PHB: Day 23 & 24

Little Boots.  The new kid sported these wee slippers I made which I am still so proud of!  Skinny feet and ankles made them hard to keep on, but a pair of socks underneath eased that somewhat.  I just love the feeling of the chocolate brown alpaca blend wool.  Delicious.

PHB: Day 22

Head: cotton natural beanie knitted by me. 
Top: Hey Baby cream merino dome-bottom top.
Pants: cream merino pants sewn by me.
Booties: Dimples by Jane Anne. 
Baby: grown by me.  Sad to say I don't think he appreciated the single colour choices...

PHB: Day 21 (Boxing Day)

Christmas Day in our family alternates - one year it's with my family, the other it'll be with my husband's.  So either Christmas Eve or Boxing Day will be spent with the 'other' family.

We were in for a big treat this year - Christmas Day had been scorching hot for this summer's standards, and Boxing Day was a disappointment, particuarly for my older sister who was planning a family feast at her new macrocarpa table on their new-this-year deck (we're still talking 2010 here).  It was windy.  Like, REALLY windy.

The rest of us didn't mind one bit.  She planned and beautifully executed a 5 course feast for the (pause while I count in my head) eight of us (well there were 9 but only eight of us on solid food).  Their big java table has eight seats and we had eight big appetites!

The new kid had a contrast to Christmas Day's red and white festive ware, and simply wore his darling wee green booties whilst wrapped up in a white cotton wrap over his merino singlet. 

PHB: Day 20 (Christmas Day)

Christmas Day! 

Being the crafty colour nerd I am, I went with the red-white theme and had a cunning plan to get a photo of the new kid all dressed up in his Nature Baby singlet, the merino knit singlet, some cream merino pants I sewed and also put him in to his Christmas stocking.

Seriously.  I was up 'til VERY late Christmas Eve finishing the darn thing off.

But now, no photo of the new kid in his Christmas stocking.  Just a layout of what never was.  Sigh!

PHB: Day 19 (Christmas Eve!)

The new kid had his acting debut on Christmas Eve, at only two and a half weeks old! Bless.

He was the star: Baby Jesus, in my parish's Christmas Eve family mass. A very excited young Joseph held him so carefully and dearly which was so lovely to see! He was wearing a giant swaddling wrap which I sell through Baby Vintage's store in Plimmerton, and it is a Godsend as it's so large and he can't 'Houdini' himself out of it. Plus Jesus was wrapped in swaddle as an infant so it was the perfect costume!

PHB: Day 16, 17 & 18 (21-23 December 2010)

Leading up to Christmas the new kid spent a lot of time in just a onesie, the olive green cardy, and these little merino booties I made for his older brother and they have been well loved!
They stay on really well despite skinny feet and ankles, and suit most of his natural-toned, neutral-themed wardrobe. Sewn from olivey sagey coloured merino, made in New Zealand. Once upon a time they were sold through my felt store but because they are a bit fiddly I admit I haven't made terribly many of them lately!

PHB: Day 15 (20 December 2010)

So close to Christmas, yet still no sign of Summer sun returning. This calls for cardigans!

Mum's cream cardigan, knitted all in garter stitch, made a comeback.

The new kid is also lying on a very favourite blanket we've 'borrowed' from the wee guy - while still pregnant I left my job in such a hurry when I was very ill, so never had a farewell with the kids I taught or their parents... but one mum had been knitting this amazing blanket which the wee guy adores! I always think of her when I look at it, and feel so honoured that so many hours and so much love went into making it. This woman is an inspirational 'earth mother' type, and although I probably won't ever follow her footsteps of veganism or living in a house where you have to scale some serious steps to get up there (internal access garage for me!!) I love her take on life and how to live it.

I haven't gotten around to attempting a blanket for the new kid myself (it's on the growing list of Things To Do).

PHB: Day 13&14 (18-19 December 2010)

The Wellington NICU has a fantastic support network for families, the Neonatal Trust (which also looks after NICU and SCBU families across the country). When the wee guy was in NICU I purchased their knitting book 'Knitting for Prems' which has been around for decades, and has some lovely patterns in it. The community of lovely knitters who donate vests, cardigans, booties and beanies to the unit for sale or use do an amazing job, and many of them use the patterns in the book. I wish I could tell them all how special they are, as it was a real highlight to not only 'graduate' our son to an open air bassinette where he got to wear clothes for the first time, but to dive into boxes of knitted goods and be a little spoilt for choice in selecting garments with so much love put into them.

There is a favourite pattern of mine in the Knitting for Prems book, which was obviously used with the merino vest that the new kid has worn a lot - a sideways knitted singlet. For days 13 & 14 he sported the wee vest which I knitted using an 4-ply wool yarn (I think... memory is hazy!) and never fully completed the vest, but it's now in use with its second wearer. I must have very kind friends and family as nobody's commented on the boxy neckline which is missing a few rows! I hadn't yet learned how to pick up stitches from the edge of a knitted garment, so my argument is that it has personality. Worth a try!

PHB: Day 12 (17 December 2010)

... and again, the olive kimono cardigan. It's still a little, well, roomy, but the shorter and fuller sleeves are a dream for getting him dressed. It's a softie yarn, and nice and cool while feeling very heavy at the same time, so it's perfect for our undecided weather.

