Tiny footprints

A couple of weeks ago I caught up with my local Ravelry buddies for a knit-in morning.  Normally I take it as a rare kid-free adventure, but this time Madelyn came along and was ever so quiet that she may even get to come again so that Austy can have some special Daddy time.  I really enjoy sitting down with a cuppa, some yummy treats and some like-minded Mums for a catch up while we share what projects we are knitting and yarns we are working with.  I am so used to knitting on my own, when the kids are in bed, that it's refreshing to talk knitting with real live people!  Not that I get much knitting done, but I come home feeling happy and relaxed, which has to be the main thing.

Anyway, this time, as I pulled out my latest project, someone asked "What tiny thing are you working on today Joy?".  I loved that I was able to shock them with "It's not tiny - it's somnething for ME!" as I pulled out a cardigan I am working on which will hopefully be my first me knit (other than a few socks/scarves) since my first jumper disaster when I was 15! Okay, so it was actually tiny as I hadn't gotten very far.  I haven't had much knitting time until just recently, and I thought I could get some done this week while I have been home sick with the flu, but unfortunately I could only fathom a few rows at a time, as my asthma is playing up and has lead to a nasty chest infection so even knitting is taking it's toll.

Finally with some antibiotics in my system, last night I decided to pick up a tiny project, and a crochet hook instead.  I love that these tiny things are so quick to do, and therfore not a huge amount of effort.  Great little in-betweener projects or for times when the bigger knit I am working on is just a bit too much.  I still can't crochet much more than a tiny hat, but practice makes perfect, right?

When I'd made the hat, I realised it was the perfect shade of pink and the just the right size to go with the little smock I had made a while ago for Angel Baby Nappies.

So this morning, while we stayed warm and dry inside (both Austy and I are on antibiotics now, thanks to the flu Maddy brought home from childcare), I made a matching little nappy.  So now it's a complete set for a 22-24w gestation preemie.  All ready to add to the other odd nappies and hats I have made for charity.  Since I know I can't make huge amounts of these becasue I just don't have the time I'd like to be able to do that much, instead I am going to try and put together a few special matching sets, and try and spread them around to a few different charities.

I couldn't resist that lace on the bum!  It was a little piece I had left over from the liberty top I made Madelyn a couple of summers ago - too small fro anything but too pretty to throw out.  I am so glad I kept it now - it fitted perfectly across the width of the nappy - meant to be!

(Oh and I can't take credit for the crochet blanket - that was Austy's baby rug, now claimed by Maddy, made by my beautiful Nanna)

Last Minute School Holiday Sewing

Austy had a school holiday assignment to restock his pencil case.  He complained that his pencil case was smaller than everyone else's and he wouldn't be able to fit much new stuff in there, and expressed a desparate need to have a pocket to keep his sharpener and eraser separate.

So yesterday, after a trip out to Officeworks to get some more stationery, I decided that we would make him a new pencil case with a pocket.  This was such a last minute decision that I didn't even have the right thread colour (and hate the messy look of the contrast navy stitching) but he doesn't mind at all. And better still, I recycled the bottoms of Andrew's jeans to make it (having recently cut off an hemmed said holey-knee jeans by request).  Austy is facsinated by the idea that something old can be recycled into something new, so it adds to the charm factor for him.

What I did, was applique his name and attach the pocket and zip and then pinned it together inside out for him to sew.  He had no idea what he was sewing but he followed my directions, and sewed the outside edges.  Then, when he turned it right side out, the beam of excitement when he realised he'd juist "made himself" a new pencil case, was priceless!

 

And an update on my preemie doll - I have decided he's a boy doll now that he has hair and limbs attached, but no idea what I will call him.  I don't want to use the "angel"names like Gabrielle, or Angelo because I think of this as a doll of a live baby.  Sometimes making tiny garments and knowing they are for little angels can be quite sadening, so I have given this little guy some colour in his cheeks and lips to make it a nicer process.  Name suggestions welcome!

Finally, a very rushed photo (since she can't stand still!!) of my last project of the Summer (finished late February), an Olearia shrug for Madelyn, made from white cotton I had in my stash for several years.  I have a bit of a backlog of projects that I will be adding in here whenever I feel like it needs an extra photo or two! 

Little things

 I haven't had much time for crafting, let alone blogging lateley, but when I have had a few spare minutes to myself, I have been working on tiny things to donate to Little Angels Memory Boxes for grieving parents of babies born too soon. I like that I CAN achieve something with the small amounts of time I have, and that at the same time, I can make a difference in someone's life, to help make an unspeakably sad time just a tiny bit easier.

To help me with my pattern design, I have been creating this little preemie doll, sized at 22w gestation. It is filled with plastic beads so it has soime weight, and has a loose floppy neck just like a real preemie. I have used Sandy Eding's Preemie Doll Pattern which has fabulous instructions and photos to make things easier, but for any budding doll makers out there, it is quite a bit more fiddly than I first imagined. I guess I should have started on something a bit bigger for my first cloth baby doll!

I was going to make a smaller baby, as it's the smaller angels that seem to be uncatered for in the preemie market but then I thought better of it looking at the pattern pieces, and realised 22w was going to be fiddly enough. The limbs are just sitting there at the moment, waiting for me to get to the sewing shop and buy some upholstry thread to attache them, and the toes need sculpting.

I am not sure if this is a boy or a girl baby yet, so haven't decided on a name. I would be happy to take on suggestions, and this baby will be my model for designing and showing new micropreemie items for LAMB and Angel Baby Nappies. The set photographed on the baby is destined for Angel Baby Nappies.

I may be entering this baby in the doll net challenge too, if I can get it finished and fully clothed in time. I know I have no chance of winning, but it's worth a try, even if all it does is promote these worthy charities.

The other photos in this post show a sampling of some of the donations I have made and sent to LAMB over the last few months.