Word To The Daddies

I know it's a day early, but Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there. The man of our house is returning today after over two weeks of business travel in Europe and boy, are we happy to have him back. Here's a photo from our archives. Ruby would like to point out to everyone that she now has far more hair.

Crown Me

In an attempt to feel productive, I finished up another little Crownie that had been sitting on my shelf half-stuffed for ages. He's made out of some completely awesome vintage upholstery fabric that I bought at the Goodwill a few months ago. I like him.

Buys And Dolls

I was truly raring to thrift this weekend (I'm training Ruby early), but after promising my neighbour that I'd join her at the zoo on Saturday morning, I was fearful that it was going to be a no go. As we drove to the zoo I bit my lip as we drove past so many garage sale signs, including one that read "Huge Estate Sale." Eeep. I rarely venture to the sales on Sundays, because there's hardly any point, but my curiosity got the best of me and I dragged Ruby to that estate sale. All I can say is "wow."


Estate sales kind of get me down. While they offer terrific thrifting opportunities, it's also really sad and often creepy to dig through a deceased person's stuff. The woman who owned the stuff from this particular sale was particularly interesting -- according to her daughter, the lady spent the bulk of the past 30 years doing crafts (yah!) and sitting in front of the TV, ordering dolls from the Home Shopping Channel. After rummaging through her craft stuff (nothing piqued my interest) and books (I snagged some old Golden Books for Roo) I ventured into the basement of the house, where, in a small room, at least 200 dolls were still up for sale. Two hundred. It was one of the most glorious/most depressing things I've ever seen. Piles of dolls, and not even necessarily collector's dolls, mostly unclothed, stacked in an unfinished basement. I let Ruby choose one doll (after rejecting her initial choices because I was afraid they'd come to life in the middle of the night and kill me in my sleep). Ruby's doll is named Anya (she came with a little name badge) and she's part of a set released to celebrate the birth of some quintuplets that were born in Ontario in the '80s. I also picked up a suitcase of Barbie clothes (for the future), a suitcase of doll's clothes, a little doll's cradle and then got the hell out of there.


I also managed to find some crockery this week, after lamenting to Leena that Pyrex is getting so hard to find. At the aforementioned estate sale I got a nice divided depression glass plate (which Leena herself tried to buy on Saturday, but at that point the woman was asking three times as much as she gave it to me for). Not satisfied with my haul, I went to the Sally Ann on Monday and found a boon of Pyrex. I ended up with two casseroles (one in Verde, one in Butterfly Gold) and a covered Verde divided serving dish. I also found a really sweet glass chip 'n' dip set with a cherry and gold leaf pattern. Score!

W.I.P. Friday and Bonus Thrift-o-rama!

I joined a postcard swap hosted by the lovely and talented Andrea and I'm feeling like I've so little time to cut and paste. But, I managed to get four of my 12 cards done this week. The very loose theme of the swap is "summer," and I've taken on a mini-theme of "summer reading," taking most of my material from this really weird kids book that I bought at a garage sale last week. I kind of like them.


Speaking of garage sales, there has been a very tiny bit of thrifting over here. Ruby likes the adventure of hitting the garage sales, since there's usually a toy or two to be found, so we hit the road on Saturday without so much as a map or a newspaper to point us to the goods. When I was a kid I was obsessed with Royal Doulton-style figurines, so I've decided to start Ruby a collection of prissy ceramic dolls for when she's older. Hence the fancy porcelain lady you see. Then, just today, I happened upon this milk glass pie plate, which is exactly the kind of thing I go nuts for. I'm finding the milk glass pieces few and far between in garage sale land, so I was happy to snap it up.


And, from a church garage sale last week, a couple issues of McCall's Needework & Crafts -- one from 1963, the other from 1966. Check out the Wilma Flintstone chic!

We're Halfway There

One down, one to go. Last night I managed to complete my first Sockapalooza sock and I'm lucky that my sock pal's feet are bigger than mine, because if this thing fit me properly, I'd probably be keeping it. It is, as previously reported, a Go With The Flow sock from Interweave's Favourite Socks book (and the magazine before that). I hate to sound like a broken record, but I apologize for the lousy photo -- not only am I still using my parents' awful old camera that insists on flashing all the time, but there's no natural light here as it's been raining something fierce (this city's weather is very dramatic). I guess this all means that by the time the second sock is finished and I have my regular camera back there will be a much more breathtaking reveal. Because I assume if you're still reading this, you're the type who finds socks breathtaking.

Anyway, I've heard so many horror stories about Lorna's Laces variegated sock yarn and pooling and all that, but I think these ones look pretty good. Variegated yarns all tend to get kind of goofy around the gusset area, but I can live with that and I'm sure my pal can too.

While there's still a month and a half before these socks are due to be sent off, I'm glad I started early. I haven't been getting a lot done these days and with a couple other swap things on the go, I may not be finished as far ahead as I'd dreamed. Stay tuned for progress on sock #2.

