One Year!

In the midst of all my advent posting last week, I forgot about a very important date. This little blog passed its first year over the weekend. Happy blogaversary to us!

In light of this special date, I am doing a givaway, of course. Since it's Thanksgiving week in the US, I'm going to give you a bit of extra time to sign up for this very special givaway. It's a handmade doll, if you want to know. Leave a comment on this post by Monday, November 26, and on Tuesday, Elisabeth will draw one name out of a hat. (This is also partly to give me time to finish the doll before announcing the winner!)

This week I'm going to post about blogging and creativity and probably get all sentimental on you all. But that's come to be expected, I think. How I'd love to have you all over for a cup of tea and some creating together. But since that is probably impossible (especially in my wee little abode), just drink a cup of tea and think of me this week, won't you? I'll be thinking of this crazy, amazing, thoughtful community and smiling all week long.

Celebrating Advent :: Part 2

So, without further ado, here's the list. I am adding links for some of these items, but please understand that while I would not link to a company with which I explicitly object to doing business, these are not endorsements of one company over another. In many cases, I have found or purchased these items locally rather than through online sources. So please take the links as what they are: references for you to use if they're helpful, but not a buying guide from me.

And I think it goes without saying, though I'll say it anyway, if you think of something great that hasn't made my list, will you please share it in the comments? Many of these would make nice stocking stuffers or small Hanukkah gifts, too, if you find yourself lacking inspiration in that arena. :) (Photos in this post are all from last year -- not necessarily pertaining to our actual advent calendar, but I felt that they expressed the spirit I'm hoping to capture here.)

Family Outings/Activities (make a simple coupon/ticket for these as a visual cue)

*Carriage ride (our downtown offers free carriage rides on specific days throughout December)
*Ice skating
*If your community has a "giving tree," you could incorporate one or more elements of this process into one or more (!) days of the calendar: the day your family chooses someone from the tree to give to, or shopping for or making a gift for that person (or you could incorporate some other form of charitable giving into the calendar if you don't do a "giving tree")
*Many public libraries have speical children's events during December
*Many places of worship or community centers also have special holiday events for families
*Sledding (in our area, December is pretty touch-and-go with regard to snow, so we kind of just wait and see if there'll be a snowy enough day for that)
*Special visit to relatives (or a coupon on your traveling day if you travel at the holidays)
*Tea party (either at home or at a local tea house)
*Tickets to see a performance of The Nutcracker or other holiday performance
*Visit Christmas lighting displays
*Visit to Santa
*Any other traditional holiday outing of your family's

Family Traditions

*A special meal -- maybe your child can choose what to have

*Candies for decorating on the day you make a gingerbread house
*Cookie cutter or sprinkles on the day you make cookies
*Coupon for extra bedtime story, late bedtime, etc.
*Moonlit walk (in the spirit of Owl Moon)
*Ornament on the day you put up your tree (think simple, even handmade -- it doesn't have to be fancy or expensive)
*Popcorn (we found red and green kernels last year) for a special movie night (i.e. Charlie Brown Christmas special)
*Special one-on-one time or "date" with parent

Made by Parent for Child

*A mix CD of some of your child's favorite music, or your family's favorite holiday music (I'll share some of ours in an upcoming post), or favorite music from your own childhood

*Crown -- crocheted, made from felt, or other fabrics

*Doll clothes

*Finger Puppets

*Knitted hat

*Knitted stuffed animal
*Holiday napkins

*Origami animals

*Other small handmade toys

Natural World

*"Found" objects from nature (pinecones, acorns, nests, etc.)
*Crystals or beautiful stones
*Evergreen sprigs
*Flowers that are blooming now (Christmas cactus, carnations)
*Paperwhite bulbs (if you give them early enough, they could be blooming by Christmas)
*Seaglass (OK, I know it's not technically "natural", but it's still lovely)
*Seeds (for planting)
*Shells

Multi-Day Items

*One bead (or more) a day, leading up to stringing a necklace or bracelet
*One puzzle piece (or more) a day, leading up to a completed puzzle
*Something that comes as a set, divided over several days, such as: a tea set, a set of nesting bowls, a matreshka, nativity set, checkers game, etc.

