6 great last-minute gifts for knitters

Attention, spouses! You've got 5 days left til a major gift-giving holiday. Lucky for you, knitters and crocheters are easy to shop for. Here's my go-to list of last-minute gifts for the fiber lover in your life:

1. Keep their fingers flying all year with a subscription to a fiber arts magazine. Interweave Knits and Interweave Crochet are obvious choices. Is s/he a relative beginner? Try Knit Simple. Fashionistas love Vogue Knitting and KnitScene. Subscribe online, print out the gift coupon, and put it inside a lovely holiday card. Classy!

Ceramic yarn bowls from Kristina Chadwick

2. One of the knitting accessories I'd never ever buy for myself, but have always lusted after, is a yarn bowl. The yarn bowl functions both as tool and decor (it keeps the yarn ball from rolling away while you work with it), so pick a pretty one that matches her/his style. There are about a million of them on Etsy in every conceivable color and style, but shipping at this point is dicey. I guarantee you that your local yarn store has quite a few in stock right now too.

The Namaste Hermosa knitting bag... drool.

3. File this one also under Stuff I'd Probably Never Buy for Myself But Would Love to Have: A stylish knitting bag. Whether you want to spend $25 or $150, you can find a great bag online and choose express shipping, or pick one up at your LYS and have it under the tree by Thursday. 

DellaQ circular needle wallet

4. Have you ever seen your Beloved Knitter struggling to untangle a pile of tangled-up circular knitting needles? Does s/he curse loudly searching for the right sized needle while digging through a drawer full of bamboo and plastic cording? S/he just might love a needle organizer - they're often called needle wallets. My favorites are made by Lantern Moon and Della Q. 

5. Everybody who works with their hands needs a massage right about now. It's gift-making season, and those shoulders, arms and fingers are tired. Give her/him a gift certificate for a half-hour massage. In 30 minutes, s/he will walk away with mojo restored and a smile on her/his face. This is another easy one to buy online, stick the print out in a tiny gift bag and feel like a superhero.

6. Okay, maybe this is totally obvious, but you can't do better than a generous gift certificate to your local yarn store. Support a local business, make a knitter happy, and dress it up with a shiny bow. No local yarn store? I'm really, really sorry. But there are some great online retailers too... the Webs store, Jimmy Beans, KPixie and KnitPicks are full of yarn and tools that your crocheter or knitter will be delighted to browse through. 

I hope this helps! And I hope that you and your yarn lover have a very Merry Christmas!

fall yarns to make you salivate

I've been fighting a yucky cold the last few weeks, which has made my brain dull. All my best ideas revolve around drinking tea and crawling into my nest on the couch. Not really worth writing about.

But I have been spending some QT at the LYS, and I just can't help noticing all the pretty, pretty new fall yarns coming in. Do you have your eye on anything special? Here's what's been piquing my curiosity (and making my wallet vibrate in anticipation):

Colinette Jitterbug / Mint Julep colorway

Colinette Jitterbug. There's no end to how much sock yarn I could buy, and new colors from this wonderful, bouncy favorite have me itching to make up some socks. Come to think of it, the Little Pea could use some warm winter socks... would she let me pick a color for her?? I know she'd pick Earth, Rose Garden or Peaches & Cream, but I adore Turquoise and Mint Julep (shown in the picture).

Dream in Color Smooshy / Deep Regret colorway

Dream in Color Smooshy - Don't touch it! If you do you'll have to buy it, and then you'll have to tuck it under your pillow and stroke it lovingly every night before you go to sleep. Even your cat will think you're weird. OMG Smooshy. I love the new colorways for this fall, though the emotional rollercoaster represented by the colorways' names give me pause (my favorite new colors are Vague Unease and Deep Regret). PS Cashmere!!!!!

Rowan Felted Tweed / Hedgerow colorway

Rowan Felted Tweed - If there's a more classic, British-Islesey fall comfort yarn out there, please show it to me. If you ask someone to close her/his eyes and imagine a beautiful fisherman's sweater, they're going to imagine something knit from Felted Tweed. Rowan has 4 new colors out for the season, and I love Jaffa (I have a thing about rusty reds...). I just want to knit myself a winter cocoon from it to just live in until spring comes.

Knit Picks Diadem / all colorways

KnitPicks Diadem - What an interesting new yarn. In theory I love it, this ultra-luxe alpaca/silk blend that comes in fingering and DK weights. The colors are solids, and a somewhat limited palette (maybe because it's new?). KP has a call out now for free pattern designs, and I'm scratching my head a little over what I'd want to do with this silky, silky yarn were I to get my hands on some. Any ideas? Is this one on your list?

So what are you yearning to add to your stash right now? I'm sniffling away but enjoying my fantasies of just wrapping myself in silky wooly goodness til I get better.

top 5 ways to de-stash like a champ!

