Tag Archives: Pregnancy

Catching Up, A List

Posted on May 24, 2016 by | Comments Off on Catching Up, A List

1. Being pregnant is hard.
2. I want to sleep all of the time, but constant sleep is not conducive to the doing of the stuff.
3. Like gardening

We might get some zucchini!
We might get some zucchini!

4. Those blackberries tho

blackberries2016
Our blackberry bush has gotten massive this year, and look at all those potential future berries.

5. I’ve been dropping hints here and there about starting a soap company. I am ever so slowly building an inventory, but see #1 for more info. But here’s a sneak peak.

From left to right: french vanilla soap, sandalwood soap, piney-woodsy-manly soap, earl grey soap, and lavender bath salts
From left to right: french vanilla soap, sandalwood soap, piney-woodsy-manly soap, earl grey soap, and lavender bath salts

6. I’m hoping to launch the soap company before the baby comes (in 11ish weeks!), but if not, look for it before the holidays. (And if you’re interested in my pumpkin spice soap, let me know soon, so I know how much of it to make this summer!)

7. De-cluttering ground to a halt, because we had to do all of the things in April and May. We started tackling the two last big projects this past weekend: the big kid room and my studio. There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

8. I am preparing a query to send to an agent for the book I wrote last year.

9. I realize I should probably try more than one agent, but baby steps.

10. While I didn’t set out to write a romance, my first book project turned out to be one. While thinking about a second project, I thought I might try to write a romance on purpose, so I found a book on romance novel writing.

11. As I’m reading this book, a lot of the advice felt familiar, and I remembered that I have a degree in creative writing, and you know, have apparently already written a romance novel, so I’m probably doing OK. (I read the whole thing anyway.)

12. It’s not a bad book if you’re just starting out though. Plus, she uses illustrations from a bunch of different books, and some are so intriguing I now have a whole new list of books to look up.

13. I am kind of excited to plan another novel project.

14. Except, I’m not so good at the planning part.

15. I love writing by the seat of my pants, but it’s not very efficient, so I am attempting to outline my next book before I start writing. It kind of sounds like torture.

16. In between being writerly, building a new business, and you know, growing a baby, I’ve been doing a little knitting.

Action shots once there's a baby to wrap in it, I promise.
Action shots once there’s a baby to wrap in it, I promise.

17. I wanted to make this new wee one a nice, heirloom quality baby blanket that didn’t use all of my brain power. Enter the twinkle blanket.

18. It’s knit out of 100% merino, undyed, and I am in love.

What have you been up to? (And what kind of soap do you want?)

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Baby Corner Preview

Posted on March 16, 2014 by | Comments Off on Baby Corner Preview

You guys, I am 35 weeks pregnant as of yesterday. That means the baby can come safely anytime in the next two to seven weeks. Two weeks is a pretty small number (though seven seems unbearably long), but it’s a possibility none-the-less. The dwindling amount of time until this baby arrives has been really kicked the nesting into high gear–well, as high as you can get and still work a 40 hour week and be nursing gigantic balloon feet. Mostly I’ve done a lot of laundry.

crib with bedding
The bed is together and the bedding washed.

baby corner
This is the baby corner view from the bed. (The laundry basket is full of enough clean onesies for three babies. We have generous friends and family…The dresser is in the process of getting a makeover.)

badger baskets
The super functional changing table. I love the drawers and hamper. This particular model was added to our registry because it’s brand is “Badger”. Brock is an Old English word for badger. (It also matches the crib, but you know, details.)

cloth diapers
All of the drawers are stuffed. The top drawer has disposable diapers, which I am planning to use until the cord stump falls off. (Yup, babies are always super adorable.) The bottom drawer has burp cloths and blankets, but my favorite is the second drawer. It is chalk full of cloth diapers. I know I haven’t actually used them yet, but just having them makes me feel proud. It’s a new adventure and I was able to navigate all of the information and personal preferences and strong internet opinions to figure out what kind of cloth diapering system would work best for us. We’re going with prefolds and covers, as displayed above.

lambies
Lamb toys for the baby, hanging out in the crib, keeping it warm.

And now for some knitting!
citron

I am flying through Citron. It’s the latest KAL I’m hosting via the Potwin Fiber Artisans ravelry group. We just cast on yesterday, so there’s plenty of time to join in!

