Baby Luchadora

This is Rose, in a skull mask, looking like a miniature Mexican wrestler. I crocheted a skull from this pattern, crocheted around it, and my daughter put it on. An idea was born - baby luchadora. I put ties on it and she decided she must wear it to dinner, AND that we should go to dinner at Torchy's - a great taco place here in Austin, Texas. So, being a mother that encourages flights of fancy, we did.

Just when I thought...

Just when I thought my kids had been through enough, something else gets tossed our way. Today, I got news that my sweet baby, Rose, has scoliosis (not a big deal) caused by a rare congenital spinal defect (quite a big deal.) Butterfly vertebra - never heard of it? Me neither, until today. Sounds pretty, but it is not. Not a stranger to rare spinal defects (a different one runs in my family) this one has floored me all day. We get to see a battery of doctors next week to see what can be done and when. As she is only 2-and-a-half, she might be too little still to do much yet. I am so upset I don't know what to do.

All I have ever wished for my kids is that they have a safe and happy life, and never to have to experience the chronic pain issues and debilitating movement problems that spinal problems can cause. I don't get to give that to her, and it breaks my heart.

I have been super busy crafting away trying to provide for my family. I will be even busier, I have a feeling. I plan to keep blogging away - if only to vent a little bit.

If Vikings had lived in Austin or Nashville

If Vikings had lived in Austin or Nashville, maybe they'd have had armor made of wool felt (like cowboy hats) riveted with pearl snaps (like western-style shirts.)

Here are loads of pictures of all of the projects that I have been working on for my son Badger's 7th birthday. I think that I've been working for about 2 1/2 months total. mostly mornings before he woke up and in little fits and starts while riding in the car or sitting in waiting rooms.

The first thing that I worked on was a large dragon. It is 18 inches tall and about 24 inches long. The fabric is a VIBRANT orange batik that I had in my fabric stash.

It has really lovely wings.

And a lovely smile. The crown just seemed right somehow. I cut a crown out of some red wool felt from the felt stack here at home, and embroidered it with yellow pearl cotton and red metallic embroidery thread - which was a bear to work with. Badger picked the colors for the crown and the gold mylar thread for the centers of the button eyes. He thought that I was making this dragon for his Grandpa Bob, who also likes dragons. This bit iof subterfuge was necessary as it was really hard to hide a large orange dragon. He was very generously making all sorts of design choices so that is Grandpa Bob would really like it. I fooled him.

Badger picked a button from the stash to make a center jewel for the crown. My husband, Matt, helped to remove the metal shank on the back and I glued it on with craft glue.

Badger received the dragon as well as a suit of knit chain mail (hood and hauberk) first thing in the morning. As you can see, he is still waking up. I found both patterns on Ravelry.

The new look for baby fashion this fall is apparently chain mail. With cloth diapers. This is Rose, not Badger.

Badger is not so sure about the look.

The chain mail hood (called a helmet in the pattern) is shaped with short-rows like a sock heel.

I had to make the neck of the hauberk larger because Badger has an enormous head to house his enormous brain.

I made a buckler-type shield for him - also out of wool felt.

Blanket stitched on the edge in pearl cotton. It just made it look less plain.

We used a large, heavy button from Germany for the center boss.

And it has both an arm and a hand strap. To be useful.

Next I worked on a helmet. Finding a pattern for a helmet that was even remotely realistic was impossible. So I made my own. Actually, I made two. The first one was for a 15th century helmet called a sallet. Because I was insane. The one in the Wiki image with the lobster tails was the original idea.

I made a pattern and then made a paper 3D model. It was ok, but it had buckling on the top, as well as flaring at the bottom. This was an issue. I knew that the wool version would do the same thing. Wool felt does not lend itself to a fairly round smooth look without seams - not so smooth in that case. I could have blocked and steamed it, but I knew that I was going to have an inner layer with heavy interfacing which would not be as malleable as the wool.

