Work In Progress Wednesday should be changed to WorkSSSS in Progress Wednesday.

Currently, I’m in the middle of reading THREE books - Down Came the Rain, Glorious Appearing, & What Every Mom Needs - as well as a few knitting projects for Christmas - finishing up a blanket for Eleanor & a couple stuffed bears for Lilli & Corinne. Eleanor has also grown so fast that I am also in the process of knitting her some new longies.

So which project to post? My first bear has come along the fastest and is almost complete, so I’ll choose that one:

As you can see, I still have a few details to finish on its feet & other hand.  To give it a little more personality, I’m going to knit a scarf. I’m quite happy with the way it looks; I will admit that I was a little doubtful, at first. Before I added the nose, eyes, & ears, it looked like I had knitted a person with a really bad tan. Thankfully, it now resembles a bear

What have you been working on?

Woo Hoo! It’s Friday! I really don’t have anything to post, other than the fact that I am so excited to spend the weekend with my crazy nutty family!

What Eleanor did while I went to get a diaper from the dryer...look closely...lol

Corinne in her new knitted longies.

Lilli using her towels like "a big girl."

A good morning message from my hubby :)

And since I hardly post pictures of myself...why not. (Next time I should wait for the steam leave...lol.)

Work in Progress Wednesdays have been few and far between. BUT- here’s an update I finished a pair of shorties/longies (depending on what age I put Eleanor in them) for the baby & am now working on a pair of longies for Corinne.

I think I’m due for one of Mrs. H’s WIP (Work In Progress) Wednesdays. “This is going to be short, so pay attention.” (Quoted from Father Rynne, a priest at St. Martin de Porres Church, before he began a sermon - I’ve just always wanted to say that).

This week, I finished a soaker for Corinne:

She was in a bit of a *mood*

And now I’m working on a pair of longies for Eleanor. I’m so excited about these because I’m using Treliske organic merino wool that my friend, Vicki, so generously gave me “to try.” A BIG thank you to her!

So it’s already finished, but I will be working on many more knitted hats to give to the hospital when I deliver Eleanor. They can always find a soft newborn head to warm and besides, I like knitting them. They’re so cute! I realized that I ran out of pink and wasn’t going to head out to the store for a few more days, so that’s why this first one is blue. Unless Eleanor turns out to be a boy, this one will be donated. I used Fran’s Baby Hat pattern, but decided to add a pom-pom at the top (I’m a stickler for details). This knitted up fairly quickly, is super soft (I used Bernat Baby Coordinates), and will grow with baby since its knit 2, purl 2 pattern will stretch - woo hoo!

It’s been a while since I did a WIP…but better late than never!

* Since my last WIP, I have completed Eleanor’s longies, as well as some shorties (will post pictures later…probably much later…maybe in a few days…lol). I even decided to make some blue shorties for Corinne. I really like the Tiny Birds pattern and will most likely stick with it for all my longies/shorties projects. So really, I’ve been quite productive in the past month with my knitting
* Thanks to Mrs. H, I tried out Super Cook, where you input the ingredients you have on hand and it will generate a list of recipes that you can make. I came across this recipe and thought I’d give it a try:

Candie’s Bakery-Style Crumb Coffee Cake

Ingredients
* 3 3/4 cups flour
* 1 3/4 cups sugar
* 1/4 lb butter (softened)
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 eggs
* 1/2-2/3 cup milk (I ended up using 2/3 but had to bake for 45 mins)

Topping
* 1/4 lb butter
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 2 teaspoons cinnamon
* 1 pinch salt
* confectioners’ sugar (for dusting)

Directions
1. Mix together in a large bowl flour, sugar, baking powder, salt; and set aside 2 cups of this mixture for the topping.
2. Add butter, eggs and milk and mix well.
3. Grease and flour a 13-inch rectangle baking pan.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. For Topping: Take the 2 cups of reserved flour mixture and add to the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.
6. Mix together with your fingers until blended and lumps begin to form when you squeeze the mixture making small pea-sized crumbs.
7. Cover the entire cake with crumbly mixture.
8. Bake for 30 minutes. (Again, I used more milk, so I had to bake longer)
9. When cooled, dust with confectioner’s sugar.

I forgot to take a picture before sending this to work with Michael, but I’m sure I’ll be making it again since my “taste test piece” was scrumptious!

* Our garden seems to be doing well, especially three of our broccoli plants that are in a “Poppa Earthbox.” The others in the individual pots, well, aren’t doing so well. The tomatoes,of course, are growing like there’s no tomorrow. Hopefully we’ll begin to see some results! Honestly though, I’m not too worried about the garden this year…I have too many other things to think about…such as….

