Happiness for 2015

Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times if one only remembers to turn on the light - Albus Dumbledore

We determine our own happiness, individually I mean. My husband can't make me happy. My children can't make me happy. I need to make me happy. Over the course of this year, I read (and listened to, thanks Audible) Gretchen Rubin's Happiness Project and Happier at Home. (You can find my review of the first book here and podcast show notes for the second near the bottom of the page.) Rubin uses a straightforward tone, as expected from a former lawyer, to reassure and inspire that her happiness project is feasible to all who wish to partake. She outlines what works for her and gives loads of useful and practical suggestions for accomplishing goals and becoming happier overall. She maintains that this project should be tailored to the individual by understanding what actually makes you happy and unhappy.

My own happiness project for 2015 is going to look a little bit different than Rubin's because I'm tailoring it to me and I'm not Gretchen Rubin. I've been going back and forth between what to share and not to share in this little space of mine, and for now I'll stick to crafting and develop Rose & Toast in that direction. Starting a blog leaves so much open not only for criticism but also for community, and since I am in fact a three-dimensional character (or in other words a human being) I have more likes and dislikes than yarn, fabric, and floss. However, I want to develop this creative area of my life (for my own personal happiness as well as possibly my family's) and hope that I have something to contribute to the crafting world at large. My hope is that you'll join me on this journey as I muddle my way through.

Quick recap of 2014:

I started the blog in September. Woohoo! Since I started quite a bit later in the year a few projects didn't get documented and I don't have photo documentation so you're going to just have to take my word that they did in fact get completed.

- 3 crochet blankets 

Daisy | Baby Ripple | Granny Square 

R2D2 Halloween costume 

- 4 quilts 

Wee Wander (x 2) | Rocket man | Stars

Car seat cover (using the fabric featured above) 

I also made several hats including Captain America themed, Alabama, Jayne Cobb x 2, Mickey Mouse x 2, and various other knick-knacks. 

Now as we ring in the glorious New Year, I plan on being much more diligent about documenting projects in all their various stages. I hope you all had a fantastic 2014, and here's to an even brighter, happier 2015! 

St. Lucia's

Several generations ago, Husband's family immigrated from Sweden. We are lucky enough to have his fourth Great-grandfather's autobiography/journal that details his trip from the family farm in Sweden to his schooling in Denmark and then onto work in the United States. This year I wanted to focus more on traditions than presents and our Swedish family heritage seemed like a wonderful place to start.

The sentiment of St. Lucia's day is a magical one, filled with goodness, light, and charity, perfect for heralding in the joy of Christmas. Lucia (meaning light) was a Christian woman condemned to death for refusing a Pagan husband, before her martyrdom she also donated all her money to feed the poor, or so the legend says. In Scandinavian culture, St. Lucia's Day is celebrated on the 13th of December, the original Winter Solstice, with the oldest daughter dressing up as Lucia, in a white dress for purity, a red sash for martyrdom, an evergreen crown topped with candles. Typically, she rises before the rest of the family and serves bread and coffee.

We mixed it up a little to fit what we were actually capable of doing but still keeping to the tradition. The girls made paper crowns after the fashion of the evergreen wreath by gluing holly leaves and red berries to a construction paper band. They made star sugar cookies to deliver to our neighbors and sang carols instead of the usually Sanka Lucia hymn, which I'm hoping to learn for next year. For dinner, we ate the traditional Julbord with roast beef, cheese, bread and butter, pickles, and the left over sugar cookies, which aren't exactly traditional but they are delicious.

GREAT grandma

Husband's Grandma passed away last week. It was not at all expected and quite sudden, we had just seen her on Thanksgiving and talked to her a few days before she was taken to the hospital. She was eighty-three and ready to go, but she will be dearly missed by us all.

This feisty "polar bear" (as she endearingly called herself to my kiddos) is the reason I started getting into crafts in the first place. She is the reason I know how to hem and patch pants. She is the reason I became even remotely interested in quilting and later crochet, which then led to embroidery and cross-stitch. All because this amazing woman shared her talent and her time.

For our wedding (actually a few months after, but that's entirely different story for an entirely different day), she gave us our amazing quilt. It is by far my most prized material possession and it has literally traveled over oceans with us. I don't think it has ever left our bed, except when one (or more) of us is sick, then it lives on the couch with us. The colors magically work and it is such the perfect combination of Husband and I with plaid flannel mixed with roses.

