Inner Peace

I found this on a blog that was found on Gabrielle Roth’s myspace page, and I don’t know who that is yet, but I liked it a lot.

UPDATE:  The original author of this is Saskia Davis and you can view her entire message on a poster for sale at her website.

Some signs and symptoms of inner peace:

A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.
An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
A loss of interest in judging other people.
A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
A loss of interest in conflict.
A loss of the ability to worry (this is a very serious symptom).
Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others, as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.

I might add, boredom may occur too! Yes, I want peace. But also excitement. I haven’t jumped into any projects since staying up late with the tote bags because I am afraid of the huge mess I will make.  So, having a cleaned-up house helps me feel peaceful, but makes me afraid to mess it up again.  That means I don’t have inner peace (according to thought #1 above).  So it appears peaceful, but is not.  Hmm. . . And I am bored.  I want to get into another project.  Can I not make a huge mess that takes all day to clean up.  Let’s see what happens today!

Inner Peace AND Creative Excitement, here I come!

P.S.  I have to add, I had a great time making those bags and I did it spontaneously and feeling just about all the symptoms on the list.  I just did it when I should have been unpacking from my trip to Cape Hatteras.

Here’s one of my favorite pictures of the place, on a windy evening before a thunderstorm.

Birthday Decorations

I’ve been busy living, so not too much time for blogging.  I am not sure how some people do it:  living life to the fullest, then writing about it and adding fabulous pictures, to boot.  I guess I am too simple and lazy.  I really like to daydream.  Not much comes out of it, but it is a very pleasant thing to do when you have a nice window to sit by.  So when I am not busy, I don’t always think, oh, I should blog.  No, I like to sit in a rocking chair in the coolest room in the house and feel peaceful.  Oh, maybe that’s what I am–peaceful.  Not simple and lazy.  Yes, that sounds better. 🙂

However, I did get away from the window to make some decorations for Claire’s birthday party.  The garland pattern came from Stitched in Time by Alicia Paulson, the author of the blog Posy Gets Cozy.  For once, I did not make modifications.  I even used the same font she did for the lettering.  This was a very fun, but time-consuming project.  The fun outweighed the time, so I recommend this project.  Plus, you can use it year after year.

Collin and I made the pom-poms, using this tutorial at Martha Stewart Living .  This was SO easy and cheap.  I think it cost $3 all together.

The bags were a last-minute-stay-up-late and wake-up-early-and-trash-the-house-in-the-process project.  The fun in this project was that I didn’t use a pattern, didn’t measure much, didn’t pin or press much, and used what I had at home!  But it did take about 5 hours total to make 8 lined canvas totes with each child’s first initial.  I made these for the scavenger hunt and take-home goodie bag.  Children of this generation and demographic expect goodie-bags and although they are usually filled with junk (mine included!), the kids really like them.  They like junk!  They like to collect little trinkets and tiny bits and pieces.  They are definitely in tune with their hunter-gatherer instincts.

Sheepy Skirt

I recently bought the Sheepy Skirt Collection pattern from the Ravelry store. This comes with 19 different skirts!  Not to mention the variety of edgings you can do.  I had a hard time deciding on one to do, but after a few evenings of looking and looking and Collin saying, “pick one already!”, I choose the tiered skirt version.

Yarn: 100 pure wool; color "Hardly" More details at Ravelry

It has a nice flounce when Claire toddles around the house.  It’s great for somersaulting.  And it does its main job of covering cloth diapers very well.

The designer, Amanda Harrington, has a cute website with her creations called Sheepy Time Knits.  She was, maybe still is, a moderator on the Yahoo! Wool Soaker Group.  I used to spend hours while nursing in the early days reading all the knitting and off-topic advice on that group.  I had to quit it just to free up some time, when Claire became more mobile.  It’s interesting how close you can get on a Yahoo! group.  This one is a kind-hearted group and off-topic posts are okay if they are somehow related to mothering.  Heated discussions are usually ended by the moderator.  I decided to join back up because I missed all their chatter!

New Look 6889 in Double Cotton Gauze

Pattern:  New Look 6889

Modifications: bias tape hem

Fabric:  Far, Far Away “Field of Flowers–Green” by Heather Ross

Purchased at Sew to Speak

Ah, I finally have a new nightgown and my own piece of clothing in double cotton gauze. I’m feeling very good about this dress, but I have a word of caution.  DO NOT set the timer for two hours and see if you can beat the clock when the front of the pattern claims to be a 2 hour project!  This was the first mistake I made, which caused one, irreparable mistake:  I cut the fabric upside!  You can’t really tell, but the orange tulips are pointing down.  D’oh!