Free or Very Inexpensive

*A dollar or even just a few coins to put into the Salvation Army bucket, accompanied by an illustration of the bucket (be sure you do this on a day you plan to go to the store anyway)
*A story you have made up especially for your child
*Bells
*Jokes
*Letter or note
*Marbles
*Poems
*Riddles
*Scavenger hunt or treasure map -- either to an object too large to fit, or just for fun

Crafts

*Beeswax sheets and wicking to roll candles
*Candle and candle decorating wax or paints (can be found at craft stores or online through places like Hearthsong)
*Coloring book or sketch pad and fresh set of crayons or colored pencils
*Crafts made with natural objects (ornaments, people, or animals from pinecones, acorns, nuts, etc., a candleholder made from a crosspiece of a branch and decorated with crystals, bits of evergreen, nuts, etc., ornaments made with woven wheat or long pine needles, fire starters made by dipping long, thin pinecones into melted beeswax, bird feeders made using pinecones, peanut butter, seeds, etc. A lot of these ideas can be found in the books Earthways and Crafts through the Year, and there are kits out there, too.)
*Do you have any idea how many things can be done with pipe cleaners? Think about it. ;) Our house would probably stop functioning if we ran out of those babies.
*Embroidery supplies or kit
*Felting supplies or kit
*Knitting mushroom/tower and some yarn
*Modeling wax or clay
*Lanterns made using recycled food cans with holes poked in them with a hammer and nail (or other light-oriented project) -- really good for the winter solstice, Hanukkah, St. Lucia Day, or any of the light-themed festivals & days during this time of year
*Origami paper and instructions for older children
*Pieces of wool felt for your child to cut up and make things with -- perhaps with some dolly pegs (old fashioned clothespins) and some other little bits of yarn and trims to make little people
*Rubber stamps
*Small sewing project or kit
*Supplies for a holiday craft such as stringing garlands, making ornaments, or simple gifts
*Supplies for making holiday cards, gift tags, or wrapping paper (such as construction paper, glitter paint/glitter pens, a large roll of kraft paper, rubber stamps, etc.)
*Window crayons or markers

Purchased/"Gifty" items

*An item to add to something your child or family collects: a piece of a collectible nativity set, Playmobil pieces, an Ostheimer figure, another toy that your child has a collection of, etc.
*Balls: rubber balls, knitted balls, felt balls, fabric balls, etc.
*Bath toy
*Bird call whistle
*Card games
*Collectible coins
*Costume jewelry
*Dress-up item
*Family game
*Fancy soap
*Hair ties
*Harmonica
*Jacks game
*Jump rope
*Kazoo
*Lacing cards
*Lip balm
*Music box
*One year I found a beautiful and inexpensive little etched glass votive candle holder with an evergreen-scented candle for Elisabeth, and she loves getting it out of our Christmas things each year
*Pajamas (could be homemade if you sew)
*Pencils made out of twigs (one source)
*Play silks -- mini or regular
*Slippers (I'm thinking of this in terms of maybe this is something my child really needs, and perhaps before Christmas -- could also be homemade)
*Small snow globe
*Socks
*Special drinking cup -- a holiday mug, or a little cup for your child to have as his "own". Two possible sources here and here
*Spinning tops
*Stickers
*Tiny toys

Food/treats

*Chocolate coins or small candies
*Mini candy canes
*Nuts
*"Stained glass" cookies
(We have never given food items in our advent stockings, so I'm afraid I'm a little lacking in ideas there. Sorry.)

Reader Sarah made a comment that her family uses an advent calendar with beautiful pictures behind each window rather than gifts in order to avoid the feeling of materialism that expecting "something" -- whether an actual gift or just the promise of an activity -- engenders. I think she makes a really good point, and I'd certainly like to emphasize that while we have definitely given real gifts in the calendar, we are very heavy on the coupons for activities here. In our family, it offers a way for Elisabeth to understand that even the season has a rhythm to it -- today we'll trim our tree, today we'll make cards, today we'll make cookies, etc. So, I want to encourage all of you to think of it in that light as much as possible in order to keep yourself out of the overwhelming trap of feeling obligated to buy or find a lot more tangible gifts, in addition to everything else on a busy parent's plate at this time of year! This list, I know, is very long. But don't feel like you need to somehow do everything on it! (We haven't!) Choose what works for your family first and foremost!

