Finished Projects

This is going to be a very picture heavy post of all the things that have been keeping me busy on these rainy fall days. Some have been completed for quite a while and their pictures have been hanging out on our Flickr page, so sorry if this is repetitious. I have been doing more creating than blogging obviously...

First up, a diaper wrap in a soft organic merino wool, left over from another project gone bad.

As the cold weather set in early, I got to work on a new hat for Noah. It came out a tad small, but he doesn't seem to mind.

I also made him some matching mittens using a pattern from the Winter 2009 issue of Living Crafts magazine. These were my first felted project, meaning I knit them big and sent them through two wash cycles in the washing machine to shrink and felt them so they are nice and thick and warm. I added some ribbed cuffs and the ever important string to keep them together.

Whenever I get sick of my other larger projects, I take a few hours and knit a baby sock. They are easy and instant gratification. These newborn size socks are knit from Knitpicks fine merino wool. I also made a handy little baby sock blocker out of an old plastic lid.

Probably my biggest baby project, started way back in May before we even knew we were expecting another baby is this blanket made for a special little great niece that will be arriving around Winter Solstice/Christmas. After knitting a blanket for Noah, I vowed to never knit another blanket because they take soooo long to finish, but my want to make something special for this baby must have overcome that vow somehow. I made up the pattern as I went along but it is inspired by a baby blanket I saw on another blog last year that was also knit for a Solstice baby. My version is knit from Knit Picks Swish, a washable merino wool in a color aptly called 'Sunshine' (which also happens to be the color of this baby's Mama's blankie when she was a little girl). Knit from the center out, I started with snowflake lace, then moved on to the falling stars, more snowflakes and finished it off with feather and fan for a nice ripple boarder.

Up next, some more baby hats. This newborn size hat is knit from super soft Manos del Uruguay merino wool and silk blend.

I had enough yarn left for some matching cabled newborn socks. I still need to make the other one...someday when I am sick of whatever else I am working on.

This hat was made for one of Curtis's coworker's baby girl, Aurelia. I added a crocheted flower to this one for some extra girly-ness. It was fun knitting for a girl for a change!

Finally, my biggest sewing project so far was a Mai Tei carrier. We didn't really need another carrier to add to our collection of wraps and slings, but another blogging mama was kind enough to share her pattern/tutorial so I just had to try it. The main fabric is from Amy Butler's Midwest Modern collection. It was a great learning opportunity, and I made friends with my Grandmother's old seam ripper due to my sewing machine's refusal to sew through many layers of padding and fabric without getting jammed up every inch or so.

This particular pattern features a hood that can be worn up to support a sleeping baby's head or folded down as a neck rest.

Daddy and Noah were kind enough to put it on for a quick demo.

As I near the end of my 'To Make for Baby" list, I am working on a hat, mittens, and sweater for myself (!), as well as a lacy scarf for my wonderful midwife. Oh, and then I will be starting in on Noah's Christmas present. I guess the lists never end!

Back to work now...

-Jen

Our 100th Post

We started this on-line chronicle of our personal family life just over a year ago and we've now come to post 100 entries. We hope that you've all enjoyed the belly laughs, the handmade projects, and the corners of our home as much as we did while we discovered them along the way. With Noah beginning to explore the many wonders of the world, Jen becoming more lovely as ever, and another little miracle on the way, it's exciting to see what the future has in store for our family.

Thanks to all who have visited our blog and supported us this past year. We hope you'll continue to check-in from time to time; we'll do our best to share whatever exciting news we can. Just know that you're always welcome to visit Our Quiet Place.


-Curtis

Pile O' Leaves

Today was a sunny, crisp, fall day. It seems we have had very few of those sorts of days this fall, sprinkled amongst many cold, rainy, gloomy days. Those gloomy days have allowed me plently of time to work on my 'knitting/sewing for baby' list, but not much time for playing outside. Noah and I took advantage of today's beautiful weather by going for a walk to a nearby park so he could play in some leaves, as we don't have any trees in our yard mature enough to produce a pile large enough to actually play in. There we found a big pile ready to be jumped into!

As it turns out, Noah wasn't too interested in playing in the leaves. After it was clear that he was not going to move beyond a few tentative kicks around the edges of the leaf pile, I figured he just needed some encouragement and picked him up and plopped him down in the middle of the pile. He was not too thrilled. He spent a good amount of time trying to figure out how to get up without actually having to touch the wet leaves. Sometimes, he really is his father's son.

He did eventually make it out of the pile. And the first thing he did when we got home was drag a stool over to the sink to wash his hands.

He is probably hoping for more cold, gloomy days...

-Jen

"Pumkin Buddy"

Ah, the air is crisp and cool once again. Trees are turning colors, Jen is knitting hats, and pumpkins are in need of carving! That’s right; it was time to go pick out our pumpkins for this year’s Halloween. Awesome!

