Calling all sewists!

My friend Mandi at Herban Homestead is gathering a box of small handmades for children rescued from Houston city streets.  Please click this link to read more and participate by sewing up a simple softie or stuffed animal, just from scraps you already own.  We love the owl pattern she found for free online and it is so easy to make and will encourage a child that lives in a very discouraging environment.  Read her link to the street ministry that your hanmades will go to once ready.

Here's our first one....going to have to make some to keep here too.  Custom orders too.  They all want "blue".  The owl link on Mandi's post gives you a free single 8.5" X 11" page with the whole owl pattern.  My five year old cut it out then I cut out the fabric and while juggling breakfast and a nursling, I made it this morning!  I read the sewing instructions twice while sipping coffee and nursing..then when I sat to sew, I just did it from memory...its that easy.  The handwriting is by me and made with a washable fabric marker on a scrap that I already had in my stash.  I had everything in my stash but may need to buy more stuffing..but that is all.  This is the just right quick and satisfying sewing project I needed and it will give a hug to a wee innocent one in need.  I hope, hope, hope! to make a dozen for Mandi's project.  If my children love them, I know others will too.  I am so excited!!

If you want to participate and you live close to me, we can mail ours to Mandi together.  Send me a note here in comments so we can connect via email.

Act Like You Meant To

I lived with my grandma after college.  She let me paint the room she gave me.  Light blue, sunny yellow, hot pink..yes, it was fun!  She let me paint her dining room.  When I was not pleased with the faux effect I made, ALLOVER, the walls of her dining room, she said, "act like you meant to" do it.  I have remembered that, time and again, as I muddle through life and its ups and downs.  So, here's the latest but this time, I'm sharing my secret or maybe, it didn't hit the mark.  What do you think?  I still think it's cool.

My favorite solid black jersey maternity/nursing sundress got a wee smudge of Soft Scrub with bleach on it.  It had a reddish spot right on the bandeau top = very obvious.  But, I love, love, love my favorite summer black nursing dress.  I wore it a lot last summer during maternity and am loving it again in this Texas heat.  I likely won't wear it another summer as it is getting kinda faded anyway but still have some life.  I hated to toss it, so what did I do?  I have acted like I meant to do it...allover it!

from black to...



flower bursts?  blobs?  I don't know but, I like it. Next time, if there is one!, I will try to make it look more haphazard.  This looks a bit too, uh...deliberate.  I later added larger swirls for some diversity but forgot to take a pic!



that's a little grass on it but you can see up close here

tried to make the hemline more mottled with design

I have'nt painted in this painterly way in, well, a long, long time.  I just loaded up a spray bottle, half straight Chlorox bleach and half water and sprayed away.  That was fun.

My kitchen floor is gross::sewing

Yes, it is gross.  Food, dried, crusty food drips, crumbs and I suppose, its okay.  So what.  The tile is dirt or sand color anyway.  (Thank you first homeowner, good call.)  Well, I say that but I will sweep if five month old boy stays asleep through the crashing of Legos by the five and eight year old and the sure to be tantrum throwing of the three year old when I tell her we are eating Paleo Breakfast Pizza and no, she cannot have another Rainbow Popsicle.

We are, well the children are, getting over lingering illness.  Fevers for days, runny noses, even sinus infection of one boy and now today, I seem to be succumbing to it.  We have never had an illness, small illness, that takes this long.  I know appetites are not normal right now.  I try to remember the Immunoberry drops, vitamins, probiotics, borage oil.  Pedialyte freezer pops anyone?

I did, with the support of my husband, manage some sewing.  Its an escape from dragging on but not serious illness and, I am really tired of all the skin tight pant and top styles out there on the rack.  This is all I have had a chance to photograph today.  I rarely get photos taken of me but maybe I can get some more.  Silly, dark photo but you can see the silhouette of this raglan top anyway.  I put some sway in my hips to look sassy because that's how I feel in these tops, sassy and cute but not cutesey.

