How is your weekend going so far? Ours has been sweet and slow-paced. Tonight, it's snowing again, my children are all asleep, I've got a cup of my favorite cocoa brewing. (We have that a lot around here, it seems!)
I spent some time this afternoon trying to design this year's Christmas card. So far, I don't quite have it. Something seems to be missing. Back to the drawing board.
Wishing you a sweet end to your weekend!
I bet you thought I wouldn't get a post up today! Well, it's still Friday, and here I am -- just squaking it in. Today was very dark -- I kept waiting for even a patch of sunshine to take some photos -- and by 3:00, when it looked like the sun had gone down and it started to pour freezing rain/hail/slush, I knew it was a lost cause. I had planned a review of a book with illustrations that warranted sharing, so instead I've had to come up with an alternate plan.
Lots of people email me to ask for advice and suggestions for beginning a seasonal observance of festivals and celebrations in their homes, so I thought I would share with you my very, very favorite resource today.
Mrs. Sharp's Traditions was the first non-pregnancy/birth/breastfeeding mama book I ever read --while I was pregnant with Elisabeth. The style is humorous and may be off-putting to some (it's written a tone mimicking a Victorian ladies' advice book or magazine), but that is really so perfect for me. The amazing, wise thing about this book is that it draws parallels from another time with our own time. It really is all about how to reclaim family life -- I think so many of us feel powerless and end up throwing our hands up in defeat. Mrs. Sharp is here to show you simple ways to make home a warm respite from the impersonal, face-paced world outside. The first part of the book is about daily rituals that help to bring harmony, balance, and predictability to family life. The rest of the book (the majority) follows the year month by month, discussing different festivals and seasonal customs and pastimes. Part historical, part practical, part humorous, but always full of grace and charm. In my early days of parenting, Mrs. Sharp was like a trusted friend, always giving me a bit of steadying wisdom as I navigated my new role as a full-time, at-home mama and keeper of the home.
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Some of you had asked for some more details about our family's celebration of Martinmas. I didn't elaborate on those answers for a couple of reasons -- one was that there wasn't too much I didn't share in my previous Martinmas posts, and the other was that most of them came from this book. So, hopefully this will be helpful to those of you who are looking for additional information.
Have a great weekend, everyone -- I'll be here with some weekend posts at some point on Saturday and Sunday. See you then!
We celebrated a beautiful Martinmas last night with a group of homeschooling friends. There were moments that were so quiet and reverent, looking around the circle of us singing together, and there were moments that were rowdy and a bit challenging to manage. But overall, it was such a delight to celebrate as a group.
I didn't get very many pictures (just these three, in fact, and I was missing my lens!), but the few I have tell a story, I think.
We met in a large park and shared a simple meal (of pumpkin soup, bread, and cider). Then we set out, a merry little band, singing. We stopped at a couple of houses in the neighborhood, and then wound our way back into the park. In a stand of trees, we stopped and I told the story of St. Martin to our group. All was still and dark, except for our lanterns. Finally, a quieter group found its way back to the tables to pack up and bid one another farewell.
There were moments that weren't perfect. But it was beautiful -- magical, even.
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This year, we again made our "go-to" lanterns. I loved the balloon ones we made last year, but didn't want to do them two years in a row (not that my children would have minded!). I thought about making some out of beeswax (sort of like these), but ultimately decided against it because I wanted my children to be able to make their own lanterns.
These lanterns take 3-4 work sessions. You'll need heavy-weight watercolor paper (approx. 12"x18"), high-quality watercolor paints (those that come in tubes rather than the dry ones in a tray), paint brushes, smooth boards (can be made of plastic, wood, or any smooth surface) for painting on, cooking oil, paper towels, glue, a hole punch, tealights, and yarn, ribbon, or wire to make the handle.
The first day, we made our paintings, using the wet-on-wet watercolor painting method. I like to use paintings that are completely saturated in color for these, so this method is perfect for that. (I took a lot of pictures of our painting day this time; find more pictures here.)
Once the paintings were completely dry, we oiled them using cooking oil and paper towels. (This picture is actually from 2006; I don't have one from this year). It is important that the paintings are completely saturated with oil. You are not going for a light coating -- you want the paper to be soaked all the way to the back. This makes it translucent once dry. Expect each one to absorb several teaspoons of oil, at least. This is really messy and they will need to dry overnight.
The next day, we marked one of the long sides of the painting with lines that were 2" apart and 2.5" long. I cut along the lines.
