifts together.

Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Crafting

2008-12-13T20:27:00.006-07:00

Oh man am I tired. :P I did a bag for Miss Abby last night! I think she's going to love it.

I did yet another for Hannah with some cool Tinker Bell fabric with the fairies on it that are in the new Tinker Bell Movie.

I also did some fun Scrabble Tile Pendants. They aren't quite done because they need bails on them for necklace.

And last (for tonight anyway) but not least Christmas Eve PJ pants for Mikey.

I was tagged!

2008-12-12T15:45:00.002-07:00

My friend Erika tagged me so I guess it's my turn. :)

Here's how it works:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six Random things about me:

1. I'm a sucker for Starbucks Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate
2. I'm not a very good house keeper (crafty not tidy)
3. I love looking at projects that other people do because I can't seem to find cool stuff on my own. :P
4. I'm a phone person and spend a lot of time on it. *blush*
5. I'm also an internet junkie.
6. I love doing embroidery on my machine!

Now to tag six people in no specific order:

Monique
Jocele
Jessica
Heidi
Laurie
And Stacy

Falling Leaves are done!

2008-12-11T19:43:00.001-07:00

I finished my falling leaves longies last weekend and just realized I had never posted them. Shame on me! Well here they are! All finished. :) And we LOVE them.

Inspired Birdy

2008-12-11T19:34:00.001-07:00

So my wonderful and so very talented friend Erika did these incredible birds for her tree. I totally loved them as soon as I saw them and knew it would be the perfect thing to add to my bare (but getting more full!) Christmas tree! So naturally I HAD to make some. :) Mine aren't nearly as lovely as hers are because she had some rockin' fabrics... Sigh... I need to not be a cheapskate when it comes to fabric anymore. :P

Home Made Ornaments!

2008-12-01T21:50:00.007-07:00

When we pulled out our Christmas tree to decorate I realized we lost a lot to toddler and infant hands last year so we needed more. Instead of running out and getting more that would eventually break I decided we would do what we could to actually make some this year.

Last night we made a few of these. They are called God's Eye.

Then tonight as a family project we made a few of these in an array of shapes and sizes.

Here's what they look like without the flash so you can get the light shine effect with the Christmas lights.

Mess maker...

2008-12-01T17:35:00.003-07:00

Mess maker, mess maker, make me a mess.

Find some flour and have your fill. :P

Better late than never...

2008-11-30T22:15:00.004-07:00

Well I dyed some yarn on Friday and fell in love with the way it came out. I'm also loving the way it's knitting up! It reminds me of looking at a hillside dotted with trees changing color. :) It's very fall though and we are almost into winter. :-/ *sigh* I guess I'll just have to do some uber winter ones next. :D Finished pictures hopefully by the end of the week...

Feeling the sweater Love <3

2008-11-29T22:03:00.003-07:00

I've loved knitting sweaters from the top down. It's wonderful. I like the increasing way more than decreasing. :) I made a sweater for Will in less than 24 hours! It was so fun. I love the yarn. It's a rather unusual acrylic. The repeats were so long. I've never worked with a yarn with that long of a repeat E.V.E.R.

It's loosely based on the Wonderful Wallaby pattern. ;) It's one of my favorite patterns to knit.

More knitting and pictures finally!

2008-11-28T12:03:00.003-07:00

Will likes to take off with my camera card. :P I've lost three of them in the past month. >:( Live and learn and then put your camera away! So anyway all this to say that I've been knitting more but not uploading pictures. Now I actually have some pictures to show!

First up is a hat for me because I just have some bad hair days now that my hair is super short. The pattern is Odessa. :D

And a pair of knucks that finally fit! Measuring is good. :)

Now I'm going to start on a pair of longies and a sweater for will. I'm excited about the sweater. I got some really nice yarn!

New Embroidered Ergo Contest!!

2008-11-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

Who wouldn't want one of these. ;D

Win a Free Organic Embroidered Ergo Baby Carrier Hands Free System from Along for the Ride

Oh man...

