The Rain Came...

The other night we had our first real storm in Oregon. It was lots of fun to watch out of our big living room windows while we sang rain songs. Although, it wasn't so fun later on when we discovered the rain flooded our downstairs/basement area (We have a split level house). Luckily it didn't hit the side with my studio but it did flood our media area (We keep our tv and computer out of site from the girls and this downstairs area is perfect because we never go down there except when the girls are sleeping at night). Since it only hit the media area of the downstairs I say it was Steiner's wrath (joking!) but Kevin doesn't quite agree. Anyways, I have lots of mopping and airing out of carpeting I need to get to, so I thought I would share some pictures from my MIL's visit last week.


C and 'Purple Grandma' in deep conversation (the girls gave her that loving nick name)


Sleepy birthday girl


K teaching Purple Grandma how to finger knit


Colorful bird


C chatting with a squirrel friend


Squinty eyes


Oh how I love how breastfeeding friendly Oregon is!!


Silly K and my punk girl C (rockin' a mohawk with her sideways hat)


C thought it would be more fun to sit here


Choo- choooooooo


Game night

Thanks for bearing with me. I hope you all have a dry weekend!




Happy May Day (on Saturday), dance a couple times around the May pole for us, we are missing it this year.
Have a great one!!

The Rain Came...

WIP Wednesday : Of Monkeys and Pumpkins...

Here I sit trying to frantically finish up Mother's Day gifts so that I can mail them this week to arrive all the way back to the East coast in time...



While my MIL was here visiting I wanted to work on a project that didn't require my concentration, something I could do while talking at the same time. For me that meant some simple knitting. I looked over my mini stash and my '2010 Need to Knit List' and chose to knit C's Trick or Treat bag using this pattern.

The pattern is knit with big needles and three strands of worsted weight yarn and when it is finished you felt it. When I say big needles I mean BIG needles. I have never knitted with such gigantic needles before, they are seriously as fat as my fingers. It took a bit for me to get used to them.



But by the end of her visit I was just about done with the knitting portion, and it was looking cute. Big, but cute. I mean, look at how ginormous the bag looks hanging on C's doll high chair.



I felted it yesterday and luckily it shrank quite a bit. It should be a good size for C's little hands.



As you can see I still need to trim some strands and block it, though. I am having the hardest time trying to figure out how to block it because all of the pumpkin's sides want to cave in as I try to dry it. Any suggestions?

For the great outdoor challenge I thought I would share a few pics of my little monkey yesterday...



climbing upside down



making sure she has three limbs always touching (just like my dear friend Tiffeni taught her)



building more and more confidence all the way.

I hope you are all having a great week.
Happy creating!!

WIP Wednesday : Of Monkeys and Pumpkins...

Beeswax Snail Tutorial

Since a few of you asked about making your own beeswax snails I thought I would post a quick tutorial. They are very simple and easy to make.


The girls (very much used) beeswax collection

Supplies:
- empty snail shell
- a little stockmar modeling beeswax in your choice of color (a little goes a long way with this stuff)



Start out by warming a small piece of beeswax in your hands. Alternatively you could warm up your beeswax by wrapping it in an old cloth and putting it on a hot water bottle.



Once the beeswax is warm and pliable roll a piece between your hands until it looks like a snake, this will be the snail's body. Then take a tiny piece and roll it the same way you did the first one and set that smaller piece aside (This will become the snail's eyes).



Now mold your snail's body to whatever position you desire. Round the head a little bit and bring his tail to a slight point.



Grab the smaller piece you set aside and break it in half. Press on one end of each half with your finger tips until it's flat.



Then place one piece where you see fit on the snail's head. Gently rub it into place, it will blend in with the rest of the snail when you have rubbed it in enough. Repeat on the other side. Trim the eyes to desired length.



Now stand your snail up and press down a little on his back so that his shell will have a place and so that he can stand on his own.



Very gently press the shell on to his back being careful not to crack the shell and voila! You have your very own Old Father Sliffslaff-Slibberslak! Please let me know if you have any questions.



Wishing you all a wonderful week!

Beeswax Snail Tutorial

Old Father Sliffslaff-Slibberslak

There too old father Sliffslaff-Slibberslak came slowly creeping along."Ha, there you all are! Welcome to the big forest," he called to the children.
- The Story of the Root Children by Sibylle von Olfers

We love snails. Until we moved here we weren't fortunate enough to see them in our yard. We had quite a lot of slugs (and still do) but no snails. You can imagine how excited we all were when we found snails in our very own back yard the first day we moved in.



Every now and then the snails will leave us shell presents and we bring them inside to create our own snails out of beeswax for our nature table.



The other day, the great outdoor challenge came indoors when old father Sliffslaff-Slibberslak came in our house for a visit - courtesy of Kevin. He found this huge snail back by our deck and had to bring him in for the girls to see...



and oh how happy they were to see him! K showed him his picture in the 'Root Children' book and C just loved watching him creep across our window sill.



He spent quite a lot of time inside with us and was such a friendly little guy. He never once went into his shell to hide. Perhaps he knew he was safe with us.



But all good things must come to an end and it came time to release him back outdoors to find his root children friends once more. Both girls gave him a kiss good-bye and watched as Daddy put him in a safe place back outside.



We hope he comes for another visit soon!

I'll be back Monday playing catch up after this week spent away from the computer.
Wishing you a weekend of outdoor fun!!

Old Father Sliffslaff-Slibberslak

WIP Wednesday : Birthdays and Bloomers

This is mostly finished projects but I wanted to share a bit more about the presents I made for C this year.



I did manage to finally knit up a pair of slippers to fit little miss C. She noticed the hedgehogs first thing and put them on right away so I guess they were a hit.



C is really enjoying her baby's matching dress and sweater. I ended up with just enough yarn left over to finish C baby's matching sweater. There isn't a scrap left, I used up every last bit. Her sleeves are a bit short but I think we can live with it. I still can't believe the pattern came out just in time!



Then of course there is C's birthday dress and sweater. The dress pattern is Butterick, but as you can see by looking at the actual pattern I added a lot of length to it. I apologize in advance for the amount of pictures of the set. It's the first time I have sewn clothing since college so I am happy it came out at all, plus adding a knitted sweater to it is just icing on the cake for me.


I have to point out that it was a beautiful day outside but instead of the bonnet she chose to wear a thick wool hat. My silly one!



Now for an actual work in progress...



Thanks to Angela for telling me about this pattern. It was discontinued but I found it on E-Bay (Yipee!) and would you believe it arrived on Monday, the day after C's birthday? So I didn't get her bloomers done in time for her birthday but I am finishing them up now. I love every pattern in this set. I can tell already I will be using them all quite often! I can't wait to try some more of the great patterns all of you suggested. Must make more time to sew!!

I hope you are all having a wonderful week!
Happy creating!

WIP Wednesday : Birthdays and Bloomers

Two!

Ok technically it was yesterday... Anyways, happy birthday to my sweet little chub-a-lub!!! I feel so blessed that you chose us as your family.


Here's her special day in (a lot) of pictures.


Her heart trail from the bed to her birthday table


Hedgie birthday ornament addition














How many clothes can I put on at once?








Matchy-matchy


Shy one


Cake!

Two!