'Tis the season of the cucumber around here. Mr. Fishnoodle asked me to plant more cukes this year so he could make pickles. [I grow the veggies, he processes them; that's our system] Well! You know those long, English type they sell shrink-wrapped in the grocery store? We've got loads of them. Last weekend we'd accumulated about 100 in the fridge, and so we pulled them all out for the pickle-making session. Now we know why they are shrink-wrapped. Some were rubbery, some fuzzy - back they went to the compost from whence they came. The husband turned the good ones into 7 quarts and 14 pints of homemade, organic, bread-and-butter pickles. Quite an achievement that we'll enjoy all winter.
As for me, I've been mixing it up with color that's not exactly pickle-green. Solid color Snappers stocking Thursday at noon, with colorways mostly from nature and a few from highly unnatural cupcakes, just for fun.

something squishy this way comes...

Just back, restored and refreshed from our annual summer vacation at Summer Haven. This is a magical place on Lake Michigan I've visited every year since I was a little girl. I have family in the area - one uncle is a captain who does sailing charters.

Just before and after the trip I was sewing like a madwoman, determined to finally bring some long-gestating ideas to life. The ideas started when another diaper maker asked me to review her website. Like me, she makes covers and all-in-ones. "You need something to put in the covers," I suggested, "maybe some prefolds." I later got to thinking I should really take my own advice.

I had purchased a roll of bamboo velour and another of fleece for this venture and it was still sitting there, looking reproachfully at me. So I got to work on my three ideas. The first is a sort of prefold-fitted hybrid I call the "flipfold." It folds into different sizes, like origami. "You should patent that!" said my dear husband (he's so supportive!). And maybe eventually I will...this one is not ready for prime time yet.

The second idea was for a really plush bamboo prefold, with Zorb in the center. The point of Zorb is to move moisture quickly. Often my babies' diapers would be sopping wet in the front and dry in the back, so my thinking was that if the pee could be better distributed, it would make for fewer leaks. This one, the AbZORBent prefold, is done and stocked.

The third idea was to bring back the Fishnoodles Fitted and make it better. The problem with multi-size fitteds is that you end up with a heavy array of snaps, and - speaking from the maker's point of view - god forbid you set a snap wrong and waste all that expensive fabric and effort. So, I decided to get rid of the snaps and make it a fold-to-fit type diaper with maximum adjustibility. I also wanted to make the fabric wrap at the legs, since soft leg openings are something mamas often look for.

I've finished the first of these new Freesize Fitteds and have them stocked for next Monday.

So that's the something squishy...the absorbent pieces to complement the covers. Hope you are having a lovely summer!