* Eleanor. I had my weekly appointment yesterday and everything seems to be right on track. My blood pressure was 119/79 (which didn’t mean a darn thing to me, until I saw this chart…way to go me!). I was surprised that I lost a pound since last week (which brings my total weight gain to 24lbs), but the doctor measured my tummy and said baby was measuring great. I have about four weeks to go, but part of me thinks I’ll deliver within three weeks. Thank goodness my bag is packed and already in the van!

WOW! It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, let alone written a blog about a “Work in Progress.” Lilli has had a stomach bug going on four days now. (No worries yet though. Dr says it has to run it’s course…just keep her hydrated and rested) At first she didn’t think it was all that bad - what kid doesn’t like to relax, watch movies, & get out of doing chores? Especially since we had rain ALL weekend. Now that the sun is out again and that she had to miss a gymnastics class, Lilli’s getting “frustrated at the “buggie” in her tummy.

I, however, have had a little bit more time to sit and knit. I finished a soaker for Corinne and started on some longies for Eleanor. Let me tell you, I’m so excited about this longie project because:
#1 it’s my first attempt at longies
#2 they are knit on FLAT (woo hoo!) needles
#3 the designer has been so thorough that I don’t think I could mess this up (yes, I’m woo hooing even more now).
They are knit in two sections, a right and left side and sewn down the front and back. I’ve finished one half already and can’t wait to start the other side. I know I have a couple more months until Eleanor makes her debut, but one can never be too prepared
Since Lilli has also had some *down* time, she has joined me in knitting. For her birthday, her grandfather sent her a weaving kit to get her started. (I personally love this because it’s a great tool for hand-eye coordination). She’s been having a blast “knitting” and is in the process of making a pillow for her stuffed animals. She’s finished one half of the pillow…all that’s left is the other side, some stuffing, and them mom to sew the halves together.

Until next week…

Short and sweet “Work in Progress” Wednesday:

I knitted a wool diaper soaker for Corinne:

And am in the process of knitting one for Eleanor…I thought this looked more purple in the store, but it looks a little more blue at home…either way, it will serve it’s purpose

I was originally using BumGenius cloth diapers for Corinne..until I bleached the PUL layer out of them…whoops! So much for “following the directions.” I’ve decided to switch to the “old fashioned” way of cloth diapering - prefolds and soakers. I like this way MUCH better: (1) because I don’t have to handle the dirtiness of the diapers as much. With the pocket diapers, such as BumGenius, you have to separate the insert from the pocket, which I found to be too messy, and then wash both. This way, I just toss the prefold into the wash…after flushing the “dirtiness” out of the soiled diapers, of course. The wool soaker is lanolized so it repels moisture and therefore does not need to be washed…unless it gets soiled somehow. (2) I have found that the wool soaker allows baby’s skin to breathe more than when covered with a PUL layer. (3) I LOVE knitting the little soakers!

For more information about how and why to use cloth diapers for your little one, click HERE.

Oh - I’ve learned to “control” my bleaching addiction

Knitting…it’s a learning process.

I had made Lilli’s tank as I went along and it fit her quite nicely. Corinne’s tank is a different story. I completely made her tank WAY too small…it wouldn’t fit around her pudgy tummy to be sewn up the back. But rather than tear it all out and start over, I decided to improvise. I had some left over white ribbon and thought adding some bows might add a little more “girly-ness” to her tank, since there was more green than I had thought there would be. So instead of sewing up the back, I laced it - perfect for those hot summer days spent playing outside in our backyard (this won’t be something she’ll be in around strangers…lol). I also added the ribbon to tie around her neck. With a few more tweaks, I think this will be a better match for Eleanor next summer, but at least Corinne can get a season’s use out of it first

I’m going to take a break from tanks and begin working on some soakers for Corinne & Eleanor’s cloth diapers. Stay tuned!

It’s been over a week since I blogged…tsk tsk. BUT- I finished Corinne’s dress AND Lilli’s tank (I made this tank up as I went along: used #2 straight needles, alternating knitting and stockinette stitch - four rows each, and then knitted the upper chest area. I used a little under two balls of Cascade Dyed Fixation Effects in Parfait ) I know, I went nuts. I also finished book # 9 in the Left Behind Series, Desecration. Great read…now onto book # 10: The Remnant. So I guess those aren’t really “Works In Progress,” but our vegetables are! Our snap peas, broccoli, & carrots are thriving! I can’t wait to transplant them into the garden this weekend (and get my window sills back!). Our strawberries have begun to sprout, but I’m still waiting on the tomatoes. We’ll see what this next week brings