What to do with it all? Photo by The Bees via Flickr

You know who you are. You have a whole closet full of UFO's, impulse yarn buys and random leftovers that you can't even look at anymore.

Once upon a time you made an impressive effort to organize it all. You've tried big plastic bins, country-cute labeled baskets, one of those over-the-door shoe storage thingies, and a complicated system of shelving, ropes and pulleys you saw once in Real Simple magazine. But somewhere along the way, despite your best intentions, the system was overwhelmed. Now that once-gleaming organization system is nothing more than a wooly-ass pile of fiber clutter you shudder to contemplate.

So you want to regain your status as a responsible member of your household again. Some de-stashing is in order.  But where to start?? As an on-again off-again re-organizer, I say with all sincerity that I feel your pain. As a gesture of solidarity, please accept these 5 handy tips to help you down-size the yarn population of your dwelling:

1. Make a pledge to use what you have before you buy more. 

As someone who has gone through the belt-tightening purchasing restrictions of home-buying and multiple child-bearing in quick succession in recent years, I can attest to the character-building necessity of this pledge. You might need to join a support group. You might need a motivating factor, such as "no new yarn purchases until I pay off all credit card debt" or some other fiscal landmark worth striving for. Creating specific exemptions - I can only buy certified organic yarn, only on Tuesdays, only if I run 5 miles this week - might help you survive if it's a long-term commitment.

2. Make friends with the Ravelry Pattern Browser

Still don't know what to do with those 3 skeins of luscious yarn you bought on vacation five years ago? It's time to decide. Choose the filters that match your yarn purchase and see what you get! Be sure to tick a few important boxes to help you narrow your search:

• 4 stars / 5 stars ratings only
• Free patterns (or not!)
• Has photo
• Knitting OR Crochet project
• Yarn weight, yardage and fiber
• Level of difficulty

Then try something new! Let the pattern browser suggest some truly wonderful projects that you'd never have gone looking for yourself. It's a great way to not only use up stash yarn, but stretch your knitting wings a little, too.

3. Use up those yarn ends!

Why do we save those little balls of almost-finished yarn? Half-a-skein this and two-thirds-a-skein that. Because we don't want good yarn to go to waste. So what is it doing sitting there in your closet going to waste? Here are a few of my favorite patterns that use up those twiddly bits (they make such great gifts!):

Accessorize! Pretty Twisted by Cat Wong is my favorite for sock yarn leftovers. I've made oodles of these funky cuffs as gifts - and they're a great way to show off your vintage button collection.

Make yourself some hair accessories! Knit up an It's a Cinch headband (Elisa McLaughlin) or a versatile Wishbraid headband/bracelet/baby topper (Erika Neitzke) to wrap your crowning glory in the remainder of the most gorgeous yarn you've got in your stash.

For almost any leftover yarn, make some Anything Animals by Rachel Borello Carroll. They're adorable in color-coordinated groups.

Little Birds by Katie Startzman use a tiny amount of worsted-weight yarn, and make a lovely bit of new decor for your mantel or bookshelf.

4. Doll clothes

If there's a little one in your life, you could hardly do better than to make up a few sweaters, hats and booties for her/his favorite dolls. Teddy bears, Barbies, even action figures get chilly in cool weather and need a wooly new garment once in a while. Here's my doll dress pattern, but you can find many more by choosing the "doll" filter (find under Age/Size) in that handy-dandy Ravelry Pattern Browser.

5. Do-Gooder Knitting

Your local animal shelter would love a Jingle Mouse (Dooley and Spud) or Felted Kitty Bed (Wendy D. Johnson) for those sweet homeless loveys. And you know your closest hospital could always use more hand-made Preemie Hats (Carissa Browning) and Baby's First Blankets (by Lyn). Even injured baby birds and bunnies love hand knits. Check out Bev's Wildlife Rescue Nests project for some very snuggly sweet inspiration.

Ready to start the de-stashing? Don't forget to take a picture of the carnage first - and do share!

the neglectful gardener

I was thinking recently in the shower (where I do most of my thinking) that I am really an expert in being a sucky gardener. I love gardening, but really I should be in jail for vegetable neglect. If I wrote a book about gardening, it would be very, very short. Basically, blog post length. So, here it is. My gardening book. Enjoy!

The Neglectful Gardener: 
Growing Fresh, Organic Veggies in Spite of Yourself
by fawn pea, mediocre knitter and sucky gardener

This year was the first time I've ever had a successful winter garden, and I'm feeling pretty full of myself about it. By "successful," I mean that there's something alive and edible out there. It's a modest success, but certainly the best I've ever had. My chest gets all puffed up when I look out the window in February and see things we could eat for dinner growing in the raised beds. I believe that this modest harvest entitles me to call myself an Expert and write breezy blog posts on gardening.