A bit of R & R

Hmm ... is it really so late? I can't believe that it's taken me all day to get this post up. One of those days, I guess.

Last night I had the special privilege of spending the evening out at a pub with two awesome ladies. Both are so brilliant and funny, it's humbling to think that they're my real life friends. A night out with some girlfriends was just what I needed after a long weekend of nothing but coughing and dollmaking. Not that I'm complaining too much about the dollmaking! ;) Thanks for a fab night out, Meghan and Kim.

Celebrating Advent :: Part 1

You are all so kind! I feel so blessed by your many well-wishes. I am still sick ... the laryngitis has passed and been replaced with a cough. Yuck! I don't get sick often, but when I do, it seems that I get every possible symptom.

I know that December is still a few weeks away, but I thought I'd share these ideas with you now so you'll have time to think about them if they resonate for you.

Spreading out the holiday season is very important to me. The idea of one single, over-stimulating, and -- ultimately -- disappointing day is very unappealing to my mama soul, and not so good for the wee ones, either. The more that we can do to celebrate a holiday season, the better, in my eyes. So to that end, we have a very involved advent tradition, into which we have incorporated many of our other family holiday traditions. We also celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas, ending on Three Kings Day (January 6). During that time, we are still in merry-making mode, but we try to ever-so-gently wind things down.

As I wrote this post, I realized that it was far too much information for one day, so I'm going to divide it up into two days this week. Today I'll talk about the advent calendar. On Wednesday I'll share a very long list of ideas for things to put into the calendar once you've got it set up. These ideas have been accumulated over my 5.5 years of mothering and from my own childhood as well.

Advent Calendar

The first thing to do is to come up with some sort of advent calendar "vessel". This can be just about anything. We have 24 stockings strung on a garland. Years ago (2003, to be precise), Martha Stewart Kids showed a sock garland calendar made with baby socks, number stickers, and clothespins. It's not up on their website Here it is, although they do show this one, which requires sewing, and this cute one, made of boxes. (I made ours three or four years ago using this kit from Magic Cabin.) I have a friend who uses 24 beautiful paper cones. You could use a variation on the pocket calendar, based on something like this, this or this. Kim made these gorgeous little cornucopias. You don't even have to have 24. You could use a single beautiful bowl, tray, or piece of pottery, and the gifts could appear in it each morning. And each vessel does not have to be large enough to "hold" the day's gift. Our gifts frequently don't fit in our tiny stockings, so they simply await the children on a chair or stool beneath the garland. We do have a little elf who travels from stocking to stocking day by day as a visual aid to the passing of the days.

Another variation is to have a 12-day calendar and use it to celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas instead. Then you only have to come up with 12 ideas, and you can spread Christmas out in the more traditional manner. (Traditionally, the Christmas/Yule season began on that day, rather than ending on it!)

Now that you've got a vessel of some sort, you have to come up with little gifts to put in it for 24 consecutive days (I know, I am a crazy person). This can get very expensive, very quickly, if you approach it with the idea that each day must contain an actual "gift" for each of your children. I try to think about things that we would be doing anyway, and make those things fit into our celebration of advent, rather than the other way around. For example, we would always make cookies one day, visit holiday lighting displays one or more days, and put up/decorate our tree one day. The same idea applies to things we'd spend money on anyway. Is there something that my child needs now that can't wait until Christmas? That goes into the calendar. We have the tradition of wearing new pajamas on Christmas Eve, so they started appearing on the last day of the calendar. We would buy a new, special holiday or winter book for our family each year anyway, so we incorporated that into the calendar. One of the most important things that I can recommend to you if you are just beginning with this tradition is to keep it pretty low-key and low-pressure. If you set your children up to expect an actual "gift" every day, they will feel disappointed if sometimes it's not. If most days they find coupons or tickets incorporating an activity that would happen in your home anyway, it gives them the security of predictability, and keeps it from becoming another commitment for you to buy a lot more expensive gifts.

