A Sewing Circle

Has it been two weeks? Wow. Feels like about one long day. Phew. N'kay.



Yesterday was my favorite day. I've been waiting for months. We had the first of two planned (prolly needs to be more like ten) sewing days to begin assembling the Rainbow Around the Block quilts for flood victims. That's Brittney up there working away while I imagine the rest of us were either digging through blocks, pressing, squaring, eating, eating, eating or planning the next top. Thank you Brittney for your talented hands! And for taking on the pink flamingo blocks.

You are not going to believe these stats----here we go...maybe you'll believe it. I didn't believe it, but you're probably smarter than me. Actually now that I've sorted through all of the blocks, tops and quilts and begun the sewing I most DEFinitely believe it. Uoops. I derailed, the stats:
we've received 1,746 blocks (enough for 41 full size quilts), 77 finished quilt tops and 22 completely finished quilts. I was stunned, amazed, floored, bewildered, happy, thankful and now very very busy!!!



My dear friend and often cohort in various crimes, Tracy Smith hosted us at her gorgeous, sunny, country home for our first sewing day. I think all the women that joined me there yesterday would agree that light doesn't just stream through the Smith home, but also emanates from it and we had a joyful time together. Thank you kind and funny Tracy.



It was such a lot of work to move all the materials, machines and supplies there, that once set up I wanted to stay for about a week. Seriously. I thought about starting to fold some of Tracy's laundry so that I could bribe her into it, but the I remembered my own laundry at home. And oh yea the family.



This is Mr. Toby with the quality control department. Sweet Kirsty tugged him along and he was a complete babbling happy bowl of baby. Kiss Kiss Toby! Thank you for sewing with me Kirsty, you are a dear.



These are the two Jennys at our porch cutting and "squaring up" table. I know that they will thank me for this back side shot. Thank you Jenny 1 and Jenny 2. You guys are the bestest.



Pierrette spent the whole time eating!!! Just kidding. I love you, Pierrette, thank you.



Every room downstairs looked sorta like this. A beautiful little curated geometry of color gathered from generous souls all over the world. Strewn across the floor, being thought over with conversation, laughs and pie. Thank you generous souls for letting us finish your good thoughts and your beautiful work.



And thank you Alexia, you are a sparkly little jewel and so wonderful to have near in all situations, most especially in sewing. Even if you do try to steal the best blocks. Just kidding. The above quilt was born on the design wall after I accused her of stealing my favorite block which is at the center there. She (sort of) happily conceded it to me after admitting it was the only one that wasn't working in her top composition. I like to be bossy, but then really, really thankful. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

If you want to join us next month for the next sewing day (I will feed you), visit the rainbow page for more info, we can use your help! Or email rainbowATannamariahorner.com

smack! Anna

Brokering Piece

I could not put an idea to bed last night, so I stayed up with it for an hour or two past what would be a reasonable time for me to be sleeping. Oh, but the quiet house + the hum of my machine + the whirl of my brain, no regrets. I felt as sleepy-happy this morning as I use to when my sister & I would stay up giggling on a Saturday night way past when our little sponge-curler heads were suppose to be snoozing. Grown up me knows, unfortunately, that every late night will not be followed by a sleepy-happy (slappy? yes, slappy) morning. I'm sure you know how that can turn on you.

I'll be taking some time to work out a peace/piece agreement between myself, my family, the internet and my studio, so please excuse the quiet over the next week or two. I promise to throw up a picture here or there when I think it might shove you into some fun ideas about something.

I'm sorry I said throw up. And shove.



But for now, lots of love from here. xoxoAnna

Forward

A few more pushes and a coupla shoves and we'll have ourselves a complete Roman room. Then I promise to bring you the whole space with details and sources. I really had to chuckle a little at the oohs and aahhs and waahhs about painting over the handpainted wall. I would be lying if I told you doing this hurts me. It doesn't. I love a clean slate. The hard work buried underneath has never called out to me. Ever. Its not forgotten, just done and its purpose served. I could no sooner live with the same handpainted wall than I could keep sewing with the same fabrics. These things are special to me, but never sacred. They are just that. Things. The little, rambunctious blurs of happy that live amongst these things that I create, however, they are all the inspiration and all the joy. And if these loves can delight in the things I make then I am amused. Not fulfilled, just amused. We delight in one another and so move forward.

lots of love from the partially finished and quite contemplative Room of Roman.
xoxoxoAnnaMaria

Who needs a nap?

