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For holiday shopping that is. I know, we’re tightening belts around here too but still, the girl needs a few things under the tree right? The play kitchen I’ve had my eye on for months was discounted 30 dollars this past weekend so we picked that up. I think she’ll be very exited about that. I have dishes and pots and pans from Ikea stashed away here somewhere to go along with it. I broke down and ordered her a paperback copy of Baby Shoes and a used copy of Hi, Cat which I’ve been thinking about since last year.

Speaking of things I’ve been pining over for a year or more, I picked up some hairpins and Holiday Heap over the weekend. Whether or not I’ll ever wear them remains to be seen I just really, really wanted them. I’d post a picture but my camera is decommissioned because my battery charger suddenly and mysteriously conked out on me. I should have a new one of each by Thursday so I can figure out whether it’s actually the battery or the charger that’s causing the problem. Hopefully it’s not the camera.. but then again I could ask santa for my new lens and the new nikon DSLR that also takes video. Anyway, that’s how I ended up on Amazon ordering books. Shopping on Amazon is like going to Target nay, Walmart because they’re always slashing prices and showing you the deep, deep discounts coming at ya.

I cast on (an re-cast on and re-cast on) a new pair of mittens for Chase. I have about 20 knitting books but I always use Knitting for Baby because I (usually) find the instructions clear and easy to follow and because the projects are simple and cute. These are toddler mittens knit in the round on double pointed needles. The project is too small to knit on circular needles and let me tell you these double pointed jobbies are no joke. I had to go online looking for further explanation but only ultimately figured it out after doing it over and over again. What I learned was to not be dumb about knitting but in all seriousness, that simple point just wasn’t coming to me. I might write a little tutorial on the finer points of not being stupid when I get my new battery.

The reason that I’m knitting, I’m noticing a pattern here, is that my sewing machine is in the shop. It needs a tuneup to deal with what I can only imagine is some kind of timing issue. It’s a solid machine though so I’m pretty confident that it’s nothing disastrous. AND, most promisingly, I met someone who thinks they might be able to thread my ancient industrial Juki overlock. I’d love to get that baby up and running. You know, so I can use it late at night and cut a finger off instead of just sewing over it.

I’ve been doing a little but not nearly enough cooking. I was supposed to prep a casserole tonight for dinner tomorrow but haven’t and now it’s way late. I might push myself to get it done instead of paying for it tomorrow. Chase has had some kind of food epiphany. Completely unprovoked the child, who on one occasion last week ate only a single grain of rice and a bite of chicken for dinner, ate (almost) a whole scrambled egg, half a grilled cheese, carrot sticks and almost a whole flounder filet with rice AND salad. She didn’t eat that all at once, but the sheer variety of it all has my mind reeling. Even though I never really pressed the issue I thought she’d just eat crackers for the rest of her life. I’m glad that my approach didn’t come back to bite me, not yet anyway.

Lastly, because I’m feeling really proud of myself, I cleaned out the fridge today. It was much needed.

Phase two of the peep costume is complete! I was barely able to convince her to try it on. I was seriously concerned that the whole endeavor was going to end up being a huge waste of time but she eventually let me get her into it though I didn’t get the crotch velcroed shut as you can see. It’s a little tight there I might have to extend it somehow. I don’t know, I’ll figure it out.  You can see the original post about it here.

Getting it on her was kind of critical at this point since I neither measured her before starting nor fit her in it at any earlier time. If I hadn’t been able to get it on her I would have had to start all over again. Because I could never remember to actually measure her and I was running out of time I used her monkey pyjamas (with feet!) to estimate the size.

Also, I bought her the black shirt to go under her costume and can I just say that I am so ready for her to take ballet lessons?

Really, I am.  I just got an email today informing me that the jumper I made for Chase a while back was selected for publication in this book!  I can hardly believe it and I’m so totally thrilled.  Law school really got me thinking about getting published somewhere.  I always thought it would be something accademic but this is much cooler.  So now I’m waiting for the fabric that’s been selected for the book sample.  I have to finalize the instructions and remake the jumper using that fabric.     

Oh, and I can post again because Ben hooked me up with a loaner computer until mine is back from the shop.  This thing is a beast!  We use it as a print server and… wait, I shouldn’t say anything bad about it lest it konk out on me too.  The point is I can check my email again and that makes me happy.

On the work front things are pretty good.  I’ve been tasked with a lot of lawyer type things to do lately.  I think I crossed that invisible threshhold that moves you from the new kid to co-worker.  Not a single thing changed between this week and last but all of a sudden I have lots of work to do, email to write calls to return.  A little down time is nice but it’s also good to feel like there’s a purpose behind schlepping your butt to work everyday.