So, if you want to be modestly successful and somewhat puffed up like me, I encourage you to read on to discover the secrets of successful sucky vegetable gardening. Everything I know is contained right here. Really, everything. So... here are the secrets of being a good Neglectful Gardener:

1. Make friends with really good gardeners.

There are people out there who can grow stuff like artichokes and peaches in their gardens. They know how to keep tomatoes from getting blossom end rot, and they never seem to have trouble with powdery mildew. Make friends with these people. They like to swap seeds. They like to trade stories. They will teach you everything you need to know, or failing that, they will probably have a lot of extra zuchinni to share.

2. Chat up the lady at the farmer's market who sells plants.

I know the lady at the farmer's market who sells plants, because I am very bad at growing things from seed. Every year I read the charming stories of heirloom beans and peppers and melons in the seed catalogs and fantasize wildly about the bounteous, sepia-tinted harvest soon to be filling the kitchen of my not-too-distant future. Then I forget about my seedlings. They all dry out (PATHETIC) or get eaten by caterpillars (DEPRESSING), or just never sprout in the first place (WHY???).

At this point, I used to be very tempted to go to the hardware store for cheap flats of vegetable starts. Unfortunately those industrial vegetables tend to be coddled, weak and poorly-adapted to local conditions. Instead, the lady at the farmer's market has plants that, while a bit more expensive, will actually survive neglectful gardening techniques and thrive in local conditions, putting the "cheap" vegetables to shame. Also, she knows everything there is to know about gardening. She will steer you right.

3. Make compost.

This is the easiest, most basic thing to do for your garden. Feed the dirt. Get a cute little compost bucket for your kitchen counter, and put those eggshells and veggie scraps to work for you. Steal your neighbors' leaf bags from the curb every fall and throw those in, too. And grass clippings... hoo boy!  Most garden plants strip out nutrients and life from the soil. Compost puts it back in. Compost is an absolute requirement. Some cities with composting programs (like Raleigh) let you buy a huge load of compost for next to nothing. Make compost. Make compost. Make compost.

4. Feed the bugs.

Oh my goodness bugs love gardens. They love them! Everything they want to eat is right there! Free for the taking! But we cannot put poisons on our vegetables to kill the bugs, because that is very stupid. Poisons. On our food. Stupid. So you have to feed the bugs to other bugs (and birds and toads). Grow other stuff besides vegetables. Create some habitat. Get some wildflowers going in there. Bushy things. Things with flowers. Habitat is your friend.

5. Grow stuff in the sun.

This may seem totally obvious, but I have seen a lot of people make garden beds in shady or semi-shady spots in their yard and then act all mystified when their tomato plants never make any tomatoes (okay, I have been one of those mystified people). Vegetables need a lot of sun. Don't try to grow them in the shade.

6. Make raised beds

The soil in your backyard, if it hasn't been amended with several years' worth of compost, is probably pretty barren. It may also be rocky, 90% clay (like mine), and contaminated with who-knows-what. Was your neighborhood built on old farmland that was regularly sprayed with arsenic-based pesticides? Did the previous homeowner nuke the grass regularly with Weed'n'Feed? Have lead paint chips landed all over the ground at some point? Don't know the answer to all of these questions? Building raised beds lets you start from scratch with fresh, unadulterated, compost-filled soil. They can be as simple or as elaborate as you want them to be. Just avoid treated lumber. Yes, it lasts a long time, but it also leaches horrible chemicals into your raised beds. Strong, rot-resistant woods like cedar are a much better choice. Or try recycled-plastic "lumber."

7. Pick it and eat it!

If you think it's depressing to throw away a big old container of mixed salad greens from the store because they wilted before you got a chance to eat them, imagine how horrible it is to watch beautiful food that you sweated and toiled to grow yourself rot or dry out or go to seed because you waited around too long to pick it and eat it. There just aren't enough synonyms for "tragic." Case in point: One week in January I had three adorable little white snowball heads of cauliflower in my garden. I remember fondling them and thinking what a delicious dinner they would make when they got really big and impressive. The following week it was 65 degrees and all the caterpillars woke up, and now all I have left are three cauliflower skeletons. Don't fondle the produce and make empty promises. Just pick it and eat it.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my little foray into the world of garden advice-giving. That will probably be the grand total of it, so maybe read it a second time if it seemed kind of short. Does the sum total of your gardening knowledge fit into a comment? Do share!

unchristmasing

I'm not really up for Christmas this year.

This will be the first Christmas without my Dad. He was a big kid at heart, and he was the keeper of all our family holiday traditions, from the Chinese almond cookies to the Nat King Cole Christmas album. The thought of trying to celebrate this holiday without him makes me absolutely miserable.

My mom and sister are wisely just opting out. They're going to take a long weekend away, and then lay low on the holiday itself. We've decided on no gifts, except for the kiddos.

I wish I could do the same, but the other 3/4 of my household very much want to celebrate Christmas, and as one of them is 3-1/2 years old, it seems we don't have much choice in the matter.

