Shawl Wrap Cardigan

Please excuse the awkward photos herein. I'm 100 miles away from old Helen, and have no grace in front of a camera. None. Although my belly is pretty outstanding these days.I got a little experimental again with my basic drape cardigan pattern. Prior to my confinement I'd been lurking in dark corners of fabric stores to find a white or cream lightweight knit to no avail. I picked up this heavier knit and stared at it for weeks. The other day, with my cousin's encouragement and with a whole run of mediocre movies as our soundtrack, I turned it into this.I had wanted to make a simple shawl collar. As usual, I was working on the fly so I exaggerated the size of the collar, fully intending to cut it down when it was all put together. But when I tried it on it looked surprisingly nice. So the big collar will stay, though it does make the whole thing more wintry. It's 100% cotton, with raw edges as usual. I feel like it gives my daily pajama-fest a touch of class. The vast expanse of blank cream cotton is like a childhood double dare to add some sort of craziness. Like a big stenciled fox or a bunch of printed cotton or something. But I also want to keep it simple. Any thoughts, dear readers?

Jail Break

Ok, in all of my self pity the other day, I neglected to mention that my cousin, Kimberley, has actually also been staying with my parents this week. She's single-handedly saved my sanity. Beckett's completely smitten with her too, and she's been so helpful with him, but mostly we spent the week watching romantic comedies and eating peanut butter cups with our sketchbooks on our laps. Perfect.

Today, to top it off she staged a jail break and took me out to the Pacific Fabrics outlet. Here's my new loot, and with all the new ideas she's given me, I'm almost looking forward to spending the next 10 days cooped up.Kimberley is on a short break before returning to San Francisco for Summer session at the Academy of Art University. Redundant name, right? but a stellar school. She's studying technical design in their fashion department and picking her brain about how to really make clothes and patterns has been awesome. Not to mention that she's been doing some surface design (my field of choice) so we've been able to wax artistic about reactive dyes and photo emulsion.

Kimbo is heading home to Oslo after her summer classes. She'll be back for the big wedding in September, and for other short breaks here and there, but really she divides her time between San Francisco and Norway, so having her here this week was just one of those perfectly serendipitous things. With her help, I even did a little sewing late last night. I'll post my latest cardigan in a little bit.

Grandma and Grandpa

B and I have been staying with my parents since last Thursday. I'm itching for home, for my husband, for my own space with all of the trappings of my hobby filled life, but Beckett's had many adventures (lumber yard!!!) and I've made a serious dent in the new release movie selection. So, things are pretty good.

This little bird is now at 35 weeks, and well on his way to being out of the danger zone. The looming threat now is that his mother will be so mad with cabin fever by the time he's born that she'll abandon her newborn son and his brother to push a grocery cart down sidewalks, mumbling to herself about the injustices of confinement.

Bed rest is exhausting, contrary to how it sounds. I'm exhausted and have nothing to show for it, which does little for my mental state. But my to do lists are flourishing, and I have no shortage of new ideas. So, dear reader, keep your fingers crossed that shortly mothandsparrow will once again be a blog of action, not just words.

One Man's Junk

The boys happened upon a little neighborhood yard sale yesterday morning, and brought home these treasures. That was it for our day, because really, what else do you need besides hours building red domino runs and illustrated explanations of the rack and pinion?

Salty and Sweet

Thanks to an amazing and generous visitor my dishes are done for the first time in years (or so it seems) and I have a new pair of old school sandals. Aren't they darling? Yes, they're official Saltwater Sandals, just like I wore between the ages of 2 and 6, and again between the ages of 13 and 17. I'm in love and filled with nostalgia.

To go with these little dearies, and thanks to the dangerous combination of bed rest + a new mini laptop, I did a little online shopping and have these waiting for me in Seattle (we're heading down there tonight for a nice long weekend.) With the cardigans I've made, and a few more I have planned, I might make it out of this confinement with a modicum style. At least my husband will be relieved to repossess his penguin pajama pants.

I could really see online shopping becoming a problem in the next few weeks for me. Fortunately, I have nowhere to wear fancy new duds, and by the time I do my life will be a messy infant affair, so I hopefully won't go too crazy. It's still fun to peruse Modcloth and Anthropologie and J Crew, at least for new sewing ideas.

More Restier Bed Rest

More discouraging news from the doc this week. And really there isn't much we can do beyond keeping our fingers crossed that this baby will stay put for at least 2 more weeks. But just in case we've adjusted further, picking up some paper plates and bowls, and packing a bag of sandwiches and fruit and snacks to keep by the couch to minimize my efforts.

