Halfway Point

Yesterday was my 20 week appointment and baby sure has grown!!  Jake was able to get the day off from work so he went with me.  We got to see the Jelly Bean's arms & fingers, saw his/her little face & ears, and saw lots of squirming around. 

Jake really loved hearing the heartbeat (it was his first time to hear it) and my favorite part was seeing the spine & little fingers.  We decided that we would not be finding out the gender; Jake was adamant that we not find out and I didn't really mind either way. The only bad thing about it was that we didn't get to see the toes, but we'll have plenty of toe time in a few months.  :)

Defined shoulder muscles & alien face.

At one point baby even gave us a thumbs up!  I can't wait to meet this kid!

We got some great mail this week too.  One of our Facebook friends sent us this adorable crocheted cowboy hat & boots!

For our little cowboy/cowgirl

And I got (most of) my birthday yarn!  I was able to catch The Plucky Knitter's latest update and picked up a couple colors I've been lusting after for a while now.  Lincoln is a gorgeous copper that I think will become another honey cowl.  The honey cowl was actually my first knitted project, after my learn-to-knit washcloth.  It's a great scarf, but because I didn't know how to use stitch markers yet the pattern is a little wonky.

Plucky yarn: Lincoln on Primo sport

I've also cast on a baby cardigan and hope to have progress pictures later this week.

Pregnancy-wise, I'm often tired, have achey joints, & trouble sleeping, but for the most part feel pretty good.  And the energy spurts I do get are great!  We're having Jake's aunt & uncle over for Thanksgiving next week so there's a long list as to what still needs to be done, but it's slowly getting smaller.  At least I can always close doors to hide messy rooms!

Make it With Wool

Have you heard about the Make it With Wool Competition?  It's a national all-ages competition to promote the use of wool fabrics & yarns and encourage the handmade arts.

There's even a "made for others" & "designer" category.  Or you can enter your wool accessories and housewares.  Anything made from wool!

Sorry for the dark pictures, the lighting in the room was terrible!

Niobrara County entries

Each participant also received a 2 1/2 yd piece of gorgeous Pendleton wool!  Many of this year's entries were made from prize wool from previous years.

One of my favorite outfits was this shawl/skirt set.  Fringe can often go so wrong, but I think she did a beautiful job.  And matching the plaids on a pleated skirt?  Amazing!

I LOVE this cape!  The blue buttons & hand dyed lining really make this garment extra special.

My entry was the Miette cardi I shared a few weeks ago.

When I was talking to the judges about my garment I couldn't tell if they were going to judge it well or not.  They seemed impressed, but I wasn't sure how it would do once they picked apart the construction.  As you can see (below) they loved the look & loved the construction as well.  Or maybe they just didn't want to hurt a pregnant girls feelings.  ;)

Mine was the only knitted garment entry so I automatically am qualified for the state competition, but after the wonderful feedback I received today I hope it does well in a few weeks too.  This is the wool I received!

Flowers on the snack table

Beautiful autumn arrangement

If you like sewing or knitting with wool be sure to contact your local university extension office to get the info for next year's competition.

19 1/2 Weeks

It's been several weeks since our last baby bump pictures.  I honestly didn't think we had grown much, but looking back obviously there's been quite a change in the past couple months.

Sun reflecting off snow on the ground makes for squinty eyed pictures

Wednesday is my 20 week appointment & ultrasound, where we may or may not (probably not) find out the gender of the munchkin.

I say "probably not" because I prefer bright gender neutral colors over pink and blue, and am worried that I'll get into that boy/girl mindset if we find out.  I've decided to use the rest of my pile of Stitch Organic (used below for a Holiday in London duffle) for the bedding & nursery accessories.  There will also be maps and a mythical creature or two around the room as well.

Holiday in London duffle, pattern by Bari J using Stitch Organic fabric by Betz White

I have lots of green, orange, brown, & raspberry yarns for clothing and toys.  Yesterday I cast on a Young Einstein cardigan using MadTosh LEDK in Deco Green.  Since it'll be early spring when the Jelly Bean arrives I like the idea of having a couple wool sweaters for picture time!  :)

Our Family

I was cleaning out some pictures off my computer yesterday and came across a ton of old photos I had forgotten about.

Here is a short history of our little family.

Moving to Wyoming, May 2008

When Jake & I moved from California to Wyoming, he and Festus (red heeler/border collie cross) had been best buds for 8 years already.  Festus quickly became my tail and now I can't leave the room for more than 5 seconds without him following me!

Jake's co-pilot

Family of 3, summer 2008

That summer we got Lotte, a blue heeler/kelpie cross.  She was the most friendly & cuddly of the bunch so she came home with us.  She is definitely a daddy's girl and would go to work with Jake every day if she could.

July 2008

Can you tell which dog is from California & which is from Wyoming??

In October 2009 we got married & Jake got me Cord the Corgi as a wedding gift.  Cord's name came about when Jake was cutting up some firewood for the house and Cord kept grabbing the large pieces of cordwood that were breaking off.  Some of the pieces were almost as big as him and watching him play cracked Jake up!

October 2009

Cord has many nicknames including Bullit, he's actually surprisingly fast when we wants to be; The Princess, see picture below (he tucked himself in); and Kitty, because he thinks he's a lap dog but technically the dogs aren't allowed on the furniture.  Though we'll break the rule occasionally because he's fairly small.

