9 month baby Pictures

My photo class project was to take pictures of something that you're passionate about. Well it was time to take the 9 month pictures anyways and I do love my baby. I wanted something vintage. I was looking around for props and almost fell over the Pram in search of something. It's part of our lives and I never really think of it more than a stroller.

So I wheeled the baby off into the field. The day was beautiful and these are a couple of the pictures that I got.

The family isn't as excited as I am about them, they are more about "photography" less about the baby.

I'm part of the Kid Craft Jamboree #1

My felt Peep Pattern is part of the http://www.kiddio.org/ Kid-Craft Jamboree #1. There are tons of spring time crafts to do with kids and for kids. Check it out!!!

Eveie Peasy Baby Leg Warmers - Free Pattern

Eveie Peasy by Stephanie Nericcio

Super Easy Baby Legwarmers. As a new mom I want all the cool trendy things for my daughter, and I want them now! She’s 2 months old and doesn’t fit into anything, everything is so big. I sat down one day between feedings and baths, grabbed the needles and went to town.

The product was these adorable self striping leg warmers. They are perfect addition to any winter wardrobe, they stop drafts from going up the legs of pants, keeps legs warm when changing and look super cute. They are easy to knit and can be finished in a nap time or two.

This pattern will stretch to fit a 9 inch thigh at mid-thigh. In most cases, according to the average range growth chart for babies, these will fit babies up to 9-12 months, without adjusting the cast on figures. As the baby gets bigger (at the thigh) the warmer will become more snug, which works out great because the babe will become more mobile and the warmers will stay in place better.

Grab your double pointed needles and knit these up for a shower or holiday gift for the little one in your life.

SIZE
0-3month[3-6, 6-9, 9-12](shown in size 0-3month)

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Length: 6.5[7.25, 8, 8.5] inches

MATERIALS
[MC] The Plymouth Italian Collection Sockotta [45% Cotton, 40% Superwash Wool, 15% Nylon; 414 yds per 100g skein]; color: 5616; 1 skein
1 set US #2/2.75mm double-point needles
1 set US #4/3.5mm double-point needles notions required
tapestry needleGAUGE
24 sts/32 rows = 4" in stockinette stitch

PATTERN
Using #2 dpn CO 36 sts
Divide sts evenly onto needles
Work 10 rnds *K2P1* ribbing
Switch to #4 dpn
Work in St st until piece measures 5[5.75, 6.5, 7] inches
Work 10 rnds *K2P1* ribbing

FINISHING
BO by K2, *insert left needle into the front of the 2 sts on the right needle and K2to tbl - 1 st remains on right needle. K1*
Cont until all sts have been BO
Weave in end

Additional Comments on the pattern: I knit and wrote this when she was 2 months, she's now 9 months and still wearing them, they are just getting a little short because they were only knit for a 0-3 month old.

Any questions, please contact me. Enjoy!!!

Felt Food - My Peeps are here - Free Pattern

My new obsession is felt food for my daughter to play with. Right now I'm working on an Easter Basket filled with felt goodies instead of sugary ones. So far, my collection includes a Chocolate Bunny made from the kit purchased at Lilly Bean Market, a couple wrapped candies, a bunny cookie w/ frosting, a jelly bean and marshmallow Peeps.

I love marshmallow Peeps and really wanted to share the fun chicks with my baby. I think they came out pretty cute and I offering my pattern for free for everyone to make these chicks for the holiday.

The pattern is set up in a pdf file and you can get it here http://www.dustybottomacres.com/feltpeeps.pdf

I hope you enjoy it and I'd love to see your creations

Spin, Spin, Spin

I've finally gotten a chance to spin up some of the great fibers from the fiber swap. Here they are.

The first one I call Yummy, because the colors are yummy, it's so soft it's yummy and the hat I'm knitting is so cute...you get the point.

