Sewing again

Crepes for supper and sewing all day! I managed to flip a few of the crepes, too, all the while singing Christina Rosetti's "Pancake" poem (sung to Judy Collin's melody from Baby's Morningtime). My poor husband had to be away from the supper table, so he missed out. I've saved him two crepes, but it won't be the same. Hey, it wasn't the same without him, anyway.

Today I finished up the blouse I was sewing for Emma. The pattern comes from Carefree Clothes for Girls by Junko Okawa. These are beautiful outfits made from unbleached cotton or linen, thrifted lace and mismatched buttons. A lot of the edges are left unhemmed, in order to naturally unravel a little. I wish I could make more from this book, but the largest size is 7 and the clothes simply wouldn't look as cute on larger kids.

I still need to make a button loop on this blouse, but I'll do that after the kids are in bed. Oh, and I played around with the sizing again, this time in the pattern stage. I made size 5 width, size 7 length. It worked perfectly. The cotton came from a second-hand bedskirt and the doily was found at Salvation Army.

Here's a close-up of the detailing around the collar. This was the first time I made my own bias-binding for the neck and arm-holes. The neck edge is embroidered with tiny gold stitches. I should have made them further apart, like in the book, and thus saved my arthritic thumb!

 And here are Emma and Ben with their dolls and makeshift baby-carriers. Rowan was wearing one, too, with a polar bear toy inside, but it didn't photograph well. I'll have to make him a doll very soon.

Valentine's Day Walk

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! We had our party last Wednesday, so today we relaxed by making a few extra crafts and by taking a short hike in the park. Enjoy the photos!

 

This is a little spring and waterfall. It was the only water not frozen (apart from the sea).

Finished arm-warmers

I finished knitting Emma's arm-warmers last Friday night. I worked on them during the car ride to my parents house and darned in the ends before bed. In the end, they only took one ball of Patons Kroy. I think I'll use my second ball to make either kids socks or knit a pair of 'babylegs.'

Old photos--1

I was looking through old photo files on my computer, and I found this picture from winter 2005. Back then, I was working and Rob was a stay-at-home father. Emma was three years old, and Rowan eighteen months.

Drawings on the window. You can see how Emma used to draw people. Her style stayed the same until she was about four and a half.

We no longer have the brass candleholders. I regret that, as they frame the window perfectly. They offer a promise of warmth, even with the candles unlit. Perhaps I gave them back to my parents. I'll have to ask...

An early Valentine's gift

My husband had many surprises waiting for us when we got home yesterday from our mini-vacation. One, my order had come in from Bear Dance Crafts! He had that waiting in the car, and I had a peek at all my new rovings, felt, Ben's new book, posters, etc.

At home, we all had presents waiting. Rowan had a new hobby-horse and a new toy car. Emma had a brass-mirror with a unicorn decorating it. I think Ben was supposed to share the hobby horse. I had a new shawl from one of the fair trade shops. Rob had bought a bird-cage from 50 Hats; this is to house the Wee Folk that I had made the children for Christmas.

But best of all, Rob had drawn this picture. It is of our children playing outside what might one day be our home. It's also a bit of a 'find-it' picture, and you can see some of our treasured and defining possessions. See what you can see! You can click on the above picture to enlarge it.

Winter Fun

We've been away visiting my parents in the country. It was nice to get out of the city for a while, and the kids got to go sledding and play in the snow. The temperature warmed up from way, way below freezing to an unseasonable warmth (a few degrees above freezing). We all had a wonderful time. Here are some photos I took one particularly beautiful day.

Here I tried to capture some of the natural beauty of the day. My father keeps a large garden and this is one of his grapevines. I like the tendrils coming off in this picture.

A near miss for Emma? (The kids were being very careful, really).

My mother had home-made hot cocao ready to warm us up when we'd tired ourselves out from all the climbing up the hill. Thanks, Mum!

Mending Lucy

Lucy is my daughter's doll. I made her when Emma was only 3 1/2 year old, and she has been very well loved. Sadly, she has become rather 'ill' of late, with her fabric running in places. Her hair has worn thin, no longer fluffy as in the picture to the left, which was taken when Lucy was 'born.' Her face, arms and legs are no longer pink, but a murky beige. She is a dingy, sad looking doll.

But is she ever loved. When I first gave Lucy to Emma, she was just another doll. There were others, and Lucy was forgotten more often than not. To help her bond, when we moved one time from the Maritimes to Ontario (a long, two day trip), we packed up all the other toys for the moving truck and Lucy was the only toy Emma had for the next fortnight. That was the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship, and Lucy has become a full-fledged member of our family. But she is in sad shape, and so I've begun mending her. This is Lucy's hand before and after; really, I should be ashamed that I let her get in such bad shape!

Emma's not too pleased at the ridges that my mattress stitch made. I wish I had my grandmother's mending skills. But Emma still gave Lucy a terrific hug when she was given her back!