I love these easy patterns and like the way they look on me more than I expected.  They are VERY loose and large.  I am sure those ladies on "What Not To Wear" on TLC, would not approve..not snug enough but, I really like the silhouette I am getting here.  I can wear a nursing tank top and pop one of these over it which provides some modesty.  The fabrics are lightweight cotton or cotton lawn.  I am thinking, BoHo, Anthropologie, unique, different.

I have also constructed some pants.  All patterns are from the book, Simple Modern Sewing.  It is a Japanese sewing book which is translated to English.  It's not easy.  I have employed other finishing techniques I have garnered over the years from other patterns, sewing books and just paying attention to details and asking questions.  I make acquaintances at JoAnns all the time!  We talk sewing because we love it.  This book leaves out details and that might frustrate a beginner sewist.

Here is another not so fab photo but there it is.  The one on the left is the one I modeled.  I made two more!  Oh yeah, me likes, a lot.  I pick up cotton or linen or blend fabrics that I love, whenever I find them or there is a sale, even if I don't know what I will do with them yet, that way I have some good material to work with when I have inspiration and make time to do it.  Usually 2 to 2.5 yards is enough to make a top or pants for a woman.

Back to that floor and the laundry and the dishes and the school lessons and the runny nose.  I do love my life at home, I really do.

Lovely neck casing detail, the best part of the top.

What are you making these days?  Please share a link!

What's going on::waiting::living

Seems I think more thoughts than I can record here.  I wish that I could type more often, but, it does not happen with life happening all around me.

Food.  My creation based on Cathe Olson's popcorn recipe found here and then I add Braggs aminos by spraying it on, cheddar and spice seasoning from Frontier Co-Op and powdered wheat grass.  Please use organic popcorn.  Don't get me started on GMO foods.  I am proud of adding that wheat grass ya'll.  My kiddos walk around with green around their mouths and on their fingers as if it were normal.  So good for them and me too.  Wish Martin could enjoy popcorn.  He abides by during movie nights when we enjoy it most often.  We watched The Iron Giant last night, have you seen it?  Wow. There were some "shutups" and even a "what in the hell?"  I thought, huh, this is a children's movie....we will weed those out as they come as the story plot was so good.  I can even relate this animated robot movie to the Lord Jesus Christ this week as I am sure, the boys will reminisce about the movie.  Some good points made on sacrifice and also judging one by their appearance..some good things in there.  Stream it and see yourself.

School paces daily Monday through Friday, often ending on Thursday and fills most of my planning and orchestrating time in between food and laundry and house maintaining...hummm, today I do need to mop....will try to go for it, will try.  However, spot spray and wiping is just fine too.

Lots of glitter glueing for the littlest one.  Glueing her markers, her fingers, wee bits of paper to other wee bits of paper and plenty on the table.  Ah well, table cloths are so good.  She has avoided the wall so far.  Why I wonder?

New school supplies and two workbooks have energized "school time" for the oldest..who knew?  the boy wanted workbooks?!  He was ready for less "at elbow" mama/teacher and more independence and this has helped his attitude to stay positive.  Spelling Workout and Zaner-Bloser manuscript for continuous stroke handwriting.  Planning to add cursive lessons soon.

And this guy, not yet five years old, he wants to do everything his three years older brother who can read, can do...I am having to do things on the fly with him..thank you Starfall and my fab all-in-one from HP so I can copy worksheets that are appropriate for him too so he can "do school" too.  I am also working with him on handwriting.  He is ready and needs to make good habits now.  He does not mind learning how to hold his pencil well.  I can tell he likes that I am more "formal" with him now.  So cute.

Oh Calvin and Hobbes, you complete me.  The boy's favorite, well, next to Legos, past time.

They also have binders, as suggested by The Well-Trained Mind, Susan-Wise Bauer..they love it!