The second one is called Twister. It looks like a storms coming through, then the little coils in it are the mini twisters. Not sure what this is going to be knit up into yet.

Fiber Swap month 2

This was my beautiful package for month 2 of the Ravelry fiber swap.

fiber swap

It's been a while, but with the new baby and all.

Anyways, here's my score from the fiber swap on Ravelry

Baby's Room Done

Here are the picts of the long awaited Nursery. We bailed on the idea of hardwood floors for the arrival on the baby, so we painted the sub flooring. It wasn't the best idea, because the floor is very porous, but what else can you do??? The baby will be here in less than a week, so we had to do something.

It's been really hard for me because the nesting thing hit and I really wanted to organize the room, but couldn't because of the floor hold up.

Here's the best I could do for a 360 shot of the room.

Although the theme is Vintage Baby, somehow it turned into Petting Zoo. The crib is vintage along with the mobile. There are bits everywhere of the old, but with the BRIGHT colors there's also a lot of new too.

I haven't gotten the baby pictures hung yet, hopefully tonight. I also have to finish the belly cast. Here's a picture of me during the drying of the cast. I'm sanding it and will paint it before it's hung up. It was fun to do.

Goat on a Hot Tin Roof!!!

Well, here's the little goat on the roof of the barn. How She got there, well we saw that. In one big jump she got onto the half wall of concrete, then another little jump onto the roof. I guess she's got more pygmy in her than we thought.

Then we have poor Adder. After attending the Maryland Fiber Festival and getting a great deal on our shears we thought we had a good handle on shearing this sheep. Things did not go according to plan. But luckily it's like a bad hair cut, in a couple of weeks she'll look fine.....Right?
And Then there's AJ. The tree has leaves again and they irritate him so he's been trying to bite them off. Here he is in mid air going after the branch.

New things in our world

I can't believe I've slacked off so badly at posting to my blog. Well as you can see our little world is full of new things. My growing size is one of them. With only 2 months to go, it's gone by quickly. The house is full of baby stuff.

Then, yesterday we went to the Maryland Sheep & Fiber Festival. I got a very cool flyer for a spinning wheel, it's super big and I can't wait to use it. I also purchased a fleece, took it to the next building, dropped it off at a processor and when it arrives home in 2 months it will be clean and ready to spin. I'm in no mood to wash tons of fleeces right now. We also got the shears we need to shear the sheep and goats. SO there'll be 4 more fleeces to deal with.

Our big purchase of the day was this tiny little Pygora Goat. She's awesome. She has a wonderful angora fleece but will stay the size of a pygmy goat. Her name is Athena and she's 3 months old. She's beautiful.

When we got home last night we found a large rock in the middle of our pasture!! The rock gods were looking out for us. The goats were desperate for something to climb on and I said NO junk cars, or ugly plywood structures. So the rock search was on. They love it and are already all over it. Thanks a million Pap!!!!

The last really new thing is Duke. He wandered onto the farm one day and we finally decided he needed to stay one of the family. He fits in well and loves to snuggle. So, there's another German Shorthair Pointer to add to the family.

Spin Challenge # 5 CIRCLE THE WAGONS!

Spin Challenge # 5 Circle the Wagons.

Pluckyfluff issued the following spinning challenge in her blog, Holly of the fantastic fiber famed HollyEQQ...if you are not familiar with her and her amazing fibers...check her site out ASAP! Our good friend Holly has run into a whopper of a medical situation as many of you may know from her blog. So it's fiber-friends-unite! form of a spin-auction...a spauction!! Sandy from Homestead Wool and Gift Farm along with some other pals, is going to host an auction on her site of yarns and goods donated for the Holly cause. How does this effect the spin challenge you say? Well....every yarn entered in this challenge will be donated to the auction! So only enter the challenge if you are willing to donate the yarn!!
They have decided to call the auction CIRCLE THE WAGONS.....since everyone is gathering round and working together to help out a fellow pioneer. So that will be the theme of this challenge.
Challenge #5 CIRCLE THE WAGONS!
The criteria: this challenge is more open to interpretation than we usually do, so have at it. It just has to relate to the theme "Circle The Wagons". This could range from a very literal visual interpretation to a more philosophical take on the meaning of "circling wagons". Any material is fair game. this challenge will last one week. As usual, submit entries to The Yarn Museum.

