some show and tell...

I have been going through pictures and realized that I have so many things that I have intended to share here... 

wedding gift wall art

 One of the groomsmen from our wedding recently got married and I wanted to give them something special... He married an artist and their invitation had a lovely motif at the top. I made this 8X10 pieced embroidery based on the invitation design and put it in a frame for them.

warm and cozy

 I finished Anna's sweater in plenty of time for the little bit of cool weather we have had... It is the little garter cardi - a free pattern through ravelry. I used Malabrigo yarn which is my all time favorite yarn.

before and after

 I have been intending to give this craiglist find a makeover for 3 years now... after Christmas I finally got the impulse to get it done.

fly away!

 Oh how I love Pinterest! I have the tutorial for this lovely simple project pinned. It is simple to make, but time consuming...

wing span

 Instead of tying the wings around her neck the way the tutorial suggests, I made longer ties that wrap around and tie in the back... just didn't feel comfortable with something around her neck. I also put the feathers on a fabulous silk dupioni- never waste an opportunity for fabulousness ;-)

feathered friend

late night sewing

 I have finally joined the crowd of people wearing the figure eight scarf from Anna Maria Horner's tutorial. I stayed up way too late piecing some of her velveteens and voiles (and a bit of silk)... I made my scarf a bit shorter and more narrow than her pattern... I think my dimensions are 15"X 65".

hand knits times two

Remember the sweater I knit for Anna a few years ago that she wore almost every cold day for two years? Well, it is getting a second life on cute little Charlotte (who was desperate for a nap and would not stay still for an instant)... yes it is the same exact color as the sweater I knit for Anna this year. I couldn't resist- goes so well with everything! It is too bad babies don't understand the importance of photography-- both girls were also wearing cute scrappy skirts... not exactly matching, but definitely coordinating.

merry christmas

And here is a little late Merry Christmas from us! and ... yeah, I wanted to show off my fabulous yellow boots. I kept looking for some and finally found them at Kudzu antiques in Decatur... they are great for brightening a gray day ;-)

the long overdue knit sweater(jacket) post

way back in the summer i started what felt like an incredibly ambitious knitting project... a sweater! but as it was a tiny baby sweater, and the easiest pattern the knit shop sold (just flat rectangles that you then seam together), i felt like i could at least give it a good try... and maybe finish it by winter.

i think the best thing i did was choose wool that i adored. i LOVE the malabrigo brand and especially the mineral red color of this sweater. it isn't your typical baby sweater, but it was something that i was excited enough to want to finish... and the wool was so beautiful and soft that it made the process so enjoyable.
i love that when anna wears this sweater i am reminded of the warm afternoons during our family's 4th of july trip to the mountains... i sat in the rocking chair on the porch and knit away while andrew's parents rocked my baby to sleep on the swing... i remember knitting in the car on the way home... and getting home and realizing that one of the sleeves fell out of the car 1.5 hrs north of the city when i hoped in the backseat to nurse anna... and i remember thanking God when andrew's parents found that lost sleeve on their way home ;-)

in our culture clothes can be so... disposable, we can get them for cheap and then get rid of them when the style changes... but i have really enjoyed the few pieces of clothing that have been expensive in the time invested in making them. so many memories are associated with the article before it is even worn... then it is worn more often b/c it is already a good friend. i may sound a bit crazy speaking of clothes in this manner, but i know some of y'all are nodding your heads!
when i made this i thought of it as a sweater, but now that we have gone whole winter and i have only just washed it for the first time ( after been worn almost every single day!) i think of it as a jacket... you don't wash jackets as often as you wash sweaters ;-) and as it is a fairly thick wool for a baby in the south it has been a wonderfully warm outer layer over whatever she has worn... and with our long cold winter this year-- it has been welcome indeed!

