a little inspiration

So, now my computer is on the fritz.  For real...  But, I just want you to know I have a couple of hats, some zafus and a little cute applique shirt to show you.  And I'd like you to hold me to it. In the mean time I want to ask about how 2011 is going to be for you.  What do you love about yourself that you want to nurture in the new year?  What would you like to change?  What do you need that you aren't getting?  What do you have to give? I'm going to think about these things the next few days myself.  Tell me what you are thinking too.

Christmas 2010 057 , originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed . Wishing you all the tickles and snuggles this season can bring!

So many things bouncing around my head... The last gifts are made.  Everything handmade but two this year.  Not that I made so many...  I also didn't buy anything to make those gifts.  Nothing but what was already here.  That feels nice too. I broke down and got a winter coat with my holiday gift from the shop .  Today we went for a walk for the first time in weeks.  Literally.  It has been low 30's during the days since the beginning of December.  I had to have a coat.  Had too.  I'm not sure if it counts against the GSC since I didn't technically buy it...  I got this one  only in purple.  It is super awesome.  Thin, warm, close fitting but not at all binding.  What could be better? Everything keeps breaking around here.  The mini chopper gave up yesterday.  E's diaper covers are going...  You know about the French press, had a I mentioned the mixing bowls? Well, them too.  What a wild couple weeks we are having for things breaking down.  In the middle of t

Today is the first day I have felt caught up in a while.  Which is so powerful because I don't think I could have handled today without at least that.  And a super nap from the boy... I don't ever remember such a roller coaster like time in my life.  Maybe I have become sensitive or perhaps everything really is a big deal, one way or the other.  Ever since about Thanksgiving I have been wobbling back and forth between delight and distress.  Case in point: After dinner last night the Bug broke our French press.  I had had a presentiment about it earlier in the day and was completely unsurprised.  But so sad. Later I was on the phone for a long time with someone about the opportunities we might find for working together as I finish my school.  This was very exciting and full of hope and promise.  Amazing! I got off the phone and went up to meet Senor in bed and couldn't find my pajamas.  I asked him if he knew where they were.  He pulled them from beneath the covers pip

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.From Soulemama. Happy Weekend to you! I am cheating and putting two pictures, but they are both from the same moment of morning sun.

Yesterday I cut the baby curls off of my baby boy to reveal the little boy he has become.  The whole day was weird since we are just getting back  home from travel and our rhythms are off.  I trimmed his hair and he decided to take a nap at 10 in the morning (he usually doesn't go down until 1!) After an hour, he woke up screaming crying for a few minutes.  Awake isn't quite it though- he didn't open his eyes and wouldn't be comforted.  Finally he asked for a bottle but by the time I came back up with it he was fast asleep.  He kept touching his neck.  He slept for a couple more hours before waking up and crying again.  This is not like him.  He almost always wakes up happy from naps unless something (the dog barking) wakes him up too early.  The rest of the day didn't go so well either and so around three I put on the Princess and the Frog (i love netflix) and we enjoyed some afternoon rest and chips and hummus on the couch. Today has been a little rough too.  Fus

I just celebrated thirty years on the planet.  I have had some discomfort over the last year coming to terms with the idea.  Not because I think thirty is old but because I have been twenty something for such a long time.  I did also think you would feel more grown up when you got to thirty.  And since I so often feel seventeen in my head the disparity can be glaring... When I was twenty I moved to Baltimore. When I was twenty one I moved onto the career path that took me into event marketing. When I was twenty two I  realized I was staying in Baltimore for a while. When I was twenty three I married the most amazing man. When I was twenty four I traveled the country with my husband and met thousands of interesting people. When I was twenty five I experienced great losses at my husbands side. When I was twenty six I began to explore my creative side with sewing. When I was twenty seven I found out I would be a mother. When I was twenty eight I learned what it was to be a mot

Thanksgiving 2010 057 , originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed . Hooray for cousins! (and aunties and uncles and oma and opa and all the rest!)

