In the Garden « mama urchin

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How Much is that Doggie in the Window?

Modeled by Katrina

It’s my niece’s birthday again and this year her gift from Papa and I was this doggie outfit. The skirt is brown corduroy with an elastic waist and an a-line silhouette. I added a single pocket on the front and a small appliqué on the back. The shirt pattern is from the autumn issue of Ottobre magazine and made from Heather Ross’s dog park print in blue. The pattern calls for gathering the sleeves and neckline before attaching the binding/trim. I hate doing that. So, instead, I attached a longer piece of binding to the un-gathered edge and then pulled a piece of elastic through. I actually think that modification will make the shirt fit longer. It would be a perfect application of fold-over-elastic (FOE) so I think I’ll try that next time.

The purse was just made out of my head. I used the dog park print on the outside and a coordinating dot as the lining, also from Heather Ross. I should have stuck a piece of flannel between the layers but didn’t. The top of the bag is the brown corduroy and the handles are made from the same crochet trim that is on the skirt. I filled the purse with Hello Kitty stickers, pencils, and notepads. I had to do something to keep our gift cool to the six year olds. She started opening the wrapped present and said Oh no, I think this is clothes….. again. The pencils and stuff seemed to save it though and my sister liked the outfit a lot. Katie must have liked it a lot too since after we were back home from the party she told me I wish I had some clothes like that. Seems like I might need to get on that.

Modeled by Katrina

Kerchief Girl

Published July 29, 2008 Fiber Crafts , Homemaking , In the Garden , Knitting 7 Comments
Tags: lavenderkerchief

I just love a little girl in a kerchief. I don’t know why but I think it is so cute. And my little girl in a kerchief. Well, that is pretty darling if I am giving myself credit — for the girl and the kerchief.

Lavender Kerchief
Pattern: Babushkita, by Larissa Brown
Yarn: Cascade Sierra, in colorway 29
Needles: US size 6 and US size 7
Yardage: less than half of a 191 yard skein
Modifications: n/a

Nature Has a New Table

Published May 19, 2008 Homemaking , In the Garden 9 Comments

If you ever have plans to go to a flea market and it starts to rain I recommend going anyway. Yesterday, Katie my mom and I went to an outdoor antique flea market in the rain. The rain was certainly an annoyance and Katie did complain a little but the crowds were non-existent and the prices were great. I got a bunch of things — I’ll show you the rest later — including this old space heater. I had something to use as a nature table on the front porch on my list. I know you guys all know about the bits of nature that are collected by the urchins because your urchins do it too. We didn’t have a place for all those bits and I was having trouble finding something that was all-weather, vintage looking (or actually vintage), and small enough for our narrow porch. Well, there it was in the rain. My mom says it looks like grandmom’s corner — I wonder if she means she wants it to be her corner? — and I really like the way it looks with the chair too. Next I want to find an old architectural piece — maybe a window — to hang on the wall. Hmmm… now that I think about it Hannah is doing the same thing. Now if we could just get my chair and table with her windows one of us would have an awesomely vintage front porch.

A Whole Lot of Random

Published May 14, 2008 Homemaking , In the Garden , This & That 13 Comments

The bunnies have moved. Last Wednesday we saw Mama Rabbit in the evening. Thursday evening we saw this little guy hopping around the front walk. He even hopped up onto the porch and looked into the window right at us. There was no way he and his siblings could fit in that nest anymore and sure enough, Friday we checked and they have definitely moved. They didn’t leave a forwarding address but my guess is they headed out back.
You should go to the dentist more than once every four years. Youch! I had to have cavities filled today. Now I have a sore mouth and I’m grumpy.
Kathy gave me a little peak into what’s been keeping her so busy recently and it looks to be really really good. Seriously though, would you expect anything less?
I’ve been scouring craigslist for a polaroid instant camera but we didn’t even have one when I was little so I have no idea what kind I should want.
Do you guys want a little how-to on the backpacks? They are so easy but I can take some step-by-step photos is you guys want.

Pillow Parcels

Published May 7, 2008 Crafting With the Urchins , Fiber Crafts , Gifts , Homemaking , In the Garden , In the Mailbox , Sewing 9 Comments
Tags: bloggybirthdaypillows, pillow

The pillows from my bloggy birthday give-away are headed out today. Finally. Man, I am slow with the sending. These got held up with zipper issues. Why can you never find a zipper that is the right color and the right length? So there is one pillow where the zipper color is the best I could do and another where the zipper is way too long. Still, I think they’re pretty cute. Click through to flickr to see who gets which one and individual photos too. And here is a photo of my prop master — always ready to help me with the photography.

