I made a bunch of potholders recently. I thought this little project would help me get my sewing mojo back and also make the kitchen a more welcoming place.

My intention was not so much “buy a cute and funny little scrubbie so washing dishes is SUPER FUN!!”  I’m trying to respect the job it is I do. Motherhood, housekeeping, much of anyone’s time really is errands and tasks and doing the damn laundry again. We’re told, especially as young mothers, that scheduling “me time” is supposed to erase the stress and monotony of our daily chores, but forced relaxation isn’t going to change the fact that there is laundry to be done.

It’s not that I’m horribly uptight and unable to relax–most evening you will find me on the couch–it’s that all of these things are a huge part of my life. I can’t put them all in the category ” things that need to be done before I can live my real life.” Some people, as Stephinine said, “border […] on poetry when they write about doing laundry or mending clothing.” I will never truly feel enlightening scraping oatmeal out of the bottom of the pan, but I can respect my roll as a caregiver and bring some joy to the tasks that come with being a mother.  My gnarly ass potholders told me my job as a mother was secondary; this silly star potholder says otherwise.

On a completely different note, elsie marley now has its own Facebook page. I know lots of you use Facebook to keep up with blogs, so now you can follow me there too!

When Rae asked me to talk a bit about sewing with knits, I thought it was odd, because I’m rather crap at sewing with knits. But then I looked back in my archives for pictures of things I’ve sewn and hey! it’s not that bad. My first experience with sewing with knits was pretty horrible.  Now it looks like I remember that failure more than any of the successful knit projects I’ve made, which is ridiculous. With that realization, I cut out a huge pile of knit fabric for this awesome undies pattern:

I didn’t finish them all, because my daughter is a little between sizes so I have to adjust the fit, but oof! the boy undies are pretty damn cute. The pattern is very clear and nicely laid out with plenty of pictures. I noticed she’s not selling it at the moment and I’m not sure why, because it’s a very popular pattern. It’s popular for a reason: you only need a little bit of fabric, old t-shirts are perfect, and if you screw up who’s going to see them anyway?

I wouldn’t say this is a beginner, beginner project, but if you’ve sewn with knits a few times then these shouldn’t be a problem. They come together quickly, but the waistband and leg holes take a bit of time. And people will look at you funny when (or rather if) you tell them you’re making your children’s underwear.

But come on, lighting bolt undies?! What little boy wouldn’t be excited about that?

Want to see all the kniterviews? Look here! and mine is here.

The social aspect of having a blog is odd. There are people you talk to often, keep up with their kids and daily goings on and sometimes you haven’t the faintest idea of what they look like. I’m still uncomfortable getting to know people online, having existed before the internet made that normal, but I’m getting better at it. Slowly, there are many people that I call my friends, not my “friends.”

Dorie is one of those people. She is a ridiculously talented knitter and a damn fine quilter too. With her quilting knowledge and a background in coding, Dorie has made something new and fantastic: Quiltr. Quiltr is a tool for quilters to play with colors and patterns before they start a quilt, but it is also a super fun, crafty video game. In it, you choose a quilt pattern (zig zag, lone star, etc) then you can plug in not only colors, but photos from you flickr stream.

If you a crazy person (like me) who takes pictures of your fabric, well then your next quilt is practically made already. But I have found playing with pictures I’ve taken to be the most fun. It’s got me running off to Spoonflower to design fabrics–something I’ve wanted to do on and off for years. It’s also got me sewing actual quilt squares! Ok, so I really could go on (and on) about Quiltr, but you probably want to go play with it yourselves. So do! and stop on by tumbling blocks while you are at it and tell Dorie what a superstar she is!

edited to add: there is a quiltr flickr group now too!

I’ve been looking for a record player on and off for a few months now. Why aren’t there any in thrift stores? Did people get rid of them too long ago? Or do people think they are worthless and just pitch them?  Whatever the reason I couldn’t find one at all and I mentioned it to my mom over christmas. So she packed up and sent me hers to use until I find one of my own. Moms are the best.

The amount of awesome records out there is staggering–kids ones especially. We live right around the corner from a record shop (why I’ve waited this long to find a record player I don’t know).  The little gem up there came from their fantastic free box.

Wow, sorry. I didn’t mean to be gone for two weeks. After the craziness of Christmas, the littlest got a horrible stomach bug. Then this past week I came down with a crappy case of strep throat. Remind me to be extra nice to my kids when they have a fever, because it is super sucky. I am finally on the mend and I know it’s a little late for a 2011 retrospective, but I was sick so indulge me. Here is my favorite project from each month of last year:

1. beach bracelet  2. sledding party  3.  balance board  4.  the awesome bag  5. crazy pants  6. may day crown  7. flock top  8. wiksten tank  9. toy boxes on wheels  10. giant glittery 6!  11. waxed leaves  12. cloud bed

It’s nice to look back and see what I made–see what I liked making. Every January my creative energy goes out the window. All through December when I’m making things for everyone else, part of me is dreaming of January when I can make whatever the hell I want. But then January comes and I’m overwhelmed with all the choices: I could make clothes for me, clothes for my kids, start that huge embroidery project, crochet an afghan, or a hat, or a sweater, tackle the mending pile, the list goes on and on. On top of everything, my studio is a disaster. I hate that feeling when I can’t get a project started. Do you know what I mean? What do you do?

Oh and Happy New Year!