The last time we saw her I was terrified that my kids would destroy her living room. She told me in her very matter-of-fact, no-nonsense way, "If a house is not fit for kids, it's not fit for much." I am so grateful that she took the time to make this treasure for us and am even more grateful now for the knowledge, love and wisdom she shared.

Ordinary Day

Normal day! Holding it in my hand this one moment, i have come to see it as more than an ordinary rock. it is a gem, a jewel...normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. let me learn from you, love you, savor you, bless you before you depart. let me not pass you by in a quest for some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it will not always be so. One day i shall...want more than all the world your return. And then i will know what I now am guessing: that you are, indeed, a common rock, and not a jewel, but that a common rock made of the very mass substance of the earth in all its strength and plenty puts a gem to shame. 
-Mary Jean Irion

I couldn't sleep last night. I lay down twice but to no avail. The brain would not stop racing. Got up to write down the thoughts that plagued my little computer brain in hopes that having them on paper would soften their voices and allow me to sleep. It worked, sort of.

These days, though filled with Christmas festivities and preparations for festivities including visitors, are still ordinary days. Part of why my mind is racing so much is because of the run up for the new year. I love making resolutions, goals, and planning projects. The idea of a "new me" thrills and excites me. 2015 could bring anything and I see this as the year that I can do any and all the things. However, in my old age (ha!), I'm coming to the realization that I am what I am.

Linda Eyre writes in her book, I didn't plan to be a witch, that children are seeds to be nourished, not clay to be molded. I am still a child, just an older one. Just because I have my own children does not mean that I cease to require nourishment; we all stand in need of nourishment. In order to fully comprehend where I need nourished, I need to find where I lack. This can only be found within the ordinary day. 

Mornings are not my friend, never have been, probably never will be, but this is where the ordinary day starts. Morning. Currently, it's cold and dark, even at 7:30 am, but that little fact does not deter children from waking up whenever they darn well please. Little man is pretty consistent at 6, such a morning lark which is hard for this night owl, and Wookie is not long after. Nins stumbles out whenever she hears parental movement and not a moment sooner (she's been trained well). Lately, sugar cereal has been the poison of choice, partly for convenience and partly because I'm just that lazy. My car pool gets me at 8:30 and the idea of leaving a sink full of dishes for husband to wash makes me feel like a horrible person so three bowls it is.

Then the daily 8 hour work day, 5 days a week. I enjoy my work mostly and think the people are pretty great, but it's a bit of a source of dissatisfaction. You see, I miss my children. (In my humble opinion) I should be home, raising, nurturing, and rearing each one of them. My husband does a fantastic job and truly is an AMAZING father. I cannot shout his praises loud enough, but we both would prefer a situation where our roles were reversed. In our current state, it doesn't seem possible (though I remind myself daily that through God all things are possible AND for those who remember the Brandy version of Cinderella Whitney Houston sings the "Impossible" song, Youtube it, you'll be glad you did). Impossible things happen every day. Every ordinary day.

In my restlessness, I wrote: I cannot wait around for "someday"... someday when my babies are older, someday when they are not whining, someday when we are rich, someday when I'm not working, someday when I'm not pregnant, someday when the weather is nice...because "someday" will NEVER come. Someday must become TOday. Not at the expense of shirking responsibilities, bills need paid and children need fed, but who's stopping us from hiking? camping? (things on my husband's "living list") eating pancakes for breakfast? following our dreams? ME! I am. By pushing things off to "someday," I am responsible for not creating those memories or the unfulfillment (made up word) of my own dreams. Denzel Washington said that "Dreams without goals remain dreams, just dreams, and ultimately fuel disappointment." Achieving goals requires discipline and consistency, two traits I sorely lack.

I don't want my dreams to remain dreams. My marriage and each of my children are dreams come true. They are my greatest blessings, which is easy to forget because they require a lot of work each and every single day. It is my hope to cease my quest for a perfect tomorrow, for the quintessential someday, and revel in the gift that today brings while still actively striving toward my goals and dreams. One ordinary day at a time.