I asked around for help with the geometry of the thing, and was put in touch with an armorer that knits. Can you beat that for cool? He was a big help, and his suggestions let me know that there would have to be many more seams than I wanted.

So I looked for something still a little complex, but easy enough for my simple head to figure out. I took a lot of measurements of Badger's head, and added a bit for ease and room to grow. Then I sat with pencil, large eraser and a load of drafting tools and came up with a second pattern. I found some images of the Gjermundbu Viking helmet and someone else's metal version of what it could have looked like. I chose for safety to omit the top spike. My brother sent a link to a Swedish museum pattern for a Viking 6-panel hat. I adapted it using Badger's measurements for a 4-panel helmet. I had two days total to do the helmet, including Badger's birthday itself.

The back had a chain mail piece, so I knitted more mail.

We used pearl snaps instead of rivets. The backs of these are all covered in interfacing and more felt - so no metal bits touch skin.

The outside layer of the helmet by itself.

The inside layer had 2 layers of very stiff and heavy interfacing. I didn't want his helmet to crease or dent.

It looked like a small tent when it was done.

Next came all the hand stitching. The bottom rim is attached to the inside and outside separately. Then the mask part was attached on the inside and outside with invisible ladder stitches. I had whip stitched it in pearl cotton beforehand. The top straps cover the seams and reinforce the helmet . Side pieces are attached with more pearl cotton, using a figure-8 stitch that looks like a herringbone pattern.

The top of the helmet. The pieces were also attached with simple whip stitching.

Happy boy received his helmet after dinner. I also cooked special Gluten-, Dairy-, and Soy-Free cupcakes and a layer cake with homemade chocolate icing. And brown rice and sorghum pancakes for his dinner - he requested pancakes, bacon and eggs for his birthday.

Yes, I am completely out of my mind.

Because it is Not Hot Enough Here ...

This guy had the right idea. Lovely Grizzly Bear. Well, as 106 degrees F was apparently not hot enough for us in Austin, Texas, we traveled about 75 miles south to San Antonio. Where it was 107 degrees F. Yup. I have no idea what the heat index was. Just really hot. You would think that being from Texas, and not really going out much at home would prevent me from spending 4 hours in the heat somewhere else. Nope; that part of my brain was apparently off. That and Badger got carsick 3 times. Poor guy, he doesn't travel well in the morning. He didn't feel well until MUCH later.

We saw a lovely jaguar. He was mostly still until a keeper caught his eye. Or a little child, not sure which.

Badger compared his hands to the bear's paw. No - not that big yet.


Rose enjoyed being pulled in the wagon. She is wearing a harness because she would jump out and run. We do not generally leash our kids, but felt that the bear and jaguar could refrain this once from eating her.

We spent the longest time inside the Africa Live! building, watching crocodiles, hippos, and fish having a much cooler time than we were. Actually, this was the coolest exhibit - 70 degrees inside and very shady.
Eventually we became too hot, took a quick ride on the zoo train and finally found ourselves at a place I found searching Google on a whim. The Little Aussie Bakery & Cafe is 100% gluten free! Located just a few blocks from the zoo, I can't believe we lucked out finding this place. Mostly also dairy free, I could eat almost everything. Slow food, gluten & soy free and mine had no dairy! The breads and cookies were lovely, and the converted house was so comfy and welcoming. These people really know what they are doing and could not be more lovely.


I had pizza with chicken, tomatoes, and cilantro pesto. I ate most of it before I even thought to take a picture.

Rose's pizza - chicken, bacon, and tomato sauce. We finished it for her.

Badger had a butter and plum butter sandwich. The plum butter was delicious.

Matt scarfed down his sandwich and let me help with his salad. This was incredibly tasty and fresh. Badger and I also shared a slice of coconut cake. It was so good that I never even took a picture. Most of the time, when there is food at a restaurant that I can eat, there is no desert. I could eat all of the cakes except for the carrot cake - I am allergic to carrots! We also had beautiful limeades, the kiddos had lemon in theirs and I had a sour cherry one. So GOOD! Please visit their website; and if you are in San Antonio, Texas - GO! They also ship baked goods and their GF flour mix. I am going back for my birthday with my family.

