~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today, I am pleased to tell you about our sponsor Stubby Pencil Studio! In owner Kate's words: "Stubby Pencil Studio offers a wide selection of eco friendly and affordable art supplies and gifts for children. Several new items are now availa...

Meet my new crochet obsession - Tif's 'Crochet Happy Hangers' I am seriously 'into' these gorgeous hangers but have only managed this one so far. I'm finding the final row of single crochet around the edge a little fiddly so next time I think I will make my shells triple crochet stitches inste...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today, I am pleased to tell you about our sponsor Rhythm of the Home. Rhythm of the Home was created by Heather and Bernadette. In their words: "Rhythm of The Home is a free quarterly magazine based on the seasonal rhythms of the Waldorf and...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today, I'm happy to be talking with and about our longtime sponsor, Imagine Childhood. In their words: "... a little nature... a little imagination... a lot of play. Toys, tools and activities for growing minds. Imagine Childhood is a family ...

The Children love Book Character day. This morning I spotted, Snape, Red Riding Hood, Pippi Longstocking, The Invisible Man, The Cat in the Hat and many others. I couldn't resist when I saw this pink and white candy stripe cotton jersey in the fabric shop. The pattern is a Simplicity nigh...

After five years of this gig, I sometimes get a funny perspective about the nature of blogging. Of course, there are so many things that never even make it onto the blog. But then, given the nature of what I do write about, sometimes some very silly things that do get blogged about. And blogged ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today, I am pleased to tell you about our sponsor Sundara Yarn. In the words of Sundara herself: "Sundara Yarn hand-dyes a wide range of luxury fibers for knitting, crochet and weaving. The majority of our yarns our one of a kind, "Limited ...

My scrumptious love If I could..I would breathe him in and frequently try to.

I love:: This hour once a week that's all mine. When no one calls me Mama...or SouleMama. An hour full of: scratched up dance floors; shuffle-ball-changin'; silliness; laughing alongside girls half my age and women twice it; dear friends; Broadway showtunes; oh yeah, and sweat too. "...under...

The Children love Book Character day. This morning I spotted, Snape, Red Riding Hood, Pippi Longstocking, The Invisible Man, The Cat in the Hat and many others. I couldn't resist when I saw this pink and white candy stripe cotton jersey in the fabric shop. The pattern is a Simplicity nigh...

I am so in love with Anna Maria Horner's new voile line of Little Folks fabric. (It's available in Anna Maria's shop, as well as in the shop of one of our sponsors - Alewives.) Of course her colors and designs are stunning as usual, but oh, this fabric feels so good! It's the kind of fabri...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today, I am pleased to tell you about our sponsor Alewives Fabrics. In the words of shopkeepers Barbara and Rhea: "Alewives has been selling fabrics to Midcoast Mainers for almost 40 years and for the past five years the shop has been owned ...

A visit to the attic boxes for a little wardrobe sizing-up for Mr. Harper Pie, led to the discovery of this hat I knit for Calvin (when he was my littlest guy). (Pattern notes on Ravelry.) As always with such sentimental hand-me-downs, it makes me think. About what each of the...

I have been on the hunt for a perfect yellow, or white cake recipe. I love box cake. I love the lightness and the texture—it's my ideal cake. It's what I grew up eating. My biggest disappointment with cupcakes, the fancy kind from the fancy shops, is that the cake is too heavy. Too rich, too m...

I don't know what the collective noun for 'bag' is, I just made that up... I've always liked the word 'jubilee'. And I had fun making all these bags for my shop update this week. I made a couple for grown-ups, including a market bag from sturdy striped wool. But some are for childre...

A little bit of fresh art in this corner. The "READ" print is from Portland, Maine artist Eric Hou (available in his shop here). And a fresh stack to read in this corner. At my bedside: Alabama Studio Style, Sew Liberated (more words about this one coming soon!), Buddhism for Mothers of...

I'm double...no, triple excited to share this new book with you, The Handmade Marketplace, by Kari Chapin. One: because I illustrated and lettered the cover, as well as the book's section openers! Two (and far more important and interesting): The book really is an honest-to-goodness, exhaust...

outside :: We had thought today would be spent finally playing in the snow. But alas, it appears that all of our finger-crossing and snow-dancing didn't work. The 'storm' amounted to not a whole lot and I think we'll be back to melted, bare ground in a matter of hours. Perhaps we should ...

Among some of my favorite moments in life are surely those in which a few hours are 'lost' wandering through aisles of 'stuff' with dear friends. Literal and figurative. Treasures and Treasured.

Okay, this is so easy it's almost not fair to call it a tutorial. I was up way past my usual bedtime of 8:45 p.m. last night (Portlanders what did you think of the Wilco show last night? [Wilco, why are you so awesome?] I was very happy. First time I've seen them inside. :-) so I am sorry I am l...

A year ago, I cast on 220 stitches on a size 9 needle. Using leftover bits of worsted weight wool, I started knitting in garter stitch, changing colors when I felt like it or when a new ball of yarn was sent to the basket. Some days I knit one row, some days I knit twenty. Sometimes I've...