A Knitting Frenzy

I have been struck with the knitting bug lately- a strong urge to plow through my stash of yarn and to make soft things for the soft little human being we are awaiting any day now (or maybe not--can pregnancy be a permanent condition?).

I made the first hat from this pattern out of some Blue Sky Organic Cotton for the new addition to the family. I am enamoured with the idea of putting a home crafted article of clothing on our baby when she or he enters into the world. I only hope this one fits--it may be a little big.

I made that same pixie hat in fingering weight from this pattern for my friend's one year old. My handknits usually come out fairly large so I knit it for a newborn thinking it would fit a one year old--and it does!

Finally, I finished the Project Linus Security Blanket from Knitting for Peace also knit our of Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton.

I have a few more projects in the works too. Ahh, knitting therapy... There is nothing like it.

Quotable Sunday (or...err... Wednesday)

The Waiting Place…

…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting

Dr Suess

40 weeks and counting...

One Summer Night

My husband, who took guitar lessons a couple of years ago, got out his guitar after dinner on a humid evening last week. The song that came out of his mouth was improvised and hysterical (something about family members and being on the potty). Funny how kids take to music so well--they first began by dancing and then found instruments from around the house to join their Daddy in the music-making. Then, before we knew it, a block village was being erected at the feet of their father. A wordless transition and an amazing one at that. For me, it was a real-life, right before my eyes example of the ways which creativity begets creativity.

Family Art Night

I read about Family Art Night about a year ago in Amanda Soule's book The Creative Family. The idea is such a good one--a gathering of the whole family to participate in a creative process. For us, the best time and night seems to be Sunday after dinner. We are filled from a weekend spent together with friends and family, and we are a tad bit anxious about the days to come--a seemingly good creative cocktail. Last week, we each drew a picture to be hung up in the new baby's room. This week, we made a banner entitled, "A Day at the Beach" depicting the morning we spent at the so VERY Jersey shore. There areairplanes and beefed-up life guards, knitting needles and pregnant mamas falling down on our piece of work. Norah's watercolored imaginings, Harvey's wandering crayolas and Brian's sketchy sketches--all of them make me smile.

Our Nature Table

For the longest time I have been meaning to put together a nature table--a small place in our home that reflects the season of the year in one form or another. While we were living in Portland, we had a collection of beautiful natural objects that we found on our many hikes through the forests of the city, and this was a calm and pleasant place for us, but it was never a true nature table.

Recently, I joined the Seasons Round Exchange. To help inspire our fall nature table, I will make something for a fall nature table and send it off to my cyberspace partner and he or she will dot he same for us. I have participated in one of these "exchanges" in the past and I am looking forward to it again.

In the meantime, the kids and I put together a summer nature table using some fresh mint for a tree, rocks, shells, a blue silk for water, and various other natural items that we have collected. I also purchased this book, and I plan on using it to collect more ideas for our Autumn table.

While I love the idea of the table, I have not quite figured out how to incorporate it into our lives. Harvey does play with it--he makes animals climb on the rocks and swim in the water but it is otherwise largely ignored. If anyone has any ideas, please share!

Quotable Sunday

It is good to be back, back to my kids, back to my husband, and back here to my little home on the internet! Although we are just on the precipice of a new baby in our lives, I am hoping to be back here in a more consistent manner now that we are more settled in our new digs and our new routines.

I am going to join my Kyrie for Quotable Sunday to ease my reentry into this home of mine and to help get my juices flowing again. Nikki Giovanni is always good for that...


A Summer Love Poem


Clouds float by on a summer sky
I hop scotch over to you

Rainbows arch from ground to gold
I climb over to you


Thunder grumbles, lightning tumbles
And I bounce over to you


Sun beams back and catches me
Smiling over at you

Plastic Pool Party (for two)

An old friend has inspired some fun in the sun of the plastic pool variety and boy have we had some fun. I read her post while the kids were napping one day last week and found the answer to what we would do with our afternoon. We had one of these last summer and sold it at our garage sale before we moved. Amanda's post reminded me of the good times we spent last summer in the backyard, and the party continues this year. In between their splashed, I can even get a little knitting or reading time. I. love. summer.