Several months ago, I had Crackpots, which was at that time local to Des Moines, make me a set of three little teacups. I love them! I asked them to make me teacups just the right size to fit in my hand, in natural colors, and this is what they came up with. I love them and have been enjoying drinking various herbal and rooibos teas out of them.

Personally, I throw everything in the washer (on hot) and dryer (on high) as soon as it gets home before folding it and storing it neatly on the shelf with other similar fabrics. That way, when I decide I want to use a particular fabric, I don’t have to wait while it washes and dries. Plus, nearly everything I make is washable - I assume customers are going to wash it, and that they probably won’t be using the gentle cycle. So I treat the fabric as harshly as I can when prewashing it - if it’s going to fall apart in the laundry, I’d rather it fall apart here!

But you can head on over to True Up and read up on the pros and cons of prewashing.

Just listed over at Etsy. I made this in the last week of my pregnancy - this white Tshirt had been a secondhand purchase during my first pregnancy, and I didn’t wear it at all this pregnancy, and since I learned how to tie dye, nothing white (or light colored) is safe around here!

In case you’re wondering what’s going on from a business standpoint, I continue to list a few new items every week at the Etsy shop. Mostly totes, some tie dye, baby shoes, baby leg warmers, and some soaps.

I’m not really making any new items for the store right now, I’m spending any crafting time I do have finishing up Christmas presents, and then I’ll focus on restocking Wallypop!

On a more personal note, I finished up a new winter scarf for Wally last week. He really likes it, and I hope it helps him to feel special during this time when he’s feeling a bit left out and unimportant. And he is absolutely NOT going to look at me taking a picture of him in his scarf. And he’s not going to smile, either. So there.

I wanted to make something special for Wally among all the baby hulabaloo, so I cast on this simple scarf for him. It’s knit from two yarns, two rows at a time, in a mistake rib pattern. I chose two thick-and-thin yards (both Moda Dea Cartwheel), a gray and a bright variegated. I love how they’re blending together.

Definitely head over to Sew Mama Sew for this year’s Handmade Holidays daily inspiration. I cannot believe it’s time for this again!

As I’m about a week behind on my blog reading, I’m just now reading about Amanda Soule’s (of SouleMama and The Creative Family fame) new project, Mama to Mama. It’s about combining craft and activism, and using our craft to improve the lives of others. Please check it out.

The first project is Caps to Cap-Hatien which involves making simple newborn hats for mamas in Haiti. A great project to use old Tshirts!! More details available at the Mama to Mama website.

PS, anyone in the Des Moines area who wants to participate, I am planning to send a package of hats in early December, and am happy to include your hats in with my package.

So, experiencing a somewhat drawn-out early labor and wanting something to do that wasn’t too strenuous but was interesting enough to keep me occupied, I cast on this pair of fingerless mitts. I got just past the thumb on the first one before I couldn’t focus enough any more to knit. I finished them up over the next several days while nursing or while Genevieve was sleeping.

I originally made it according to the pattern, but then decided I wanted it longer over my fingers, so I doubled the length on both fingers and thumb. I love it longer like this, but also have the ability to fold it down if I want more air for my fingers! I used Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted in Icehouse. About half a skein.

Have you made it over to Ravelry yet? I finally requested a log-on about a month ago and have really enjoyed it so far. Patterns galore, a great place to store information about projects past, present, and future. There’s also a great sense of community, with numerous groups and message boards. I haven’t had much time to participate in this aspect, but am loving having a good place to keep project notes and ideas for future projects!

You can look me up here.

No political posts here. No commentary about the election. Nothing. You’re welcome.

(I say this because nearly every. single. craft blog I read has felt it necessary to make some sort of disparaging comment one way or the other about the election and I’m so sick of election crap that I really don’t want to read about it on CRAFT blogs.)