Best Birthday Gift

It's a bird box...


A plane...

Or maybe it's my grandmother's sewing cabinet, lovingly repaired by my husband as my birthday gift.

This was never a piece of fine furniture; it was simply the utilitarian box that my grandmother Mabel lugged around with all of her thread and notions. But oh, does it bring back such lovely memories for me. Grammie's sewing machine was frequently out on our kitchen table, in the middle of everything, surrounded by piles of fabric and elastic as she worked on mending and other tasks. You had to be careful not to step on any of the straight pins that always ended up on the floor. The whirring of the motor was an ever present, but not unpleasant, background noise while we talked, played, read books, or watched TV in the adjoining living room. Grammie could mend anything, and would practically pull an article of clothing off your body if she saw a rip or a frayed seam. (It greatly upset her on those occasions when we explained that we actually wanted those holes in our jeans.)

My grandmother lived into her nineties, and continued sewing almost until the end of her days. She passed away in 1997, a few months before I was married. At that point the sewing cabinet landed in my mother's basement, much the worse for wear. One of the top covers was completely missing, and the other was broken in half. Other pieces were cracked and wobbly and dirty. A few years later it landed in my basement, and it gathered dust--lots and lots of dust!--while DH honed his woodworking skills and tackled other projects. Then, a few months ago he pulled it out and made new tops for it, including these perfectly shaped handles.


He also had to do some creative repairs on the side edges, involving much measuring, cutting, gluing, and sanding.
See that little piece he had to fit in there? You can't see the bottom of it, but it had to be cut at an interesting angle in order to fit properly.

He then stained the tops to match the rest of the cabinet, touched up a few other spots, and took everything apart to clean and wax it. He is a meticulous man, and he spent many many hours making it as perfect as possible.

It looks fabulous, and it will be the perfect addition to be soon someday-to-be-finished craft room. I can't wait to fill it with my thread and buttons and gadgets.

And I look forward to passing it on to my grandchildren some day.

Am I lucky, or what?

Busy Fingers

My fingers have been busy juggling many things of late; here is a sampling.

1. Darning socks is rather addictive, especially when listening to good audio books. Who knew?
2. Needle felted figures sometimes look like Bart Simpson before you add the hair.

3. Seeing this little test pop up on everyone's blogs gave me flashbacks to tenth grade typing class, where my cute-but-slacker boyfriend sat behind me. He could barely type 3o words per minute, so after he screwed up his time tests he liked to reach forward with his foot and unplug my typewriter while I was still madly typing away. (I'm clearly dating myself here, since current tenth graders--and many of my readers--probably would not recognize an IBM Selectric, but there you go.) Typing has been one of my most marketable skills over the past years, allowing me to land some decent temp jobs while getting myself through graduate school.

86 words

Speed test

10 Random Things, From Tombs To Tunes

1. I find it rather surreal that I, the non-Christian, spent much of yesterday evening creating a model of Jesus's tomb. It was a prop that I needed for teaching "The Story Of Easter" in the SpiritPlay classroom at our UU. I contemplated making one out of wool (knitted and then fulled? needle felted over a foam shape?) but I did not leave myself enough time and had to resort to Model Magic clay and some gray paint. The bad: I had some traumatic flashbacks to a sixth-grade science project that involved making a volcano. The good: while painting I had time to try to think of how this could be turned into a blog post title: Tomb With A View? Tomb Much To Do? So many possibilities.

What's even funnier is that after being handled by many children, the model needs a small repair; so item number six on my "To Do" list for this week is "Fix Jesus's tomb." Can any of you top that one? (My sister's response to this was, "Hey, don't fix it up too much, he isn't going to stay there long.")

2. Thanks for the interesting comments on my previous post about cars. When I lived in a more rural area, I never questioned having two (or more!) cars for two adults. But it just seems that, in a more urban area, it should be possible to be a one-car family. Clearly I am living in the wrong city (in oh so many ways). That said, I love my new wheels and I think we chose the correct time to purchase a car that gets 30 mpg.

