Stitcking, Sketching, Scraping Sunday-June 13th

This week was pretty slow in terms of crafting or pretty much anything in my house. Wee baby was going through a major growth spurt (almost 2 pounds in less than a week) and as a result I was one handed for much of the week. I've been meaning to share a Mei Tai carrier that I designed and made for Ruadhán but being one handing I didn't get around to blogging this week either!

As my children tend to be quite attached, carriers are a must. When Morgaine was a baby my favorite carrier was a Mei Tai but it was only borrowed from a friend. I found that I could very easily do everything I needed to do with a that type of carrier. This time around, the only carrier I had was a ring sling and I didn't find that it allowed me as much motion as my Mei Tai. I spent a couple weeks procrastinating because I wasn't sure it I had the skills required to sew one. As crocheting has been my thing the last little while I figured I would give crocheting a Mei Tai a go instead.

I searched and I searched but I could not find a crocheted Mei Tai pattern anywhere (I wonder if there is a reason I don't know about). I think it turned out fairly well but we've only been using it for the past two weeks or so and I haven't washed it yet so I am hoping it will keep it's shape. I purposely used cheap acrylic yarn to prevent shrinking. I kind of winged it with a combination of single and double chains. The main body is double chained as I felt that it would be too stiff all in single chains and along each side there is a single chained border for support. This border is also reinforced with an additional layer of single chains that I sewed into the body and then extended up to become the straps of the carrier. I did the same along the bottom where it ties. Additional features include wide shoulder straps than narrow so that there isn't so much bulk where the carrier ties in front. I also added a black single chained border around the whole carrier to hide where the reinforced sides were sown together. The only problem I can see is that the carrier is perhaps a little stretchy. With extended wear I find myself having to pull the carrier up and retying the straps. I may add a single chain band up the middle of the body of the carrier to see if that helps but it really is a minor thing. If I were to make it again I would likely do the entire carrier with single chains because the stiffness I was trying to avoid is probably a good thing in a a baby carrier.

Ruadhán seems to enjoy the carrier and I know that I can get a lot more done when he is in there so I would have to say that this has been a success!

What have you been working on? Any success (or even failures) to report? Below is your Mr. Linky (remember you must click the image to post your link and view other people's links as well).

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