this sweater is the thing, knitted by yia yia. isn't it lovely? it's soft, fits perfectly, is easy to pull on, has stripes, and arrived just in time for some dreadful weather. thanks mom! oh and, have ever you seen a more handsome baby?
sitting in the high chair is also the thing, as is a bamboo spoon full of applesauce.
sister in a sling is the thing, even if a bit long. it is what i used to carry her in!
and i must admit, sitting is the thing. or almost sitting.
and finally, the surround is the thing. isn't it always?
sniffles have also been the thing, but it seems to be only sniffles, and nothing worse, for which we are grateful.
i made the applique on the t-shirt. it was a birthday present for dan. tristan was a month old and i had no money. it is really hard to come up with handmade things for men, especially when you are not really much of a knitter. so i found some little bird and star templates online, pulled out some vintage fabric and constructed the whole thing with tristan in the sling. it's been almost six months and dan has worn it once. so i reclaimed it, because really, i think it's rather charming, especially infused with the memory of a newborn in a sling while sitting at the sewing machine.
so i really don't have an excuse for how awful it looks. i will mention that i really don't have much fabric to choose from, especially when making something for a boy. i'm really not pleased with the color combinations of it. but it is what i have to show for homemade monday (tuesday).
the concept is in sweet booties, but i didn't have the bib template photocopied. so i used the template from bend the rules sewing, the one i always use. i was also supposed to use half inch double bias tape, but what i had on hand was more like a quarter inch.
anyhow, the next one will be beautiful, i'm certain. now onto making soft blocks, and the beginning of the holiday projects.
yesterday i wasn't feeling very well and needed to nourish my soul with a simple sewing project. i decided to try my hand at the fringe playmat from amanda soule's handmade home.
i wanted to use a particular vintage fabric and a chenille backing, but the fabric piece was a bit too small and not exactly soft. i was about to give up when i spotted a receiving blanket our doula gave to us. i thought it would be a nice way to keep our doula's love close, while using what i had on hand.
i did not have cotton batting on hand, so i just used two more pieces of flannel. it is more of a blanket than a mat, i think.
i think it is pretty fun, and i think tristan does too!
one of the biggest rewards of blogging is making virtual friends in the blogosphere. one of those friends is maria muscarella of dirt under my nails. maria gave birth to her adorable little boy a short while before i gave birth to mine. we shared with each other a little bit of handmade love to celebrate our offspring. pictured below, maria sent the super cool dragon hat to tristan. she also sent a lovely knitted hat to tashi, which we can't locate at the moment, but i will show it off as soon as we do.
our neighbor horse (nickname: sparky) was moved to the closest pasture along our road. we like this because it is almost as if we have a horse pet. the grass is so good in that pasture that he ignored me when i came by with a bag full of apple slices .
autumn. yes autumn. i love it. yet it is so bittersweet.
yesterday i went to a nice baby shower. great food, friendly people, and an awesome mama to be.
also yesterday, tristan had his first meal of solid food. he has recently attempted to intercept our food and drink before it reaches our mouths. that, combined with the looks of extreme longing and envy he gives us when we eat, convinced me it was time to give him some tastes. i mooshed up a wee bit of banana and mixed a little breastmilk in. i think he was pleased, what do you think?
today i am feeling a little blue. i'm not sure why. could it be the seasonal change? talks of escalating war in afghanistan? too much flu, too many ticks? sadness for those who have lost babies? fatigue? the weekend concluding too soon? miserable dreams? my own babies growing too fast?
i can't quite pin point it. thus, i will bake. when feeling sad, make a coffee cake i say. onward. . .
even the small accomplishments are worth sharing. . .
tristan has a crazy drool going on. we keep waiting for a tooth. in the mean time, nothing stays dry for long. and we go through the bibs quickly. so i'm trying to add to our collection.
every wednesday after work i pick up tashi and her pal rachel from school. sometimes we go to the thrift store. or a cafe. or straight to rachel's house. but yesterday we went to the library. and then we had: cupcakes! i didn't manage to take any before or during pictures on work wednesday. but here is what we did after.
this is old photo was taken on the rivanna trail one day in late autumn. a foreshadowing of leafless trees & days still warm enough to wear short sleeves.
Mistle thrush, mistle thrush Lay me down in the underbrush My naked feet grow weary with the dusk
i purchased the crane wife by the decemberists a couple of years ago and after a listen, shelved it for quite some time. recently, knowing they were coming to charlottesville, i thought i'd give them a second chance and pulled the cd out again. i played it constantly in the car for a few days until i found myself blown away by several of the songs.
i moved on to their recent hazards of love and was immediately smitten. how can you not love a group that leads you to look up things like taiga and offa's wall and corncrake. even though the rake's song is absolutely horrifying, i do so love the big drums! even better are the voices of the ghostly children that come back to haunt the rake, and the dissonant strings that accompany them. there is the romantic lyricism, the occasional heavy metal guitar work, and the full on girrrl power coming from shara worden. and, to top it off, it's a rock opera!
dan and i agreed that attending the show at the charlottesville pavilion would be a nice way to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, and the kind of concert we could probably bring the kids too. and it was. fabulous.
it was great to see a stage full of odd instruments, three remarkable women in addition to the men, and to hear a sound that was in turns quiet and tumultuous. the hazards of love was pulled off in its entirety with perfection, and the second set included several great selections from previous albums and a rad cover of heart's crazy on you. colin meloy shared a pretty new song about winter in the encore, and ended it all with a sons and daughters from the crane wife, where he invited several people from the audience to join him on the stage. the show closed with the entire audience singing the line, hear all the bombs fade away.
it was good fun, for all. even tristan watched the stage with amazement, though we stayed far back on the grassy slope to protect his wee ears. tashi and her pal rachel seemed to enjoy lounging around under the concert lights, and pointing out freakish members of the audience that were having their share of fun.
the next day there was cake, to celebrate our tenth anniversary.
::during:: (tristan wasn't very happy hanging out on his lambswool while i clacked away at the computer. until i took all his clothes off. he's one content nuddie!)
i've been wanting to dress up some things (a onesie for tristan, a t-shirt for tashi) with some embroidery. after a consultation with dan, we decided on the tiki dude for tristan. so last night i ironed on a design from my sublime embroidery kit and began stitching.
that which drapes from. aloft only. rising up to stay. sway of notion. cobbled trace makes path. strong beam anchors intention. fortified stance. reverberations build stem. flesh and phylum. bridge between odds. undoing brings about beginning. course.