Then we glued them into a cylinder along one of the short sides, using clothespins at the ends to hold them together, and stones to weigh them down while they dried. Once the sides were dry, we folded the notched ends over and glued them shut, once again using stones as weights while they dried.
Finally, we punched holes and added our handles -- these were yarn that had been finger-knitted by Elisabeth, and glued tealights into the bottom of each lantern. It's really good for children to have running projects like this, even something like this where each work session only takes a few minutes. It's very strengthening to work on something over several days.
I hope if you try these, the instructions make sense and they turn out beautifully! Let me know if you try them. Enjoy your beautiful lanterns!
...the strength of inner light this Martinmas, as we await the return of the Light just about 6 weeks from now.
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I'll be back tomorrow with pictures of this year's lanterns. The sweaters are all complete, and I'll give each its own post beginning Monday. For more about our family's celebration of Martinmas, you can check here and here. (For some reason, I didn't post about Martinmas in 2007.) For a long time, we were the only family we knew that celebrated this festival. But now lots of you have started to celebrate it, and tonight, for the first time, we are sharing a lantern walk with a group of homeschooling friends. Good things.
Oh, and thank you so much for your words on yesterday's post. Things have settled down here, as they always do.
Many blessings to you on this Martinmas day!
I had another post all set for today, but instead, I want to say thank you.
Thank you for your many sweet comments recently. Thank you for continuing to stop by and visit me in this space, even when I haven't been here consistently. Thank you for being an amazing community.
Yesterday was the worst day we've had in a long time. My kids were grumpy and fighting, I'd woken up with a headache (which is unusual for me), and my temper was short. I was yelling a lot. In the middle of all this chaos, James got a nosebleed (which he tends to get from time to time when he's throwing a tantrum or crying really hard). I called my husband at work, and I never had the chance to tell him about my day, because he started to tell me about the day he was having -- which included the fact that both of his classrooms had been broken into over the weekend and vandalized -- very badly. I actually typed out what had happened, and just deleted it because it's too horrifying, and frankly, gross, to share here.
So, there I was, still in my pajamas, covered in James's blood, all three children crying, my husband at his wits' end at work. I really could have had a breakdown. But the mailman came to my door with a package at that very moment. An unexpected care package from a friend I have never met face-to-face. It was full of beautiful things for each of my children, and some treats for me.
In that one moment, everything turned around. Somehow a woman from the other side of the country cares enough to send a surprise to me and my little family out of the blue. How blessed I am.
So thank you. Thank you to Courtney, specifically, and to all of you. For taking the time to say hello each day, for being a community of women who uplift and brighten. You are all around the world. You are in your homes and places of work. You are sharing your thoughts, listening to the thoughts of others -- silly thoughts, creative thoughts, even deeply personal thoughts. This is a community.
love to you all,
Grace
I made some pillowcases for Elisabeth and her friend for the sleepover.
we have a pop-up trundle bed so both girls got to have a bed
I used two ready-made white pillowcases and sewed contrasting fabric and ribbon that Elisabeth had selected to the bottom.
They look really cute, although the insides are sloppy. I think there must be a better way of doing pillowcases. Oh, well, they were fun for the girls to have, even if they end up falling apart at some point.
Edited: There is a better way! Next time I make pillowcases, I'm going to use Kirsten's tutorial. I figure, if you wanted to do it with ribbon, you could just leave out the trim fabric and make it with just the main fabric and the border per her instructions, adding the ribbon at the end.
snow white and rose red japanese fabric
And actually, I really like them -- the colors and details -- and for something thrown together quickly, they're perfect.
Hello! It's still Sunday, and I'm here. (Getting used to weekend posting may be a challenge!)
I don't have too much to share this evening ... we had a lovely, quiet Sunday, without much to report.
Tonight, I'm anticipating my favorite festival on Wednesday, and finishing work on the sweaters.
I'm eating a snack of frozen blueberries.
I've had this song running through my head for several days now. Although the sentiments are clearly intended in a romantic vein (and may not be applicable to parenting), the hook of the song always makes me think of my wee Fiona. Such a joyful one, she is.
My favorite (and usual) camera lens is off to be repaired. It hadn't been autofocusing. Hopefully the repair won't be too complicated or expensive. Fortunately, I have other lenses I can use in the meantime, although they are both less versatile.
And that's about it.
See you tomorrow!
Thank you all so much for your sweet comments on the last few posts. I'm having fun being here daily, too!