Return To The Valley Of The Shawls

What's more difficult than knitting a lace shawl? Photographing it. Apologies to all -- my regular trusty camera isn't available, so I'm borrowing an ancient digital camera of my parents' which doesn't have a "no flash" setting. Yikes. So, these pictures don't do my beautiful shawl justice. Plus, I'm all frazzled, because I'm operating on zero sleep (that's what'll happen when you host an all-girl slumber party, even though you have a toddler who wants to get up at 5 a.m. so she can see the ladies who slept over -- insanity).

Pie-Wedge Shawl pattern from the ball band on the yarn I used
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace in Gray's Corner
Needle: Uh, I think it was a U.S. #7 circular...
Mods: Absolutely none. None, I'm tellin' ya.

I don't think I can even really call this a lace shawl, because, aside from a few eyelets and a saw-tooth edge, this baby is pure garter stitch. This piece is all about the yarn, because basically it's just straight garter -- aside from the saw-teeth all I had to remember to do was turn the piece two stitches early at the end of every other row. Easy. I still managed to bungle up the top a bit by weirdly unravelling and dropping a bunch of stitches, which was hard to repair, since it was where the short rows were their shortest. But, I pretty much faked it and it ended up looking fine. Since the gauge is so loose, anything really goes with this shawl.

So, was the Helen's Lace worth $65? Abso-freakin-lutely. Oh boy, is this fabric ever soft and luxurious and so so spongey. Before I bought it I extensively handled the sample shawl in the store and was amazed by its sheer spongey-ness. And it's also light enough that it can easily be bunched up and worn as a scarf. I love it. I've already had occasion to wear it and with Calgary's hot days and mercifully cool nights I think it'll get a lot of mileage.


Oh, and to prove my crap photography skills/lousy camera, here's an outtake of my "photo shoot" of me actually wearing it. As they'd say on America's Next Top Model (or, the even more awesome Canada's Next Top Model) "and this is your best shot!" Yikes.

Tea (Towels) For Two

Somehow I've had more to blog about these days than I've had time to blog. Don't expect this to continue -- my craftiness seems to come in waves. After a year or so of moaning about how I wanted to dive into some embroidery projects, I finally cracked into the Sublime Stitching kit that I bought at a closing out sale about two years ago. I don't know why it took me so long -- this is such an easy and relaxing craft (at least at the rudimentary level I'm taking it to) and makes for such great gifts. I thought I'd start with the obligatory tea towels, to be sent off to a dear friend for her birthday.


Being the rock 'n' roll kind of gal I am (yeah, as if), I started off with Jenny Hart's flying vee guitar, which was fun because of the numerous french knots. I also stitched my friend's name on there, which has been covered up to protect the innocent. I also whipped up the pretty kitty, with "bewitching" stitched beside her, because said friend is certainly a bewitching kind of girl. Anyway, not much to say, but I think I've been struck by the embroidery bug. I have plans for the Wee Wonderful Stitchettes next -- hopefully I won't take another year to get my iron out and do the transfers.

Sassy Like Me

I think I've mentioned it before, but since reading the book How Sassy Changed My Life, I've completely renewed my obsession with Sassy Magazine. In 1988 (age 13) I stumbled on the very first issue of Sassy and I immediately fell in love. I was a bit of a misfit kid -- I liked make-up and fashion and boys and celebs well enough, but everything I liked was about 15 degrees off. By the time I reached, oh, my late 20s, I perceived my quirks as coolness, but as a kid I felt weird. Others felt I was weird too. The editors at Sassy, though, did not think my kind was weird. They thought girls like me were worthy of a teen magazine of our own.

I won't go into why Sassy was so awesome -- you either are a Sassy fan yourself and know why, or you weren't the kind of girl who read the magazine, so nothing I say will convince you (or, you were too old/too young, in which case I give my apologies for these ramblings). All I'll say is that the magazine totally validated my fragile early teen existence and that I SO wanted to be Christina Kelly and pretty much was for the 10 years that was my pre-baby career.

But, every young teenager turns into an older teenager who is embarrassed by her former self. So, once I moved onto British music mags as my periodical of choice, I threw out most of my Sassys. Threw 'em right out. I somehow had the foresight to keep four issues: a random early '90s issue, the much-coveted Kurt And Courtney issue, the Sassiest Boy In America Issue (on a side note, I once interviewed said Sassiest Boy about one of his musical projects and I could barely control myself. He later asked for my email address and it was probably the most spectacular moment of my "I Wanna Be Christina Kelly" working existence), plus, for reasons beyond me, the first post-NYC issue, which is a piece of trash.

Shortly after reading the book, I went a little crazy on eBay and bought six issues from 1988 and 1989 -- they arrived in the post today. I really want to collect some more, but I think I'll have to keep my eye on unwitting garage sale proprietors -- I can't afford to keep eBaying. In the meantime I'll pore over the 10 issues I had and remember the girl I once was while reflecting on the woman I've become. Sigh.

