Skirtie!

I finished this soaker awhile ago but am finally getting it posted. I think it turned out really cute and would be even cuter if it wasn't huge! I shrunk it a little but it's still too big and next summer she won't need it so I will have to pass it on. It turned out huge because I didn't check my gauge good enough I guess. The ruffle is actually a technique that can be applied to any pattern, but there is also a good pattern with it. You can find it at http://badumbums.com/?tag=soaker . I did a different waistband, kind of like the curly purly but not. I also am not a fan of drawstrings for her because she unties them so I threaded 4 rows of 1/8" elastic through the ribbing. You can see the technique here only this was different elastic and because it was wider had to be sewn together at the ends instead of tied.

Boy or Girl? Shower Gift

My cousin is having a baby! She is due April 16th, which is not too far away, and had a shower March 8th. I couldn't go because of a baptism so I gave her her gift early when she was in the area for a birthday party. My cousin and I grew up together. She is 1 month and 2 days older than I am. I am originally from Hackensack, which is a small town about an hour north of Brainerd. After my family moved to the "cities" she started calling me a citiot (city + idiot). Here's the funny thing about the gift I gave her and me being the city girl. She grew up in the country with cows, chickens, etc. She used to help kill and clean the chickens. But when I told her I was doing cloth diapers before I had Mackenzie she said she could never do it because the poop part was too gross! So you can kill chickens but you can't rinse poo in the toilet! Who's the wuss now?! Anyway, she became pregnant and started to change her mind about the whole cloth diaper thing once she realized how many diapers babies use and how expensive it is and she also told me she didn't want the chemicals on the baby. So of course I was excited! But when she told me she was going to register for diapers at Target I began to worry a little. So I decided to get her started with her shower gift: 12 premium unbleached infant prefolds, 2 snappi fasteners, 1 bummis super whisper wrap, and 1 recycled wool soaker made by none other than her dear cousin. I think it's so cute all together. I can't believe how tiny they are! I wish someone would have bought me diapers...

Wool soaker

Someone on the wool soaker yahoo group was asking about elastic thread so I thought I would post these pics to show how I threaded the elastic thread into the waistband and leg cuffs since I couldn't find the website that described how to do it. If you look very closely (or you can click and make the picture very large) you can see that it is threaded through one side of the v on the 1x1 rib stitch on the inside. This way it doesn't show through to the front and it is easily replaceable if it wears out. I just threaded it through with a yarn needle and tied it in a few knots. This is a soaker I knit last fall for a friend's son. I used Paton's Classic Merino and didn't really use one specific pattern, and it was based on his measurements.

Diaper washing update

I have been washing diapers with the new method for awhile now and it is working really well so far. If there is a smell in the morning it's not as bad as it was. I kind of figure that after 10+ hours pee is going to start to smell. She is pretty wet in the morning so I'm going to start working on some better night diapers...someday! Anyway, I did modify the plan a little bit. I have a little pail in the bathroom for the poopy diapers and then one by the changing table for the wet ones. My modification is that I do a cold rinse with just the poopy diapers first since I use a dry pail. By doing only those diapers I only need to usually do an extra small or medium water setting instead of extra large (my machine has these three settings...why not just call it small, medium, large?!)

Since that was working so well I thought I would try to take it a little further and do the poopy diaper cold rinse, all the diapers hot wash/cold rinse with vinegar in downy ball. I have washed them once this way but haven't had a chance to see if it's worked yet.

I have mostly been drying them on a drying rack in the bedroom over the heat vent. I wash and hang them right before bed so we use less diapers during the drying time since they take so long. They are usually dry around lunchtime this way. They are really, really stiff when dried indoors! Last summer when I did them outside they were crunchy, but not like this. I pop them in the dryer on fluff for 15 minutes and it helps a little. Since they are so stiff I have been still drying them in the dryer every other time.

