searching for something

No cable yet, but still a persistent pull to change something, anything. I spent last night sitting at my sewing table unhappy with everything I was working on. This simple red bird (and purple buddy below) were all I could come up with, and they are both far too sweet for my tastes. Just as I was walking out the studio door I had one final thought, resulting in the roughly sewn on bit. I've been cutting out fragmented messages from this old book I found in Michigan - this one being "I will not go with you". See? Change would be great right about now.

Which leads me to the paint chips. We have an all-beige house which I completely agree with in theory. It's practical and means your "stuff" can stand out. But I am ready to abandon being practical. We get hardly any natural light in our house and winter is coming so I think a saturated, full-of-passion colour would be a healthy move. Sadie and I debated our options on the porch today, and I've narrowed it down to two: "boston brick" red and "cougar brown" well, brown (though it has an almost plum base). Jay gets home Tuesday and as long as he doesn't shudder at the thought, I hope he can weigh in. He's never been into red, but maybe this year things are different. Sadie can be very persuasive.

On a different note, thanks to Ragdoll's reminder, Sadie and I went to Word on the Street today. We loaded down her stroller with books (a bag of books for $5? Give me 2!) and felt very happy with ourselves. Books and paint, we must be readying our nest for the winter. Throw in a pair of almost-complete-socks and my beloved can of Coke, and I may make it through this need for change after all.

hollywood night

Right now, Jay is heading over to an opening reception for a show called "Just Britney" at a gallery in Hollywood. They managed to pull together work from 47 artists, including Fourteen and Chris Crocker (of YouTube fame). Of course, Jay could have gone down the trashy route for Ms. Spears, but his portrait is beautifully innocent and I think it's one of his best pieces. He just knows her face so well, and I've long since forgotten my husband's predilection for this particular blonde. Well, for the most part.

It would have been great to join him, but I just got home from a lovely break in New York with Ragdoll and couldn't stand being away from Sadie that long. Although I was in NY for a work conference, I was a total girl and shopped like mad (Ragdoll inspires me that way, though she did laugh when I bought a pair of red shoes similar to ones I already have. My response: I like variations on a theme.) But being away from home was good for my soul, truly. These are uncertain times at my workplace, the summer, frankly, was a bummer, and I have a real need for change right now. My mother, bless her, tried to help me move all our furniture around today just to make some change, but with a cumbersome TV, nothing worked. Stupid TV - and to add insult to injury, we don't even have cable.

So while Jay is doing his art thing I just need to sit down and knit, send him happy Hollywood thoughts, and consider this whole cable ridiculousness. Maybe signing up could count as change? At the very least I could finally watch Mad Men.

gramma love

Truth be told, I learned how to crochet way before I ever knit. The women in my family were more of the doily-making variety instead of knitters; perhaps they preferred keeping track of only one needle or they liked the humour of being called a "hooker". I imagine the latter is the case, as crochet reminds me most of my Gramma Vi, who passed away two weeks ago. Sure, this summer has been absolutely crappy for losing loved ones, but at least remembering my Gramma makes me laugh. She was a crazy, one-of-a-kind lady. You could not leave her house without sparkles attaching themselves mysteriously to your body and she was a crochet queen. So finishing a crochet project is not only timely, but also therapeutic.

It turns out that crocheting is also easier to do on the subway when I'm standing behind Sadie's stroller. We only go 4 stops, but I suffer from having to always do something with my hands, so I make use of the time. This scarf is a simple fan pattern I found somewhere online and I like that it feels lacy without the task of having to memorize a lace knitting pattern, plus it looks the same on both sides. I used Rowan cashcotton, which is lovely to work with, and a 4.5mm hook. It's about 9 degrees outside right now, so I'd say I finished the scarf just in time.

See Gramma? I'm a hooker now too.

babies need red shoes too

I was incredibly slow to discover the wonder of Japanese crafting books, but wow, how inspiring they are! One in the Handmade Zakka series arrived at my door last week and the very same day I heard that Nadine had had her baby. So, eager to sew for a little baby girl I started picking fabric for the baby shoe pattern. The construction was surprising, and the hand sewing intense, but I should have known that to make something so tiny and sweet requires special processes. Now I just have to get my act together and deliver the little package before baby Lucine's feet get too big! Three years down the road and I have no idea what size newborn feet are. I may already be too late.

P.S. Nadine - if you're reading this pretend that by "Nadine" I mean Georgette. And if you find a wee package hanging on your door, it's from the Baby Shoe Faery. But most of all, congratulations and I can't wait to meet your little lady.

starting over

Once upon a time, sewing was the love of my life. In the past 3 years I have been neglecting my needles and thread (though knitting has filled some of the void, to be sure) but lately I have really been missing this part of my world. And today at a very poignant psychic reading I was told just this - I have walked too far away from this love.