3. A finished project: Coronet hat, in Valley Yarns Sugarloaf (wool/microfiber blend), made as a chemo cap for a friend. It's modeled here by my daughter and now she wants one of her own!


4. Another finished project: Capelet for Grandma, who is 96 and still going strong. Pattern is a capella with some mods, yarn is Lion Brand Homespun.


5. The other night my four year old marched up to me and announced, "Mama, I know a new word!" I braced myself for something interesting, like a good curse word, and asked, "Oh, really? What is it?" My little drama queen spun around with a flourish and sang out, "Exquisite!" She apparently learned this one from a Max and Ruby episode and had no idea what it meant, but she loves to sing it twenty times in a row to the tune of any Disney princess song.

6. Any of you remember my grand plans to create a craft room, to be completed in the fall of 2007? HA HA HA! I'll be lucky if I'm done by the fall of 2009 at the rate I'm going. Here's a current pic of my slow progress.
Isn't is lovely? Those swirly lines are the glue from the fake wood paneling. I have now stripped all of that wallpaper, but I haven't patched and painted the walls yet.

7. If any of you have kids under, oh, nine or ten, you should check out Spare The Rock, which is a local radio show of indie/hipster/fun kids' music that isn't painful for adults. You can stream recent episodes from the blog page, which works perfectly for us now that my wonderful husband has connected the computer to our home audio system. (This also means that I can now enjoy Pandora in a whole new way.)

8. I read in our local newspaper that if housing prices fall another 15-20%, then more than half of American homeowners will owe more on their mortgages than their houses are worth. More than half! And if the subprime mortgage crisis does not make you anxious enough, then check out this article in the March 2008 Atlantic Monthly: "Fundamental changes in American life may turn today’s McMansions into tomorrow’s tenements."

9. I just listened to episode 61 of Cast On, and after listening to the song "Exactly" I hopped on the computer to check out Amy Steinberg's Myspace page. (The song will play as soon as you open the page.) "I am exactly where I need to be, I need to be exactly where I am, I am a blessing manifest...." Amazing.

10. Daylight Savings sucks, and March is about 31 days too long.

One Car, Two Car, Red Car, New Car?

I don't think I have mentioned on the blog that we have been a one-car family for the past six months. If we lived in Boston, or DC, or Chicago, this probably wouldn't be considered much of an accomplishment. In fact, it might be the norm. But in our very small city, with woefully inadequate public transportation, it is unusual for a middle class family to have one car. People actually look at us strangely when they discover this. They look like they want to ask us if we can't afford another car (because why else wouldn't we have one?), but that wouldn't be quite polite. The assumption, of course, is that everyone would WANT to have more cars, right?

It wasn't always this way, of course. I'm guessing that there was a time, in my closely-settled mostly-Catholic neighborhood of 1930's single family homes, when many wage earners took the bus or the only family car to work each day, and the kids actually walked or rode their bikes to school, music classes, friends' houses and such. But times have changed, and many among you are familiar with the current stereotype of the Soccer Mom in her minivan SUV, carting small beings about for hours each day while multitasking on her cell phone. Indeed, I am often a version of that stereotypical mom, cruising about in my battered minivan on my way to the dance studio with children (and knitting) in tow.

But here's the deal. Last August our second car, known as the "beater car", bit the dust. And while we planned to get another car, it just didn't seem that urgent, because my husband rides his bike to work about 80% of the time. He has been doing this for years, putting his environmental commitment into action and getting regular exercise by pedaling the few miles each way to and from his office. I greatly respect his commitment to bicycle commuting, even though I don't always understand it; it's not like his route to work is a relaxing trip along back roads with pretty scenery. Instead, it seems to be an adrenalin-inducing exercise in defensive maneuvering, given our famous Masshole drivers. But it works for him, and it helps that there is a shower at his workplace that he can use in the mornings.