So I have to grin and bear it, I guess. But with a newborn baby in the house, nobody seems to be expecting much of me, and so I think I will be able to live up to their expectations quite well.

My goal is: Spend no money. I can't go crazy on hand-made crafts without spending money. I can't put pressure on myself to decorate the house festively, or bake amazing things, without spending money. The truth is, I don't want to do these things. So for the folks I absolutely must exchange gifts with, they're getting something from the Use What You Have stash. The Ghost of Christmas Present predicts a lot of little felted items coming from me this year. And I'm halfway through a pair of EZ Mocassin Socks, so someone will get those. And I think that's going to be the extent of it. Thank goodness I still enjoy knitting, with or without a holiday attached to it.

diaper ado

One of the few things I managed to finish knitting before the Little Pea came along was a set of 6 wrap-style knitted diaper covers (the purpley-pink one above is one of my favorites).

Unfortunately, put into practice I discovered that this particular design is not particularly, uh, reliable in the poop containment arena. Oh well. The things you learn when the fantasy baby actually becomes reality...

However, I do plan to knit some pull-up style soakers and give those a try, and if (when!) her daytime naps ever stretch out sufficiently I might also try sewing some from felted sweaters á la the Artful Parent (I am so in love with all Jean's fun projects).

Anyhow, this post was really just to say that over on Sew Green I have a post up today as part of a continuing discussion on cloth v. disposable diapers. Here is Lisa's earlier post on the subject.

Once I've had a chance to test-drive a few different hand-made soakers, I hope to post a review here. In the mean time though, it's factory-made diaper covers for us. *sigh* Can't make everything yourself, I guess.

happy independence day!

Happy 4th of July, everyone! I hope you're enjoying a fun summer day with your beloveds.

In honor of Independence Day, here are 5 ways to celebrate your independence today:

1. Spend the day without spending. Try not to buy anything all day today. Leaving the car in the driveway all day would make this a lot easier!

2. Make a special treat with stuff you already have in your cupboards. Some suggestions: popcorn balls, fancy brownies (decorated with those jimmies you've had in the back of the cabinet for eons), or some smashing toppings for your tofu dogs (more here and here!).

3. Spend the day on a "use what you have" craft project. The one on my waiting list is a refashioned shirt, but the list is endless... here are some fun 4th of July suggestions from whipup.

4. Design a knitting project for yourself. Is there something you've been wanting to make, even have the yarn for, but just can't find the right pattern? Now's the time! Check out some design resources to get you started, like Jenna Wilson's great column, "Thinking Beyond the Pattern," on Knitty.

5. Make yourself happy. Make a list of five people that you're grateful to have in your life, and why. You can spread the happiness around by sending one (or all) of them a sweet little note telling them how great they are.

I hope you all have a great day!

micro is the new green

This has been an exciting early-spring garden for me because of a new (to us) innovation: micro greens!

A few months ago during the seed swap that we had with friends, I was thinking about ways to use up old seed packets, and looking at all the expensive blends of seeds they put into the seed catalogs, and realized that I had plenty of potential custom blends of my own sitting there in the bin of old seeds.

I made a blend for micro greens with:
beets
pac choi
corn salad
zen
spinach

We also had a big packet of unopened mesclun mix from two years before. In March I got two long planters (the kind you use for window boxes), and planted each with one of the blends. These seeds are all somewhat aged, so I didn't really worry about germination rates, I just dumped them in there. They have done great!

The first time I had to thin them, we made a salad with just a few leaves of over-wintered Bibb lettuce, and a whole bunch of tasty little micro greens. They are delicious! HWWLLB, who is really not a salad-eater even on his most virtuous days, proclaimed them "much better than lettuce" and said he would happily eat them whenver I served them.

Each time we harvest them, it seems to just make more room for the left-behind greens to get a bit fluffier, but I did finally do some re-seeding last week. I plan to keep harvesting and re-seeding them til I run out of seeds. I don't know what I'll do then - though if I dig through our old-seed bin again, I bet I'll find a bunch more aging seeds that would like to become fancy salad mix.

Here's a recipe for the dressing that has become our new favorite on micro greens:

Put into a small jar:
4 Tbsp EV olive oil
2-3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/8 tsp honey
pinch of sea salt
one clove of garlic, peeled (but not chopped)

Shake well to blend contents thoroughly. Let the garlic steep in the dressing for a little while before serving. If you leave the garlic in the jar, it will just keep infusing the dressing with a stronger garlic flavor until the dressing is used up. Keep refrigerated.

And thanks to all of you for the tips on getting things finished (or not). I think I just need to accept that this is my M.O. right now. Too many things on my mind to worry about unfinished knitting. In fact, knitting is usually so therapeutic for me... I think if I forget about it for a little while, I'm going to come running back to the yarn in my hour of need anyway (and maybe get some of those wayward projects done).

new duds

Check out what I got! Bliss spruced up some thrifted maternity clothes for me!