Going Against The Flow

Howdy to those visiting from Sockapalooza and regards to regular readers as well. So, I'm sure you're all waiting to hear what happened after the great Go With The Flow Vs. Undulating Rib debate of last week. Okay, maybe not, but I'll tell you anyway. My sock pal will be getting a pair of...

Go With The Flow socks! I'll admit it, I was leaning towards these ones anyway because I love simple lace patterns and I love the stretchy-ness of ribby socks. Also as pretty as the Undulating Rib socks are, I was freaked out that the pattern calls for U.S. #4 needles for ultra fine yarn. To me that's just crazy. But, so many of you spoke up on behalf of the Undulating Ribs that I actually started knitting one of each (I suppose some would call this swatching). I couldn't bear using a #4 so I went down to a #3, but the weave was still just too loose for my liking and it would have been too small if I dared to go down to a #2. So, here you have it: Go With The Flow.

I do really like this pattern. A lot of lacy socks don't have the give that I like so much (especially when knitting for an unfamiliar foot), but there's a rib built in here that does the trick. The Lorna's Laces is pooling a wee bit, but in fairly uniform diagonal stripes, so I don't think it's fatal. I'm pretty much done the leg now, hoping to move onto the heel tonight if I don't fall asleep immediately after putting Ruby to bed. Everyone's been sick around here, so that's a distinct possibility.

Moving on, what I've gained this week in socks, I've lost in trees. Check out the view from my window this morning:

Actually, this doesn't do my 7:30 a.m. view justice, as a lot of the snow had melted before I got the camera out. Yes, it freakin' snowed here last night. And it broke my tree. My tree. Is broken. This really breaks my heart. I'm hoping that if we cut that branch off the old girl will survive... does anyone know if she's going to need any extra care and what I can possibly do to help her make it through this injury?

Book Review: The Cute Book

I must say, I was pretty excited about Aranzi Aronzo's The Cute Book. Before I saw the book online, I wasn't that familiar with the whole kawaii craze. But then a gaggle of Aranzi Aronzo kitties showed up on the cover of Craft Magazine and I started reading about these little guys on the blogs and boom, I was hooked. So, I was pretty pleased to get my hands on this book, which is an English translation of the Japanese patterns.

Basically the book is full of instructions on how to make over a dozen different "felt mascots." There are bunnies and sheep and monkeys and slightly more sinister little guys like Bad Guy and Liar. They're all pretty basic and very very small -- generally meant to hang off of your bag or on a keychain.

Anyone used to Western craft books might be a little weirded out by the book -- the instructions for making these mini-toys are as wacky as the little mascots themselves, which is why I love the book so much. Each little dude has his or her own personality description, which will appeal to anyone addicted to the idiosyncrasies of Japanese pop culture. The book is small and super colourful -- so much so that Ruby has spent huge periods of time leafing through it herself. In fact, she's claimed it as her own and keeps pulling it off my shelf to put it with her own kids books.


Of course, I've already tried my hand at making one of these little guys -- I thought I'd start simple and make the Bear (shown next to my favourite tea cup for scale). It was fun and fairly easy -- though I'm thinking that such miniature crafting isn't necessarily my forte (note how wonky his face is). I'm pleased with the end result, but I didn't really enjoy putting this guy together as much as I like, say, knitting or embroidery, so I'm not sure how many Aranzi Aronzo mascots will be populating my craft room. That said, I'm dying to make the Liar, my favourite character in the book.

Speaking of which, the Aranzi Aronzo people have already put out a companion book The Bad Book, which features stories of the Bad Guy, often in heated battle with the Liar. It's really fun, and although not really craft related per say, a must have. I think there are a bunch more Aranzi Aronzo story books on the way, so if I do end up making more of these guys, I'll be able to play along.

Viva Le Weekend

It was a long weekend here in Canada. It rained and snowed and briefly sunshined and it was glorious. Our petite family: ate a lot of BBQ; visited a lot of babies and toddlers (shout outs to Anita, Caleb, Edie and Simon); all got sick (on different days!); got addicted to Facebook (well, just the parents, but mostly me -- poor, poor nostalgic me); didn't do a lick of gardening; tried to go to a small town parade (thwarted by snow); spent time with family; ate more BBQ.

Very nice. Now we're all recovering with stuffy noses, sore throats and upset stomachs. Sometimes pushing yourself is worth it, though.

Should I Rib Or Should I Flow

I'm a girl who likes the idea of community. I spent much of my day conferring with other mothers about various issues involving the womenfolk and it made me feel good. I also am way into this Sockapalooza Pligg thing: what a great little community. And nothing gives a girl an ego boost like strangers interested in her socks!

