The Sheepy Pants pattern is finished! It's very comprehensive, has optional instructions for 3 waist bands, 12 cuffs, and 2 gussets, completely with a ton of pictures. It is 22 pages long, and it's 38 meg, yikes! I'm hoping making it a PDF will make it smaller. It is so big that right now it's too big for me to email to my DH to make it into one. But as soon as that's done, it'll be available on etsy. Yay!
Questions from the comments
Some people have recently asked what a soaker is and what a soaker sack is.
A soaker is a wool diaper cover. It replaces PUL or vinyl diaper covers. It is not water "proof", in the sense that if you get a pitcher of water and pour it in, the water will run through the knitting. But unlike other fabrics, wool will not wick liquids. So unless your cloth diaper is so wet that it's dripping (in which case, it's WAY too wet anyway) the wool will keep whatever is outside dry.
Wool also has lanolin in it, which has the wonderful chemical ability to neutralize urine. Which means that until the lanolin in the soaker is used up, it won't smell.
A soaker sack is like a little skirt. It works the same way, but it just goes around the waist and hangs down over little toes. These are generally just used for the first few months, often at night, because newborns have wiggly, and often uncooperative legs and it's just easier to pull up and pull down, without having to worry about putting legs into leg holes.
I've also been asked how to dip dye. You can see how I did it here.
As for how I do the embroidery... well, I don't know how to answer that. I learned how to embroider from my grandmother about 30 years ago. I've done it occasionally over the years to add decoration to things, denim jackets were fun. I've adapted to work over knitting. If it's a simple design I just do it free hand. If it's complex like the fairies I sketch what I want on knitting graph paper (they are little rectangles instead of squares). and use that as a guideline. Duplicate stitch is a good way to fill in large spaces. The Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework is a book I've had for decades and still refer to it regularly for stitch ideas.
A soaker is a wool diaper cover. It replaces PUL or vinyl diaper covers. It is not water "proof", in the sense that if you get a pitcher of water and pour it in, the water will run through the knitting. But unlike other fabrics, wool will not wick liquids. So unless your cloth diaper is so wet that it's dripping (in which case, it's WAY too wet anyway) the wool will keep whatever is outside dry.
Wool also has lanolin in it, which has the wonderful chemical ability to neutralize urine. Which means that until the lanolin in the soaker is used up, it won't smell.
A soaker sack is like a little skirt. It works the same way, but it just goes around the waist and hangs down over little toes. These are generally just used for the first few months, often at night, because newborns have wiggly, and often uncooperative legs and it's just easier to pull up and pull down, without having to worry about putting legs into leg holes.
I've also been asked how to dip dye. You can see how I did it here.
As for how I do the embroidery... well, I don't know how to answer that. I learned how to embroider from my grandmother about 30 years ago. I've done it occasionally over the years to add decoration to things, denim jackets were fun. I've adapted to work over knitting. If it's a simple design I just do it free hand. If it's complex like the fairies I sketch what I want on knitting graph paper (they are little rectangles instead of squares). and use that as a guideline. Duplicate stitch is a good way to fill in large spaces. The Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework is a book I've had for decades and still refer to it regularly for stitch ideas.
Bugs...
Well I don't know what happened, but several of my posts were saved as drafts but not appearing on my blog. Which is odd, because I swore I checked and saw that they were posted earlier, but something weird happened.
*scratches head*
Anyway, they are back, now, hopefully, so go read those and that will keep you busy until I have time to take pictures of some new finished objects, and update my sidebar stuff. I will just say that the mis-crossed cable was fixed (32 rows back) as well as the matching one on the other side 3 rows lower. I really can't imagine how I got that far past it without noticing.
*scratches head*
Anyway, they are back, now, hopefully, so go read those and that will keep you busy until I have time to take pictures of some new finished objects, and update my sidebar stuff. I will just say that the mis-crossed cable was fixed (32 rows back) as well as the matching one on the other side 3 rows lower. I really can't imagine how I got that far past it without noticing.
Damnit Damnit Damnit
Enough said... I think.
It was inevitable...
Sunday afternoon I drove down to Franklin, Indiana, to the Hoosier Hills Fiberarts Festival with my oldest daughter and a few of my Indy Mad Knitters friends. (I'm linking to it, but it's almost not worth bothering, because even though the fair is already over, most of the pages still say "coming soon". Suuuure they are...)I took these 2 pictures before I was apparently so overcome by the yarn and fiber fumes that I completely forgot to take any more.
My oldest there in the green dress, watching a sheep get sheared.I suppose it was inevitable that when I took my 9 year old to a fiberarts fair that I ended up with a pound of roving. I'm sure I'm going to end up playing with it, too.
Half a ound of Coopworth from Buerer Sheep Farm (sadly, not on the internet). And a couple of smaller quantities of dyed Romney. I also picked up some felting needles and some Ecological Wool at a great price. DD also got a new latch hook and a lucet from Sistermaide.
Now I have to get her to a craft store so we can make a drop spindle.
Embellishments
Here are final pictures of the 2 custom order shorties I just finished. I LOVE them and I was sorely tempted to say something horrible befell the fairies so that I could put them in a frame on my wall instead of give them away.
Fairies Shorties
Yarn: Custom dyed 100purewool plus a variety of whatever I had around wool for the embellishments
Size: Custom
These were special ordered by a friend who said surprise me!
Believe it or not I had more problems with the mushrooms than the fairies.
Camping Shorties
Yarn: Local
Size: newborn
These were special ordered for a shower gift. She asked for an outdoors/camping theme.
It's a picture heavy post, but I think they're worth it!
Fairies ShortiesYarn: Custom dyed 100purewool plus a variety of whatever I had around wool for the embellishments
Size: Custom
These were special ordered by a friend who said surprise me!
Believe it or not I had more problems with the mushrooms than the fairies. Camping ShortiesYarn: Local
Size: newborn
These were special ordered for a shower gift. She asked for an outdoors/camping theme.