I’m very pleased with the pattern because I measured my bust, then cut according, sewed accordingly, and miracle of miracles, it fit perfectly!  That has not happened for me yet.  So with this simple shape that fits perfectly, I can envision making my own creative modifications on future nightgowns (or dresses).  This was actually a dress pattern, not a nightgown pattern, but I really wanted pajamas made of double cotton gauze because Claire looks so comfy in hers.  Another reason this is a nightgown and not a dress can be seen below:

It sticks to your underwear!  This was also lamented by Amy Karol on her blog, Angry Chicken.  She fixed the problem by wearing a slip.

A couple more details:

I liked the narrow ribbon tie.

I couldn't figure out how to do the bias tape on the neckline. The directions were not very clear. I recommend looking for help on this.

I finished the seams because the double gauze unravels A LOT.

My Pioneer Spirit, with a Paypal account

There is a dilemma that I can’t seem to shake off.  My thrifty, DIY attitude does not approve of my lust for designer fabrics imported from Japan.  In addition to wanting all the cute fabrics I can get,  I want to make all the REALLY CUTE items I see on other people’s blogs.  Collin asked me this morning why I stayed up so late last night.  How could I tell him that I looked at at least 500 fabric swatches online, dreaming of spending hundreds of dollars of his military pay on imported fabric?  I could just see Collin and Obama shaking their heads at what I propose to do with the economic stimulus money.  I would buy Japanese prints like this:

Hedgehog Print from Superbuzzy.com

Or this cute pattern for sleepy bunnies in diapers:

Baby Binky Bunny PDF printable pattern from mmmcrafts

Actually, this one is All-American, so it would stimulate the economy, right? But I’d definitely need some Japanese fabric for the inside of the ears!

There is one thing I really cannot do without and it is this cross-stitch pattern:

Gera pattern from Superbuzzy.com

This would make a perfect keepsake decoration for Baby Claire.  She is learning her numbers and when she counts, she says “One, two . . . one, two” just like in the picture!  Also, this pattern brings back good memories of learning Japanese.  When I was taking lessons, I read the story “Ookina kabu” (The Big Turnip), which is actually a Russian tale.  Grandfather tries to pull out the turnip and calls grandmother to come out to help and so on.  It’s a really big turnip!  The only word I remember from it is “untokosho,” an exclamation each person said while pulling on the turnip.  I used to throw “untokosho” around occasionally to show off my vocabulary (but remember I don’t recall a single other word from the story like “grandmother” or even “turnip”!)  One day, my neighbor Yoko said, That’s what old people say when they are trying to get up out of their chair.  Well!  I decided then to learn more graceful-sounding words, but this didn’t happen since I learned most words from my Japanese preschool students.

There are some who say they are trying to live an “authentic” life by using natural items in their house or making things from scratch or buying things from thrift stores.  But to me, it is still consumerism to constantly want and buy things, no matter what the things are.  I want to be happy with what I have!   And most of the time I am, until I spend a late evening looking at all the wonderful items that abound on the internet.

By the way, I did buy the cross-stitch pattern after dreaming about it all night.

I don’t even know how to cross-stitch. 🙂

First Quilt Blocks in Far, Far Away Fabric

This is so typical of me–I buy some pretty fabric (or yarn) and then I have to figure out what I can do with it.  I think it would be SO MUCH easier to choose a pattern first, then buy the materials listed (maybe even exactly the same fabric or yarn suggested on the list), and proceed very smoothly with my project.  But no, I decided to buy a fat quarter set of Far, Far Away double cotton gauze fabrics to make my first quilt, a quilt for Claire.  I did not buy regular cotton that is easy to cut straight and doesn’t ravel.  I did not choose an easy pattern in a small size.  I also do not know what I am doing.  But look, isn’t it going to be cute anyway?

These will go on the back, randomly, to show off the characters.

After the initial planning period of me staring at the pattern for hours, I figured out which fabrics I could use and where to put them.  I had to analyze the pattern and see what I liked about it and how it worked.  I noticed the color patterns that stood out to me.  I noticed the areas that were softer, and required less contrast.  I learned a lot more this way, I think, than if I would have just followed the pattern and bought the materials listed.  (But my way is so much harder, headache-y, and takes a long time!) This kind of quilting takes planning.  Next quilt project I hope to be more spontaneous and just cut up stuff and stick it together and somehow it will look cute!  Wouldn’t that be nice?  That’s how I do my hair and 50% of the time it works. 🙂

(When I get really good, I want to make this Jane Austen Quilt.)

