Oh boy oh boy!

So I'm 6 days away from my due date, and it seems like it's hurry up and wait time. I would be pleased as punch to go into labor ANY DAY BUT TODAY.

It would drive me crazy to have a leap day baby.

My dad, sister, and several co-workers are hoping that the little boy makes his debut today, but unless things happen pretty soon and go pretty quick (and I must say, given the length of my earlier labors it should be pretty quick) it doesn't look like they will be getting their wish.

Thank goodness.

However, as my dad says the day isn't over yet, so I'm taking it easy and not doing terribly much.
I've used the last few days to make a few things for the little fella. I made him a little hat, and then I found this adorable diaper cover pattern on Ravelry last week; I bought it on the spot and actually whipped one out almost right away. I made it first in baby blue with dark blue edging to match the hat, but I wasn't quite feeling it (which is why I just put a white plastic button on it). Yesterday I made another one in solid baby blue and I *love* it, so I decided it was worthy of one of my beloved wooden buttons.

We *do* live in Texas, so as I sit here in my tank top with the windows open and the fans on high I don't really see the little guy wearing the hat much, but I figure I'll get a couple of adorable newborn pictures and be totally happy.


He just needs to get here!

It's about time!

So at the *very* last minute I finished up the much belated gifts for my nieces and nephews. My husband went out of town for a few days, and my mother was planning on coming to visit me and help me out...but my sister decided she just *had* to have a baby that day. Really, it's like she thinks it's all about her or something :-P

Last week was really hectic, with my sister having a baby, my mother trying to be there for her and me, my husband out of town, and *of course* I managed to get the crud hardcore and accomplished next to nothing the entire week. Seriously, I was surprised I got the kids to school and myself to work.

I had finished my nieces little purses, but I still needed to get my nephew's Ant finished. I knew it wouldn't take long, but of course feeling so bad all I did when I got off work was feed kids and go to bed.

Saturday evening I *finally* finished the Ant...not a moment too soon, since my mother was heading home sunday morning. I did manage to snap a few pics, but at ten o'clock at night the lighting options are sadly limited, so I really wish I had better shots of everything. Oh well, I guess it doesn't really matter as long as they got their gifts.

I also sent along a cute little hat for my newest little nephew. My crazy sister managed not to find out what she was having until he was actually born (would drive me crazy not knowing!), so I had no time to *plan* an appropriate gift, but thankfully in my little hat craze of the last few weeks I made a super cute hat for a baby boy that I sent along. Apparently it's too big for the little guy, so I'm a little annoyed at the size chart I refer to when making hats.  Oh well.

For the boys:
A technicolor ant and a fishy hat.

Purses for the girls:
Top: Pink and Purple purse
Bottom: Orange and Yellow purse

Project progress

I've managed to follow through on several projects this week...at the expense of my housework, but I think any crafter would agree that's a fair trade (my husband doesn't seem to agree with me...)

I finished up several baby hats: one to post in my shop, one that I gave to a friend of mine who just had a baby, and one that I'm not sure if I'm going to post in my shop or not. The last one didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to, but it's in no way bad, just not what I was going for. So I'm on the fence about it.
I also made myself a little sleeve for my new Kindle. I really like how it turned out, but of course right at the end I changed up my stitch pattern just slightly to keep the right side/wrong side looking correct, and I found that I liked the new stitch pattern better than the one I used for the rest of it...much too late to go back and re-do the whole thing. I might make myself another one though.

With those little in-the-moment distractions out of the way (and the fact that my mother is coming to town this week) I will be finishing up those long overdue Christmas gifts this week. I'm such a slacker! Thankfully I just need to sew one seam for my little niece's gift (my other niece's gift is actually done) and make the cuffs for my mother's fingerless mitts. I do however get to completely restart the technicolor ant for my nephew. I had it 2/3s complete when my youngest took some scissors to part of it, and then my three year old son snatched another piece of it, declared it a spider and I haven't seen it since.

Lastly, I would *love* to post some great pictures....but the camera charger has, naturally, disappeared right when I need it. I swear I've seen it all week, but as soon as the battery died I could not find it for the life of me.

