So that I don't forget...

While on vacation, Ruby made up an imaginary baby for herself. Not a doll, but an invisible baby that she cradled in her arms and shared her vacation with. The baby's name was... Gentleman Butt. According to his tiny mother, he is now a grown man and is on a vacation of his own. The end.

Vacation

Back from vacation. Over the past two weeks, I: drove for many miles; stayed in a motel with two kids; introduced the baby to his extended family and watched their faces light up; ate ice cream; road the ferry; took a hike; inhaled the ocean air; ate fish and chips; met some dogs; watched Ruby splash; ate fish and chips again; went to the flea market; slept in a trailer on a friend's orchard; visited an amazing junk shop; swam in a lake; sat in a hot tub; was thankful for all the amazing people we know.

Finds

So, after that grumbling about not finding any good things on my garage sailing expeditions, I came across a nice estate sale and got some deals. I like buying from estate sales -- while it does feel a little bit morbid, I know I'd like my stuff to go to happy treasure hunters once my time comes. I was lucky enough to nab these beautiful Fire King dessert bowls, which not only feed my hunger for milkglass, but are actually something we need and use, making them okay by Aaron. They're perfect for desserts (obviously) and also kid meals.


And, now hanging in Ruby's room are a couple of "paintings" from the same estate sale (the other one is here). I loved this kind of thing when I was a little girl and now I'm transferring it upon my own child.

Oh, and I'll be taking a break for a while, off on a little summer trip. See you in August!

Cookies And Cookie Monster

Yep, another chocolate cookie from the Martha Stewart cookie book. I think this is the last one of the plain looking chocolate cookies that I hadn't made. It's the Chewy Chocolate Gingerbread Cookie, which is featured on the cover of the book. They didn't turn out like I thought they would -- more like gingerbread than the gingersnap-ish looking thing in the picture. But they are pretty delicious. And while they look like the four other chocolate cookies I've made, the dark colour actually comes from the molasses, not the cocoa. Sneaky.

And have you seen this? It's Feist on Sesame Street, and it's the cutest thing ever. I've been friendly with Leslie Feist since about 1995 and while it was exciting to see her on SNL and in Vanity Fair, this is the most awesome and surreal thing I could imagine. I've never known an actual human who has hung out with Elmo (though, I'm more of an old school fan, to be honest). Good on her.

Book Review: Knitted Critters For Kids To Wear

More books! I've been taking a look at Knitted Critters For Kids To Wear by Jean Adel. It's a book of animal-themed hats (with scarf and mittens) for kids. Nothing more, nothing less. So, need not apply if you don't have kids or don't like cutesy stuff for your kiddos.

Now, I know what you're thinking from the cover: this will probably appeal more to the kind of knitter who favours novelty yarns and shops at Michael's than the hand-dyed lovin', LYS shoppin' yarn snob. And that's probably true, but while I probably fall into the latter category myself, I think I'll probably crank a few of these guys out by the end of the calendar year. The designs are all pretty similar: the book consists of a couple dozen versions of the same hat, embellished in different ways. Some are pretty simple (i.e. no real frills), some more complicated (i.e. colourwork). But they're all pretty much the same. I've got my own eye on Jeremiah the Frog, Bandit the Racoon and Ringo the Dog.

The book itself is pretty well laid-out -- each section (beginner, easy, and intermediate) starts with colour pictures of kids wearing the hats, then the patterns follow, making it easy to flip through and choose the animal you like best. I am a little irked that the hats are sized age 3 through 7. While I'm seriously making hats for Henry and my one-year-old nephew Caleb, I'm not sure many self-respecting school-aged kids are going to be that into these (and thumbless mittens for three-year-olds?). Maybe it's the snob in me coming out again, but I can't see Ruby seeing a fuzzy Koala hat as anything else than baby-wear. Don't get me wrong -- I don't look down upon five-year-olds in animal hats (to each her own), I'm just saying that it would be nice for newer knitters if they were sized smaller for tinier kids so they wouldn't have to do the math themselves.

Update: Okay, I'm out of the loop. Apparently these hats sell for big bucks at Barneys. Yes, the upscale department store, not the dinosaur. So, I know nothing about hip kid fashion. But I still think these would be cute on a baby. That's all.

