It's all about the legs

I love little chubby baby legs! Who doesn't? My lovely friend, Kendall, is crazy about these things called Baby Legs aka baby leg warmers. She uses them for her baby girl, Olive, and when I was pregnant with Caleb she told me about them. Luckily, I received some at my baby shower from my other lovely friend, Jana. I was hooked from first use! So, I went online and found that they are 10.00 a pair on sale, which for me is crazy! I don't even spend 10.00 for my own socks. Not even 5.00 a pair. I got to looking at them and I just knew I could make them and that there had to be a tutorial for them somewhere out there in the blogosphere. Sure enough, I found a tute here at Everything Your Mama Made using knee socks. I drove to my favorite store, Target, and picked up six pairs of knee socks for about 14.00. That's a little over 2.00 and something per pair. I was thrilled!

 

Here are the finished ones:

I just love the diamond ones. They are my fave!

Here is my little chunky monkey wearing them:

They make diaper changing a lot easier! 

As you have seen in some of my previous posts, I have started sock knitting again. I am building my stash of sock yarn back up, and I've also been thinking of ways to use up some that I have been staring at for quite a while. I was reading on Knitting Like Crazy's blog about doing a different pair of socks every month. What a great idea! I am currently working on a pair of men's socks from Knitting Vintage Socks for my dad. They were suppose to be for his birthday, but I am way behind on them. Having two little babies and a lot of projects going leaves not a lot of time for knitting. I have made these my February socks, and some knitting during nap time and after they go to bed should have me finishing them before the end of this month. Here is the WIP so far:

Here is a pic of Katie's Valentines jumper. It's reversible. She wore this side to Mothers Day out on Friday:

As you can see, she was so happy to model for me.

Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplins

I LOVE chicken and dumplins, so today I decided I would use the left-over roast chicken from last night and make some. However, it does require a lot of standing over the stove time during cooking, which is not very convenient for me because my babies are waking up from naps around 5 pm. That leaves me tied up changing diapers, filling sippy cups, bottle feeding, etc. I thought about it, and came up with an easy and very very yummy way to make chicken and dumplins in the crock pot. If you do not have a leftover roast chicken, you can use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store deli. This recipe makes about 4-5 servings, but you will probably want to double it if you are going to be serving four or more. It's one of those things that you have to have seconds of!

Chop up 1/2 onion and 2 stalks of celery. Place in crock pot with some baby carrots. Add leftover chicken (I just pull it apart and throw it in). Pour in one 32 oz. carton of chicken broth. Cook on Low setting for 5 hours.
Make dumplins. I use Pioneer mix. It tastes the best. Bisquick is good too. Mix 2 cups of mix with about a teaspoon or two of poultry seasoning. Stir in 2/3 cup of milk. Scoop out by the spoonful and roll around in all purpose flour. Place in crockpot with chicken and veggies. Cook on high for an additional 30-40 minutes until dumplins are fluffy and slightly firm.

These were the best I have ever made, and my husband loves them! We have both had a cold for the past few days, so this was very comforting.

My Review of Playtex 2 Pack Latex Ortho Pro Pacifier - Newborn

Originally submitted at Toys R Us

Ortho Pro pacifiers were designed by dentists not only to soothe your baby, but also to allow for proper oral development. The ultra-thin, wavy stem easily fits between a baby's gums and teeth. The unique, contoured nipple reduces pressure on gums and developing teeth and rests naturally on the...

Playtex 2 Pack Latex Ortho Pro Pacifier - Newborn

Great

By Kristin from Memphis on 1/27/2010

 

5out of 5

Pros: Cute, Colorful, Durable, Comforting, Convenient

Best Uses: Bedtime, Pacifying

Describe Yourself: Medical Professional, Parent of Two or More Children

We love this paci! My son was a green pacifier only baby as a newborn. However, a few weeks ago, he stopped taking the newborn paci but was acting like he still wanted a pacifier. I tried several different ones, and this is the only one he will take. It stays in well, since it is lightweight and the colors are super cute.

(legalese)

I Won!

Last week, I entered the giveaway on Craft Gossip to win The Amy Butler Velma bag pattern, and I won! I am so excited! And, she mentioned my blog and my Etsy store. Yay!!!

I get to make this super cute bag!

Making a knitting chart

I have made my share of color work and stitch work knitting charts on graph paper with color pencils. However, this morning I saw this tutorial from chemknits on how to make a knitting chart in Excel. Pretty cool!

Winding Yarn

It's good to know that I'm not the only one who winds hanks of beautiful yarn by hand. It almost gives me a sense of connection with my project. It makes actually starting it even better by building up anticipation. On her blog A Friend to Knit With, this girl has described a great way to wind your yarn by hand and multi-task by putting the hank around your neck and sticking the ball in your pocket! I am so doing this next time. I do have a couple of hanks of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock that I have been staring at for almost 2 years now. Although I do enjoy the beauty of unwound hand died yarn (I'm the same way with new fabric), it does seem like it's time to put them to good use on my feet. Plus, that gives me space for more beautiful yarn to enjoy. Here's some pics from Etsy:

Beautiful pink and purple from qtrhorse

 

Loving these colors! from Knitting like crazy

I love how this kind of looks like pink lemonade. From Sqwish (isn't that the perfect name for a yarn shop?)

Knitting Again

So excited to be knitting again after a long bout with pregnancy induced carpal tunnel. I am back to knitting socks, which are my fave to work on. I don't know why I love knitting socks so much. Maybe its because it's the portability, or the yarn, or the coziness of it. Or, maybe its because even when it's 100 degrees in the Memphis summer time, I can still knit socks and not be covered up and sweating under a heavy project. In any sense, sock knitting makes me feel relaxed by giving me something to do while sitting still, which is a difficult thing for me.

Being the thrifty wife and mother I am, and due to our current recession, I went in search of places to find free patterns and great deals on yarn. I consulted one of my dear knitting friends and she suggested Knitting Pattern Central. If you are a knitter and you've never visited that site, go now. I found an amazing selection of wonderful sock knitting patterns for free! I spent about an hour downloading and saving all of the PDF patterns. I plan on working these 2 in the near future:

 Air Raid Socks

Tidal Wave Socks

I was also suggested a great site KnitPicks where I found sock yarn for as little as 4.00 a ball. And, I snagged this listing of Brown Sheep Sock yarn for super cheap on Etsy.

Two of my favorite sock books that I own are Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch and Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. The first one is a must for every sock knitter because it basicly teaches you how to design your own socks to fit your foot and your style. I have used it for many of my projects. The second one beautifully reproduces patterns from the 1800's to fit today's yarns and styles. When I knit from this book, I feel a strong connection to my grandmother knitters.