Easter

Apr 21, 2014 By Sarah in Ada, Jolyon 3 Comments

The big one: Too quick to capture with manual focus. The little one: Watchful, intent. When he realized that chasing his sister around wasn’t the point, he was just as good a finder as she was. And his squeals of glee upon spotting an egg… I’ve folded them into my heart to keep forever.

And yes, he’s wearing a shirt that says “big sister.” I fished it out of the bag of outgrowns so he could wear something spoilable for egg dyeing. And now he doesn’t want to wear anything else. “Pink! Me! Heart!” (There’s one dotting the i.)

We left the egg hunt until late in the day, choir having gobbled the morning. Afterward, a first-of-the-season dinner with the neighbors in their garden. The light is lingering late enough to knit outdoors when the littles are in bed. How I love spring.

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Apr 8, 2014 By Sarah in Ada, All Set skirts, Jolyon 5 Comments

I always looked down my nose at siblings who wore matching outfits to school when I was a kid. Where was their sense of individuality? Were their parents to blame for this indignity? I’d secretly change in the bushes rather than suffer that oppression, I told myself—not that my parents ever would have suggested their children should dress alike. We wore whatever we pleased as long as it wasn’t unreasonable filthy. And yet I found myself sewing a skirt with a couple of eager onlookers.

“Mama, when you finish your skirt will you make one for me?”

“I will. What color would you like?”

“Purple. Will you make me a purple skirt? With pockets?”

“I’d be glad to.”

“Jolly, you like a purple skirt, too?”

He gave me his most solemn, round-eyed look. “Ja,” he said. (Because apparently he is a German toddler. He can say “yes” in the context of “yeh pleeh!” but it’s always “ja” when he doesn’t stop to think about his manners.) What mother could resist?

I used Anna Maria Horner’s “All Set” skirt pattern, size 5 for Ada and size 2 for Jolyon. (I didn’t account for the bustle effect of a fat cloth diaper, and neither did Anna Maria, so his is pretty comical in shape.) The fabric is from the talented Rashida Cole (purple) and Lotta Jansdotter (gray). Here are my skirtlings in action:

Yeah, we need to paint our garage. But it’s so tough to get photos of this fast-moving pair that I didn’t much care what backdrop they picked.

Recipe

Jan 23, 2014 By Sarah in Ada, Books, McManus cardigan, Mothering, Winter Garden 2 Comments

One cozy dress. One green rocking chair. One great picture book. Stir until just combined for a plum mid-morning moment.

Our friend Meg sent Pelle’s New Suit from the other side of the world as a gift for Jolly when he was new, and while Elsa Beskow may be better known for her mushroom-capped elves, this unassuming hundred-year-old story of a boy seeking help from his community to transform his lamb’s wool into a fine new suit for himself is tip-top. Pelle tends the animals, weeds a carrot patch, minds his baby sister, stacks firewood, and more in trade for the carding, spinning, dyeing, weaving, and tailoring, all of which are illustrated with historical accuracy and obvious knowledge of the crafts. This book is a favorite in our house right now; Ada will soon have it memorized and Jolly chimes in with farmyard noises for atmosphere.

Winter Garden is in heavy rotation and needs a bit of de-pilling on the bodice where Ada’s wool coat has chafed it. But the way my girl loves her dress—she tries to choose it to wear to school nearly every day—I’ll knit her a new one if this model doesn’t last until next winter. She’s worth it, my little mirror, so like me and yet entirely herself. Oh, she knows how to try my patience. And then she knocks me right over with her spontaneous sweetness and good sense. “Well,” she said to me, patting my shoulder consolingly when I made a gloomy remark about the towering laundry pile. “After Jolly and me go to bed, you can just take all our clothes and put them right in the washing machine, okay? That’s a good plan. First you make a good plan and then you can just do it!” Or, making amends after I flashed out at her noncooperation in dressing for school: “Do you feel so much happier now, Mama? Did you hear how I was just singing la la laaaaa la-la la la to make you feel better?” Three and a half. Maddening and sublime all at the same once, as Ada would have said last year.

Another recipe:

Work finished early. Three balls of teal green wool. Size 8 needles. It’s time to start the next design.

That’s if I can set aside a mad itch to rush to IKEA in search of proper storage for the playroom, anyway. You see, there’s a landslide of puzzles, blocks, and toy animals blocking my access to the yarn cabinet. I think we all know this situation is not tenable.

Whistling Girl Knits

whether or not the laundry is folded

Home Front

Easter

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Recipe