Made for You

June 9

~ Growing ~

I remember being unpleasantly surprised when, at seven months pregnant, I could not zip up my beloved puffy vest anymore. It's not that I wasn't aware that I was growing, the evidence was right there in front of me. But this idea of growing out of something was difficult for me, a creature of habit and routine. Even now, at the start of Nicolas' third summer, I am surprised that I have to buy him a new sun hat yet again. This little boy of ours just keeps growing so strong and beautifully.                     

Growing out of a sun hat is one thing but growing out of a towel?! It's true. Nicolas no longer 'fits'  the sea monster hooded towels we were gifted when he was a newborn.

So I made him some new ones with the help of these hand and bath towels from Ikea and this  tutorial from Sew Like My Mom.

The towels came with handy little hooks. I cut off the ones on the hand towels as they ended up inside the hood. The ones on the bath towels were a great help in centering the hood. And, you know, they're great for hanging the towels too.

I chose not to applique Nicolas' name onto the back of the towels. We will be taking them to the beach/watering can/lake this summer and I have a thing about stranger's easily learning/using my child's name. In honour of Nicolas' new found love of dinosaurs (thank you museum membership!) I added a made-by-me dinosaur design to the green towel. The blue towel has a simple sun and cloud design to match the ribbon I used to edge the hood.

Aaaaannd I'm quite proud to say I actually made my own bias tape! I used the instructions on page 18 of Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins great book 'One Yard Wonders'. It was not nearly as painstakingly fiddle-y as I thought it would be. Nice to know I can now make coordinating bias tape whenever I want!

June 8

~ This Moment ~

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama.

{last week}

{this week}

June 6

~ Spring ~

It feels like it's been a slow spring.  I've been re-reading books, a sure sign of a slow start. Re-reading old favourites. Something I usually do in the fall, when the year is winding down and the cozy darkness of an early evening is setting in. Not for lack of library visits, I can assure you. Just lack of energy. I feel like a maple tree in a year when the sap is slow to rise. Something that usually happens in February or March (I think) but here it is already June and I'm just getting into the swing of things.

I tend to think of this 'Made for You' project of mine in terms of my sewing machine but, looking around my house today, I realized it isn't always about needle and thread. There are three new photo projects sitting (hanging) right in front of me.

I.  This group of photos hangs in our dining area. My intent when I hung them a year ago was to switch out the photographs every year around Nicolas' birthday.

 The new arrangement features these photos of Nicolas through the seasons.

      

  

II.  A collection of photos of Nicolas with his 'Best Buds'.

III.  There is a length of twine tacked up in the hall near the kitchen. Last fall it held leaves and other bits of autumn ephemera. Over the winter it showcased our collection of Christmas cards. Throughout the spring posters of butterflies and ladybugs hung from it. I was at a loss as to what to hang on it this summer until I remembered all the extra photos I had printed for the 'Best Buds' collection. It is just the right height to display photos of our out-of-town family hanging out with Nicolas.

Made for you...to look at. Preferrably from the comfort of our home. Come on by.

May 18

This Moment ~

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savour and remember. Joining SouleMama.

 

May 11

~ This Moment ~

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama.

 

May 4

~ This Moment ~

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama.

April 27

~ This Moment ~

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama.

April 26

Birthday Blanket

I began knitting a baby blanket for Nicolas sometime before he was born. And then I stopped knitting a baby blanket for Nicolas sometime before he was born. I am not the fastest knitter, nor the most dedicated, and the project was sadly abandoned two thirds of the way through.

I thought about it a lot throughout my first year of motherhood but ended up developing a block when it came to taking up the needles and working through the rest of the blanket. These mental blocks are not uncommon in my life, though they are usually affiliated with cleaning the bathrooms and putting away the pile of clean laundry.

But, more often than not, once I finally tackle the chore (usually because the shower stall has become repulsive or there is more clean laundry piling up on top of the original clean laundry and I can't find what I am looking for anymore) I find that it wasn't as horrific as I had built it up to be.

So, with the Made for You project on my mind and Nicolas' second birthday approaching I resolved to finish his baby blanket. The blanket pattern was adapted from Tara Jon Manning's book 'Mindful Knitting'. Her pattern is simple; the blanket is knit in strips, like scarves, and then sewn together. I simplified it further by not switching colours (my variegated yarn did that for me) and knitting each strip in good ol' garter stitch, using two strands of yarn at once to make it extra fluffy. I added an extra strip when I realized I still had lots of yarn left over...and that Nicolas now needed a bigger blanket.

And, just like that, it was done.

 

 

 

April 20

~ This Moment ~

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama.

 

~ This Moment ~

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama.