quiet

You know what's weird.  There have been a few quiet weekends this term, where we have no particular plans, no papers to grade or lectures to write.  I'm not saying there isn't stuff to do, but there occasionally, is less press.  Not just work, but at home too.  The kids are playing together, maybe for a few hours, and I'm just home, they don't really want/need me to play with them, and I'm don't want to interrupt their time together, getting along.  It feels so delicate, and wonderful to hear them working out problems with eachother and enjoying, even relishing their time together... without me orchestrating... I hope it's not delicate, but right now it still is, so I do not want to interfere.

I've already vacuumed, cleaned up the kitchen, done the laundry, the basics.  We have a few activities (ballet, church) that have kept us from taking any real road trips, we have play-dates... but it's weird... not bad weird... just weird.  I don't think I have figured it out yet; is this just this moment in time, or is it a glimpse of the future?  I have not yet figured out what to do with myself.  I guiltily sneak a coffee, cookie and a read a magazine... maybe even a whole magazine; I hunt for things to do, a closet to tackle, or I pull out my sewing machine or make plans for my next batch of soap, and though nice... and man do I sometimes need to exercise my creative outlets, it doesn't feel quite right.  To add to this, when the quiet does eventually break ( and it does indeed break), I shatter... my resilience is diminished.

It's a subtle transition we are going through, and I am not sure what to call-it other than pleasantly unsettling.

further adventures in knits: comfy knit dress {lbg studio}

This one was pretty fun.  There is a great tutorial, and it really fits the bill.  I had to go with the 4-5 sizing suggestions and lengthened the tiers (Hmm, I'd have to remeasure, but I think I went with 9 and 12") because G. prefers her dresses long.  

 and spinny, long and spinny.  I'm sort of excited that she has worn this one already a few times.  I made another one last night, and she wouldn't wear it today... but it was cold, so we'll see.  I'll put some pics up if I can get her to try it on.

blindfold

So, I made the kids a each a sleeping mask in preparation for a trip where we would have a couple of late night flights.  Who knew they would want to wear them around... all the time.... 'cause it's fun just seeing how far you can get around blind.  I sorta forgot about the seam allowance so they are a bit small, but still very effective!

Seraphic tee... the next pair

Well, this is the best I could do to get the kids to show-off their shirts... they are happy to wear them though!  G's is a double sided knit, with little pink dots on the inside (she likes the sleeves rolled up to show them off).  O's is a nice light stripe with orange sleeves.  The light-weight stripe feels nice, but it was sort of a pain to sew without any seam tape.  It rolled up a lot, which made the collar a bit of a trial.  I made secret pockets matching the front one on the inside!

Figgy's Seraphic Tee... or adventures in sewing with knits

 So I took the plunge and bought Figgy's online pattern for this awesome raglan tee.  Last weekend I took both kids to the fabric stores up on Alberta and they chose these pretty awesome knits from Modern Domestic.  After a few days I got the gumption up to lay out the pieces and trace out the 4/5 for Grace and the 8/9 for Owen.  Frankly, that was the worst part, I was really hoping to just get the pattern on large format, but it is new, and I am impatient so...

 And knits!  Upon the advice of folks upon mentioning venturing into the knit world, I used the walking foot on my machine and a ball point needle and it actually went pretty smoothly!  Grace's sleeves are a little short because I did two of the same side (I should have thought it through, or the directions could have been more explicit in stating that they should be reversed... as a newbie I am not that good at thinking ahead.)

 It was a relatively easy assembly, they look pretty cute, AND the kids love them.  WIN WIN WIN!  The blue cotton is an awesome double sided affair that is so soft, I just reversed it for the dark blue.

Just a few other notes.  One of the reasons I tried this is because I discovered how to access my stretchy stitches on my sewing machine and made a quick nightshirt/dress for Grace that doesn't get worn at all.  BUT it stretches.  So I was happy.  I did the equivalent of a stretchy strait stitch on G's shirt, and it is okay, but at the hem it doesn't say very flat and sort of flares and rolls up.  It looks okay, but it is not great.  The pattern sort of casually mentions a twin needle, and I thought maybe I had one that came with my machine that had never been used because it looks hard.  Turns out... not hard at all.  Used it for Owen's hems and they are beautiful!  Just thread a second spool right on through there and sew in a strait stitch (the manual says not with a stitch width greater than 4), I did a 0 'cause it is a strait stitch, so that seemed fine and it was just like the pros.  One fold up, and the double stitch caught almost the whole hem, and it lies nice and flat.

A problem

My family, we have a problem, a serious problem.

Well, we live in a small house, which is not a problem... I can do a 15 min clean-up including a cursory vacuuming job and be pretty happy with the state of things, I always know where folks are (no matter how much they try to hide)... and really it doesn't live very small, I don't often feel cramped... until I do.

You know what makes it a crazy place?  Horizontal surfaces.  If there is a horizontal surface, we will put crap on it.  No surface is safe, any height,size, any frequency of use... someone will put something on it.  It is to the point that Brian and I think... wouldn't it be nice to have a little table behind the couch for some plants, or a side table to set down a drink, but we won't.  It would look nice but it's too risky,  because we know it will be doomed.

It's to that point again, where I look around and feel like we have near complete coverage and that twitching freak-out is coming on... but we have full evenings tonight, tomorrow night, and Friday when I usually clean is also getting full.  oh dear.

Books

Okay, how about a list to keep of my favorite books so good I may insist my kids read them at some point.  More or less in no particular order except as they pop into my head, except Les Miserables, that's my favorite.

Les Miserables by Hugo
The Cannon by Angier
Farewell to Manzanar
The Jungle by Sinclair
The Game of Thrones series by Martin
Man's Search for Meaning by Frankel
Any of the Jeeves stories by PG Wodehouse
or the books by Gerard Durrell
Sea of Cortez by Steinbeck & Ricketts
Between Pacific Tides by Ricketts
The Bone People by Hulme
The Art of Eating by MFK Fisher
A Little Princess
The Secret Garden
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Adams
Me Talk Pretty Oneday by Sedaris
Various mysteries by Tony Hillerman
Dirk Pitt stories by Cussler
The Smartest Kids in the World and how they got that way :  Ripley
Happiness Project Rubin

Maybe I"ll update as I think of more, It's good to remember the books that made an impression on you right?