The peace fleece longies are finished! I love how they turned out. I thought I was making them really long so Eleanore would be able to wear them for quite a while, but it turns out I only need to cuff them a tiny bit! My girl is growing so fast it’s unbelievable. She was wearing an 18-24 month onesie on Halloween, and she’s only 7 months!

In addition to knitting, I’ve also gotten back into my other old hobby, which I haven’t done in more than two years. Soaping! I’ve managed to soap three batches this week, and hope to be started selling online again in a few weeks

I posted a few days ago that Eleanore’s first word was hi. Well, her second word is mama.

I’m such a proud mama Jason is mad that she’s saying mama before dada.

The rainbow longies are coming along nicely. I just had to put an order in for violet, so they’ll probably be stalled for a few days, but so far, so good. Here they are pictured on my nightstand, which is just about the only place I get knitting done these days. I knit in bed after I nurse Eleanore to sleep.

I also cast my vote today in the election! I’m excited to feel as though I’m actually making a difference this year, as North Carolina has not swung democrat in the election in 40 years and they just may go democrat this year. I hope my vote puts them over the top!

I think it’s time to knit some more longies. Sigh. She’s just growing too fast. After wearing these only a handful of times, and just now really needing something warm to wear (our high yesterday was only in the 50s), Ellie’s longies are looking more like capris. Remember this post? They were folded over at the waist and WAY too long. I can’t believe that was FOUR months ago. How time flies.

Her Christmas stocking is now finished. I ended up just knitting a basic 56 stitch sock pattern and like the results. I’m not sure how I feel about the embroidered E though. I haven’t woven in the ends of my embroidery yet, as I may pull it out and start over.

Jason thinks I should embroider her full name, but Eleanore is pretty long, and I just don’t feel right putting a nickname on her stocking for some reason. I’ve cast on for Jason’s stocking using red as the main color, but I may set it aside to start knitting Eleanore’s rainbow longies I’ve been planning. I have the yarn all picked out ~ more peace fleece. I initially wasn’t too sure about the peace fleece. It feels a little rough, and isn’t a dream to knit with, but after a few lanolin washes, I love how they’ve softened up. And their story is inspiring, of course.

New milestones: Ellie is doing wonderful sitting up by herself now. She loves sitting in front of a basket of toys and emptying it. She’s also waving! We couldn’t believe it when we had someone over for dinner and when they waved goodbye before they left, she waved right back. Still no crawling, but she’s great at doing push ups and pivoting in little half circles all the way around the room.

It feels as though I was just typing those words about a year ago… That’s because I was. A year ago tomorrow, I posted about settling in after our move to North Carolina. And here we are, a year later, settling in after moving again. Ugh. Moving stinks, especially with a 6 month old!

We decided to take a little break from the unpacking last weekend, and headed up to the mountains to the Sky Top Apple Orchard and to drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The color near Asheville was nowhere near peak, but there was quite a bit once we reached the Grandfather Mountain area. It’s been a yearly tradition for as long as I’ve known Jason, to go to the apple orchard to pick apples. North Carolina apples are good, but they’re not quite as tasty as Michigan apples. Ellie didn’t know any different though:

She is so close to crawling, I don’t think she can get any closer without actually doing it. Showing her skills at the orchard:


We’ve officially declared “hi” her first word. She’s says it back to you when you tell her hi.
The view from the orchard was amazing.

If you’ve never driven the Blue Ridge, my pictures cannot do the view justice. The road is simply amazing. There are hundreds of scenic view turn-offs. We took a short drive last year, and immediately donated to become Friends of the Blue Ridge. So far, it’s definitely my favorite place in North Carolina.

I finished the Hudson Hat, and love how it came out. I think Eleanore likes it, too.

I’ve started on Ellie’s Christmas stocking. I plan on knitting a very basic, green stocking out of Peace Fleece with a red heel and toe. I may embroider her name on the top as well, and I plan on knitting one eventually for Jason with red as the main color, with a green toe and heel.