Distracting me from my distractions are a whole lot of cozy, beautiful things coming soon.....Gathering Flowers Quilt pattern, Flower Patch Pillows pattern, a reprinting of some favorite fabrics (on smooth voile!), the Proper Attire Skirt pattern (wait till you see- and from size xs- 3xl!!) and of course all those other new fabrics and 3 new free patterns too. By my calculations I should be able to take a shower in about 18 days.

All I can think about is soup and a nap (where I will dream about sewing).

So there's a little inspiration ~ have a gorgeous weekend~ it's cooler here today...there?
xo, Anna

Three Days

What a weekend. We moved further through the perpetual large family room switches here, which I began documenting back here. And if you're bored enough to read through that, then you'll of course know what stage we are in now. With the big one away at school, the smaller room that she traded the girls for at the beginning of the year is becoming Roman's room. The little ones were all t0o eager (paint footprints all over the flippin house) to help. The handpainted floral wall that I labored over about 6 years ago is now put to rest under a fresh coat of paint and I actually don't miss it. And surprisingly, packing all that Juliana left in her room in to (lots of) large plastic bins tucked into the closet felt great. Really awesome. Whew.

Can't wait to show you Roman's room here soon~ hope you had a great long weekend. xoAM

Introducing an Innocent Crush

First Impression. LovesMe LovesMeNot. Maybe. Mixed Signals. Woodcut. Turn of Events. Queen of Hearts. Shattered. Slow Dance. Bubble Burst.

These are subtitles that moved along my little story of an Innocent Crush. (Okay, maybe not such a small story.) They're not just plot twists, but also the titles of each of the ten prints that compose the whole saga. I had such alot of fun with this group. That might show itself, I think (like my slip peeking out of my skirt not-so accidentally). But this story is for you. Make of it what you will, as innocent or not as you choose. I will start you with a thought, though, because its one that drove my whole design process: I love the phrase Innocent Crush, the paradox, the youth, the sweetness of it, the awkward-not-quite-right, mismatched, fickle-ness of it too. Harmony is inspiring for some, occasionally an emotional collision is even more so. Enjoy!



Quilting Cottons: Charmed palette 44/45



Quilting Cottons: Swept Away palette 44/45



Cotton Sateen Home Decor: Dream palette 54



Cotton Sateen Home Decor: Blush Palette 54



Cotton Voile 54



Cotton Velveteen: Wink palette 54



Cotton Velveteen: Smile palette 54"

Of course you know I'll be posting lots of projects and inspiration for you as well as some comprehensive info about how best to welcome velveteen into your sewing!

Have a great night, xoxo,Anna

Afloat in a new Patchwork

Today in the studio, I am playing with scant new samples from Innocent Crush, mixing them into the well-worn favorites from Little Folks. New patches swimming around with familiar patches, and I am afloat.

To pick up a bit where I left of in fabric, I wanted to answer questions in regards to the Innocent Crush Sneak Peek - right after I say thanks so much for all the excitement!!!- (even if most of is was for the tights!- that's okay- I chose those myself, so no insults!) No one is more excited than me, and here is the low down on what Innocent Crush will inlcude: 22 quilting weight cottons; 14 home decor cotton sateens; 10 cotton voiles; and 8 cotton velveteens (!!!!) I'll be sharing 3 free patterns for the collection and we're working on loads of inspirational sewing to share for all the different fabric substrates. I am so excited. I am jittery right now and the coffee finished its job a little while ago- these are bonafide fabric jitters. I will share all the images next week!

About the darling "dress" in the photo: Its made from one of the new voiles called "Shattered" and it is not a dress at all! The top is a Roundabout Blouse (we just left the lower band off) and it's tucked into a "Flirting the Issue" skirt which will be one of the free patterns due out at the same time as the fabrics (Oct/Nov). Making the blouse and skirt of the same fabric achieves the lovely dress look, but with the obvious advantage of wearing the pieces separately too, if ya wanna. Make note of this with an ink pen on your palm.