*****

In other news, the weekend was indeed lovely, despite the missed anniversary. Trips to the park, wine-tasting get-togethers, pool parties... it's a good summer.

You Know The Honeymoon is Over When...

Our seventh wedding anniversary was on Monday, July 7th. Neither Aaron or I remembered until Thursday. And then, only because my mother said something. Yikes.

We're making up for it by having a lovely weekend. Paddle boats!

Crafty Odds And Crafty Ends

Henry has proven that he is not indeed the easiest baby in the world (still pretty damn easy, but now that he's four months old he actually likes, you know, attention) so I don't have any finished craftiness to show for, but I have been sneaking a few minutes of stitchin' in here and there. In fact, I've got more projects on the go than I should, just not a lot of finishing. I'm still working away on Ruby's Stichettes and am almost done a baby sock, plus the stuff you see here.

Above, my Bend-The-Rules Sewing Lap Quilt. It really is, as the pattern advertises, easy. I've been afraid of quilts yet dying to try one for a while, and this one is totally boosting my confidence. Today I cut out the back and the batting and machine quilted like crazy. And it only really was an hour or two of work (and that's while tending to Henry). So far I'm loving it. I'm a little afraid of the binding, but I really want to finish it sooner than later.


And here, another page for Henry's knitted book. It's a chick!


Finally, I didn't actually make this guy, but I get to live with him. Aaron's Great-Aunt Betty is in her early 80s and is totally amazing. When she was young, she studied engineering at university (not a common degree for young women 60 years ago) and eventually became a pilot as well (and also fell in love with and married her flight instructor). She never had any children of her own and Aaron almost thinks of her as a third grandmother. She made this little bear for Henry and added the pilot details to cuten him up. I love him.

Summer Lovin'

My peony finally bloomed. I swear I'm the last person in the city to see peony blossoms in my yard, but they're worth it.


And the Tiger Lilies aren't far behind.

Book Review: Aranzi Cute Stuff

Faithful readers already know that I went pretty nutty when the English versions of the Aranzi Aronzo books started coming out. I've long been a fan of Japanese cartoon characters (starting with Little Twin Stars when I was wee) and I think the Aronzo characters are pretty cute. So, I liked The Cute Book and The Bad Book (which feature little keychain size crafts) and loved the Cute Dolls and Fun Dolls books even more (full sized softies). Now they've come out with another, Aranzi Cute Stuff which features more useful items like bags, book covers and just about anything else you can embroider Aranzi characters on.

The book follows the same kind of format as the others, with wacky Japanese instructions and cute little captions. Again, the patterns are better as idea generators than proper sewing instructions -- you've got to kind of know what you're doing. Though, hardcore sewers probably won't need this book at all -- the projects (drawstring bags, simple totes, pouches, etc) are pretty simple and it doesn't take a genius to think of adding the Aranzi characters to them yourself.

If you already have the templates for them, of course. Anyone who is attracted to these little guys, but doesn't have the previous books will probably find the stuff book pretty useful. There's templates for the bunnies, kitties, bears, and of course, the Bad Guy and The Liar. So, this is ideal for anyone who likes the Aranzi style but wants to make something a little more practical than a doll. I'll probably crank out a couple bags for Ruby to cart her stuff around in before too long. Stay tuned.

***

And, in other news, Happy (belated) Canada Day; Happy (belated) Birthday to Quebec City; and Happy Fourth Of July. We had a great long weekend here, though I've been suffering from laryngitis and haven't been able to talk all week. But, I'm on the mend and will have some crafty stuff to share next week.

State Of The Thrift

I actually escaped the house for a couple hours on Saturday morning to hit the garage sales. And I'm tellin' ya, it was barely worth my while. Maybe it's too late into the summer; maybe it was because it was a long weekend; maybe I just had bad luck -- but has the thrift bubble seriously broken?

I'm pretty picky about my garage sailing -- I try to stay out of neighbourhoods where too many young families live since I don't want to buy the kind of stuff that people like me are trying to get rid of (dirty kids toys, plastic dishes; broken clock radios). It's not about the bargain, it's about finding stuff I can't buy anywhere else. So, I'm looking for estate sales, older people moving into condos, that kind of stuff. But it seems that people are either running out of cool old stuff to sell; they've already sold their good stuff to the antique stores; or they're wising up and trying to sell things for crazy prices. I'm sorry, I'm not paying $20 for a scratched up Pyrex casserole.

