#whitepicketcrafts

[theunstuffedpepper]

Firstly: let’s all take a moment to appreciate how happy Callie looks in this first photo. I think she’s smiling?

Now that that’s out of the way, an update on the humans in my house. We have had a SUPER relaxing New Years weekend. Relaxing, or lazy, whatever you wanna call it. We’ve been cooking and eating lots (hello, bacon egg and cheese breakfast & five guys burgers). B is turning a new leaf tomorrow, however, and is dedicating himself to focus on health and weight loss. Ultimately both of us need to drop some weight, and I’m excited to join him after bébé is born and I recover.

I finished two more pieces for the ol’ etsy shop - a chunky cowl and a striped scarf. The shop really hasn’t been getting much action at all, but I also haven’t been actively advertising it anywhere, because I wanna wait til I have more listings for people to actually look at. I seem to be plowing through these projects, so I’m sure it won’t be long.

Oh, and our wine jail has now been repurposed into a yarn jail. Seeing as we haven’t been buying or drinking wine lately, I thought it would be good to use it for something at least. 😆

[theunstuffedpepper]

Holy belly! Went for my 35-week scan and doctor visit, which went well. Little bébé was so active and wiggly during the scan again, which seems to be his MO, so it was tough getting a photo of him. But look! He has a nose! And fingers! Insane. Seems as though he spends a lot of time with his hands in his mouth. Both B and I saw the photos and were like “whose nose is that?!” but I’m just gonna go with the fact that these 3D scans are kinda wonky and with the partial view of the face, it’s really just hard to tell what he actually will “look like”.

My blood pressure was good again, so the doctor says there’s no reason to think we’ll have to induce early. Very early on in the pregnancy, I had a couple higher BP readings at the doctor’s office and they thought I might have an issue. Ever since then, I got the at-home cuff, and I think taking it at home often has made me less nervous when I go into the doctor’s. Plus since I was coming off of a miscarriage, I was a bundle of nerves every appointment for a while there. I think the early high readings were just nerves + a little white coat syndrome. I’m just happy it seems to have evened out now.

In other news, Callie has been an even bigger snuggle bug lately. I feel like she can definitely tell there’s a baby in me and it’s making her cling to me more than usual. I’m totally down with it. I will be her nap time pillow forever.

I also finished a second baby blanket, same as the one I made for my peanut, for the Etsy shop! I completed it in 8 days (over the course of a workweek, so really, like, two weekends). Not bad, huh? It was my first time doing a ribbed border like that and I LOVE how it came out. I’ve been getting some views of the shop but no bites yet. I just need more listings, I think. Next up: gonna make some scarves and smaller things to add to the blankets I’ve already got listed. I’m definitely enjoying doing it so I guess that’s kinda the point.

[theunstuffedpepper]

What’s going on in this country is infuriating. What a terrible way for this year to start.. but then, we shouldn’t be surprised by what happened, or by the response. I try to keep this a place free of politics for the most part, but damn. Today is a rough one.

Aside from that: I’m still huge. No change there. I’ve been having some borderline concerns about blood pressure and heart rate this week, ever since my doctor appointment Monday. I’m going for an EKG next week, so that’s fun. This seems to be getting harder and harder on my body and I’m feeling like it’s getting tougher to mentally keep chugging along as if it isn’t hard. My moods are dipping. I’m in pain every time I move. I just keep telling myself: only a few more weeks. It’s daunting that it’s going to get worse before it gets better, but... it will get better.

My only real distraction lately has been the Etsy stuff.. I made and posted a few more scarves, so that’s been fun. I also received this wonderful gift box in the mail from a coworker. It’s full of amazing fruits and snacks and sweets. Definitely going to enjoy digging into that. Can’t wait for the pears to ripen.. they look so good.

I guess at least we’ve made it to Thursday? Let’s go with that.

[theunstuffedpepper]

Your blankets are amazing! Is that knitting or crocheting? How long have you been doing it and do you have any recommendations for learning?

Thank you! ☺️ It’s all crocheting. I haven’t taught myself to knit just yet — somehow one hook seemed more manageable than two needles, so I started with crochet. I’d love to learn to knit, too, though.

I taught myself how to crochet like 10+ years ago (yikes) but really did it very sporadically before about two years ago. Over the past two years I’ve been more consistent with it and have been trying many more new and increasingly difficult patterns to try to become better with it.

As for learning, there are so many great resources online! Literally, YouTube videos have taught me almost every stitch I know. If I ever have a question, I watch a video on it, and that’s that. I would recommend Daisy Farm Crafts and Betty McKnit as two sites with especially good video tutorials. There’s also Ravelry, which hosts just a ton of free patterns, videos, and tutorials from all sorts of talented ‘makers’. Don’t take yourself too seriously, have fun with it, and don’t be afraid to make something crappy. Just make something. Chances are, it won’t be crappy at all, and anyway, that’s how you learn.

[theunstuffedpepper]

What have you not crocheted yet that you would like to crochet? How do you decide what colors to make something?

I think my next project will be a hat. I haven’t really made hats, mittens, or baby booties, all of which I’ll be trying out soon.

As far as colors go, I really just go with what I like. If I see a particular skein of yarn that catches my eye, I go with that. I’m a fan of earthy tones, mostly, but I try to get some bolder colors in there too here and there.