The key here is keep it simple and manageable for the parents. I usually sit down in November with the calendar and figure out which days, according to my husband's work and gig schedule and my cello teaching schedule, we will do our usual family outings and activities. I think about the more "gifty" things I have acquired (or plan to), and try to spread those out at fairly wide intervals. I look at the days we're going to celebrate other festivals (St Nicholas's visit on the 6th, Santa Lucia's Day on the 13th) and think about ways that I can either incorporate the celebration of those festivals into the calendar (a Santa Lucia crown on the 13th, for example) or something simple that won't distract from the main event. (Since St Nicholas brings chocolate and a small gift to my children, I keep the advent calendar very simple on that day.) Once I have the main things plugged into my calendar, I fill it in with simple crafts or small things that I have on hand.

I like to have as much as possible on hand and parceled out according to date before Dec. 1 so that no matter how tired or busy I've been on some December day, the advent calendar won't be a cause for stress right before I go to bed. The easier I can make this for myself, the more enjoyable it is for everyone. 

So, make it fun for yourself, keep it light-hearted and simple, and it can be a really lovely family tradition that helps to spread out the season and mark the s-l-o-w passage of the days for the wee ones.

On Wednesday you'll get a very long list of ideas for things to put into the calendar, some of which we've tried in our home and some of which I just thought of as I was preparing these posts. Enjoy!

Laryngitis. Blech.

As you can tell by the title of this post, I am actually getting sicker with each passing day.

I really hate to do a post with no photos, but the idea of converting, saving, and uploading any right now seems ridiculously hard, so I'm just popping in to say hi, let you know that I'm still sick, but still alive, and promise to post this week even if they're just little ones.

A Proclamation

We discovered that James had a number of food and environmental allergies when he was a very wee babe. Since that time, I think Elisabeth has struggled somewhat to comprehend the meaning of these allergies that her brother has, what it means that his life experience is limited in ways that hers isn't, and so on. A couple of weeks ago, she announced that she was "allergic to polyester." She may very well be -- it'd be hard to tell in this natural fiber household. But there it was. Allergic to polyester. For some reason this proclamation was both hilarious and bittersweet to me.

So, with my natural fiber obsession (let's just call it what it is, shall we?), I have always needed my wee ones' pajamas to be cotton or wool. Mostly they wear those "must be snug fitting" longjohn-style pajamas since the commercially available alternative is polyester.

Last night, I finally got around to doing something I've been meaning to do for a very long time: sew up some cotton flannel pajama pants. Due to the end of daylight saving time, James was asleep by 5:45, so Elisabeth stood at my elbow while I whipped these up for her from my horded couple of yards of Munki Munki flannel. James will get some this week, as well, and some long-sleeved shirts with owls on them have been requested to go with them. So those will be following along shortly, I'm sure.

PS: I'm still sick -- actually sicker today than I was on Friday! But thank you all so very much for your well-wishes. I hope I'll be back to "normal" (a relative term with me, hee hee) very soon. xo

Souperific

I am completely sick today. Sore throat, headache, sore ears, sore eyes, congested. I know I'm going to be in the mood for soup, and lots of it, over the next few days.

Here's the recipe for a favorite of ours. I adapted it from one that a friend shared with me a few years ago (originally from Cooking Light, I believe.) It's so yummy!

Italian Sausage and Pasta Soup

1 lb. hot Italian sausage (or mild, if your family prefers ... we like spicy)
2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes with garlic and basil (I think some brands call this "Italian diced" -- check the can. Remember that tomatoes are a commonly contaminated crop and it's worth the effort to look for organic!)
6 cups broth or stock of your favorite variety
1 cup small whole-grain pasta (such as macaroni or shells)
1 large bunch kale, stemmed and chopped

In a soup pot, brown sausage, using a spoon to break up. Add tomatoes, broth, and pasta. Simmer until pasta is tender. Add kale and simmer until bright green and wilted, about 2 minutes. Serve with crusty bread, salad, and a garnish of shredded cheese and/or shredded fresh basil if you choose. (We always omit the garnishes.) Enjoy!

And a couple more dinnertime photos from me, since this seems to be my favorite subject of late, and I just can't resist:

  

Have a wonderful weekend, friends! Be well -- not sick like me! ;)

Halloween!

You might remember that Halloween is my favorite holiday. This year was kind of strange for me in terms of decorating, however. One huge box of Halloween decorations was never located in our very disorganized storage space, and we've been going back and forth with the decision of whether or not to move before the end of the year, so I was dragging my feet a bit on getting things out. Anyway, a lot of the decorating I would usually do didn't happen this year, but it was still a very sweet Halloween.