I did manage to pick up a few things: a cute apron, some beads, a bag of wooden clothespins, a set of retro drink tumblers. And keeping with the bar theme, the above tumbler/ice bucket set has a Westward Inn logo on it. This is cool only among Calgarians of a certain age -- the Westward was a hotel downtown, which was a famed drinking hole for decades. In the '80s and early '90s it even housed a legendary rock club, where I believe a pre-fame Nirvana once played. So yes, at $2 these were a find.

So, have you noticed a change in thrift shopping in your area? Obviously, with ebay and all it's getting harder and harder to get vintage stuff on the cheap, but I'm curious to see if things are drying up as rapidly in other parts of the world as they seem to be here.

Other People's Knits: Blanket For A Boy

I can't believe I haven't posted about this blanket yet -- it's so incredibly beautiful and I've had it for four months. This is Henry's blankie. After spending months on a blanket for my nephew last year I wasn't too anxious to knit a blanket for my own babe. Plus I knew that my lovely mother-in-law Leena wanted to knit something special for our little guy. Naturally she chose a beautiful yarn and a great pattern made of up of mitered squares.

I can't tell you anything about the pattern and the yarn -- sorry. And I know this picture doesn't say that much about the blanket -- but it's nice and big, about the size of a crib mattress. Really, this post is just a public thank you to Leena and an excuse to show off a picture of the baby. It's the weekend, I thought you could use a little shot of the cutest boy I know.

Mushy Mystery

Sorry about the ugly picture, but it's a necessary evil. I got some rhubarb in my last organic order and decided to make something a little more interesting than your average rhubarb/strawberry crisp. I decided to make a strawberry rhubarb coffee cake (recipe here), recruited Ruby to help me whip it up, and stuck it in the oven. I baked it for the specified time, stuck a toothpick in it and... mush. I put it back in the oven for 10 minutes. Still mush. I baked it for TWICE as long as the recipe called for and except for the outer edges, it's more of a pudding than a cake. A gross, inedible pudding at that.

So, what did I do wrong? Rhubarb too ripe? Possible typo in the recipe? I know my oven's temp is pretty much on, so that's not it. After a tough week (our house is full of antibiotics), I didn't really need a failed cake in my life. Boo.

Catching Up

Wow. I can't believe it's been two weeks since I've posted. There's been some crazy times in these parts -- Aaron was overseas for a week and a half on business, leaving me here with both kids for the first time (props to the single moms out there -- I have no idea how you do it). Then there's always that weird adjustment period that we always go through when he comes back from a trip. Then Ruby started getting sick. Yesterday I had to take her for a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia -- I haven't heard from the doctor, so I'm assuming the results are in and she's fine. Well, still sick, but not dangerously so. Then the baby started coughing this morning. Ugh -- nothing leaves a mother as breathless as the possibility of their kid being really really sick. It's nice to be reminded of just how intense my love is, but I really don't enjoy seeing pictures of my kid's insides.


So, not a lot of crafting time, but I am constantly feeling compelled to start new projects. What you see here are a couple pages from Bite This Book, a little softie book project from Kat Coyle's Boho Baby Knits. I can't believe this is my first project from this book -- I was so excited when it came out, but never really had the time. I figure I can whip up a little page for the book when I have the time and all six should be done by the time Henry is ready to flip the pages. Though that day may be coming sooner than I think -- by the looks of it, the little stinker is just about ready to cut his first tooth. He's three months old! This shouldn't happen for another six months! I just hope he's not a biter.

Family Photo Friday: Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Ruby in Edmonton.
Originally uploaded by elizaboothy

Today is my Grandma Ruby's 85th Birthday. This is a picture of her walking down the street in 1948, putting her at 25 years old (I think she'd already had three kids at this point!). I love how she looks so oblivious to the camera in this photo -- it looks like something out of a newspaper. It must have been taken by someone she knew (I'm guessing my grandfather), but it seems so detached.

Anyway, I love this photo and I love my Grandma. Happy Birthday!

Nature

I forgot, there was something else I wanted to say about Ruby's doll play (sorry, I'm having a tough week, my brain is mush). Ruby was playing with those Ty Girlz dolls that Leena got her (they're kind of a cross between Beanie Babies and Bratz) and this exchange took place.

