a little inspiration

These days are filled with wonder.  She invites me to walk with her with one finger pointed up.  She invites me to hold her with both hands out, twisted so her little elbows touch.  I can almost hear the request, "Hold me?" She loves to put on a necklace or my keys.  They bounce against her ankles as she walks.  She tries to put on shirts and sweaters on her own.  Over and over and over with no frustration.  She accepts help.  She toddles from place to place and tells a story as she goes.  She falls down and just crawls or gets up and goes again.  No frustration unless she is tired.  She seems to already know it is about the process, the journey.  She climbs everything she can.  She can get to the top of his loft ladder.  She is overjoyed as we are terrified. She loves small spaces.  You'll find her in the corner cabinet any time of the day.  She climbs into the toy bin.  She loves her brother. ...

Well hello!  Look at these little lady bunnies!! Mable and Sable are twin sisters.  They like many of the same things but each have their own sense of style and character.  Mable likes pretending to be a mouse ( Mrs. Frisby to be exact), playing with dirty children (you can tell by her already dirty dress), and having her ears nibbled by teething tots.  Sable is a little more reserved with my children, she is ready for an adventure and has just gone off to make her way in the world. I felt one day that I had to make a little bunny doll for Anjali and when I said it Emerson suggested making a second one for our newest little friend in Baltimore.  I thought it was the perfect idea.  I'd like to make about a dozen more for the many little friends we know.  I can tell they are good toys because everyone in the house wants to play with them. Of course, once they were here I knew they needed dresses.  Crocheted sweater dresses to keep the c...

When I found out I was pregnant I knew that I wanted something special and handmade from my father.  Something I couldn't make myself and I didn't want to buy.  A new family heirloom. I searched the internet for designs and came across a website that had plans for cradles.  I chose a simple, old fashioned style and sent the plans to my father asking if he thought it was doable.  He said yes and I was thrilled. He went through a lot to get the wood.  It is cherry from a place near his home.  He borrowed and improvised tools.  He learned new techniques and asked for help from all over.  He researched stains and coatings to find the best and safest thing.  He had quite a following on facebook of people checking in on the project and his progress. I love how he put the boards together.  How it almost looks like eyes watching over her.  How the wood began to shine as Emerson and I rubbed the beeswax and oil coating on it. ...

So, there is this guy I know- He is kind and patient and tolerant.  He is loving and thoughtful.  He does so much for us and we almost never give him his own time without throwing in some little task for him.  But he doesn't often complain.  He rubs my back even when his hurts too.  He takes over for me when he comes home, even though E is at his hardest in those hours.  He loses his patience and then goes back for more, so rarely calling for backup.  He works an extrovert's job all day even though his natural inclination is to be an introvert. I wanted to make a couple t-shirts for his birthday.  Morai provided the shirts.  I asked E what should go on them.  His first answer? A guitar.  That boy is smart.  Since our printer is not functioning I had to draw it myself.  This is unheard of.  I am pretty sure everyone can tell what it is without any prompting.  UNheard of. I also wanted to have a shirt that ...

I have wanted to make this quilt for a long, long time.  I have thought of it in many ways, imagined it with many fabrics, recreated it in my mind with whole cloth, blocks and different embroidery.  It was made for one of those people who deserves the best and you know that you need to get it "just right" for.  Not that she wouldn't love it no matter what, but you know what I mean. With her birthday coming up and the birth day of this baby right around the corner I knew we had arrived at the "now or never" phase.  Or at least, the now or not for another three to five years phase...  And since I have been thinking of it for the last five years....  Obviously, it was time to move this out of the "wish to make" brain pile. I went with super simple.  Two fabrics I thought she'd love and a super neutral opposite side.  I am not sure which side is the front and which side is the back.  I guess that means it is reversible.   I alre...

Emerson was in need of a new hat.  He loves all the pink and purple stuff coming in for Sissie.  And he loves berries.  Blue berries especially.  I thought these two colors looked like the outside and inside of a blueberry.    Mmmmm. Yum. And I wanted him to have an elf style hat.  Because they are dang cute.  And how many more years does he have to wear such a thing?  Or will he want to?  Right now he loves to put things on the moment I am done.  Before I have even really finished the final touches.  I adore that. We used the last couple days, as the storm came and went, as an excuse to get a lot more packing done.  The kitchen dishes are almost all packed away and the office continues to move along.  All the off season clothes are in boxes.  It was surreal to stand in the kitchen quietly wrapping dishes in newspaper while watching the rain and wind out the window.  Hoping beyond hop...

