Fabric project bags. I used fabric from my stash and ribbon/lace/bias tape I scored in a big grab bag for a couple dollars at a thrift shop last year.

Yarn: Noro Bonbori
I don't know why it's so hard to find my camera charger and take photos of some of the things I've been working on and my recently acquired stash! I guess it's just not at the forefront of my thoughts.

A few weeks ago I completed the 20 mitered squares to make my felted Boku bag. I bobby pinned all the squares together while having the ladies at knitting group help me arrange the squares in an appealing way. Many of the different colorways had similar colors, more specifically a lot of greens and pinks. It's lovely so far and I can't wait to get it sewn together, but I'm not in the mood to sew all those squares together right now. It seems like a daunting project.

So, instead of finishing and felting the bag I finished up my yarn cake holder for Kristy in her wedding colors. Of course I forgot to get a photo, as I am prone to do with most knitted gifts. Last night I also finished my Best Friend Cowl in Noro Bonbori. I was up late with my husband as he was trying to get in the night shift routine, so while he revisited Barn Yard on the Wii (and tuned me out with his ipod) I spent an exorbitant amount of time picking out the right size, color and shape of buttons for the cowl. I sewed each button on with a similar color of embroidery floss or yarn. I love how it turned out and now I can't wait for fall and winter to hit.

It's times like that when I'm glad I have a well-rounded crafting stash. Speaking of stash, however, I realized recently that I need to start collecting all my missing needle sizes. All too often I have had the yarn and ambition to start a new project only to realize that I'm missing the appropriate needles. And of course, when that happens it's like midnight and I can't exactly wake up Lucas and drag him with me to Walmart or something. Their selection of needles sucks anyways, but that's besides the point!

I casted on for and got half way through with a black Willie Warmer knitted with TLC Cotton Plus. You can find the pattern on Ravelry if you're really curious. I really don't want to knit it, because as much as my husband amuses me by saying he will wear it, I don't believe him. It's just like the hat I made him. "I don't know where it's at," or "It's too warm." Needless to say, he's not on my knitting list anymore. But, he was adamant about the warmer. It's an amusing knit and I love the feel of the yarn so far (I'm kind of a sucker for cotton anything), and luckily it's a very quick project because I know it will not see much use and it's cutting into my more important knitting time.

I promise sometime soon I will bomb the blog with photos. Until then, hopefully you're not too bored reading!
Some days I think I only survive because I know nap time or bed time is coming soon. My son's temperament changes at the drop of hat lately. I've been chalking up the moodiness to teething, the battle that never ends. I know that this will eventually pass, but then what? Terrible twos?

I've noticed myself getting increasingly frustrated and fed up with meal times. I know that I haven't been sleeping enough by choice and this is really been affecting my patience level. Strike one for Mom right there. Lucas came out of a 6-week long phase of refusing almost all finger foods and was back to pureed meals. Awhile ago he came out of that (literally, one day to the next everything changes!) and he had a few good weeks, now we're back to extreme picky eating. I've been reading endlessly about the experiences of other mothers of children this age and realize I am far, far from alone on this topic.

Lucas is refusing to being spoon fed which cuts out his super healthy yogurt and fruit mixes I make him for lunch most days. That also means forgetting about ground up adult dinners from the food mill. You'd be surprised how few choices there are when it comes to soft finger foods and how quickly they become tiresome for a baby. It's maddening because Lucas went from packing on pounds to dropping into the 7 percentile for his age. He has only gained ONE POUND IN FOUR MONTHS!!!!!!

It's disheartening to spend hours a day preparing the healthiest food I can come up with that include things he likes, attempting to feed him and letting him feed himself and then the slimy aftermath of the clean up process. I've taken to duct taping his bowls to the tray and allowing him to at least try spoon feeding himself. There is food in his hair, on his face, in his ears, under his bib, in his lap, his tray becomes an artist's palette of color, the booster seat/highchair is covered and the floor and anything nearby is splattered with whatever he's (not) eating.

Lucas will eat some bread, crackers, bites of a whole banana, and endless amounts of all kinds of cheese willingly, but my regular standbys of scrambled eggs and diced fruits are no longer on his choice of menu. If he were still gaining weight, I wouldn't be concerned, but he's not. People are starting to comment that he's small for his age. I'm just about at my wit's end and ready to try new things.

