LYS

I think I may have found my potential LYS. Big Knit on Sukhumvit 49. Actually, I've known about Big Knit for awhile but I didn't have time to go with a baby on my hands. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it, but secretly I think it's because I know if I go I'm going to buy buy buy and won't be able to stop, hence setting myself and said baby up for a life of poverty.) But a dear friend recently asked me to teach her to knit and she needs yarn and so I looked up Big Knit on the net and My. God. What have I been missing! I want to be there yesterday. I'm heading there tomorrow and it seems like such a long time to wait. My first yarn store visit in over a year, it's been too long. I will report back.

creeping back.

Ok. So, I've been avoiding this blog. I sorta fell out of the wagon at the beginning of October when work became busy and now I've come crawling back. Yep. Let's see what's been up.

-The Mr. had been here for a month. He's gone back now and we miss him muchly. The month was over so fast. But we got in some nice restful stay at home days.

-Mari is running around and becoming quite a bright albeit willful little thing. She's started throwing tantrums already and seriously, any slight little thing sets her off. Even worse than the tantrum is my mom will give me with "that look" and if I fail to assert my authority (read: spanking Mari or at least verbally admonishing her.) She will laugh rather derisively and remark about how Mari has won. And she laughs when Mari hurts herself too. This is really heartbreaking for me. I can't understand how someone's pain can amuse you, especially if that someone is a one year old who has just caught her finger in a drawer. She will literally stand over her and laugh while Mari sits on the floor wailing and bewildered. I had to scoop my crying baby up and tell my mom to stop laughing and never laugh in her face again when she is in pain. Good god, woman.

-I've started on my Christmas crafting. This year I'm making a tree from scratch. We have our little yarn tree that I made years ago in Tokyo but with little Mari running around I wanted something that wouldn't topple so easily or have so many pointy wire. Also, I wanted something that we would be able to hang lights and ornaments on. So I'm making a new one using wire and re-cycled plastic bags. I took a pic of the bare wire tree and it looked pretty good. I've got a good feeling about this one. Unfortunately we've been very good about bringing our own cloth bags to the supermarket that we don't have enough bags for me to finish the project, so it's on hold until we collect more bags.

Rain's end.

That's what this season is called in Thai. The rains are beginning to let up and we are entering for what passes for winter in these here parts. I miss the pumpkins, goblins, and ghosts of my childhood Autumns in NY, and I miss the hot baked potatoes, chestnuts, and fall fashion of my Autumns in Tokyo, but I decided this year I'm going to go out and look for what Autumn means in Bangkok. We live so disconnected from the seasons in this city and it's a shame. What's in season? What are the plants doing? what's the earth doing? I have no idea. But I'm going to go find out.

Other things I'm doing:
-Learning to drive. Which is nerve wracking, bizarre, and so so Thai. It deserves it's own entire entry.
-Counting down the days till the Mr. arrives for a month long visit. Only 19 more days!
-Psst! I'm also on twitter now. I'm dumplingrrl there.

We're all in this together.

Please take a bit of time to visit this site and donate if you can.

Lori is a single mom battling ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) and chronic Lyme disease. She faces the loss of her home to foreclosure within days because she's too sick to work.

In September 2007 Lori mysteriously lost the ability to move her feet. The paralysis later spread to her legs and arms. Lori is now confined to a hospital bed and is dependent upon a Bi-Pap breathing machine. Lori is only 44, and she is determined to fight this disease and we're determined to help her do it in any way possible.

Help Lori keep her promise to her son. Help Lori keep her home and ensure that Jack has the security of a roof over his head, even when his mother is too sick to sleep there with him.

smock

When I was very small I used to love flipping through my aunt's dress pattern books. This is one of my favorites.



It's called "Stitch House: Infant wear by direct cutting" was printed in 1984, was translated from Japanese and is most likely out of print. The back cover reads:

"This simplicity is unrivaled, Mom's sort of excited. You just leave markings directly on the fabric, cut parts apart with scissors and machine them together, that's all. Whether you intend to or not, any of these can be finished in a day. That's direct cutting."

Yes, mom's sort of excited alright. Why I heart this book:
-Cute retro Japanese drawings
-Japlish scattered through out the book. One page reads 'It's all right that you're naughty, but give some thoughts to clothes I made myself. Mom.'
-The clothes are really easy to make and you don't even have to make a pattern.