Field trips that feed mom's soul...the current very, very favorite is the local yarn shop.  We have all four of us learned to use the yarn swift.  A wooden, hand cranked contraption that makes center winding a long hank of wool into a neat little ball in seconds or minutes.  Fun stuff.  Also, again, a chance to take turns and not fight over a "toy".  Ah, those ladies are so nice to me there.

The growing and the anticipation of our new little one.  I was thinking today that I like that I have all winter babies.  I get to slog it out in the Texas heat of spring/summer and just when the "oven" is really cranking in the late second and then third trimester, I get sweet release and, almost a reward for it all in the cool breezes coming our way.  Not bad.  Will take it as it comes.

Teaching and knitting are very compatible.  My eyes and brain keep very happily busy juggling both and the children are used to it.  They almost don't like it if I am just staring at them while I assist with a lesson.  So funny.

So satisfying.  A new umbilical cord hat made earlier this week and plenty more new things on the needles.  I LOVE knitting.  Duh, you say.

Then there was Friday.  The biopsy.  Martin is doing really well.  We are nutting out things.  Planning the next steps based on the diagnosis.  We live with cancer all the time and never get away from it.  I have a friend whose husband thought he had a recurrence while she was pregnant with their third daughter.  Her sister wisely said, God is bigger than any lump.  So true.  I still get sad and cry a little with decisions to be made soon.  I don't pray for it to go away.  I pray for courage and wisdom to make great decisions.  I know God has not forgotten Martin and his family.  We see it daily in many ways.  Please read or re-read Martin's post here.  He is a great man and this is how he truly thinks and believes.  He is a true gift to me and our children.

We will update soon with results of the biopsy.  We are always in His everlasting arms.

Thanks for stopping by to see "whats going on".

In my work basket



My first granny dishcloth

You can always tell a lag in my blog log occurs for illness or sewing/knitting!  This one has been a bit of both.  All are well now and I have found a new passion, knitting dishcloths!  They are so satisfying.  I get a small swatch of a beautiful new stitch to add to my repertoire of stitches for future projects and a lovely little useful gift.  I have one gift set I am finishing up now and,
 plan to make more as I can gather up more cotton yarn on sale.  I mean really, aren't they beautiful?  I found the typical grandmother pattern, to the right, that you may be familiar with, on Ravelry but this book, yes, I bought a book (not my fave thing to do as there are so many free patterns online) after searching Ravelry and not finding something beautiful and doable.  More Than A Dozen Dishcloths.  This is the thing.  What I mean when I say "doable".  Often, a knitting pattern is plenty doable/easy enough, say any of Diane Soucy's patterns here which I do love for beginning knitting and will likely use again for something, but, it they can be just boring or plain and I get bored and the end result is not so impressive.  Not only that, but when you make a big swath of plain old knit stitch, your mistakes show up like a red flag!  The granny dishcloth is the exception to boring knitting in my opinion though.  As the blogger, pattern writer, avid knitter, Very Pink says here, it is like "a chef preparing an egg"...an opportunity to do a very good job on a simple project.  I love Very Pink's perfectly manicured nails and cute hair in all her tutorial videos and her hands are so beautiful to watch as she knits.  (That may be the visual artsy person in me, I notice nice hands!) If you search and watch You Tube videos on knitting tutorials, you will see what I mean.  Lots of poorly lit, poorly filmed tutorials and ladies, please take care of your nails?!  I am sorry to criticize them but, there it is..it is true.  In the linked video, she shows you just how to make a Granny dishcloth...it is too fun I tell you, and it is fast!  Do it!  Here are some photos from More Than A Dozen Dishcloths:

 This one is called "Purple Passion" but mine is in a colorway called Tangerine.  I can see this pattern on a sweater for my little girl.

 This one is called "Fruit Salad" and I made mine in a variegated pale green and white.  It makes really good nubby texture for scrubbing.

