Spring Mish-Mash comments: 102

Oh, it's been a busy week here. I don't know where the time goes. Amelia is a busy lady these days! Not too interested in napping today. I personally would like nothing better than for someone to zip me into a polar-fleece sleepsack, turn out the lights, and beg me to sleep for two hours in the middle of the day. But. The weather has been cold and cloudy and I am secretly glad — I so much want to finish my indoor chores before the nice weather comes for good. Once it comes, we'll be busy in a different way. An outside, woods-and-water, flower-field way. Out of the house. That's my plan.

I made broken up lasagna noodles with chicken and mushroom ragu from this recipe last night and it was very good. I added a big blob of whole-milk ricotta cheese to mine and I really recommend that. Andy is not down with ricotta. For me, I would say it's in my top-five favorite foods. Along with tapioca pudding, avocados, asparagus, and . . . maybe . . . fish tacos. Or sour-cream apple pie. It has to be whole-milk ricotta, though. The part-skim stuff tastes, to me, like a completely different kind of cheese.

I'm working on the bunny shirt and pants pattern, and the knitting patterns. The yarn is Brown Sheep Nature Spun sport weight, and it's what I am using to design all of the bunny knits (and, eventually, bunny crochets). I've ordered yarn balls so that we can carry this yarn in my web shop. If you got in on the first round of kits, this is the yarn that was in the kit (and it will be in the second round). It's my new favorite yarn. I looked at a lot of different yarns before deciding what to use. I like this one because it's 100% wool, comes in a really nice palette (though I have to say they could use a few more pinks/peaches, in my opinion), has a slight halo, but knits up to have a very matte sort of look to it, which is exactly what I wanted. Rustic. I don't like shiny yarns. After blocking, it's actually really soft but still holds its shape very well. I think we'll have about fifteen colors in the shop. My plan is to make everything available — kits, patterns, yarn, new size #18 needles (which I use for threading the elastic around the neck of the peasant dress) — all at the same time. Not sure yet exactly when that will be but I will keep you posted. Our dress fabric still hasn't come in yet. Greta's pulling floss right now and is about halfway done, and Martha's winding yarn. If these kits don't sell, I'll be making Amelia and myself entire wardrobes made entirely of five Liberty prints and sport-weight-wool. Which I think I could get on board with, but still. Don't leave me.

Isn't that little animal ABCs poster so adorable? Andy's mom got it for me for my birthday from this Etsy shop. Her friend also Brenda made that darling pink hooded sweater that Amelia is wearing. It finally fits her perfectly and . . . oh my dear me . . . how adorable are babies in hoodies????? (***The pattern is here [though she modified it to include the garter button band] and the yarn is Plymouth Encore. Thank you Brenda!!!)

Which also reminds me: The Maggie knits are a dress, a raglan, sweater, and the garter hoodie. Bunny in a hoodie. Now I'm typing with one hand or I would link to the photos I've posted in the past months of the prototypes. As it is I feel fairly accomplished today just spelling prototypes out (now twice, and added parentheses! and spelled parentheses!) with one finger. Some days that feels like miracle enough!

***Have you ever seen a dog look at anyone with more deliberate skepticism than this, by the way? She's like, "Yah, yer nuts." I know. (She's teaching it to the baby.)

***Forgot to say, I'll also have those tiny buttons that are on the little shirt in the shop. I think we're getting ten different colors of those, too.

Little Blossom comments: 131

I really can't say enough about spring in Oregon. It's a fairyland. The first time I ever came to Oregon, I came in the spring. Almost twenty years ago now. I took the train from Whitefish, Montana, to Eugene to visit my sister and brother-in-law, who was in grad school (for sculpture) at the time. It was the first week in April. Montana was, simply, brown. As the train rolled further and further west, through Idaho, eastern Washington, the Columbia Gorge, things got greener and greener. In Eugene, things were gorgeous. The University of Oregon campus is absolutely gorgeous. We bought pansies at the grocery store and I put a row of them on the window sill next to where I slept for a few days. I thought, "My, spring sure is coming on quickly this year! I'm thrilled! I'm overjoyed! I love spring! What a great year! " Etc., etc. I had the best time. I took one of the pansies with me when I left at the end of the week. The train rolled north a bit, and then east. Out the window . . . things . . . things were getting . . . oh no. Things were getting . . . less greenish. Oh nooooooooooo. What is happening.