I posted a while back about this quick little headband project I found on someone’s blog.  I can’t give credit where credit is due because I have no clue without my bookmarks where I found it.  It’s a cute project though and I’m going to make more.  It’s not the best picture but it takes about 100 years to upload a single photo so it’s abotu as good as it’s going to get for now.

From Project

I was also tagged by Kayris here, so without furtrher ado… Six Random Things

1) I have a bionic nose.  I can smell anything… anything from far, far away.  I used to have bionic ears too.

2) I don’t like candy and ice cream and I don’t like chocolate.  It’s not so much that I don’t like it.  I can eat a nice piece of dark chocolate or a scoop of vanilla every now and then but I’m a fruit desserts kind of a girl.  I’ll always pick lemon bars, apple pie or strawberry shortcake over any of the above mentioned items. 

3) I am so addicted to my morning coffee that if I don’t have it by 9 I’ll either a) kill you b) be too weak to kill you but really say really bitchy things c) be so weak that I can only yell bitchy things at you from a horizontal position.

4) After 8 years of higher education I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up and I secretly love being a student.

5) I have a lot of Indigo Girls CD’s… a lot.

6) I know the lyrics to almost every song on the radio.

I have a few more things to write about but there’s a bottle of Coke upstairs that’s calling me.  We can’t buy soda for this very reason.  If it’s here no one can rest until it’s gone.  Hopefully I’ll get to writing about this past week’s menu plan tomorrow and start thinking about one for next week.  MommyK, I’ve got some turkey on deck too… we need to brainstorm.

I’m not even going in tomorrow and they’ve already started.  I think I’m all ready though.  Aside from having a really killer bag I’m pretty much all set.  I hit Arundel Mills this weekend with Erin.  There were plenty of good deals there.  I try to stay out of that place because every time I go I get totally crazed by shopping.  When we hot home my legs were hurting but I was happy.  Chase was happy because she got a new pair of shoes at the Stride Rite outlet.  They have a lot of cute stuff there and the associates can still size a baby for a shoe just like the regular store.  She’s been wearing them non stop and telling anyone who will listen about her new shoes.  Her feet were bigger than I thought.  She’s wearing a size 8 already my little sasquatch.  

Chase did a little painting this weekend too.  Back to school time is a great time to pick up cheap supplies so I stocked up on a bunch of different things.  It was hard to choose between regular paint, watercolors, finger paints and gel paint.  So I opted for finger paints and decided some time later that there’s no reason to not use a brush with finger paints so that they can do double duty.  It turns out that Chase doesn’t like to finger paint.  She just can’t warp her mind around willingly getting paint on your fingers.  

She really likes painting so I took a picture of her looking very proud of herself.  At first I thought what a slob I am with the pillow case hanging over the chair but this way you can see the pillow case I used to make a little nighty this evening.  I bought some trim off the spool at JoAnn’s today to pretty it up a little.  I used a coupon on it and it’s a good thing because putting 10 bucks worth of trim on a one dollar pillow case would kind of defeat the purpose.  Pictures of that project to follow.  

Ta-da!  Last week at Ikea I was very close to buying a play tent.  Very close, dangerously close.  I didn’t buy it though and remembered this tutorial and thought I’d give it a try.  This is a highly modified version of that one because I had neither sufficient grommets nor plastic rings on hand.  Instead of the rings I sewed casings for the poles and didn’t add flaps so the tent is three sided.  I wanted it to look something like this 300 dollar job but mine’s not quite as slick.  300 bucks can you believe that??  Anyway, it’s surprisingly sturdy and the kiddies seem to like it.  

I wish I could get the pictures into the order of her discovery but Wordpress hates me so you’ll have to use your imagination and if you want to see them full size, you have to click on the pictures twice.  I know, I know sorry.  Oh, and that coat and those red boots?  Kid to Kid Consignments.  I didn’t get what I was looking for but that coat?  The price tag sure does say $5.99 I can only imagine what it cost retail at Baby Gap.  The boots are brand new, never worn and cost only $3.99!  I bought all that and still came out ahead by not spending three hundred bucks on a play tent.

You knew it was coming right?  It’s good but not great.  It’s more of a tutu apron than a tutu proper.  Here’s how it came about.  I’ve been picking up pieces of tulle from remnant bins for months and finally had enough to put a little something together.  I also splurged and bought a gathering foot.  First of all it’s the best thing ever.  No more fussing with rows of stitching and getting great gathering only to pull to hard and break the thread.  The only thing I can’t do is account for how much length will be left if I gather with x tension and y stitch length.  Does anyone know how to figure it out?   

