Oh, the advent calendar!

I loved the book advent idea that I mentioned yesterday. I like the idea of reading a book a day, but wanted to figure out how to count down to Christmas and involve Abby in picking and tracking the books we've read. Then I saw this post by Rowdy Pea. Oh, I loved it. The simplicity, the Asian sort of bent, the not overtly religious or specifically anything about it. And, it's lovely. So, I just straight up copied her. They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. . . right?
My take on it is a little different. I made up tiny cut outs of all of the winter books we have on hand from our collection and from my run to the library. I got the images from Library Thing
and some from ebay. I printed the out and put them in a bowl. Every night before bed, Abby picks a story from her bowl. We read it and sing the song if there is one (Jingle Bells, Rudolph, Frosty the snowman) and then she puts the cut-out in the advent cup for that day.
Of course we'll read her the other stories any time over the next few weeks, but this makes each story have a special spot in our holiday season. On Christmas day, she'll get a new winter book for our collection. She loved it last night. I've been giddy with the fun of it all and am so happy with our new tradition.

The whole thing cost about $6. I got scrap-booking paper that has designs on both sides. Each sheet made 4 cups. I only made 24 cups so I didn't have to buy a whole extra piece of paper for one cup. Also, we won't be here for Christmas Day, so I figured it would be okay. The numbers are just little scrap-booking stickers that I got from our local scrap-booking store. I strung them all on fishing line and used a red ribbon from my stash. And, I did it all in about an hour last night.

Library Love

Amanda Soule is just plain rad. Her blog entry today was all about winter themed books for kids. I've been wanting to expand our little collection of Christmas books because there is not a mama in the world that can read/sing the Jingle Bells book 5 times a day for the whole month of December and not kind of want to chuck it in the recycle bin by the New Year. Also, our books were the actual books we grew up with and were specifically about Christmas. I wanted to add some in about Solstice and winter in general. Her suggestions and those from the comments from her readers fit the bill.Our local library is freakin' awesome. They have such a wide variety and almost everything I look for is actually there, on the shelf, no waiting. We went and cleaned them out of winter books. Then we came home and found a basket to put them in so they'll be easy to find throughout the month. Bella Dia made mention of doing a holiday book advent.
I love this idea SO much. I've been looking at all of the inspiration out there for marking the advent or the 12 days of Christmas and trying to find something a little less specifically Christmas, more about time together, less about gifts, less work and more fun. I think reading a holiday/winter book a day and keeping track of them in some sort of journal or calendar on the wall will be the way to go. Of course, I can't keep Abby to only one book a day, but we'll just make a bigger deal out of one of the books we read each day in December. If I come up with a crafty way of tracking our books, I'll post it.

It took about 20 minutes. . .

After seeing my dear friend's hand warmers the other day, I've been wanting some. I've been dreaming of finding a few minutes to make some and warm my hands. I went on etsy and found some inspiration.
And then I hit the stash of felted sweaters from last year's sweater bags.
I knew I kept the sleeves for a reason. I realize now that when I do this again, I'll just cut the sleeve open and re-sew it because if you just use the sleeve, it's hard to add any appliqué to the top and since you have to made the sleeve more narrow anyway, you might as well just open the whole side up. These were just quick prototypes, but I like them so much, I can't seem to take them off. I started to change Abby's diaper and before it became yucky, I begrudgingly took them off. I'm pleased. I think there will be more of these in the future. Yay!

If I push hard enough, I'll get my hands in those mittens

Scale is hard to show here. These are teeny tiny little mittens that are an ornament. I'm sending them off to Sweden tomorrow for my Holiday Traditions Exchange.
It was fun putting together a wee package to send to a different part of the world. The pattern is from this book and I made them with left over bits of Cascade 220 from the stockings I made last year.

And, this poor quality picture is of really cute folksy hand warmers that a friend was wearing the other day. Being who I am, I made her take them off for me to examine. At one point I exclaimed, "but they're not even well made!" They laughed and said the frayed edges and "deconstructed" look was in. I don't mind that the spots don't match. . that's pretty cool, but they didn't even get them the same length! As far as I can tell, it's just felted wool from recycled sweaters sewed into a tube with a part of the seam left open for your thumb. I am so making some of these!