Now that we are spending all day everyday together I am working hard to get nap times in.  Mostly they happen in the car or not at all.  I try to always have something to do with me.  Crochet is so wonderfully portable. After my miscarriage I got a sweet little package in the mail from one of my best friends from high school.  (Oh, the wonder of facebook!)  It was full of yarn and what a perfect gift for hands that are always seeking to be busy. I had a hard time deciding how to use it.  It wasn't a whole lot, but it was beautiful.  I wanted to make it into something for myself but Spring was coming fast and the need for scarves and hats was almost over.  Finally, I came across this shawl pattern (ravelry link.)  It has been the perfect thing.  Warm, but not hot.  Perfect sized even for Emerson to use when he is chilly.  I wear it way more than I expected and with this chilly, rainy weather it adds just the coziness I...

Happy Valentine's Day.  I always like a holiday dedicated to eating chocolates and telling people how much you love them!  This morning I was nudged awake at 6am sharp so that I could hear a singing card.  The Bug had gotten it in the mail yesterday from his Nana and Pappy and Aunt Carolyn (they have a little tradition with the singing cards.  Remember this ?)  It is obvious that he had slept with the card and had been waiting all night to share it with me (I didn't come home for dinner last night, I was at meditation until after he was in bed.)  It was the sweetest way to wake up way too early I've ever experienced.  He said, "You want to hear it again, Mama?" Of course, darling, of course!   After that I sent him down to find Papa so I could pull myself out of bed and head downstairs to make breakfast.  You heard me. I. Made. Breakfast.  Crazy talk!! In all fairness, I cheated.  I made a Dutch baby,  from this recipe ...

I've been dying to share this Christmas gift.  I have such a hard time keeping secrets.  Our little Bug is very Papa centric.  He often tells me to go away when they are playing together and I show up.  One day when Papa was out I pulled out this big canvas and had him paint the whole thing yellow.  After waiting for it to dry I asked him what color he'd like to paint with over the yellow.  He said purple.  I mixed up some red and blue and came up with this color.  I let him paint however he wanted until the paint was gone and then directed him to other paper to get the rest of his painting desires out. I had the goal of keeping the canvas simple and not turning it a sea of mixed brown paint.  I had gone through a whole bunch of quotes looking for the best one.  When I came across these words I knew it was the right thing.  I printed it out in a font that looks like my handwriting, only neater.  I pulled a light box out and...

This morning I was told it was "santa hat day" at school and asked to whip something up.  I didn't have any red or white around that would do the trick.  Only an old black sweater someone had felted by accident and handed over to me.  I had just read the other day about machine couching and so I grabbed some red wool roving and added that.  Senor insisted it needed a pom-pom so I made two. The scarf is his Solstice gift.  I cut into some beautiful wool and cotton blend plaid from Liberty of London that had been gifted to me from a vintage stash.  Papa got one and I made myself a shawl.  Now we all match!  I am so happy to have found something so everyday useful for this beautiful fabric. After getting ready for school we had to drop by a neighbors house and give her a Christmas card. Happy Solstice everyone!!

I had been feeling very good about myself.  But then she mentioned it was only ten days to Christmas.  And I realized there are some important people that I have only thought about and done nothing for.  Now I have to remember to breath. 

I rarely have pattern ideas drifting around in my head anymore.  Mostly because I think there isn't room for them with all the rest of life rushing by me.  The other day, however, I was trying to decide what to make for the Bug and his two cousins for holiday gifts.  Because we all get together for Thanksgiving, I always need to get a jump on these things.  And this year especially because I am working so much outside of the house.  The Bug has a new, wonderful, fascination with stickers and markers.  Senor and I now can sit through dinner and chat or enjoy the food (imagine!) if we have a sheet of stickers handy.  Markers are more interactive, often requiring one of us to be directly involved.  But still, generally a quiet, low banging activity that can last ten or more minutes. On our upcoming Thanksgiving trip we will be spending more than 24 hours in the car total.  Twenty six I think.  Le sigh.  We love all you people and can...

In August, the Bug starts "school".  I can't believe our little boy has only been with us two years and some months.  I can't imagine being with out him.  When I think about things we did before him I find myself searching those memories for him.  Surely, he has always been with me.  He must have gone rock climbing and camping and caving with us.  I'm sure he was in California that month I worked there.  And then I realize how silly it is.  He is only TWO.  You could say he was there, a tiny egg, an invisible thought, a future I had no idea would come.  I am excited for us all to start this new phase.  In all honesty, I need to have a break from full-time parenting.  I don't have the energy to keep up every day with such a potent, fresh life.  I also know he craves the time with others his own age and loves the play that he already engages in on the playground with some of his soon to be classmates. In preparation I ...