Anyway, if you haven't seen the yarn I chose for my pal, it's here. Now it's time to pick a pattern. I'm dedicated to doing something from Favourite Socks since I bought the thing ages ago and haven't knit a single pair of socks. I know the variegated Lorna's Laces yarn would overwhelm a pattern with too elaborate a lace pattern like Embossed Leaves or Waving Lace, so I want to do something with a smaller all-over repeat. Here are my candidates:

Go With The Flow Socks by Evelyn A. Clark. An easy, but very pretty textural lace pattern. It's also stretchy, so it'll be more likely to fit the foot of a stranger (no Cinderella glass slippers here, thank you very much). I think it'll look nice with a variegated yarn and the heel and toe aren't too wacky or square or pointy looking.

Or...

Undulating Rib Socks by Ann Budd. Again, it's a rib, so there should be some stretch. Not as open or lacey, but a very interesting texture. And perhaps more conducive to the variegated yarn.

So, I think I know which one I'm leaning towards (though I've tried to remain objective here). Any thoughts out there? Any of you who've knit either of these and have something to say?

Blanket For A Babe

Do you ever suspect that your knitting can affect fate? I do. When I heard (on Thanksgiving Day) that my sister-in-law was pregnant with the baby that would transform me magically into an aunt, I knew I had some serious knitting to do. Serious. It was time to do a baby blanket.

So, I bought my yarn and cast on a few days before Christmas. I finished knitting about a month ago and, in my typical fashion, didn't block it until this weekend. So, what happened on the day that it was finally dry and thus, officially finished? Three weeks early, the baby decided it was his birthday.


Hearts And Stars Blanket from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits For Tots
Yarn Misti Alpaca Worsted in Pumpkin (about 5 hanks, I think...)
NeedleU.S. 6 (again, I think... memory fading)
Mods Gauge, since the pattern calls for a DK cotton. Because of that I did five rows of pattern repeats rather than seven. Since the pattern is intended as a family blanket, not crib blanket, I think I would have modified the size even if it knit up in the recommended gauge.


So, there you have it. Leena (my amazing mother-in-law) made this same blanket for the baby of a family friend a couple of years ago and I noticed that she paused when I told her I was planning it for the baby and that I'd already dove into it. She later confessed that it was a very long knit. I'm glad I went for a bigger gauge and less repeats, because as fun as the bumpy purled hearts and stars were, this was a looooooong one. I worked on it fairly regularly and it ended up being about five months of knitting. But I think it looks great. The yarn is like butter -- it's so soft and beautiful. I just hope that the baby isn't a particularly messy little thing, otherwise my sister-in-law is going to have to rename me "your Auntie who seems to think that it's okay to knit a hand-wash-only blanket for an infant." But, I just couldn't resist the yarn and I've successfully convinced myself that as a heirloom item, handwash yarn is okay.


Anyway, loads of pictures here -- since it took me so long I want to bask in its glory. I added a picture of it on Ruby's bed for scale (it's a pretty huge baby blanket -- hopefully it'll follow the little tike though childhood) plus a presentation of it folded up with the matching pumpkin hat. Enjoy it, little one.

Omg. I'm an Auntie.

Socking It To The Palooza

Yikes, sorry for the weird post title -- it's been a long day. I don't know if I mentioned it, but I'm participating in this year's Sockapalooza sock swap. A lot of those Sockapaloozers are pretty hot to trot -- if you check the Pligg, many of them are well on their way to completing their socks. Feeling like a slacker, I ventured out to buy my yarn today.

They had nice crop of sock yarn down at Make 1, but despite my pull towards the Opal, I felt the need to go with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock again. Here's why: the last two pairs of socks I made were with this yarn so I'm very comfortable with the gauge and having to tweak for my partner's foot size. Also, some people in blogland have expressed a difficulty coming across the stuff in their own LYS, so I wanted to share the LL love. Plus I just like the stuff.

My partner expressed an interest in earth tones and a disinterest in anything that looks like baby yarn, so I chose Mixed Berries, which I'm afraid looks much brighter in ball form as it did as hanks. Unfortunately, they were down to only one hank in the colours that would have been perfect. so I'm hoping the brown in the berry will temper the purples. But, the yarn should suit my tastes a bit too right? Any good gift does.

Anyway, I'll have to choose a pattern (probably something from Favourite Socks) and then I'll start 'er up. I'm a little nervous knitting for a foot I don't know. Wish me luck.

New York State Of Mind

This month's SPC theme is On The Street, a celebration of street photography, so I thought I'd combine my contribution with some notes on my recent trip. Here I am, just off of 14th street, meeting Aaron before heading out to dinner. I love the street action aspect of this photo (the fruit stand, the phone, the New York-ness) even if I look a bit grumpy. This was taken near the end of our trip, after I'd spent a full day shopping, mostly on foot. Hence the lack of colour in my face.

So, anyway, the trip, which now seems so long ago, was divine. As Aaron and I often do, our trip largely centered around eating -- I made it my mission to eat as many cupcakes from as many cupcake bakeries as possible (I made it to Magnolia, Buttercup and Sugar Sweet Sunshine -- the latter's pistachio cupcake being my absolute favourite, since I found Magnolia's buttercream to be just a little too intense. I ended up abandoning my chocolate cupcake halfway through). We also went up to Harlem for roti, down to the East Village for Moroccan, the Village for Cuban and also for Mexican, plus to Katz' deli for some pastrami (closest thing to a Montreal deli outside of Montreal, if you ask me).