New toys!

My poor little netbook got smashed a few weeks ago, so I decided to replace it with a Kindle touch.
Not exactly the same thing, I know, but I was wanting a kindle anyway, and I'm hoping being a little bit more unplugged will help me be more productive in my crafting and around the house (she says as she sits and blogs...)

I just got it last night, so I'm still figuring it out. So far though I really like it, and you can load PDF documents onto it too, so I've added some crochet patterns for easy access when I'm on the go. Figures that one of my first thoughts was "how can this help me crochet?"

Stash busting!

Not only am I a procrastinator, I'm also a pack rat. The result is I have had yarn in my stash left completely untouched for long enough that the manufacturer has discontinued it. Now, depending on the timing of when I bought this yarn, that actually might not be as bad as it sounds, it's possible I bought it on clearance after they stopped making it...but I know I didn't. I know this because I bought two balls of Lion Boucle about six years ago in hopes of making something for a contest Lion was hosting to promote this yarn....yeah, that didn't happen. It has sat in my yarn box for years, lovely but unused until this last weekend when I rescued it from its unused existence and whipped up a little hat that I just *adore*.

Isn't it fantastic? I love it!

I'll be posting it in my etsy shop as soon as I work up the description and such.  The size is newborn to 3 months and I think it would make a great hat to wear for some super cute baby pics.


Speaking of pictures...why is it that I can never take fantastic pictures of my kids or my projects? I manage decent pictures (most could be better), and the snapshots of the kids are fine....but why, when I'm not trying to do anything but appease a sick three year old who wants a picture of his toy do I end up with something really great?

See? boggles my mind.

Crafting ADD

I've heard several other crafty people talking about 'crafting ADD'...the inability to focus on a single project at a time, or perhaps even starting one, then abandoning it in favor of a better project.

This is completely me, no excuses....except that my kids totally don't help when it comes to focus and finishing.

As for the focus part, my five year old daughter is constantly asking me to make her stuff for her Barbies, or other dolls, or hair bows for her, or whatnot. Most of these things are quick, small projects that don't truly interfere with my other crafting, and they can actually be beneficial to me because I am suitably distracted from my main project just long enough to fulfill the crochet wanderlust that comes over me in the middle of a larger project. But they still take time away from my other projects.

Now, the main problem the kiddos contribute to is the actual finishing of a project. I make a lot of toys, nice small projects that don't take weeks, don't require worrying overmuch about sizing and gauge and other little things that I don't want to mess with. There have been many times that my kids will see me working on something and 'claim' it before it's done...pieces go missing, whole projects go missing, and it's usually just faster to make another than to find where on earth they've managed to hide it when there are only so many places in one dwelling to stash things.

Last night as I was doing the dishes my five year old told me that her almost two year old sister was messing with some scissors. At the time I didn't think much beyond it other than taking the scissors away from the tiny toddler hands...but I later found out that she had some craftiness on her mind too...and she had snipped little bits of the ant head that was just waiting to be sewed.

Perhaps she wasn't being needlessly destructive...she might have been displaying an aptitude for extermination...

Perpetually late

I'm rarely on time...I think it runs in my blood or something.

About a week after I wanted to get the motifs done for the little purses I finished them! Yay! I've also completed one of the purses, but I haven't taken a pic of it yet.
 
I asked my husband "don't they look yummy?!?" and he seemed baffled by the description. Weirdo.

I think they look yummy...maybe because the colors remind me of Skittles?

Still on my list of things to do is of course piece together the second purse, then I need to make the ant for my nephew, and the gloves for my mom (and I need to find at least *one* of my dozens of yarn needles...where do these things go?)

I've also been searching for a good DIY nursing cover for the new baby, but I can't seem to find a style I like. Most of them just seem to be a blanket with a strap attached, and with my acrobatic eaters that will *not* provide enough coverage to suit my modesty. I guess I'll just go with what I've done in the past, when I converted a crocheted poncho pattern into fabric (why not crochet? TOO HOT! babies are little space heaters).