Leena: Now that you have the dolls dressed you can pretend they're talking to each other. [picks up one doll] "I'm going to a party. Where are you going?]
Ruby: [Picks up the other doll] "I'm going to Shoppers' Drug Mart to buy make-up!"

Yow. Now, to Mamaloo, who suggested that the doll play is more nurture than nature because I'm a bit of a girly type myself, I do love make-up but I don't wear a lot of it and I think the only time I've even bought any with Ruby in tow was at Sephora. So there. And, to balance out Ruby's total priss girly-ness, we had the following conversation the next day.

Me: Roo, why did you just go into your room and close the door?
Ruby: I was hiding.
Me: Why were you hiding?
Ruby: I wanted to pick my nose and I didn't want you to tell me to stop.

Again, yow. But, I feel better knowing that her one Girlz doll is named Hilary. She came with the name, but when we told Ruby what she was called, Roo proudly yelled out "Like Hilary Clinton!" Word.

Guys And Dolls

Ruby likes dolls. She always has. I've been discussing nature vs. nurture a lot with other parents lately and despite all the women's studies and gender psychology classes I took in university, since becoming a parent I'm definitely leaning towards nature these days. Not that it's in all girls' natures to be doll people, but it certainly is for my little gal.

I've been seeing a bit of a resurrection of the Fisher Price My Friend dolls on a few crafty blogs and Ruby gets to play with her Auntie Daniella's old My Friend Mandy doll. I love this doll -- I remember playing with one when I was a kid, but I don't remember if it belonged to me or a friend. Either way, Daniella was not a doll kind of girl, so this Mandy is in great shape having almost never have been played with until Ruby came along. And she has a great wardrobe too. I love her. Leena recently picked up some of these for Ruby, which she also likes, but I remain partial to Mandy.


And I did some cutting of fabric today for what will be my first quilt. Of course, it's the Easy Lap Quilt from Bend The Rules Sewing. I really want to take a quilting class to learn how to do more complicated quilts, but for now I'm happy to do a strip quilt with some cheap-o vintage fabric. Hooray!

A Room Of His Own

I really loved having my own home office. I've never had one before -- we've always either lived in places without extra bedrooms, or when I was working full-time, any extra space was claimed by Aaron as studio space. But for the last year and a half, since we moved into this house, I had my own little space to work in and to store my stuff (though Aaron tended to use it as a dumping ground for stuff that he wanted out of sight). But, Henry needs his own space and he grew out of his cradle so quickly, so we moved him into his own room a couple of weeks ago.

Aaron painted this room this weird colour of dark army green in the early months of my pregnancy simply because we had the paint on hand (it was originally intended as an accent colour for the living room but we decided it wasn't right). We're lucky Hnery turned out to be a dude rather than a dudette, because I don't think I could have lived with this stuff in a little girl's room. But for Mr. H, it kind of works. What you see above is a painting that an illustrator from Aaron's work gave to Henry and an old vintage puzzle that I thrifted last year (I glued down the pieces, obviously).

The curtains are newly made (by me!), and while I have to shorten the loops a little bit to bring them up, I actually made them the right size. I wanted to find some curtain fabric at that sale I went to last month, but I didn't end up finding enough for this long skinny window, so I splurged and bought this Marimekko. I figured it was worth the hefty price since Henry (and Ruby, for that matter) is a full quarter Finnish and the fabric hence reflects his heritage. Sure. Actually, I wanted something that wasn't too busy but was suitable for a kid, but not too cutesy. I basically followed the cafe curtain instructions in Bend-The-Rules sewing, but with two panels and longer hanging loops. And I only had to make a single cut (cutting the fabric in half) since I used every square inch of the two yards I ordered. Easy.


And here are the swatch portraits, hung up over the diaper table. Henry loves looking at them -- he actually coos whenever I change him. He's a good boy.

Stitchin'

I've been feeling crafty lately. Not that I have the time or energy to actually do much about it, but I've been feeling the itch. And I'm taking baby steps to get back in the game. I cast on for another pair of baby socks. I made Henry some curtains (pictures to come -- the weather has been awful here and there hasn't been a nice sunny curtain-picture-taking day). I've been thinking about making a quilt. I've been sorting through fabric. And I've been stitching.

