Dusting off the needles

For months all had been quiet in the sewing corner. The fabric and thread sat lined up waiting...the sewing machine was looking a little forlorn, gathering dust. And my will to craft: not especially abundant. Even the cooler weather could not urge me to grab the woolly yarn and knitting needles. A complete craft drought (well, aside from that Halloween costume I threw together for Rowan...the costume whose many components were misplaced or temporarily lost before I ever took any photos).

So, you can imagine how excited I was when a local mama put out the invitation for folks to come on over to her place and join in on some fun studio/crafty time (and treats too!) But Mother Nature had other plans for me: a snowy afternoon that left my snow tire-less car completely unprepared for icy, hilly roads. Once we have snow on the ground, I do not like to drive anywhere with just summer tires. So I stayed home...a little bummed out but a lot inspired to make things.

And I actually started some projects that night and even finished two over the next couple days. One was a hooded cape for Rowan's medieval festival. This was made from an old wool blanket that I dyed gray. The best part about it was how much it excited him. The medieval festival was a wonderful culmination to a class Rowan had taken throughout fall.And a mystery knitted item that will be a gift so I can't say anymore...just in case. Have a happy Friday!

Gardener's apron

On the rare (and short!) break in the clouds yesterday I gave my new apron a whirl. Finally made one of these for myself- just a little half apron with pockets in the front for seeds, tools and other gardening essentials. The fabric is a sturdy printed canvas that hopefully will withstand all the wear and tear and grime.
Rowan was my photographer and I have to say that I'm very pleased he got the apron and not my hair. I very sorely need some help in that department. Specifically, I think it's time for a haircut. By a professional. It's been nearly ten years since I got my hair cut by someone other than myself or a family member.

In other apron news, if you're in the market for a fabulous mama/child apron set, you should head on over here and take part in the Garden Mama contest giveaway. Leave a comment and she'll put your name in the running! Sweet!

Black and white

I am finding myself a little in love with this classic color combo. I think it all started with the silhouettes. Remember those? We did eventually get them framed- it was surprisingly hard to find decent ones in the right size. But once they were hung up on the wall above the couch, I knew I needed to make some black and white pillows to round things out.
And as I take these pictures of my girl, I see that her birthday dress carries out the theme. Another pinafore dress from The Children's Year book. Must make more of these. They'll be perfect for summer...that is if it ever decides to stop raining. I think this is day four of drizzle.
Oh, and this little ferry wooden boat toy was a gift we snatched up during our travels through the Adirondacks. The owner of the bed and breakfast we stayed at made bunches of wooden toys on the side. And after our travel by ferry I couldn't resist this one.

Wishing all you Dads out there a Happy Father's Day!

Been gone so long

I hardly know where to begin. So here...how about a random picture from last month? Spring comes along and suddenly I want to paint my whole house and make new curtains and get organized. My head begins bursting with possibilities until- of course- a healthy dose of realism reminds me that there still is just 24 hours in each day. To fulfill my urge for brightening things up inside, I tackled the bathroom. A lick of paint here and there and just one window to make curtains for (my stash of Sis Boom fabric came in handy). Ah, the smallest room in the house is just my speed right now.

I'll be back soon with some tales (or at least pictures) of our recent travels.

The skin you're in

When I was a teenager, I was a complete sucker for all the skin "fixing" products out there. I was a regular at the drugstore scooping it all up: scrubs, Noxema, peeling masks, and benzoyl peroxide. I thought these products might be the key to blemish free skin. I also felt certain that a heavy slathering of make-up was a necessity before leaving the house. I came to rely on that makeup "mask" to help the vulnerable me feel a little safer, a bit hidden.

When I went off to college and especially while pregnant with my first baby, my pendulum swung the other way. I no longer wanted to buy into the false beauty system. I didn't want to put so many chemicals on my skin. I fell in love with herbalism and natural healing. Though Rosemary Gladstar's book- A Family Herbal - was a later addition to my herbal bookshelf, it's become one of my favorites. I still remember her calm and radiant presence when I went to hear her give a talk at a little Cambridge health shop years ago.

The book is full of recipes and general instruction for making and using all kinds of natural/ herbal remedies. Her "Perfect Cream" is especially satisfying to make.


Here's the recipe:
Waters
2/3 cup distilled water (or rosewater)
1/3 cup aloe vera juice
1 or 2 drops essential oil of choice
Vitamins A and E as desired

Oils
3/4 cup apricot, almond or grapeseed oil (I actually used olive oil)
1/3 cup cocoa butter or coconut oil
1/4 teaspoon lanolin (I left this out)
1/2 to 1 ounce beeswax

1. Combine waters in glass measuring cup. Set aside.
c 2. In double boiler over low heat combine oils. Heat them just enough to melt.
3. Pour oils in to the blender and let them, cool to room temperature.The mixture should become thick, creamy, semi-solid and cream colored. The cooling process can be sped up in the refrigerator, but you have to watch it closely so it doesn't get too hard.
4. When mixture is cooled, turn blender on to highest speed. In a slow and steady stream, begin to pour the water mixture into the whirling oil mixture. You may need to turn off the blender and scrape down the sides with a spatula.
5. When most of the water has been added, listen to the blender and watch the cream. When it begins to cough and choke and the cream looks thick and white, turn off the blender. Now you can add the remaining water by hand and beat with a spoon- don't over beat though.
6. Pour off into jars. The cream will thicken as it sets. Store in a cool location.