Like I said, I seem to be flying through this shawl. According to the pattern, I am about 3/4 of the way done, which is nuts for two reasons. One, I just started knitting. Two, this shawl so far is just about the right size for my cat, and no amount of blocking would change that. One is easy enough to explain. I spend a fair amount of time on the sofa with my feet up, because otherwise they swell like balloons and it’s really uncomfortable. That’s a lot of built in knitting time. Two is a bit of a head scratcher. I knew I wasn’t going to get gauge using a US size 6 needle. I’ve needed to go up two needles sizes on anything knit flat for a couple of years now, but I like the fabric I got with a size 6 needles out of this yarn. I should be getting 6 stitches per inch if I followed the pattern. Right now, I am getting 8, but the shawl seems to be about half the size it should be at this point. I have also barely made a dent in my yarn…So I suppose it was a good thing I planned on knitting this thing until the yarn ran out, because I’m going to have knit beyond the written pattern quite a bit to even get this thing wearable. The only question is, which will come first, a finished shawl or a baby?

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A Little Bit of Baby Sewing

Posted on January 13, 2014 by | Comments Off on A Little Bit of Baby Sewing

I pulled out my sewing machine for the first time since the move. I put together a simple little baby project from a tutorial I came across on pinterest.

topstitched burp cloths

I purchased a bundle of fat quarters the other day, since I don’t really have a fabric stash–but this project would be perfect for some larger scraps.

Basically, I just top-stitched some pretty fabric onto some (washed) pre-fold diapers.

baby burp cloths

Adding the fabric will allow us to distinguish between the different cloths, which ones need to be washed, etc. Also, like I mentioned on Friday, these diapers will only be used for drools and spit up and general day-to-day baby clean up. Pretty fabric attached = not for poop.

It was really fun to work on such a simple project–and it makes me want to seek out some more to do. Maybe a couple of changing mats and diaper cases?

I have 14 weeks left until the baby gets here, that’s plenty of time, right?

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Twenty-Nine

Posted on January 6, 2014 by | Comments Off on Twenty-Nine

twentynine

Today, I am twenty-nine. It’s my new year, the day I start afresh.

Today, I woke up with a cold, so I haven’t been doing much in the way of celebrating, mostly sleeping and reading and sitting on the sofa drinking all the fluids. I am also not going to work tomorrow, which is pretty exciting.

Thinking outside the sickness, which will only be a memory in a few days, lets talk about goals.

2013 was one of those years that got away from me. I moved twice, I got married, and I worked really hard on a big project at the day job. All of this really overshadowed all of the Big Plans I talked about, but never named in a blog post, because all of those other things took up way more time and energy than I expected.

Now though, I am married, settled, and Big Work Project is launched, so I am more optimistic about what I can get done this year–I even have goals written down!

1. Have a happy and healthy baby.
I’m on the cusp of my third trimester, and am so excited for April. And it might sounds a little crazy, but I cannot wait until baby is ready to come, and it’s time to give birth. When the time comes, I am so ready to face that challenge. Plus, at the end, there’s a baby to love and take care of, and that’s so worth it. Since this comes first, it might have an effect on some of the ones listed below, but that’s just the way of things when there’s a new one around.

2. Blog more often.
During all those months in 2013 when I was not blogging, or not able to blog, I was preparing blog posts to you, dear reader, in my head nearly every day. It’s a habit I’ve formed mentally, even if it’s not one that’s been put into practice all that well. I’ve even written myself up a schedule and everything. I hope to make tinydinostudios.com lot more active in 29th year.

3. Publish more patterns
I have a few patterns I released for free up on Ravelry. While they haven’t gone viral or anything, I have received nothing but compliments on them. I haven’t written a new pattern in almost ten months, but it’s something I really love doing.

4.Grow more of my own food (and preserve it).
Our second, and hopefully last move for a very long time, came with a yard. One of the first things we did when we moved in, leaving most of the boxes unpacked, was mulch five small garden beds for planting in the spring. We want to do the usual variety of summer vegetables we’ve done in the past,but I also really want try my hand at growing some blackberries, strawberries, and more leafy greens like kale and chard.

5.Rehab my etsy store.
I’m working on a new shop update as we speak, as it’s been too many months since I’ve done anything with my store. I’m not quite sure when it will be ready, but I’ll let you know when it is.

