Earring-O-Rama!

You know the old saying, wanting a very specific pair of trombone earrings is the mother of invention. In this case it is very true. Last year the Girlchild started playing trombone. They are a quirky crowd, the tromboners, are they not? I couldn't find the trombone earrings I wanted to get her. I did find some trombone charms. One thing lead to another, and I've been in full-on earring-making mode ever since.

Perhaps you have your own image of what being a handicrafter in Vermont looks like. A lot of times it is every bit as quaint as you imagine with the leaves and the maple syrup and the tweeting of birds. Making earrings is pretty straightforward, though, and I like to pull my kids' little table in front of the tv and watch some Bones.

I make a lot of earrings so I can watch a lot of Bones.

I'm also pretty obsessed with the Undisclosed podcast. 

I went through Serial last year when it came out and just discovered Undisclosed last week. I like to eat some Hot Fries, pop open a Diet Dr. Perky, and ask what is the deal with Jay?

I buy the charms from the handicrafters who make them on etsy. Then I put them on the earwires. The making of the earrings may not be the most exciting thing ever in the history of all things, but the earrings are totally the most exciting things ever in the history of all things. The best part? I sell them for $5 at The Flying Disc. Seriously. Five bucks! How can you resist that? There are about a million other designs. I'll post more on my Facebook. Click here to see them. Better yet, come to The Flying Disc and see them in person.

Crochet Hats and Leaves

I have a lot of love for my adopted home state. One of my favorite things about Vermont is that there are five very distinct seasons. Sure, winter accounts for about seven months and mud season sometimes lasts longer than spring, but it is nice to mark the passing of time with the traditions, sights, sounds, and flavors of each new season. And fall. Wow. What's not to love about fall?

The apples are ready, the corn mazes are mapped out, and hat season is here at last! Makes my wallet bulge with anticipation. heart bulge with appreciation.
The leaves have not disappointed this year. (Unlike my friends who always host the cider pressing party. Shame on Amanda for putting work and obligations above my cider drinking needs.) We did a quick drive around to peep some leaves the other day, and the girlchild shot the photos out of the car window.

Drive-by leaf peeping. This has been the first year that they have really joined in on my effusive praise of the trees. I am reminded of the year when a tiny girlchild patted me on the arm and said she was "all set with the trees." Tsk. How could one be all set with that beauty?

What really gets me about Vermont is that you don't have to go anywhere special to see this kind of beauty. We just rode around the back roads, which are actually the only roads, and happened upon all of these views.

Speaking of beauty, I got a big box o' yarn in the mail recently. Ordering yarn off the Internets is iffy. Hard to really know what to expect without even a quick fondle. I decided to try Brava from Knit Picks. It wasn't exactly what I expected, but I was very happy with the resulting hats.
I'd apologize for being so Braggy Lynn Jones about my hats, but I am already writing a blog about hat making so I think we are past the point of false modesty.

In honor of Chandler, could there be any more stripes?

Oooooooo....

Would it be too much if I said that they look even better in real life? Come see them at The Flying Disc in beautiful downtown Enosburg Falls and come soon so you can see those leaves!

Quilting with Flannel

It's been about a hundred years since I've blogged. I'm back, baby! Feel free to cancel your depression. I know you really want to hear the details of every single second of those hundred years of silence, but I'll just sum it up by saying I've been kicking ass, having fun, and being amazing. Let's move on.

We had the coldest winter in the history of my life last year. I recollect there being about three months of -30 degree days. And nights. Our house is old. Vermont old. That translates as being cold pretty much all the time. The thought of getting rid of a blanket seems ridiculously ridiculous. However, my little tiny girlchild is no longer a little tiny girlchild. At ten, she has out-matured her Littlest Pet Shop comforter. Do you know the Littlest Pet Shop? Giant-headed humanized animals made of plastic that may or may not talk. She was a big fan of the franchise just a few years ago. Once I had a dream that a particular pink Littlest Pet Shop cat spoke to me and said that the Littlest Pet Shop representation of cats was demeaning to cats. It felt accurate.

We came up with a plan. Like all good plans, it started at the craft store. We bought flannel [on sale] to piece together for the top and fleece [on sale] to use for the bottom with the LPS comforter as the toasty filling. And like all good plans, we sort of half-assed it with the planning. We randomly cut up the flannel and then placed them on the fleece like a puzzle. She started at the center and worked outwardly. 

Then the girlchild did the sewing. She's gotten pretty skilled at sewing and enjoys it as long as it is going well. Things went well with the piecing. 

It was when we put the top, middle, and bottom together and tried to sew it that things went awry. It was really thick and my sewing machine was less than $100.

After two broken needles and two purposefully ripped seams, we used all the near-curse words we knew.

Like all good plans, we realized our plan was crap and we replanned.
The back of the LPS comforter was cute, mature polka dots. We decided to use the pieced flannel as the top and the back of the LPS comforter as the back. The sewing went well again, and we used non-near-curse words. 

It turned out fantastic, and I have one very proud little girl who has a new favorite blanket.

Luckily it has been cool enough to stay under it all day. Yay for fall!