Elisabeth and James were fairies (Elisabeth's idea, of course); their costumes were inspired by the work of Daniela Drescher, whose illustrations I would gladly inhabit. In fact, I tried to make Elisabeth's costume look like one of the fairies from In the Land of Fairies.

James's jacket and hat are made using patterns from Bend the Rules Sewing. The "Woodland Elf Hat" was super easy. I used some wool/rayon blend felt that I got on clearance at JoAnn last fall, and I didn't even have to pin around the curves because the felt stayed nice and still for me. It was really easy. I'm not sure if it's because I used a fabric so different from the one suggested in the book (no stretch), but the "Sweet Wee Jacket" turned out much shorter than I'd hoped.  But no problem for this project ... and when I make it again (I'm certain I will -- it's so cute!), I'll just cut the body longer.

The wings are made with coat hangers and pantyhose. I've been thinking about trying this ever since I first saw some like this in a store five years ago (one of those "I could make that" moments), but was never sure how well it would work with an actual hanger. Well, it did, and was much easier than I expected!

James's bag, new this year. I made one like it for Elisabeth when she was this age, even before I was sure if I'd ever allow my children to trick-or-treat. Simple, small, doesn't hold too much, sweet, perfect for little ones.

We had a really fun evening. We trick-or-treated at just a few houses and in our small city's downtown, and then we spent most of the evening at my sister-in-law's house drinking spiced cider and eating chili while my wee ones and their big cousins (10+) were in and out (it was freezing). My children got just enough candy -- but not too much. It was perfect.

Equilibrium

I know I promised to post on Monday. And I didn't. And then I was really going to post yesterday, and it didn't happen either. But I'm here today! And we've been busy and happy!

After three lovely days with Daddy home last week, I had the opportunity to attend an inspiring parenting and homeschooling conference this weekend, which inspired and "recharged" me.

However, that made for a very late night on Sunday. And a sleepy day on Monday, reconnecting with my babies and trying to reestablish our rhythm.

Last week my serger finally died. I mean, it really died. So I've been looking into other options ... at this point, I've been so spoiled to have had a serger that going without was not a realistic option, especially not with doll commissions in my future. So I researched, asked around, priced, priced again, knew I couldn't afford what I really wanted, wished, looked for used ... and yesterday, amazingly, a local dealer had just had a trade-in only hours before I called. So we spent the afternoon at the shop trying it out, making sure that everything was in working order, etc., and, with the help of my mama, I came home with my very own Baby Lock! It's about 4 or 5 years old, but has never been used. The person who owned it finally decided, after years of non-use, to trade it in for a vacuum cleaner. I cannot believe how fortunate this was for me, because it's the machine I really wanted, and I would never have been able to afford it -- or any Baby Lock -- right now. But this was an incredible deal, and my mom was so generous to help me with it. I'm very blessed, I know.

Monday night was our annual pumpkin carving "party" with my dear, dear friend Rebecca. We've been carving pumpkins together every year for 8 years now, and have never missed, even when we (briefly) lived many hours away.

We have an annual tradition of having pasta and salad for dinner on pumpkin carving night. The photos throughout this post are from that lovely evening.

And tonight is Halloween! You'll pardon me for waiting to share costume pictures or even hints until tomorrow, won't you?!

Handmade for Us

My friend Gina made this diaper cover for James recently. It's a felted sweater that she cut up and sewed together on her machine.

We use only wool covers with our diapers -- I felt like if I was going to "go for it" with cloth, I should go all the way; and then there's that whole thing about wool being my favorite thing. And we have many that we just love. But despite being a knitter and crafty mama and wool-lover, I have never made my own.

Well, I think this little cover here has converted me.

PS: My husband is on fall break this week and we have family time to enjoy -- and I have Halloween costumes to finish -- so I'll be taking the rest of the week off. I'll be back in this space on Monday. Have a fantastic fall weekend!

A Special Day

Today is a very special anniversary for me. One year ago today, my camera came to me! Wow! I feel like I've learned so much as a photographer since then ... and have only scratched the surface of what I want to learn about making beautiful photos.

