sticks + string /  by jen geigley

I spent this past weekend with four of my favorite girlfriends at a knitting retreat put together by our local knitting group, Des Moines Metro Knitters. It's called Sticks and String, and we look forward to it all year long. It's basically a whole weekend of uninterrupted knitting + girl time. We're already sad it's over.
We each spent the week prior going through our stashes and Ravelry queues to pick out the perfect projects to work on. 
It's the perfect time to start some of those projects you've been wanting to work on forever but just haven't found the time. And while we always end up a bit more ambitious than time (or human knitting ability) allows with our plans, I think we all accomplished quite a lot. 
It's so refreshing to get away for a weekend, indulge in our favorite snacks, hang out in yoga pants, go out to eat and chat the days away. We do knit, too. Here is our weekend in Instagrams.
Meet my friends. This is Nichole and Melissa hard at work, a most hilarious pair.
Amy, who first taught me how to knit. And managed to complete an indoor Triathalon in the middle of our knitting weekend.
And Sarah, who also taught me how to knit. (Okay, they co-taught.) She's all kinds of incredible.
A few pics from my new most favorite local breakfast/lunch spot, Tartine.

Melissa's fantastic turquoise vintage suitcase, full of knitting supplies. I love this suitcase.
The breakfast of my dreams. I want to go back and order this again immediately.
I hope to share a few finished knitting projects from the weekend soon. (Yes, I actually made some things!) I left totally inspired and wanting to do more. It all ended too quickly ... all five of us girls seem to have a joy hangover today now that it's over. But I am so happy that I got to spend this fantastic weekend doing one of my most-loved hobbies with some of my besties (especially since this was kind of my last big solo outing before the baby is born.) I loved it. Hope you had a great weekend, too.

37 weeks /  by jen geigley

37 weeks. This is the week where things got big. Legit big. If you can't tell here, I'll assure you ... the kid is big and the belly is round.
According to our doc, the baby boy has dropped, I'm dilated to 3 cm, and things are a bit uncomfortable. Like ... even sitting. Is uncomfortable. But I'm good! Still trying to knock things off the to-do list ... car repairs, dentist appointments for Lo, and teaching my last round of knitting classes. Which I just finished tonight. My appetite hasn't been huge but I've been craving fruit. Berries. Smoothies. Mandarin oranges. Yummy treats for mom. Can't complain. We're almost there.
Mostly, my thoughts revolve around seeing this little boy's sweet little face for the first time. Any mom can relate. That's what gets you through those last weeks and days. Baby day-dreaming. So close now.

Lo's ballerina birthday party /  by jen geigley

Over the weekend, we celebrated little Lo's 5th birthday with a ballerina party. Looking at these photos, it definitely hits me that she's growing up so fast. I know that everyone says the same thing about their kids; time goes so fast, they grow up so fast. But I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that it has been five whole years since she was just a tiny baby, entering our world. She has grown up so much!
 
In honor of this most special occasion, we had a small group of Lo's girlfriends over for a ballerina party. There was lots and lots of pink, tulle and girly tutus everywhere.
There were pink treats.
And a cake fit for a ballerina.
I made lots and lots of pink tulle puffs to use as garlands and cupcake toppers.
And we had pink ballerina goodie bags.
There were pink cake pops.
Pink number 5 cookies (made by Grandma Carol.)
And my sweet friend, Beth, made these adorable cookies to match our ballerina invites.
Lo's friends arrived wearing their tutus, ready to party.
We started off with a little crafting and made gumball necklaces.
But the party wouldn't have been complete without a little bit of actual dancing.
We asked Lo's sweet ballet teacher, Miss Aubrey, to come over and lead the girls in a little ballet fun.
Everyone loved Miss Aubrey and the girls had a blast!

 And then ... it was cake time!