Dr. F hat finished

I might have run off with this hat. I love this hat. In fact, I have left over yarn, so I'll probably make it again and wear it. A lot. And then I'll be twinsies with the snowboarding neurosurgeon. He liked it. He really liked it!

As long as I can still sew for tiny babies. . .

Making teeny tiny little things makes me happy. I figure as long as someone out there keeps making babies, then I can keep sewing these little things!
Here then, the improved diaper changing pad:The picture is dark, but this one is much less wonky. Again, that rotary cutter, mat and ruler! I had no idea what I was missing.
A sweet wee jacket from Bend the Rules Sewing. It is made from a thrifted jacket with bias tape that I made myself from vintage fabric. I most likely won't be making bias tape again any time soon. The stuff is cool to use, but now I see why it's sold already made. Again, vintage and thrifted materials to make the matching little shoes.
The elf hat from bend the rules sewing. I really like this one. So easy, quick and what a cute result. I like it when something that looks so great doesn't take much time! I usually have the opposite happen. I spend a lot of time and the result is so-so at best. I found this piece of thick wool felt at a thrift store.

Part of why I use reclaimed fabrics is because we don't have a lot of options for buying new stuff out here. Also, I'm cheap. I can't spend $10, $15 or $20 (!) a yard for something that I'm trying out for the first time. Also, I love the thrill of making something out of almost nothing! Mostly, I like the sustainability of using discarded items to make something new and fabulous. Why would I buy new wool felt when I can felt and use an old sweater destined for the garbage because it has holes in the sleeves? Why would I order online and have something shipped, using all kinds of fuel, packaging and resources when I can just walk 2 blocks to a thrift store and take apart an old wool coat that cost $2 to make a wee jacket?
But, that's just me. I'm crazy like that.

I knit a basket, a hat and take a cold hard look at the stash

I was trying to knit this hat. I ignored all manner of advise on what yarn to use. I used a very bulky yarn and made the blue one in the background of this picture. It's hard to tell, but it's so thick and big that I might just add handles and call it basket. As Pee Wee Herman said, "I meant to do that!". So, I looked in the stash and found some less bulky yarn and started again. That's the one that's almost done in the front of this picture. I like it. It's for Tom's neurosurgeon. He's a snowboarder. You gotta keep a snowboarding neurosurgeon warm! Here is a fairly innocent looking bureau.
Here's a wee peek behind the bureau.
And, here's what happened when I emptied the bureau, the bags from behind it, the bags next to the couch, the bags behind the couch, the basket next to the t.v. etc.
The stash. In. one. place. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. Tom came upstairs. Oh, I can't suggest you EVER let the husband see the stash all at once like this. Stephanie warned us all, but it happened. No manner of explanation about "having only one skein left from a project", or, "my mom gave it to me, " or "but they were 99 cents a piece!" could soothe the man. I don't think I'll be buying any yarn soon.

Oh the beauty of blocking

Dream Swatch before blocking:Dream swatch after blocking:
A thrifty treasure:
Pure wool vintage skiing dress. I'd love to say that it looks great on me, but it doesn't. More like a potato sack with a belt. I'm thinking of hacking the bottom off and making it more like a wool shirt/jacket idea. . . what do you think?

Lest you think I've been idle. . .

A Dream Swatch head wrap for a wonderful Dr. of Tom's.
A tried and failed attempt at making Abby a neurosurgeon costume for Halloween. Thank goodness for Goodwill on Oct. 30th!
Using my fabulous new rotary cutter, mat and ruler (thanks Mom and Dad!) to cut out fabric for wee baby shoes.
The shoes, the shoes! Such fun and so darn cute!

Crowns, oh crowns. . . I can't quit you!

For my nephew Ethan. He turns 2 on Thursday. I'm told he likes bees. I'm pleased with this little design. I'm hoping to embroider something other than crowns soon. I'm almost crowned out. ..but then another birthday comes and I can't help it, my hands snatch up the felt and embroidery floss faster than I can control.

