summer market :: the pretty and the pretty bad

yesterday i participated in the very 1st supa summa craft market at the flying m coffee garage.

let me share with you all of the pretty things that i took along with me to the market ::

little pants and skirts that really need a better way to display. however i think i may have come up with a solution after talking to a fellow vendor...

fabric button rings and hair jewlery

coloring wallets and cute wash cloths

tiny tote bags and four clearance crowns from a previous market

luca was the cutest thing over at my booth. after getting his fill of people swooning over him he settled in for a long nap.


now i will bravely share the pretty bad that comes along with market preparations...

two weeks of laundry shoved into the baby cradle, most of it unfolded. we co sleep with luca so please do not be alarmed- no babies were sleep deprived in the making of this market appearance.

and here is what my dining room table looked like on friday. i finally cleared it off this afternoon. my kids were thrilled to eat all of their meals on the patio outside.
i didn't photograph the sink full of dishes or the take out dinner bags that we accumulated over the last two weeks. but everything is back to normal around here after a big day of catch up.

see that rainbow knitting project in the last photo. i currently have that in my lap, a cup of tea on the side table and a sleeping baby over my shoulder.

happy sunday, friends.

a whole lotta luca

i have so much to share with you all... cute little hand knits, recent sewing projects, summer celebrations, a yummy iced chai recipe... i promise i will be back very soon with all of the aforementioned but this evening i am going to overload you with new photos of my sweet baby boy.

he is covered in delicious little rolls of baby chub, courtesy of mama's milk. it is just the cutest thing ever.

he attended his first outdoor concert this past weekend. widespread panic at the idaho botanical gardens. he loves to be outside.

this gorgeous green quilt was sewn and gifted to luca by a good friend. we have decided to take his picture on this quilt each month to track his growth. here he is at 4 weeks old...

... and just a few days ago at 8 weeks old. (8 whole weeks, people!!)
it appears he grew half a quilt square, no?

this is quite possibly the worst photo in existence of me, but luca, oh my! my heart melts each time he looks at me with those big dark eyes.

love.
happy.wonderful.nothingelseintheworldmatters.love.

movie night :: under the stars

this weekend we attended the first family movie night at the park. it is a favorite activity of ours, and the movie shown is also a favorite-the princess bride. i loved the part of the evening when the crowd burst into excited cheer after inigo montoya defeated the six fingered man.

here are a few more movie under the stars favorites.

picnic dinner that took most of the day to prepare...

followed by iced animal cookies that were grabbed off the store shelf on the way to the park.

a good and long nap in the middle of the festivities.

a little orange kitty on a sweet pink cheek.

and a baby boy who woke from his nap bright eyed and happy with his surroundings. trees do make the very best mobiles, after all.

ah, summer is finally here, friends. i hope you are all enjoying the sunshine and long days.
xo, erika

weekending

thrifted treasures ::

i found this super fabulous vintage fabric tucked away behind some dusty, discolored stretch polyester. i paid $7. there are 5 1/2 yards of it. plenty to sew kitchen curtains, and cloth napkins, maybe even a table runner or place mats. seriously, the colors. the flowers. i am considering painting the kitchen and redecorating the whole room around this cheery print. what do you think?

this little knitting basket just had to come home with me. i certainly have plenty of works in progress to fill it. i also found a small cream pitcher for my morning coffee and miss esme fell in love with a handmade cloth doll with jointed legs and jointed arms. the arms, however, have not been sewn on yet and were just laying in the basket beside the doll. no problem for my girl, her mama sews!

i do believe this is the very best new baby gift ever. my mother and father in law visited a couple weeks ago and brought me an umbrella clothesline. my father in law also dug the hole and cemented the center pole in place for us. this was greatly appreciated because with the complete absence of spare time in our lives right now the clothesline would have sat in the garage all summer, untouched. perhaps i will sew a pretty little clothespin bag with my new thrifted fabric.

and of course we have spent a whole lot of time cuddling that sweet baby boy. he stays awake and socializes now. he grins at us and tries to tell us stories. there is always someone around to hold him. he is not lacking in hugs and kisses. he is told how much he is loved no less that a thousand times a day. i suppose it isn't all that bad to be the smallest member of a big family.