PHB: Day 11

The wee cotton beanie I knitted in preparation for the new kid has had plenty of wear. In addition to wearing yesterday's olive cardy again, I teamed it with the natural beanie.

PHB: Day 10 (15 December 2010)

Tired boy!

Back from an eventful shopping trip with Mum and Nanna on a dreary day (Summer kinda came and went in early December) the new kid is snuggled up in an olive green cotton kimono cardigan, knitted by my aunty who has also whipped up (and I really mean whipped up, she's a speed demon with a pair of needles!) some matching booties. Awww.

I found the pattern on Ravelry which is an online community of knitters and crocheters where patterns are shared for free or for sale, and you can track your progress on the projects you've chosen and share pictures as well. This was a free pattern that she said took her some figuring out, but I figured I'd never finish it in time so was very blessed that she takes requests.

PHB: Day 8&9

The new kid got a couple of days' wear out of this little outfit: the merino singlet I purchased via The Nappy Network got some more wear, and also a little pair of green gingham pants I made whilst waiting for baby. And yes they're green... in the hopes that they would've suited either gender!

PHB: Day 7

The merino singlet sure is getting a whole lot of wear! And because unlike the wee guy, the new kid isn't much of a spiller so we're getting a lot of wear out of it.

Also today the new kid is sporting some goshorty pants! The old point-shoot camera is giving up the ghost so the colours aren't terribly reliable, but they are elastic waist cuffed pants made from a gorgeous rich chocolate brown cotton ripstop, and cuffed at the bottom with some lovely jade and chocolate polka dot fabric from a fat quarter I picked up at a local pop-up shop.

Doesn't he just look good enough to eat!?

PHB: Day 6

Day 6 was coming home day.

The new kid decided to make a right mess of his first outfit and I'm not moving as fast as I did before, so no pic of baby in outfit but I did get a shot of the handmade bits before he was born.

All snuggled up in his carseat, poking out from the top and bottom of the muslin was a wool and cotton/bamboo striped knit beanie, and little matched cotton/bamboo blend slippers from the Zoe Mellor book.

The slippers look dead cute on... just wished they would stay on!!

PHB: Day 4&5

After the trauma of having yet another heel-prick test done (my babies are pincushions!!) the new kid looks remarkably calm and so cosy in a merino handknitted vest which I scored for all of about $10 plus postage from someone on The Nappy Network forum.

PHB: Day 3

Day 3 was transfer day: from the big hospital in the city with loads of noisy alarm bells going off at the midwives' station right across from my room... to the maternity unit in the 'burbs where I had a lovely quiet room with a shared courtyard right outside (complete with garden, benches and the occasional leaf-blower keeping it beautiful).

Taking up loads of bedspace is the new kid, still sporting the cotton beanie that I knitted, and the lovely cream garter-stitch cardigan my mother knitted - originally for the wee guy but she's as bad as me (or is it the other way around??) at not finishing crafty projects.

PHB Day 1&2 (6-7 December 2010)

Hmm, bit of a delay in getting the photos up. The New Kid's arrival into the world was a little dramatic and traumatic all round so it has taken a few weeks to get back to a tiny bit of normality.

SO! Here's Project Handmade Baby: Day 1 and Day 2

I had a well stocked bag of knitted and sewn goodies along with the staple onesies and gowns in neutral colours, but made sure I had a good selection. And hooray I managed to start right from Day 1!

The New Kid is sporting a natural cotton beanie which I knitted in a slightly generous premmie size, but it's super stretchy and still fits him (phew!). He's also wearing a darling cream wool cardigan knitted by my mum. I wasn't able to move much in the first couple of days so he did wear the same outfit both days.

And yes, it's another boy! Everyone was so sure it would be a girl... I tried not to listen to inklings so would be surprised either way. And I love him.

Project Handmade Baby!

Yay! Launch time!

I have spent much time and effort getting things ready before the arrival of our second baby who will be the model/guineapig/subject for PHB: Project Handmade Baby.

On the occasional blog-hop I've been inspired by different little things. A design student who challenged herself to only wear clothing and shoes made by her for a year. Mothers who challenge themselves to make new things for their wee ones. Mothers who use their maternity leave time to have creative hobbies as their side project ... oh how I miss Mila's Daydreams!

SO! Here's the deal with PHB. Project Handmade Baby: A fun project with creative outlet for me, and also hopefully a chance to introduce you to some of my dear friends who also ride the geek wave and blog.

The Challenge:
Every day for his/her first year of life, my second child will wear at least one piece of handmade clothing.

The Rules:

• 365 days duration, starting from day of birth
• Photo to be taken of what is worn each day
• Handmade clothing includes handknits, crocheted items and sewn garments
  
• Clothing may be full-cover headwear, underwear (including nappies), tops, bottoms, dresses (if it’s a girl), overalls, footwear
• Clothing may be made by me (bonus points), a family member, a friend, purchased (brand new or second-hand), gifted to us, handed down or on loan (bonus points)
• Clothing from mass-produced origin with embellishment by hand is last resort only (eg. A bonds singlet with hand-embroidery, a onesie with appliqué etc.)
• Items may be worn more than one day in a row – it is a baby after all!