50 State Stitching quilt top

A little while ago, I mentioned (I think I mentioned) that I am working on an embroidery/quilt project. The project is through Wild Olive and if you're interested I think that you can still sign up. You'll be a bit behind, but heck, I am too, so really it's just joining the party!

It's such a fun project and includes hand stitching and English Paper Piecing (EPP), two techniques I'm still pretty new to. Every Tuesday, I get a new state in my email. Mollie (from Wild Olive) is so creative and takes her task of choosing themes very seriously and writes the greatest letters to commemorate each state. My favorite star so far is the Virginia ham (and if you've ever seen The American President, you'll completely understand why).

At first, I was so good about completing each state the day I received it, Tuesday was my weekly stitching night and each star was completed by Wednesday, Thursday at the latest, and then....then I wasn't so good. I was going for a Civil War type theme with the fabric while keeping with the patriotic 50 states. I'm still catching up on the embroidery part BUT I finished the blocks and stripes today!

It's a terrible photograph because the light is wrong and the wind picked up and Little Man's shadow is clearly visible in the left corner but it's finished (sort of). The project is intended to last a while (next July to be precise) so keep an eye out for updates on the stars. 

And because I'm totally proud of this photo, I'm sharing it. Wookie's hair gets lighter every year and though it makes me sad my black haired babe is slowly morphing into a blondie, the highlights are truly spectacular.

Progress

Right now, I'm in the midst of several big projects and a few smaller projects that are meant for Christmas so sharing is off limits. Most work is getting done once kiddos are in bed, at that point the sun is long gone, and the heater is purring noisily. The sound of the sewing machine is soothing and the rhythm of my hooks comforting. There's a lot up in the air at the moment, but instead of getting anxious and crazy, as I have a tendency to do, I'm focusing on this season. This wonderful, magical, spiritual season.

I love that Thanksgiving feeds right into Christmas that feeds into the (shiny) new year, and I'm working diligently to remember all the things I am grateful for and all the things I need to work on. We constructed our Thankful tree over the course of November and it continues to hang in the kitchen near the table, serving as a reminder for all the things, temporal and spiritual, we have as we tuck in to our daily meals. Over the years, I've taken the whole resolutions making ritual quite seriously, but I'm thinking of changing things up a bit.

My hope is to have several finished projects to share in the coming weeks, though I can't make any promises. I'm also considering adding a more different venture, still along the same vein, for 2015. There are several things I'd like to leave in 2014 and several more I'd like to pick up in the new year and this would be the place to add and share.

Daisy meadow blanket

I miraculously finished this blanket Thursday evening and spent all weekend waiting for the sun to shine so I could snap some photos. The sun did shine amid the snow and I took full advantage.

What a work in progress. Daisy began in March as a sort of in-between project, with forty-nine mustard circles, turned daisies, turned squares (in Sea Mist from Lion Brand), that then increased in September to number sixty-four to form more of a lap blanket than a baby blanket. My inspiration came from here but I wanted a more neutral, meadow-like color combination.

Internal debate ensued on how to join but was settled with a standard raised single stitch. The border consists of a row of double crochet (in Dusty) and two rows of half-double crochet (in the Dusty and the Taupe). Again, debate about whether to finish with a single stitch of the mustard, a color I quite like, but decided against. I'll use that color more prominently for another project.

It snowed two weeks ago and only just began to melt this weekend, it was that cold and then it snowed again on top of the frozen snow. Super fun stuff. At church on Sunday, poor little man's hands were beet red from a short, block-and-a-bit walk to the building and when feeling started to return to those extremities, he was not a happy person. The bushes along the drive have kept a nice patch of ice rink for the kids to enjoy, though I'm terrified one of them will conk their head. After plenty of snow play, we have been sipping on Husband's homemade hot chocolate and warming chili to keep us cosy. Now that this blanket is finished, we can add it to our extra snuggly pile and watch what's left of college football and move on to college basketball.

Throwback

Today I'm coming in a day early (after having totally missed the last two weeks other than to promote the husband's book on Monday) and I'm bringing to you the very first blanket that I ever crocheted.

It's only slightly a cop out because I don't have a new project to show, though, Monday should bring a "ta-dah" moment, if the sun decides to cooperate, which is debatable.