Lest you believe that my blog has become fiber-free - behold! I present to you a lovely braid of hand-dyed roving: 8 ounces of 70% merino wool, 30% seacell (seaweed based Lyocell). And it was made locally! The last stop of the day was Yarnivore. Tammy, the owner, was lovely and let me fondle part of a whole giant trash bag FULL of qiviut that her dad hunted for her. FOR HER! The roving I got was made in New Braunfels, Texas (right between here and San Antonio.) I will be making a shawl from it, and will let you know more about it later.

Just a reminder that if you see Malabrigo in a nice color that your LYSs don't carry, just get it. I ended up calling the next day and Tammy was nice enough to mail me one. Malabrigo merino worsted in Sunset - 1 skein. I think I will start making Malabrigo my souvenir of choice. There was also a nifty watery green color named Water Green, also not carried by any of the local yarn shops, but one souvenir was enough, n'est pas?

Random Bits of Goodness

Here is the beginning of one of my next obsessions. I will be making a circular knitting needle case, a double pointed knitting needle roll, a sewing needle book or two, and a few pincushions. Woodland and gnome themed, with lots of little mushrooms. I even have little mushroom buttons. I find this very funny as I am really allergic to mushrooms. I must be trying to enjoy them vicariously. I have a pattern for a rug that looks like grass, lots of mushroom knitting and crochet patterns, acorns, little woodland animals, leaves, stumps, and gnomes. I'm thinking that I must make a woodland themed living room. Wouldn't it be fun to lay on a wool rug that looked like deep grass (and not in the 1970's scary shag rug way) and be in a little forest themed room where you hang out and play? I would have given my dolls away for the chance.

Speaking of food - that is the theme of the other craft obsession: play food. Now, to tell the truth, play food and other non-food representations of food have been an obsession since before the age of 3. I used to draw pictures of food, pictures of dishes, and a large red-and-white checkerboard tablecloth. I would then cut everything out and make a little play picnic. Why? I have no idea other than it was the 1970's and all of the older people I knew had large bowls of glass grapes and marble apples and pears. I am entranced by fabric that has images of fruits and vegetables on it. I go gaga over wood food toys and little tins at the toy store. I collect knitting and crochet patterns of play food. And I am starting to collect wool felt play food patterns and tutorials. It is a good thing that I have children who enjoy play food - otherwise I'd be some crazy woman in a house full of play food with no other excuse.

Just a few other things being made here: this is Rose's latest dress made from the same pattern that I made for her to make a nightgown in the fall. A remnant piece I found just before she was born. Cool and comfy cotton batik.

Rose is enjoying one of her new halter tops and skirts. But mostly she is enjoying being in the box.

And for parity's sake - a photo of Badger. He's still wearing the shorts I made for him for Halloween for his wood sprite costume. I noticed that he tends to wear mama-made shorts and pants more than the few store-bought ones he has. Must be roomier, or just funkier. He's a funky guy. Here you see that he needs a haircut - but has decided to grow his hair long again. Going for the wild man look, I guess.

Cheap Stuff Cheapens Us.

I tend to be a crunchy-granola handmade-everything kind of person. I make much of my own clothing, and that of my children - the rest mostly is resale. My husband and I make toys for our kids, and other things in general. We also try to buy handmade whenever we do buy. Even so, having kids, we have also found that we have plastic things - a lot of plastic things. Many of the plastic things came from other people - well meaning family members and friends. But to be honest, most of these things are ones that we have bought: toy cars, action figures, squeaky bath toys, play phones, pirate play sets, baby toys, Playmobil, Lego (3 different sizes); all of these were acquired bit by bit without much thought. Some are new, some have been used by both our kids, some were my brothers'. Some are sturdy, well-made, well-designed, and played with often: the Playmobil, a tea set made from heavy-duty recycled milk jug plastic, the Lego.