Back in Montana, it was absolutely FREEEEEEEZING. And still, utterly, brown.

I get it. Spring comes early — blissfully, gorgeously, wonderfully, beautifully early — in Portland, Oregon. Poor pansy. I only lasted three years in Montana. I will always love Montana. But spring is my favorite season. And it lasts for months in this part of Oregon. The winters pretty much stink (in my opinion. They'll never be how I want winter to be. Which is SNOWY). But spring — sometimes it seems like it lasts all the way through June! I hate hot weather with the white-hot passion of a thousand suns. Have you ever taken this quiz? (Should have warned you that you have to create an account at the end to get the results so you might not want to take it. And it's only for U.S. locations, though an international quiz would be really cool, if anyone knows of one?) Apparently, I would like to be living in Anchorage, Alaska!

Most of these photos were taken at a lovely garden in Portland called Elk Rock Garden of the Bishop's Close.

Spring Gifts comments: 102

Cherry blossoms. We were walking up to get groceries and admiring a huge flowering tree when this guy came walking out with a pair of pruners and cut us these big branches. Then we found a stuffed hedgehog on the sidewalk. It was a good day. Only-spring gifts: A froth of petals. Goldeny sunshine. The smell of mud. A warm cloudy afternoon. I love pushing the stroller. Walking to get frozen yogurt. Walking to get books. Wandering in the spring evening. Watching the sun set before bedtime. Petals fluttering. Pink petals falling on a sleeping baby. Her lip pushed out. Her sleeping-sighs. Her eyelashes long. Her rose-cheek warm. My loves.

*We don't have chickens. Those are just some from the neighborhood. :) And our egg dyeing method is here.

Spring Things comments: 142

They say there is snow covering 50% of the country right now. Eeeesh. Here in northwest Oregon, I think we're having classic spring weather: one day warm, one day sunny, one day sunny and cold, one day cloudy and warm, one day hail, one day a golden sunset that warms you right through your skin. Amelia and I have been out walking every day. The neighborhood looks so very pretty right now. All of the plums and pear trees are in bloom. The daffodils are out, and many camellias. Grape hyacinths. Magnolias just starting to bud. Today it was chilly and rainy and so we went to the mall. It's warm, it's dry, it has flat surfaces, lots of food and things to drink, big doors (and occasionally people will even hold them for you — you can tell which ones have ever had to maneuver a stroller through a door and which ones haven't), elevators, and cute clothes. On a cloudy March day, what's not to love. Amelia enjoys going anywhere. Everywhere. I love being out with her.

We have ordered all of the supplies we need for the next round of Maggie kits, and the felt has already come in. Greta is back in the studio folding felt as I write. We are making twice as many kits this time, but will only have five dress/yarn options available — four new fabrics, as well as the original Betsy (and by the way, the names of the fabric and yarn that I used? Those are the names the manufacturers [Liberty and Brown Sheep, respectively] gave them, so if you're in love with something you can definitely Google it to find more somewhere). I think the new dress-fabric options are gorgeous. I can't remember the names offhand, but I will take a photo of the samples so you can see the prints. So, Greta is working steadily to put the kits together, but we aren't rushing these. Rushing just doesn't work for me these days. We are going to do them at a more reasonable pace that works for all of us here. So, I'm not sure exactly when they'll be done but it might be about a month. Unfortunately, no, there is no waiting list, and I don't take pre-orders. But I will keep you posted here on our progress and let you know when the new kits will be available!

I have gotten a lot of emails from people who have already finished Maggies, either from the kit or the pattern, and they are seriously ADORABLE. So, so sweet! (My in-box these days is just utter chaos. I'm kind of coming to terms with the idea that I will just never get to it all, which feels weird, but it is the reality, so I really do apologize.) But I have started a Pinterest board for Maggie photos. If you post a photo of your Maggie to your own Pinterest boards, you can send me the Pin and I'll repin it to this board. Or you can send me the link to images on your own blog and I'll pin it for you. Or you can send me the photo and the photo credit/blog info and I'll upload it directly to the board. If you send me a photo but you DON'T want me to Pin it, just tell me, and I won't (of course). But I do love seeing them because they each have their own personalities, and a little gallery would look so cute!