Ours dogs are pretty great!  And between their middle of the night "business" breaks & perpetual toddler-like communication I think I'm at least somewhat prepared for the arrival of our little Jelly Bean in April.  I hope the dogs like the new addition!

Summer 2012 photo session

Festus

Lotte

Cord

A Snowy Saturday

I know that the western Rockies got a LOT more snow this weekend than we're getting today, but any moisture is welcome these days.  I love snow days, they call for candles burning, curling up under a quilt with my knitting, the dogs on the floor at my feet, & a hot apple cider.

Jake's mustangs, El Gato & G (in the background)

Snow dog, Cord

I recently rediscovered my Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT & am very excited to start learning how to use it properly!  I hope to be sharing plenty more pictures this winter.

An FO and a WiP

Today I wanted to share 2 projects that I'm really proud of.  The first is my finished object (FO), my first knit sweater.  It is the Miette cropped cardigan by Andi Satterlund.  The pattern is very well written & easy to follow.  I love the raglan sleeve and the subtle lace detailing around the edging.  I had a little trouble figuring out the button band & neck band, but I got some advice from friends on Ravelry and after that it was a piece of cake.

I used Brown Sheep Nature Spun worsted in Silver Sage.  The yarn was very nice to work with and the color is a beautiful grey with a green-ish tinge.  You don't even notice the green leanings unless it's next to another grey.  The buttons are shell buttons that I picked up from the LQS in Douglas.

Goofy picture, I know, but it shows the detail of the sweater nicely

My second "project" is a work in progress (WiP) for another 6 months....

11 weeks, 6 days

Yep, that's right, we're expecting our first child in the beginning on April!!  Yesterday I got to hear the heartbeat for the first time.  I did get to see the little jelly bean dancing on the ultrasound 2 weeks ago, but hearing the heartbeat & movements was very exciting!

Now it's time for me to start making baby things!  :D

Craft Book Month: Birthday Board

When Lindsay with Craft Buds invited me to participate in the Craft Book Month blog hop I was so honored I couldn't possibly pass it up!  I immediately ran to my sewing sanctuary & started flipping through all my books.  

Then I remembered the birthday board in Sweetwater's Simple Home.  For a couple months now I've been thinking that I need a better way to organize friends' & family's birthday because my computer calendar just isn't cutting it.

This was such a quick project!  Even for me, a slow sewist, it only took about an hour from start to finish.  From cutting to hanging on the wall. 

I chose one of my favorite prints, Lizzy House's pearl bracelets, for the pockets & Kona Snow for the background color.  I thought about embroidering the months on each pocket, but I decided instead to use the colors to represent the months.  January is cold & snowy (blue) and July is hot hot hot (yellow - sunshine).  You get the idea!  :) 

I'm not really loving the frame, but I was having a heck of a time finding the right size frame for this project (18" x 14") and found this one on clearance.  Score!  In the next couple weeks I'll probably end up pulling out my mod podge & Lizzy House jewels and make the frame a little less shiny and a lot more fun!

Now to find the perfect scrapbooking cards to slip into the pockets with everyone's birthdays!

In it's new home next to my quilty puzzle & inspiration board

 The big draw of "Simple Home" when I first heard about it was the wonderland they created to show off their designs.  When I look through the pages of this book it makes me want my entire home & world to be handmade and I love having this book as a kicking off point.

 There are projects for every room in the house, including the laundry room and the office!

My next project will be the Large Tie Pillow cover using one of my favorite Tula Pink Prince Charming prints.  It's going to be dreamy!

Thanks for stopping by on this amazing blog hop!  Below is the schedule for the rest of the month.  And be sure to link up your own craft book project at the end of the month.

Week One 

Sunday 9/2: Hopeful Threads / The Jolly Jabber

Monday 9/3: Stitchery Dickory Dock / Me Sew Crazy
Tuesday 9/4: Olive & Ollie / Sew Sweetness
Wednesday 9/5: Fabric Seeds / The Busy Bean
Thursday 9/6: CraftFoxes / Stitched In Color
Friday 9/7: Katie's Korner / A Prairie Sunrise

Week Two
Sunday 9/9: Sweet Diesel Designs / missknitta's studio
Monday 9/10: Sew Tara / Clover and Violet
Tuesday 9/11: Sew Fantastic / amylouwho
Wednesday 9/12: Projektownia Jednoiglec / Two More Seconds
Thursday 9/13: Ellison Lane Quilts / Don't Call Me Betsy
Friday 9/14: Live a Colorful Life / LRstitched

Week Three
Sunday 9/16: Fairy Face Designs / Canoe Ridge Creations
Monday 9/17: Inspire Me Grey / Freshly Pieced
Tuesday 9/18: Lindsay Sews / The Cute Life
Wednesday 9/19: The Littlest Thistle / Sew Crafty Jess
Thursday 9/20: Urban Stitches / imagine gnats
Friday 9/21: Sew Bittersweet Designs / The Plaid Scottie

Week Four

Link up your craft book project at Craft Buds from Sept 23-30 from your blog or Flickr account, and enter to win prizes. Winners will be announced on Monday, October, 1!