We also did some things other than eat: felt like proud Canadians at the Jeff Wall retrospective at Moma, saw Bjork at Radio City Music Hall, Kevin Spacey on Broadway, bought shoes and dresses and shampoo. Best of all, I didn't feel total maternal angst from being apart from Ruby and I can hardly wait to travel somewhere fun again.

Word To The Mothers

Happy Mothers Day to all the mums out there. Our MD has been a bit rocky -- Ruby walked into our room at about 5:30 this morning covered in vomit. She'd eaten a ton of Asian pork dumplings last night and I don't think they sat very well. After a dunk in the bath (it was one of those barfs that got all over her hair and into her ears) and a change of pjs she slept for another few hours in our bed and seemed fine when she woke up. But, by the time we got to the fancy restaurant we took Aaron's parents to for brunch, she was passing out on the table and running a tiny fever. She's in bed now and I'm quietly freaking out, a little irrationally fearing food poison (which would have kicked in a little more full-force by now, I'm thinking). I'm hoping she's just over tired from a night of stomach upset. Okay...

Anyway, I treated myself to some gorgeous clothes by Sabrina Butterfly Designs yesterday at a local craft show: a couple of cute tops and a pair of really wide linen cropped pants. Very nice. Do check her out if she does a show in your area. And for my mom, I baked the chocolate chip angel food cake that you see above. The glaze is a little haphazard, but I'm hoping for deliciousness.

Okay, back to worrying about my boo. Wish us luck.

W.I.P. Friday: Shawl Therapy

Today was haircut day and I'm feeling like the new haircut (for Ruby, not me -- I weirdly like to grow it in the summer so I can wear it up) is ushering the summer. A friend of a friend commented the other day that Ruby looked like a mini Courtney Love. While I love La Love more than I probably should, I don't necessarily want my two-year old emulating her. So, I knew it was time for a cut.

So, crafts. I've been so irritatingly lazy. Except when it comes to my pie-wedge shawl. Ah, sweet garter stitch. I got though a big section of this while flying last week and this week I have a pile of movies to review for an upcoming film festival (the local queer film fest -- somehow I seem to have etched a career out of reviewing movies about transgendered people, curiously enough), so the garter stitch is just what the doctor ordered. I figure that by the time I get though a couple more gay and lesbian documentaries, plus the season finale of Top Model next week, this baby should be almost finished. Then I can start on my Sockapalooza socks. Once I buy the yarn, that is.

My other big W.I.P. is my garden. I don't have a green thumb. I have a lot of garden. How do you tell the difference between a weed and the start of a gorgeous perennial? Ugh.

Mailbox Love

Oh, the mail has been good to me this week. It's always nice to return from a trip (which to me, always feels a little lonely) and then have your mailbox filled in the following days. One of my favourite bloggers, the lovely Ms. P announced some time ago that she was moving house and needed to rid herself of some fabric. She very kindly send me this stack of fabrics all the way from the U.K., keeping in mind my and Ruby's mutual love of pink (P has a daughter with the same girly affliction). She sent some really lovely pieces and I'm hoping they'll provide the inspiration I need to finally return to my poor neglected sewing machine. Thanks, P!


Then, I was so touched to see a little mother's day treat from my dear friend Sam, who, along with the other members of my old mother's group, is one of the reasons that I so sorely miss Toronto. She managed to find this little packet of Holiday Recipes, published in 1950 by the Michigan Consolidated Gas Co. The great thing about these cards is that they seem to predate the processed food craze of the '50s, so there's no condensed cream of mushroom soup or jello required. In fact, they're not only fun to read, but I really foresee myself making a lot of these things. Thanks, Sam, there'll be some Apricot Dainties in the mail for you before Xmas.

Book Review: Whining And Dining

Ah, back from the big city. I'll go into how wonderful and blissful and amazing my trip was another day -- Aaron's still out east (gets back tonight) and has the camera, so no photos. Instead, today I'll launch something new over here at Elizaboothy... book reviews.

So, here goes. I've decided to start peppering these pages with the odd book review -- probably mostly crafts, but today I've got a cooking/parenting book for you. It's Whining And Dining by Emma Waverman and Eshun Mott. I really wanted to pick up this book because Miss Ruby -- who used to count asparagus as her favourite food, followed closely by broccoli -- is the pickiest eater in the world. Pizza? Yes. Grilled cheese or peanut butter? Sure. Macaroni or pasta with tomato sauce? Usually. Anything else? No way.

So, Whining And Dining is a guide/recipe book for parents of picky eaters. The book itself is really fun -- the writing is cute and conversational and the pictures (which are of the authors' actual children eating actual veggies) really pop. It's funny and as a very frustrated mum, it made Ruby's situation seem so much more normal -- kind of like sitting around and gabbing with a mother's group. In addition to the main text and the recipes, there are loads of sassy little tips sprinkled throughout.