The tights are from Anthropologie and I picked them up a few months ago. They are from one of the their in-house brands, called Eloise, otherwise I would stock them and sell them to you. I would get say sentences like "I stock stockings in my store". So it would be worth it for that alone. I think I may have helped sell out the last of them the other day once it was figured out. Sorry. I mean, you're welcome Anthropologie. The shoes are red suede pumps from Steve Madden that are so perfect to behold, but so hard to walk in. Perfect for shoots.



Now. I can't say enough how much I appreciate your comments ever since I wrote a mini-novel. Like a beautifully woven, fine net, catching me before I fall too deep. Thank you so very much. I have read every word and happy to be in accord with so many kind souls. This is new. And while I realize that the indulgence I take here every so often with my thoughts is more than some of you might expect, or even care for, from just a mother-artist-business-owner-designer-fabric-lady, what I'm sharing with you, I am sharing with myself too. And it helps.

I cried at the meat counter in the grocery yesterday. I kept buying things that she likes out of habit. But every minute, it gets a little better. After wrapping up a very busy day of work yesterday, still catching up from that lost rainy day in Astoria, I got the meat in the oven, potatoes prepped, peas ready for steaming, a few started on their homework, Jeff had started a bath for Roman and I dared to think I could go out for a quick evening run before everything/one came to need me for something. I quickly changed into my gear and headed for the door. Then in one single instant Roman pooped in the bathwater and helmut-less Nicolas slammed his head into the driveway curb after skating something fancy on the quarter pipe. I stood frozen between the two, trying to figure out if I should give Jeff a pack of ice and give Nicolas some wet wipes and the tub cleaner....or the reverse.

I snapped to. I am needed here. Everyone got taken care of and I headed out for my run. Each pound on the pavement was accompanied by knowing that my life is full and these changes are new patches being sewn onto the familiar. And it is all so beautiful, no?

with thanks, xoxoAnna
(the tub & Roman are both sparkling and Nicolas' head is fine)

the Bridge

I'm not sure what I was expecting. Taking her to school. I should have guessed what would have drummed up inside me ready to spill everywhere, leaving a trail of years and memories between here and Brooklyn. But I didn't see it coming, not all of it. I am very used to living in the present, but was shot out of a canon to the past. So many times over this past summer. Just shot towards her birth and the beginnings of all of us, the beginnings of Jeff and me. But being hurled past it in a rush of memories it is so hard to see it all the way you saw it then. You think it will last forever, and some days even wish away the difficult parts. Humans just don't know the blur it will become. I believe this to be by design. Inherent in our making. We couldn't handle the frailty of ourselves walking around, if we knew how fast.

Getting her settled, saying our goodbyes, it was bitter and sweet and beautiful and sad and perfect. We walked slowly back to our hotel with the sky threatening rain, my eyes threatening worse. We took a detour through Fort Greene to sit and take the walk as slow as possible. And it happened. The sky sobbed. I rained. And we were stuck, under the shelter of the visitor's center. We are after all, only visitors. We waited for it to stop. Waited. Waited. Didn't bother to verbalize much of what we were already feeling in perfect synchronicity. Fearing we would miss our flight, after waiting as long as we could there, and with no change in the weather, we decided to drown down the hill in a rush of water and emotion, getting utterly soaked.

At the hotel we made a quick grab of our suitcases, while the taxi waited, and headed to La Guardia. Not much conversation, but an unusually talkative cabbie who asked us all about our family, was shocked we had a daughter old enough to be in college, further shocked that we had 5 waiting at home, and I wasn't in the mood for any of it. "I like you two", he kept saying. "Children are God's greatest blessing" he said. And I. Was not in the mood for conversation. I was definitely not in the mood to hear that all the crying the sky had done delayed our flight by an hour. Two hours. Four hours, so now we'll miss our connecting and be stuck in Baltimore. Cancelled. So now here we are. Rush back to her? See if she wants to skip orientation and hang out one more night with her parents? No. Stuck. Floating in a sea of rain and utter sadness. It was calling to mind something, a memory, I couldn't place what.