I got side-tracked, however when I realized that I have no idea what she should be for Halloween, and it’s coming up very quickly. I think her costume this year will be very simple. My plan is a black cat with a black onesie and pants, and I’m knitting her a kittyville hat (using the measurements for the lil devil hat), and an i-cord tail out of cottonease. Not very creative, but at least I won’t be buying her a big silly, expensive costume.

Well, a little someone is awake, so I must go change a diaper.

We found a house to rent near our new property so we’re packing up and moving this weekend! Moving, even nearby, with a 5 1/2 month old teething gal is daunting, but nearly everything is in boxes now and ready to go. Too bad the weather is definitely not cooperating. It’s been pouring rain all day and to add even more fun to the mix, our area is having a gas shortage. Where you have been able to find gas, you’ll also find lines so long they’re blocking all the roads. Most stations have been out of gas completely. Joy.

I have been knitting this week, and surprisingly, it’s not longies. I bought the Hudson Hat pattern, for a no-brainer moving is stressing me out project. So far, it’s coming along well, although Ellie seems a little worried.

Maybe she’s worried that it’s a little big.

I’m making the toddler size since I figured it would be better to have it a little loose so she can wear it longer.

In an effort to be more green, I joined the Ditch the Disposables Challenge for September and October.
I’m planning on (once again) making the switch from plastic bottles of water to using my siggs, and using family cloth. I’ve been very lax lately in both of them, and really need to get in the habit again. For my new ditch, I’m going to stop using disposable dusters (I got a million free samples of them), and will start using dusting cloths.

You can now buy good cloth diapers at many target stores, and on target.com. Bumgenius available here. It’s not the type we use (we prefer mostly natural fibers like hemp cricketts and cotton prefolds), but many cloth diapering mamas swear by them!

A mandatory cutie picture of Eleanore in a tie dyed prefold:

It looks like we’re going to be moving out of the apartment and into a house next month. I’m not looking forward to packing up all our stuff again after our big move a year ago (I can’t believe we’ve been here a year!), but I’m excited to be moving into a bigger place with a fireplace and a small yard and private patio. We’ll also be able to grill again!

Ellie hasn’t been sleeping very well lately, and I think it’s largely because of all the developmental milestones she’s hitting. She now rolls all over the dining room from one end to the other, and more than once I’ve caught her chewing on the dining room chair leg after turning around for a second. We definitely need to baby proof!

I’ve also discovered, that very unlike her mama, Eleanore is quite the social butterfly. She loves watching older kids play, and smiles at every person who stops to talk to her. I’ve been trying to take her to a few playgroups and am going to start going to a lot of la leche group events so she has the opportunity to socialize. It’s helping me to meet local moms, too.

We survived our first road trip as a family of four (including Marzipan), but I think it will be a while until we attempt another. We had a few things to take care of with our house in Michigan that’s for rent, so we loaded up the Jeep and headed north for a week, visiting both sets of grandparents. Ellie did pretty well, although there were a few hairy moments, like the massive shirt-soaking spit-up ordeal (my shirt, not hers. go figure) while stopping for lunch, and then the poop blow-out episode, but we all survived and we’re happy to be home.

Eleanore had lots of firsts while we were on the road. She rolled from back to tummy for the first time outside under a pear tree in Michigan, and had her first big, squealing laugh that was so loud Jason heard it from clear across the house and came running. She’s really starting to notice the world around her, and *loves* Marzipan and Patches. Every time she sees Marzipan now, she smiles.

Here’s a video of her with the dog this week:

I finished one soaker while we were gone, and have almost finished the shorties I started while in Michigan. Both out of Purewool, the soaker is in the Lima colorway. I love the stripey color gradation.

I think I’m going to have to start knitting larges soon! I ordered the peace fleece for her Christmas stocking, so hopefully I can get started on that soon. I ordered enough for a pair of rainbow striped longies, too.

I found this adorable turtle soaker pattern while browsing ravelry this morning. I think it’s going to have to be my next knit! I also bought this cute gnome pattern the other day. I’m going to try and knit a few for Christmas, even though I abhor seaming.

Three Irish Girls has 10% off and free shipping if you spend over $50. Go figure… I just spent $50 in a Peace Fleece co-op last week and can’t afford more yarn right now. Must resist…