Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Mondays <motivational> musings, on a Tuesday

Well, yesterday I had blogger app issues so last nights musing is being posted today. It's a good thing because I don't have time for a tutorial today.

So, my own husband was the one who would throw the pity party every time he had to travel. "I feel bad leaving you home alone". And my response would be "well, I figure all these projects are just job security". Then we had the flu this season, not one strain, but both (months apart). We also had ear infections, sinus infections, repeated croup, bronchitis, and strep throat (complete with vomiting). Did I mention I was battling chronic headaches through all this? I didn't become pessimistic, but that optimism deflated a good bit.

Tonight though, Baby L can't seem to fall asleep. Usually I leave then and come back to find her settled down or asleep, but sometimes she's just restless and when I leave she cries. Like tonight. When hubby's home he takes a turn then and she usually falls asleep. Tonight I'm doing it alone. I got a text a while ago that he's now in Atlanta, that perked me up, as usual. Somewhere in my brain, the idea that he's now only a few hours drive makes everything better. If all the airports closed or some other disaster happened, he's close enough to drive. And then I sat and sat and sat some more, waiting for this toddler to settle down and I started to get restless again. I'm trying to distract myself with Facebook and came across this story. What a wonderful example of the power of positive thinking. And it's so personally fitting, reminding me of my own optimism.

http://www.chickensoup.com/newsletter.asp?newsid=article-daily-130225&utm_source=CSS_Email&utm_medium=Bulletin&utm_term=20120619&utm_content=css-main&utm_campaign=daily

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Tutorial Tuesday-Crochet Carrier Cover

If you live in the South, I suspect you have a baby carrier that has a panel of solarveil, kool nit, mesh or some other material to keep it cool.  When Winter comes, that panel is not so useful.  You could buy another carrier, I'm sure that would be more fun, or you could crochet a cover.  The reason I crocheted one (in addition to my fleece one) is that it gives it that "sweater" look too, which I think looks nicer at mass.



This is sized for a toddler kinderpack so will be a bit big on a sandard kinderpack but will still work, it should work on other structured carriers and mei tai as well, the angles just may not meet up exactly.  This pattern can be adjusted for different sizes by adjusting the starting chain.  I personally would make the toddler size in case you ever have to get a bigger carrier, it would still be usable.

approximately 10 oz worsted weight yarn, I used Simply Soft because that's what I had on hand

H hook, I crochet loose so be sure to check gauge

gauge 2"=8sc by 7 rows

ch 74

1) sc in 3rd chain from hook and in each chain across ch 1 turn (72 sc)

2) sc in bl only across ch 1 turn (72 sc)

3) sc in each chain across ch 1 turn (72 sc)

4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14) repeat row 2

5, 7, 9, 11, 13) repeat row 3

14-68) sc in each sc across ch 1 turn

69-80) sc dec over first 2 sc, sc 68, sc dc over last 2 sc, ch 1 turn (row 80 is 48 sc)

81) sc in bl only across (48 sc)

82-112) sc in each sc across ch 1 (48 sc)

113-123, odd rows) 2 sc in first stitch, sc 46, 2 sc in last stitch, ch 1 turn (row 123 60 sc)

94-122, even rows) sc in each sc across sc 1 turn

124) sc 4, dc 23, sc 6, dc 23, sc 4, ch 1 turn

125) repeat 124

126) sc 5, dc 21, sc 8, dc 21, sc 5, ch 1 turn

127) sc 6, dc 19, sc 10, dc 19, sc 6. finish off.

fold upper portion in half and stitch closed from the beginning of row 124 up and across the top and down the middle until stitched closed to form hood.

On wrong side attach yarn at bottom corner to the bottom of first stitch of foundation chain, ch 20, sl st in first fl of row 14, sl in next bl of row 14, sc down the ch 20, sl st into bottom of next stitch in foundation row. sl st in next stitch in foundation row. sc in each sc in the ch 20. sl st into next fl of row 14, finish off. Repeat for opposite corner.

Sl stitch into the first fl of row 81, ch 15, sl st around the first stitch from row 69, sl st around next stitch, sc in each ch 15, sl st into the next fl of row 81, sl st into the next fl of row 81, sc in each sc from the ch 15, sl st around next st of row 69, finish off. Repeat for opposite side.

The waist strap loops are loose allowing the bottom to adjust to seat darts if using on a carrier like the Kinderpack or the stretch of a carrier like the stay cool. It is also wider at the waist strap to make up for the seat darts or stretch so it still covers everything in the middle of the carrier. The shoulder strap loops are pretty snug but will stretch to accomodate. It needs to be snug to support the hood.

You could also add similiar loops for the webbing to hold it in place even better. You could also add loops to the hood for the straps of your hood to slip through so you could still use the hood for support.