I keep a little embroidery bag stashed under my couch and do a little bit of stitching in the rare moments when both the kids are asleep/otherwise occupied and I'm not in desperate need of a nap myself. Since I've spruced up Henry's room, I figured Ruby deserved some new wall art too. I've loyally been buying the Wee Wonderful Stitchette embroidery patterns and I figured the summer girls would be perfect for Roo's room. I'll share more once I'm done.


And, I figured I post this just to be consistent, though you probably don't really need to see another picture of chocolate cookies. These are the Milk Chocolate cookies from the Martha Stewart book, baked for my friend Joe's birthday this weekend. I'm starting to feel a little duped -- I've made three chocolate cookie recipes from this book now and they've all yielded virtually identical cookies. Now, I know that there are plenty of non-chocolate recipes in there and I don't have to exclusively make the recipes that are almost the same. But I like chocolate. These cookies were good, but again, were chocolate sugar cookies. Nothing more, nothing less.

p.s. Thanks to those of you who inquired about my health after the last post. I'm totally fine, but my insides took a bit of a beating from birthing Henry. I don't know much, there may be problems if I go into labour again, but since I have no immediate plans to have another kid, it's not too big of a deal.

The Baby Socks That Time Almost Forgot

See these itty-bitty teeny-weenie baby socks? They took me (by my own foggy calculations) at least 14 weeks to knit. Fourteen weeks! I know, I have every right to have taken 14 weeks to knit a pair of baby socks: I had carpal tunnel in the weeks leading up to Henry's birth and was also in a hellish four-week pre-labour which I later found out all but left my uterus unusable (ladies, if it feels like something's wrong, press your doctor. Don't take "it's normal" for an answer if you really don't think it is). Then, of course, I've had a three-year-old to chase and a little bruiser of a baby who eats at hour-and-a-half intervals. But, look, socks!

This is from a very easy, almost intuitive baby sock recipe, found here. I used some leftover yarn from a pair of adult socks: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Envy, so Henry now has socks that match a pair I made his Nana for Christmas. The two baby socks took up almost exactly the remainder from one skein of sock yarn that had already yielded a single adult sock. So, two skeins of something like Shepherd Sock should give you a pair of grown-up socks and two pairs of baby socks (depending on how long the grown-up socks are, of course).

I'm planning to make a few more of these, if not for Henry, for all the other babies in my life (20 newborns in 2008!). It's a great way to get rid of all those little remainder balls that are lying around the house and they also provide a knitting project that I may actually finish one day.

Oh, and speaking of babies, my dinner out with my friends was great for me, but horrible for Henry and Aaron. Henry is normally a weirdly well-behaved baby (Ruby cries more in the course of a day than he does), but apparently he's also already a full-on mama's boy. He screamed the whole time I was gone, and was smiley and quiet the minute I came through the door. Ack.

Long Weekend Randoms

Happy May long weekend, Canadians! It's been a beautiful May long here -- so hard to believe that we had piles of snow just a few weeks ago and now we're slapping on the sunscreen and blowing up the kiddie pool. Here are some randoms:

*Spring reading: Okido came in the mail for Ruby the other day and I'm loving it (and so, thankfully, is she). I had never heard of this one before and then I read about it on someone's blog (don't recall which one) and I had to order it. It's a British magazine for kids 2 to 7 and it's really, really awesome -- not at all like the Owl and Chickadee mags that I used to subscribe to as a kid. This issue is all about digestion, which is timely considering our ongoing fight with constipation in our house (with Ruby, not the adults, thank you very much). Kind of costly, seeing as it comes from the U.K., but worth it. And for me, I finally got Amanda's book. Haven't had time to give it a good look yet, but I'm really looking forward to it.

*We finally saw the Bob Dylan movie I'm Not There. Now, I'm a bit of a Dylan obsessive, so I was skeptical, especially over the stunt casting of Cate Blanchett. Well, not only was she great, but the whole thing was great. And it had Heath Ledger in it. And David Cross!


*Boys clothes are not nearly as fun as girls, but check out the boy version of those girls socks that look like mary janes. Cowboy boots! From Trumpette.

*And I have plans to actually go out for dinner tonight. Without kids. In public. With adults. Most of whom don't have kids. Wish Aaron luck -- Henry's been grumpy today.