I used to love this book so much that the first page bears my squiggly childish hand writing stating ownership. Now the book has been passed on to me and I make things for Mari from it.

Soo.. I thought I'd share some of the designs with you all. It's really good for beginners or people who don't have much time. Perfect for mommy crafting. And I needed some motivation to keep updating my blog. So from now on every week I'll try to post a project I made from this book ok?

This week:


I was inspired by a picture of the darling snack smocks on moving hands blog and decided I must make a smock for Mari. I remembered the little smock pattern in the Stitch house book and dug it up. I then simplified it a bit so I could use some of my old t-shirts. Here's the finished product:






This is the original pattern:




Here's my modifications:
-I used old t-shirts, so I just cut straight from armpit to arm pit and discarded the top bit resulting in a tube of fabric with a raw edge on top and a hemmed bottom. I cut the back opening straight up the back of the tube, turning the tube in to one long rectangle. I then turned the top edge down and stitched it in place to create a long tunnel along the top edge, cut out the sleeves according to the pattern and threaded a ribbon though the tunnel running along the top edge.
-Using an old t-shirt means no hemming involved.
-T-shirts don't unravel so I didn't hem the sleeves either.
-No pockets because Mari doesn't use them yet, but they could easily be made using the left over sleeve bits.

So yeah, very very simple. I managed to make one in about ten minutes while Mari was busy pulling books off the shelves!

(*disclaimer bit: I'm posting stuff from the Stitch House book because I assume that this book is out of print and I think the patterns are too good to keep to myself. An internet search for this book turned up nothing, but if you are the author/publisher / or anyone else who owns or worked on this publication and you want me to pull this down or anything mail me and I will do so immediately.)

mommy crafts

Psst!! I've joined a web board that my friend Kat from pinkurocks.com created. It's called Mama crafty and if you have a little one or are planning to, or just want to join in on the conversation please sign up!

As for me, I have been quite the busy crafter for the last week. I made some dolls for Mari's B-day using the ruby doll pattern from one red robin.

I used odds and ends from my kimono scrap bag and such. I really love how much I have hoarded up. The Mr. says I am a pack rat and I guess I am. A very happy one too.



It's the first time Mari has appreciated anything I made her (she was too youg before). She was asleep when I finished the dolls, when she woke up to nurse I brought them in to the bed thinking I'll surprise her the next morning when she wakes up. As she nursed I made a doll 'kiss' the back of her head good night and she immediately stopped nursing, pulled off and looked at the doll. She then gave me the widest smile and sat up and pulled each doll up for closer inspection.

Have you ever seen such a happy little face?

I don't think I can ever stop making her stuff now.

This time last year.

You were only a few hours old. Learning to breathe, learning to see. I was recovering from a major operation, learning to turn over, to sit up again in spite of the pain. We've come a long way. Amazing that in just a year so much can happen. I would love to write something eloquent that'll express all I feel for you, but as you know I'm very poor with words. Will it do to say that my heart nearly explodes every time I see your face light up? I'm the luckiest mama on earth to have your head to smell as I drift off to sleep. (Seriously, is there some sort of drug in baby hair? Cause I think I'm addicted to sniffing you.) I love to put my nose right near your mouth when you cry so I can catch those baby scented puffs of air.



You're getting so independent now. You've become quite a brave little girl, not afraid to take the next leap. You always knew exactly what you wanted and how it should be done, even when you were wee. At about 4 months you wanted to sit up from lying on your back like us adults, no turning on to tummy and pushing up for you! And you did it too. My little girl never settled. Now you're walking (stiffly) and climbing like a monkey! It's crazy fast. I look forward to (and at the same time dread )your approaching toddler years.



It's been quite a year hasn't it? Thank you for every step you've taken on this road with me. Thank you for letting me carry you next to my heart for so long.



And although you are a big one year old girl who doesn't have to count her age in months anymore, although you will be off riding with the fast crowd on your tricycle
real soon, know that when you're tired and when you need a hand to stroke your back while you sleep, you will still be my sweet little babe.

Goodnight honey.

Happy birthday.

I love you.