Moving....already

Because I was tired of typing out by blog address on every comment I left, I moving here:

http://oldfashionedgirl83.blogspot.com/

Should I have any loyal readers (HA!) you can follow me there!

04:18 - Thursday, October 18, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment

Baby Clothes

Or maybe this would be better titled:  "In which I find I'm too cheap to buy (new) baby clothes."

Darren has a ton of baby clothes, very few of which I've bought new (those I have bought new were almost exclusively on sale).  Most of his clothes have either been given to me, sold to me by a coworker very cheap (50 cents/item), bought at rummage sale, or bought at Goodwill.  Yesterday, though, in trying to find something for him to wear, I discovered that he has very few pants.  No problem, I thought, I'll run to Kmart and pick up a couple of pairs.

Apparently, I had no idea what baby clothes really costs!  I bought three pairs.  The pair you see above is the only pair I'm keeping.  They were $4.99, which is what I expected to pay.  The two other pairs are going back today.  While they were on sale, for $7.49, they are normally $10.99/pair!  I cannot be alone in thinking it's ridculous to spend $10+ on something he's going to wear two months.  (The fact that I am currently pregnant and plan to have many more children is irrelevant, as far as I am concerned.)

I was content (though far from thrilled) with the $7.49 price, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized how stupid I was being.  Here I am, a girl with more sewing machines than I can shake a stick at (5, at last count).  Here I am, a girl with more fabric than I know what to do with--and a good chunk of that fabric is denim!  Here I am, a girl dozens of children's sewing patterns that I have yet to touch!

So today I dug out my trusty Kwik Sew's Sewing for Baby and traced out master pattern 16--a very basic pair of elastic waist pants.  I'd love to say that I got 3 pairs sewed up today, but alas, tracing is as far as I got.  The pattern is a very simple one, though, (as I knew it would be), and I hope to get at least one pair, if not two, sewn tomorrow. 

What I like best about sewing my own is knowing that I can put an extra-long hem on them.  (The pattern calls for 2"; I plan on doing 4".)  Since my boy is already tall and seems to be growing far faster length-wise than width-wise (which is a good thing, I suppose!), this seems like a very practical plan. 

In totally unrelated news, I recently discovered the world of "mommy" podcasts.  I newly subscribed to a couple this morning, and while I haven't had time to listen to them, yet, I'm looking forward to hearing them on my many trips in the car.

In school, I was always lousy at writing conclusions to my papers.  It looks like I'm still bad at writing conclusions.  Some things never change.

03:51 - Monday, October 15, 2007 - comments {3} - post comment

Contests and Rummage Sales

Before I start talking about me, let me tell you about a fabulous chance to win this:

Just hop on over and visit Crystal at Biblical Womanhood, leave a comment, and you'll be registered for a chance to win one of the ten copies she's giving away.  Now ya can't beat that with a stick!

On to today's regularly scheduled post....

As a lover of all things old-fashioned, I'm especially enamoured of old patterns.  A couple months ago, I hit a great bargain at a rummage sale:  two large boxes of vintage patterns (some from the 30s!) for $5.  I didn't think I could top that.  Until this weekend.  Click to see what I found:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8755889@N04/sets/72157600503073303/

(As well as a couple of pictures of a dress I sewed.  I would have posted the pics on here, but they were too large.)

And what do you suppose that bounty cost me?  The worldly sum of:  FREE!

I did buy a few other things there as well:  some scraps of fabric that should work well for a baby quilt, some baby yarn (that I definately do not need!), and 3 sewing books.  My grand total?  $1.  The yarn was the most expensive, at 50 cents.  I sure broke the bank there, let me tell ya.

I'm sad to see rummage sale season winding down, but thrilled with some of the bargains I'm finding.  I suspect poor Darren doesn't even know what it's like to wear new clothes .

I hope to get some baking (chocolate cake and bread) and cooking (fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy) done tomorrow, so I should have some delectable pics for ya then.

03:05 - Tuesday, October 9, 2007 - comments {2} - post comment

We have a sock!

But, notice the key word in the title:  "A."  Yes, I have a sock.  But, what a sock!  It's the Eleanora sock, available at Mim's Knitting Frenzy. Though I can normally knit a pair of socks pretty quickly (a basic ribbed pair in a month or so), these were unique for a couple reasons:
1.)  You have to admit, it's a pretty detailed pattern.
2.)  I started them a month before I was due to have Darren.  Not the most brilliant move.
So between a detailed pattern and a new baby, these socks didn't see much action between February and September.

A notable detail about the sock:  I did alter the pattern.  The pattern calls for size 0 and size 1 needles, and CO 78 sts.  I know from experience, that on size 1 needles, I need about 60 sts, not 78.  That was going to be WAY too big.  A friend, who was also interested in the pattern, but had misgivings about the sizing.  We both emailed the pattern writer, asking if there was anything we could do to size them down, and were both given similarly rude responses.  The gist?  WE must have weird feet, because they fit her just fine.  So after much talking between ourselves, we decided the only thing to do was to go down in needle sizes, to 00 and 0.

I'll admit, I was nervous.  I mean, really.  00?  Forunately, the 00s are only used for 10 rounds in the facing.  After that it's free sailing (well, relatively).  I was also a bit apprehensive about the end result.  Did I really want to knit a highly detailed pair of socks, on size 0 needles, only to find out that they didn't fit?  Fortunately, my misgivings were unfounded.  The sock fits beautifully, and I'm thrilled with the end result. 

Now, I just need to get cracking on that second sock :)

05:14 - Monday, October 8, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment

A Bit of an Intro

I've had a blog on here before, but it was pretty short lived.  I'm attempting to revive it again ;)

A quick intro:  I'm Amanda, 24, engaged to Ryan, my boyfriend of almost eight years.  (The wedding is in late December.)  We have one eight month old son, Darren, and we are expecting our second in late February.  We plan on moving in together sometime before the wedding.  (Something I'm normally against, but in light of our family, it seems like the most logical choice.)  As of now, we are each living with our respective parents, though I spend most nights at Ryan's/his parents house.  (Not an ideal situation, admittedly.)

My hobbies are the traditional old lady ones.  I love to bake, cook, knit, sew, quilt, and collect old cookbooks.

Oh, and since so many people in real life think it's bizarre, I do cloth diaper.

Okay, enough intro.  How about a real post?

04:27 - Monday, October 8, 2007 - comments {0} - post comment