So sweet to see Lo with her little pals.
Pink sweets! (Sorry for the sugar overload, moms.)
And that pretty much sums up our super sweet pink ballerina birthday party! It was so, so much fun.
We celebrated early, since my due date with baby #2 is incredibly close to Lo's actual birthday, so now I'm left looking at my almost-five-year old and loving each and every moment we spend together before we welcome a brand new baby brother into our household. It's such an exciting time to be a Geigley, let me tell you.  ;)

baby knits /  by jen geigley


I'm gearing up for a knitting retreat this weekend with four of my most favorite knitting girlfriends. I absolutely cannot wait for a whole weekend of uninterrupted knitting time with them. We always manage to cause a little trouble, but in a good way. To get ready, I've been scouring Ravelry and my pattern books for the perfect projects to work on. I've picked out a hat and mitten pattern that I want to make for myself, a quick cowl pattern for Lo, but I've also been looking for one more baby project to possibly work on. I have managed to crank out one baby sweater for the little dude, and I have a baby hat and mitts set in progress, but not much else. Here are some of my favorite things that I've found so far. (All photos were taken by the pattern designers.)

Garter Stitch Baby Kimono by Joji Locatelli

 Latte Baby Sweater by Liselotte Weller

Bulky Baby Blankets by Purl Soho
 

Super Easy Baby Blanket by Purl Soho
 
 Chunky Pea Pod by Paige Marecle

Wilhelmina's Baby Sweater by Karen Clements

 
Zozo Pixie Cables by Amanda Keeys

What are some of your go-to knitting patterns for babies? (And what should I start knitting now?)  :)

36 weeks /  by jen geigley

36 weeks. I have developed a serious waddle. People have commented on it. My hips and pelvis are under some major pressure. I had yet another ultrasound today and things are looking good. This little dude is no longer breech and my fingers are crossed that he'll stay that way. I'm a couple of centimeters dilated/70% effaced (sorry, TMI?) and well on my way. At least all of the contractions I've been having are doing some decent work. It's all about getting through it, now. You know ... survival mode. 
But yet, I've been reminding myself to take a step back from whining about contractions or feeling exhausted. Just to make sure I'm taking the time to remember this experience. To internalize and process how incredibly cool it all is. To get the chance to be a mom. To carry a tiny fetus and allow it to grow for almost a year inside of your belly and become your newest, tiniest family member. Someone you've never met, a face you've never seen. But a little person you already love so much.
I remember telling Bo not long after Lo was born that, God willing, I wanted to try to do the pregnancy thing one more time. I wanted to feel that baby wriggling inside my ribcage and do it all again, just once more. Of course, we were lucky to get pregnant the first time, let alone a second time – you can't choose or plan these things. But I felt I hadn't said 'goodbye' to child-bearing when I was preggo with Lo, and that has been in my head off and on for the past nine months. This is it, the big goodbye, and I won't be doing this again. It's almost over and I feel like I need to prepare myself for that. That probably sounds really weird and maybe you think I'm off my rocker, but I do believe women kind of go through an acceptance thing when their childbearing days are over and you move on to raise your family. You have to sort of say goodbye to the baby-making. I feel so incredibly lucky and blessed and thankful that I get to do this. Every single day. I know that it's not an easy road for everyone. I don't take it for granted. I'm so happy to have made it this far. And I'm so excited for what's ahead.

35 weeks /  by jen geigley

Week 35. This week, I multi-tasked. I went through bins in the basement, organized and purged. I took all of Lo's clothes out of her old dresser and closet and put them away in her new room. I washed all the un-washed baby clothes and put all the tiniest newborn-sized clothes into Lo's old, now empty dresser. I crossed things off lists. And made new lists.
 
I enjoyed the silence. 
I opened the official first pack of diapers, put them into the drawer and marveled at how tiny they are. And breathed in that familiar clean-diaper smell. I made cake pops to freeze and tulle puff decorations for a certain little girl's birthday party. I shopped around for the best deals on pink party supplies. I went to my weekly doc appointment and found out I had actually lost a few pounds this week. Probably from all of the shopping for pink party supplies – ha. I played drums on our mini kid-sized drum kit while Bo played guitar and Lo hula-hooped. I located all of our old 'baby's first year' books (that had been hiding in all sorts of random places in our house.) I watched 'Never Say Never,' the Justin Bieber movie, in its entirety on Netflix late one night. Mixed in with a little 'United States of Tara' and the usual 'My So-Called Life' and a Charles and Ray Eames documentary.
 