happy weekending, friends!

wip wednesday :: a rainbow for luca

already planning winter woolies...

june one :: here we are

spending our days snuggling,

and babywearing,

and helping.
yes, our whole world pretty much revolves around the littlest family member. we are totally okay with that.

welcome june - you snuck right up on me but i am happy you are here.

altered knits :: wool romper

i cast on this wool romper for baby several months ago while there was still snow on the ground. the yarn is cascade eco wool-it was originally gray and purchased for another project. one afternoon, on a whim, i decided to over dye the gray wool and whip up something wonderful for the little one growing in my womb. and this was the wonderful result. i think the first photo most accurately captures the colors i ended up with.

as for the pattern, it was completely improvised starting with a free sweater pattern. now there are two little romper patterns available for purchase from sweet mama-small sugar. her patterns were not yet published when i knit this romper, but if they had been i likely would have gone that route and saved myself quite a bit of figuring and guessing.

for those of you that would like to knit your own improvised romper i am sharing with you how i made this one. enjoy!

i started with the mossy jacket sweater pattern. since my baby was expected in the spring and i wanted him to wear it the following winter i cast on the 12 month size. i simply knit the pattern as written but did not cast off at the bottom of the sweater, but rather continued to knit the "pant" part of the romper. once i completed the button band i added stitch markers to each hip- i added the first hip marker where it looked like it ought to go, then knit half the stitches on my needles and added the second hip marker. i did not add short rows to the bum area, but you easily could for extra room, especially if the romper will be worn by a cloth diapered baby.

measure your baby from armpit to right below the hip. knit in stockinette until you have reached this measurement, then you can begin your crotch gusset. you are going to add two more stitch markers by dividing the stitches between your hip markers by 2 and adding the markers accordingly. so if there are 50 stitches between your hip markers you will knit to the first marker, knit 25, place new marker, knit 50, place second new marker, then knit 25, back to the first stitch marker. it helps if the new markers used for the front and back look different than the two hip markers.

gusset ::
you can use any preferred technique for your gusset. i made mine like this.
row 1 : knit to 1 stitch before front marker and m1r, slip marker, k1, and m1l. pass the hip marker and repeat increases when you get to the back stitch marker.
row 2 : knit all stitches.

repeat these two rows until you have your desired amount of gusset stitches. i ended up with 10 gusset stitches.

now you will knit the legs of your romper. knit one more row, placing the front and back gusset stitches on scrap yarn to deal with later. you can now choose to magic loop both legs at once or knit them singularly on dpn's. knit the legs to desired inseam, add a decorative cuff, and cast off. you will now need to go back and add the sleeves and button and neck bands as directed in the sweater pattern, then kitchener stitch the crotch gusset. lastly, choose the perfect buttons and sew them on.

and there you have it, a super sweet wool romper, perfect for winter bundling! i will be sure to post photos of our own little bundled baby when he grows and the snow falls. this would also be adorable with short sleeves and short legs in a lighter weight yarn for spring wear!

happy knitting, friends!

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may giveaway day!

welcome to may giveaway day!
today i have for you this adorable monster plush, the kindest breed of course, who desperately needs someone to cuddle and love.

he has been lovingly sewn with a green corduroy body, a fun linework robot print for his arms, legs and horns and wool felt for his sweet little face. his button eyes have been securely stitched on and he is sporting a hand embroidered toothy grin.

if you would like to give this happy fellow a home please leave me a comment telling me so. i will choose a lucky winner on the evening of thursday, may 20th. please make sure i have a way to contact you if you are the giveaway winner. i am only able to ship within the US this time- thank you for understanding.

and before you go be sure visit sew, mama, sew for more fun and fabulous giveaways!
thanks for stopping by!

the winner is shelly who said "How totally adorable! My son would LOVE this!!"
i will be contacting you soon so we can get this little monster on it's way to your son as soon as possible , shelly! thanks to all who visited and entered my giveaway!

random postpartum musings

luca is one week old today.