Here's the very first photo taken with my Canon:

And a favorite from the same day:

And the very first photo I ever uploaded to flickr:

Without flickr, I would not have met many of you. Or learned a lot of things about the kind of pictures I want to take. Or the craft projects I want to try. And without the bloggy world, I would not have been inspired to save and save for my camera. What a lot of growth in my real life has come from this amazing community of all of you!

My weekend in photos

Friday: An evening out with two friends. Wonderful, and just what I needed!

Saturday: Pumpkin patch with my husband and wee ones. Perfect weather, perfect day! Later, some sewing and movie watching with another friend.

Sunday: Woke up to snow. Cozy day at home with those I love most.

I hope your weekend was just as sweet!

More photos of my weekend on flickr.

Pleasing the Crowd

I try to serve healthful, satisfying breakfasts around here. This can be a tall order, for sure, especially with one child with food allergies (dairy, eggs, and soy), and another who doesn't really like oatmeal or porridge. What? I know.

Sometimes I like to whip up a fruit crisp. I should remember this a little more often, because it's a crowd-pleaser.

Today, it was a pear crisp. So easy. I didn't even peel the pears first. It ended up being like stewed pears with streusel topping. Yum. I found some photos from late August, when I made a peach-apple crisp, with equally delicious results.

So, without further ado, here's the recipe.

Grace's Crowd-Pleasing Breakfast Fruit Crisp

serves about 4

3-4 cups fruit, sliced and peeled, if necessary (whatever you have on hand: apples, pears, peaches, berries, or any combination)

4-6 Tbsp coconut oil (or butter), melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp blackstrap molasses
3/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2-3/4 tsp cinnamon or a spice blend (like this)

Heat oven to 350F. Put sliced fruit in a pie plate or other shallow baking dish. If you're using mostly apples, add a bit of water or fruit juice (1/4 cup or so). Combine the melted coconut oil, sugar, molasses, oats, flour, and cinnamon until it forms crumbs. Sprinkle over fruit. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Let me know if you try it! Edited: This makes a crumb topping that is not very sweet. I hate really, really sweet crumb toppings. Add more sugar & molasses if desired.

Have a great weekend! I hope you all have something fun planned -- I do! I'm off tonight for an evening with friends.

Sharing the Love

OK, I'll admit, I almost forgot: I am doing that pay-it-forward exchange thingie. I was the fourth to comment on Sarah's post, but since one of the people before me didn't have a blog, I was the "alternate," if you will.

So the deal is, I will send a handmade something to the first three of you to comment on this post and who commit to do the same from your own site. Here's the explanation, which I'm quoting from Sarah, who is quoting it from Anne-Marie, who might also be quoting it from someone... "I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay It Forward exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog." So, be quick! And you'll get a little something from me. Sometime. ;)

Suddenly it seems like I have a lot of creating on my horizon ... goodies for three of you, a swap with a certain friend, dolls that some of you have commissioned from me (really? I'm still pinching myself), Halloween costumes, a sweater for Elisabeth, a hat for my husband, and various and sundry holiday gifts. Oh, and in between all of that, a bit of this:

Wow! How does a person fill up her plate so quickly? Not that I'm complaining. These are the things that feed me. And a lot of it is made possible by all of you. Thank you, thank you. For your support and great kindness. I'm getting all sappy about blogging now, so I better stop.

You'll have to excuse these photos. I was spending way too much time messing around with action shots for this post.

PS: If you haven't yet, check out Alicia's shop which opened today. Beautiful, beautiful things!

Cozy & Sleepy

I am still a bit sleepy from staying up too late working on projects, visiting with friends, and so forth, for the last week. I almost didn't post today, but then I thought, we really can't have that. So here are some photos of coziness from around our home.

I love sleeping wee ones. Especially sleeping wee ones who are all snuggled up together.

A favorite spot in our living room. I could have "styled" this photo first, admittedly, but I also appreciate the realness of it. This is what my children's toys look like at the end of the day. A bit picked up, but not perfect. The cord from our new-to-us (via my mother-in-law) lamp kind of sticking out, not situated yet. Just a sweet spot in a family's life. I love it.

I'm a bit slower on my autumn decorations this year than usual. But they are slowly making appearances here and there.