I ended up scheduling Lo's annual 5-year check-up on my actual due date with baby #2. That's how close their birthdays could be. And the nurse figured, 'Hey, you can probably just bring Lo in for her appointment and also probably do the whole newborn check-up with your new baby at the same time.' (Wow. I guess. Okay?) Anyway. I'm on a productivity streak. Let's go.

tulle ballerina birthday party invites (2 ways) /  by jen geigley

In an attempt to keep things sort of easy-going this year, we're celebrating Lo's birthday a little early with two small parties – one for her little girlfriends and another for immediate family. (My due date with baby #2 is really close to Lo's birthday, so partying early is the way to go.) Lo has has fallen in love with ballet this year, so we decided to do a ballerina birthday party (with lots and lots of pink.) I had two ideas for invites, and both involved tulle. So two parties gave me an excuse to made two versions of party invites: one with ruffles, the other with tiny tulle tutus. What little girl wouldn't love these?
First up is a ruffly vertical A10 invite (which is 1/3 of an 8.5x11 sheet of cardstock.) This one is the more simple/freeform of the two invites, and even if you're not an ace with the sewing machine, you can totally pull this off. I did the layout of the text and graphics in Adobe Illustrator. (The ballerina graphics are from Cocoa Mint.) Then I punched two holes on the top of the invite and tied a strip of tulle through the holes to make a little bow.
Next up is sewing the tulle ruffles. And I promise that sewing on paper/cardstock is not all that scary. I would definitely suggest a couple of practice runs on blank cardstock, however. You will want to test your machine's stitch length and tension before you start sewing the real deal. Once you have your settings figured out, lay your invite down under the presser foot and bunch up a strip of tulle on the edge where you'll begin to sew. I used strips of tulle that were 4" wide and about 8" long, and I folded them in thirds (the long way.) Otherwise, one layer of tulle is too see-through – it needs a few layers to show up and look 'ruffly.'
Starting with your bunched-up strip of tulle, slowly sew a single line of stitches across your cardstock using coordinating colored thread, continuing to bunch the tulle in front of the presser foot as you go. You'll be sewing right down the center of your strip of tulle to make the ruffle, and the tulle will fluff out on each side of your stitched line.
Trim off any extra tulle when you get to the opposite edge. Trim the threads hanging off each side, and also on the back of the invite. That's it! Quick and simple.
The second invite (for the little girls' party) involves making a tiny pink tutu. I just loved making these, although I'm not all that fantastic at sewing and it took some trial and error to find the best way to make tiny tulle skirts.
Again, I started with a ballerina graphic (from Cocoa Mint) and text similar to the first invite. The fonts, if you're at all curious, are a combination of Futura and Giddyup.
These invites fit an A6 envelope, and I measured my tulle according to the size of my ballerina's skirt. Again, I used strips of tulle that were 4" wide and about 8" long.
This time, you will once again fold the strips in thirds the long way, making a nice triple layer of tulle. Then, sew along one of the long sides, 1/4" from the edge. Do not cut the threads hanging from each end of your tulle strip.
Take one of the tail threads from each end of your strip and pull. (There should be two threads on each end of your strip. One will pull, one will not.) As you tug from each side, the tulle will gather. Keep pulling until all of your tulle puffs up into a tiny skirt, like in the pic above. It will form a ring that looks sort of like a waistband.
Take the four threads (two from each side) and securely knot them together in the back where they meet. Trim the threads close to the knot. Using a hot glue gun, make a little line of glue along the ballerina's waist and glue down the tutu with the 'nice' side of the skirt facing out. You could also try sewing these down, but I personally had better luck with the glue. 
And there you have it! Two ways to add tulle to your invitations. These could also be modified to fit other birthday party themes, or showers/weddings. But they sure make for some cute ballerinas.  :)

34 weeks /  by jen geigley

34 weeks. I kind of want to live in my sweatpants right now. The dude weighs about five pounds. My stomach already feels like it's stretched to the max. We ordered a few baby things we needed and shopped for the necessities ... a pack of tiny diapers, pacifiers and various Johnson & Johnson products. It feels good to get ready. I feel so round that I'm barely even hungry and the dude is such a little wiggle worm! I know I've said it a million times before, but wow – this baby moves and flips around so much. We had yet another ultrasound and doc appointment last week, and within a few days he had flipped from head-first back to breech again. I can tell when he's doing this ... it feels pretty huge. This pregnancy has been so different than when I was expecting little Lo, but at least I know he's doing alright in there. He's definitely going to be a little skater boy.
 