Then the waiting. We couldn't get out of New York for another whole day later. I needed the intoxicating hugs of the rest of my brood. I wanted to cry into Roman's bewildered but willing little neck. We poured into a nearby hotel. The room was freezing and the only thing that I could do was crawl into the bed. I didn't move for hours. Didn't even shift. Just Jeff and I there. Waiting for the hours to go by. Jeff went to get us food. Went to get us water. I slightly laughed at a movie or two, but mostly just laid there, out of body. Looking around inside my new self at how it looked and couldn't see much that made me happy without her. I dozed off around 1am. Woke up around 3am. And was arrested again by the familiarity of this set of circumstances. Trying to get somewhere, but getting stuck twice, once in the rain, once at the airport, then the all night waiting. Jeff. Me. And searching. Looking for her precious smile in my mind.

And then remembering.

We were 19. Unmarried, and unexpectedly expecting. Expecting Juliana. We had chosen adoptive parents. It seemed like a good idea at my age and we could continue the paths we had begun. She could continue with an eager family who was prepared for her. Had been praying for her.

We went to the hospital in labor, lawyers, parents, everyone, waiting in the wings. My labor stopped after I got there. We got stuck. Then sent away. We went again, a second time, to the hospital in full labor, which after an hour of convincing everyone around me that it was the real thing, decided to stop in its tracks. On the way home, I realized it wasn't a mistake. It was her, begging to be mine. My body would not give her up, even if my mind already had. I called off the adoption. Then the third time in labor, we decided to wait it out at home. Jeff. Me. And searching. Looking for her precious smile in my mind. For a whole day. And then, the third time, she was ours.

So there it was, in the middle of the night (a Sunday night after 3 am, quite near how she was born) at a hotel in Astoria, New York, raining, I was granted the memory to answer the nagging something that I was recalling. We brought her, again into a world. This time she is her own.

This past June just she and I went to Brooklyn to get a feel for it, and just enjoy some time together for four days. Really, the trip of a lifetime. We did nothing special, we didn't have to. On the last night, we took in a French film in a small theater in Soho. Leaving Manhattan into the wee hours of the morning, those cabbies fly. It is funny, how fast, and like a roller coaster. As we approached the Brooklyn Bridge, I thought, there it is: the bridge between where she is now and where she will be at the end of the summer. The summer: the bridge that will give us our last childhood days with her. We were so tired, barely spoke, but both obviously enjoyed the coolness that had cloaked the city after a hot day, windows down, our hair whipping everywhere. Then as we encountered the stretch across the water, I was flooded with memories of her as a baby, a toddler, her bubbly face, her beginnings, the she that almost wasn't mine, and I fought back tears. I couldn't believe we were about to reach her soon-to-be-home, just on the other side of the bridge. Rushing through the lights and under and over the architecture , I was looking back in time deep inside of me. Then I heard her say it, and I couldn't believe it. She said, like a little child, filled with excitement, "Mom, look back!"

I am! I thought, screamed, inside my head, in wonderment at the moment. How did she know?

I looked away from my side window where I was hiding some tears, that thankfully were quickly being licked up by the wind, to see her looking through the back of the taxi at the lights of Manhattan. They flickered through the thousands of suspension cables in the most mesmerizing way, like a dance. Like a filmstrip of life gone by. She was suspended there on the bridge. The thought of it is suspended forever in my mind.

And I am, more than I am anything, grateful.

To quote a cabbie, "Children are God's greatest blessing"

xoxoAnnaMaria

Innocent Crush Sneak Peak

Launching at market in October, in stores this November! More soon!
xoxoA

the early

Our bed abandoned earlier than normal.
The bed pillows piling in the corner chair each night.
Seen under an earlier than normal light.
An explorer setting off to his tasks.
Earlier than normal.
The house, so quiet. Just the cicadas on the other side of the window.
One yellow canary finally settling after so much early singing.
One yellow dog breathing in a cold marble entry floor. Dreaming.
One father to work.
Two girls backpacked, fed and brushed on the early bus.
Two boys, backpacked, geared for afterschool activities, fed and hand-combed on the later bus.
One young lady still sleeping in this house. For now.
One baby back to bed after enough exploration. Eagerly to bed.
And a mother. Thinking of what the quiet might bare.
Thanking the early.

