Made by Mandi.

Thanks to my pal Ashley at LetterKissed, I'm working on some "business" cards.  Inspired by my bib-scribble from C.'s shower...

This...

...will become something like this...

...but much tidier.  The real thing should arrive any day.  Not sure who I'll give 'em to, but you never know!

Baby Uggs

They've been gifted, now they can be posted :)  For all the deets, see my "Pacific Grove" post...

Peaches is going to be the coolest chick on the block in these things!

xoxo.

Baby Sweet-Pea

Thanks to bekahknits, the Baby Moc-a-Socs have a girlfriend...

(Baby Sweet-Pea).

Despite the blackberry-quality photos, still quite cute, I think.

Knit in the same fashion as the Baby Moc-a-Socs...and with the same yarns, Baby Sweet-Pea can be adapted for different sized tootsies.  And since the inner sock has all of that ribbing, I'm hoping they'll stay put.  A wise friend recommends sewing a elastic inside the top edge of the sock to keep these anchored on little feet.  I forget sometimes that baby knits are made for real, live, squirmy infants.  You mean babies don't lay around all day sleeping soundly and looking angelic?  WTF!  Auntie Mands has a lot to learn...

xoxo.

Pacific Grove

Yikes!  I guess I've had Blogger's Block! A whole month with nothing to share??  One would have thought that May 2010 was a horribly boring, uncreative 31 days of my life.  But actually, it was quite the opposite.  I have been knitting up a storm, and have even taught myself to crochet (although that was technically a June event...more on why it's been classified as an "event" later). 

A highlight of my May was a trip to California to visit some very special friends and celebrate the upcoming delivery of a very special baby.  Here are the deets:

Pacific Grove, California - "PG" to the locals - is the hometown of my wonderful friend C. (who happens to have an *amazing* food blog).  I've been so lucky to have C. on the East coast for the past 7-or-so years - her friendship is a true blessing in my life.  I've also been lucky to have the opportunity to travel to "PG" once or twice to see her 'hood and celebrate some important events. If you've never been to PG or the Monterey peninsula, you should probably just stop reading right now and hop onto orbitz or travelocity or kayak.com or...something!  You are totally missing out.  It's beyond ridiculously gorgeous...blue water, rocky coastline, abundant succulents of all shapes and sizes.  And the people - creative, friendly, open-minded.  I mean seriously - take a look:

Heaven!

PG is also home to Monarch Knitting and Quilts, a great yarn shop nestled into downtown with a huge supply of cool stuff.  C. has asked me to knit/crochet her a pair of these, which she found on etsy (twist my arm!!) - they are baby versions of these knitted Uggs...and are so irresistable. Her little girl is going to look so freaking cute sporting these things!  I like the crocheted version MUCH better than the knit version (hence the crochet "event" that pretty much consumed my life last week) and have been committed to producing them with perfection since I was charged with the task.  I'm happy to say that after several botched attempts, and a few sleepless nights, I finally have a finished product and can now call myself a (beginner) crocheter!  (And certifiably OCD).  I will post the pics in a few weeks, after the mini-Uggs have been gifted to my dear C. (and baby Peaches).

C. and I spent some time together at Monarch the morning of her baby shower and she picked out the coolest yarn for these booties.  It is made by women in Bolivia and distributed by a non-profit called Frog Tree Yarns - a company which imports eco-friendly, fair trade, hand crafted items from South America, primarily Peru and Bolivia.  Their website tells their story - check it out, and ask your LYS if they carry their stuff.  If they don't, they should.  We found a blue-ish gray sport weight Alpaca which worked out perfectly.  C. also picked out some adorable buttons that give the booties a girlie twist but keep them funky. I can't wait to post the pics!!

The trip to Monarch was only one highlight of my California adventure. I got to spend lots of quality time with my friend P., who recently relocated from Boston to Santa Monica (and whom I miss dearly), and C.'s baby shower was beautiful, fun, and so darn creative!  Her friend A. hosted the event and is brilliantly creative - (check out her stationary company) so the shower was full of clever details.  So inspiring!  The icing on the cake is that I even got to make a pit stop in Chicago (thanks to an airline snafu) to see N. and baby Lilah!!!  What a treat!!!  I'm still buzzing...

I certainly didn't think that this blog would evolve into being all about baby knitting, but that's just where I'm at right now I guess (er...I mean where my friends are at! Don't get too excited yet Mom!!)

I'll leave you with this:

xoxo.

Baby Benton in a Pea Pod

Isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen?  This is Benton, the newest addition to my dear friend Kate's family.  I can't wait to meet him!  Here he is in a "baby pea pod" that I knit for his mom's shower...he's the perfect model!  So snuggly! 

There are many versions of the baby pea pod by many different designers - if you do a quick search on google or ravelry, you can find one you like best.  The pattern I used is by Paige Marecle - I found it on Ravelry but you can also purchase on Etsy by clicking here.  It's a piece of cake, with some simple decreases to create the pod shape.  I used a neat yarn called Blizzard by Reynolds.  It's a soft alpaca blend that can be hand washed without too much trouble.  Try it, you'll like it!

Dragon Skin Wrap (for babies)

One of my VBFFs (very-best FF) is having a little girl!  I can't wait.  She lives in Chicago, so I haven't been able to see her much but she sends picture updates so we can keep tabs on her growing belly...and her absolute *glow*!  I wanted to make something sassy and stylish for the little lady, and the Dragon Skin Wrap has both written all over it.

The pattern is from Interweave Knits, and can be seen and/or purchased here.  I used a soft, yummy baby yarn called Baby Boutique from Plymouth Yarns.  It's machine washable (always a plus for baby gear) and was great to work with.

It's a fun pattern, but definitely kept me on my toes.  I knit up a few swatches until I was comfortable with the dragon skin pattern repeat and that was a big help.  I also consulted the web more than once - there is an error in the original pattern that needed to be corrected and a few techniques were new to me.  The decrease on the front edges was tricky and certainly requires undivided attention!  There was a lot of counting and a lot of adjusting in order to keep the pattern intact while getting the detailing accomplished.  The end product is worth it - and I hope that the little lady likes it!  Her mommy looks beautiful in bright colors like this - and I know that baby O will be just as much of a stunner.  Like-mother-like-daughter!

Love you NMO!!  Can't wait for the littlest schmicky!

Moc-a-Socs

If "adorable" could walk around on two feet, it would definitely wear these booties!  I was hoping that my finished product would be as precious as the photograph on the pattern...and I think I got pretty close!  This pattern is from bekahknits.com and can be downloaded for a small price - totally worth it!  I'm going to start a baby girl version today...stay tuned!  I love that my friends are expecting little munchkins.  Knitting for babies is tons of fun.

These were made on US 2 needles and are started by knitting flat, then seaming up the back and bottom.  The inner sock is added by picking up stitches around the moccasin opening and knitting in the round with 4 dpns.  I used a machine washable sport weight wool from a Norweigan company called Dale.  The sock is made from a fingering weight yarn so that the gauge is a little bit tighter.  This way the little suckers don't fall off your baby's kicking feet!  So smart.  So cute!