There are obviously some kinks to work out.  I should probably stop taking pictures of projects before I cut all the thread ends and try to prettify it a little.  I just used a wide ribbon for the band and tied it in the back.  You can get a sense of how it looks in the back from one of those pictures.  The other reason Chase got a tutu today?  Last night I jumped up and tried to squish a bug.  Who knew that would precipitate hours… HOURS of EYE? EYE? That’s fly? in baby speak.  EYE?  all through bathtime… EYE?  all through bedtime, we even read a book about a fly.  First thing this morning… everything was ok.  Ben got up with her and put the tv on and I slept in.  When they came back upstairs his face was drawn and pale and all he could tell me was that he looked away for a second and that when he looked back at the tv there was a chicken, a duck and a frog on the screen and Chase had renewed her efforts at looking for an EYE?  What do I do he asked me.  What to do indeed.  

I let Ben go back to bed and went to work.  EYE?  was nothing a new tutu and a little Dragon Tales couldn’t take care of.   

Whenever I get my shoes on and say ok, let’s go!  Chase tries to hand me my bag.  The giant might-as-well-be Hefty bag that lugs around an assortment of diapers, toys and snacks that I can barely lift off the ground.  It got me thinking about making a little bag that she could tote around.  I used some brown fleece from my stash and just started cutting.  I wanted to give it a little structure so she could get her hand in and out pretty easily so I used the shoulder pads that I cut out of mom’s jacket.  And you’d thought I’d thrown them away, ha!  A couple of buttons and a tube of light brown fleece make a serviceable handle.  

Then because I still had an itch to make something but it was far too late to stick my fingers near anything motorized I devised a little card holder style wallet for her to tuck inside.  I just cut some pieces of craft felt out around a credit card and stitched them together with some embroidery floss.  

My first instinct was to make her a cute little cotton bag with a cute print that would be like a little purse but what I like about this one is that it can just as easily be a picnic basket as a coach bag with a little imagination.  So… I threw a felt banana and strawberry in with the wallet just for kicks.  I keep making the little bits of food as I come up with ideas for things that can be made out of the crazy colors I have.  I was just looking at the felt too and passed up buying some.  Now I’m kicking myself.  Anyway, no matter because she really likes it as it is.  She swings it around on her arm as if she’s been carrying a handbag forever.  

It’s hard to get a picture of a toddler swinging a purse but here are a few of Chase enjoying her new toy.  I added a strawberry and a carrot to the poor sad banana.  

I finally got around to finishing this little chair project for Chase.  I had already cut and assembled it but ended up taking it apart and completely reconstructing it when my plans for using bias tape coordinating with the seat fell apart.  I tried, I really tried but after the second failed attempt I had to call it quits.  I just didn’t plan ahead for the bias tape and only had scraps to work with.  That being said I’m much happier with the way it turned out without the bias tape.  It’s a completely fly by the seat of your pants design and I’m really happy with how it turned out.  

The backing is a green fleece type fabric from a blazer that was my mothers.  I’ve been moving the jacket around with me for a long time.  It was one of the samples constructed from her designs that she would bring home from work and even though it’s probably the only one I have I was ready to part with it in its jacket form.  It wasn’t something that I could wear.  I mean, it’s possible that shoulder pads could come back and that I could rock them in an olive green blazer but I just don’t like the odds on that.  So I cut.  I did save the tag from the inside and all the buttons I’ll use those on some other project later.  

The front side is made of linen that I bought at Ikea.  I made the seat pad earlier using cotton quilted together with a few layers of craft felt as batting.  I followed the same process of measuring and cutting for the back only this time I constructed it by turning under the linen piece 1/4 inch all the way around and then stitching the front and back wrong sides together with a blanket stitch.  

On Saturday I came into some chintz that a neighbor was willing to part with that’s where the applique bird and bugs come from.  I just stitched them down with a blanket stitch and sewed on some bias tape ties.  

Chase was adequately impressed and pleased with her little friends and so we are all very happy about it.  I found the little stool at Goodwill on Saturday.  I never find cute stuff like that and it matches!   I picked up a set of retro canisters too for storing upstairs craft supplies.  See you in hell shoeboxes!  

Hmm.. I would have bet money that I posted about the bottom part of the seat when I finished it but I guess not.  It’s hard to see but I machine stitched in her initial using contrasting thread.  

I kinda fell off the face of the earth for a minute there.  Earlier this week Kayris gave me this award!  