All of this diaper washing stuff has made me think about simpler diapers, ones with less layers for stink and bacteria to get into. I have been trying to find information on how people used to wash diapers, like my grandma would have for example, but I can't really find anything. If anyone knows I would be interested. I did read somewhere that they were basically just rinsed and dried but I don't know how accurate that is. Those would have been flat diapers, one layer folded into more. Easy to wash quick to dry. I kind of have an idea for a minimal layer diaper that I will try someday. Anyway, that's probably enough for now. I have finished a few projects that I will post once I get the pics uploaded! Also need to post a kitchen update!

Stripping diapers for the last time! (I hope)

In my diaper stash I have 2 dozen 4x8x8 regular size prefolds and 6 bum genius one size pockets, 2 pairs of wool longies made from used sweaters, 1 soaker I knit, and 1 bummis super whisper wrap. I am in love with my diapers (mostly my prefolds) and will do anything to make them work. It doesn't have to be so complicated, really. I think that the more we do to make things better and the more complicated it gets the worse off we are. I never had one problem until we started solid foods. Then they started to get a little stinky and really stinky in the morning!
These are the most basic instructions you will find for washing cloth diapers: cold rinse, hot wash with 1/4 amount of detergent with cold rinse, and then an extra cold rinse. But then there's is the great question: What detergent do I use? Some people say use anything, others say make sure you use something without any additives. Some say use the full amount of detergent. If you have stinky diapers use more detergent...no wait, some say use less! Don't use vinegar and baking soda on anything with plastic or elastic because it will wear out faster...using vinegar and baking soda is fine! Eeeek! I thought this was supposed to be simple! (If you are considering cloth, don't let me scare you, most people don't have any problems).
So, I started talking to some people. It seems there are two theories on stink and rash that I have come across. 1) Detergent residue & 2) Bacteria. Did you know that detergent does not sanitize? That's right, you the bacteria goes into the washer and the bacteria comes out (I am not a bug freak, I think most of them are good for you, but probably not the ones in your precious little punkin's poo). Ok, so let's go ahead and solve the detergent residue problem. We could sit there and try 10 different detergents in a million different amounts. I started to do that and I don't want to anymore! So let's just take the detergent out all together. There is a woman on the wool soaker yahoo group I belong to that said she doesn't use any detergent at all! She just does a long cold wash and then hangs them on the line to dry in the sun. The washing machine gets all of the icky off (that's what it's supposed to do silly) and the sun, in case you didn't know, naturally disinfects (bacteria :)) them. This method also saves water, it's half the washing time of the basic method, and you hang dry. Hmmm...this makes sense and is very interesting to me. However, I live in MN and it's a little frosty outside right now so how would I disinfect without the sun outside. Ok, let's take care of the second problem. What's natural, cheap and disinfects? Vinegar of course! I did a google search and found this article: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/386495/how_to_disinfect_and_bleach_laundry.html?cat=6 .

Taking all of this into consideration I have a new plan that will save me time, money, water, and electricity! I will put my diapers in the washer, add vinegar and baking soda, let it do it's thing and then hang them all on my drying rack (added bonus is added humidity in my home). They get a little crunchy this way so I will just pop them in the dryer on fluff for about 10 minutes. When it's warm again (will this actually happen someday?) I can hang them outside and maybe ditch the vinegar and let the sun do the work.

Over the last few days I have been stripping my diapers and I am ready to get started with the new plan. I just hope it works.

Notes:
-When your baby is exclusively breastfed you don't need to rinse off the poo, but once you get to solids you need to get rid of the solids in the toilet (did you know you are supposed to do this with disposables too so human feces doesn't go into the landfill?).
-In addition to vinegar, many essential oils also disinfect
-According to manufacturers of diapers with any PUL (plastic barrier) and elastic, you are not supposed to use vinegar and baking soda because it can break down these things so if you have diapers like this you may want to rethink my washing method. I barely use these types of diapers, but am thinking of making some fitteds and will probably wash them this way anyway because if the breakdown actually happens I can just fix it.

Future related discussions: Cloth diapers are better for the environment; Poo from your diapers in your washer is not disgusting and here's why; My love affair with baking soda & vinegar