 Some more patterns from More Than A Dozen Dishcloths that I plan to knit.  I love how this "Chocolate" pattern, looks like squares of bar chocolate!

And this one, Lemon Punch, I will need a trip to the local knit shop for help...how they heck do you knit a right or left crossover?  I cannot get a video help on it...love how the stitches look like lemons!  (uh, yeah, these are poorly lit pics, I am guilty)

And, Citrus stripes, how cool and refreshing for a kitchen sink to share a space with, love it!

I plan to make some for Christmas gifts and a set to clean up baby cheeks after meals as well as a set for me to use for dishes...can't wait, I tell you, can't wait!  Hope I don't burn out..that happens too..will have to pace myself and work on a bigger project too.

I have begun a Bookstore on my website!  See under the top header called "Mueller Five Bookstore".  You can buy the book there in the category "Crafting Resources" if you want to give a try.  I joined an Associates program with Amazon and so would generate a small percentage of any sale via Amazon..thanks for checking it out!

You can also source Pisgah Peaches & Creme yarn in my Bookstore too under "Crafting Resources".  I tried to find some of the reccommended colors but not all of them and picked some I like too.  You will need less than one skein, listed as "each" for one dishcloth so buy one per dishcloth you plan to knit.

 

In my workbasket

more on this below....

Hey Pooh!

I made a hat I love and finished it this morning totally about a week to make in worsted weight yarn. See my notes here on Ravelry. Yes, I joined Ravelry for knitters...and love it.

My model does not have the human bulbous head that would do this hat justice but, he will have to do. I plan to make another one using yarn from Quince & Co. in the color apricot for myself. I have ordered one more color, storm and I like them..they are muddy/muted tones that I think will work for me.

And for those of you wondering how I do this with three small children underfoot? Well, er, uhem, there are sometimes ...casualties. This time, an inexpensive but well loved wedding gift. A sizable serving/salad bowl. ;-(

What is in my workbasket?

my first knitwear coming along..

artsy clutch

in the works...

fabric combinations...

new spring/summer time pj's

More appropriately ...what is in my craft room?

Amanda Soule, who I am inspired by creatively, has a regular post on 'what is in your workbasket'? It is a peek at things she is making. Handmade things that are utilitarian mostly and especially, they are beautiful or playful. Sewing, embroidery, knitting, food making, baking, etc. She wants others to post on what they are crafting for their home and family. She takes photos with a nice Nikon camera too. I don't post on her blog but want to share it here on mine. I don't agree with her politics and some of her child raising (if you happen to stumble upon other things on her blog as linked) but that is another subject..I simply appreciate her creative eye and her inspiration to have her children along side her as she creates...that is what I strive for in my home always..the children creating with me. Or, at least asking questions while rolling around on the floor or listening to German lessons or read alouds on the cd player while mommy creates. Something like that anyway.

I am thankful to find other women who are fully engaged in the task of homemaking and child training and still carve out time for themselves to create. It makes such a difference in my day to create something...food, a little sewn bag, a bit of knitting or embroidery. It feeds that creative beast that lurks inside but with the task of children, does not get out as much as she once did...

I used to think that creating the way I want to and raising my children the way I want to did not coincide very well...but, they do somehow come together. There are real applications for their growth and learning in working alongside me at the sewing machine or the kitchen counter. Some times are better than others. Many times, they don't want to do what I am doing and then I am spinning plates...keeping them at task on something else or free play fairly while I work on my project and that is too stressful at times. I just have to abandon my work temporarily. Often, I am nursing and sewing simultaneously! I am keeping a harmony in our home.

I think that I have to remember to pray for God to prioritize my day...not me and that is the real tough part. I have to stop and wash dishes and laundry and teach, teach, teach my people what they need in the moment even if I want to make one more stitch! Of course, teach what they need in the moment as well as what I deliberately teach. Ewww..ohhhh...that is tough indeed when the creative muse beckons.