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. From Soulemama . Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Oddly, the Christmas spirit is with me very early this year.  Generally, decorating before Thanksgiving and my birthday is something I am not interested in.  This year is a little different because the Bug is able to help (a little) with some simple crafts.  I wanted to do something with him that would be fun, easy, and have lasting appeal.  In wandering around the craft store looking at all the obvious options I came across some beautiful bells and thought it might be fun to string them and hang them in the doorway between the living and dining areas.  I picked largish bells with a nice texture and sound.  I chose a ribbon just big enough to keep them from sliding around but not so big as to be difficult to slip the bells onto. I taped the end of the ribbon and had him pull out the bells one at a time and hold them for me to push the ribbon through.  He loved taking them out of the container and watching them become part of the ribbon.  I couldn't move fast enough!  Once we ha

I think about clothing and designing clothing pretty much all the time.  Some garment is swimming around in my head every minute.  I occasionally focus on something else enough to make dinner or accomplish my class work.  I almost never feel like I have the time or attention span to translate these ideas into actual items.  Yesterday I decided to stop making excuses and draft a pattern for a shirt.  A knit, no less.  And so I got out Design-It-Yourself Clothes: Patternmaking Simplified  and opened to the shirt page.  Okay, first I put on Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days  for the Bug.  Then I pulled out the book.  I followed the instructions until it got to the sleeve part.  I wanted dolmen sleeves for two reasons.  One, I like the look.  Two, I am lazy and it means less cutting and less sewing.  Both of the latter reasons are a huge bonus for working with a knit fabric too.  I mean, the less cutting and sewing the less likely you will get something wonky with a seam.  Which I hear

I have been thinking lots of things.  I have been making lots of things.  I have been studying lots of things.  And so, not so much time to write here. One of the things I read from Integrative Nutrition was about using hot water bottles in bed at night to keep you warm and  help digestion.  Since our house is always chilly in the winter and I am a cold footed person I latched on to this idea right away.  And the Bug sleeps in under jams and over jams.  For real.  His room is chilly.  And he has been coming and getting in bed us around one anyway. So we all needed a hot water bottle.  And cozies!  Which we should be able to tell apart.  (because it is important  for some reason not to share cozies ;)  And I had such fun making "boo" .  Of course, I only had time to make two like that.  The last one was just fast as could be. We are getting plenty of use from them.  The whole thing seems so old fashioned and sweet to me.  It always reminds me of our trip to Irel

You: : Must take the train with you on almost every walk.  It very nearly had to take a bath with you this morning. : Have been switched to morning baths because night baths were too invigorating. : Are really making headway on the language front.  Though we often don't know what you mean, it is clear that you are using words.  A few hilariously sound like cuss words.  You say "shit", "cock" (which means cat or car), and "bitch" alot.  We try very hard not to laugh. : Love books.  We spend hours reading every day now. Especially "Puppies are like that", "Hop on Pop", "Are you my Mother?", and "Go, Dog, Go!" : Like to go outside and crunch in the leaves. : Make us crazy with the animal water dish.  Stop pouring it everywhere! : Love kisses.  Once we start you keep asking for them. : Are playing pretend.  Sometimes you make the noise for a car when playing with a toy car, but also with food (while runnin

The theme was "Spooky."  You have to love that, right?  The color I had to incorporate was yellow. When I first heard the theme my thought was, "Boo!" I looked around at other things.  I thought of making a ghostie, or a full moon.  I didn't get around to it until way late.  I was scared to make the letters without a pattern.  (Why?  I have no idea.  If I have learned anything in the last three years (can you believe it??) it is that all these silly things I build up in my head are much easier to actually do than imagine.  Remind me that next time I am stalling on something.)  In searching the glorious, full of information, world wide web, I came across a person (who I have lost now- blerg!) who said something simple and brilliant like, "Most letters are made using the idea of a log cabin block."  At which point I cut some strips and sat down at my machine with the iron on behind me. I love this one.  Only the radishes come close in how I fe

october table 001 , originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed . Still shooting blind waiting for the new screen to arrive. I think I am getting better. Happy Weekending!

Click on the photo to get to the funny video that I almost posted. Have a wonderful weekend!