6.Use my sewing machine more.
I used to sew a lot. I know how to do it, and I know how use my machine–I just don’t. Included in this is learning more about fabric and learning how to print on it, dye it, and paint it.

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23 Weeks

Posted on December 23, 2013 by | Comments Off on 23 Weeks

A while ago I mentioned that I was pregnant, but since I haven’t said much more about it other than I’ve been working on a couple of baby sweaters, I thought maybe I’d take some time to answer some questions about my pregnancy, just so we can get it out there. I get asked the following questions just about every single day, so here goes.

1. When are you due?
Mid to late April, though I’m leaning more toward late. My actual due date is in there somewhere, but I try not to put too much stock in it. My son was a week late, so I’m expecting this little one to follow suit. Last time around, I remember getting a lot of “No baby yet!” type comments, which let me tell you, no one appreciates. So I’m already a little on the offensive about it. I apologize if I sound cranky, I don’t mean to.

2.Do you know what you’re having?
Nope. We decided not to find out this time. We’ll know when the little one is born.

3.Do you have any names picked out?
Yes, for both a boy and a girl, but we’re keeping them under wraps for just a little bit longer.

4. Cloth or Disposable?
Cloth, which will be a new adventure.

5. What hospital are you going to?
Fun story, I’m not going to one. We have an amazing free standing birthing center in our town. It’s where my son was born, and that’s the way we’re planning on doing it again. I had a great experience the first time around, and I can’t imagine doing it any other way.

capitol belly shot

Now, just for fun, what I wish people were asking me.

What are you knitting for the baby?

I’m so glad you asked!

Despite my showing you a couple of pictures of some sweaters in progress, I have only finished one project so far.

green stay on booties 2
Booties!

Which I think are just about the most adorable knitwear in the world.

green stay on booties

That other cloth you see in the background is the blanket I’m working on. It’s 2/3 of the way done, and I’m trying not to think about it. I do however, find it amusing that it is almost exactly the same shade of green as the booties, when I dyed the yarn for the booties, and the blanket is Cascade 220 superwash.

matching blanket and booties
I keep unconsciously choosing lime green to include in baby projects, though I will admit being partial to the color.

Here’s a better photo of the blanket, which I love, but would possibly love more if I woke up tomorrow and it was magically finished.
cable and lace baby blanket

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Baby Knitting and Webcam Photos

Posted on December 5, 2013 by | Comments Off on Baby Knitting and Webcam Photos

The problem with trying to blog near the winter solstice and working an 8 to 5 is that there isn’t much time to take pictures. And these days, blogs need pictures, but since I don’t have currently have a personal life during daylight hours, tonight we’re having fun with webcam photos!

heatingpad
Yes, I’m even wearing a heating pad, because my neck has a couple of giant knots in it hurts like the dickens.

highshot
Here’s a shot with with better light, where I just look tired. Growing a person is hard work. Did I mention I’m pregnant? I can’t remember, but if not, I’m almost 21 weeks! To celebrate, let’s talk about knitting baby things.

garterstitchvice
This is a Garter Stitch Baby Kimono in progress, knit in Vice Yarns Plain Jane. Click the link, because my webcam is not doing the colors justice. This sweater is going to be bright. I’ll never lose my baby when he or she is wearing this sweater. We’ll all be so distracted by this sweater, we won’t be able to divert our eyes.

Not everything I’m knitting for the baby is quite so loud. I’m working on a blanket, which I feel is an obligatory project for a baby, even though I’m not really the biggest blanket-knitting fan. It’ll be cute and totally worth it once it’s finished, but I am certainly not going to be the kind of knitting mother than knits her child many or large blankets.

The only other thing I’ve knit for the baby is a cabled Sunnyside Cardigan out of cormo yarn that I spun. The roving was my Juniper Moon Farm Spinner’s Share that I spun way before there was any thought of a baby. (This picture is also form October, hence the absence of webcam-ness.)

sunnyside
The sweater is still in this state, ends not woven in, buttons in a ziplock back next to it in a drawer. I still have 4+ months to finish it, right?

I’m trying to add to my list of baby things to make. Since this little one is due midspring, I am thinking I’ll need some hats and booties for cold mornings and evenings, but nothing too heavy. Is there anything else I should plan on making? I have to confess I love making sweaters, especially wee ones, but I realize that an April baby only needs so many sweaters. What are your favorite baby knits?

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