My yarn - The Duke

I took the more literal approach to Circle the Wagons. All I could think of is the star of the silver screen - John Wayne. Rough, Tough and doesn’t take crap from anyone!!! My yarn is a pile of jute, cotton thread, wool, linen, and red sparkle fibers. A couple little homemade patches of guns, sherif’s badges and a covered wagon complete the look. Also, a second skein of wool, cotton thread and red sparkles over-dyed in a denim color help create a strong, cowboy themed set. This is not a cuddly yarn set!!!
Strength played a big part in this. We as friends need to be strong to support a fellow fiber artist, Holly and hopefully our strength will give her strength.

The New Phonebook's Here!!!

"The new phonebook's here!! The new phonebook's here!! I am somebody!!!" - Steve Martin in the Jerk.

That's how I felt yesterday when I opened the box from amazon. The AWESOME new book Intertwined: The Art of Handspun Yarn, Modern Patterns and Creative Spinning came in yesterday and I have a full 4 pages about my super cool yarn into neck cuff project!!!! My name is in print and everything.

I'm so excited!!!

The book is full of spinning techniques as well as patterns for knit projects.I think that Lexi put together a great book.

Snow Day = Dye Day

Since it's one great big sheet of ice outside, we have a no school day!!! I'm taking advantage of it by dying a whole bunch of fiber I have lying around.

I used kool-aid for all of these except the bottom right, I used a synthetic to try and get a "dark green/olive green". It turned out more blue then I like.

From the top left down

On Curly Wool

1. Strawberry

2. Mad Scientist

3. Mango

Row 2

On Dorset Wool

1. Grape

2. Cherry

Row 3

On Mohair

1. Cherry

2. Lemonade

3. Strawberry/Kiwi

Row 4

On Mohair

1. Grape

2. Tropical Punch

R0w 5

On Mohair

1. Lime

2. Synthetic Dye - Dark Green

Baby Stuff

Here's my cute tiger lamp that matches the fabric perfectly. I'm super happy. It needs a new shade, it's faded bad but that's an easy fix.

Here is a picture of the baby's room. This wall had about 6 layers of wallpaper and paint on top to remove. Mike got a little crazy and striped a little too much, down to the Sheetrock, pulling off the Sheetrock paper. So there will have to be filler. We don't think the other 3 walls will be as bad. They look to only have 1 layer of paper at the bottom.

And who could resist this awesome Cuddly Rigor Mortis Zombie? The were selling these at Hot Topics and I was afraid they wouldn't carry them in July so I just had to get it now. It's full of different textures, fuzzy, leather, satin. The top is even an anatomy lesson of the brain. =)

Our child will have a full understanding of the undead!!!

Spin, Spin,Spin

I was working on some art yarn techniques. Here's how my coils and nubs came out. First is a natural dyed yellow wool, dyed with goldenrod from the fields next door. I spun in some turquoise dyed curly locks of wool then added electric yellow and blue angelina fibers. Then I 2-plied it with a white cotton yarny string. The coils came out pretty nice.

The second yarn is dark brown llama spun with nubs of light tan alpaca. This yarn is super soft. I'm also please with this one, the only thing is I wish I had my bulky spinner up and running. I would have loved more than 40 yards of this one.

Tea Time!!!

I finished the Tea for Two yarn. The antique white fibers along with the off white lace spun together beautifully to create a Victorian tea time yarn. This would be awesome knit into a tiny handbag or clutch for an afternoon tea.