This blanket stayed wrapped in Christmas paper for, we're in November, so a year. I am the absolute worst at sending gifts, I usually have the best of intentions but then I forget or get sidetracked or totally lose my mind.

My sister-in-law taught me to crochet after she visited another sister-in-law who taught her how to crochet. The sister-in-law who taught me is left handed and I am right handed so we ran into a wee bit of confusion, plus I'm a bit dense and didn't pick up on it very easily. I played around a bit with some yarn and made a scarf like thing using single stitches that became a shawl for one of the girls' dolls because it was way too small for a human being to use.

This blanket was my first attempt at a double crochet. I look at it now and laugh a little. There are so many little flaws, skipped stitches, extra stitches and a clearly defined line where I ran out of one skein of yarn and attached the other. I had no idea about counting stitches and hadn't discovered Pinterest so the proportions are all wrong. The border is wonky and bunches near the corner; it is far longer than it is wide and it could stand to have several more rows added. But it was my first ever completed blanket and for that it holds a pretty special place.

Swans and Swallows: A Comedy

I have been working away at various projects and when they are completed I'll share them here.

In the mean time, I've been keeping busy promoting a book written by my husband and his brother. It's entitled Swans and Swallows: A Comedy. It's a satire all about the main character, Gregory Nightingale.

Here's the blurb from Amazon: Gregory Nightingale is a revered author, known as much for his rambling, post-modern philosophies as his ability to create relatable stories. Eccentric, apathetic, and in love with both alcohol and sensation, Gregory unwittingly becomes an active participant in efforts to tear down his reputation. Can he contain his antics long enough to clear his name? 
With a cast of witty, realistic characters, Swans and Swallows: a comedy, hilariously explores the complexities of human nature, and modern relationships. It is a must-read for anyone who likes to laugh.

It is currently only available for order at Amazon (dot) com in ebook format, but if you ask me it is well worth the $3 they are asking for. We found out today that it made the Amazon New Release hot list and jumped to #53 in their genre. I am so proud of all the hard work they both have put into this novel. May this be the first of many. 

You can find the book HERE

Happy Halloween

R2D2 inspired Halloween costume

This year, we're going for a bit of a themed holiday. All the verbal kids chose to be a character from Star Wars (the original, good versions i.e. A New Hope etc.) and the not-quite-coherent-verbal kid got wrangled into it without much fuss.

The Wookie will be going as R2D2, primarily because the make-shift Chewbacca costume no longer fits and will be converted into an Ewok costume for Little Man. These darn kids keep growing like weeds, it's a cliche but it's cliche for a reason.

We already had white leggings and a white shirt (and cardigan if today's weather is any indication of Friday's) so we needed to jazz it up just a bit. I had some leftover blue yarn from the Captain America hat and got to work on a cute little flared skirt with a scalloped edge.

The crowning glory, though, is the headband. I tied in the gray, the blue, the "eye," the red laser, all characteristic of what I can only presume is the world's favorite whistling droid.

Fall...the time when everything bursts with its last beauty

"...as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale"  -- Lauren De Stefano 

Crisp blue sky, red and yellow leaves crunching under foot, sweater weather threatening to turn to coat weather before you blink: Fall is certainly upon us. I don't have a finished project to show this week. These little hands have been busy making Halloween costumes and working on a few blanket projects hopefully to be completed before winter finally rears its head.

I've been waking up in the dark most mornings and the sun sets before the kiddos are in bed so our after dinner walks have become more of a pre-dinner event. I'm taking advantage of the season by making as much pumpkin bread and apple crisp my family can stomach. So far they're not complaining.  As the first holiday of the season, Halloween starts the frenzy that becomes my cooking habits. It all starts with the pumpkin and soups and slowly wends its way through Turkey, stuffing, green been casserole, ending with lamb roast and mince pies. I love this time of year, but it feels more overwhelming this year, like I'm cramming as much as possible into as little time manageable. I'll blame the early darkness and the pregnancy.

Stars blanket

This blanket! Oh, this blanket gave me so much trouble, but I do love it despite harboring varying degrees of ill-will towards the process of making it.