I'm also still working on alternate patterns, and I'll keep you posted on those, too. I'm just trying to do everything at my own pace, so that's kind of a slow pace right now.

(Did you see my Steiff teddy bear on the window seat? I got him when I was a baby. I love him. He's very gorgeous. A true gentleman.)

I made the scarf (and her little navy sweater), but I bought the handwarmers from Sandra Juto last year, and I love them and wear them almost every day.

My mom has a dragonfly tattoo on her wrist. 'Cause she's cool like that.

How I love hanging out with Mimi in her big-girl room. In the afternoons, when the sun starts setting through those windows, sitting on the big bed, with our pets nearby (always nearby), reading stories to this beautiful baby girl . . . well . . . you know . . . nowhere else on earth. Nowhere else in the whole wide world do I ever want to be. My happy place.

Big Bubble Pants comments: 165

I made some big bubble pants yesterday. I thought they came out pretty cute. I used this pattern but added 3" to the top and 4" (total; 2" to the edge of the pattern piece that goes on the fold) to the width. The cutest thing about them was that the minute I put them on her (she'd had tights on all day and I'd just taken them off) she started kicking her legs and clapping her feet. It was so adorable. She was happy. I was THRILLED. I have trouble figuring out how tight to make the elastic on things. I have made so many things that are gathered on 1/4" elastic and unless the pattern tells me exactly how long to cut the elastic for a neck or a cuff or around a leg I can't seem to get it right. That's my goal today (my goals are very simple): figure this out exactly for her right now, and write it down. A lot of her purchased baby pants seem too small around the waist, and the elastic seems tight and uncomfortable. She's pretty big for her age. (Her little birdy-deer blouse is from H&M, by the way — I got it [along with a lot of her clothes] at the resale shop.)

I took photos for my friend Prescott's new restaurant, Township and Range. Isn't it pretty in there? I had the fried chicken and mashed potatoes and they were awesome.

I got to go fabric shopping by myself the other day and it was pretty wonderful. A lot of people like massage, or manicures, or . . . I don't know . . . yoga . . . stuff like that . . . when they want to relax. Not me. I go to Goodwill or the fabric store. Goodwill is a lot cheaper. But I realized that most of my fabric stash is made up of smallish pieces. Quarter-yards, half-yards. So I needed some new fabrics for some spring clothes for Amelia. Win-win. I think I can make a dress or blouse and bubbles for 1 1/2 yards. Half-yards for the bubbles. I made a nightgown for Maddie (we have two bunnies — Maggie, and Maddie). It's made of this fabric. Just a longer version of the peasant dress her pattern comes with, tied with some silk ribbon. Thinking I might go back and get more and make a nightgown for myself. . . .

Oh, by the way, thank you for the pattern recommendations the other day! I've got some good ones now. Now that my time is much more limited, I have completely different requirements for patterns. It's kinda funny. Things I wouldn't have thought twice about in the past (buttons, continuous placket — basically anything finicky) — if I don't have to do it to get the general look, I won't. The length, the fullness, the angles — the cut of the thing matters more. And the easier it is to make and get on the babe, the better.

But I do care about the cut.

Also, fabrics. At the fabric store, everything's very bright. Bright aquas, bright limes, hot pinks. No. Those aren't mine. I don't like those colors. I like the colors of old books. Paris apartments. Ice cream and convents. Pansies and plum blossoms. Blushy pinks and mustards with a touch of gray, and French gray, and inky blue, and robin's egg, and violet, and apricot, and palest of yellows. Wildflowers more than tropical flowers. Weeds more than roses. Unless they're teeny weeny roses. Small flowers rather than big, loopy flowers. Dots and stripes rather than fat ruffles. I like feminine things, but I don't really like frilly things. Though I'm more gathers than pleats.

