Five has discovered that his arm strength to body mass ratio has changed rather drastically in his favor and he can hang from things! He is soo delighted by this it's impossible to watch without feeling the same. Our apartment playground is built for older kids mostly, but this little piece here is just perfect for Five.
The days are getting decidedly chillier. Somehow, this makes me more likely to want to spend the day at the park. I'm much more comfortable waiting at the bottom of the slide with a nice sweater and a fresh breeze than sweating all over the playground equipment. Five has discovered that his arm strength to body mass ratio has changed rather drastically in his favor and he can hang from things! He is soo delighted by this it's impossible to watch without feeling the same. Our apartment playground is built for older kids mostly, but this little piece here is just perfect for Five. I've been slowly whittling away at my birthday/Christmas list, which unfortunately, I can't share for quite a while. But! I am determined to successfully take up embroidery this Fall/Winter (I've said that for the last few years). I just finished a sampler of sorts. It's only 5 or so different stitches, but used in combinations to produce different effects. I decided if I was going to do a sampler, it should be in a useful form at least- what better than a 5? I had so much fun with this, there will definitely be more embroidery in my near future... Any winter projects on your to-do list?
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You know how once in a while, ever so seldomly, you have a day that is so perfect in every way, it's like from a storybook? We had one of those this weekend. It was sooo great. I seriously felt like I was in some kind of movie, or instructional book on what childhood is supposed to be like. Okay, enough with the reflections. We took 5 to an apple orchard for the first time on Saturday. I know, right? So picture-book-y! The weather was warmish, but with a wind that had just enough bite to let you know that Fall is coming. The strange weather we've had this year meant that the crop was really small, but luckily for us, we were there on the perfect weekend when everything was good and ready and not gone yet. As a pretty serious apple-lover, 5 really got into picking apples. The hard part was getting him to not take a bite out of every single one he picked. Dad taught him how to look for bad spots and not to pick the rotten ones up off the ground. Important stuff. There were wagons. There was uneven terrain. For a boy who loves "bumps", this was his idea of heaven. We packed a little picnic lunch and 5 regaled us with tales of apple-picking heroics while we ate. This was such a special orchard- not only were there many varieties of apples to choose from, there were also sheep! 5 did not want to put his hand ANYWHERE NEAR that sheep's mouth, but he encouraged Dad to feed the sheep a grape. This is something we are still talking about. Yesterday, upon waking in the morning, 5 says to me "sheep. grape, dad. bite. chomp!" and so on... There were also grapes to be picked! We weren't going to get any, but 5 wandered over after lunch and sampled one and freaked out at how good they were. So naturally, we picked some grapes.
I feel like I'm ready for Fall now. School's in, apples harvested, bring on the cardigans. I made some new grown-up toys in this past week that I love! I was inspired by this tutorial I found on pinterest. It used Ikea rugs, but I was thrilled to see an excellent way to showcase some of my favorite home dec weight fabrics. I started with a Suzani print I got from Joann's last year (not photographed yet). The floor cushion measures about 2' by 2' by 1'. The bottom panel is a plain grey and I put a zipper along one of the bottom edges.
After I made the first one, I was dismayed to discover that upholstery foam is pretty stinkin' expensive! So, I got creative... I decided to stuff it with the blankets we don't often use. Bonus factor: I freed up some closet space! I did decide to make a more traditionally stuffed "fancy" one (for a present, of course). I used a 6" thick piece of upholstery foam on the bottom and cotton futon stuffing for the top. It is super comfy and I think the Ikea fabric makes it look ever so cool and modern. Aside from cramming the stuffing in, they were so easy and fun to make! Everything but the bottom panel can be easily cut from 1 yard of fabric and it came together in less than an hour. I don't know about you, but I find sometimes just the smallest "win" can give me the Earlier this summer, I was despairing over the lack of perfect tank tops laying around. Then I realized that I make clothes. Duh. I copied my perfect raglan T pattern from the armpits down and then added a bit of winging it for the neckline. Voila! Perfect racerback tank!
On the prototype (not pictured) the straps nearly outwitted me, but I think I have it figured out now. I have been so happy to have these few that I have made in the last month of near 100 degree temps, especially as I'm ridiculously picky about my tank tops. I prefer everything to be a racerback and it has to be fitted but not clingy etc etc. Now I just need Joann's to have my favorite teal ribbing back in stock... Happy Friday friends! I'm currently so far under the weather that I am using it as a blanket to help me sleep. While I'm busy recovering, I thought I'd share this little house I made for Five. I used AmbrosiaGirl's simple tutorial to transform one of our leftover moving boxes into Five's favorite hiding spot. It took about 15 minutes and some of my excessive tape stash. Yay!
On a side note, Fred's been trying to teach 5 to play hide-and-seek. 5 has three hiding spots; under the desk, in the house, and under the laundry basket. When it's Fred's turn to hide, he tells him where he's supposed to hide, counts "one too six six six" and then yells "boo!" at Fred. Best. Game. Ever. The summer is flying by so fast! It's a bit late, but I thought I'd try to catch up a little... While I'm away at work all day, 5 and his Dad go on adventures! Every day! They go to the river, fish, bike all over town, walk to the coop for bananas, and get up to all kinds of mischief. (5 is wearing one of his most recent mama-made tanks, refashioned from one of my favorite old T-shirts). Also, since my last post, 5 has become obsessed with "counting". His method of counting is whimsical at best- there's usually a color or two thrown in and he repeats his favorite numbers at will. So far, I am loving 21 month old math. He has become an avid copycat, repeating the most entertaining words uttered in any given sentence (read: watch. your. mouth. mama.) My favorite August development though is his newfound use of the words big and tiny. Tiny especially, because it's all his. Fred and I don't say tiny. Our books don't say tiny. We're really not sure where it's from. But we love to hear everything in our lives that is now big or tiny. The best parts of my day? The hugs and kisses I get leaving and then returning from work. The boy has really learned to show some love.
