So now I knit!

You may have noticed I haven't posted anything in a while. Why is this? Because I am a freak and when I get a new project in my head I don't let go until I have drained every last ounce of life from it. The project of the moment: Knitting soakers and longies! Oh yes, didn't you know I was 67 years old? Wool diaper covers kick ass, but they are stupidly expensive so I learned to knit. Take that 60$ Llamajamas! Look what I made:

I made this soaker from a decaying old pattern book of my Grandmas. I have no idea what it's called and it kind of sucks because the crotch is too narrow and doesn't cover a diaper completely.This one is from a free on-line pattern simply called Jenny's Soaker. It was easy, but it's not pretty.

These were my first longies. Made from the Tiny Bird Soaker Pants pattern. I liked them so much I made two:

Then I made some more soakers, but I looked at a bunch of free patterns then picked out which parts I liked and simplified the whole thing and came up with my very own EdenSky original soaker pattern. TaDA! I'm totally having visions of opening my own etsy shop now. My dorkiness knows no bounds, but dude I made these!

Why yes, there was a sale on burgundy and teal wool, why do you ask?

16$ for babylegs and huggalugz? I think not.

Here's how you can make your own funky and functional baby leggings instead of making an ass of yourself by paying for the same babylegs everyone else has.


1. Get some woman's knee-high socks. This size fits my baby and my 5 year old equally well.












2. Chop off the heels and toes so that you're left with 2 tubes, one long and one short.











3. Take the shorter tube (formerly the foot) and fold it into itself so that you have a ring 2 layers thick. This would be a great cuff, if only babies didn't have such cute little feet, but since they do: you have to make it tighter if you don't want it falling down over their toes.









4. Cut out a strip about 3/4 of an inch wide, then sew the ring back together. Adjust this depending on how chunky or skinny your baby is.
Once it's sewn back into a ring turn it right side out, so the seam is on the inside.










5. Take the long tube (formerly the leg) and flip it inside out. Then insert the cuff you just made into the cut end so that all the raw edges line up. Now you have a tube 3 layers thick at one end.

6. Sew the 3 layers together all around the ring. Stretch the fabric as you go to make up for the fact that the small ring is narrower than the long one and to keep it stretchy.

7. Reach into the long tube and pull down the cuff and voila, a legwarmer. Repeat steps 1-7 if your child has 2 legs.

P.S. the cuff you made goes at the bottom, Daddy still has trouble with this part.

How to dye wool with kool-aid

I really like cloth diapers (Not in a kinky way you freaks) I especially like bamboo diapers with wool covers, although my stash includes just about every other type of diaper on the market, and for those of you not familiar with the world of cloth diapering that's A LOT.



The best combo for over night is a Bamboozle fitted diaper with an Aristocrats wool cover. Mooch has been sleeping in this set-up since she was about 3 months old. The only problem is this team is pricey: 20$+ for the dipe and 30$ for the cover. Therefor I have exactly 3 diapers and 1 cover that I have used in rotation for the past year. Now, after a year of being used almost every night my Aristocrat was getting decidedly yellowed (why, oh why do they only make them in white anyway?) and the regular Eucalan wash and sunlight treatment just wasn't cutting it anymore. I was scared to use bleach or oxyclean on an expensive cover so I decided to take some kool-aid to it and refresh it that way.



The results:

I think it looks great.

So, here's my method so I can remember it for later:

Get a big pot of room temperature water. Add 2 packets of Kool-aid in your choice of colour, but remember that the colour of the packet does not necessarily represent the colour of the juice. I don't actually drink Kool-aid so I was a little surprised to see red powder come out of the bright blue packet I had picked out but I figured what the hell, red's cool too. Mix until the powder's all dissolved. Do NOT add sugar. Add a bit of vinegar. Put in the wool (or any other natural fabric). Stir until the fabric is saturated to prevent colour pooling. Put the pot on the stove and turn on low heat. Stir every few minutes. Gradually increase to medium-low heat. Heat changes must be gradual in order to prevent felting. Keep stirring occasionally. It's done when all the colour has left the water, or for those lacking patience like myself, whenever you think it looks good or when you're tired of stirring, but remember it will look a bit lighter when dry. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Gently squeeze out excess water and hang or lay flat to dry.

TA-DA looks like new. Better than new if you're not a fan of off-white.

The disappointing part is that I really can't fit Mooch into this size small any more, but hey, it was a learning experience.

Next project: Making Goober's hair purple with the packet she picked out.