Discovering Cloth Diapers

This Saturday was a total blast!  I went up to Ann Arbor, Michigan with a new cloth diaper convert friend to visit my also-pregnant cousin (she is 15 weeks behind me, due at the end of July) and we shopped two rummage sales (aptly named Moms 2 Moms), a local natural baby store called The Little Seedling where we all received a wonderful education on cloth diapering & baby wearing; and stopped at both Cherry Republic & Trader Joe's before calling it a Very Productive day.  :]

Cloth diapering has been a long-time research "project" for me and after many years I feel like I can finally say with some confidence that "I think I get it!" after having visited and talked with the ladies at The Little Seedling.  For the longest time I couldn't tell the real difference between All-in-Ones and Hybrids and Pockets and Fitteds and then I recently discovered "Flats" which are considered another version(?) of Prefolds.  Too many different styles and terms, I'm sure you're thinking.  Anyway, the exciting part is now that I feel confident to cloth diaper my little babe when he or she finally arrives in the next 2 or 3 weeks, I'll be plenty confident to make and use my own longies on my little one come this Autumn which means more adorable baby models for the Etsy shop! :)  yay :)

And I can't wait to tell you my even MORE exciting news (that has to do with my Etsy shop and all things knitted baby) once I have confirmation that it is all a go.  Stay tuned! :)

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Finished Mittens

 

Yay!  Finished on time :]

It is definitely a small surprise for me, as I kept having to rip out half my work every couple of days, I wasn't sure if I would have *one* mitten done by the 8th.

And now I have *both* mittens done & ready to be worn a day early!

I took quite a few liberties with the Lithuanian mitten pattern I found in the Ultimate Mittens book I borrowed from the library.  For whatever reason (and most-likely because I was using needles 2 sizes too big) the mittens kept coming out way too large for my hands so I started tweaking with the numbers.

I thought I would include my notes for any others interested in trying this revised pattern.  Please note I DO NOT own this pattern & reserve all rights to the owners of the book.

Lithuanian Mittens, Revised
With size 3, double point needles, CO 39, splitting them 15, 12, 12.

*K2 P1, repeat, for 19 rows.

P around one row.

Begin new pattern: *K2, P1 for 2 rows; P around for 1 row.  Repeat from *

For every row that starts with K2, increase one stitch.  For example: Row 1 - K1 make 1 K1 P1, *K2 P1, repeat from *.
Row 2 - K1 make 1 K2 P1, *K2 P1, repeat from *
Row 3 - P all
Row 4 - 10 repeats Rows 1-3 until there are 8 knit stitches between the P stitches.

Row 11 - 22 *K2 P1 for 2 rows, P one row; repeat from *.  Ending Row 22 with a P row.
There should be 8 Purl rows or the length needed to reach your lowest thumb knuckle.

Slip these 10 stitches (1 P, 8 K, 1 P) onto a stitch holder.

CO 4 stitches on to finished-stitches needle.  Continue working, P1 *K2 P1 & continue in pattern [Row 1 & 2: K2 P1; Row 3: P] until it reaches 7 P rows above the thumb hole or your second finger knuckle.

Decrease every first K row.  SSK, P1 *K2 P1 for 15 stitches.  K2tog P1.  SSK. P1 *K2 P1 for 15 stitches.  K2tog P1.
Continue regular pattern for rows 2 & 3 until there are 16 stitches remaining.  Kitchener stitch the top closed.

Thumb
Slip the holding 10 stitches onto one double point needle.  Pick up 9 stitches around top of thumb hole.

K around for 2 rows, P third row.  Repeat for 6 rows or until length splits knuckle distance.

*Row 7: SSK, K around to last 3 stitches, K2tog, K1.
Row 8: K row
Row 9: P row
Repeat from * until 11 stitches remain.  Kitchener stitch closed.

Weave in ends & model :]

Complete! And displayed with thumbs in the center, per a Lithuanian quirk.

*My favorite part of the whole process is discovering this new pattern.  Try making a swatch and feeling the little nubby pattern yourself.  Amazingly fun!

Living Frugal

I know this is supposed to be devoted to my crafting, but I thought I would divert a little since I came across this blog post in so much of my "catch-up" reading today.
In a way, it does tie into my philosophy on crafting.  I like to knit & crochet items for my home to save money on purchasing new items.  I also like to use up leftover yarn scraps (and eventually cloth scraps) in projects that can be made over time.  I'll try to remember to post a picture of my draft blocker I've made specifically for those leftover yarn scraps that I just couldn't bring myself to toss.  I also stuffed it with used dryer sheets to make it fluffy.  Turns out they also make it smell yummy! :)
Do you challenge yourself to live frugally or re-use items you thought were trash?  I'd love to hear about it! Feel free to post a link to your post :)