Stepping Outside of the Yarn Aisle

I've been crazy busy. Every time I take one of my certification exams, I put off all of the things I want to do, and just study for a few months before the test. Then, in the last few weeks before the test, I start making lists in my head of all the things I want to do. Here is a selection from the last May

* Get back into playing piano
* Practice my Spanish
* Learn Latin
* Learn Mandarin Chinese
* Learn French
(There are a few more languages there just for kicks)
* Sew some more
* Learn embriodery
* Actually update my blog.

Obviously I'm failing at that last one. I've made baby steps with the piano, and learned a few words of Latin. But I've made some progress on the craft front. Done a little embroidery, and some sewing.



These are some burpcloths made for Jackson, my new nephew.

There are two that are made from cloth diapers, using this Chickpea studio tutorial. There's a Thomas the train one, and one with this cute yellow bee fabric that I thought my sister-in-law would love.



There is a modified version of this Homemade by Jill tutorial. I added a layer of batting in between, although that made it a little too thick. The back is some blue felt.





There are more burp cloths and some bibs in the works for the little one.

Don't worry though, there is still knitting going on here at Casa de Nerd. And a joint effort between hubby and I to make a light box, which will greatly improve my picture taking... and hopefully the blogging.

Catch Up Post: Random Baby Gifts

So, in early spring this year, there was a small baby boom in the people around me. People at work, ladies at the knitting group, and even our neighbors were popping out babies. Must be something in the water.

Of course, these new arrivals mean: baby gifts. I made a few.

First, three different burp cloths. The pattern is the Baby Genius Burp Cloth, from Mason Dixon Knitting. The yarn is various shades of Peaches n Cream. I used size 4 needles to get a really tight fabric. These are very pretty and absorbent.







Next, some booties.

The "Free Baby Mary Jane" pattern by Lucie worked in Lane Cervina Madrid Solid gives these







So cute and interesting construction.

I also used the Jimmy's Baby Bootie Set pattern, and the same yarn, to make these.



Also cute, but in my opinion this yarn has a bit too much definition for the pattern. It looks a little wonky.

And lastly, a Baby Bib o' Love (again from Mason Dixon Knitting, and in Peaches n' Cream).



I paired up these gifts (everyone got two), and got some takeout containers from Micheals.

This set went to Deborah from the knitting group (recipient of Super Secret Project #2) who had a baby around Easter time.



These booties (and the pink burp cloth) went to our neighbor. I don't know what colors they like, so I just went with lots of color.



That table is our dining room table. Can you tell that this was during exam season? I wish I could say it wasn't always covered by study materials and/or my sewing machine.

And, for this last set I had no cute takeout container, but I did have a model help me out.



Don't be too hard on Indy, he was having a bad face day. I only did this because he kept getting into the pictures I was trying to take. clicky

In other news, May 19th was a pretty lucky day for me, I passed my exam! Which is good because that one's done, but bad because I have to start studying for my next one, which is a bitch.