Today was a day of contrasts -- it began on a sad note when Elisabeth's first sleepover had to be cut short because her little friend wasn't feeling well and needed to go home. It was so sad to see our little friend feeling so awful, and so sad to see both girls so disappointed.
It ended on a happy note (for me, at least), as I got to spend the evening out with a friend, something I really needed this week.
In the middle, there was some wet felting. (I love the wet felting in cookie cutters method. I learned it from Living Crafts a couple of years ago. It's also how these bird ornaments were made.) And there was some zany hilarity as I got lost on the highway twice (on my way to meet my friend), and had to backtrack twice.
So, there you have it. A wee Saturday post, squeaked in just in time. Because I'm not about to start missing already! ;)
We've had a lot going on this fall. A lot. Some of that, you know about. The dissertation, and work to graduate on time, being chief among it all. But we've had other stuff, too. Most of it good, some of it not-so-good. And we've all been pulled along in this current of activity, keeping afloat, but not always thriving.
Each Monday, I wake up and realize, "Holy cow, I have seven cello students arriving this afternoon, and this house is a MESS!" And so Elisabeth and I usually spend about 30 minutes frantically tidying, vacuuming, and dusting the living room (where I teach) before my first student's arrival. This past Monday, as I was knee deep in this catch-up ritual, I had this moment. This moment of complete overwhelm and complete clarity, all at once. I'm sure you know the kind. I realized, in that instant, that we have too much: too much stuff, too much stimulus, too many activities, too many bills, too much work, too much on the schedule, too much stress, too many commitments, too much clutter, too many choices.
books, packed up for later
The thing is, I try to be really conscious of this. (I mentioned yesterday that I try to be very mindful about what comes into our home, for example.) And I'm guessing that as chaotic and generally cluttered as things feel around here to me, they are probably a lot better than they would be if I were less conscious.
Enter Simplicity Parenting, a book that recently crossed my path. I'll admit to feeling a little bit skeptical at first -- don't I already know all this stuff? Well, yes ... and no. Sometimes you just need a reminder.
I absolutely love Simplicity Parenting. It's giving me the strength and motivation to remember to say no a little bit more. To set boundaries, and seek balance.
I haven't even finished reading the book yet, and I've already gained so much from it. My feeling is that any parent -- at just about any point on their parenting journey (from infant to teen and everything in between) would gain insights from it.
It's organized beautifully. Every few pages, key points are highlighted in headers entitled "Quite Simply". There's so much good in this book, it's possible to open it at random and find a perfectly beautiful, succinct, and relevent idea for your real life.
I especially love the chapter on rhythm. Just listen to this:
~"(Quite Simply) Rhythm builds islands of consistency and security throughout the day."
~"Meaning hides in repetition: We do this every day or every week because it matters. We are connected by the things we do together. We matter to one another. In the tapestry of childhood, what stands out is not the splashy, blow-out trip to Disneyland but the common threads that run throughout and repeat: the family dinners, nature walks, reading together at bedtime (with a hot water bottle at our feet on winter evenings), Saturday morning pancakes."
naptime
OK, those are just two quotes, and they really only scratch the surface of what's in this book. There are so many concrete, practical suggestions about how to rein in family life, to take it back. Whether we already have a good start, or whether things are completely out of control, these are suggestions that can really help to make things meaningful to us.
linens from our church that we help wash each month
Coincidentally, Kyrie mentioned Simplicity Parenting yesterday (yes, we're friends, but no, we didn't discuss this first), and said she feels almost evangelical about it -- and I agree. This may be only the second book (after Mitten Strings for God) that I have felt this way about. Really -- this book is really, really worth it. I wish I could buy a copy of each for every parent I knew.
our dragon candle, today
I'm still struggling with the feeling that our lives are a bit cluttered right now. However, I'm learning to look again. To realize where we're doing well, and to carve out space in our days for more of that, and less of everything else.
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Since I've committed to writing here every day this month, I'm trying to come up with as many ideas as I can to fill all those days. One thing that I've been meaning to do here are semi-frequent book reviews of some favorites -- both new and old. So I'm going to be doing these on Fridays in November -- the final Friday (November 27) will be my annual winter/holiday book post.
Of course you knew I would mention the high chair cushions, right? I made these especially for Fiona. I still have the ones I made for James -- and I love them, but I used quilt batting in them and they've become quite flat and floppy over the years.
So with these, I decided to use this stuff instead, and have been so happy with it so far! Hopefully it will stay nice and springy through many washes.