Reasons for PHB:

• Inspiration from a conversation: “A baby in (major baby retail label) looks like a little person, but a baby in knitwear looks like a baby.”
• Save money
• Increase my knitting repertoire and skills
• Have another excuse to have some 'Me Time' at my sewing machine, and use up some of my fabric stash
  
• Support local crafty types who make beautiful handmade goodness

So... that's the first project launched, I'm sure you can all guess what the other project I've been working on for the last few months is!

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PHB Prep: Little Shoes

When I was younger I learnt how to knit. Just the one way: needle in, wool around, needle through, stitch off. Mum wrote those instructions on a little square of paper for me and I knitted my first peggy square at age 5. Sure, there were holes and added stitches, but boy was I proud!

Two decades later I'd barely done any knitting, but still retained the little square of paper as a memory.

I decided to try my hand at knitting again. I tried to learn to purl. Fail.

I learnt how to cast on, but was doing it wrong so my cast-ons were terribly loopy.

Thanks to the patient minds and clever hands of mum, my aunty and my cousin's wife, I relearnt how to knit, then I learnt how to purl, and started creating a bit more. Scarves were my staple creative diet.

Then motherhood came. Beanies were made, I even managed to make most of a 3-6mo sized cardigan (shock! horror!) which my mother-in-law finished off for me. Gotta love nimble fingers when I'm a verrrry slow knitter...

When I started thinking of PHB I remembered that my sister a) had told me that "anyone can knit booties" and b) owned the most delicious hard-cover spiral-bound book called 50 baby bootees to knit by Zoe Mellor. I'd marked half a dozen pages with little boots, slippers and funny footwear to put in my order for my the wee guy 2 years earlier but as my super-busy sister hadn't quite finished any I thought I might just try my hand at knitting booties. (I know the spelling's different... I like it my way!)

WELL I have since knitted at least half a dozen pairs, gifted two to friends' daughters and put some aside for PHB. Pictured is my favourite pattern - some simple contrast-edged slippers that I've made the most pairs of. I used some alpaca-virgin-blend wool and edged it with 12-ply felted lambswool. They're deliciously soft and are a beautiful deep brown, and although the wool sheds a bit it was sooo lovely to work with.

More soon.

Newest Project... a little taster

Again, sorry, my bad for being non-existent in the world of blogging. I've been busy building up to my 2 new projects!

Soooo I'll give you a taster of one of them.

"PHB" (I'll tell you very VERY soon what PHB stands for, promise!!).

During a conversation a long time ago (months? perhaps over a year ago?) with a teaching colleague about dressing little ones, we were talking at length about how lovely it is to put something on your baby that you, or someone you know, has made for them.

This colleague and I share the experience of having babies prematurely who then spent time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. When you reach the milestone of them leaving the incubator for a thermacot or open bassinette, you get to raid The Closet - which had me tickled pink! This is the closet where they keep all the clothes you can dress your babes in while they're still "inside". There were oodles of beautifully knitted cardigans, vests, bootees and beanies from crafty and generous ladies all around this fair city... and I will never forget finding the teeniest (mismatched) set of white and lemon knitted goodies to dress my son in. His first outfit (apart from the cotton all-in-one jumpsuit) looked snug and sweet, and represented hours of busy fingers, working needles and wool into sweet little garments for our precious bundles.

A lovely NZ young'uns retail giant whose name sounds kinda like 'Bump'n Catch' makes some beautiful baby garments and clothing for kidlets, and we have both had mixed success with the long-term durability of their clothes despite them generally always looking pretty darn cool when you put them on. There's something about a little boy in little dungarees! I digress. As usual. It's also kinda fun to turn up to coffee meets or check out friends' Facebook photos and say "Oh my (insert gender here) has that (insert garment here) too, isn't it CUTE!!!".

Soooo after this conversation about "Bump'n Catch" and handmade garments/blankets, I kept having a piece of it repeating in my head like those lines of songs that can bug you all day. (Or if you're a singer like me, it'll bug you, your spouse, kids, friends, etc...!!) "A baby in "Bump'n Catch" looks like a miniature kid, but a baby in knitwear looks like a baby."

It got me thinking.

A few weeks later my own fingers started getting busy with needles and yarn. Then a few more weeks later I had a really great idea for a new project. Then I stumbled on a few blogs whilst blog-hopping (geeky I know, but I love a good blog-hop once in a while!) that helped me flesh out a few details for the project. Then a few more weeks later, I had a really good reason to kick-start PHB.

I've been knitting (I'm very slow...), sewing, scouring second-hand sales when I am let loose from the house, and gearing up for PHB. Despite warnings from well-meaning family that it might be too much hard work while the other 'project' is kicking off, I think I'm prepared enough for the start date in the next couple of weeks.

More soon.


(Picture at the top shows the wee guy wearing my first ever attempt at a beanie, which I made whilst holed up in a hospital room before his imminent, early arrival. Very therapeutic job it was. I showed EVERYONE who came to visit me.)