The other 20% of the time my husband takes the bus to work. There are actually two different bus lines within a block or two of our house, so it is reasonably convenient for him to do this. But unlike in bigger cities, where many office workers commute to work via bus or subway, white-collar workers on our local buses are few and far between. Even with casual clothes, he stands out: his stainless steel travel mug in hand, his Atlantic Monthly on his lap, his white skin. It doesn't bother him a bit to be the odd man out, but it certainly says something about our city, and our culture.

So given that DH rarely needed a car, the first couple of months of our one-car arrangement worked fine. Every so often we'd hit a snag: my 9 a.m. dentist appointment that conflicted with getting kids to school, or that one day I couldn't pick the kids up from school on time and he had no way to get there to cover for me. Then we'd say, "Hey! It's time for another car." And we'd sit down and run the numbers, and then we'd think, "Huh. Maybe we can last a few more weeks." Car shopping is a drag with small children in tow, and life is busy, and there were just so many more interesting things to do (and so many other places to put our money).

But in early February we hit the six month point, and you know, it was February, in the way that only February can be. I was tired of being the one doing every school drop off and every school pick up, and DH was tired of being left car-less when I went away with the kids to visit my mom. We finally called a dealer to put in a request for the car we wanted, with the specific features we wanted, fully expecting the search for said car to take several weeks (if not longer), but voila! The car was on the lot. And as of Friday, we are the owners of a 2008 Toyota Matrix, standard shift. It's shiny and zippy. (Jessie, does this mean that now I can be cool like you?)

I do feel some guilt at giving in and getting another car, but it was a catch-22: if I am working, and putting my 4yo in part-time preschool, then we really need an additional car. Yet, much of my work income will now go to pay for the new car and insurance. DH reminds me that my job is about more than money, and that preschool for my youngest is about more than childcare. I'm still unsure. If we had any close family nearby, then I think we could make it with one car, because we would have the option to occasionally borrow a car. And Zipcar would be perfect--but it doesn't exist yet in our city. If we were true environmentalists, then perhaps we would take a stab at urban homesteading like a local couple I met last year; they have two children and no car, and they bicycle all over the city with their children (and everything else) in tow. But I'm not ready to take that step.

It's odd, our American love affair with the automobile. What is your relationship to your car?

The Knitterpated (Non-Yarn) Gift Guide

Around here, November means it's time for me to make my holiday gift lists and load up the credit card. I like to finish the majority of my holiday shopping by December 1st, which makes me seem like I'm really organized and well put together until you understand that this is how I compensate for being absolutely scattered. If I wait until the last minute, I will end up giving everyone leftover snack size candies from Halloween. (You know, the ones my kids don't like. Hot Tamales, Laffy Taffy, etc.--not the good stuff.) Also, my kids have a penchant for getting the stomach flu right before, or on, major holidays, so I know that last minute trips to the mall are generally out of the question for us.

Besides, I hate shopping at the mall. I can tolerate an occasional trip with a friend to try on cool shoes, but any trips with my children make me want to pull my hair out. And a trip to the mall anytime after Thanksgiving, well--that's just more than I can take. I rarely buy anything at the mall. I do the majority of my shopping online, with a few trips out to locally-owned stores for special items. (I would like to support more local stores--but there are only a few left in my immediate neighborhood, and driving an hour to a "cool town" for shopping is not something I like to do with kids in tow. I'd rather pay the shipping fees.)

I also should note that I am a big fan of supporting small businesses and "responsible" larger businesses. I do love me some Target, but I have made a personal commitment to putting my money where my beliefs are whenever I can.

So this year I am sharing some of my favorite websites, in the hope that they might help you find the perfect item for someone on your list. And I hope that you will add other good sites in the comments, for those hard-to-please folks on my list.

Gifts & Gift Baskets

Vermont Moonlight Cookies
Small Vermont bakery specializing in unique cookies, using quality ingredients (Cabot butter, King Arthur flour, etc.) A pound of cookies runs around $25 (plus shipping) to start, which may seem expensive but they are beautifully packaged and worth every penny. I have frequently sent these as anniversary/Mother's Day/birthday/thank you gifts. The owner is great and very willing to accommodate special requests.

Vermont Nut Free Chocolates
I haven't purchased from here, but a friend of mine has nothing but good things to say about the products. I have added the maple creams to my holiday wish list, and I'm eyeing the raspberry creams as well! (And maybe some of that Peppermint Crunch Bark...and oh, there's fudge too...) All products are free of peanuts, tree nuts, and sesame. Small family owned business with a connection to Norma.

Lesley's Life Is Sweet Chocolates
Unique themed chocolates (Celtic, African, etc.) with a percentage of profits donated to various charities.

Equal Exchange
I'm big on Fair Trade, and this is one of my favorite companies. They sell gift assortments of coffees, teas, and chocolates, in a wide range of prices. Buy a case of candy bars to share at the office. They also have a fundraising program, if you need something new to bolster the PTO coffers. And if you are a member of a church or other religious group, check out their Interfaith Program. I love being able to buy free trade coffee and chocolates right at my church.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters
Check out the Better World Gift Basket ($56.00) that includes fair trade coffees, teas, and chocolates. They also sell a variety of Vermont produced products.

King Arthur Flour Bakers Catalogue
This is a 100% employee owned company in Vermont--and I can guarantee you that any baker on your list would love a gift certificate from here. You can easily search for gluten free, sugar free, organic and kosher items, and they also put together some great gift baskets. I am also a fan of their cheddar cheese powder, which makes great mac & cheese, so if you are ordering some gifts you should add a bag of that for your own kitchen!


Kid Stuff
These aren't Fair Trade or ecologically responsible or anything like that. They are just cool things I've found for the kids in my life.*

Zome Building Kits
We just gave one of these kits to our seven year old for her birthday, and my engineer husband and I are probably more enamored of it than she is. However, the cool bubble-making ideas in the enclosed booklet have captured her attention. If you know a kid that likes building, creating, and or math puzzling, there's some pretty cool stuff here.
We actually bought our kit (The Adventurer) from Fat Brain Toys, because they sell the small Bubble Kits for $9.95. I stocked up on a few of these for all of our upcoming birthday parties.

It's a Bam-Bam Diddley
If you know a kid who likes Dan Zanes and/or Jamaican music, or if you know a parent who might need some help getting through those long cold January days at home with small children, then this is the CD to buy. It's Father Goose at his best, produced by Zanes, and involving a large number of talented guest musicians. Upbeat and fun. Put it on loud and dance through the house!

L-Bow Mittens/Gloves
The kids may not be excited when they unwrap these, but trust me--if they are near snow, they will come to love them. These are fabulous mittens with a long cuff that goes up to the child's elbow (over a coat). These are perfect for playing in the snow. They may seem pricey ($24 and up) but they are worth every penny and can be handed down. Family owned company.

*If you are looking for toys that are NOT made in China, check out Allison's posts here and here.
And Bake and Shake just posted some fun guides to Etsy shops.

Random Wednesday, In 5 Parts

1. Knitting Content: the lovely waist shaping on Eris
This partially done sweater has been hibernating for many months. I am in a groove right now, but as warmer weather hits it might be relegated to the WIP pile again. Yes, I am that fickle.

2. I Love Me Some Baked Goods
And I also love this fabulous new website: Bake and Shake
Be warned: this site is not for those who disapprove of fattening food or salty language. The pictures are so decadent that you will gain weight just by looking at them; and the text just might make cupcake crumbs come out of your nose. (Found via BoogaJ--thanks!)

3. I Love Me Some Veggie Sushi, Too
So I made some! This was my first attempt, so it's not too pretty; but it tasted darn good. (The reason it is on an ugly plastic plate is because it was en route to a friend's house. I had lots to give away because DH and the kids wouldn't even try a taste!)

4. Admiration.
I am lusting after this Celtic Dreams sweater. Sigh.

5. WTF
Overheard by DH on the bus yesterday:
Man #1, on seeing Man #2: "Hey! You got out of jail!"
Man #2: "Yeah! It seems like everyone is getting out of jail these days!"