The fabric is by Kaffe Fassett (I think it was called millefiore), and I love it so much. It reminds me of the colors and motifs in the work of some of my favorite painters.
This red grosgrain ribbon actually came on a package from Alicia a long time ago -- it was still attached to its tag in my ribbon box! Thank you, Alicia -- we'll think of you every time Fiona eats.
Edited to add: The high chair itself was a craigslist find a long, long time ago.
In addition to her new mama-made cushions, Fiona has a new wee wooden mug, which is made by Heartwood Arts, a new wooden spoon, which is made by Camden Rose, and of course, her beautiful ladybug bowl from Melissa.
I try to be very mindful about the things that come into our home. (Sometimes I'm more successful at this than others....) So, if it means having only one of something, and really learning to care for it, rather than having a whole slew of (whatever it is) ... well, then so be it. We don't really need a drawer full of baby spoons and bowls and cups and whatnots. One of each really is plenty. In the end, I think we probably spend the same amount of money on a few high-quality items that we really want, and which will last for a long time, as we would on a large quantity of cheaply made ones. It means I need to wash up every time, but that's a worthwhile habit, anyway. ;) And I believe that it's important for children to have beautiful things, too.
Whether they're the cushions we sit on, the utensils we eat with, or the food itself, here's to things of beauty for us and for our wee ones!
An exciting development in our house over the last couple of weeks or so has been Fiona's first solid foods. We waited a little longer with her than is average (she was right at eight months). This was mostly because she wasn't showing any interest until close to the end of October and I didn't want to push her into it. Current recommendations for beginning solids with breastfed babies can be found here.
Just like her older sister and brother, Fiona's first solid food was sweet potatoes, which she gobbled right up! We've quickly moved to other fruits and vegetables.
We've been getting lots of use out of the bibs that were gifted to us -- the ones you see in this post were made by my friend Laura and by Erin.
And this little ladybug bowl was a baby gift from Melissa, and it's one of my favorite things ever. We give Fiona all of her meals using it.
I make all my own baby food, and use a combination of sources for information on feeding solids. My two favorites are Whole Foods for Babies and Toddlers and Super Baby Food. Whole Foods for Babies and Toddlers is a bit more laid back, but has helpful information about incorporating solid foods into baby's day without replacing breastmilk (which should be the primary source of nutrition for the first 12 months of life). It also has some of our favorite recipes, including our go-to birthday cake recipe. Super Baby Food is more of a regimen. It's perfect for Type A mamas who need some real structure to follow. I followed it almost to the letter when Elisabeth was a baby, and I've referred to it often since then, although as I've gotten to be a more experienced (and relaxed) mama, I don't feel like I need such a strict regimen anymore. Just FYI, the information in there about the age to begin solids is a bit outdated and the breastfeeding advice in it isn't too great, but otherwise, it's been a really good resource.
Anyway, what fun to share a love of eating good food with our littlest one. We're all looking forward to many, many happy family meals to come!
...Indians!
Elisabeth requested an Indian costume this year, and since we're still all about the matchy-matchy, James quickly followed suit. (He really would do almost anything to be like his most beloved older sister. At least for now. It's so sweet!)
I don't know what the original seed for this costume inspiration was, but Elisabeth had something extremely specific in mind. Given the fact that this isn't very popular costume choice anymore, there were only two pattern choices among the major pattern brands carried by our local craft store. This one (McCall's M5953) was selected because it looked slightly more acceptable than the other choice. ;)
I had all the supplies (which included that cool embroidered faux-suede and four spools of "Native American" ribbon) in hand by the second week of October, and began tracing the patterns and cutting out the fabric. But some complications arose over the last 10 days or so -- some stresses that don't really have a place here, but suffice it to say that my mind was elsewhere -- and I didn't start sewing until 9pm on October 30. Yes, that's right. 9pm the night before. I sewed until 4 in the morning. And then I got up at 8:00 and sewed for 8 more hours. (With breaks to nurse the baby and not much else.) I would not recommend this.
However, I love, love, love these costumes. You all know that I am a rather extreme perfectionist and tend to be pretty critical of what I make. Sometimes I go back and read what I've written here and it sounds like I find fault with all of my work! However, I assure you that these costumes were impressive even to my eye. I was so pleased with them!