Fun, Quick, Easy, Cute

So, here's the sweater I knitted up for James on Wednesday/Thursday, when I was procrastinating on making Graham. (By the way, I am so flattered and humbled by your response to him. Thank you.) The sweater is the "Like Father, Like Sons" sweater from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Kid Knits, which was my first actual knitting book (I got it a few years ago), although this is the first thing I've made from it.

The yarn is a double strand of Ironstone Yarns Harmony, and it's on size 17 needles, so when I say it knit up quickly, I am not exaggerating! It's bulky and thick and oh-so-warm. A perfect outside sweater.

When I first put it on James (last night), he wailed "Owie" over and over. But today he's seemed to like it, which is good since he's probably going to be wearing it a lot.

The Big Reveal

OK, the suspense is over. I finished my big project in time! And here he is:

Oh, yes, it's another doll. I didn't really allow myself as much time as I would have liked on this one, but I am totally thrilled with him. He's a 4th birthday gift for my dear friend Gina's youngest son, a very special family and little boy to us.

What amazes me about the dollmaking process is how much personality the doll develops as it's being created. As I was working on this one, it occurred to me that his name should be Graham -- not a name I would normally even think about, but it just seemed to be his. Because he seemed to be such a unique little person to me.

I'm pretty excited with how firm he is -- he's a very solid little fellow, and his arms have a "posable" quality about them. I made the arms a little differently this time, and I am much happier with them.

The other thing I was so excited about was the fact that this doll was made entirely using materials from my stash. It was so exciting to be able to sit down and make something from start to finish with things I had on hand, from the wool yarn for his hair and sweater, the corduroy and fabric trim on his pants and crown, to the wool felt for his shoes and crown. So, my stash is growing! Yay!

Anyway, it was a little hard for me to relinquish Graham today, but seeing the birthday boy dressing and undressing him, changing his diapers (thanks for that pattern, Angela!), and just generally enjoying him made it all better.

Oh, and we had our first few snowflakes this evening! 

Things I have learned in the last day

1. Caffeine is not necessarily a good thing 100% of the time.

2. Despite my gratitude for having even a little space of my own (not having to schlepp things back and forth to the dining room table every time I craft), one table does not a craft room make.

3. Knitting an entire sweater in one day can be a relaxing distraction from a deadline, but it can also just be procrastination.

4. Staying indoors for more than 24 hours may result in Mama's use of her angry voice.

5. There are way too many beautiful and creative blogs out there. Stop it, you all!

6. Cheese-less pizza is actually, surprisingly, pretty good. Especially when brought home as a surprise by my husband at 10pm after his gig at our favorite local pizza-and-music place. Which happens to be just a few doors down from our favorite local coffee-wine-and-music place.

Someone New

Someone new joined my life in late August:

The aurora 430!

I hesitated to post this -- even though I knew all of you would be some of its more enthusiastic supporters -- because this was a very expensive purchase for me and I don't want to seem like a person who normally spends a lot of money on things. Does that sound weird? I just don't want to be too braggy, I guess. But this was a carefully considered, actually agonizingly considered, purchase. That I tried about 80 times first. Finally, we decided that we were ready to go for it. I had really outgrown my other machine, and my husband and I agreed that it would be better for me to have a machine that I can grow into now.

So, I have been wanting to sew all the time. But I haven't done very much since getting it -- I was laying in bed, in a lot of pain, for so much of September. Now I'm on deadline with a sewing project, and do you know what I did last night? I knitted James a sweater. Well, most of a sweater. It still needs sleeves. I'll certainly be sharing it with all of you on Tuesday. Monday is for sharing my on-deadline sewing project.

Tomorrow? Tomorrow, I think I'll just post a photo or two. And I am going to try, try, try to stay off the computer for the rest of today. Because I really must finish this project!

Dancer in the House

Elisabeth's been hoping to try a dance class for a while, and this fall we signed her up for a ballet/jazz/tap combination class. It may come as a surprise, but despite Elisabeth's intense personality, she is also fairly shy. Her teacher, quite the diva in her own right, came up to me after the first class (last week) and said, "Very serious, this one. (Gesturing to Elisabeth.) Fabulous!"

For Elisabeth, I'd say that the dance experience is mostly about the accessories (ballet shoes and tap shoes? great!). It's very sweet to see her taking her class so seriously and being so thoughtful about it, though.