Stolen Flowers

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Ali

So, we’ve got a few abandoned apartment buildings in our complex. We call them the Chernobyl apartments because they’re completely desolate, empty and boarded up. It’s kind of creepy, there’s these empty playgrounds that have that yellow “Caution” tape all around them. Anyway, several of them have these wildflower/weeds growing around them, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to grab a few of them since these apartments are so hidden and no one else was enjoying them.

Anyone have any idea what these flowers are? (Thanks, Lyn! They’re Columbines, for those of you who wanna know!)

I am pretty sure these are just weeds, but they looked cool.

They reminded me of snowflakes!

They add a nice little pop of color to my kitchen!

Also, wanna see how big Togglebuttons is getting?

Whew! 30 weeks and a few days. He’s getting really big in there. He’s decided that his favorite place to be is curled up in a ball right up on the right side of my ribcage, and then once he’s up there he likes to dance around and poke me with his tiny little fists and kick my stomach with his itty bitty feet. Yesterday he did such a ridiculous somersault in my belly that he actually made me throw up! It felt like he was launching off of my stomach and it was like being punched in the stomach REALLY hard. But other than that, all is going well! He’s over 3 pounds now (whoa!) and as active as can be. 10 more weeks (give or take a few weeks…) We can’t wait to meet you, little boy!

Togglebuttons Cabled Jacket: Finito!

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Ali

Ok, so that’s a bit of a lie. I haven’t sewn on buttons yet, because I need some input from you guys on that. BUT! Without further ado, here it is!

Turned out alright, yeah?

See my favoritest part? Where the cable goes ALL around the hood? I LOVE that part.

The back! I almost wish I had done the two middle cables going up the back of the hood, but it’s too late for that and I am definitely not taking it back out again.

Closeup of the back cables.

Ok- so where is where I need your help! What kind of buttons would you guys put on this? I am thinking wooden ones, since I think it might be hard to match the orangy/rusty color of the sweater. OR, would you go for a contrasting color? If so, what color? I think the only thing I KNOW I don’t want is black, that would make it sort of Halloween-y, which I definitely want to avoid. What do you think?

Togglebuttons Cabled Jacket

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Ali

I’ve finished the two front panels and the back of Togglebuttons Cabled Jacket. I really have got to come up with a better name than that, though.

Don’t mind all of the ends that need to be woven in…

All I need to do now is make the hood and the sleeves and it’ll be completed! It’ll look better once it’s blocked, cables have a way of looking kind of wonky until they’re blocked.

The whole thing turned out tinier than I thought it would, so I guess it’s more of a 0-3 month size, so I am hoping that my baby doesn’t come out completely huge and not fit this at all, because then I would be very sad, and I think I am too attached to this one to give it away!

Update: Oh MAN! As soon as I posted these pictures I noticed a big oopsie in my cabling! I had to rip it out and now I’m in the process of reknitting that part. Luckily it was near the top!

that circled cable there should be an UNDER not an OVER. But at least I caught it before I added the hood, it would have been a LOT harder to fix afterwards!

Diaper Stash

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Ali

Did I ever show you guys my diapers? I’m so excited about these. I know it might seem kind of funny to some of you how excited I got about diapers, but those of you who cloth diaper know what I am talking about.

Aren’t they adorable? I’m so excited to see my little Togglebuttons with a squishy cloth diapered bum.

For those of you who are wondering, they’re BumGenius 4.0 pocket diapers. And the greatest part is that they’re completely adjustable so they will fit my baby from 7-35lbs! Definitely going to be a money saver in the long run, especially since I bought mine pretty cheaply used. (I know it sounds gross, but I promise it’s not.)

Pretty exciting stuff, no? Ok. Well, I’ll be back tomorrow with your weekly “You Knit What?!”

Baby Boy Blue Hat

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Ali

I had little scraps of leftover yarn from the baby blanket I was making for Togglebuttons and decided to make a little striped hat for him.

I just hope my kid doesn’t have a huge head, because this hat isn’t that large.

I’d like it to be his ‘coming-home-from-the-hospital’ hat.