And, even more fortunately, they met with approval from my toughest little critic, as well. And what a fantastic Halloween evening to set out in a mama-made Indian costume with a belly full of soup and a neighborhood full of kind people. I was surprised (happily so) to see how little gory, gross, creepy stuff we encountered. Nothing like a sweet, happy, neighborly, handmade Halloween to restore your optimism and faith in the goodness of the world.
PS: Fiona's costume was just a little raglan sleeve tunic that I came up with. I bought all the faux-leather fringe they had at our local JoAnn, and it still wasn't quite enough for her little dress to have any, and I ran out of time for pants. But she only wore it for 10 minutes, so that's OK. A few more photos of the kids in their costumes here.
Jack-o-lantern, that is.
This was the tenth year in a row that my friend Rebecca and I have carved pumpkins together. Rebecca pointed it out, and it hardly seems possible ... but it seems that it really has been that long! Anyway, from the days of the two of us working together as bank tellers -- me, a recent college graduate and newlywed, she a recent high school graduate and transplant to our state -- to the current crazy mix of husbands, babies, dogs, cats, and -- well, always the original Martha by Mail pumpkin carving kit we used that first year. Always a simple dinner of pasta, salad, and bread. And always laughter.
From fancy Pumpkin Masters designs to simple, traditional designs of our own (and our favorite inspiration in the last couple of years from this book), we may have a friendship that was originally built on pumpkin carving, but it's so much more now. I love you, Rebecca!
This year was the first that Elisabeth designed and carved her own pumpkins. (Some of these came from our garden, too!) What a mix of pride and terror trepidation there was in this mama's heart as I watched her have at it with the little knives. Oooh, but what joy and pride in my girl's eyes, to see her staying up late with the grown-ups, carving away.
And matching her grin to her pumpkin's:
How I love Jack and the memories he brings.
Tomorrow: a full costume report!
Welcome to November, everyone! I hope your Halloween was safe and sweet and fun. I hope you'll indulge me in not one but two Halloween posts over the next couple of days. Because I love it that much. And more, really. Although there were moments this year ... well, that's another post.
I'm also thinking of doing my first NaBloPoMo this year. November tends to be a hard month for me, following, as it does, right on the heels of my very favorite one, so I sometimes need so external motivation to keep things positive. Anyway, I'm not sure if I can do it, but I'm going to give it a go. Hoping to see you here every day this month. (?!) Oh, my!
PS: I loved reading all your trick-or-treating in the snow stories the other day! Fortunately, we didn't have to do that -- it was mostly melted by Saturday evening.
I had hoped to share photos of our annual trip to our favorite pumpkin patch tonight, but our pumpkin patch plans this year were thwarted by the weather.
So instead, we took a walk on a day that seemed more like Christmas than Halloween -- marveling all the while at the transformation of our neighborhood into a slightly weird landscape (Halloween is still on my mind, afterall), and of the quiet that falls over a place when it snows. Everything seems insulated with downy whiteness -- I love the quiet of waking on a snowy morning.
My dad stopped by for a little while this afternoon on his way home, and shared some hilarious stories from his boyhood with my wee ones.
We tried to stay warm and cozy while indoors, ate snow with maple syrup, worked a bit on the Halloween costumes, and delighted in the cackles, howls, moans, and groans of our little ghosties and ghouls.
More fun (and handmade goodness!) here in the next few days.
We attended a baby shower this week for a baby boy due to arrive at the beginning of January.
The card, which I was very pleased with. Sometimes I feel like my cards lack inspiration, but I was really excited about this one!
And some t-shirts, which are horridly photographed, but I assure you, exceptionally adorable in real life. The elephant and the snowman are Japanese prints that I hoard and then carefully portion out for appliques (because my budget for Japanese fabrics is quite limited!). (Both came from Superbuzzy, but at least two years ago.) The dog is an older Heather Ross print. And who on earth can resist a dachshund in a sweater? Also, these wee kimono tops with the mitten flaps are my favorite. I cannot believe that I had a baby tiny enough to wear something that small a mere 7 months ago.
PS: Thank you for all your bird dress love! It's so much fun to share something I really love with all of you.
Last month I promised photos and information about Fiona's little birdie sundress. We finally had some nice days recently so I got some more pictures, although my littlest girl was a fairly unwilling model!
The dresses are made using Park Slope birds fabric, which is now out-of-print. I'd been holding onto these three yards (one of the apricot and two of the turquoise) for a long time.
The patterns I used were found here. Fiona's was "Baby Annie" by Primrose Lane, which I adjusted to have shoulder buttons only (no back buttons), and Elisabeth's was "Louise" by The Children's Corner.
