Phat Gratification

I love a little large and in charge for quick and easy knitting.

It's a speedy little shrug that I did without a pattern.

(a pattern would have improved it greatly, undoubtedly)

Big needles and chunky wool.

Check out the cheese-dog face on the mannequin?!

I covered the buttons with the newest Etsuko F fabric

And this shot is the closest approximation of the actual colour

of the giant washcloth I'm going to wrap myself in.

It could be warn a variety of ways:

Figure 8 scarf (which is everywhere these days),

shrug,

or as above-

struggling beauty queen sash.

Knit & Purl

Even I can handle that!

Really, this is just another excuse to wear my bed out in public.

Check out the shortest one heading out of dodge before her

twisted mother tries to drape something on her

and call it a shrug!


I'm linking to Make it and Wear It today

the Rats! Pants

I have a sweet sweet little cousin.

He is handsome, and amiable and (did I mention?) sweet natured

therefore...

I am going to punish him with his Xmas gift.

(I'm deeply twisted that way.
Oh, OK,
it wasn't on purpose!)

His fine mama liked some pants I made for Pu & Nu this summer

and foolishly said she wanted some for her cutie

BWAHAHAHAH!

(tremendously evil cackle)

Not only is this gentle soul not getting Lego or something cool,

but I suspect he's getting torture pants.

See, I used a home made pattern that worked perfectly for Nu's giant cloth diapered keister.

I also used light flowy material for summer.

Really, it worked.

But for little M I used cord.

And he's a string bean, and he's far away so I can't try them on.

Well I tried them on Pu (though she's 2 years older)

but um...well how to say this discretely...

  It looked liked she had giant junk!

(and not in the trunk)

Droopy draws are one thing

 but these pants

threaten to sabotage his ability to truck.

What a naughty aunty I am!

 Pants to hold him back & besmirch his infallible reputation.

Pants that make him fall down a lot

and create a flurry of uncomfortable tension

as grown ups at the play gym

question his low slung nether-regions.

Sorry little dude.
I'll probably be the one to mistakenly drop the F-bomb in front of you too.

You've been warned.

With the Hip Hop and you Don't Stop!

I love a good Rap.

I also love a good Wrap.

So this year I'm going greener,

Or in this case red, white, and orange and.... and green.

We've been doing the half-green wrap
and recycling paper and bags for a while.

But, this year with my new devotion to all things fabric

I thought we could take it up a notch and build some new traditions.

I have visions of using these for the rest of eternity.

I have hopes that my kids will have a favorite,

or that mythology will build like...

 the red polka dot bag always carries the best present...

I can't believe how easy it is to wrap this way!

And secretly, to gaze upon all this pretty material

is definitely a gift to me :)

Note to self:

Must actually find/make/buy gifts to put IN bags!!!

Word up.

The stitchery continues

Well, I'm newly addicted to this little stitchery wizardry.

Fast, fun, easy.

And, while I'd rather be punk rock,

I can't dismiss the sweet in these little hoops.

My stitch writing is still reminiscent of a serial killer.

Or a 3 yr old.

Or a 3 yr old serial killer.

Perhaps one who just kills bugs,

and can handle the contradiction

of life being so sweet and so full of smushing simultaneously

On an unrelated detour,

If you are genetically related to my sweetie

don't look any further

A little pile of homemade stocking stuffers hit the mail today.

The heart pin above was inspired by one I saw at Smoking Lily a few years ago.

Only theirs was nicer.

They rock.

Cozy inches

Perhaps you recall the flood pants series?

Well it's winter here people, and flood or no flood

the pants need an extension

Little fleece leg warmers that can be worn with the flower petals

(for lack of a better description)

either up or down

Excuse the butchery photo editing, but this action shot was a bit too...

gynecological

for the Internet.

Off she goes in constant flight.

Success!

A little stitcheroo

I suspect this craft trajectory is moving me back

over time

when time opens up

(it opens up, right?!)

to more mixed media art

(which is a love).

So I thought I'd give a whirl at the framed fabric thing

I dig the free motion quilting thing

it celebrates the messy.

Wait, perhaps that's not accurate...

in my hands there's a lot of messy and I pretend it is with intention

so, it 'allows' for the messy.

This one is quick and dirty.

 I better take another whirl

or ten

later I'll try stitching on canvas and see what takes.

Donations are a thing.

They are a wonderful thing.

A complicated thing.

Mostly an excellent thing.

This year among other things,

we donated to an organization who was asking for Xmas gifts for children.

Without knowing anything specific all we know is that

they were fleeing violence, living in transitional housing and with their mom.

Some donate money.

Some donate time.

Over the past few days while I have been ruminating & putting together this gift package

I have been thinking about the possibility of donating intentions.

My hope is that they will be received as good intentions,

but one can never tell.