This whole maternity clothes thing has been rather difficult for me, as a greenie who hates buying new things. Some folks might remember that last year I decided not to buy any new clothes all year. I took the Wardrobe Refashion 6-month pledge in February and then re-upped when it expired in the summer. I had a couple of stumbles (damned shoes!), but I was really cruising all year with a $0 credit card balance and steadily dropping student loan debt. I made a serious effort all year to include all kinds of stuff beyond clothes in the non-buying pledge, which helped a lot.

I am proud of having paid my student loans down quite a bit last year through shopping abstinence. But towards the end of 2008 my non-buying pledge started to take a serious hit when the emergence of a baby-bump threw my wardrobe for a loop. Oh well... It was good while it lasted.

The long and short of it is, I bought some (shudder) maternity pants. Ack, it's hard to even type such frumpy words! Several pairs. Also some brown boots became instantly, deeply necessary in a way I still can't rationally explain. I was really surprised - maybe a bit disappointed in myself - at how much the early changes in my body and wardrobe made me feel insecure and alienated from myself. And at how buying some new clothes soothed that - not completely, but a little, and pretty concretely. As an anti-consumerist, it pains me to even type these words.

Luckily, the thrift store is my friend. I have been there a lot this winter. The thrift store has let me indulge my sudden interest in bright colors, my itch to wear dresses all the time (free around the middle - woo hoo!), and my need for longer and longer tops. At the thrift store I've also found some maternity clothes, since the Goodwill where I shop has a lot of Gap and Target overstock (nice, huh?).

That's where Bliss came in. She is one of my favorite local craftista artists. I was finding maternity clothes generally to be depressingly mainstream and boring. Bliss takes thrifted garments and transforms them to fun, funky, one-of-a-kind pieces of wearable art, and I have a few of her pieces in my closet already. She was really sweet to take on a custom order, and now I have some funky new big-belly clothes!


I love the yo-yo detailing on the shorts - these used to be ugly sparkle-pinstriped navy blue dressy trousers.


This used to be a dull brown gap tunic. How great is it now??

Thankfully, I am much more at peace with my body now that I've had some more time to get used to it looking so different. And I have to say, the custom duds don't hurt with that, either. I think I'm going to try some embroidery and appliqué of my own on some of these other little numbers around here.

swapping seeds

Sunday night we got together with some gardeney friends to share seeds and ideas for our gardens this year. I am so excited about getting my hands into the dirt, I can hardly wait! Alas, it's still January.

But we had fun and warmed ourselves with mulled cider and cake while we traded seed packets and ideas.

There were lots of offerings: seeds people had saved from their best-producing plants this past year, and 3/4-full seed packets left over from the season. I really liked the lessons that came along with the seeds; hearing about everyone's experiences with different plants was so much more informative than the glossy seed packets that sing out to you from the rack at the garden store, insinuating beautiful bounty.

Everyone had a different way of approaching the swap: PeaceNic had a checklist with her desired vegetables all listed out, so she only had a couple of things left to buy on her list once we were finished. We had already ordered our dream plants from Seed Savers and were looking to round out the garden with some fun items that others had enjoyed. Other folks hadn't really started the garden plans yet, and getting some great gems from the swap was a way to get them going.

I just wish we'd held the swap before we placed our seed orders for the year! I think I would have saved some money... ah well, a lesson for next year. I think seed-swapping in January is going to become a new ritual at our house.

On Saturday we had made a run down to my parents' farm for a load of horse manure, so we were also able to give everyone a party gift for attending: bags of poo. Yummy! Spring, here we come!

angels

my sister made this adorable gingerbread house last year

It's time to go get my favorite Christmas shopping done. I know, I'm not usually one for store-bought gifts, but these are important.

A few years ago, in the pursuit of meaningful and useful gifts for family members, I decided to try giving them gifts to other people. So for each person, I picked a child's name from the Angel Tree at the mall, and bought a coat, some clothes and a toy for a needy child. I wrote about the process last year on Sew Green.

This year I have five children to buy gifts for (ages 2, 5, 8 and 9). I hope they like their presents!

not buying stuff

price tages by lythane on flickr

Just past the mid-year, I thought it might be time to check in on my "not buying stuff" pledge for 2008. I took this pledge because I really wanted to pay down my student loans, and in order to make the big giant monthly payments I wanted to make, it seemed important to trim a bit from the budget.

And also, I realize that I am deeply addicted to Stuff, and Buying Stuff, and Getting New Stuff, and a bit of abstinence wouldn't do me (or the planet) any harm. A bit rough on our consumer-driven ecomony, though... I'm starting to feel a bit guilty about all these banks collapsing. But I'm sure that's just a coincidence.