* i will highlight the skirt in a later post--stay tuned ;)
a sweater that just buttons at the top works well for sitting babies w/ chubby bellies and big diaper bottoms. since i'm her mother it is my job to think she is the cutest thing i have ever seen--- right?
ta da!

hats off

here are our new hats... anna's is crazy and fun and of course i couldn't get the size right! it is a tad too small. but isn't the crocheted edge so fun ;-)

the funky flower button will hold the strap in place so she can't take it off

and here is my cloche- a fun 2o's style hat. a fun pattern to knit... my first hat that started at the top instead of the rim... tricky st first, but overall a great way to work. the pattern is "belle cloche" . i found it on ravelry.com .... if you are a knitter/crocheter of any sort you should really join ravelry (free)... i don't know why i resisted! you can search for patterns by yarn, gauge, free, top rated, ease.... anything! and you can see picture of other people projects. i highly recommend it. and it cracks me up every time i got to the home page and it says "where my stitches at" ... i know ridiculous that i find it so funny...

a mother's reprieve

what helps me put my brain back together the best of all after a day of mommy madness?

i'm sure everyone has the own recipe for coping... i have to say that i have lately found a delightful combo. i am really enjoying knitting hats while listening to jane austen... i love to read (and austen novels best of all) and knitting is so nice and calming... the repetitive nature helps release stress- i'm convinced. maybe b/c i am in a phase of life where my 'multi task' mode has to be on most all of the time, i now find that even when i am having "down time" i feel the need to multi task... it isn't enough to just enjoy one thing at a time...

ps-- the pic is of anna's sweet head in my first hat... the pumpkin hat is a bit big this year, but that just means she can wear it for years to come. the wool is soo wonderfully soft! it is purewool from Uruguay. it is a risky buy b/you have to wait months... literally months for it to arrive, unless you want to pay for fed ex shipping instead... and most of all you have to pick the colors from photos online which can be deceiving--- and their dye lots are extremely variable. but if you love the look and feel of minimally processed wool and you don't want to pay double digits per skein--- this is the way to go!

pps- i'm still working on that slide show issue-- any flickr folks feel free to give tips... or anyone w/ a free slide show host-- i'm very open to suggestions. and as anna was actually just 6 months, i'll need to get that slide show done too!

why i can't keep up w/ this blog...

between mothering this little thing... and this slightly bigger one...

i have been not only buying fabric as i mentioned in a previous post, but finally getting some order to my stash. i researched ways to organize fabric stashes online and then headed off to the comic book store to get the cardboard pieces that you back them with if you are a comic book collector( very interesting folk- i might add). i folded each piece of fabric around the boards making mini bolts and am sorting them in drawers. now i can see all that i have and get to it so easily! (ps- i have a drawer devoted to bird fabric ;-)

and one of the fun things i have made w/ some of said fabric is a little bag for knitting. it is lined w/ silky material so that the yarn slides off the ball easily but doesn't roll out of your lap. it has been so nice to have my yarn and needles for the sweater i'm knitting in one little bag that i can carry with me-- i can knit while keeping an eye on e!

the pretty green one is for my sweet cousin who knit baby booties for a... and the lovely pinkish knitted bit is a preview of the sweater i'm knitting for the little lady.

we're still here

i have been avoiding my blog... i have been so busy round here and haven't been able to keep up w/ all i have to blog about! but here i am and i will breeze through a few of the things i have been busy w/ so you will believe me... below is a lovely silk sling for a friend. hard to tell how pretty the fabric is from the pic... it is iridescent silk w/ copper and light turquoise cross weaves-- so pretty! here are a few of the cloth diaper things i have been working on. i have learned to knit from a pattern and couldn't be more proud of myself ;-) wool makes a great breathable waterproof diaper cover and now our little has several knit just for her! and the cream one is sewn from a handmedown sweater... it shrunk, but we'll get good use out of it!

i am dreaming that this peach tree in our yard will actually bear fruit( and otis will stop the squirrels from eating them all before we do)... our neighbor warned that it may be too old... but it has certainly bloomed for us-- thank you peach tree!

