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Welcome to Zombieland

I was up for more than two hours this morning before I actually looked at myself in the mirror. Nice rings under those eyes today. Lovely.

Welcome to Zombieland.

My kid doesn’t sleep. He’s a brilliant, beautiful, sweet little boy. He’ll eat anything you put on a plate in front of him. He’s adventurous, generally polite. But he doesn’t sleep. We’ll go through a good chunk every now and again where he’s actually sleeping through the night or close to it.

Now is not one of those times.

Circuitous Route

I’m working on a fairy costume for Halloween. Sort of Renaissance-ish. White chemise, strapless crocheted corset (yes, really, and it’s a whole story in itself), flowered circlet, that sort of thing. I was describing the costume to a friend of mine who said, “I know exactly what you’re going for. Sounds like an Arthur Rackham fairy.”

“Who?”

“Oh, he was an illustrator. Drew a lot of fairies. Midsummer Night’s Dream, that sort of thing.”

Well, god bless google.

Breaking in the Shoes

Putting my kid’s destructive tendencies to good use..

Breaking in the Shoes from swingbug on Vimeo.

A-Tisket, A-Tasket

I made this little basket in a hurry before I went to Kirkwood for the weekend, with a vessel in mind to hold my knitting that had a handle like a bag and firm bottom.
I looked at it last night and realized that someone out there might have found it an interesting project too, so here it is, with complimentary instructions. Or you can download it as a pdf.

Crocheted Acorn Basket

Materials:

Open Issue

I’m going to take a few minutes to bring up a few issues that are important and then point you towards smart people who have informed opinions worthy of your attention.

You Can Leave Your Hat On

May I geek out about a pair of socks for a second? The new issue of Knitty was just posted and check out the heel on this sock pattern. As a good friend of mine frequently says, awesome possum. I am all over these socks. Of course I have two projects on the needles and another two waiting in the wings. Not to mention a corset to crochet before Halloween, and Christmas is right around corner.

Hippopotamus

Luke walks up to me wearing a pirate hat and singing a pirate song. In one hand, he is brandishing a pirate sword. In the other hand, he has... a hippopotamus.

“What are you doing with the hippopotamus?”

He looks at the hippo. He looks at me. He puts on an exasperated expression that I should go ahead and get cozy with. I think I’m going to be seeing it a lot over the next twenty-some-odd years.

“Holding on to it.”

Duh, Mom.

In Point of Fact

I was making lunch in the kitchen and Luke was watching a DVD in the living room. In point of fact, he was watching The Point, a tradition in my family that dates back before my birth. We originally had it on record. (Kids, records were these large black discs that made music before the world was introduced to CDs. Very groovy.)

This was Luke’s first introduction to The Point.

Half way through spreading the peanut butter on the bread, Luke came running into the kitchen.

“Mommy, you have to come help me.”

Fair to Say

Shawn and I both entered some of our craft into the county fair this year, so on Friday night we journeyed out to the fair grounds (all of two miles - long trip) to see how we did and enjoy a corn dog or two.
Of my three entries in the textile exhibition, I took two first place ribbons, one in the children’s costume category and the other in the crocheted sweater category: