My Greatest Creation

31 Weeks

36 weeks

37 weeks

40 weeks



Birthday!



2 weeks

3 weeks



6 weeks

7 weeks



Baby toes!

9 weeks

Look how strong!

Super Baby and Super Daddy

10 weeks and a proud Mamma

Birthdays and new hobbies

My computer was virus infected last week. It seems it was more of an STD than a flu though, as it apparently had claws it was digging in to unusual places, and my poor sick husband had to work extra hard to get rid the infection. Gah!
On a happier note, I had a birthday, and my lovely husband acquired a gorgeous bouquet for me. He patronized a local florist and mentioned that he had been thinking of purple roses, which she had! And she suggested Stargazers, which he knows I love. And this lovely addition of Waxflowers. I think they are quickly becoming a favorite as well; when you rub the leaves they leave a lovely citrus scent on your fingers. Well done him.
My friend Stephanie is a wonderful chef, and made me an unbelievable cake. The interior is purple marbled and lemon lavender flavored. A true masterpiece in my home.
My mother took me shopping as has become tradition for my birthday, and she purchased a length of fabric I've been coveting, along with some super cute knee high socks from Sock Dreams, here in Portland. If you like unusual socks, I highly recommend them. They even have responsible, office worthy socks if you trend toward those.
I've recently taken up crochet. The lovely Nora taught me some basics and I seem to have really taken a liking to the craft. I have skeins of crafty type yarn that is to scratchy for clothing, but perfect for things like the hot pads I've made. I think I'll hone my skills by working through the cheaper yarn, making things like this until I'm happy enough to move on to working with the more expensive, softer stuff that I had to diligently avoid looking at while in my local yarn store. You see I simply HAD to go into the shop as the cheap, plastic needle I had been using finally snapped on Friday. Woe.
Of course I must not abandon my sewing machine, and have several projects in mind that really should be completed before baby comes in May. I have some red silk to make into a Regency robe, and I now have the lovely purple stripe to make into a Regency day dress. I also need to convert some jeans I have into maternity toped jeans as I am currently working with only one pair of pants that I can wear. Oh! I passed six months last week as well. What a week!
I acquired a late birthday present for Nora, two wax sealing stamps and some flexible wax that promises to be kind to the USPS machines. We'll see. I also purchased some wax for myself, which looks lovely, I must say.
Cheers!

A Month of Letters

Today marks day one of my particular friend Mary R Kowal's challenge to write a letter a day for every postal day in February. I am taking up that challenge, but I think I may have an edge for this particular month as my birthday and Ayyam-i-Ha both fall in February, so I'll have the pre-made excuse to write thank you cards and Happy Ayyam-i-Ha cards. Today I sent off my first letter, a thank you note to my in-laws for a lovely birthday dinner on Sunday. I've also completed a letter today to be sent tomorrow to a Regency friend, written with my calligraphy pen and dip ink. My hand writing is ok, at best, but I hope it will improve upon regular use. I've pulled out my wax and seal and will attempt to send it in such a way as to not muck up the postal system's automated machines. They apparently don't like that kind of thing.

New projects on the horizon

I’ve had many projects going, both physically, and mentally. I think it must be a combination of the weather, and the exhaustion of growing a baby. I am reluctant to leave the comforts of my cozy home and would much rather, say, learn crochet, or teach a friend to make ruffles, both of which I’m doing.
I am what is called an animator for a group of Jr Youth (12-14 year olds) and we have embarked on the joys of loom knitting. They seem to be enjoying it, and I enjoy teaching them the skill. I hope to build up their confidence in it enough to convince them to join in the next knitting for homeless event, as one of the purposes of the group is to help them find ways that they can find joy in helping others.  
I’ve made a couple skirts to accommodate my changing figure, the easiest of which is drawstring. I had fun working with the stretchy material for the printed skirt; I know folks have difficulty working with stretch knit, but I seem to work fine with it, which makes me happy as I will be chopping the top off of a couple pairs of jeans to add a stretch panel to those.

A full length skirt with a stretchy
panel to accomodate the belly

Close up of the fabric

On the learning crochet front, I am rather enjoying the craft. My stitches appear to be pretty even, although I seem to be having trouble keeping the length of the scarf I’m working on consistent.  I think it must have something to do with the difficulty I have in reading a pattern, oh and the dropping of stitches. Thankfully, the further I get in the project, the more I seem to be regulating myself, so I must be learning something. And the fact that it’s wider at the end then the rest is ok, since I can widen the other end to even it out. Fake it till you make it, right?

This one is going to my friend Analeigh, as
she like quirky things. Which it certainly is.

 I’ve also acquired a scroll frame and lap stand, which I hope will make embroidery easier since I won’t have to grasp the hoop for those projects - which brings me to one of my mental projects. I’ve had the notion to start thread painting, which is basically a multimedia type of artwork on canvass or fabric. My idea would be to take Regency images, most likely from our events, translate them into a simple drawing which I can then transfer onto my fabric. From there I could line stitch and fill in with thread and/or silk embroidery. I can embellish with lace or fabric bits. I have grand ideas about this medium, you see. One of my first projects will likely be a scene translation from the next book in a Regency series written by a friend of mine. I took her up on the opportunity to read the next two (unpublished) installments and the scene will be from the one that is being published in, I believe, March. She’s moving away in May, and I hope it will make a lovely going away gift and something for her to remember us by. Unless by some crazy chance I get it finished in time for the book release (haha). Deadlines are good for me, otherwise, nothing gets finished!

Speaking of deadlines, perhaps I should set a few in order to finish some Regency projects. I have one purple suede boot complete, a matching set of gloves started, and I’ve purchased a length of red silk to make a robe from, since I couldn’t bring myself to steal Nora’s robe.  I would set a goal for next Saturday, as that is a whist party, but I think I might only have time to finish the other boot. Although I really need to finish the gloves as well as they would be most helpful in this chilly weather. And they would look lovely matched with my boots. I’ll try and finish them both by next weekend. I have a whole week, what could possibly distract me from the task?