here are some of the daffodils we planted the day we closed on the house... nothing makes me happier at the end of winter than to search the ground for daffodil shoots. elisha and i have enjoyed walking up the hill to smell our happy flowers!

stay updated for my chest of drawers project.... it is finished and beautiful. i am busy at work on quite a few other things too. not the least being the little girl who is filling up my tummy more and more every day! i let elisha watch "a baby story" with me the other morning- kind of crazy b/c he picked up the remote and turned it on and the was a waterbirth. i was worried he might be upset b/c the mother was obviously uncomfortable as she pushed the baby out... but i just talked him through it " look she has a baby in her tummy just like mama-- let's watch, she's going to push the baby out of the tummy and we'll see it... she's pushing so hard to get the baby out... look at that tiny baby-- now they can hold it!" anyway i guess it registered b/c today i was carrying him upstairs for his nap and he pointed to be belly and said "baby" and then pointed to my face and said "push"... i think he's ready to see this baby he has been hearing so much about ;-) well we are too... but still have a good 5-7 weeks.

creative genius

so... my previous post inspired me to share more of my creative projects (instead of simply my procreative one = little e). it's important to have a creative outlet to stay sane when your #1 companion everyday is 1/26th your age. this is what i have been up to: this is my 'happy valentine's day playgroup' brownie cake... my first time baking in a silicone pan (one from the $1 spot @ target no less). hopefully the broken heart isn't an omen ;-)

this is the bottom of the first "simply plain jane" sling that i have made for myself. it is a dupioni silk that will look beautiful with my black dress that i will be wearing to my brother-in-law's wedding this weekend... now i just have to make e something to wear!

this is one of my dining room chairs... i have been slaving away on this project. i have been sanding, priming, and painting our dining room table and chairs black... and i'm recovering the seat cushions.

here are my knitting projects. you can tell that i have made a little progress on my shawl. but there are many more balls of yarn to turn into shawl. the light blue will be a hat for little e... if i ever figure out how... hopefully i will before winter is over!

for all the cloth diaperers (is that a word?) i have made a cute little wool cover and wool longies are a work in progress.... both created from goodwill sweaters (that goodwill stop scored me a jogging stroller for $20!)

knit knite

i'm sooo excited about the knit knite i will be a part of this week... in fact, so excited that i couldn't wait until the knit knite to get started on this knitetime knitting adventure. i jumped the gun and had my mama show me how to start when she was here a week ago. you see i made the mistake of stopping into this AMAZING knit shop --- KNITCH (1052 st. charles ave atl 30306-- in case you and your purse are willing to brave the temptation)-- in the virginia highlands area. i love textiles! i love tactile textiles! much like forsyth fabric store, this place wooed me and i have fallen in love. this seems to be the order in which i do things -- i fall in love with the tactile experience of a material and then i have to learn a skill that involves that material so i can experience it fully ( and avoid looking like a crazy by just collecting and petting fabric, yarn, etc.).

so now it is yarn. which can be more expensive than you would imagine. andrew is so puzzled as to why one would buy yarn to make a shawl that costs more than you could buy a shawl already made.

i, however, cannot WAIT to wrap myself up in this shawl. it will be so much warmer and cozier than if i had simply bought it off the shelf. i have imagined it. i have explored so many yarn possibilities. i have started and restarted and restarted the knitting of it until i got it just the right width (i hope b/c i'm NOT unraveling it for a 4th time!). i have touched every inch of the yarn from which it is made. i have pictured the countryside of uruguay and the sheep and the rural women who have been a part of this handspun wool before it came to me. i keep imagining all the years of love i will have for this shawl, my first knitting project. i picture myself wearing it as i create other things... as i tend my herb garden when there is a chill in the air... as i load the kiln in my studio when the air turns my breath into fog... as i paint oil paintings in my dream studio years from now (when i finally have said studio and when my child[ren] are grown and leave time for this luxurious activity).

so you were here for the beginning. you have seen this special shawl at its small, skinny beginning.