This week, we worked on our decorating plan of attack for both Lo's room and the little dude's room. The prints on the floor here (both from Society6) are finding their way onto the kids' walls very soon. And if you know us in real life and have heard us joke about baby Cobra, the print on the left is the reason why. It says 'Lotus Cobra' and months and months ago when Bo and I first saw it, we immediately said 'that has to be his name!' It's kind of been a joke ever since, but we do really gravitate toward the odd names. So you never know.
Lo and I will be going to a 'sibling' class this weekend, where she'll learn all about her new big sister duties. She's pretty excited to go. I think she already has a lot of things figured out, and I'm really trying to make this whole thing a neat experience for her. I'm pretty proud of the responsibilities that she comes up with on her own; she already wants to teach him baby sign (she remembers a lot of them!) and read to him and give him baths. She's pretty much the sweetest. In the meantime, I'm getting ready for her fifth birthday party. Her actual birthday is quite close to my due date, which is kind of amazing. And a little scary. So we're planning the birthday festivities early, just in case. Let's hope that all works out.  ;)

scooter mobile DIY /  by jen geigley

My latest baby-related project is this Vespa/scooter mobile. (Because if this little dude is going to be anything like his dad, he'll probably spend his nights dreaming of scooters.) It was a simple project to make, for a child's room or any room in your house, and you only need a few supplies.
Start with three to four sheets of coordinating craft foam. (Craft foam, you say?) Yeah. It sounds weird, but when you neatly cut craft foam into shapes and then hang them from the ceiling, they totally look like they're made from plastic or wood or something entirely different. Another bonus to craft foam (besides the fact that it's so inexpensive) is that it is really light-weight, so the mobile will turn and spin easily if there's a bit of airflow in your room. Along with the craft foam, you'll need to come up with a simple shape or two and make a template. I free-handed this template onto cardstock and cut it out, using the Lambretta on this mug from Starbucks as a guide. But you can also raid children's coloring books or look online for simple clip art/silhouettes that you can trace to make your template. Each shape should be about 3 to 4 inches wide, and different sized shapes (some small, some larger) will work well together.
Then, use your cardstock template to trace the images onto the craft foam, and cut them out using a sharp scissors.
Take your little fleet of Vespas (or what-have-you) and clip them to your mobile and that's pretty much it! The mobile I used here is a Kikkerland hanging photoclip mobile, but you can find similar clip mobiles anywhere and they're really inexpensive. (Plus, you can change it up any time you want.) Add the $10 mobile plus three or four sheets of craft foam and you've got a pretty spiffy little customized mobile for less than $15.
Saftey note: this mobile is not meant to hang near the crib or low enough where a baby could reach it. Ours is hung high on the ceiling above the crib to keep it safely out of reach. (The last thing I want to do is go into my baby's room only to find a foam Vespa in his mouth. Um, yeah.)
That's it! Lo has requested some pink and orange butterflies and birds for her room, so that's what I'll be making next. Hope you have fun making your own mobiles.  :)

knitting paralysis /  by jen geigley

I'm currently suffering from a case of knitting paralysis. I have a million things I want to knit, but I can't get started or commit. I'm not going to tell you how many projects I have saved in my Ravelry queue. I'm not going to tell you about the yarn I bought months ago, set aside for specific projects that I haven't touched. It's weird; I knitted a zillion cowls for other people over the past few months, but now that I have time to take a break, I don't know what to do! 
Luckily, ringing in the new year (teamed up with crazy pregnancy nesting obsessions) has a funny way of kicking me in the butt and making me want to accomplish things. I feel like I should start with a couple of baby things, since baby time is getting so close. And I recently realized how sad it is that my baby-to-be owns zero winter hats. That's just wrong. I am a knitter. So, here is a list of a few projects I've been dying to knit. Maybe this will be the kick in the ass I need to make a decision. I'm going to start working on something tonight. I swear.