2008-11-22T20:37:00.001-07:00

What to say when you don't post much? Life is going great. We celebrated a 28th B'day for my hubby on Thursday. Mikey's is coming up on Wednesday! I find it hard to believe that he's going to be 9! I've been knitting like crazy but I don't have any pictures. It seems that Will enjoys walking off with my camera card and he's not giving it up. :-/

My birthday is coming soon too. :) I already actually know that I'm going to enjoy my birthday because it is on a Sunday. Not just any Sunday though. It happens to be the Sunday that Our Church does it's Christmas Broadcast so we will head down to church after dinner to watch it. ;)

Well I suppose that's all for right now. Hopefully I'll have some more fun and exciting news next time. Or at least some knitting pics. :P

Kids...

2008-11-03T22:25:00.003-07:00

They are such a joy sometimes... Take some of the good with some of the bad right? Well all of my close friends and family know that my youngest daughter was diagnosed with Aural Atresia in a mild form but it was enough to affect her hearing and speech. In May just before her birthday she had surgery to correct her ears. She has come a LONG way in such a short amount of time! Tonight, she not only carried a tune but I could understand most of what she was saying when she was singing. It's been fun watching her learn and listening to her talk finally! Here's a video I captured tonight of her singing a song she learned.

Win a free beco!

2008-09-09T13:05:00.002-06:00

Win a Beco Butterfly Baby Carrier and Beco Toy Carrier from Along for the Ride.

Win a free Ergo Baby Carrier!!

2008-05-07T11:43:00.002-06:00

Win a Free Ergo Baby Carrier from Along for the Ride

Check it out! We'd love for a new ergo to come live with us. ;D

I'm a slacker!

2008-01-11T14:06:00.000-07:00

Ugh! October was the last time I posted? That's horrible! It seems like having a baby around has just made a lot more things complicated. And with him catching just about every cold that floats around it seems like we are always running to the doctor!

I have however managed to get quite a bit of knitting done.

My favorite pieces?

This is the Baby cardigan from Knitting Pure and Simple.

Hybrid Rib Soaker from Little Turtle Knits
with a few modifications.

Longies I knit for a friend from my own pattern.

Peace Fleece Volgasippi Blue Longies done from Pamela's Faux Cable Collection

And some plain ol' green knucks for my hubby.

You know what they say...

2007-10-17T00:40:00.001-06:00

appleside
Originally uploaded by fastknita

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. :)

I'm having way too much fun hooking fun little foods for little hands to play with.

Comes complete with Stem, Leaf, and butt...

I scream, You scream

2007-10-15T22:19:00.001-06:00

WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM!!

My super duper friend has been hooking the cute little foods. She stopped by with her four awesome kids today and my little one was sad when she left with her carrot. LOL. I knew instantly I had to figure out a way to maker her some.

Anyone want some vanilla ice cream on a chocolate cone? What could be better?

Separation Anxiety?

2007-07-19T21:03:00.000-06:00

So one of my dear friends (I truly think of her like a sister) is going to be gone all weekend and when she gets back she's going to want to read the new Harry Potter book that is coming out. I think I'm going to have separation anxiety. LOL. With any luck I will get some work done while she is gone. She is going to be sorely missed though!

Once again...

2007-07-10T23:48:00.000-06:00

I've fallen into the trap of not being able to free my mind of someone's comments. Please if you are interested in Quixtar (not that you will know that's what it is when you are approached) please inform yourself with this video courtesy of Dateline. ;)

Also please don't leave me any messages about checking into a company before calling it a scam. I know what I'm talking about believe me when I say I've done my research. :-D

Ooh! A baby Carrier Contest??

2007-07-10T16:16:00.001-06:00

I'm game! Totally. :-D

Check out this contest giving away a free carrier from Jenn at All Natural Mommies

I'll end this post with one of my favorite baby wearing pics of me and baby4.

Spam

2007-07-10T15:55:00.000-06:00

I hate spam. Would you believe that someone would actually take the time to spam in my blog? I haven't logged in for a while but there were three very interesting comments which I chose not to approve.

Do you remember my post about That "glorified Amway business" that someone wanted me to join? I didn't name names as far as the company goes but it was Quickstar or Quixtar Someone actually took the time to post to me asking me if I knew the opportunity I missed with that company. My answer to you is why yes Mr. (or Mrs.) Anon I do. :) Thank you very much but I rather like my side of the fence away from the scams. ;)

So on to better and happier things. Baby #4 ended up being a boy. He came to join our family on February 12 weighing a whopping 10lbs 7.4oz. He's thriving on mommy made milk and sporting his lovely cloth diapers also made by mommy.

