Project Handmade Baby Days 124 - 130 (8-14 April)

ARGH!!  It's 12:45pm and I have TWO sleeping boys in bed... how quickly can I type this so I can actually eat lunch sitting down today?!

8 April: Bark brown sideways knitted jersey.  Nup, still can't be bothered adding the crochet thingies to go around the buttons I haven't put on ... 

 9 April: Pocket nappy of white PUL and red suedecloth with hemp liner (all made by moi), and the duck booties.  LOVE the duck booties.

 10 April: Oh would you look at that?  It's the duck booties again!!

 11-12 April: homemade nappies (you can JUST see a little peek out the side of his onesie), homemade super-soaker bibs, and the awesome blue sideways knitted short-sleeved vest I found for $18 at The Spot (Craft Cooperative in Johnsonville, Wellington). 

 13 April: photo fail.  I was meant to take a pic of the nappy and didn't realise 'til now that I hadn't succeeded.  Oh well.  Pocket nappies made by moi!

14 April: the sideways knitted vest thingie (better view of it now, even with a little crocheted tie around the neck, cute!!).  And yes... handmade nappies.  This black number is the overnap I made to fit over the wee guy's birth-to-potty nappies (which were way too big at birth, and almost too small at almost-potty stage... shopping fail?).


There we have it!  One super fast week's digest... now off to find some lunch that is a bit more nutritionally sound that Eta Upper Cuts.  Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar.  YOMMMMM!!!

PHB Days 117 - 123 (1-7 April)

 1 April: Possibly my new favourite outfit!  A gorgeous Baby Gap striped onesie was sent over from USA from a friend of my mother-in-law.  It is gorgeous on the new kid and it goes perfectly with the kimono cardy and matching booties my aunty knitted.  And my new fave bib too!

 2 April: yeap.  My new favourite outfit.  I even managed to wash the sodden bib in time for him to wear it again.

3 April: A couple of cold mornings called for some warmer clothes (sooo exciting!!) so he got to wear the bark-brown merino sweater I knitted for him and haven't quite finished... but the only thing missing is the crochet loops and buttons to close the neck hole more.  I can't crochet yet.  And he has a big head.  (I'm not kidding - 99.6th percentile big.)

 4 April: same top, same dribble rag (handmade), same favourite cushion for the week, and this time I've added some darrrrling little blue booties that my friend Catherine knitted for him.  He's furiously trying to wriggle them off hence the motion shot!  They're snuggly warm and have a matching hat which is cute as a bean.

 5 April: the new kid is wearing a homemade pocket nappy (hence the big bot look) and the imba bumblebees bib - it's so darling.  He's also kinda wearing his big brother (the wee guy, proudly made by me) who has recently started to 'get his maul on' and likes to cuddle the new kid by lying on top of him and squeezing him.  If they both make it to school age without bursting I'll be relieved.

 6 April: Oh look!  a 100% handmade outfit!  goshorty aeroplanes bib, singlet knitted by me, pocket nappy made by me, and the little booties were a gift from an amazing lady who I was very privileged to support when she gave birth to her baby last year.  The freakin' cute boots have a matching hat too!

 7 April: another knitted singlet... they're being a little stretched out of shape because I simply can't bear to put them away yet.  *sigh* my little one is growing so fast!

Feeding the obsession

The wee guy keeps us entertained and on our toes on a daily basis.  One of his obsessions is with balls - if it's round and rolls, he's a BIG fan.
About a year ago we were driving through a series of pedestrian crossings and the wee guy said in his then-one-year-old vocabulary "Onna baw!!  Onna baw!!" and because I speak toddlerese (or wee-guyese??) I realised he was talking about the Orange Balls: orange ball-shaped lights seen at the top of pedestrian crossing posts.
Surprisingly (har har) this was an obsession that was not going to go away any time soon.  One sunny afternoon six months ago, my mother and I were subjected to protests for more of these, which were then called "Onna baw yights".  We'd taken the 'back' route home from a specialist appointment which took us through the 'burbs instead of via the motorway.
There were bloody heaps of the things.
As soon as we passed one of them he wanted to see the next one, like, NOW.
Gaaah.