Some of the suggestions I've read online are:

-Ignore him while he eats. I do this sometimes anyways. I play darts, clean the kitchen or do something where I can still see him.

-Offer only one food. This goes against everything I know about a balanced diet, but at this point, I have to try everything possible that might have worked for someone else.

-Cut back on fluids before meals. Because Lucas is still on-demand breastfed and refuses cow's milk, he often drinks quite a bit of water from his sippy cup.

-Try Pediasure or some other baby shake. I am very anti-fake food and formula types of stuff, but again, desperate times call for desperate measures I guess.

-Let the baby graze on food all day. Nice in theory and I do this at times, but a lot of foods don't have a long life-span unrefrigerated or covered. Bread gets hard, eggs and dairy spoil. And we have dogs who are always on the lookout for scraps of food - this is probably the hardest part of letting him graze.

Normally we have most meals together, but this seems to make him less interested in eating as of late. A couple of times I have set his booster chair and tray down in front of the TV with cartoons and he has happily eaten anything offered to him. I hate doing it, I think it forms a bad habit of mindless eating that could possibly lead to obesity later in life, but I have to do what works right now.

I keep reminding myself that this will pass. I was a horribly picky eater until I was in my teenage years and I am healthy and turned out just fine. What I need to work on just as much as different methods of feeding Lucas is my ATTITUDE. If I'm short with Lucas, appear frustrated and irritated, I know I'm not making it easier or enjoyable for him and therefore shooting myself in my own foot. As I mentioned earlier my lack of sleep has really been affecting my mood and attitude for the worse, so I need to gain a few extra points in the self discipline section and get some more shut eye.

Deep breath. I know I'm not the only mother who has faced the "My child won't eat," battle.
Either it's late at night or my life has just become too routine and mundane. It may be a mix of both.

Eating, sleeping, showering, being a mommy - the daily grind. I really need to add in more things that I actually enjoy and things that allow me to feel like me and not just a robot.

1) Problem: I've been talking about finishing my tattoo forever now, but for whatever reason I don't make make an appointment with myself to sit down and finish it.

Solution: This month I will either pick a day that my husband isn't working or I will call my babysitter.

2) Problem: My wardrobe is more tired than I am and I only get an average of 5.5 hours of sleep a night.

Solution: Yarn diet as of immediately. Go shopping after lunch and/or when my husband is available to come with me or watch Lucas at home.

3) Problem: Fabric stash.

Solution: Haul sewing machine and fabric downstairs and start sewing while Lucas naps or in the evenings when Tom is home/Lucas is in bed.

I think 3 goals for the next two months is plenty.

I'll keep you updated on my progress or the lack thereof.
If I could simply go through my stash and wear a few balls of yarn, I would be happy. I don't think most local businesses would appreciate that outfit though. :)

My wardrobe is so tired these days I feel like I'm going to need a prince to give it a magical kiss to bring it back to life. That, or all my be-liked clothes are hiding in a hamper somewhere. I don't know what happened... or what's happening. For a long time now I haven't been happy with my look or my clothing. Buying a shirt or two that's really "me" doesn't make the rest of my wardrobe any brighter or inviting.

I have a very modest wardrobe in terms of the actual number of garments that I wear or will ever wear again. Half my clothes are really worn out - bottoms of favorite jeans shredded (oh, the woes of being on the short side and not getting things tailored), holes in my tshirts, faded.. you get my drift. Now, with a one year old to care for and whatnot, I find myself reaching for skirts and dresses less and less. I can't exactly hike up a whole dress to nurse in public. With all the bending and floor time with the little one, skirts aren't the best idea either. At least not the short skirts that I own, but I own maybe 2 skirts that are knee-length or slightly longer. One of those skirts is a patchwork style skirt in very bright colors and designs that I got in Barcelona and the other is a worn out black linen number that I hate to iron.