The main part of the pledge was not buying new clothes. I allowed myself all the thrift store purchases I could want, but nothing new. I took the Wardrobe Refashion 6-month pledge as an inducement, but seeing as how I haven't made a thing to wear, I don't know if I'm still in that club.

I also have tried really hard to limit my purchases of general stuff, mainly by not buying anything on impulse. If there's something that I run across and think I "need," I have been putting it off until I either forget about it, decide I don't need it anymore, or find a free/used/cheaper one someplace else. It seems to be keeping down the general buying.

Also, no credit card use. None. Nada. Zip. Cash only. Very important.

All the same, I am amazed at how much stuff I have bought this year, and at how many consumer items are rattling around in my brain urging me to break out the plastic and make them MINE. I tried to make up as complete a list as I could remember. Here goes:

things i've bought this year (new)
- a SAF t-shirt
- a pair of red sandals
- solar lights for the patio
- yarn
- a recycled banner bag from holly aiken
- notecards
- tomato plants
- a ladder
- a ceiling fan
- a giant 500-gallon water tank
- earrings from yecART.

things i really want but won't buy
- a labradoodle (not really a "thing," is it?!)
- a charcoal grill
- shoes of all sorts, especially some elegant grownup-looking mary janes
- an energy- & water-efficient washer & dryer
- a couch for the living room

stuff i will probably buy before the year is out
- a used iMac
- a gas grill, hopefully in good (used) condition
- a new bathroom exhaust fan
- too many christmas presents
- more yarn

things i plan to make in the (not-too-distant) future
- too many christmas presents
- half a dozen or so baby gifts (!)
- an outdoor potting table/garden storage cabinet

Ugh! You know, listing it all out like this is making the buying impulse easier to resist. I have been struggling most with not buying stuff for the house. For some reason, buying clothes has been easy to abandon (which really surprised me), but buying stuff for the house has not been -- maybe because household goods seem more like "basics" or necessities. A couch. A washing machine. So practical. But maybe not so much when you already have a perfectly good one...

Anyone know a good web tutorial for making your own couch?

independence day

Happy Independence Day! I'm celebrating by thinking of all the ways that we cultivate independence in our lives around here...

energy independence







food independence








material independence







I tend to think of independece as meaning both doing things for yourself, and not needing others. But looking at all the ways that independence flourishes in our lives, I see how much it all comes from helping each other out. From the co-op truck to sharing gardening tips... we couldn't be independent without each other. As we watch the fireworks tonight and listen to the Boston Pops play the 1812 Overture, I think I'll be toasting the independence paradox.

Happy Independence Day to all of you!

july is purple

These purple shoes (and the accompanying tomato-colored beads) were my favorite score from the clothes swap last night. I love the clothes swap. It has really been helping me through this whole no-clothes-buying pledge for 2008. This was the second swap of the year (see my post/pictures about the first one on Sew Green), and one of my personal bests in a long time, in terms of quality of free stuff snagged.

I was also happy that a friend who I invited to her first-ever clothes swap last night had a great time and took both of the sweet vintage dresses that I brought. Both were a bit too tight on me, but she rocked them like a hurricane.

I don't give purple enough credit. Blue-ish purples look terrible on me, and remind me of earth mamas in muumuus, so I tend to dismiss all purple as bad for me and unwearable. But the truth is, reddish-purple is a fabulous color that I really should wear more often. One might call it "plum."



This is the short-sleeve knitted top I'm working on for myself right now. I am amazed at how well it will go with the new shoes when it's done. The two markers show how I'm coping with managing a fancy stitch pattern across the seams in a top-down garment. The yellow marker shows where the increases go for the shoulder seam. The pink marker shows where the next repeat begins for the stitch pattern. It's a 4-stitch repeat, so every time I get 4 non-seam stitches worked up there, I move the marker up 4 and start the stitch pattern there. It's working quite well. But I'm going slooowly. Somehow it seems like my knitting gets slower all the time. Why is that?

I am dying to know what the next purple thing will be that comes into my life. I've got my heart set on a Labradoodle, but I don't think they come in purple. Perhaps some sort of sea creature...?

refashioning in 2008

Hello everyone! First, I have to say that I am very excited about the fact that our state will actually get to vote in a Democratic primary and it will matter! This is the first time in my own personal North Carolina presidential history that my vote will actually count towards anything! Usually, Late Primary + Red State + Electoral College = Why do I bother? But not this year! Woo hooo!

Okay, enough of that. On to the topic of today's post...

At Stitch+Bitch on Monday night a friend was asking whether we knew anyone taking the Buy Nothing for a Year pledge. I don't think I know anyone personally who is, but it really got me thinking. This is the year that I want to drastically pay down my student loans, and I've been fiddling with budget numbers to try to see how I could make that happen. I also made a New Year's Resolution to cook & eat much more of our food from the CSA and the garden (which will be challenging in this awful drought). Then there's the impact of overconsumption on the environment, labor and pollution problems from garment manufacturing... you know all this.

