It's the little things

I had a tiny package in my mailbox today. I’ve been watching for it since last week even though I knew that today was the earliest possible day it could be there. It left Canada last Monday, so it took a few days to get here.

What was inside? My “substitute” wedding rings!

My fingers haven’t swollen so badly that my real wedding rings are unwearable, but I was starting to worry about how tight they were becoming. Rather than freak myself out, I went looking for costume jewelry. Coming up empty handed, I remembered that I saw this knitting ring featured on Etsy a few months back. I chose to add one simplicity ring to make it look more like a traditional wedding set.

The seller was so very kind. I had carefully measured my finger with string and used the sizing guide she recommended to figure out what size I needed. I came up with a 9, which seemed large, but I didn’t give it much thought. I knew that my wedding bands were a half size, so maybe that could make sense. The next night I happened to be playing with my husband’s ring while telling him about my purchase. I tried his ring on and saw how huge it it was. He thought his ring was an 8. Instant panic!

The sizing chart also offered an option of using a ring you own to figure out your size, so I went to grab my wedding band and I held it up to the chart. It looked like a 6!!! I ran to my laptop and convo’ed the Etsy vendor to see if it was too late to change my order to a 7. I wanted the rings to be a little big on me so my pregnant fingers can swell, but I didn’t want them to fall off or be uncomfortable. She messaged me back very quickly saying she was glad I caught her before she mailed them out. We wrote back and forth a bit, and when she did mail them a couple of days later, she told me to let her know if I really did need a 9 once I tried them on.

So sure enough, a 7 is perfect. They’re a little loose on me, but tight enough that my knuckle holds them on. I have plenty of room for swelling should it set in. And the rings are so pretty and shiny that I’ll have to buy a set that actually fits me once I recover!

The seller also makes a necklace and earrings with the knitting theme, as well as some crochet items. Her other jewelry is absolutely beautiful, too. I couldn’t recommend her more based on this experience. The finished item is beautiful and she was a delight to deal with!

Designing Woman

Nope, still not knitting, but I’ve been busy emptying out the room that will become the nursery. It’s like an archaeology dig. I keep running across relics from crafts I haven’t practiced in a while. If the strata was clearer, you could almost date my phases: sewing, cross-stitch, scrapbooking, stamping, card-making, etc. I’m hoping my yarn doesn’t see a similar fate.

I’ve finally put together a plan for the room. I’m going to paint one wall pink and free-hand a tree on it and stick pink birdies around the tree and around the room. I’ll keep you posted on progress.

I’ve found a really cute bed set, but I’m hesitant to buy it. Does a baby really need a cute comforter? She can’t really even use it until she’s older. It’s hard to talk myself down from some of these big purchases. I almost registered for a car booster seat the other day until I realized I’d need to store it for about 2 years before we’d need it.

I wish there were coordinators for babies like there are for weddings!

Nursery crafts

No, I haven’t started yet, but I’m just starting to think. My first idea was to ask my bridesmaids about using their dresses for fabric for decorations. I heard a great idea once upon a time that involved cutting a bridesmaid dress in half to make curtains. You cut the dress down the middle, sew the new seams, put loops or something on the top, then reverse the pieces so that what was the middle becomes the outside edge and the hourglass shape makes the inside of the curtain.

Here is a picture of the dresses. Do you have any other ideas for nursery crafts? My friends and I have come up with lampshade, upholstered letters, decorative pillows and ruffles for furniture. You can’t see the pink very well, but there’s a bit of salmon accent at the waist and at the bottom. Another friend recommended cutting out appliques.

Now to get sewing!