This person I'm sending hope and care to via gifts is 8.

But, I'm also sending them to her mom who will be the gifting vessel.

I started out thinking about this little person & her mom.

& since she was in transitional housing, that a good gift might be an activity

or something she could take with her when she moved on.

I went to the toy store thinking about newness

and the excitement of opening packaging if you don't have much.

But, it was all pink and plastic and disposable and transient.

And I don't know this little person.

Maybe she's hardcore?

Maybe this 8 year old likes Black Sabbath?

Or maybe belly dancing or rodeo riding,

really, I think 8 is one of those times where anything is possible.

So handmade won out.
Here's hoping the heartfelt hope got stitched in there somewhere.

A little of this?



One of these?

And this

Stuffed with these

and lots more art supplies.
(as well as some other bits)

I decided that no matter who she is,

or who we all are,

that the invitation to self express
has a high hope of being welcomed as a good intention.

In the immortal words of the poet...

...and great philosopher of our time

britney spears

"oops, I did it again"

I made another pair of wide leg pants

I'm totally makin' out with upholstery fabric these days

And although these photographs will offer little clue,

for your sensory pleasure

(or in this case mine)

these pantaloons are made from deep purple velvet.

The whole world should be made of purple velvet

if you ask me.

Go ahead, ask me.

I dare you :)

This week I'm linking here and here!

The Elements

I get all misty around this season.

After people speed up in a frenzy of Xmas preparation,

I relish the slow down.

The true holiday time.

That sacred commitment to call or visit with loved ones

and be present to take the call

in person

in a deep way

'tis the season after all.

There is this little spot in our house

that has lived with an alphabet illustration for a few years.

Well, shorty number 2 yoinked it down in a bluster.

It's right above the recycling and in a year or so

I imagine 2 phat frames

with rotating art work from the height challenged set.

Until then, it needs a little love.

And then the original wee one needed a little love too.

Mostly the 3 1/2 year old needed extra love

because she spent a lot of time running naked around a giraffe.

I wish that that was a euphemism

 or metaphor for something profound.

But no, I mean literally running naked around a giraffe

pigtails flying.

On and on and on.

Definitely something to note.

And, well, that's just the sort of behaviour I want to get behind.

It's likely that each of us would benefit from spending a portion of our day running naked

around something

or someone.

Kids are weird.

Isn't it great?

But, I digress.

Speaking of metaphor...

I love the juxtaposition of hard and soft.

I love this faker crochet rock wearing a sweater.

I love a reminder to soften all the hard bits in life,

when we can.

The thoughts,

the deeds

the driving finger.

(...isn't that what gloves are for?

the middle finger condom for the bird when you set it aflight

 at the hummer that ran over your psychic toe?)

It's not even a frightening Xmas sweater with a nose that lights!

What can I say, I even like my minerals cozy.

Thanks to kootoyoo.com for the cheat.

May your cockles by warm and loved

whether naked, or otherwise.

Twinkle Dinkle

'Tis the season of twinkle.

So I sewed a few sparkle garlands for gift wrapping.

So easy, a little punch and a little stitch.

Then sew up a few little gifty bags

And weeeee.

How the Mini-Me-Mighty Have Fallen

I live in a wet town.

It rains here in different flavours from pistachio to puce.

Yet, my inner delinquent, anarchist/ fake rebel self

for years took perverse pleasure

(and felt super bad ass)

for NOT owning an umbrella.

Yah, me so tough.

Well, it was the same with ironing.

With punk rock fervour I would flout the ironing situations of the world.

Me? A crisp collar? For shame.

In unrelated news,

I have evolved ever so slightly.

I also shacked up with a man who needed ironed shirts 3 times a year.

He did the ironing, and really it WAS only 3 times a year.

I still love punk rock and I don't wash out in the rain,

but now that I've started dressing up my ironing board...

its clear that the slippery slope is covered in a deluge.

Art Smock

As Nu gets bigger she needs more of a HazMat suit

than a bib

These could work as an art smock for Pu too

What chew talkin' about Willis?

I'm just saying.

Attitude to spare



Art Tote

Thanks to Amy for the art tote tutorial

What could be better for wee artists on the go?

Definitely an upgrade from the crayon roll.

This might even buy us a few extra bites in a restaurant!

I tried my hand at Heat and Bond

which I was told by the seller was the easiest option.

I still belong in the special class for sewing.

Alas, several degrees later,

I still cannot deduce the mystical language of instructions.

So, there are glue trails and heat bond smears around the flags. 

There are even black marker smudges that unsuccessfully try and conceal my unsightly  past crimes

(A terrible washed out photo, but you get the idea)

Next go, I will do it differently

Nonetheless, I am pretending that these have been

smeared and broken in by 3 year old budding artists, rather than I.

By tomorrow that will actually be true.