So one day when the new kid was treating himself to a really long morning nap, the wee guy was treated to a stroke of creative genius that came to me.  My lovely mother, in all her tidy goodness, had sorted out my mess of gift wrapping supplies and there was a hard cardboard tube that no longer had any purpose in life.

Armed with white electrical tape, an orange ball, a black Super Vivid (permanent marker for non-NZ folk) and a bit of time, I made the wee guy his very own "Owinge Baw Yight".  (We've graduated from onna to owinge.)  He even (and if you know the wee guy you'll know this is a big deal) patiently stood next to me while I made it, and talked to him about what I was doing. 

 I was the most popular person in the world for a blissful few hours!  He even took it to bed with him at nap time.  So cute.

Some days it's an uphill battle.  Most days... I love my job.

Day 100 of PHB - A Special Debut!

The duck feet booties!!  I finished them in early March, and kept them aside so they could be worn for the special occasion of Project Handmade Baby: Day 100.  I found the pattern in my sister's Zoe Mellor booties book and knew I simply had to make them. They attract comments and smiles whenever he wears them which is even more fun.

(Plus they actually stay on his feet really well, even with his best attempts to kick them off, so watch this space for more ducky goodness!)

Days 97 - 116 (the rest of March!)

Unfortunately with life getting in the way, I didn't manage to take a photo each day for the rest of March (13th to 31st) (and occasionally it wasn't helped by having absolutely no idea where the camera was!!), and other days I didn't bother out of tiredness and thinking "Hmm, seen this same outfit a few times before..."
But as I said before I haven't dropped the ball, every day there has been at least one handmade garment or accessory on the new kid, and some days it's been the highlight of my day!  
So that aside, it's not even a digest version this time - it's a highlights version of the remainder of March in Project Handmade Baby!

 Mainstays for March: always in my nappy bag, I had the garter stitch cardy that Mum knitted.  The new kid sweats excessively in his little capsule so he ain't one of those babies you can pull out of the car and plop the capsule down and leave him sleeping.  So once he got out of the capsule, if the weather wasn't too crash hot, he got the cardy.  It still fits - just!  Although the top button doesn't do up so easily anymore.

The other mainstay for March were the blue imba pants which sadly no longer fit.  The new kid got a lot of wear out of them, and even after bombing them a couple of times they washed up well and still look like new.

 The green cotton booties were worn a whole heap (especially as they go with his brown clothes which I can't get enough of).  He's a typical kiwi kid, can't stand anything on his feet, and we have half-pairs of booties all over the house.

 Same with the blue booties - I managed to get a shot just before he kicked one of them off.  With those fiddly little ties they take longer to put on than he takes to kick em off some days!

As I said... blue pants a mainstay, and they match perfectly with the blue booties.

 Lots of fabulous bibs are getting a good workout, including this gorgeous designer fabric one I scored for all of $5 at a Plunket 2nd Hand Sale.  I have a bit of the scooter fabric in the same range but never thought of making a bib out of it... maybe if I experience 'epic fail' with the messenger bag I'm planning I'll make a couple of bibs.  Japanese linen.  Super cute and super absorbent.

 Even more absorbent - my goshorty muslin bandana bibs.  I came up with the idea when the wee guy was teething and it was a dream: they sit under the chin to soak up dribbles, but the muslin gets heavier and shrinks away which cuts down on that awwwful dribble rash.  I still haven't gotten any in the online store yet as they literally sell from my work station (read: dining table).

Ugly fish bib and transport bib... and look, we actually have a pair of booties!

Almost every single day, the new kid has been in handmade nappies too - although I'm building up a stash of fitted nappies as they suit his body better than the pocket nappies (seen left and below, all nicely lined up on my washing line!)

 And my first attempt at an overnap ... it's a little shabby but hey, ya gotta start somewhere right?!  (The overnap goes over the fitted nappies which look a lot like pocket nappies, only the ones we use have velcro closure, and no waterproof outer.  Nappies can be a confusing hobby!)