Staying Home and Making Bread

When I was in graduate school, I told someone once that if the whole academic career thing didn't work out, I would like to just stay home and make bread.  And while I am not saying the academic career hasn't worked out--it has just taken a different route--I am currently staying home and making bread (Strawberry Banana Bread, to be specific).  And I am sewing.  And planting a garden.  And watching a sweet baby grow each day.  My house is filled with trays of seedlings, fabric scraps, and stacks of burp cloths.  While this new life has its challenges, I am reveling in the activities that I love, but haven't previously been able to tackle as passionately as I would like.  

And, lucky, blessed girl that I am, I still get to pursue that academic life as well.  I know that the role of adjunct is absolutely fraught in the academic community, but I am thankful for the flexibility that it provides.  I I am lucky to have a husband with whom I have planned our budget and expenses to allow me to work like this.  I am lucky to have a department chair willing to work my schedule around Jordan's.  I'll be teaching online this summer, and then going back for a main campus class in August.

In the meantime, I am happy to have grading disappear from my to-do list.  I have a new planner/notebook that I am loving and have spent way too much time making customized planner pages and meal-planning/grocery shopping lists.

Friends coming for dinner tonight.  Homemade pizza and apple crisp on the menu.

Sewing Lessons: A Vintage-Style Dress Project

There were several reasons that I wanted to sew a dress. First, I am writing about dress in my dissertation, about heroines who sew their own clothes and therefore have agency over their identity. Making my own dress, felt a bit like research. Second, it's too hot to crochet or knit. And third, most importantly, I really, really needed something to wear to my wonderful friend's wedding.

I found the pattern on Burda Style, which I had never heard of before. Apparently, Burda is a sewing magazine in Germany, but there is an English website. The site is a bit like Ravelry for knitting and crocheting - there are patterns available for free and for purchase and members can upload photos of their projects. This dress pattern was $4 which is much cheaper than buying a McCalls or Simplicity pattern at Hancock. I couldn't find any material that I liked in the fabric stores so this dress is made out of ...... a bed sheet. I know, why didn't I just use the curtains, Scarlett? But, the fabric feels the way I wanted it to (a nice balance between crisp and drapey) and it is the color that I wanted - a smokey blue that I think is called soldier blue or cadet blue. I altered the pattern a bit to include the pintucking on the front and the lace trim, inspired by another member's alterations (and material of choice). I am thinking about pearl buttons on the front, maybe.

I really liked the overall pattern, which had a nice vintage-feel (late 30's early 40's?) with its pleats and gathers. I especially like the inverted pleat in the back. It definitely fits too, which is unusual for a dress for me - I normally have to get dresses with ties in the back to gather up the excess material. This is darted like crazy for a close fit and a side seam zipper. Oh, and it's lined too. Of course, since I made it, I am painfully aware of all the flaws in the dress. But we won't talk about those, will we?

Anyway, I will wear it with light silvery-gray strappy heels and my hair in a Gibson tuck. I hope it won't look too costumey, but I am sure that N will let me know. Right?

The Best Notebooks Ever

Moleskine Cahiers, purchased at Barnes and Noble, they come three in a pack. I use one for writing ideas, one for craft ideas, one for Bible-study notes, and one will be my travel journal in England. I like the plain, paper-bag-colored covers, but wanted to personalize them a bit. I founf acrylic stamps on clearance at Target and splurged on stamp markers at Michaels. Et, voila! Personalized, monogrammed journals. A fun project while I watched Chocolat the other night. (By the way, TJ Maxx has good deals on movies - I got Chocolat and Gosford Park for $5 each.

What I've Been Working On

More baby crochet! This was my first attempt at amigurumi, and I think it turned out so cute. Jordan and I have been joking about adopting this little fox as a pet instead of giving him to the nephew. He wasn't too hard to make, and I liked that I could use scrap yarn instead of buying new.

I think the tail is the cutest! I embroidered baby's initials for a special touch. You know, I love a monogram - apparently on pretty much anything!

Lucas also needed a hat to wear home from the hospital, so I made this, my first attempt at cabling. I love cable-knit (almost as much a monograms) and this was actually pretty easy. I don't knit as much as I crochet because knitting is harder and slower, but baby items are so small that it's quite gratifying to do something tricky because you can be done fairly quickly. I am afraid that this may be a bit too big at first (Jordan has joked that it's so long he'll be able to keep his eye warm), but hopefully I'm underestimating newborn baby heads =) Anyway, I think this will be the last baby crochet for a while. There are a couple more amigurumi I want to try, and then all the little sweaters are actually for 6-12 months, so I'll wait a bit on those.

Baby Things

I feel like I have been hibernating for the month of February, at least in the blogosphere. In real life, I have not been able to hunker down and wait for the return of spring (it's coming soon, right?) Instead, I have been working and reading (for the diss, more than for fun) and crocheting! With the new nephew arriving in June, I have gotten a few items done.

The first is this afghan, which is bigger than pictured. The pattern is from a Vanna White book, and incredibly easy. The only complaint I have is that after about seven rounds, it started warping and pulling in a dozen different directions. Even after blocking it, it still isn't perfectly straight, but I think it will do.

I am also very happy with these booties. They are the essence of cute. The pattern was a free project sheet picked up at Michaels, with a few aesthetic alterations. They look like small loafers, and baby will be able to wear them at 3-6 months. My only complaint about this project is the stitching up the back. I did it in the blue yarn and so it looks a bit sloppy, but maybe that's just home-made charm, right?

I have a few more baby related projects planned, but I am currently indulging in some selfish crochet in the form of a cropped tweed cardigan in a beautiful jade green color. The combination of an off-guage pattern and a tricky yarn has caused me to frog and start over at least six times with much mental cursing, but I am determined to see it through.

If you are a fellow crocheter/knitter, be sure to check out Ravelry.com and consider friending me there (Stephanie728). Happy stitching.