It was a good year for growing pumpkins, despite rumors due to the dry summer weather. Noah and I hopped out of the van and darted towards the pallets of pumpkins. We quickly glanced at the trailers of smaller pumpkins and gourds, but then decided to race towards the larger Noah-size ones. How were we to decide?

We wandered amongst the pumpkins for awhile. There was a rather special pumpkin sitting on one of the trailers. We had to be sure to take that one home with us.

We finally picked out the ones we wanted, thanked the local farmers, and my ‘Pumkin Buddy’, Mom, and I headed home.

-Curtis

Simplicity

Sometimes we need to take a step back and think what life would be like if it were more simple. Noah often challenges us with this very idea daily. As he continues to try to learn and understand the English language, he decides to take a simpler approach when speaking. Why have multiple words to describe the same basic concept? If you say a single word often enough, people will begin to understand all of the many different connotations behind it. Maybe it's his way of procrastinating at such an early age.

For instance, here are a few words in which Noah decided to generalize:

• Cold: An extreme temperature change; either hot or cold.


• Car: Anything that has wheels OR makes a loud grumbling noise, such as a vacuum, lawn mower, or a bike.


• Bees: A non-smooth, often abrasive, texture OR maker of pain; Also, any insect, spider or creepy, crawling object.


• Down: Any movement in a vertical direction.


• Moo (Cow): Any object that has light color with dark spots, such as a cran-raisin muffin or a wedding picture of a couple on a beach with black lava rocks.


• Sauce: Any mushy substance, such as oatmeal or yogurt. As in "Goodnight comb, And goodnight brush, Goodnight nobody, goodnight sauce."


• Call: Any object that resembles a phone, can fit in the palm of your hand OR has multiple buttons, such as a remote control, calculator, or fingernail clipper.


• Bobbo: Any object that resembles a rabbit, such as kitten, squirrel or mouse.

Although we often smile and hold back from laughing when he looks so seriously into our eyes and mentions one of these words with dramatic hand gestures, he has a point. Sometimes we try too hard to get our point across. It's true. A single word can have multiple meanings and it's often more effective spoken alone.

• Love: Noah, Jen, Baby, Chocolate, Family, Life

- Curtis

Kefir Bread

I get bored using the same bread recipe over and over, so I like to experiment with new recipes every couple weeks. This may seem obvious, but I can tell just how good my latest bread baking attempt is by how fast the bread disappears. For instance, the millet bread (birdseed bread, as Curtis called it) lasted a long time, and ended up literally going to the birds. A couple weeks ago, I was in a hurry and skipped a punch-down and rising (Mom said she used to do it with fine results). The bread ended up pretty holey and crumbly; not very conducive to sandwich making. There is still half a loaf from that batch in the freezer. That brings us to this week's recipe: Yeasted Kefir Bread.

Kefir is a cultured, enzyme-rich food filled with friendly micro-organisms that help balance your "inner ecosystem." It contains many more probiotics than yogurt and supplies complete protein, essential minerals, and valuable B vitamins. Kefir's active yeast and bacteria provide more nutritive value than yogurt by helping digest the foods that you eat and by keeping the colon environment clean and healthy. Because the curd size of kefir is smaller than yogurt, it is also easier to digest. This past week, I have started making our own kefir. You can read more about the process here. The flavor is a bit tangy by itself, but it can be used in many ways.

Noah and I have been enjoying kefir fruit smoothies for breakfast. He loves them! Kefir can be used in recipes as a replacement for buttermilk or plain yogurt. That brings us back to this week's bread...
Interestingly, because of the active yeast cultures in the kefir, it only took one packet of yeast to make three loaves of bread. It looks and tastes good so far (I always get the first slice warm out of the oven while Noah naps...yum!). We will see just how long it lasts. I am pretty sure Curtis does not know that it has kefir in it (until he reads this), though he was a bit suspicious after he sampled it when I asked if this batch was acceptable.

-Jen

Knitting for Baby

This past week I finished up a couple more knit projects for the new little one. My "To Make" list is pretty long, and this is just the start of it! First up, a new wool diaper cover pattern, this one with velcro. I have never sewn on knitting before and was a bit afraid that sewing the velcro on with the sewing machine would mess the whole thing up, but it didn't turn out too bad. I think I will make some more of these, as I much prefer wraps to trying to wiggle little baby legs into pull-on soakers.

The other project is a spring jacket, my first ever Baby Surprise Jacket (probably the most popular pattern by Elizabeth Zimmerman, designed in 1968). The yarn is Noro Silk Garden Lite, a squishy blend of silk, kid mohair, and lamb's wool.

Once again it was difficult to find a gender neutral colorway. I ended up settling on this one because it reminds me of springtime; mud, new green grass, and lilacs and tulips in bloom. I actually finished knitting this one a while ago, but just got around to seaming up the shoulders and sewing on the buttons.

Now back to knitting...

-Jen