Pants Pants Pants

I can't stop making pants. I'm quite chuffed with myself really. I've been reading far too many blogs by English people, I'm starting to pick up the lingo. "Chuffed" means "pleased" or "puffed up" and is English slang. It can also mean disappointed. I find this confusing for so many reasons. It reminds me of living in Australia and someone would say, "I could really use a biscuit" and by biscuit, they might mean what Americans would call either a cookie or a cracker. These are two VERY different snacks. I could never figure out if someone wanted sweet or savory. So, to clarify, in this case, I'm pleased with myself.

So pleased that I'm putting more pictures up of these corduroy pants that I made several weeks ago.
In the case of these little gray pants, I'm chuffed in the not so pleased way. I didn't pay a lot of attention while cutting these out and made them too small. I had to add an extra panel of fabric to the butt. Considering that these were my first pair of pants and I wasn't using a pattern. . .well. All of the projects on this post are made from either reclaimed, recycled or thrifted fabrics and supplies, right down to the thread. Love that.
And, the crowns are taking on a life with adults in my little group of friends. Darek turned 34 this weekend and he is now the very proud owner of a baseball crown. He really didn't take it off all night. I was mighty chuffed (in the good sense).

Booties bootees and a halloween clip for good measure

Somehow this picture shows
a. how badly I screwed up the sewing on the hair clip on the right
and
b. how one is much bigger than the other.
They look much cuter in miss Abby's hair. Since she refuses to stand still for more than a nanosecond these days, a picture of them on the sidewalk will have to suffice. Candy corn hair clips are almost too cute for me. . .but not quite. I can't own this idea. I saw them here and here. I almost can't stand these little spider clips they are too good!. If I had more/any talent, I'd make those.
And, the bootees. When I write that out "bootees", it looks weird. "Booties" seems like it should be right. I looked it up. "Bootees" is listed first, but "booties" is also acceptable according to dictionary.com. And, really, if dictionary.com says it's right. . well then, it must be. Ha!
Same pattern as before, only this time I did them with the right gauge, so they'll actually fit a baby and not a very short, fat-footed adult. The yarn (Zitron Polo in color way 410) is left over from my dream swatch head wrap thingy. I love the colors and can't wait to pick which of the babies coming gets to wear them!

How an octopus became a bootee.

This is the story of a piece of oilcloth.
I cut it out haphazardly and edged it with bias tape. I did not fold the corners well. I did not measure the pockets to match.
It is wonky like most of my speedy quick projects.
It is functional. It keeps Abby's butt off of the floor when I change her diaper.
This is Adrian. He likes bikes. I made him a bike crown because it was his birthday. He was infinitely more pleased than this picture might make you assume. I'm mighty proud of that embroidered bike. I did not get a closer picture. I'm bummed about that.

This is an out of focus octopus of yarn. When I seam it all up and add buttons. It will be two more bootees for the 9 pregnant ladies I know. Yes. 9. Yes. That's a lot.

She thrifts, she scores!

I made pants. I MADE PANTS! You can almost tell how cute they are from these pictures. Brown corduroy with olive green cuffs and waistline. I got the idea here and followed the tutorial here. I'm such a visual/physical learner, the on-line tutorials are really great for me. I can actually make things instead of freaking out over a pattern and the written instructions.

And, I've been holding out on the funky tea set I've been collecting for a while. The clincher were these fabulous cups. I wish I had fabric with that pattern, I'd make pants for everyone out of them! They were 10 cents a piece. 10 CENTS!
And, oh, the tray. . . I'm loving the woman bringing a cooked turkey to a man who's been out fishing. It's almost like a comic strip. Man goes fishing. He doesn't catch a thing. Woman anticipates no fish. She cooks turkey.
And, I guess I'll have to pick and choose which tea cups to keep. . . the tray's full. Either that, or have a lot of people over for tea!

Booties!

Saartje's Bootees pattern (in the sidebar). I'm down with the knit, but I screwed up the sizing. I'll do more that are littler for baby feet later.