Heat Index of 98 degrees? Here are three wool sweaters!

 I finished up a few sweaters this week.  It’s a bit hot, but I have autumn’s crisp winds on my mind and future Christmas knitting to start soon.  And okay, I admit this sweater, the Helena, a free pattern on Knitty, was started as a spring sweater and I didn’t finish it in time for Easter.

Yarn:  Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo DK

Size:  18 months (fits my 23 month old in sleeve length and bodice just right) 

Modifications:  I did 4 sets of lace pattern instead of 7.

Sweater #2 I just knitted in a flash and put a button on today.  I bought the self-striping yarn when I was in OH at Craftsman Hill Fibers.  This was a great little free pattern.  The only change I would make is the first row to cast on.  It creates the neckline and it came out way too tight.  I made a loop to button it with and closed up the button hole.  It was too tight and I don’t believe Claire has a thick neck.  So perhaps next time I would cast on more stitches or do it very loosely with a larger needle.

Yarn:  Adriafil Knitcol (only 2 skeins–100 grams!)

Pattern:  Striped Smock Top by Erika Flory

Size:  Large

Modifications:  I added a button loop.  I knitted  6 inches instead of 5.25 from underarm to use up the little bit left on the skein.

Last but not least is a sweater I forgot I knitted last winter.  It was way too big for Claire then and I had to add it to Ravelry.  So, I thought I would share it with you because it is so pretty!  I can’t wait for Claire to wear it this fall on our afternoon walks when the air is nippy and the leaves crunch under our feet.  I tell you, it’s just a little too hot right now!

Yarn:  Peace Fleece Worsted (Katya Pink colorway)

Pattern:  Swing Thing by Theresa Belville

Size:  1-2 year old with shortened sleeves

Modifications:  Just three clasps instead of buttons all the way down and I left out the ribbon work on the yoke.

Sailing . . . Keeps me awaaaaay from making dinner

A new outfit for Claire:  Sailboat Top and Skirt by Oliver + S.  Completed in 2 1/2 days with dogged determination and dinner cooked by Collin.  It’s been a couple weeks since I have made anything and I’m so pleased with the way this turned out.

During our trip to Ohio, we made a special trip to Columbus just to buy fabric at Sew To Speak.  This is such a darling shop!  I’m calling it a “fabric boutique.”  This is definitely a candy store a crafter cannot resist.  I bought both of the fabrics at this store and the pattern AND other lovely things that you will see soon.  

Isn’t it too cute for words?

The skirt is made of Kona cotton, which I keep hearing about for quilting and comes in the biggest rainbow of colors I’ve ever seen.  It is very sturdy, medium weight cotton.  I’m interested to see how the color washes.  

The kick-pleat is much easier than it looks. 

To make this fit Claire and her cloth diaper, I used the hip measurement to find her size, which turned out to be 2T.  However, her waist is a 6-12 month size.  Thankfully, the back waistband is elastic.  Elastic to the rescue again.  Oh, I hope Claire isn’t hippy like me!  It’s just the cloth diaper, right?  I’m excited to make more bottoms for Claire that will fit her and the cloth diaper exactly.  It has been frustrating to find clothes besides knit pants that will fit. 

Unpadded Padded Footlets

I finished a knitting project!  And it is for myself, which is rare.  So I am excited to share the news.  I suppose the 90 degree days do not call for sock-wearing, but these are made of a spongy cotton blend that is very comfortable.  I like this yarn a lot.  It is KnitPicks Risata in Buttermilk.  My modification details are on my Ravelry page.  I didn’t do the padding.  I got too frustrated and I had to modify the overall size, so I left it out.

I’m planning to make a miniature pair for Claire soon.  But this week, I am putting my projects on hold while I help my sister paint their new home.  However, I can always put in a few minutes of relaxing knitting in the evening while Collin and I veg’ together.  I’ve been watching a lot of “House Hunters International” lately and dreaming about a getaway apartment in Paris.  I have noticed, though, that the people buying places like this do not have children.  I joked to Collin, If Claire goes to the Naval Academy (free tuition), we can get a Paris apartment.   He did not like that idea at all!  You can always identify an Academy parent by the Navy license plate on their shiny, new SUV.

Not so easy . . .

Um, my next post will NOT be the pattern for the Girly Jimbei because it is really hard to make a pdf file of patterns! Whew, my head is spinning. But it is not impossible and I will figure it out. It will just take a little longer than I thought.
I found this helpful tutorial on how to do it at Burda Style.

Until then, here’s a picture of Chuffy playing Scrabble.  He beats me everytime!