long lost legs

Sadie is officially one year old. Last night at 11:55 I remembered back to one year ago, meeting my little sweetheart in her first moments of life. Tomorrow the grandparents are coming over for a birthday celebration and I'm sure there will be a cake-all-over-the-baby photo to show, but for now I'm posting one of my favourite Sadie sights. Unfortunately these legs are disappearing as she cruises around furniture for hours at a time, but they were an absolute hallmark of her first year. They solicited many comments and squeezes from strangers and were the inspiration for our family diaper change jingle:

Teeny, tiny feet
And itsy, bitsy knees,
And big, big, big, big thighs.

bag lady

We are crazy. Not only do we have a one-year old, two cats, a messy home and a brand new schedule of Mommy working full time, but now Jay and I have decided to host a sale in our house just in time for the holiday season. Of course it will be fun . . . as long as we can figure out how to make enough stuff by the first of December. So here is one prototype in the "bag" category - anyone think this is going somewhere? Should there only have been one bird?

brave Sadie, sad Mom

I officially work full-time now. Sadie has adjusted to life without me marvellously. . . but I'm another story entirely. Sure, a happy, curious close-to-one-year-old is exactly what I wished for, but my heart would feel a wee bit better if she lit up when I walk through the door after nine gruelling hours of seperation.

Sigh. I'm sure I'll get over it in time.

woolly flock

A little flock of birds to add to my growing animal collection. Now that I'm back to work I need projects that can be done sitting in front of the TV or when Sadie is reading a book to herself (now whenever she holds a book she starts emitting gibberish - I love it!) There are still more bird bodies just waiting for spindly legs, but tonight I'm taking a break.

As a small reward for returning to work I purchased a piece from a local artist, Kristinna Lahde, who turned a simple bank envelope into a lacey, fabric-like treasure under glass. Here is a great review of a much older exhibition, but I love the dress shirt piece pictured, and the essay is well written. I haven't been inspired by a gallery show in a long, long time and I must say - it was tremendously refreshing.

serger pangs

It took much less time to make these two buddies than to deal with my broken serger. After the denim slipcover project my serger QUIT (really, can I blame it?) So, off to a repairman. There are no pleasant words for the first *@!!# gentleman I took it to - after a sketchy hand-off, the situation got worse and worse and eventually I got my machine back put together so poorly that it would have cost me $250 just to put it back together properly! I had no choice but to get a new machine, right? At this very moment I have a new Kenmore 81595 serger in a box, at my feet, waiting to be played with. Worrying that my own lack of serger care caused the problem in the first place, my sewing machine is now getting a tune-up too. Better luck this time?

mild west

She may not be too wild, but she is a western girl. Finally I finished this ragdoll for Month of Softies, and although Sadie isn't too interested I think she's a pretty sassy doll to have. Part Raggedy Anne, part Holly Hobbie, her western roots are courtesy a vintage bandana and must-have-denim. And now I'm on to other things . . .

ignoring tomorrow

I start back at work tomorrow (insert lofty sigh here). I feel quite anxious about it, so I'm hanging out on the internet checking some great links while Sadie naps. Big thanks to Craftlog for sending me here - I think I'm going to order some of Susie's postcards as a treat to myself (I think I could really use some treats today . . . at the very least, going back to work means having more money!) And next, I just adore the photo on this page, the cat is so delicate and precious. I fear that I might get hooked on Japanese crafting too, there is just something so sweet and orderly about the designs I have seen so far. Then finally, if money fell from the sky, I would treat Sadie to one of everything from anne-claire petit. If you visit, keep scrolling to the right because it's a deceptively large collection. I especially love the crochet dot cardigan and shoes, which reminds me that I should make Sadie something with polka dots. Now I better go iron some work clothes . . . sniffle, sniffle.

bird babies

There is a series of illustrations of half bird, half baby creatures that I just adore. I don't know how old they are, but I do know that they are a wonderful blend of creepy and sincere. This is the second cushion I've made from them. Embroidery is a great car pasttime for me, and I just use a chain stitch for the whole image, which might label me as lazy in the embroidery world. Next up - a western ragdoll for Month of Softies! My mom - who just started her own blog - sent me a photo of a ragdoll I made her years ago and it was just the reminder I needed to get started. Do you ever look back and realize you had no reservations when you were young? Geez, I would make anything, and I wish I could recapture that sense of abandon now.

slipcover silliness

This is what you'd call a BORING photo. But I'm posting it to show that I haven't gotten lazy, I've just been working on a monolithic slipcover for our sofa. Somehow I thought I could sew this last summer - in my third trimester!!? - so that our sofa would be complete when baby came. Yeah right, as if my beluga body could have worked this out. As I write, the slipcover is in the wash and soon our sofa will be one big sea of black denim. And then I steer clear of slipcovers for at least another year.

I'm itching to get back to more wool work. I was working on some ornaments when my workspace had to move for the third time this year. Now I'm set up in our bedroom, for better or worse. Sadie has really figured out how to move her 20 pounds around, so scissors and pins became an issue, especially since I have a habit of dropping both. And now I need to finish up a couple of skirts for my impending return to work. My new, probably unattainable goal, is to be as productive as mollychicken (who is wonderfully creative even when her kids are home on holidays!) Umm, is that a dare I've just given myself?

somebody loves grass

I feel like such a terrible mom. Here is Sadie, 10 months to the day, and it's her first time sitting in lush green grass. Ahh, the urban life leaves a little bit to be desired. Sadie was so excited when we plunked her down that clapping became her favourite activity. Needless to say, we had a wonderful visit in the country with absolutely wonderful friends. If I were them, I don't think I'd ever make it back to the city!