What small amount of sewing I have squeezed in in the last few weeks has been thoroughly summer-y. With triple digit temperatures and all three of us spending so much time outside (some of us for work, some for play...), 5 and I have had need of more tank tops! There is a whole parade to be modeled and photographed, but that little dude is rather uncooperative while sleeping, so I'll just show you the one for now... I'm so happy this one worked out. It's made from an old shirt of mine that is so ridiculously small I can't really believe I used to wear it. I loved this shirt and it makes me feel kind of magical to be able to change it into something my son can now love. Here's a nice detail shot where you can see I took my time and did a little zigzag stitching so the ribbing would lay flat. I don't think I did it on the other ones I made for him, but I was feeling pretty proud of this one.
I also just perfected my own tank top pattern- all the things I like in a tank top, together, at once! Sometimes it takes me a really long time, but sewing for myself is soooo satisfying. It may just be enough to get me through another hot hot sweaty exhausting week. Hooray! While I would say that we are mostly moved in (as in, we are not living out of boxes), there is still a lot of "home-making" to be done. However, there are areas that I'm pleased as punch with and I thought I'd share them with you this week. Living Room This is definitely the most design-y area of the house. We have our fancy, ginormous Greg Green painting, the Lake Superior papercut, the rocking chair that Fred reupholstered himself (heck, yes!), the Eames chair that my In-Laws got for us, and our weird Roman/Baroque plaster/marble end table. I know, it IS a lot of fanciness in one look. I figured you could handle it though. The wall that faces this features all of our gold frames, it's a pretty classy/fancy living room if I do say so myself. Bedroom The other place we've done a lot of work is the bedroom. For obvious reasons. I didn't like any of our framed pieces for over the bed so I broke out my super special scraps pile and made a reversible bunting. I'm sure you know what I mean about the super special scraps too- that 7" x 12" piece you've saved for years waiting for just the right project... I think it turned out fab- the other side is warmer jewel tones, perfect for a cold, dreary Fall or Winter maybe. Facing the bed, what I get to fall asleep looking at, is my favorite embroidery. The piece in the middle was done by my Oma (grandma) and the two flanking it were given to me by a U.P. friend who said "I found these and I don't like them, but I thought you might..." YEAH! To the right you can see the drapes I made for the living room of our old house- they fit perfectly in our bedroom windows. Lastly, to the left is a framed page of a Charley Harper calendar. It was the October 2010 page, the page that I thought would be for 5's birth month. I was wrong- I should've known the little stinkpants would wait until November. This last picture is perhaps the simplest, but also perhaps the vignette I'm most proud of. Fred's parents gave us this dandelion papercut years ago and I have really struggled in finding things to pair it with (oh my, two dangling participles in a row, I hope no English teachers are reading this!). I finally gave up trying to find something that relates even remotely and am finally happy with the result. I'm not sure why I didn't think of this before- my taste in all things tends to run in a Dada-ist direction...
Sorry, no pics of 5 today, I have some real winners coming up soon though! Have a great week! Whew! I feel like it's been forever since I was here last. And it kind of has been... But. After moving, realizing that internet does not magically appear in one's computer, and getting that all figured out, it turns out that my new, full-time job kicks. my. butt. Yeah, not exactly a gentle transition back into the working world as on top of the work it's been SO HOT! Like heat stroke hot. Like cancelled two days of work because of the heat hot. Which is not to say that I'm complaining- I'm so grateful that I was able to find a job so quickly that allows me to support my husband going back to school and keep my family fed and clothed with a lovely roof over our heads. Mainly what I'm saying is that my assumption that I would easily be able to keep up with my desire to create and then share stuff with you was CRAZY UNREALISTIC. Hmmm. Even when I was working three jobs (many years ago) I never found myself so drained of energy by the end of the day that the only things I could manage to do was put my feet up. Ok. Enough of that. It is also so great to be back in Madison! My parents get to see their favorite (and only) grandbaby all the time and it is wonderful. On the Fourth of July, 5 got to share his flag-dancing skills (which are mad btw) with his Oma and Opa and they've never been more proud. So fun. We get to walk up to the farmer's market on Saturday mornings, we can find local everything, and our apartment is so kid-friendly. We've finally started to fall into a rhythm and that is making life easier for all of us. With and extra-long holiday/heat wave weekend I have had a bit of time to create and feel human again. Yay on all accounts. Hopefully, I will get to share some of our new environment and well as some of the products of labors over the next few weeks. I've realized that every day and even 3 times a week is out of range for me, but I think I can manage one extra-good post per week. See you soon!
It's rather late, I know, but I wanted to share a few snapshots of the lovely day I had with my boys. 5 and I do a lot of stairclimbing these days and I never get tired of him asking to hold my hand (can't say the same of my legs...). Fred and 5 packed us a picnic lunch and we drove out to a new-to-us beach and spent a very sweet day on Lake Superior. Even amidst the angst and trauma of moving and packing etc I feel awfully lucky.
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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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