To get right to the point, I'm not going to buy any new clothes or shoes this year. I sure as heck don't need any! You ought to see my closet, it's ridiculous. I will make occasional allowances for thrifted or maybe even consigned clothing, and perhaps once in a while a hand-made thing from a wonderful local maker like this one, but the Banana Republic is going to have to survive the consumer slowdown without me.

I'm going to be leaning on y'all for support! I just signed up for the next round of Wardrobe Refashion (sign-ups through February 15th!) -- and I went for the Big Mama 6-month pledge. That will get me through the summer, and then I'll have to re-up for another round to get through the year (or fling myself into an H&M waving my credit card and begging for mercy).

This is going to be tough, because I really really want an Obama T-shirt, but I guess I'll just have to make one of my own.

The Pledge:

I, fawn pea, pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of 6 months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoated, recylcled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftyness brings! Signed, fawn pea.

kale and a big bunch of narcissus

That's what I brought back today from the Farmers' Market. The downtown Wednesday market is back - hooray! Here's the bouquet I bought, brightening my desk at work, and making my office smell like heaven:



Until last year, we didn't really have a farmer's market in town, except that we did. We have a big giant Official State Farmer's Market with big sellers of wholesale produce, but nothing organic to speak of, and many sellers who are just peddling wholesale produce from wherever.

Last summer our Downtown Alliance coaxed a group of local organic growers to start selling at a Wednesday market in the park just 2 blocks from my office. It became a lunch-time tradition on Wednesdays to go with some friends to pick up a baguette and locally-made cheese, a tomato and some basil and lettuce and eat a little local, organic feast for lunch. How I've missed it all winter!

Today I was there bright and shiny on opening day, with my bouquet and my kale proudly in hand. HWWLLB bought some beautiful rustic bread and fresh mozarella. I can't wait til next week!



Can you stand more exciting news? Today was also our first harvest from the garden. Swiss chard! We'll have some lovely braised chard with our dinner of carrot soup tonight. I also spent about fifteen minutes picking many little green caterpillars off the broccoli (those butterflies are such traitors). I hope that birds enjoy them, they were nice and plump from feasting on my brassica.

I'm really enjoying getting to know my Sew Green compatriots. I love their posts and the incredible diversity of topics and ideas so far. Soon we'll be settling in to regular themes (I hear a rumour that water is going to be theme #1), but for now we're all over the map, and I love it. It's been great fun to spend some time on their home blogs as well, reading about the Dutch Girl's adventures with Project Runway and blurriness with Shari and Lisa.

One other thing: I love these letters between Amisha and Melissa. They have opened my eyes a little wider to the place we inhabit as well.

new growth

Today is a very exciting day! Today is the launch of sew green.



We have been working away in our secret underground laboratory with scissors, thread and paste, cameras, felt and yarn to create a new blog about crafting a more sustainable future. sew green is a collaboration among eleven women, all artists and crafters, using our creativity to find new ways out of toxic consumerism and share what we learn along the way.

I am really delighted and kind of sheepish about collaborating with the other ten women who are part of this project: shash, bugheart, gracia & louise, lisa solomon, Hayley Alaska, cindy jaswal, Ashb, tracy and shari. They are all so inspiring in their own chosen mediums already; now we all get to learn from each other as enviros as well. I hope you'll come visit!



http://sewgreen.blogspot.com/

new start

I hope everyone is back safe and sound from your holiday travels. It felt good to come back to work today. I had so much been looking forward to a relaxing break over the holidays, and in some ways it was, but in other ways... um, I am very glad to be back at work. I think I OD'ed a little on family time.

I am pondering New Year's resolutions and what to promise to do this year to make the world a better place and myself a better citizen of it. Every year I get awfully ambitious. This year I think maybe keeping it simple will be a smarter thing to do. In contemplating this year's resolutions, I thought it might be wise to see how last year's resolutions fared in 2006.

The 2006 Resolutions End-of-Year Progress Report

2006 personal resolutions

• Stop thinking that my job is the most important thing there is.

So, maybe I don't think this quite so much anymore, but I sure do act like it. Right thinking, right acting. I need practice.

• Go to yoga at least once a week.

I actually did pretty well with this. Many weeks I went twice.

• Stop being so G-darn bossy, especially to Sis and HWWLLB.

You would probably have to ask them how this went, but I continue to make a conscious effort on this, and that's probably the most important thing.

• Wear something I knit once in a while (I have become the butt of jokes at Stitch & Bitch. They just don't get it. I don't feel the need to wear the things I make - I recently learned the term "process knitter" to describe this very phenomenon. But I will do it - to avoid further mockery).

Yes! This has gone well. I think I'll knit myself some more things (and wear them) in 2007.

• Practice violin at least three times per week.

Oh gosh. This may be my biggest bomb. I haven't picked up the violin since March.

• Look up new vocabulary words once in a while.