Now, the recipes. To be fair, I started trying these the week before I went to NYC and I did do some substitutions that weren't really that wise. I tried the chicken curry and a tuna and tomato pasta and... they weren't a success, either with the Roo or with Aaron. Still, there are a lot of others I want to try for dinner, as well as some good baking ideas. There's also a really clever chapter on party food that I look forward to trying once the occasion arises.

So, the long and the short of it is: an entertaining book with recipes that may or may not suit your tastes. Emma Waverman is the daughter of Canadian recipe master Lucy Waverman, so I know she's got good taste in food, I just have to explore further to see if these recipes work for me and more importantly, if they get some healthy goodness into my picky princess. Stay tuned.

Update: Tonight we had the Pad Thai from the book for dinner. It is one of the most delicious things I've ever cooked. We're never getting Thai take-out again. Even Ruby ate some -- in fact, she picked out and ate the chicken from the leftovers after she tired of her noodles. Hooray!

Randoms

Just wanted to let you all know that I'll be taking a break for the next week or so... I'll be out of town for a few days next week and I'm generally feeling too tired and busy to get much crafting done -- hence not much to blog about.

I have been reading a bit lately -- mostly the new How Sassy Changed My Life book by Kara Jesella and Marisa Meltzer. To be honest, it's gotten me a little obsessed with Sassy... like I need to get my hands on some old issues and I'm willing to pay for them. It's stupid -- when I was about 17 or 18 I chucked out all of my old Sassys. I had all of them, beginning at issue #1 and going though to about the end of 1991 or so. Then I decided teen mags were for babies and started subscribing only to music magazines. Oh, the regret.

So, I'll be in NYC for a few days next week and it's the first time Aaron and I have been there with enough money to buy more than a hot dog for dinner. NYC-ers, please bring forth your suggestions for delicious places to eat and fun places to shop. We're staying mid-town Manhattan, but we're willing to roam in the name of good food.

Pumpkin Head

Here's a teaser for the baby gift that I'll be giving my very first niece or nephew, who is due to be born in early June. Keen readers will already know that I've been spending the last four months working on a blanket for the little sucker, a blanket that needs to be blocked, but has been sitting in a ball on my work shelf for the past two weeks. Anyhow, I did manage to whip up this little hat to match and here are the specs:

Little Pumpkin from Susan B. Anderson's Itty Bitty Hats
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Worsted in "Pumpkin"
Needle: US #6 DPNs
Mods: Obviously a yarn substitution and since I was using a worsted (albeit a slim worsted) rather than the recommended DK I knit the newborn size even though I'm guessing this fits more like 0-6 mos.

Okay, I should have read the Itty Bitty errata page before today, because I now realize that the instructions for the stem are botched, but I think it still looks okay in garter even though it should be stockinette. I'm not totally crazy about how the stem/leaf looks, but that's got to do with my cruddy finishing skills. A details woman, I am not. I like these cute hats, but I think I may also make them a good old umbilical cord hat for more everyday use once we find out the sex of the baby.

And apologies for the lack of a great picture. The Misti Alpaca is so soft and lovely, there was no way this hat would take a good picture without a model to fill it out. And since Ruby's head is too big and her baby dolls' heads are to small, this Care Monkey (he came with a real name, but we call him Leon) had to step in, even though his football-shaped head kind of distorts the hat. But you get the idea.

W.I.P. Friday: A Whole Lot Of A Little

With Ruby's new nap routine (she goes into bed; she refuses to sleep; she gets very tired; she gets very cranky; she still refuses to sleep; she falls asleep in my arms as I comfort her) I'm not getting a whole lot done. But there is a lot of a little. I've resurrected my interest in the crochet blanket (though only a trained eye would notice a difference) and I did finish the baby blanket, which I swear I'll show you once it's blocked. Above is the accompanying hat -- the Lil' Pumpkin Hat from Itty Bitty Hats. Naturally, I'm not going to spend $14 on green yarn to match the body of the hat so I can make the stem, so I've been experimenting with stashed yarns, none of which are doing the trick. I think I have some Brown Sheep Nature Spun somewhere that should work, I just have to find it.


Next up, I've finally started my first embroidery from my long ago purchased Jenny Hart kit. This shall be a tea towel. Again, much more exciting once it's finished.


And, finally, there's a new crafter in the house. This little bag, with feathers glued on by Miss Ruby is full of beans. It's a shaker she made in her new music class. She and the other kids were marching around the room shouting Go, Flames, Go! I second that sentiment -- not usually a hockey fan, but the boys have been showing a lot of heart the last couple of games. Thank heavens for the Kipper!

Taking The Cake

Not a lot going on in these parts: the weather has turned cruddy again and I've been feeling a bit ugh. Yesterday Ruby was off at Nana's house and I spent most of the day in the kitchen. I made the cake you see here, a delicious orange carrot bundt, from a recent issue of Canadian Living. I also made homemade pizza (dough and all), but it didn't last long enough for a picture.