One of the biggest struggles for me as I changed over from almost never cooking to being expected to cook all the time was figuring out how to organize.  I knew how to cook, I wasn't afraid to experiment but I was spending too much time figuring out what I was going to make and when.  And when I finally figured out what I wanted I didn't have the ingredients.  Pair this frustration with a very strong dislike of being stuck in the kitchen for any amount of time and no wonder I hated cooking!  It was a tortuous adjustment with many bumps along the road.  We are still working it out a little but I can tell you three things that really helped: 1. A good, seasonally arranged cookbook.  A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen: Easy Seasonal Dishes for Family and Friends was it for me.  This was the first cookbook that I had ever seen that I wanted to make more than three recipes out of.  Having the dishes organized by season made sure I wasn't searching for...

I've made about a bajillion things I should have shown you all but I was waiting until after the holidays.  I've really had the itch to crochet, perhaps because I have been so cold. I made another Acorn Cap but for an adult ( a special order) and sent it off to live in Spain with out getting a picture of it.  It was done in a darker colorway of that amazing Cascade Yarn - Eco Duo Yarn. This one is called Chicory.  Yum!  I had a bit left over after that and used it to make Senor's Christmas gift.  (He requested a hat.  How sweet!)  I had some yarn from the Bug's cap so I used that as well.  Now we look like a match set. (I love that yarn so much I made myself an infinity scarf with it in an amazing lace pattern.  It is blocking right now.  If we really get the snow they are talking about maybe I can get a pretty picture of it tomorrow.) John seems to like the hat.  These pictures don't do the yarn justice.  I made the li...

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 ...

(You can still sign up for the Block Swap until Friday the 12th. Sign up on that post or shoot me an email.) We are having V-day presents a little early this year... Since we have nothing better to do and I am trying to use this time to catch up on the blogging and sewing I always think about but never quite squeeze into the day. I have wanted to make a soft toy for the Bug since before he ever got here but I couldn't decide what. I wanted something out of natural fabrics that wasn't complicated and left a lot to the imagination. And recently, something he can chew on became one of the things I was looking for. Enter Last Minute Sewing Gifts . I have made a couple things from this book in the last couple years (which apparently I never mentioned here because I can't find them.) This little guy is made from sweater felt I have had for a while. Being 100% wool felt makes it the perfect toy to snuggle and chew on. It is super soft and squeezable. The orange is my fav...

Another OAD bag ready to go out! My friend Kim bought a couple of these as Christmas gifts and then ordered another one for herself. Since it was also her birthday last week I decided this one should be a gift as well! So- Happy Birthday Kim! I'll see you Wednesday. I appreciate the support so much! (Click on the picture to see more views.)

Okay- what I am about to show you may not be brilliant or anything but I do think it is cute, and hope it will be helpful. Ever since I saw Amy over at Angry Chicken make these simple envelopes with magazine pages I have been a little obsessed with using catalog and magazines pages. Luckily, this is the time of year where you wrap lots of things in paper! So first we just used the envelope idea to wrap our homemade, everyone gets it gift. We do this every year- pick a nice gift that everyone can use or enjoy and personalize it. Last year we made calendars (which were a huge hit, maybe we will do that again next year.) One year we made cook books, one year Christmas cards- anyway, you get the idea. The draw back to giving out a gift that is the same is it is the same. Does that make sense? I mean, trust me, I have thought of every person who we are giving this gift to and though they are different I can imagine them all using this gift, but still the sameness is a little boring...

I have a few projects I wanted to show here at various times in the last few weeks (months) but haven't gotten to it for what ever reason. One was a gift and I didn't want it to go up until the person got it (though I am almost positive she never looks at the blog) and the others we can chalk up to laziness. Great craft blog, eh? First up- A little cowl I made a couple months ago and have been wearing ever since. I still haven't officially finished it as the ends are not woven in. Which is terrible but true. The Bug loves to grab it and shove as much of it into his mouth as possible while making what I will call his "attack" sound. Very cute. He also pulls on it if I happen to be wearing it while he is eating and that works out nicely as the cowl is stretchy and doesn't yank on my neck like when he plays with my (his) necklace. Number two- (Have I already shown you this?) I call this my "out all day bag." If I leave and want to keep my things...