I have been squirreling away a couple skeins of  Cascade Yarn - Eco Duo Yarn - 1706  since the spring.  They feel soooo good.  I knew I wanted a hat for myself (or maybe a scarflet) out of them but felt so selfish keeping them all to myself.   I knew the Bug was going to need a warm hat for the coming season and I wanted to make one for Senor as well.  But I started with an Acorn Cap. As is so often the case, my idea was to follow a pattern but after I got started I saw where the yarn wanted me to go.  With all the acorns everywhere and the squirrels eagerly eating and hiding the nuts we see a lot of these little caps.  Whenever we walk I always find little hands full of the season's bounty.  E doesn't much care for bright leaves ( he likes the crunchy brown ones.)  He doesn't have much interest for perfect, intact acorns (he likes the caps and the split open nuts.)  And so this little hat should be perfect.  Right now he is taking it off as soon as I put it on but I

We had a wonderful time visiting my parents this last week.  Getting out of the city and into the woods was just what was needed.  And the weather being crisp, the leaves changing and falling, and so many crafty things getting done was icing on the cake. My camera had an accident last week and the screen is no longer working so it really is just point and shoot now.  Shooting without seeing exactly what the camera is seeing is certainly different.  Here are a few I had to share: For the record, only the first and last images were edited at all.   And he wore the vest almost every single day.  And he picked the orange minky for the quilt. Have a lovely weekend friends!

I had never really liked the end of summer when I was little.  I loved the hot sun on my skin and the cool grass on my feet.  Now I feel like I betray summer as I rejoice for autumn's arrival.  Maybe because I love making quilts and sweaters.  Maybe because of the soft crispness in the morning air.  The golden light and the butterflies and the frantic squirrels. The last few weeks I have been imagining a little boy's vest.  A warm piece that keeps him warm inside before we break down and turn the furnace on.  That will keep him warm while playing in the leaves. I made up this pattern myself and just finished it today (sitting on the porch, in the sun, where it is 90 degrees!) I made the stitching run a bit the opposite direction most sweaters would have.  I am going to have to wait for a cooler day to put it on him.  I'll get better pictures of it (perhaps in use?) because it seems all of my pictures taken of finished work lately are terrible.  I am not sure when I got so

labor day 003 , originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed . {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. from Soule Mama.

For Autumn??  I started this one in April  and just finished it last night.  I had to. At the end of August I signed up the  Professional Training Program with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition .  In October my classes start in earnest.  In March I will be able to start seeing clients as a Health Coach.  Helping people make the changes they want and need in their lives to become healthier and happier.  I am so excited to be able to go to this school and have the chance to do this kind of work.  Work which is helpful to individuals, communities and our whole world.  Right now I am going through the fundamentals, they call them Warm Up classes.  And I am certainly getting warmer.  It is so wonderful to be learning again.  To have something to share with my family and friends aside from what the Bug did today. I am sure you will all get to listen to me ramble on about all this in the next year.  I might even learn to take decent pictures of food for you.  I know, shocking!

I can't pick only one today.  So here you go. {this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  Wishing you a lovely weekend!

I mean that in the nicest possible way.  The other day on Facebook I mentioned that I might have to move all the furniture out of the house because a certain someone was climbing.  Everything.  Erica said something about a house full of pillows sounding very nice.  Yesterday I couldn't blink without finding him on the table, pressed into the window or dangling over the back of the couch.  Even after I turned all the chairs on their sides to make a barricade.  So here we are. This is now our dining room.  This is the table I got the Bug to work at and now we will all be working at it.  And eating at it.  We'll see how it goes.  We had breakfast on the porch this morning and he was at a friends all morning so after he gets up from the nap we will try lunch.  This is the living room.  He can still climb onto the couch, just now I don't think he will break anything and if he falls it should be less painful for us all.  And he can move his chairs around to get up to look out

Nice piggy , originally uploaded by Mr & Mrs Speeed . You know how it works, right?

Whew- this one is cutting it close.  I almost missed my own deadline!  I used the quilt book again.  I have been just waiting for a reason to make this kind of block.  And then Senor said "vacation" was our word.  Score! So here it is, waves of sun light and water which make for some of the best vacationing out there!