Of course, times have been a little tough lately. One night when Jay was staying at the hospital I escaped into our shared studio and started making pants. Made one sketch and just grabbed fabric. I had been inspired by Little Red Caboose and since Sadie has been adding inches to her legs, I figured pants were a gentle and practical project to take on. Among the tears and heavy heart, the night spent sewing was wonderful. As usual, my little girl dislikes what I made her, but I'd be happy to even give these away; making them was what I needed most. And yesterday I received these fantastic books in the mail so I think I may be able to keep up the sewing energy. Sadie is more likely to appreciate the dolls I stitch together, so I may just start there.

I may even make the psychic proud.

for Margie, with love

My mother in law -
your laugh, loud and so sincere
left us all too soon.

(P. S. Our garden will always have purple flowers for you.)

purple goodness

It feels as though this sweater took a long time to get through, even though it's toddler-sized. Perhaps it's the weather, or maybe the fact that every summer seems to get packed with things to do (and lately, not the happiest of things), but it sure felt great to weave in the very last end and convince Sadie to try it on.

The pattern was very simple to follow; I had knit the collar much longer but ripped it out to make the sweater feel balanced. I made a cleaner selvage for the edges, but it rolls inward anyway so I don't know if it mattered much. The one funny thing I found out is that when I transferred the sleeves to DPNs my knitting became too regular and looked totally different than the body. I switched to knitting them flat and it matched again, so I just had to endure more seaming. Unfortunately Sadie dislikes the sweater entirely - I had to promise she could wear polka-dotted sneakers that are still too big for her just to get a few photos. She was more than happy to tear the sweater off...I sure hope she changes her mind in the fall.

Pattern: Girlfriend Swingcoat Sweater by Wendy Bernard

Wool: Misti Pima Cotton/Silk, 3 skeins

Needles: 5mm bamboo circulars

A couple more shots on Flickr.

the birth house

Even though the premise interested me, I wasn't expecting to love The Birth House nearly half as much as I did. I took Friday afternoon off and sat in our quiet backyard - by myself - for hours, savouring every word and every scene. The characters were charming and real, the midwifery perspective respectful and fascinating, the story simply over too soon. I can't do a book review justice (I'll leave that to Ragdoll) but I certainly can gush. I loved, loved, loved this novel.

Photo courtesy of our local thrift store - when Sadie was about the same age we found this beauty framed. It's quite large, about 22" x 30". He/she has been hanging in our bedroom ever since.

have fabric, will sew...maybe

I've been itching to sew. Once, that was all I ever did, but these days my shelves of fabric stand untouched and my sewing machine mainly stitches gift cards. The wall hanging above is one of the last non-softie projects I completed soon after Sadie moved into her own room. Small quilting projects are so rewarding - I love sifting through scraps and randomly sewing pieces together, although my choice of black may be a bit macabre for a little girl (I tell myself this everytime I dress her in black too, yet I never really pay attention to my internal scolding).

Months, and I mean MONTHS ago I picked up these two floral prints and two polka dot ribbons at Designer Fabric to make a curtain for Sadie's window. Still unmade, I'm trying to muster the energy to get it done this week. And seeing as I'm breaking the rule about similar sized patterns together - twice! - I really should finish my rebellion and just do it already. This time, I'm crossing my toes.

The other shot is just context - a little vignette in Sadie's room. My Mom won the lamp in a raffle and the old toy is from when I was a baby, along with some other odds and ends.

And in a "small" aside, the wonderful folks at small magazine were kind enough to include my Trampy Bunny in their latest edition. It's pretty cool to be in such great company and Jay thinks Dawn's bunny rocks.

who knew?

Finally I finished a book. Not a book of patterns, not a magazine, but a novel. I have started about three, no four, books over the past few months (Everything is Illuminated, On Beauty, The History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters and The Trick is to Keep Breathing) and nothing stuck. I did finish The Actual by Saul Bellow but that's classified as a novella so I didn't feel the same accomplishment. But why am I even talking about this boring fact of finishing a novel? Well, I heard myself telling friends about it all week, and then tonight I looked it up and the first search result was the movie listing at IMDB. So the film will also be titled Revolutionary Road, and the novel is by Richard Yates, about a suburban couple in the 1950's coming to terms with their relationship while raising two children. Funny thing is that I felt like I chose to read the 1950's version of Little Children and IMDB tells me that Kate Winslet is playing the lead character in this film too. Huh. But I'm still staying away from Little Children for the time being.

To keep with the momentum I'm re-reading A Room of One's Own. Ah Virginia Woolf, how I love thee. I don't know if I'll ever get back to any of the other four I started, but at least I broke the reading rut. Finishing my tally for 1001 Books You Must Read may have provided an extra push too - I'll never be Ragdoll, but I hope I can stretch beyond my 64.

Oh, and the flowers (or shall I say cabbage) have no direct meaning - I just like to have flowers out for guests.