A Valentine Cardigan

I’m sorry, Elizabeth Zimmerman, I let you down. I had to put aside the Tomten I cast on when I realized it would be too big for Little R. (Sheepish. I’ve been really bad at swatches lately.) The sweater would fit her NEXT Valentine’s Day, and I need “instant” gratification to keep me knitting away. So I set it aside, and picked up something else. This little sweater is Cascade, a free download on Ravelry.

This isn’t so set a president of special gifts on Valentine’s Day (fortunately I think she is a bit young to notice!) but it just made a good deadline. I’m really happy with the little wood buttons.

 

Pink

In time for Valentine’s Day, pink heart cookies, brought to you by beets.

Boil pieces of peeled beet in water for 30 minutes, let it sit, and then use the water for food colouring.

Little Wood Buttons

What is she making?? Would you have guessed?

I’ve been wanting to make buttons for a while and with a sweater freshly off the needles (coming soon), I found myself in need of a few. And, well, you know what they say: “Necessity is the mother of invention.” And experimentation, I think. So here they are!

I think it is wise to call these a first attempt. I used a piece of ash I found in the barn, but I’m not entirely sure it was overly dry. And the holes are a little wonky. But no matter! They will surely look cute, and work for a while, and if they “go wrong” I can simply make more. We have lots of windfall and pruning pieces about – apple, oak, plum, ash, and I’m looking forward to experimenting with them.

Recommitting to Natural Body Care

Are you like me? Do you waffle back and forth between using natural and “conventional” body care products?  Every now and again I hear something or read something and think “I really must do a better job” and sometimes I do, for a while, and then either get seduced back to using things I was avoiding for convenience, or the cost, or laziness, or something like that.

I heard a radio program the other day and it reminded me that I’d let things slide. I really want to do a better job. Of course, there is natural and natural, but my main concern in making sure I’m not using something with awful stuff in it. I found this handy pocket guide with a great list of things to avoid, which helps when shopping, or checking out what’s already in the bathroom cupboard. So, being all inspired, I decided to revamp my body care product collection.  And, because this is the kind of thing that pleases me, I decided to use this little shelf I made as a Natural Body Products Shelf. Here’s what’s on it:

apple cider vinegar hair rinse

baking soda paste for washing hair (This works great. I also think that if you decided to save money by going this route, you can afford to pay a little bit more, if necessary, to buy natural body care products.)

flax-seed hair gel (easy to make)

beeswax and olive oil moisturizer (that G made for finishing Little’s R’s wood blocks! Multipurpose!)

Rocky Mountain Foot Butter and Baby Butter

Tom’s Natural Deodorant and Toothpaste

Missing is soap. Right now I think we have a bar of Caprina fragrance free Goat Milk Soap in the shower.

Oh, and breast milk! You can’t get more natural than that, and I put it on everything, though obviously not everybody has access to it…

It is classic me to get excited about this in great part because I’ve now got them all arranged, though some will obviously be kept in the shower.  I had most of the store-bought products already, but simply needed to remember to just use them! Making up the little jars of stuff for my hair took no time at all. So, I’m recommitting, and perhaps you will too!

Wool Pants

(Apologies to those of you who have been hoping I might someday post about making something NOT for Little R. I’m afraid there is not much chance of that. She is pretty much in constant need of clothing so I have to channel creative energy in that direction.)

Recently completed: Two pairs of wool pants for the baby, one knit and one sewn.

The blue pants are from Elizabeth Zimmerman’s baby legging pattern. Or at least, I started with the pattern. I gave absolutely NO thought to sizing, or gauge, or anything, just cast on, and then changed a few things as I went. Happily, they fit quite well, so while it was a chance for me to learn my lesson, I’m not sure I did!

The pink pair, more properly “pants”, are sewn from a thrifted sweater. I just traced “generously” around a pair she already had to make a basic pattern.

The wool pants are the newest item in our approach to EC. We have been doing very well with no diaper, only one or two “misses” a day, so I decided to try putting her in pants. I’ve lanalized them, so if they do get wet we only need to hang them up to dry. (Wool is wonderful this way.) I guess it is sort of the same concept of using a wool soaker, except we aren’t using a diaper. She also goes “no diaper” on our walks, and wearing wool ensures that if she did happen to pee she would not get cold. I think I’ve only been peed on once so this is pretty rare.

Casting on for Tomten

I am a little bit in love with Elizabeth Zimmerman right now. I’ve been a fan for a while, but there is something about winter and wool and a certain mindset which makes me want to work some “EZ”. Oh, and even more so for her championing of wool for babies. Before Little R was born, when I began knitting baby stuff, I always wanted to work with wool but felt a bit hesitant. Now that she’s here, and wearing her wool knits, I know that Elizabeth was right. And I know you can get machine washable wool, but regardless, wool just doesn’t need to be washed as much as if kind of cleans itself. (more on this later) And it’s warm.

Today I am casting on for a red and cream Tomten. I’m hoping it doesn’t take me this long, but if it does, I figure the colours make it a perfect goal for Valentine’s Day.

Walk With Me

I have things on the go (eternally on the go, it would seem, sine not much is getting done) but nothing finished to post about. So come for a walk with me instead. Little R and I go every day. It is a shame to have a day without a walk, and by the same token, if all we “get done” in a day is to go for a walk, then it’s all good. I can’t get enough of this landscape.

This Moment

Inspired by Soulemama: “This moment – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.”

 

New Year’s Good Intentions

As the New Year approached I found myself thinking back to the resolution I made last year and cringing. It was pretty much a failure, and unfortunately, a documented one as I shared my goal with all on my blog. The less said about that the better. I’ve been doing some thinking about resolutions, as it is generally a topic of conversation this time of year. I found myself explaining that I know when the summer comes round I will have more or less abandoned any resolution I make, especially if it was ambitious. One could feel badly about this, of course (and we do, don’t we?) but then I started to think about the New Year more as a new sketchbook. You know the feeling – those lovely crisp white pages, unblemished and inviting. I love this, and fully enjoy a sketchbook at this stage, but I don’t expect it to remain in this state. With use it will get tattered and dog-eared, a bit dirty, and full of sketches, yes, and also grocery lists and phone numbers. And I will rip pages out for something and spill tea on it. The thing is, it is just a beautiful at this point, just very different. You see where I am going with this? The New Year is upon us, and like many others I am excited about the “fresh start” it represents, but I don’t expect it to stay that way and that is fine by me! So, in my lovely fresh “sketchbook” New Year I will begin by sketching some good intentions. (say nothing of the  ”road to hell”…)

My “good intentions” surround the dinner table. I want to burn candles every evening at supper. I want to make some more cloth napkins so that we have enough to use, and wash, and loose. I want to bring the food to the table, either in serving dishes (oh so fancy) or just in the pot, so we can serve ourselves from the table and do less of the popping up and down to get this and that. Oh, and I’d also like to get and use a water jug.  In general, as you can see, I’d like to build in a little “ritual”, if I can use that word. There is nothing ground breaking here, and I expect it is quite achievable so maybe these “good intentions” WILL manage to survive all of 2012 but I’m not bothered about that now, I’m just enjoying the clean page.

Polka Dog

Introducing Polka Dog, my Christmas present to Little R. He was made following a basic Sock Dog tutorial by Martha Stewart.

I decided against (at least for the time being) adding eyes, since sometimes you can do too much and I think he has quite a lot of character as he is.