As the lotion is quite thick and rich, a little goes a long way. Use only a small amount on the face, more can be used on the body. This is my favorite part about Ms. Gladstar's instructions for using this cream:
"The only real 'rule' about this cream is that it can never be used with any negative thoughts about the body it's being used on. When smoothing it over the creases and maps of the skin, do so with love. Do it as if you are anointing yourself with precious balm. You are! This is part of the cream's magic."

While I really love the lotion itself, perhaps this kinder attitude toward oneself is the more important aspect of using this skin cream. I do appreciate this reminder to be just a bit more gentle with myself.

Peep, peep

Rowan and I made a few new woolly friends:

With patience, warm soapy water and willing hands, a mass of fluffy wool batting can transform magically into a dense felted fiber. Well, perhaps not so magical when a favorite sweater shrinks three sizes too small, but that's a different story.

Any-who...to make our little woolen eggs we started with a hunk of batting.
We fluffed it up a bit and then layered it over some plastic Easter eggs. You could use any sturdy egg form. Before wrapping we taped our eggs closed so they wouldn't open up during the felting process. We wrapped 4-5 thin layers of batting evenly around the egg and then added a bit of colored roving.

Carefully, we dunked the woolen bundles into a warm soapy bath and gently began molding the wool around the egg form. In the beginning the wool feels all mushy, but slowly the fibers tighten up and begin to bind to one another. Before the wool begins to really felt, you have to work slowly and gently to avoid popping your egg right out of the wool.

Once the wool firms up, you can add more pressure as you cup and squeeze the wool, gradually working toward a smooth round shape. Every once in a while you might dunk it again in that warm soapy water.
Once the wool is firmly felted, all the soap must be rinsed out and the egg left to dry for a day or so. After the wool is completely dry, I used a small sharp pair of scissors to carefully remove the plastic egg within and to reveal our hollow woolen egg.
And this can be filled with any treasure you wish...a coin, a little sweet treat or even a little chick.
We cheated on the chicks and sewed them up from a felted sweater (oh yes! those shrunken sweaters aren't a total loss). The pattern is based loosely on one from the All Year Round book.

Just fold a small square of felt on the diagonal: you will have a triangle shape. Sew together the open sides of the triangle, stuffing the form with wool batting before sewing the entire thing shut. Now you will have a stuffed triangle. A little stitch of blue embroidery floss suggests the eyes and a snip of orange felt becomes the beak. A button sewn on the bottom lets the chick stand up.

Nothing too fancy...just a fun little thing to make and something for the little ones to play with. I'm thinking one of these will end up in Lilla's Easter basket. Hope you and your peeps are having a nice week!

Welcome Spring

We had a glimpse of lovely warm weather yesterday. We spent the day outdoors...preparing garden beds and boiling more maple sap. Yes, we threw ourselves in to making syrup again this year. After last year I wasn't certain I'd attempt it again considering the investment of time and effort required to get just a bit of syrup. But, oh well it's just too delicious to resist. And we do have several mature maples only steps from the house. And now we have nearly two gallons of syrup for the upcoming months!

And with our wonderful weather, Lilla had the opportunity to wear her new outfit Grandma brought back from India. She just loves to jingle the bells attached to the skirt:
And investigate all the sparkly mirrors attached to the shirt.
But now she says enough with the photos, Mama. Put this lens cap back on please!

Heart Day

A woodblock print I found at the farmer's market : Danish paper hearts filled with chocolate goodies. This site has wonderful directions.
Rowan carved his very own soap with inspiration found over here. My sweet boy has wanted a real carving knife for quite some time. The butter knife and soap method is a great way to get those itching fingers crafting. The added bonus was mama received a fresh supply of castille soap shaving for whipping up a new batch of laundry soap.
And of course some heart shaped (or something approaching that) pancakes on the breakfast table.
Hope your day was surrounded by those you love.

Occupying me

The recurring theme over the last month has been furniture: moving furniture, fixing up furniture, and selling or freecycling the excess. Hardly a day has past when my trunk hasn't been at the ready with boxes destined for Salvation Army drop-off. With this kind of activity, one might guess we were preparing for a move. But no, not yet, though I do look forward to moving on from this place one day.
And these things- chairs, tables, buffets, dressers, an antique sofa, a mish-mash of old china, books, photos and sewing oddments- all landed in my dining room, filling it from wall to wall. So for a time here I've been swimming in excess... pouring through piles and trying to make sense of these bits and pieces accumulated over the years- ranging from the old and beautiful to the broken and worn. I've been sifting through boxes wondering about the woman to whom the items once belonged, imagining what her life might have been like and wishing I might have had the chance to know her better in person.