In the interest of keeping some content up here before I get around to blocking and photographing my Stars And Hearts Blanket (it's done, it's done!) and it's accompanying baby hat, here's a little meme, as seen over at Hula Seventy. I don't usually do these things, but I felt like sharing.

james brown or marvin gaye? Marvin Gaye. Though I was sad to see James go.

chinese or indian takeout? Indian all the way. At least once a week, thank you.

fleece or knitted blanket? Knitted. I have a prejudice against fleece -- probably because fleece jackets became so popular when I was in high school and I associate them with mean girls.

girls with makeup or without? I would take no make-up over too much make-up, but my preference is in-between. I love products, but only when applied with restraint.

costco or whole foods? I'd say Whole Foods, because I think I'd shop there if we had it in Canada. I don't have a Costco membership, but I do ask my parents to pick me up bulk boxes of organic mac 'n' cheese once in a while.

wildflowers or arrangements? any flowers would be welcome.

tradition or shakeups? Tradition. I resist change at all cost.

cello or trumpet? I like the cello better as an instrument, but I prefer jazz to classical.

watch-wearing or no? Never. Though I'm always desperate to know what time it is.

salt water or fresh (for swimming)? Neither. I can't swim. As for wading, I find lakes a little slimy and though I love the ocean, I'm terrified of sharks.

pants or shorts? Never shorts. Never. I wear jeans out of necessity in the winter, but skirts make up my warm weather uniform.

chatspeak or absolutely NOT? No. I'm a writer. I write in English. It bothers me even when I see "nite" or "cheeze" written out in public, so I'm not behind the lols and such.

digital camera or old-school? I love old-school but exclusively use digital.

wireless or plugged in? wireless for computer, plugged in for phone.

waltz or tango? waltz.

brian williams or anderson cooper? Peter Mansbridge.

time or newsweek? In our house its The Economist.

waterbed or mattress? Mattress!

cream and sugar or not? A little bit of skim milk, please.

CNN or BBC News? CBC. Though I have been watching CNN this week for obvious reasons.

iTunes or something else? CDs.

scented candles or unscented? neither. I don't have time to worry about candles.

prairie or mountain? I live on the cusp of both.

socks or barefoot? Barefoot. I make a lot of socks, but only wear them when I leave the house.

matt damon or ben affleck? Neither.

brass or pewter? Uh, neither.

wool or cotton? Wool to knit with, cotton to wear. Explains why I don't make a lot of adult clothing.

willow tree or pine? Willow.

gerald ford or jimmy carter? Jimmy!

france or italy? France in theory, Italy in practice. I like both kinds of food equally, though.

electric or gas stove? I prefer gas, but own electric.

thrift store or outlet? Thrift. But I do love Winners.

japanese garden or english garden? English.

sophia loren or liz taylor? Elizabeth Taylor. Forever.

W Is For Weekend

Ahh, the sun is shining and Ruby and I have just come in after having a snack of watermelon on the front porch. And I'm feeling relatively recharged — everyone slept through the night last night, myself included and Roo even had a short nap today. Plus we had an awesome weekend. We: slept in on Saturday morning (well, me, not the rest of the fam); actually got some writing done (again, me -- Aaron and Ruby went to the mall); celebrated our friend Annabelle's first birthday; went out for a fancy, but very bizarre Italian dinner (Roo stayed home with my parents); took a road trip an hour North to go thrifting; ate chocolates and watched movies.

The thrifting was actually Aaron's idea (I think he wanted a spring drive) and we picked up this cute little coffee service. I especially love the creamer and sugar bowl.

Feeling Friday

With Easter and spring break and everything, all of Ruby's city and library programs have been on hold. We're all about structure here, so the last couple of weeks have been tough -- I feel like I'm free-falling. My excitement and need to escape to a parents-only trip to New York (in a few short weeks) isn't helping. So, here are a couple of uplifting pictures to help usher in the weekend.

Above, the fruits of a shoe shopping expedition yesterday. Did you know that they make a version of those fun Keds ballet flats for toddlers? They do. Keds also make a pair of amazing toddler sneakers covered in tiny rainbows, which we also picked up. Aaron's calling them Ruby's pride sneakers, as Ruby proudly supports everyone's right to love freely.


And here's a placemat for Ruby that I ordered with my last Superbuzzy fabric splurge. I don't know why, but it really makes me smile.

Waiting By The Mailbox

Ooh, it's been a stressful week so far. Lots of work (good, but leaves me with anxiety), a girl who is a little frightened of her big girl bed and a husband full of anxiousness about his own projects is leaving me a little frazzled. With the holiday and all I haven't been feeling much love from my mailman, but today he came through big.