What Kind of Knitting Needle are you?

2006-09-19T14:56:00.000-06:00

Take this quiz

Mine was super interesting. :D Hit the nail on the head. LOL.

You are bamboo.
Warm, cozy, and thoughtful, you take your time and enjoy how things feel, smell, and taste. You love the craft and beauty of traditional things, and you value the comfort and experience of knitting as much as the results. But while you are reveling in your warm cozies, don't get stuck. Warm is wonderful, but so is the whole wide world!

I have some yarn coming from a wonderful friend and I can't wait to see what she has sent me!

Newborn Fluffy Stuff

2006-09-08T13:19:00.000-06:00

So I've really learned how to knit and I feel like my knitting has become pretty good. I decided I wanted to make something for the baby on the way and a friend gave me some wonderful Malabrigo Merino yarn.

The Results?

Beautiful huh? I'm really happy with the way it came out. :) It's so soft too! I think it will be a wonderful set for the baby.

I do need to make some more for my baby still in diapers. I have another friend that's sending me more yarn and then I can go to town on some more sets. :D

Also I'm helping in a fundraising effort for the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk. We are helping Christine to reach her fundraising goal of $2,200. (You can find Christine's official fundraising page HERE) Christine's friend Shelley and I are donating a cloth diapering set as a drawing at my store.

Here's a sneek peak at what those look like:

That's it for now.

Wow!

2006-08-28T08:47:00.000-06:00

It's really been a long time since I posted. LOL. I had actually forgotten my user name and password but evidently I remedied that situation. ;)

So what's new around these parts? Well, the two older ones are back in school and loving it! Cliff has a wonderful job working in a town about and hour away. It's a wonderful blessing but we are looking at moving a little closer. Baby #4 is in the oven baking! (Yep that's right I said another one!) We will be looking for him/her around V'day.

Well I have a stocking at Panda Pants to prepare for so I need go get off of here and get some work done. I'll try to update with pics of what I'm planning. ;)

Sugar Highs and Lows

2006-03-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

Ah man you just have to love kids. It doesn't take much sugar to really get them going.

This was taken at a dear friends wedding two weekends ago. She had been given who knows how much punch and helped herself to some sugar cubes. :( She was so cute though and such a good girl though. She was of course ready for her usual 9 PM bed time so we didn't really get to stay too long at the wedding.

My friend has been through so much and I think it's wonderful that she has finally found someone that can make her happy and is willing to stick it out through the good and the bad for the rest of thier lives. :)

All of my kiddos went with us but I don't think I managed to catch a picture of my son. He was too busy with the other kids to stop for a picture.

Ah and now for the sugar low. After she finally crashed with proof on her shirt that she had some punch.

Shooting For the Stars!!

2006-01-02T22:30:00.000-07:00

My wonderful Husband has been wanting a business that was "ours" so bad. Tonight we were visited by some friends who had a business opportunity for us. Come to find out it's a glorified online Amway. NO THANK YOU! I had however been a part of a company once that I loved and truely believe in. Their products have worked miracles for me. :) I didn't go very far with it last time simply because I had a very unsupportive husband. So tonight we took the plunge. Now I have another website to add to my collection! We will be selling herbal wellness products. :) Now I'm not going to go into all tonight but I have personally used these products and truly believe that they work and are excellent! Ok I will quit boring you with my little lectures and give you a link. Our New Business

Well I am busy preparing more cloth diapers for the Grand Reopening for Lily Pad Landing and also trying to get all of my current orders finished up and get my new stock ready for the Grand Opening of Panda Pants! Boy it's going to be a busy month!

Seriously I'm trying to make up for it. ;)

2005-12-12T12:48:00.000-07:00

Geeze I can't believe that I hadn't written anything in well over a year! The kids are really growing fast. My oldest DD is now in Second Grade. My DS is now in Kindergarten and goes every other day all day long. :) It's kinda nice because my youngest DD and I now have all day to ourselves. She is sleeping and I should be taking advantage of that by sewing.

