2014 makes in review: sewing, knitting, dolls—and a baby!

2014 was a good, if erratic year, for all things Mikhaela-made.

In February, I veered away from the sewing and knitting world to start a food allergy cooking blog, Safe and Scrumptious from Scratch and posted like crazy for about a month ... before pretty much abandoning it in despair a month later when my daughter had an anaphylactic reaction to something I cooked for her, and we discovered she had developed five brand new food allergies on top of her existing five. Sigh. (I have slowly started to return to the blog, but with greatly reduced frequency and enthusiasm. Ah well.)

In April, we took a family vacation to Austin that helped me get my sewing mojo back bigtime. I got to hang out with Susan of Moon Thirty, Dixie DIY and a bunch of other wonderful sewists and makers, I bought way too much fabric, and I even sewed a Tilly & the Buttons Miette skirt.

I next dove into Me-Made-May with a vengeance... managing to wear at least one me-made item each day AND document it (see top photo collage). I also sewed and knit up a storm, finishing EIGHT garments for myself during the month: two knit dresses (a Cake Patterns Red Velvet and a vintage 1970s Simplicity dress, three tops (a Hummingbird, a Tee, and a Nettie), a faux-denim knit skirt (Jalie 2681, scroll down here), a sweater (my beloved purple striped Delancey) and a knit peplum jacket (McCall's 5529.

Of all of them, I think the biggest hits—and the ones I wore the most this year until my giant pregnant belly finally made it impossible—were the Delancey cardigan by Alexis Winslow of Knit Darling...

... and the Cake Patterns Red Velvet knit dress:

I also made FOUR super-simple wax-print children's items for my daughter and niece, all in one 24-hour period—two Lazy Days skirts and two Made by Rae Baby Sunsuit tops:

Half-way through May, I found out I was pregnant with baby #2... and then found myself trying to hide it in blog photos for the next few months so as not to give it away until I far enough along to share publicly.

As the months went on the baby (and my belly) got bigger, and bigger and bigger...

And then I officially got too lazy to take perfectly set-up belly photos, but the the trend has continued as I rapidly approach 40 weeks:

In October, the husband, kiddo, baby-to-be and I dressed up as Ghostbusters for Halloween, and I put together custom costumes for all three of us... definitely the most fun and rewarding project of the year:

I also participated in my first book blog tour, for Alexis Winslow's Graphic Knits. My project was the Bowerbird Wrap in a lovely soft merino-silk blend. I have worn this snuggly, soft thing as my go-to scarf almost every day since completing it.

I meant to make maternity stuff this year, but it never actually happened—I had plenty of items left from last time, plus some great used and hand-me-downs, plus I never intend to be pregnant again... so instead I binged on making baby things. Lots and lots of baby things! For friends' babies, and my own baby-to-be.

From August to December, I made five baby sweaters/hoodies/cardigans (three sewn, and two knit), two baby kimono tops, five baby hats (three sewn, two knit), two pairs of baby pants, a pair of socks, and a pair of booties. I especially had fun making baby items from upcycled cashmere thrift-store sweaters. This is just a little sampling, as I haven't even photographed or blogged them all yet:

I also had a lot of fun doing sewing projects with my four-year-old daughter Z, and experimenting with cloth doll making. Her proudest creations to date have been Luna, the Black Mermaid Fairy Superhero with Purple Dreadlocks, a set of as-yet-unblogged stuffed coffee mug dolls, and a wax-print quilt for her baby sibling. 2014 was also the year she operated the sewing machine by herself for the first time (with cautious hovering Mommy guiding her closely). Here she is with her beloved Luna:

So... I'm not quite sure how to add up all of 2014's finished objects, but in total I think I sewed or knitted (including baby stuff, because I can):

• 4 skirts.
• 6 sweaters/hoodies/cardigans.
• 1 jacket.
• 2 dresses.
• 7 tops.
• 5 hats.
• 2 pairs socks/booties.
• 1 scarf/wrap
• 2 pairs of pants.
• 3 cloth dolls.

For a grand total of 33 finished sewn or knitted objects—probably a record for me, but then again... baby stuff is so quick and tiny.

I don't have that many unfinished objects carrying over into 2015, either — just a pair of chartreuse Knotty gloves I abandoned when they started coming out WAY too big...

... and my almost-there blue Hetty cardigan by Andi Satterlund that I will return to finishing when I can actually wear it.

Looking ahead to 2015, I don't plan to be too ambitious with my crafting, since I'm 38 weeks pregnant now and will soon be a sleep-deprived and milk-spattered half-awake mama of two. Partway through December I got put on partial bedrest, so it's mostly been a lot of knitting while lying on my side since then, with only tiny little sewing interludes. I did start making some DIY nursing pads recently, and maybe—MAYBE—I will make some nursing tops as well.

But this little cutie (shown here at 23 weeks looking just like Big Sis as a baby) will definitely be my main make of 2015:

Here's to a wonderful New Year!