Purple Haze

Published May 5, 2008 Fiber Crafts , Homemaking , In the Garden , Knitting 7 Comments
Tags: purplelacescarf, rabbits2008

I feel a little out of the swing of things in this space. No real reason, I guess, just hazy, you know what I mean? I have a bunch of stuff to finish up this week though, we only have three weeks until preschool is out for the Summer. Seriously, Summer. Anyway, the garden was looking very purple-y this weekend. My grandmother loves purple. LOVES it. She always has, as long as I can remember. So all the purple got me thinking of her and this silk yarn — Posh Yarn‘s Lisette — I scored when Vanessa recently destashed. I’m planning to make something lacy for my grandmother for Christmas with it. The yarn is aran weight, any suggestions? I’ve decided to dangle the yarn as a carrot in front of my nose for me to finish up all those things I need to do. Hopefully I can cast on by the end of the week. And speaking of carrots…

Baby Update

Published April 30, 2008 Fiber Crafts , Homemaking , In the Garden , Sewing 15 Comments
Tags: alexquilt, flannel, logcabin, quilt

This is a quilt for some friends that had a baby at the end of last year. I wanted something soft so I made a huge log cabin from blue and green flannels. I backed it with minkee so it will be soft against the little guy whether it’s used as a play mat or a crib quilt. Wow, though, I need to get with the program on getting gifts made in a more timely manner.

And an update on the other babies. As of this morning I was fairly convinced that Mama Bunny had not returned since Sunday. So, while the urchins were at preschool we carefully pulled back the leaves and fluff and found that the babies were still there, doing well, and a little bothered that we were disturbing them. After some online research and some info from some of you I felt much better that they were doing fine — i.e. they hadn’t been abandoned/orphaned — and that a rabbit nest in the middle of the lawn is not that unusual. To be safe I moved a plastic Adirondack chair near the nest since someone walking to the front door from the street would probably step right on them. Then tonight as we were heading out after dinner we saw the Mama tending her kittens — did you know baby rabbits are called kittens? Unfortunately, she saw us too so she quickly hopped away but she was watching to see what we did so we just got in the car and drove off. Turns out, she’s a good mama after all.

Noticing

Published April 28, 2008 Homemaking , In the Garden 9 Comments
Tags: rabbits2008

This week Heather and Alicia are asking everyone to be their guest over at the Noticing Project. Alicia was one of my first real blogging friends and I’m really enjoying this new project of hers. And allowing us all to notice and share for a week is such a great idea.

Speaking of noticing, when Papa mowed the front lawn over the weekend he noticed a kind of weird looking clump of fur and leaves carefully arranged in the yard. He pulled it back to find this:

He thought at first they were baby mice but when he explained what he found to me — I wasn’t home before dark — I was pretty sure they were bunnies. The next day we looked at them again and they are bunnies, I’m sure. The problem is they are smack in the middle of our front yard with no bush or any type of cover around. I’ve had my nose pressed against the front windows for the last two days trying to catch a glimpse of Mama Rabbit. Stefan assures me she’s going back but I’m not entirely sure. So, in order to preserve my sanity I put a dandelion flower on top of the nest to see if it gets moved. Because seriously, I have my own babies to worry about.

Replenishing the Vitamin D

Published April 27, 2008 Homemaking , In the Garden 10 Comments

On Thursday my trainer at the gym canceled our session and I was left to decide if we should go to the gym anyway or be lazy and stay home. Lazy won. So I decided the urchins and I would pull the weeds in the veggie garden to get it ready for planting — really, I need to get with it in the Autumn and put the garden to bed properly. Then I wouldn’t have all this Springtime cleanup to do. We got about half of the beds cleaned up before Tristan got stung by a bee and it was lunchtime.

After lunch while Tristan napped I tackled the overgrown lawn. The grass was amazingly high — as tall as Tristan in some places. It took me the entire rest of the day and at the end this is what I was left with:

So close. Stefan finished it on Friday night and yesterday he mowed the front lawn so we won’t be arrested by the grass police. The thing is you would think all that mowing would be tedious and boring but we had the best time outside all day. The urchins discovered fairy land under the willow tree and spent a lot of time hunting for roly polies I can already tell, this year it’s going to be easier with the urchins outside and I am so excited because after our sick-all-the-time-stuck-in-the-house-winter we need all the vitamin D we can get.