First, the booties. Because they are SO CUTE! Oh my goodness, I could hardly handle the cuteness. I had been wanting to make the Lovebug Booties pattern by Carrie Bostick Hoge for years, and when I found out that my sister was pregnant I bought the pattern and started searching through my sport weight yarn. I had some Sincere Sheep yarn that was naturally dyed in blue, and I knew I wanted to use it because it was left over from a hat I had knit for her and I thought it would be special to use the same yarn to make something for her baby.

I also had a skein of green yarn from The Dye Project that I thought would pair beautifully with it. (We were booth neighbors with The Dye Project at the Starlight Knitting Society during the Rose City Yarn Crawl, and I brought that lovely green skein home with me.) On a sidenote: the name of the colorway is Riptide, so every time I look at that yarn I think of the song “Riptide” by Vance Joy, which is a long I love. (Check out “Fire and the Flood” too, another song of his.)

I started with some grey yarn I had in my stash, but the results were turning out wonky because it was knitting up more like a fingering weight yarn. So I frogged that first booty, and picked up a skein of sport weight yarn at Cozy. (Imperial Yarn Denali, in Pearl Gray, 50% wool, 50% alpaca.) That skein was really soft with the alpaca in it, and was a great match- size wise- with the other yarns, so the results were much better.

I finished knitting the booties in time for the second baby shower, in Iowa. And I also finished up another sewing project, which I’ll show you next. (I paired the handmade gifts with a wooden maple baby rattle/teether from our friends at Earnest Efforts. I’ve mentioned them on the blog before, they make such great baby gifts.) Now for the sewing project…

These little baby pants were project #3 I made in my sewing class over the summer. (You can find the first project, napkins, here. And the second project, a drawstring bag, here.) I went to JoAnn‘s in town one day to pick up some thread and found some organic cotton fabric on sale. (Cloud 9 Organic Cotton, I think it’s discontinued now.) I was immediately drawn to a fabric with apples and a fabric with fish, and thought they would go perfectly together. That gave me an idea. I had a few pairs of double-sided pants for my son when he was little, that a friend had made, and they were some of my very favorite pants ever.

I brought a pair of the double-sided pants to sewing class to see how they were constructed, along with a pair of baby pants in the size I was wanting- to make a pattern from. Luckily, my sewing teacher was excited about the challenge, figured out how to make them, and took me through the process step by step. I don’t know how I would have done it with without her, she made it possible for me to make them. It was a project that challenged me, but babies sure do inspire us to make all sorts of things we might not normally tackle, don’t they? I was so pleased and so proud of the finished pants! I love the fold-up cuff along the bottom in the contrasting fabric. I really liked how well the pants and knitted booties went together too.

I’m already in love with this little nephew of mine, due in December. (Yes, they know the gender now- my sister and brother-in-law are having a little boy!)

And you know what? I do believe this is my very first post with knitting and sewing together. I’m excited- I’m sewing! I’m really sewing!!

P.S. All these crafty posts lately would make it seem like that’s all I’ve been doing, but in truth I’m finally sharing my pictures of many months’ worth of making things. As it is, I pretty much only do any sewing when I make it to class. I like to squeeze in a little knitting before bed most nights, but if there is a fiber festival that we are preparing for I keep my hands busy tying buttons on cards and set my knitting aside for sometimes weeks at a time. I wanted to mention all of this because if you feel like your schedule is too busy for making things, I get it! Our schedule is busy. For starters- we homestead, homeschool, travel for work, and make a living in a way that requires a lot of work… but I am proof that little pockets of time here and there do add up, and then you have finished handmade things to enjoy and to share. Making things brings me joy and I’m grateful for the little pockets of time I do find for it, even when it’s challenging to do so. I’m curious- what are your favorite creative outlets and how do you make time for them?