Cool, huh?  It makes me feel cool and lame at the same time because even though I loved getting it I have no one to pass it on to.  Not really anyway.  I think most of the people’s blogs that I read either already have a huge enough following that they know just how many people’s days their making or have already been awarded it not to mention that I am completely inept when it comes to how these things go.  So… Thank you, thank you!  And I’m glad somebody’s reading :o)  Gack, now I have to figure out how to get it into my sidebar.  

In other news it’s finally here along with all the good and bad that come with it.  

The good:

The farmer’s market is in full swing.  I can’t wait for tomatoes so I can eat insalata caprese everyday.  

It’s full on yard sale season.  I left the house with 5 bucks and came back with 3.  Also in tow, two giant dump trucks for backyard play, a cool vintage pattern to make for myself in the fall, three vintage books for Chase and a pile of fabric.  Not bad huh?  

I love watching the tiny veg grow a little everyday.  I finally got some perennials in the front so we’re not the weed garden people anymore.  It’s pretty bad when the guy playing without a full deck offers to bring you over some hostas from his own garden and then feels so bad for you that he plants them for you too.  

I took this book out from the library.  It has good ideas for ways to encourage children’s play outdoors.  The book has just been re-released with a few updates but the pictures scream I’m from the original publication!  A lot of the featured gardens are from the mid-atlantic region which makes is that much more useful and interesting.  I’m reading and thinking about how to interpret some of the ideas for our postage stamp yard.  We’re trying to think of ways to maximize the use of our space.  Ben built a door to cover the steps down to the basement that is not pitched so that it also serves as a little deck for the grill that freed up a lot of space and also provided a place to store our table when not in use.  I planted ferns underneath our plant beds.  I put some stones in around them and I’m hoping that they naturalize a little.  

We’re trying a new composting experiment.  We were on the verge of shelling out for a system when we found this.  

All of our hard work is finally paying off.  We’re having a lot of fun kicking around outside.  

Oh, and Pile of Craft.  I hardly slept last night, tossing and turning and trying to figure out what order to tackle the walk to the farmer’s market, block yard sale and craft fair in.  For fear of being run out of town I’ll keep my opinion to a minimum but I’ll tell you that I just don’t ‘get’ the whole hipster scene.  Craft is craft regardless of how ‘cool’ you are, where’s the craft love people?  I did buy one thing from one booth because the vendor was the nicest, most genuine person.  She had a truly warm smile and was so nice not to mention that her wares were super cute.  Only a super nice person selling super cute stuff could get me to spend 40 bucks on a child’s t-shirt, sheesh.  Don’t hold this against me when I’m calling asking you to borrow money.  Chase has a kitty t-shirt and kitty says MOW that’s m-ow not, mow.  

The cat is from a recycled T and the rest of the shirt is organic cotton.  The whole thing is ridiculously soft and beautiful… I want it.  Plus it looks like a cat I had once.  

Summer means it’s almost Chase’s half-birthday.  She’s having a little bit of a language explosion that results in more than a little verbal diarrhea.  I catch some of it that gets repeated, bug bite, Chase got socks, go outside, truck, chalk, toot toot!  and a lot of new animal sounds and actions.  A lot of it sounds the same but I’m fluent in Chase-ease.  She is also finally saying mummy and mom.  Of course it’s while she’s trailing behind me demanding to be carried.  I had to bust out the Ergo my back is killing me.  

The bad: 

Chase is being eaten alive by mosquitos and I haven’t had time to figure out how to effectively combat the buggers.  I finally went around today and put a few drops of citronella essential oil around where we sit and it seemed to work.  It’s cost effective until the bottle runs out because I already had it on hand but I’m reasonably certain that pouring essential oils around in the great outdoors isn’t the most effective way to fend off mosquitos.  

Must you play your music so loud?  Seriously, are you going to die if you turn it down a notch or two?  One day I’ll just snap. 

What will the kids DO all summer?  

It will be hot soon and the craziness that is summer in the city will hit hard.  

Have a good weekend!

Inspired by the halter top jumper I made last week I spent many restless nights thinking this project through.  It took me a trip to baby gap plus another 5 days to actually put pencil to paper on it.  The finished product isn’t exactly how I envisioned it but once I started to really think about it it took on a life of its own.  I liked the really soft knit style that I saw in the stores and I might give one like that a try next.  Here’s how it all started:

You could trace a pair of your child’s shorts but I played it safe and started with the shorts pattern from Butterick 4503.  An even simpler short pattern, i.e. 4 identical pieces for front and back, would be even easier.  Come to think of it, you could even eliminate one set of seams if you did it that way.  The project requires astoundingly little fabric, about a half a yard is enough to make the jumper and the belt.  

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