Bliss Beyond Naptime

To The Beat of My Very Own Drum Carder

Oh the joy. It's been super crazy here with building and visits and preparation for my trip out I haven't even had a chance to introduce my newest favourite toy, Jaws. I've been warned to keep this thing away from small children, extra long ponytails and any sort of appendage unless you want a truly controversial art batt. So, now I think I have a healthy fear of this magical machine that turns a thing of beauty to a thing of mixed up sparkly beauties all swirled together. I keep it shut in behind this little cubby hole under the stairs lest it lurks out a night and nibbles at my toes.

 

Here's a bliss shot. I just got Jaws and had about three days of fun playing with it outside on the picnic table with all the fiber I've been washing and dyeing all summer. These batts are now in my studio waiting patiently for me spin throughout the duration of this last trimester. The count down is ticking. Spin, woman, spin!

I'm Baaaack

Look at me I'm so happy my water could break. I don't know if I shared this tidbit but I was so indecisive the whole pregnancy about whether or not to take this spinning workshop in Vancouver and can I say how incredibly blissed out I am that I finally decided on a yes! Look what my butt scored! Lexi, the Lexi Boeger, not only took this photo but generously lent me the throne that she travels across North America with (jokes) because of my delicate condition and because she's just that kind of classy lady. What a sweetheart. It was so cool to meet her and a bunch of artsy fartsy spinners I've seen online via ravery and from around BC. We're crossing our fingers for a reunion tour in the next year or two (I might be more mobile in two I think).

There's Lexi teaching us to make the perfect crazy carded  batt sandwich. So if you get an opportunity to partake in Camp Pluckyfluff I highly recommend it (oooo, on that note let me know if you'd be interested in a Nelson one maybe we can get her out here next year!). It was the perfect getaway for me. Staying in a hotel room equipped with cable tv and smack dab in the middle of the ethnic food district (our town's awesome but kind of lacking in the curry connections) and getting to spin for two days from 10 to 5 was just, plainly, my idea of heaven. I savoured every last fluffy morsel. There's a whole flickr dream sequence here to check out if you're so inclined. I'll post a few of my faves later on. So good to be home though! Edie seriously hit a developmental growth spurt in the four days I was gone. It's like I come home and here's this little jr high kid living in our house. Still cute though.

Drippy Diaper Bag

I did it again; I played with Amy Butler's Nappy Bag pattern and made this for my big trip (big trip meaning my leaving for Vancouver tomorrow morning and also being a mother of two trip out). For those of you just tuning in; Edie refers to her sibling in utereo as Drippy Head; thus the Drippy Bag. Last time I made this pattern was with recycled sheets for and this time the recycling theme continues;  I used fabric I scored at the local Yard and Yardage sale (the challenge to use it all continues; slowly but surely) a velvety brown with cotton paisley lining, then I appliqued some felted stars on the outside. I'm pretty happy with the end product (weak pun intended).

I used one of the buttons from THE button suitcase. Craig thinks I'm crazy making such a huge bag, he's worried that I'm going to hurt my back but already I'm using all that ample head room to good use - mostly carrying extra layers/hats for both me and Edie; it's that time of year again you know? Cool in the mornings, could possibly be sweltering or freezing by noon. Can you imagine now trying to cram nappies and butt wiping devices on top of that? Good thing back strong. Ugh.

Tomorrow morning I'm leaving on a jet plane and off to camp and will be back Monday! Lots to share then I bet! Hope this thing passes as carry on.

It's a Back to Wool Sale!

Here's my yarn doing yoga first thing in the morning in front of the south facing window, just like Craig. It's frosty and crispy grassed here right now as I spend my early pre-Edie wake up time in front of the computer. As I mentioned before, it's all about the coffee tasting that much better and wanting to delve deeper into the wool world to warm and cuddle up with. So, I'm having a Back to Wool sale over at my shop. All yarns are $32 until mid October regardless of fanciness, length, fiber content, chi-chi-ness, squish factor - all the same price.

Speaking of wool world, this is a very exciting week for me. I'm taking off for Camp Pluckyfluff Thursday morning. Incase you've been living in a non-art yarn spinning box, Lexi Boeger wrote two books, I have them both on said topic. I started reading her blog after I bought her self-published first book a few years ago and just simply fell in love with her writing, art and general cookiness. So when I heard she was coming to Canada I immediately emailed her saying "I just found out I'm pregnant but I won't be too huge that I won't be able to make it to your Vancouver camp!" and she emailed me back saying she's happy I have my priorities straight. Not only will this be an amazing opportunity to learn some new techniques and meet the Great One Herself, but I'll be able to mingle with others who are into this fabulous genre of fiber arts, eat some ethnic foods I've been craving the last seven months like a crazy woman and just generally having my last hurrah before I'm tied to the boob for another two (or three) years.

So this week, I'm cranking out my yarns for the shop, plus I've been invited to join three other fiber artists in the area to fill up a little brick and mortar store at the end of September so I got to giddy up but that, alas will be another post, and I've got to get ready for camp! Where did I put those organic marshmallows?

Shucks...

Princess Pea rocks. Not only is she the bendiest blogger around (scroll down to the bottom of the post. Trust me; so worth it.), she took the time to nominate me for a Brillante Blog Award. I never ever receive awards - though I spent a couple hours after dinner last night giving blue ribbons to knitter, jam makers and unusual vegetable growers at our town's fall fall.