That whole hospital thing is starting to get pretty close… and I’m starting to get a little nervous. I know it doesn’t do me any good to be nervous, I’ve been through tougher things than childbirth, but even so, I’d definitely be lying if I said I wasn’t a little scared. Also it probably doesn’t help that I’ve read some scary birth stories lately.. I should probably just stay off the internet until the baby is born… I’d probably get a lot more knitting done that way!

Abbey Road

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Ali

This morning I was drinking my coffee out of my most favorite mug ever which I bought in London in 2009, which magically got home unbroken. I’m quite amazed.

And it made me think of all of the good times with my besties, Autumn and Charissa.

I wish we had time to get a better picture of us crossing the street, but you know, it’s a real road with real traffic, and the people that are none-too-pleased to have to be stopped by tourists 24-7. (Wanna kill some time? Check out this website and watch people almost get hit by cars ALL DAY LONG)

We even signed the wall (next to the person who apparently lives in a ‘Yellow Suberine”)

In case you can’t read it, the street sign behind us says “Abbey Road NW8, City of Westminster”, just like my mug.

Does This Make Me A Bad Person?

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Ali

So, there’s this big peony bush outside some empty apartment building in our neighborhood. Every day I walk past it, and admire the beautiful flowers. But some of them were getting so heavy that they were just laying on the ground. So today, I went on a secret mission and snipped off a few of it’s beautiful blossoms and brought them into my kitchen.

I feel kind of bad about stealing them, and then I look at how nicely they decorate my kitchen, and then I don’t feel so bad.

Have a lovely weekend. (It’s supposed to rain all weekend here. Boo)

Cabled Baby Jacket for Togglebuttons

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Ali

Since I finished my Butternut Aidez I’ve been wanting another somewhat challenging project. I know now that I am not going to be satisfied by just making plain knits- oh, no- now it’s going to be all about the fancy stitches and cables. So naturally I went looking for another ridiculous and challenging project. Remember my Birthday Yarn post? Well, I had three skeins of the Cascade 220 Sport in Pumpkin and I thought this would just be a perfect use for it.

I am making this jacket (Picture property of Ravelry.com)

Buuut, of course I am making my own changes and things to it. First off I am knitting it in the round, because you all know seaming is my least favorite thing in the whole wide world.

So, you wanna see what I have done so far?

It’s a lovely pattern called so beautifully “B17-2.” Yeah, whoever works at Drops really isn’t so creative with the title of the names.

Despite their creative abilities at naming, they are still a great pattern writers and it’s coming along nicely.

Here is the pattern link if anyone wants it!

28 (and a half) Weeks

Posted on June 14, 2011 by Ali

Today’s post will be brief- and not crafty- sorry about that. Today I’m working all morning, am doing a knitting group with some close friends this afternoon and then today is also Paul’s birthday (his 30th!), so it makes for a busy day. But I wanted to show you guys a picture from this weekend to show you how much my belly has popped out. It’s ridiculous-this kid is getting huge (and so am I).

Still feeling pretty good, although I am noticing that after about 20 minutes of any activity I get completely worn out and feel like I need a nap, but I’ve been getting a lot done around the house, I think that the nesting phase has started. Yesterday I deep cleaned the whole downstairs and now it’s sparkling clean and it makes me so happy to be in my house when it’s so clean- it makes such a huge difference in my mood! We still have to organize and set up nursery stuff, though. We’ve got most of the stuff (crib, swing, dresser, etc) but we just have to actually get it all in place and put together. Well, the crib and swing are still in the back of our car because we don’t have a place to put them yet- so I gotta get my crafting stuff organized so we can get all that done. I’ll be sure to post pictures of the progress on the baby’s room/craft room/Paul’s study.. the poor kid is only going to get a corner of a room instead of a whole room. Maybe when we move next year he’ll get a real room, but I am sure he won’t mind as long as he’s got a warm bed, a full tummy and a clean diaper, right?

Two Years!

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Ali

Yesterday we celebrated our two year anniversary! It’s a little crazy that it’s been two whole years since we got married, it seems like it’s gone so quickly (and then other times I can’t even remember what it was like before I was married!)