You know?

If you roast some broccolini and some asparagus with olive oil and salt and pepper, and some shrimp with olive oil and salt and pepper, and then you toss it with a half-container of mascarpone and some peas and a pound of thin spaghetti (and some parmesan), I don't think you'll be sorry. I was ecstatic that I was eating something that wasn't previously frozen, to be honest. But even given that, it was really good. And now I have dinner for tonight, too. Yippee yay.

*Thank you to everyone who has sent me photos of their Maggies!!! They are so awesome. I couldn't be happier to see how adorable they are turning out — thank you!

Little Leaves and Petals comments: 182

Mimi (that's what we call her at home) is five months old. Five big, beautiful, blessed, extraordinary, wonderful months. Oh how I love this girl, her smiles and her moods, her dimples and chubby hands and chunky thighs, her open-mouthed kisses and her hands on my face, trying to get my nose into her mouth. Her voice and her calls. Her sighs and little snores and her loud hollers and her chuckles when something's funny. Her floppy hair and her big, deep eyes and her big, warm cheeks. Her breath on my chest, her hand flung out, her hand tangled in my hair. I love her wonder, and her pleasure, and her heavy head on my chest as we sit in the window seat and find the sky. Always the sky. Dearest, dearest, dearest, dearest girl. My dream of dreams.

Six-to-twelve-month clothes! We need 'em. I bought a bunch of sewing patterns, both new and vintage, over the weekend. Very excited. The vintage patterns from the '70s make me crazy nostalgic. In looking through them on Etsy and eBay I see so many things that my mother made for me. I bought some of them to make for Amelia someday. Vintage patterns generally don't have several sizes included; they have one size. Maybe when she's six I'll make her the prairie maxi-dress and bonnet in pink calico, just like mine.

There are a lot of really nice designers making very pretty patterns out there right now! This weekend I got patterns from Oliver + S, Sis Boom, Sew Sweet, Lily Bird Studio, and Brownie Goose. And there are a ton more designers on Etsy. It's really fun just looking through everything that's out there. Who else should I check out?

*I made her blouse out of Liberty "Boxford" Tana Lawn and this pattern from Citronille, and her hat is here :)

Little Plum comments: 156

When our plum tree blooms, there's no mistaking: Spring! It's here. We cleaned up the yard. We went for walks past other peoples' yards. We got frozen yogurt. We bought daffodils. We scheduled the window-washer dude. He'll also de-mossify the roof. We turned off the heat during the day and forgot to turn it back on at night. We talked about weather to anyone and everyone. We went to the plant nursery. We closed the windows when it turned out it was actually still pretty cold. We heard birds. We saw birds. We bought ravioli. We bought milkshakes. We planned hikes. We got books. We walked some more. We thought about veggie starts (like, what goes in now?) We sat on the front stairs and sang songs about flowers and babies with honeygold hair and big blue eyes. We looked up into the tree. We waved to our friends across the street. And we watched the plum-petaled, spring-soaked world go by.

Sun Spots comments: 132

Spring sunshine. It's so nice. We had such a nice weekend! Short but very sweet. Amelia adores her grandparents who held and played with her non-stop for three days straight. So sweet. Andy made corned beef and cabbage for us. He's the most non-Irish Irish person I know. We listen to Irish music the entire month of March. There is a lot of Pogues and Flogging Molly playing. He makes corned beef and cabbage in my dad's old cast-iron pot every year. He buys us all shamrock swag. I love how much he loves things.