The Harlot and other crafty news

I made a some little hair clips. This picture makes it look huge, but it's not. I was mostly inspired by Amy Karol's little clippies, but a few others caught my eye too.And, of course, another birthday crown and more clippies.
But, the real news? Yup, I did it. I actually dropped the kid off at daycare at 1pm, packed up the car and then drove to Seattle to see the Yarn Harlot, and then drove home. To put this in perspective: it takes about 3 hours to get to Seattle and that includes a ferry. On the way home, the ferry was full and I had to wait an extra 40 minutes until the next one. Try explaining that to someone who doesn't knit! It's hard enough to convince someone that it's worth the trip for a huge concert, like if Prince came to Seattle, I wouldn't make the trip. . . and that's saying a lot! So, for me to make the trip to see an author. . .an author of humor books, wait: an author of knitting humor books, well, you see how my Friday went.
The truth is, I totally needed and deserved this break. For those of you who know what's been up with my husband this summer, you know that to take 9 hours out of a day and be alone and then surrounded by fellow knitters was amazing. I was worried that I'd get tired, but I was so energized by seeing Stephanie that I floated home. It had nothing to do with the 3 diet cokes I had, really. And, as hard as it is to explain a spontaneous road trip to see a knitting author, get this: I listened to self help books on CD the whole way. Yup. That's right. . . I'm flaunting it now! I drove to Seattle to see a hysterically funny knitting author speak and I became a better person in the process. I wasn't even fussed about missing that ferry.
So, in that picture up there, I'm wearing my "Knit it or Quit it" t-shirt. I gave one to Stephanie too. I also scored her a Tom Bihn knitting bag. It's Seattle made and not even on the market yet. Still in beta. It was really fun to see her speak and then to take a few minutes of her time and say hello. . . good stuff. I think my favorite part was that after she said something applause-worthy, there would be a split second pause as everyone set down their knitting and then started clapping. That cracked me up, and so did she. Fun Fun.

That's right. . . dayglo owls!

I should start this by adding a few details about Tom's tumor. I failed to mention that the thing was benign. It was benign and removed fully. . . very little chance of it coming back or causing further harm. He's starting to be a lot more like the man I married. . . full of beans. He's a feisty one. He's healing well.
In other news:
I went to the really huge community garage sale yesterday. I went within the first hour of it opening. That was a mistake. It was so freakin' crowded that I couldn't see a thing! And then, when I found this lovely hand knit sweater, I had to stand in line for 30 minutes to buy it. Uh, yeah. Oh, and Abby (yes, my 2 year old) took those pictures of me in the sweater.
I am so in love with this sweater. When I put my hands in the pockets. . . that's right, tissues and hall's lozenges. Just like an old lady sweater should be. . .full of the stuff of healing! It seems to be right out of Elizabeth Zimmerman's knitting workshop. . .the button band and sneaky pockets. . . I love to imagine just who it was that knit it. She was mighty smart because she lined the sleeves. . .it's an itchy wool.
Anyway, I went back today with the hope of finding treasures that had been stirred up in the frenzy. I found the coolest old fabric. There are owls in that florescent madness. OWLS!
And, could those little wee birds just make you curl up from the cuteness! And, it's linen. I LOVE it. I'm not sure what I'll do with it all. . . but handbags seem to be my thing now.




















And, holy moley. . I finished the pinwheel sweater! Abby was kind enough to put it on today just long enough for a picture. It's too cute for words. I hope she starts wearing it when it's cool enough.

















And, jeez I have a lot today, pictures of the Rumpus Room. I wish I had "before" pictures. It was just an emtpy storage room with nasty concrete floor, no shelving or cabinets and unfinished walls. There's still a bunch of little things to do, like get a futon and put something on the walls and put up curtains, but it's use-able now. Our house is so small, that this really almost doubles our living space (meaning, space that is not our kitchen, bathrooms or bedrooms). It is attached to our garage and across the yard. I am loving the quiet sewing time. Also, my lady friends can come over and drink wine without fear of waking my little one and the tired husband. . .key to my existence right now. I love that I can sew and look right out into our back yard and watch the kid play. I have a tiny t.v. and DVD player in there too, for the cold winter months when she'll be less inclined to play outside and let me play on the sewing machine or knit.

Oh, and I worked really hard before our dear friends got married in early July (read: before the tumor trauma!) to finish their cool picnic blanket. I never got a picture of it fully finished, but you get the idea from these shots of it pieced together. Blatantly copied from Amanda, the Soulemama. See her picnic blankets here.

I am so very hoping to make it over to Seattle (3 hours away) to see the Yarn Harlot speak. Oh, that would be joyful.