Unlucky for me I went to school in the olden days when they didn't give out awards willy nilly lest someone's self-esteem experiences a banana type bruising. (Off topic, Craig, Edie and I went for a picnic at the local public school's playground and witnessed a gym class in progress. The teacher was teaching the kids how to play kick ball - that was surprise number one - kids need to be taught this by teachers now. And the teacher made all the other kids cheer whenever the kid who was practicing kicking the ball made contact with their foot to the ball regardless what happens to the ball after that. I guess you had to be there. I found it pretty surreal or maybe I'm just so out of the gym class loop these days). So I'm pretty stoked and humbled. I love blogging so it's so nice to get a little Yay, Kathy!  for something I love to do so much. Those of you without a blog, try it! It's fun. You get to shamelessly write about whatever and whoever and people are forced to read about it! It's like being on the yearbook commitee but you get to chose only the most flattering pictures of you and your best friends! Plus now there's photoshop. Yay, Photoshop!

So thank you Princess Pea. I'd like to pass the kick ball around and cheer on these seven beautiful bloggers with my nomination:

Beauty that Moves
Waldorf Mama
Zona Pellucida
Handy Crafty Woman
Niki Shell
Monkey Spin Monkey Do
Sulu Design
String Theory Knits

BFF (Blog Friend Forever) and BMF (Best Mum Forever)

Look what my best BFF came all the way from Victoria with last week. Her husband Marty painted the Quack House, an early Christmas present from Craig's dad (shhhh, we weren't suppose to open it yet I don't think but how could anyone resist), and they swung by the valley to personally drop it off. 

 

I believe this is the photo he based his painting on. We use to drool all over his paintings that were displayed in our favorite coffee shop in Calgary and always joked we should get him to paint the house that we lived in at the time to comemerate where Edie was born (because, you know it's going to be a famous landmark one day) but this house is waaaaaaay more photogenic. Or is that paintagenic?

The artist versus the engineer. Funny how our paths crossed with this really sweet couple. I met Dana at the knit circle I joined when I first started knitting when Edie was just wee and we became friends. And then Craig came by one night, and I think Marty was there and we realized that Craig and Marty use to race bikes together once upon a time. Then we all moved to BC at the same time. Them to Victoria though. We trying to convince them to come out here though.

Here's my BFF and my new drumcarder, Jaws. Whole other post on him later. Dana and Marty were both such dream guests during their stay here. Marty helped Craig out with Project Firewood, my mom was here too so dish doing, yogurt container organizing and meal making were pretty much off my plate for the last ten days and with Dana around, sad attempts at taking self portraits for the blog were scratched off the list too. Only another craft blogger can understand how helpful that was.

Edie and Grandma. So wonderful to have her around and see how beautifully these two funny ladies connect. I thank her for all her help around the house and general support. And apple pie with the apples from our trees. That was yum.

Mum and Bum

It's getting chilly chill around these parts these days with rain, even frosty some mornings. My Mum is here! My Mum is here! My mum's visiting from the big city, I'm getting tonnes of work done (doing the Garlic Festival this weekend) though I was hoping we could go frolicking through the high meadows then straight into the river to cool off together like in some periodic Kiera Knightly flick but, alas, at least the frostiness makes my latte taste even better in the morning.

So, now that I can't just live in my bubble dress anymore I realize I'm lacking in pants that fit. The ones that I've been sporting everyday (when the bubble dress starts to get mangy) since this post are the pants featured in said post. So I tried making myself some pants that are designed for women in my delicate condition. I used Kwik Sew 3324 and it was simple enough but OH MY GAWD. Sooooo uncomfortable and it gives me wicked mum bum. My friend saw me at the grocery store and said, 'oh, Kathy, I didn't realize that that was you' (I had my back to her) and I said "I know. It's these God Forsaken pants.' Not that's there's anything wrong with mum bum mind you. Mum bum is a beautiful thing, I'm just not there yet in my parenting career yet.

 I hate them. They squeeze me, not hard but just a creepy, subtle pressure right above the sensitive belly button region. Then once that starts to make me go completely crazy I'll take a couple of steps in one direction and the creep creeps down towards and over my protruding navel nose and slides off my bump and my pant legs grow about five inches getting the beautiful Luke Duke blue cordoruy all muddy around my feet. I don't think it's all the patterns fault though. I've never ever like pants that secured up towards the waist, always been a low rider girl. Plus, I made the belly bra bit a bit too short too by not folding it carefully right in half like I was suppose to. You can see the shodiness in the craftswomanship around the waistband. I guess I was rushing too much. Limited one-kid-mummy time!

What a bummer (ha, ha) but I decided instead of getting grumpy each morning deciding what to keep my bottom half warm with to go to my Nomad friend's house and go shopping in her beautiful basement studio (including panties - yay!). There's the bellybutton nose up there (yes, I had it pierce in the mid-nineties. Was such a rebel). I didn't get one with Edie until a month before she arrived. With this one, the nose popped out pretty much the morning after we conceived. What's up with that? So much for my never buy new clothes challenge. This was an emergency situation - I was on the verge of pre-partum depression. Feel much better now. And my pants stay up.