Rattle made by Papa Urchin! (And really that's a link to Mama Urchin, but I figure many of you already know Jennifer.) As an aside, I am once again so grateful for the generosity and handmade goodness that was shared with me and Fiona. You all blow me away.
I made Elisabeth's without the pintucks on the skirt. The skirt of Elisabeth's was also shorter than I intended because I made a mistake cutting, and didn't have enough fabric to re-cut the skirt pieces. I ended up doing a rolled hem on the serger rather than a traditional blind-stitched hem as I did on Fiona's dress.
The buttons on both girls' dresses are vintage from my stash. The ones on Fiona's shoulders are favorites of mine which I had been saving with sundress shoulders specifically in mind for more than three years!
The placket on Elisabeth's dress gave me a great deal of frustration (there was some swearing) the night I was working on it. It could have been the late hour, or it could have been the instructions, but I tried and failed about four times before giving up. An online search for sewing plackets yielded me an amazing result and led me to my new favorite site, Children's Fashion Workshop. Thanks to Erin's wonderful tutorial, I made the placket the next morning and it was smooth sailing! (Erin's blog is beautiful, too. She's just the kind of person I'd imagine a mother bird would be.) And thanks to her, the placket turned out great.
These pictures of Fiona really remind me of the paintings of the Dutch Masters. (Oh, did I just compare my little old photography to Vermeer? I think I did just commit that faux pas.) But just look at my old fashioned-looking baby, and the light and shadow. See what I mean? I thought you might. ;)
I love these dresses. Even more, I love seeing my children wearing, using, something I've made with my own hands. But most of all? I love these two sisters.
Today I have some photos from the last week to share. We have a new (used) monitor which will work until we can get something a little better. Phew!
So here is a bit of how we spent the last week:
{I know, another photo-heavy post from me -- but those really are my favorite kind!}
::stopping to admire some autumn grasses
::a lot of progress made on a certain sweater
::a favorite midmorning snack (we like this recipe)
::celebrating our first snow -- and some very chilly days!
::and oh, those toes.
Hoping your weekend is magical in every way!
Aw, you all are so nice! Thank you for your sweet responses to my last post. It was so fantastic to hear from some of you who had never commented before! I love hearing from you and I'm working on getting more responses out as soon as I can more readily access my email.
You see, I'm not posting from my own computer today. My monitor died over the weekend -- we replaced the computer itself about a year ago, but the monitor was about 7 years old -- and until we replace it, I can't get onto my computer. So today, I'm on a borrowed laptop and feeling kind of weird that I can't dump the photos off my camera. I have some lovely photos from a beautiful weekend (there was snow!) to share in this space.
In the meantime, Fiona really needs a new autumn/winter hat, and I have three that I'm debating between. Opinions welcome!
This one? (Ravelry link here.) This was the one I was originally planning to do, but now I'm hearing that it runs big, which will not work for my baby -- all three of my children have small-ish heads (as do both of their parents, coincidentally!), so I'm not so sure.
This one? (Ravelry link here.) This one looks almost the same, but has ties instead of the button tab. I have no idea if it runs small or big or in between.
Or perhaps this one? (And on Ravelry.) This one has a slightly different look, but I'm wondering if its design may be more accomodating to those with smaller-than-average heads? On the other hand, the ribbing on the other two probably helps with warmth.
Hmm.
OK, my next post will contain photos. I promise! See you soon.
Some things that have been seen around here lately:
Costuming in the works!
Some cute baby-ness, just because.
The shadow of a star.
The turning of some leaves.
Knitting. Of course!
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Some thoughts:
~I forgot to mention on Wednesday that this is out now. I'm super excited about it, although my pre-order hasn't arrived yet. I should learn my lesson and never pre-order, because I always receive my pre-orders days and days after the release day. I must live too far from any distribution sites.
~TypePad must have received a number of complaints similar to mine, because they have sort of compromised and made replying directly to comments a bit easier again. Not quite as nice as before, but at least it's something.
~And speaking of comments, I can see on my stats that lots and lots of you are still visiting, but feeling a little bit shy about commenting. Don't be! I love to hear from you. It really makes my day -- hearing your feedback, and this little conversation of ours. And I truly appreciate those of you who do take a little time out of your own day to say hi to me. Truly, truly.
Edited to add: The hat was made by Shelley! We have been lucky enough to have two of her hats and they are our very favorite.