In addition to the newest issue of Amy's Mailorder (complete with a pattern for a Raggedy Ann-ish doll!!) and a Super Buzzy order, I got a nice Swapbot package. I joined Swapbot in a fit of lack-of-mail depression and then kind of regretted it, thinking it may not be for me. I'm still not sure how many swaps I'll participate in, but the first one is turning out better than I could have dreamed. It's a newbies swap, involving little craft supplies and stationary, but my first partner, a lovely woman named Derry, really went above and beyond.

The loot is pictured up top: a nice letter, a notepad, some candy, a pen, loads of beautiful cards and stickers and a recipe for some seriously delicious looking brownies. Much more than she was obligated to send. After reading the blog, Derry also threw in these amazing doll patterns that she originally bought for her then-2-year-old daughter, who is now in her mid-20s. A Care Bear and a Blueberry Muffin, to make for Ruby. I can hardly wait to stitch them up. Thank you so much Derry, for such a thoughtful package -- I'm really touched that you took so much time to put it together.

King Of The Castle

I hope everyone who chose to celebrate Easter/Spring had a great holiday. Ours was filled with good food and playing children (plus a bit of chocolate) and was quite lovely.


I have been crafting a bit as of late, mainly trying to whip up a few gifts here and there. I've been playing with this shape for a softie for a while now. I don't know why, but I've been sketching this little crown character for well over a decade and I figured he'd make a cute little pillow/toy. I had one on the go made out of a thick upholstery fabric that I scored at the thrift store, but he was a little too off to give away as a gift. So I grabbed some of the leftover linen from the throw pillows I made last month to make this little Crowny.


It's a birthday present for a friend of mine whose last name happens to be King and not coincidentally collects crown images. I added a little embroidery message on the butt (and pretty much stole the face from the Wee Wonderfuls Original Wee pattern) and voila, perfect present. I hope she likes him.

Hippity-Hop-Hop

Happy (secular) Easter! Guess where my little bunny slept last night.


We've officially moved to the realm of the big girl bed. It was a little dicey after the first hour (it probably didn't help that Aaron and I were watching Children Of Men at full volume in the next room and scarfing down delicious Indian take-out), but in the end she stayed in there for a full 10 hours. It may take Mummy a little longer than Ruby to get used to the idea of growing out of the crib though...

Happy long weekend to all. Hopefully yours won't involve as much assembly of Ikea furniture as ours has.

For The Love Of Socks

I present to you: Roza's Socks. I know, I haven't been talking much about these babies here on the blog, probably because they knit up so darn quick and caused me so little stress. What a lovely pattern. Before I get to into it, here are the specs:

Roza's Socks by Grumperina from the Spring 2007 issue of Interweave Knits
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Sassy Stripe
Needle: U.S. #1 DPNs
Mods: I used a larger needle size (I never gauge for socks) because I found the last Grumperina pattern I tried (Jaywalkers) fit too tightly and I have another ribbed pair of socks in Shepherd Sock that fit perfectly with this size needle. I also shortened the leg by an inch, because wool socks tend to roast my legs no matter how cold it is outside. Finally, I only did one round of purl between the cuff and the leg because I'm bad with instructions. Oops.


This is, I believe, my eighth pair of handknit socks, and I think I can say they're my favourite. The brioche stitch pattern was easy, but not mind-numbing and the pattern looks great. Shepherd Sock is always lovely to work with (and as the pair that are currently on my feet will attest to, wears really really well), though the short stripe segments do make for a fair bit of wacky-ness. These were a huge success and if I may say, I do prefer these to Grumperina's Jaywalkers (though the Jays do still have a place in my heart).


So, what do I plan to do with my new favourite socks? Send them away. By this afternoon these will be on their way to Vancouver as a birthday gift to my sister-in-law's girlfriend, Erin. (How does that work -- is the spouse of your spouse's sibling still your in-law? Or would she just be Aaron's in-law? I'm not sure). They're going to be hard to part with, but seeing as my first pair of Shepherd Sock Stripe socks were intended for her and I ended up keeping them, it's only fair. Plus, they're totally her colours and since I love her like a sister, I can't think of a more worthy recipient. So, I bid you adieu fair socks. You will be missed.

Self Portrait Challenge: Body Parts Week #1

Oh my, what a weekend. I often complain about feeling isolated in my role as mummy, but I actually feel like I oversocialized this weekend. Lots of great conversation and good times: we attended a wedding (Ruby stayed with her Grandma) on Saturday night and saw loads of good people; Sunday morning we had a two-year-old's birthday party; Sunday evening it was the Juno Party. By the time we got home last night, I was ready to fall apart. So, today I'm hiding. Behind my fingers.

This Year's Model

Okay, it's not a perfect photo, but friends, I got the kid to wear the sweater! We're going to a little party tonight (to watch the Juno Awards -- dorky, I know) and I think I'm going to keep it on her so I can show off my wares. As you can see, it fits, albeit a little snugly, though that may be because she's wearing a heavy jumper underneath it. So it should be fine over a little t-shirt. She's now convinced that it's not too small or uncomfortable or whatever, it may become a wardrobe regular. Hooray!