Found: After-school nothingness nap

Its amazing the toll just a half-day can take.

xoA

Wanted: More summer days in which we do nothing

I could at least stand to watch the kids do nothing a little longer even if I have to do something. But alas, I will deposit 4 out of 6 children onto a school bus in the morning. There are some emotions there. Hmm, what are they? I think generally relief for a schedule again. Tomorrow is the day I thought I had been waiting for since the moment they tore through the front door on the last day of school. But now that its here, I dunno. I like turning around from my work every now and then and seeing just this sort of silly nothingness that seems to only happen on a boring summer day with nothing better to do than hang upside down from Mom's studio chair.

But then. Relief, yes. They are ready, as much as they whine, to have a big round clock to watch for prompting them onto to the next room, next friend, next subject, next experience and then home again. And by this time next week we'll have Juliana just about packed for her venture off to college. I know there are emotions there. My pillow is a bit damp with those most nights. I haven't quite figured out how to put those into words yet, but they are swirling about up there inside my skull. I think I'll go hang upside down on a chair and turn them into a dizzy brand of summer nothing for now. My capacity for denial improves with every passing year.

xoxo, Anna

Favorite

My favorite photo of the week of my favorite version of the Evening Empire Dress made from my favorite combination of Little Folks Voiles worn by my favorite model twirling on about on my favorite piece of earth. Home.

Shared with you on my favorite day of the week.

have a good one. xo, Anna Maria

Finding Passion

Sunday afternoon, Jeff and I were taking a few minutes at the dining room table to have some after lunch coffee. A favorite Sunday moment. Chatting away about the kids, the upcoming family visit that we are in the midst of now, the looming escorting of Juliana off to college here in a few weeks, recapping the book signing from the day before, etc. Typical life download that we do every few days when we get the chance. I started talking about the exhibit at the Frist as I had seen it for the second time the previous Thursday (going again today, I'm a junkie). There are television screens throughout the exhibit playing a loop of fashion footage from the era of the show. Black and white moving images of 1940's models prancing about in the perfected and gorgeous frocks, holding themselves so still yet moving here and there. And my favorite, the scene of women employed by the house, several of them, sitting around an endless chiffon hem and hand stitching a scarf hem all around. Talking, laughing, enjoying, working. Working.



I cried. Jeff got that look on his face like oh no she's crying. I really am not a crier. Really. Talking about it, thinking about it. The idea of these dresses being the result of the dream of one, then the work of many. The subtle twists and turns of several eager, knowledgeable hands whipping needle and thread and cloth and a dream into something tangible. Still, though tangible, a dream to behold. And half a century later, I'm sitting at my dining room table crying about the beauty of the hand stitching, trying to explain why its so special. And my poor, patient, sweet husband, who looked as confused as he could be was not at all confused. I didn't just wet my lashes with nostalgia or appreciation for a dear craft. I sobbed like a baby. I kept saying over and over.... what is wrong with me, I'm such a freak , why am I crying so hard about this. Its my grandmothers, are they doing this to me? I think of them when I see that group of women sewing, I think of each of them... How does this not make everyone cry? where can you see this anymore? - a scene like that- I'm sorry. I am such a weirdo, I'm sorry



You're just passionate, he said. (insert adorable husband smile with that)

Oh. Yea. I guess. And weird, I said. (insert dorky, wimpery wife sniffle with that)

The next day I was putting some freshly washed bath towels in the linen closet of the boys' hall bathroom and I was sure that I heard the sound of running water through the walls. I instantly thought back to a few months ago when I learned too late that the boys had let the outdoor spigot on for like, uh, two weeks without me knowing and we paid an impressive water bill. I dropped the towels, headed outside, mummering something about a lashing (though I've never delivered one in my life). But the spigot wasn't left on. After following the snaking hose, I found at the mouth, a really damp area where it had been left on weeks before. And for the first time ever in my yard I found a tangley patch of wild passion flowers growing out of the damp earth. Beautiful. Plucked one. Plucked a green pod fruit too. Completely forgot about the running water sound. On the way to the studio to take pictures (of course I had to) I thought of the embroidery that I had started the day before. The flower made me. The colors. So unbelievably beautiful. Like sea life. The flower, and those spindly, curly threads, of course. Threads.