And here and there a project is finished. I was happy to bid farewell to my old dining room chairs and table and make way for these new (old) ones. I applied a favorite (and lovely smelling!) linseed/beeswax finish to all the pieces. Then I layered and stapled new cushions, batting and fabric onto the drop-in seats. The heavier weight cotton fabric is an Amy Butler design. The fabric purchase was a bit of a saga as I wavered back and forth between several choices. I browsed online to find quite a few I liked, but ultimately settled on purchasing this one from a local shop. While I wanted to do my little part in supporting the local economy, I think I might have chosen another fabric given the multitude of options out there. Ah well, at least we're enjoying being able to sit in our dining room once again. Stay tuned for more projects in the works!

Fun with color

We plucked out all the broken crayons bits out of the BIG crayon basket, methodically peeled off papers and got to work making a fresh batch of crayons. Not an original idea but something I'd never tried out before. I must say there was something very satisfying about cleaning out that basket. Some of those crayon bits have probably been kicking around since Ava's early artistic meanderings (I think those old ones were especially tedious to peel- stuck on as they were). All we did was lightly oil an old muffin tin, put our peeled broken bits till about 3/4 full, popped the tin into a 200ºF oven for 10 or so minutes. Let cool until set and tapped them out.

With our abundance of white outdoors, these little punches of color make me very happy.

Sweater pants

With today's weather briskly in the single digits, I didn't stray too far from home. In fact I didn't allow myself to get too far from the wood stove. I just enviously eyed Lilla's super warm sweater pants. These were made last winter out of a Salvation Army sweater, but due to Mama's extra generous sizing they are fitting Miss L just right this year.
Okay, I know I've already mentioned before what a wool junkie I am, but the material is such fun for so many repurposing projects. We've turned old felted sweaters into mittens, slippers, hats, pants, Christmas ornaments and stockings. Thrift stores (and the closets of your friends and family) are just overflowing with beautifully colored and textured woolen sweaters. And once the sweater is felted- needs a high wool content and some vigorous washing and drying- the edges won't fray. I so prefer working with this material over the thin polyester felt you can buy in craft shops. Another cool part about working with sweaters is trying to incorporate the finished edges into your final project. For instance, I cut out the pants so that the bottom cuffs would line up with the bottom of the sweater where it was ribbed. I just used a pair of baby pants for a makeshift pattern, but I would imagine a store bought pattern would work well.

Now if I could just find a sweater big enough for a giant, I might whip up a pair for myself and then probably hide in the house looking like an oddball.

Hello January

Christmas on Cape Cod, New Year's in Virginia. We've been a busy band of gypsies going from here to there, unpacking and repacking four times over. All this shuffling of belongings, people and a dog combined with the bustle of holiday crafting, shopping, wrapping and the like leave me a bit frayed. We're home now and I think I'm ready to bring this blog out of hibernation mode.
A few of the things that managed to make it out of my craft space in time for Christmas:

A new stocking for Rowan- every bit of it made from reclaimed fabrics and trims. It's a little sick how much joy I get from re-purposing old things.
Leg warmers for my littlest (hurray for that bit of mohair left over from my cowl)
When she's not wearing these on her legs, she puts them on her arms. This girl has become increasing interested in her clothing and has a fashion sense all her own. On Christmas Lilla received a new Hawaiian shirt from my sis and immediately Lilla stripped out of her dress (with help) to get that new shirt on.

A hooded cape for Row. Well, I wish I could say this was a hit, but I'm afraid it turned out a little heavy. I'm please to say the fabric was recycled from things I had around the house. Scraps of brown velvet and a few old velvet garments.  Even the clasp came from a Nordic sweater in my woolens bin. But the double thickness of velvet makes it second in line for dress up capes. And the expression on Rowan's face here might better illustrate his point that "it's embarrassing to get dressed up in front of grown-ups." This is an unfortunate recent development. A bag for Ava. She noticed one I had made for my niece and then said she wanted one for herself. I love this fun fabric from a cozy little shop down the street.
This bag has become Ava's school satchel, so she requested a coordinating pencil bag.

And our travels to the coast gave us plenty of time for admiring the winter sky and sea and for enjoying the company of family and friends.

Happy 2009!! And thanks to all who make the trip to my little corner here and for the kind words you share.

Decking the halls

The farm looked like this the day we went to pick out our Christmas tree: Yes, almost every tree covered in mounds of snow, but that didn't stop of from trudging around through the deep, deep snow looking for that perfect one. Finally choosing, we circled round our tree to give thanks before cutting and bringing it home. I love so much the sweet forest scent that now fills the indoor spaces.
And I love the gleam captured on sparkling ornaments.
More little bits to add some holiday flavor:
This one is Ava's.
Here's Rowan's.
The advent garland which I can never seem to get a good photo of, but on most days the kids awake to a little treat tucked inside.
And the little felted bird- an idea stolen from the fabulously crafty Leanne at Homemade Rainbows. I've been admiring the ones she made some time ago for her little one's birthday and have been waiting for the moment to make my own. And now I can't wait to sew a few more.
Hope your holidays preparations are merry and bright!