One of my favorite songs (almost of all time) is "Stars" from the musical Les Miserables, especially the verses: "Stars / In your multitude / Scarce to be counted / Filling the darkness / With order and light/ You are the sentinels / Silent and sure/ Keeping watch in the night / You know your place in the sky / You hold your course and your aim / And each in your seasons returns and returns / And is always the same." I find it so reassuring. Stars are constant, sailors used them to navigate, that's how reliable they are. (This blog seems to be a whole slew of metaphors that I like rose, toast, stars: check.)

When I saw this fabric at Jones and Vandermeer, I felt compelled to have some to make a blanket. I ended up purchasing a meter (about a yard) thinking that I would create a whole-cloth quilt requiring zero cutting (because you can't just cut into Liberty fabric).

I bought a yard of minky for the backing in light gray and added a layer of batting to fill it up a bit. The Liberty is so very light and airy it needed a bit of weight.  

Being very much aware of how much I love this fabric based on my love for the song I was very cautious and spent a lot of time looking at the fabric with no desire to really get started. Perhaps the apprehension is what led to all the trouble. I began by pinning all the layers together in a quilt sandwich. Nerves, I'll blame the nerves, led to piecing the sandwich together wrong, a feature that wasn't noticed until all the layers had been sewn together. Out came the seam ripper! Ripping on Liberty is gutting. Absolutely heart-wrenching. I almost quit right then and there and put away my sewing machine for good. But it wasn't the machine's fault:

And the whole process began again. A task that I had imagined taking only a few hours ended up taking most of the day, but I did finish and do love how it turned out and think that it pays homage to my love of "Stars" very well.

Baby boy ripple blanket

What glorious Fall weather we've been having. The leaves are turning, the light is deepening and even though I was up before the sun this morning the glowing rise above the mountains was a beautiful thing to behold and made the early start (almost) worth it.

Things are happening in our house, crafty things, business-y things, big things, little things, not the least of which, I'm growing a human, which is both exhilarating and exhausting. Of course, when I think baby, I immediately think blanket. Once we found out that Baby #4 was Boy #2 I set right to work on making one of my most favorite blankets: the ripple.

If you're interested, Lucy from Attic 24 has an amazing tutorial on how to work this fantastic pattern. I can hardly add to what she has already said so I'll just show off what I've done.















The rhythm in creating this blanket is so soothing: four dc here, two decease there, four dc here, two increase there. I loved every stitch, even after getting distracted (toddlers will do that), miss-counting and having to unravel a row. It's fairly quick work too because it's so rhythmic.

Originally, I set out using only the blues, but found that I wanted a bit more diversity and incorporated the beige and brown. I also have fairly strong opinions about borders and "finishing" a blanket (a quirk I find amusing because I certainly don't feel that way when quilting, as the square wee wander blanket is evidence) and wanted to make sure that I included a nice border. For this, only the blues were used.

I love how it turned out and cannot wait to snuggle up with our new little guy come Winter.

Rocket man space quilt

Otherwise known as the easiest quilt ever.

After finishing the two quilts for the girls, I felt it only necessary to make a quilt for Little Man. I wanted something that wasn't too technically challenging after reeling a bit from matching up squares for Nins' quilt, so I took the easiest route I could find. I took half a yard of each fabric (5 in total) and cut them into strips. I wanted to showcase the fun comic looking fabric and the astronomical map so they were four inches in width while the others were cut at two inches

Did a bit of "fancy" quilting and stitched a quarter inch between the fabric (instead of in the ditch as I had with the other two) creating just a bit of texture.

I followed a great tutorial from Wild Olive that showed how to bind using a running stitch (also if you get a chance to look around, her site is absolutely fabulous and full of super projects. I'm currently in her 50 States Stitching Club, which I'll be sharing more about later).

As for the backing, I used (can you guess?) a sheet that we had on hand, am I predictable or what? This quilt was so easy to put together and took me less than a week from start to finish. I might just get the hang of this sewing thing after all (but I won't be turning in my hooks any time soon).

Roll Tide slouchy beanie

College football season is upon us. In actuality, it's been upon us for several months now, but I've been in denial. Last weekend marked a major blow to my family's college football fandom and not one but two of the teams we cheer for fell out of the running for the playoffs. In all sincerity, I couldn't care less. But I live in a house where people do care, so I feign interest. And in feigning interest, I decided to create a college football inspired hat.