So if I didn't have passion the day before, when I was accused of such, sobbing at my dining room table, I found it the very next day. In the midst of laundry, no less.

xoxo, Anna

My Sardinia Sweater

I don't want to take it off. The temperatures being what they are, however, I will be taking it off. While this is definitely a perfect Summer sweater, I wouldn't call it a perfect Summer in Tennessee sweater (not sure there is such a thing) until perhaps the evening hours or indoors only. But this is going to be a perfect year-round layer. Happy. Happy.


I made the medium size (pattern and yarn details here) and I feel like I could have made the small- though I wear a medium to a large (8-10) in most clothing items. I am pretty sure the linen yarn gives more, and therefore the overall is a bit stretchier and hitting longer than shown on the model in the book. But thankfully the open drop style and sleeve style lends itself to being really cool whether the fit is generous or abbreviated.



One sweater for me.
Check.
Now for those baby pants.
Amanda is currently setting me straight there.

xo, Anna

Sam & Sally said that you're, like, totally invited to my birthday party

And they know everything because they live on Eleni's thumbs.

About my birthday party: This Saturday July 31st, from 2:30-4:30, Textile Fabrics is hosting a book signing for my new book, Handmade Beginnings. When working with them to schedule the event, I scanned July, day after day, weekend after weekend, and realized that of course, there was nothing scheduled on the 31st. Why would there be? It's only my BIRTHDAY. (internal sigh.) But HEY. That's perfect. What better way to feel like a birthday girl than spend the day telling lots of people its my birthday. Now I know that you might already have your own plans of how you spend Anna Maria Horner Day, but if you could spare a few minutes, do come say hello. Let me sign your book. Let me give you cake. Let me kiss your babies. Let me sign your babies. Let me let you sing Happy Birthday to me. I am not excited. This is just part of my job. I do not like cake, but don't want my friends at Textile to feel bad, so I will probably eat most of it.

About Sam & Sally: Eleni sucks her thumb. Which I am cool with. She is not as cool with it as she used to be. I told her that her Aunt Eleni (my sis) used to suck her thumb when she was little too. And that at some point Aunt Eleni wanted to stop. It was at this point that my mom made her little thumb friends to wear to sleep. Aunt Eleni soon stopped sucking her thumb in her sleep. My little Eleni was very excited about the notion getting a pair of thumbsters to sleep with. And Saturday that little dream came true after cutting the thumbs off of some mismatched gloves and bringing Sam and Sally to life with a little embroidery thread. She said the boy should be kind of like a monster, and the girl should not really be like a monster, but a little bit monster-y with pretty hair. The wisdom of a six year old is astounding.

xo, Anna

Isabela's Argyle Block

This is the sewn up version of the Argyle Block that Isabela designed for our Rainbow project. Planning out colors carefully to make that cool overlap of color so often found in argyle patterns would make for a really amazing quilt- I might just have to make a whole quilt with this block and see that happen. So as promised to you and the kidos, here is the second installment of free downloadable block instructions to inspire your own patchwork-Isabela's Argyle Block Template. Have fun! I love this one, because its only one same triangle for the whole block. Some days that is all my brain can handle. Like today for instance. And yesterday. And, I'm just guessing tomorrow too. Anyway. Both this one and Joseph's Block are linked at the Rainbow page too. More soon!



