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a portrait of my son, once a week, every week, in 2013
5, hiding, his big thing lately. He hides from dinner, toothbrushing, diaper changes, getting dressed, you name it. This last month has been much more challenging than I was expecting. I had the flu, then pneumonia, then Fred got sick, then 5 got sick and now he has pneumonia. It has been a month spent on the couch, under covers, with books and movies. Wishing you happy February snuggles...
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 a portrait of my son, once a week, every week, in 2013 Five playing on his rocking horse that his Pop Pop made him (made him!) for Christmas from directions found in a 1943 Popular Mechanics. It is almost exactly the same as the one his Pop Pop made for him (the history!).
Yes, I too have been inspired by Jodi's portrait series. I loved seeing them all last year and when she asked if anyone wanted to join her I just had to say yes! (perhaps a bit late, but, well, you know...). If you are not familiar with Jodi's blog Che and Fidel, I highly recommend it. She is a lovely writer, photographer, and mama. 
Things have been getting awfully festive at our house lately! We put up our tree last weekend (after way more drama than I anticipated to get some white wire tree lights). Fred remembered just after we were done decorating that the box of presents his mother sent were not for under the tree, but on the tree. We opened them up, and amongst our annual ornaments, a gorgeous set of red crocheted snowflakes!!!! (you can see part of one in my new header). So. Excited. 
There was also snowguy building! We had our first snow a week or two ago and the boys immediately got out an built a "snow guy". As you can see, 5 is pretty enamored... 
Until he finally melted away a few days ago, every exit and entrance included a stop to put an arm around the snow guy. What a good friend my little dude is. Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Need any last minute kid gifts? I've got a super fun one for you! Make your own set of ABC, 123, or whatever type of blocks you want! 
To make these blocks you will need: ::Unfinished wooden blocks, however many you choose- I got a set of 26 from ems woodbydesign on Etsy. ::6 images per block, cut to fit the size of your block face- my blocks were 1.5", so I cut my images to 1.25". I got my letter and number images from Leo Reynold's flickr page- he offers his images free for download and use under a Creative Commons' license. You could use magazine images, scrapbook paper, any kind of paper products as well. ::Mod Podge. I'm sure there are other mediums that would work just as well, but this is what I used. ::Scissors. Sharper the better. ::A foam brush. Other brushes would probably work too, but I like the foam brush because it leaves less of a brushstroke. 
Repeat for all sides of the blocks. Give them at least 24 hours to dry and cure not touching anything else. The more dry time you can give them, the better. Enjoy! 
Are you going handmade this year? What are you making?
I know it's been SOOO quiet here, but I'm still around! I have finally finished all my holiday gifts and it's starting to get less crazy on the homefront.
I promise I will have an excellent DIY gift tutorial up here so very soon! Until then, I hope these outtakes from our annual Christmas card photo shoot will suffice. Happy December! 
It's been two years. Two years with the sweetest, funniest, smartest little boy a mama could ask for. Definitely the two best years of my life. 
This boy enjoys the simplest of pleasures. Balloons? Coolest thing in the world. 
Breakfast smoothie followed by getting to do the dishes? A real celebration indeed! 
We celebrated with a little party for family and friends. There was bubble wrap to run on, tamborines and kazoos aplenty, and a cardboard tunnel leading to a balloon pit. 5 was into it. That alone made every minute of planning and cooking etc so very worthwhile. 
And, there was, of course, cake. Chomp!
The ferocious lion baby and his half-eaten antelope mama wish you the very happiest of Halloweens! 
5's been wearing (most) of his lion costume all day. I'll officially call it a success! He was even willing to demonstrate his fearsome roar for the camera a few times. Lucky us!
For those of you who don't follow Elsie Marley, last week was KCWC. That stands for Kid's Clothing Week Challenge- in order to participate, you agree to spend one hour a day working on making kid's clothes for one whole week. I did not officially participate, but I did sew some clothes for 5 last week! If you've never heard of it, you should definitely check out Elsie Marley and her KCWC flickr group. 
5 is still a huge fan of spending as much time outside as possible, regardless of the weather. With the increasingly colder weather, we've been trying out some new warmth-inducing outfits. The boys reached a consensus on overalls with a long pants, long sleeves one piece underneath. We only have one of each of these, so Fred requested some more for dirty outside playtime... 
I'll have more (and better) pictures of these soon, but for now, here are the details: The Pattern: I drafted a pattern from his existing ones, simplifying a few of the extra fussy details. The Fabric: The outside is from Jessica Jones' Outside Oslo line, and the inside is brown cotton flannel from Joann's The Sewing: I decided a flannel-lined overall would be the best for cozy-ness. I only ended up using 1/2 yard of each fabric, which was super exciting. They came together surprisingly easily, probably 2-3 hours total sewing time. My pattern for the legs turned out a bit wonky, so I had to re-cut and then bind the hem. I really liked the result though. I used snap tape on the inseam and replaced the buckles and standard overall buttons with regular buttons. That was a bit of an adventure as I sewed the button holes completely random sizes and then just tried buttons from my stash until I found ones that fit. Almost all of them are different sizes. Overall, I'm calling them an unmitigated success. 5's reaction- "wooooooooow"! 
The long pants, long sleeve one piece was way easier and faster- I will definitely crank out a bunch more of these! Again, proper model-y shots coming... The Pattern: drafted from his existing one, minus the hood and button placket on front, converted to raglan sleeve. The Fabric: recycled T-shirts and red cotton ribbing from Joann's (plus snap tape bought online from an Etsy shop a few years ago) The Sewing: This is like a fancy version of his raglan shirts that I can whip out in about 15 minutes! This one probably took me 30ish though, because of the snap tape. Seriously, I cannot stress enough how easy this was- sew sleeves to body, minus last seam, add ribbing and top-stitching around the neck, sew up last seam, sew side seams, sew crotch panel, add snap tape, sew on ribbing around the bottom of legs, done! Overall, super fun with bonus sense of accomplishment! Coming up in the next week or two- a new recipe and a perfect holiday/ baby gift tutorial!
 ::These days are filled with raking, raking and more raking.  ::These days are filled with overalls, flannel-lined goodness (and plans for making more!)  ::These days are all about leaf stomping- on the sidewalks, in the yard, in the parking lot, anywhere and everywhere.  ::These days are full of requests for appole sidow (apple cider of course!)  ::These days are full of more demands than requests, with a "please" tacked on occasionally...  ::These days are full of appreciating every last second of fall. What are your days filled with?
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My name is Ansley Knoch. I am the creator of Rispok, a line of accessories for big and little people made from repurposed materials. I live in Madison, Wisconsin with my husband, Fred, and our son, also Fred, better known as 5. Archives
June 2013
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