The work has just begun. I had a brain storm and new ideas are popping into my head by the second. Although mostly baby stuff, a couple ideas for yarn are in the pot too.

I must finish writing the pattern for the vest I knit for Mike. It's super cool and it needs photographed and written up so I can submit it.

Busy, Busy, Busy....

Tea for Two!

My mom asked me to go along with her to the local Girl Scout Victorian Tea on Sunday. My mother, sister and I are all lifetime members of Girl Scouting. I enjoy working with different troops and helping out. Scouts opened a lot of doors for me and I went places that would take a lifetime to get to see.

In honor of the tea, I had a brainstorm and carded up some awesome batts of cream colored wool to spin with a large amount of taupe lace along with this awesome thread to ply with.

I'll get to spin it tomorrow. I'm really excited to see how it will turn out. I'm gonna brew up a cup and spin away.

Holy Speed Shipping Batman!!!

Wow, I just ordered my fabric on Friday Jan. 4th and It arrived yesterday, Monday the 7th!!! That's awesome. It came the whole way from Cali.

I'm very impressed with the speed of shipping, the quality of the product and the price!!!


If anyone needs fabric check out http://www.sewzannesfabrics.com/ They have awesome kid prints, but the also have great florals too. So many choices. Go look.

I also got some P.U.L. fabric, it's water proof on one side with a soft fabric on the other. I think I'll be making some bibs and maybe even some cloth diapers. I'm soooo excited.


We also just got back from our Dr's visit at 14 weeks. We were able to hear the little ones heart beat and everything sounds good, 140 beats per minute. I'm on cloud nine today.

I really had my spin on

Yesterday at the PA farm show was really neat. I was spinning with 2 other ladies from my spinning guild. There were lots of people and the kids seemed really interested in watching the wheels and touching the fibers.

Of course my bright purple wheel always draws attention.

I was spinning up some purple Tencel. It's super soft and shiny. Oooooo...shiny things.

Now it's spun I think it will look good plied with something else. I just don't know what.I have lots of ideas just gotta get to the wheel.

If anyone is interested, a woman from my knitting group will be live blogging the Sheep to Shawl competition at the Farm Show on Wednesday night. Here's the link to her blog. Log on and check it out!!!! http://accidentalknitter.blogspot.com/

New Years Resolution - Blog more

My New Years Resolution is to blog more. Which means getting more organized with pictures and all.

First let's talk about the baby. Let's see, the little one is due to arrive sometime around the 4th of July. We're past the 1st trimester now, so that's good. I'm feeling pretty good. And now we're working on the baby's room.

I just purchased the last 3 remaining yards of Alexander Henry's "Petting Zoo" fabric I could find on the net. We'll be using this as accent fabric. It's very vintage looking and matches the furniture we have. When I was little I had a tiger lamp that matches the tigers on the fabric, so I have to snatch that from my 'rents. This has all kinds of animals on it so matching it should be easy, although there are no monkeys.... maybe that's better, monkeys can be trouble.

Today, Mike is out in the garage working on a repair piece to my new spinning wheel. I picked up a bulky spinner on ebay. This wheel should travel a lot better than my Kromski. I love my fancy wheel, purple and all, but it's huge and awkward to carry. In the next couple of months the new compact wheel will be a blessing.

I joined the Southern Cumberland County Spinners Guild of PA. We will be spinning tomorrow, Sunday the 6th at the Farm Show in Harrisburg. I'm very excited to be part of a group. I like to see what others are doing.

I also just skirted a 10 pound fleece to have processed. It's a little too much for me right now to wash and card huge fleeces, so I'm using some holiday cash and having it done. I didn't finish up washing my adult mohair yesterday. It's drying on the kitchen floor.

I've finished some project which I want to take pictures of. A mohair beanie for Mike, 1 pink sock out of 2 some day they'll be a pair, a water bottle cover which is a trial run to see if the pattern will work for baby bottles and half an elephant toy.