Gosh so much has happened in over a year! I still have my business but it's taken a little bit of a turn. I ended up leaving the company that I was a licensee for and taking a venture with a dear friend of mine. We now have this website. Panda Pants

I did all of the graphics for it and my Partner did the verbage because incase you can't tell I'm just not very good with that portion. LOL. My wonderful Mother did the web tech portion of it. She is a guiness! We have a newsletter and a gallery and it's all integrated with Hyena Cart to make it look like it's one website. :)

My partner and I have lots of plans for our business. We both own embroidery machines and want to branch out from just makeing Cloth Diapers. We want to make and embroider childrens clothing and blankets and what ever strikes our fancy.

Now I'm sure you are all wondering what my kiddos look like now a days. So here is an updated pic for you.

It was suppose to be a school day and my DH was suppose to be working. However the weather had other plans.

It would have been a good picture if I had been able to get the little one to acutally look at me. She was too busy trying to figure out what the slippery white stuff was.

Enjoy!

Hello Again!

2005-12-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

Wow it's really been over a year! My oh my! I'm so terrible when it comes to things like this.

This is just a touch and go message because I need to get my butt into the kitchen to make my family some dinner. I will be back though and it won't be a year I promise!

Cat Hat

2004-10-02T21:24:00.000-06:00

She just looked too cute! We had to take a pic!

Cat Hat

Update on Wrist

2004-09-30T18:54:00.000-06:00

First order of business... I guess I ought to update you on the wrist. Well I went to see the Orthopedist, per doctors instructions, and the Orthopedist said that it was not broken! Wonderful news of course! What I have is deQuervains Tendonitis. So I am now in a splint that I can remove instead of a cast! Yay!!! I can take a shower again!!

Kitchen Floor

2004-09-28T14:44:00.000-06:00

Here it is. The vinyl that is going onto my kitchen floor. I just love it. I think it will look fab with our cabinets. Will update this when the floor gets glued tomorrow.

House Front (Roof DONE!)

2004-09-28T14:40:00.000-06:00

This is a Pic of the Front of the house with the roof complete! Doesn't It look beautiful!

The Beauties

2004-09-27T21:51:00.000-06:00

I haven't told you about the beauties that live in my yard. I don't like to pick flowers but I saw these growing and had to have them inside with me so that I could watch them bloom. I am so please with how my camera made them look!

Every since I was a little girl I have loved roses. These particular ones are my favorite. It has the soft feminine pink to remind me that I am a girl but the soft yellow to help my day feel brighter. Hope they make you as happy as they make me! Good night!

Master Bath Before

2004-09-27T21:48:00.000-06:00

Okay here it is before. Guess I did these backwards. If you are ever thinking of putting carpet in your bathroom go get your head examined first! Worst thing anyone could ever do to their bathroom floors!

Master Bath DONE!

2004-09-27T21:45:00.000-06:00

Behold after all of the work was done! Our lovely floor! This pic was taken at night.

A Little Note

2004-09-27T21:30:00.000-06:00

I guess I haven't said this so I am going to now. This is before all of the remodeling that we are doing and have done. I will post more in a day or two.

The Infamous Bathroom

2004-09-26T20:59:00.000-06:00

Behold the infamous bathroom!

To bad I didn't get a picture of the floor that I took up!

My Three Babies

2004-09-26T13:58:00.000-06:00

2004-09-26T12:46:00.000-06:00

My House

Broken Wrist

2004-09-26T12:16:00.000-06:00

Okay here is the story about my broken wrist.

You see my wonderful in-laws bought this house and not much has been done to it since the 1970's. One of the first things that we decided to do was replace some of the carpet in the house with linoleum. There was carpet in both of the bathrooms and the kitchen. So I started taking up the carpet in the bathroom and relized that there was linoleum tile underneath the carpet and that the subfloor was rotten. So they had to come up so the subfloor could be replaced.

My job was to take it up. I started to chisel the linoleum tile up with a flat bar and hammer. Well I missed the flat bar a couple of times and hit my wrist instead. It took me a week to relize that I had something really wrong with it.

Well that is all for this story maybe something will happen later and I will post it.