Hm. I kind of forgot about this one. Does playing more Boggle count?

work-related

• Become a kick-ass fundraiser! Raise twice as much money as last year!

I wouldn't say I have become kick-ass, but we definitely raised more money from more donors this year, and it felt really, really good.

• Spend more time enjoying the wonderful people I get to meet through work.

I don't think I did this. I am such a darned introvert.

saving the world

• Eschew plastic. No more plastic take-out containers, no more toxic Nalgene bottles, no more plastic bags from the grocery store. I have around 100 canvas bags and I'm darn well going to use them.

Man, I suck! I definitely cut back on the grocery bags, but take-out containers? Sheesh. There is plastic in piles all around me right now. Argh!

• Buy less crap. Crap includes: new clothes, anything from Target (even things with amazing ylang-ylang nano elf technology), and especially things that I justify purchasing by thinking about how the item will make my life better. Crap does not include: yarn, pricey Japanese-made knitting tools, or things purchased at thrift stores (it's my list and I'll write my own definitions, thank you).

So, I'd call this last one a C-plus. I did buy a little less crap this year. I participated in the Wardrobe Refashion and went two months without buying any clothes at all, until I crashed on hiking gear at the end of the two-month run. I bought only two Christmas presents, and made everything else that I gave. On the other hand, I have spent a small fortune on crap for the new house at the Home Despot lately. Probably all crap I could have scavenged or bought used at a thrift shop, too.

Overall, I think I was a little too ambitious, and that's probably why my ratings year-end are so mediocre. I'm always setting too many goals for myself anyway. This year, one goal only. But what??? Are y'all making resolutions? Should I resolve to say y'all less? Or more...?

out with the old

It is amazing how many things we have.

After the boxes and the furniture and everything had been packed and taken away in the big truck, there were just a few things left. Small things, we thought. No sweat.

As it turns out, there was an entire weekend's worth of little things to do to get all the remnants of us out of the old house.

But as of this afternoon, there is nothing from us left behind, except hopefully some good vibes and probably some little genetic scraps here and there.

Thank god/dess for my mom and sister, who turned up early Saturday morning with cleaning supplies (mom) and coffee & pastries (sis) and spent hours helping us clean out the attic (just a few zillion little things up there) and take carloads to the thrift shop and the recycling center.

Thank another kind of god/dess for Tana & John, who came in the afternoon with their two little daughters for comic relief and to force us to rest and have fun for a few hours. We ate subs and then played a Wheel of Fortune board game, which I used to think was extremely lame but for some reason was hilarious when played with a four year-old. John graciously helped HWWLLB unload the big, heavy little things from Red Betty into the garage.

Every time I move, I make this resolution that I'm not going to let little things pile up anymore. That I won't ever again stick something in a corner, intending to deal with it another time, and then just stop seeing it there as the intent to deal with it quickly evaporates. Also, that I will do things like empty the fridge and scrub it down once in a while. Because I really can't believe I was eating food that came out of that thing - ick!

But this anti-thing resolution is probably going to last about as long as my "stop using plastic" New Year's resolution from last year. Luckily, we are planning to never move again.

holiday feelings

It's finally December! I am so ready for the holidays to be here.

We are going to be moving in the middle of December (more on that later), so I am really struggling with the holiday craft plans. On the one hand, I am yearning to spend cozy evenings with the hot glue gun, beeswax, yarn and bamboo needles, glitter, vintage fabrics, anything crafty. I have a million little piles of supplies and a million ideas that probably won't get put to use because there simply won't be the workspace or the unpacked boxes to let me do it. *sigh*

On the other hand, coming up with projects that I can do despite the move has been kind of fun, too. So far I have some good ones in mind, but I can't tell them because you never know who might be reading...

One thing I am not going to do is buy stuff. Well, okay, I have one or two purchases to make, but Christmas-time is too busy with events (and everyone I know too overloaded with stuff already) for me to spend valuable crafting time shopping. This is really not meant to diss those of you who will be doing your Christmas shopping at the Gap, because I know that your giftee is going to appreciate your generosity and use whatever lovingly-chosen item you get them. It is the thought that counts, whether you make your effort fighting crowds at the mall and selecting the perfect item (for which you deserve a medal) or fighting those long strings that come off the hot glue gun. This is more of a personal thing with me - I have a pathological aversion to buying things (some people call it being "cheap," and I don't think I can argue with that).

So to veer back from that tangent... I am really excited about the holidays. I am dying to bake and craft, and fantasizing about making fun advent calendars like this one (is having kids required? Maybe someone would lend me one). I also want to make ornaments for the tree, decorate cookies, sew Christmas stockings for our mantel, and do it all while sipping mulled cider with HWWLLB and listening to John Coltrane (Christmas music is one part of the holidays that I don't get excited about).

So what kinds of craft projects are you all making this year? I want to know about your good ideas (and maybe steal them).