i can hardly believe it. his umbilical stump fell off wednesday evening and while i was thrilled to not have to worry about bumping it or making sure his cloth diaper didn't cover it i was a little sad and overwhelmed at how quickly time passes once baby is on the outside. truthfully i am so happy he is finally here, in my arms, at my breast, and not inside my ribcage. he really is absolutely amazing!

i have a knitting project involving cables in progress that i tried to pick back up yesterday. i have no recollection of where i was in the pattern... and what does "c8f" and "c8b" mean again? hmm, knitting might have to wait another week, or two.

i did finish a sweet little knit romper for the baby quite a while back. it has been sitting in my knitting bag, waiting for perfect buttons. i am considering taking my newborn and toddler boys to the fabric store to buy some. button stitching sounds simple enough and then i would have something fun to share with you here instead of all this new baby/postpartum mama stuff.

before i go i want to thank you for all of your wonderful comments on the arrival of our little luca! i enjoyed reading each sentiment and am so happy to share our family's excitement with you.
thank you, friends!

and lastly, a quick message for my little luca bird ::

grow.
slow.

that's all.

he has a name!

and just like that...

...our family grew by two {tiny} feet, our hearts grew two sizes {at least} and our love, collectively, could power the earth {and more}. thank you, wee one, for the great gift of YOU.

our sweet baby boy was born at home friday evening, may 7th. he is a lovely little package weighing 8 pounds and 5 ounces. i will share more of him and his entrance into the world with you very soon, perhaps after we decide on a perfect name for this perfect being.

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~ Elizabeth Stone

happy mother's day, dear friends!
erika

last minute made

i am still plugging away on little projects here and there while i wait for baby. most recently i made a new baby carrier sewn with a fantastic pattern from seedpod craft studio.

here is the bright red sleeping hood that tucks into a little zippered pocket when not in use.

and the bright red cotton lining. i do wish i had better photos to share- once i have a flat(ter) tummy and a new little one to tuck inside i will post some carrier-in-action pictures, for sure!

until then, i will be carrying on and patiently waiting to meet this tiny person.
yours in anticipation,
erika

belly blessings

39 week belly.

henna by my sweet friend liz.
photos courtesy of harper and esme.

and one photo from mama... the current view from up here.

wee sewing :: itty bitty layette

these little tee shirts had been cut out and ready to sew for months- i finally buckled down and stitched them all a few afternoons ago. and just look at how sweet!!

it occurred to me when i got outside with my camera that i had intended to iron them before taking pictures. and notice how i am not fickle at all about which direction the fronts cross over. i made duplicates of most of the prints to add to my baby gift stash.

and here are the cute little hats to match. again, i made a few extra to pass along to our expecting friends!
the tees and hats are all sewn from the new conceptions baby essentials pattern. i love this pattern somuch- if you have a little one to sew for go check it out!

now... moving on to receiving blankets and changing pad covers...
three weeks to go, three weeks to sew!

blessingway for baby!

a couple weeks ago some of my girlfriends helped me celebrate this new baby-on-the-way with dinner and a blessing shower. a wonderfully fun celebration where i had my camera with me but forgot to take it out of my bag! that's right- not one single photo the entire evening.


but here are a few of the lovely gifts from my lovely friends! we are feeling very blessed indeed and more ready than ever to meet this little one. 3 weeks or so to go!
there are a few more photos and descriptions of each gift over here- check it out!

egg funt!

we woke up early, anxious to see what the weather would bring. rain, snow, wind, sun- we have had a bit of it all this week. i reminded harper of our plans for the day.

"egg funt! esme' wake up! we are going to the egg funt!"

esme' emerged from her deep sleep and joined us for breakfast. then the kids were quickly dressed, baskets were retrieved from the closet and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, enough to share, were made and packed up.

before long we were at the easter egg hunt with a couple dozen little friends. kids filled the house, excitement filled the air and before long colorful plastic eggs filled the baskets.

lunch was eaten, large amounts of chocolate was consumed, games were played and then it was time to say good bye and head home...

... home for a much needed snuggle and nap.

happy easter, friends!