So far it's worked like a charm. I've only gotten up to use the restroom and to get one glass of milk all day. Frankly about an hour ago I was so sick of staying put I was ready to throw myself out the front window. But I opted for a less dramatic form of defenestration, and climbed out the back window and onto the roof instead.So I'm sitting here on my remarkably comfortable resin adirondack style chairs, with my new toy on my lap and my camera at the ready. Still immobile and confined, but feeling like I can breathe again.
It's beautiful out here. My garden has turned into a lush container jungle despite my recent neglect. It's warm and balmy and feels like thunderstorm weather and the sky is mottled with the dark underbellies of spring stormclouds. This is just what I needed. B too. Playing foreman to his tiny excavation team is all he really needs to have an adventure filled day. I feel human again. Calm and human. The winds are picking up now, and a few raindrops have dotted the blacktop. We'll have to run for cover and enjoy the bluster from the great indoors, which will actually feel great and not imprisoning after our little garden vacation.

My New Toy... or... Define "Spoiled" Pt. 2

Lookie lookie what my husband surprised me with to help keep me a) off my feet and b) entertained. It's called an MSI Wind and I love it!!! It's cute and quick, the screen is clear and bright despite its diminutive size. I'm such a happy camper. There are no limits to the benefits of being married to a genius, and this is no exception. Since becoming an integral part of the Brewer family it's undergone a few after-market mods, making it even sweeter.

It doesn't have the gusto to easily run a program like photoshop, for example, but with remote access I can do whatever I need to from my home computer. So, should I be put on full bed rest, and thereby made to move in with my parents for a spell, I won't have to give up blogging!

I have to say I was shocked by this gift - this is not the sort of thing ZB and I usually buy at all, let alone give. I'm dumbfounded and moved and grateful and so excited I can't stop touching it. I've always been a sucker for miniatures, though.

Sweet and Lola

A while back I blogged a little about my sister's upcoming wedding and the Save the Date ideas we'd been collaborating on together. As these creative sorts of things often (and rightly should) do, the ideas shifted and morphed until she developed a whole new idea. Here's the final result, which she created with her fiancee. It's so perfectly adorable, and so perfectly them.



I'm thinking the success of this might shift the entire aesthetic of the wedding and little bears and toadstools and bubbly clouds will be found peeking from each centerpiece. How fun would that be?

In Which She Inadvertantly Makes a Bathrobe

Here's my latest cardigan creation. It's just about the most comfortable thing I've ever worn. But I have to say, and it may just be that pastel color, that it totally looks like a bathrobe. Maybe after the little one is born I'll toss this in a dye bath and see what happens.
Despite the resemblance to housewife couture , I'm very happy with the pattern I made for it and with the extra collar detail I added. I've been wanting to make more of these drapey guys, but have wanted to add some x factor to make them unique, not just an army multicolored clones marching in my closet.
It's in a rayon blend jersey and is super light weight like the striped guy I made a while back. It's so soft and very flattering. Given that I can't leave my house these days, do I care that it looks like a 1970s Ballet Russe Prima Ballerina's housecoat? No, not really at all, but I would love to see if a little gray Procion Mx and I could make it look more sophisticated.

Hey Amelia! Still offering your afternoons? Have anything you'd like to dye?

Does anyone out there have any suggestions on how to dress this up? A tie belt? fabric corsages? buttons? stencils? anyone? anything?

In other randomness, I've been feeling a little weird about being so faceless here on mothandsparrow. Especially since I've been sewing things to cover my big belly, and then just showing them on the bellyless Helen. So, in a moment of silliness I asked Beckett to take some pics of me in this cardigan. So Funny!!! He got some pretty great abstract shots of a rotating fan and a laundry basket. Here's the best one with me actually in it.Very avant garde, I think the kid's got a real future ahead of him.

Ax and Apple

Remember way back when I found my boots? I never gave proper credit to the awesome etsy vendor and fellow blogger who brought me together with those perfect Dexters. Jamie of Ax and Apple - collector and seller of vintage greatness, creator of fantastic, unique jewelry, and general trend aficionado. I've been stalking her blog ever since (and dropping hints to my husband about her jewelry - so far no success.) Yesterday she commented on a post and it made me so happy to have struck up this distant virtual friendship, that I wanted to share her with you all.She's amazing, the jewelry she makes from vintage bits and lovelies is completely drool worthy. In addition to sharing a similar (but not exact!) shoe size, she also shares my love of skulls, feathers, and things trapped in glass domes. Things that, though I've neglected them since leaving art school and entering mom-ness, still give me heart palpitations.Yes, that's a tiny harmonica! Checking her blog makes me feel hip in my child-proofed world. She's like if you took my soggy woodland Northwest self and set me out to dry in the Texas sun. And then made me 10x cooler. Check out her blog here and her etsy shop here.