Truthfully, most of the plastic stuff we have doesn't really get played with at all; it just sits and takes up space. What I find most often is that my children play with stuffed toys, wood trains, wood cooking toys, crocheted balls, wood pull-toys, knitted worms, and those few good plastic things. But I have noticed that when the other plastic toys get pulled out, that's all that happens - they get pulled out. They might be pulled out and played with for a few minutes, but mostly they get looked at and then put down.

Now, don't get me wrong; I am not advocating a Luddite banishment of all things plastic. Heck, even the wheel of my spinning wheel is a heavy duty plastic. But as I watch my kids and other children play, I begin to think about cheap things and their impact in our lives. It is cheap and easy these days to get all sorts of things besides toys. We have cheap furniture, cheap clothing, cheap food. For those of us who cook, we have cheap cooking supplies and utensils. For those of us who craft, we have cheap fabrics and yarns, cheap craft tools, cheap notions. For those of us who have a low income, or are experiencing unemployment in the current economy, these things seem to mean the difference between having and not having at all.

I use the word "seem" for a reason. There are ethical reasons for not to buy cheap things: many are sweatshop made or made in factories with few safety standards. There are environmental reasons not to buy cheap things: they are transported from across the globe and are re-transported in our own country so they don't exactly have a small carbon footprint.Mind you, the same can be said of better-quality, higher priced items. There are health reasons for not buying cheap things: the materials with which they are made often don't meet health and safety standards. Who needs estrogen-mimicers in plastic toys or toxic dioxin gassing out of bath toys?

We can have our fill of cheap fast food and prepackaged foods. But we don't relish what we eat or the experience of making it. Honestly, it is faster to make some homemade food than to wait for take-out or delivery. For the rest, why not value the time spent in the making as well as in the eating? And there is the hidden economy in prepackaged or take-out food: eventually our health suffers. There is no possible way to see diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and high blood pressure as being cheap.

This past winter, my husband and I made all of the gifts for everyone we had on our holiday list. Mind you, with my husband unemployed since the previous January, and housequeen not being a paid position, we had very little money to spend. Having children, and quite a few family members, we decided to spend a little on materials, use some materials we had, and make stuff that people would actually use/wear/play with. So far, everything is still in use and seems to have turned out well. This year we will be doing the same thing but with a longer lead time. Starting everything at the beginning of November meant that we were making things right up to the day that they were given. Some things were a day or two late (come to think of it, Matt still hasn't given me the strand keeper or Wraps-per-inch tool for my spinning wheel, which were supposed to be my birthday and solstice gifts, respectively. Hmmm...) Nobody got tons of stuff, but they really enjoyed and appreciated what they did get.

Having more and cheaper stuff cheapens our experiences as human beings. We surround ourselves with cheap, often disposable belongings and rob ourselves of quality of life. We see our belongings, our surroundings, our meals, our time, and ultimately ourselves as transient and disposable. The question is whether we really need all this stuff in the first place. Two generations ago, we cared for, about and kept what we had far more than today. We had to. Planned obsolescence was non-existent. Even though my generation was one of the first to have mass market toys very readily available, we weren't spoon-fed the idea that just because something was a year old (or indeed 2 months old, these days) it no longer was of any value. People cared about and for their belongings and repaired whatever they could. Things had an intrinsic usefulness, beauty or purpose - an intrinsic value separate from their material value. Growing up, I didn't have much, but I loved, cared for, and repaired what I had, so much that my kids can care for and play with many of those things now.

Initially, you could see the problem as a question of access; some are only able to afford cheap, big box store items. But that is really not true. It is not more economical to buy 20 shirts every year because they fall apart in the wash after being worn 4 or 5 times. Nor is it more economical to buy a $20 plastic fashion doll, only to have it break after a week of play. This is more than an economy of use: spend $10 more and have something that could last 10-20 years. Double the initial cost and you might have something that could be passed down to another generation after years of love and play. Spend a few more dollars on a good set of stainless steel pans that last a lifetime and not have to replace teflon-coated aluminum once or twice a year.