Minor disclaimer: We live about as far from Alabama as one could get, but we have a relative who is currently attending that university and so it has become a team that we follow and Miss Nins has taken this fandom to new levels (for someone in our location).

Since Nins' head continues to grow, physically not figuratively, she needed a new hat for this fall. In her requests, she mentioned wanting an Alabama themed cap, so I went with the least flamboyant theme I could think of, though I do love the elephant ears others have created.

The black and white is representative of the hounds-tooth made famous by legendary coach Bear Bryant and the red rose for UA's crimson tide (which if you ask me is an awful name for a football team).

The band consists of rows of single stitches in the back loop only (I chained 11 and single stitched 10 until I got to the circumference of her head then did two more for good measure). The hounds-tooth look is created by alternating rows of black and white puff stitches (I did 17 rows, 8 in white and 9 in black to create the top).  I used the seam up technique to create the slouchy effect (search youtube for some great tutorials). The rose was made using double crochets only, so that it was a bit looser than other roses I have made, but I liked the size so I rolled with the tide.

I made the beanie a bit big so hopefully this slouchy hat will last us for several football seasons to come. Though there is an added bonus: if the losing streak continues, no one need know that this hat was Alabama themed as it looks nice without the knowledge of the fandom.

Hobbes crochet doll

A lot of my creations tend to revolve around the things that my family likes (naturally). I made the Firefly hat because we like Firefly. I made a Captain America hat because we like Avengers. So it's fitting that I would create a doll fashioned after one our all time favorite stuffed animals: Hobbes.

We read Calvin and Hobbes most days - my kids love it, my husband loves it, and I love it. When Wookie was a newborn and up a million times in the night, Husband would get up with me and read from one of our various C & H collections.

I believe we have amassed the entire works of Bill Watterson. We love and respect Mr. Watterson for the characters that he has drawn and the joy that they bring. He values privacy and avidly hates merchandising so I was (am) hesitant to showcase our own Hobbes in this space. However, I have absolutely no intention of selling a pattern or the final product (not that my kids would ever let me).

We love our Hobbes and the wisdom he daily imparts. Thank you Mr. Watterson!

Wee Wander quilts

I first heard about the Wee Wander Collection by Sarah Jane Studios way back in Spring and was immediately smitten. The horse fabrics were enough to convince me that I needed to get my hands on some for one little horse lover currently residing in my house. In addition, the bright colors and other playful characters (there are fireflies and teeny footprints for goodness sake) made the purchase obviously necessary. 

I searched locally and came up with naught. I searched the internet and couldn't quite find what I was looking for, until I stumbled upon an Etsy vendor who was selling all 21 prints in a fat quarter bundle: perfect. I got both sets of the collection: Twilight and Sunrise. I love how these two seemingly different (at least to me) colors blend so well together.

Initially, I was hesitant to cut into the fabric. It looked so perfect just as it was and I was afraid I would somehow ruin it.  But I knew that I couldn't justify purchasing the fabric without actually doing something to it so I began the process of finding out what type of quilt I wanted to make.

My sewing machine and I are still getting to know each other and I am very much a beginner when it comes to machine sewing so I wanted to do something that wasn't too technical. I settled on a subway tile inspired design making the rectangles 7 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches.  This size was long enough and wide enough to avoid fussy cutting but still keep the integrity of the larger prints (and without chopping off too many animal heads).

One of the highlights for my little Wookie (the intended recipient) is that one of the animals featured is a little bunny that bears a striking resemblance to her Cuniculus (rabbit in Latin, Husband's a Classicist, what can I say? and yes, she almost pronounces it correctly).

Once cut into tiles, I organized the rows in a sort of ombre inspired fashion starting with the darker blues and turquoises fading into the white and back out with the oranges and pinks. For the backing I used a white sheet that we had on hand and made the binding from some of the leftover scraps.

I had quite a bit of leftover "scraps" and figured I had enough to possibly make another (smaller) blanket for Nins. When gathered together most of the scraps were about 4 inch squares so I cut them all to the same size and started chain-piecing. I chose to use a no-binding method for this quilt, partly because I didn't have enough fabric and partly for trying something new. For the backing, I used (yet) another sheet.

I love how both these blankets turned out and am excited to use my sewing machine for more quilty projects in the future.