Remember the quilt I started for Amelia a few weeks back? I had it finished by BumbleBee Quilting and picked it up on Saturday morning. I absolutely love it! The way I did this was ridiculously easy. I bought many (I'd have to count how many, but maybe thirty or more?) 1/8 yard pieces of random fabrics from several different local fabric stores. I just picked stuff that I liked. I had no particular color scheme in mind, but I wanted it to feel sweet and subtle and mellow and pretty. My colors wound up being peaches, pinks, inky blues like her eyes, pale grays, vanilla creams, aquas, a few saffron yellows, a few nutmeg browns, an orchid. Most of the prints are tiny calicos, small polka dots, tiny ginghams, and a few baby animals mixed in. To make it, I trimmed the 1/8-yard strips to 4" wide, trimmed off the selvedges, and then cut the strips randomly into rectangles. The rectangle lengths weren't measured. Then I started sewing the short ends of the rectangles together until I had a pieced strip that was vaguely 54" long (I put two pieces of tape on my sewing table, which is just a bit longer than 54", and just laid the strip out between the tape pieces to measure it). I sewed the strips together until the quilt top was about 54" across, and then I trimmed the pieced edges until they were all even. It was so fast. Only half the measuring. I am definitely going to make another one for her bed with the leftoever fabric (this one is more of a throw). Rectangles go so much faster than squares. I don't have much time to do stuff like this anymore, so fast is key! And I also think the rectangles let the fabric print show better, which I've always wanted in my quilts. There are so many beautiful fabrics out there. If the pieces are too small you just can't see the fabric prints, you know? I love looking at the individual patches in quilts, picking out favorites. I love how dated the patches get, timestamping the quilt even without a label.

My darling peachy-pink girl! I love how she loves everything, too. She just loves everything. She inspires me. Every moment. She's teaching me.

Good Morning comments: 158

Sunshine! Eeeeeeeeeeeeee! It's the sun!!! That's exciting. I think we will go for a walk this morning. Things are blooming out there and we are missing them. I think we need to get out there and see some spring, stat!

Thank you for all of your incredibly nice and always generous and always gentle comments this week, and always, always. It's been a really busy and really tiring and really good week! All of the bunny kits will be at the post office by tomorrow, and I just couldn't be happier with how everything went (aside from the selling-out-too-fast part, which gave me a stomach ache). I'm really proud of this kit and the work we did on it, and I owe a HUGE and enormous thank you to Greta for everything that she did to make this happen right now. She is just utterly awesome, and keeps things running around here in an incredibly smooth yet seemingly effortless way. I am just beyond lucky and am so grateful for her. Thank you, dear G.

We will keep you posted on when another batch of bunny kits will be available, and again, I really am sorry that it won't be before Easter.

Andy's parents get into town tomorrow night for the weekend and if this sunshine holds . . . oh, wouldn't that be great! I had this memory the other night of what it's like to have the windows open at night. Remember that? How good it is to breathe fresh air? Spring. Spring in the woods. Spring in the yard. Spring in the garden. Spring in the park. Spring in the Gorge. Spring at the tulip farm. Spring is coming. I really, really cannot wait!

This baby girl. My sweet sunshine. I can hardly wait for her to wake up every morning. Dearest, sweetest, funniest, nicest, happiest, most lovely, adorable, wonderful, dearest dearest creature in all the world. Oh my stars. I adore her so. Still just . . . wow . . . I don't know.

Love.

I wish you a really great weekend in every way! Xoxoxoxo

Thank You comments: 256

Whew! Hello!

How are you?

It's a cold, rainy morning, so dark in the house I need all my little lamps on to see. Andy has the day off and is at the park with Clover Meadow and Miss Amelia. I'm sitting in the studio, eating breakfast and drinking orange juice. The rain is plinking on the skylights. I feel, I am quite sure, quite, quite ready for spring. It seems far off today!

Thank you again for your Miss Maggie orders! It always emotional for me to go through all of the orders and see everyone's names and addresses, and read all of the sweet notes people leave, and think about where all of these kits that we've worked on for months and which have become part of all of our lives here are going. Around the world. It's amazing to me. It brings me so much happiness. More than I probably remember to say. Thank you for that, and for being here all of these years, through many things. Today is actually the fifteenth anniversary of my accident. Posie was just my dream then. I had a lot of dreams then. I cried because I didn't think many of them would come true. Andy always believed that they would. He sees where I am trying to go before I ever do, and is already helping me get there before I even know I'm standing. He's pulled me to my feet more times that I can possibly count, and probably many more times than I've even realized. And then I go forward.

A most amazing man. My love. Greatest partner in life, and the greatest father. Most beautiful, fun, creative, kind, generous person I've ever known. Andy.