What to do when your wardrobe gets "old"? I'm trying to figure that out. The main problems are that I don't make time to go shopping, I don't particularly enjoy spending hours on end pushing through overly-stuffed racks of clothing, having to wait in line for a dressing room and the real big one, most of my share of our disposable income goes to buying knitting-related items (read: yarn.) And have I mentioned that I am really picky about clothes that I love? I own a lot of basic tshirts and "safe" clothes that I like because I need things to wear regardless of whether I find anything that I really love. But that's it - I'm tired of hardly ever finding something with my name written all over it.

Maybe I'm just lazy. I see women in public all the time that I would gladly swap outfits with, but I guess I don't make the extra effort anymore to find the right accessories to pull an outfit together like I want.

The last couple of years have been very transitional for me. I'm getting closer to 30 and I don't know what that means or if I care. I still feel like I'm stuck in the teen years in many ways and can't break out of who I was to who I am now. Honestly, it goes so much deeper than clothing. I haven't been in touch with who I am for quite some time now - probably since I got married and life got a whole lot more serious. I guess I'm in a kind of rut and don't know how to break out of it right now.

More on this later perhaps..
Fireworks are exploding in my house right now. My husband is at the re-enlistment office putting in his request for our next duty station. We got lucky and the one we wanted is open. Yay! Now we're just waiting for an answer and a date. I love the "journey", but knowing the destination is major plus.

Secondly, I was on Ravelry replying to a post about useful knitted baby items and instead of bombing the thread with my reply, here's my list for future reference for mom and baby:

  • Hooded towels
  • Washcloths
  • Wash mitt
  • Bathtoys (knitted over a floating toy/ball)
  • Bath toy hanging bag
  • Highchair cover
  • Stroller cover
  • Shopping cart cover
  • Bibs with pockets
  • Blocks
  • Placemat
  • Boppy cover
  • Changing pads
  • Baseball/sun hats
  • Toy bag
  • Squishy rug
  • Wall art
  • Mobile
  • Soft bath things for mom because it hurts "down there"
  • Frozen meals
  • Frozen cookie rolls
  • Knitted animal/colors/alphabet book
  • Diaper bag
  • Baby shoes drawstring tote
  • Color wheels & b/w toys for newborns
  • Legwarmers/knee protectors
  • Sleep sack
  • Usual array of hats, booties, mittens
  • Hood/scarf combo piece for warmth without strangulation
  • Burp cloths
  • Pacifier case
  • Corner protectors for tables and legs
  • Stackable rings
  • Blanket (duh)
  • Tank tops for summer (harder to find in stores)
  • Dresses (tend to be expensive)
  • Rocking chair pillows
  • Wrist knitting bag for sling mommies
  • Nursing necklace
  • Mommy bandana or headband
  • Nursing cover cardi
Non-knitted items:
  • Mini food chopper
  • Baby/toddler cook books and food prep specs
  • Eating and drinking utensils and accessories for all stages
  • Pumping accessories (bags, drop-ins)
  • Nursing pads (expensive!)
  • Pads
  • Cool packs for "down there"
  • Donut to sit on
  • Diaper Genie refills
  • Diapers and wipes galore
  • GCs for baby-related stores
  • GCs for photographers/photo processing
  • Travel coffee mugs for safer drinking
  • A gigantic bottle of liquor because she'll need it!!!! Just kidding.
I'm sure I'll be adding to this list over time and as new things occur to me. These are some of the things I would have liked to have had, things that friends have requested the most or things that I wish I would have had time to make but couldn't because I was busy being a new mommy myself. I hope someone besides me finds this list useful!
And I did. I ripped it. I've been making steady daily progress on my purple Razor Cami and finally tried it on tonight. What did I discover? That it's too long. I ripped back (3.5 inches) until the point that I was supposed to divide the stitches for the front and back. *sigh* At least I'll have something to work on at knitting group tomorrow. The end is so close I can taste it. This is why I knit - for the end, pulling something over my head and doing circles in front of the mirror with the "I did it" look of victory on my face.

I really must recharge my camera battery, I have some long overdue yarn p0rn photos due. I should warn you though - it's bright, it's colorful, and it's MINE!

That's all for tonight. I am enjoying some new music on Pandora and finishing off the rest of a bottle of wine. I'm going to put my knitting down and continue drawing my next tattoo.