Just to make myself understood: I am not advocating that we all dump our stuff and go out and buy a bunch of the most expensive stuff we can find. Just because something is expensive and has a designer label slapped on it does not mean that it is of good quality. Many high-end label items are made in the same factories, using the same workmanship, same equipment, maybe slightly better materials. What I mean that we should try to do is this: use the things we already have until they reach the end of their utility. Re-purpose what we can and save to buy better replacements - the best we can so that we can use and enjoy them for longer. Why not find out who makes stuff in your area and where to get it? Why not find out who is making unique handmade on the internet? Better yet, spend that amount on materials you need to make toys, clothes, and food yourself. Spend a few more dollars on good fabric, yarn, and craft materials to make stuff that will be enjoyed far more. You will enrich your life in the making as well as in the use. You may not have as much, but you will use, enjoy, and appreciate what you do have much more.

Here's what we are doing: sorting all our belongings into a few groups - stuff that's to keep and enjoy, stuff that we will re-purpose ourselves, stuff to re-sell, and stuff to give away. This year's big project!

But first, to get the summer clothes for the children made.

Playing with ketchup - or just catching up to myself.

Oh, baby! It has been a really busy month and a few days. The above are what I have been working on. Well, some of what I've been working on. The rest has been reorganizing of one thing and another. Reorg of the yarn, reorg of the yarn inventory complete with photos of all of the yarn (on Ravelry); reorg of the spinning fibers; reorg of the knitting, crochet, spinning, sewing, fiber art books and magazines; reorg of the knitting projects; reorg of the sewing projects; reorg of the both kids' books and toys. Then there was the making of two sets of four handmade bookmarks, with handspun tassels as presents. And the 3 skeins of handspun yarn for a friend.

All in one month- I was busier than I thought. The top photo is a sundress meant to last 2 years - a knit top and a sewn bottom. The next a tomato hat for Badger. The next a series of crocheted frogs. Then a baby alpaca/merino hat for my dad's friend - Rose begged to model it. The next is a detailed photo of the swirl on top of that hat. The last is a baby hat for a friend - a cabled owl.

Next week is the beginning of a big sewing week: new shorts for Badger and new dresses, tops, and skirts for Rose. Maybe a skirt for me.

All of the projects are like playing with ketchup: sounds like a good idea at first, gets messy quite quickly, goes faster than you think, surprising when it is done.

Home-made Love

Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!

Taking time out of my Knitting Olympics event to spread the love.

Taking a long time - or time well spent.

My, my, I have had a busy few weeks. As you can see, progress progresses on the Little Bubbles Sweater - only sleeves and button bands left. It has been a lengthy project, one that I have not always enjoyed. I am, however, beginning to appreciate the concept of time well spent. The sweater is taking a long time to make - true. But Rose will be able to wear it this spring and next fall and possibly spring. I am being a careful crafter, so if it well cared-for and kept, another girl a generation later will as well. But I will say - there are a lot of stitches, a maddening lot. I, oddly enough, got a request to purchase the sweater after Rose outgrows it. Obviously I said "no," but I did offer to sell two grown-up sweaters to the two people who liked it. Time will tell. I'm glad that my handwork is appreciated for what it is.

At the top, you will see my sweet Badger knitting away on a garter stitch square. Part of his homeschooling is learning various craft skills. Knitting helps with mathematical thinking and hand-eye coordination, so I believe it is a good start. Good going Badger! He's picked up the knit stitch very fast, but I knit alternate rows for him so that he doesn't get discouraged by the time that knitting takes.

And the last photo is the chart the I just finished for a custom baby hat. A baby Racoon. In intarsia. Knit flat. In 3 colors. Due on Feb. 26. Ok, back to the knitting.