And somewhere under the Rainbow we have a great writeup over at the Etsy blog. It is such a good, good article- my friend Linzee McCray (she blogs here) wrote it, and she is just a really talented writer. You often are interested in articles due to the subject matter, but that aside, she just makes the read informative, smart, real, thoughtful and such a pleasure to read. Take note editors- she is a gem! Thank you Linzee! Also woven into the story is another quilting effort headed up by Victoria Findlay Wolfe. There is just no shortage of kindness. Its always about connecting the dots. Connecting the generosity with the need. A beautiful thing! And I will keep saying thank you to those of you who have participated so far and who will be participating, or sharing the news or donating, or whatever, thank you. I am only connecting dots. That was always my favorite.

kisses, Anna

So, Roman is still just wearing diapers

Does that make me a bad mother? Its just that I got this book, and I got this yarn, and I can't put either of them down for anything lately. Just look how pretty that sweater is! I could really get used to this following-a-crochet-pattern-business, now that I found one that I actually like! Maybe I don't look hard enough, but I rarely find a book of patterns for crochet that I love- it's always shawls and granny squares (which I love, but don't want to wear), and not basic enough- there is so much more out there for knitting, and somehow that still hasn't gotten me knitting. This is why I normally make things up as I go along, and almost never make fitted items, because I am too impatient to sit down a make a plan before I begin. (Insert your crochet book recommendations here.)



I am making the Sardinia sweater which just happens to be on the cover. This brochure is filled with gorgeous patterns, I would wear every one of them. Seriously. I could be slightly swayed due to all most of the pattern titles being named after Greek Isles. ('Cept I think one is called Sicily. Close enough.) But they are all just so wearable looking which is key. I have to keep double checking myself as I go because the book is written with all the UK denotations, so I have to translate dc to sc, etc., since we Yanks insist on having a different name for everything compared the European stitch names (units of measure, size charts, on and on), but once the pattern gets going, its very simple.

About the yarn, Rowan's Lenpur Linen, which is a viscose/linen blend: the weight is such a dream- it moves like water after just a little cloth is crocheted/knitted up. Not too heavy, not fuzzy, not stiff, its perfect. I had a hard time choosing a color, because any of them would be beautiful, but I already have enough gray/purple sweaters so I went with Lagoon. (If you're still reading you might want to skip down to the bullet point version of this post.) I think the book recommends using the Cotton Glace for most of the sweaters, so I had to have Amanda at Textile help me convert the thickness factor (?), etc. (I really don't know what I'm talking about- she does- I just want to do the crocheting part- I figure if I keep letting other people figure these things out for me that I'll eventually learn what they're doing. That's a lie. I don't care. I just want to crochet.) This essentially meant I went down a size from what I was planning to make, and still I think it might fit slightly larger than shown. Which will still be pretty. Really super pretty.

Okay.

Bullet point version of this post:

*More sweaters for Mom
*Less pants for Baby
*More Lenpur/Linen for mom
*No tuition money left for Juliana
*Some sort of blanket apology here

xo,Anna

Where the baby wears about as much as the dog

I'll admit its been awhile since we did laundry. But when I changed Roman out of pj's this morning there wasn't really anything to put on him. He has grown out of so much, leaving only winter clothes, a bathing suit, and a handful of Onesies that still fit. And with his adventures in feeding himself, we go through the summer outfits quite quickly. The laundry just doesn't happen quite as fast as Roman happens. I think its time for more Quick Change Trousers, as he's grown out of all his pairs. I am thinking however that I'll make some of the shorts variety. Jeff refers to all the pants I make Roman as fancy pants. And he gets a teasing look on his face and a teasing sound in his voice when he says fancy pants. And I don't care.



And I will dress my baby in fancy pants.



And I will dress my doggie in a fancy collar.



And they will both be fine with it because I also give them treats.

There. Weekend planned. Fancy Pants and Dog Treats.

have a good one. xoxo, Anna

We made a movie

And we had a really good time doing it. Rainbow Around the Block is set to get some wonderful press over at the Etsy blog soon (I'll keep you posted) and they requested a photo for the interview. So I started devising a photo shoot that would include the kids since they've been such a help to me. Juliana, Alexia, and I were all working in the studio today as I started discussing what we could do, and this sorta just happened. Nicolas (12) helped me with the imovie details since I'd never used it before (I need to show you his skate videos sometime soon-he stars, directs, shoots, edits, etc.). After just about 3 hours we had ourselves a mini movie that we all had a hand in. Roman's hands were allover everything too, but they weren't especially helpful in this case. But he sends his love.

enjoy~
xo, Anna

(Music: "folding chair" by Regina Spektor sold here)

Humidity + and Humidity -

Humidity -
This heat and humidity makes my camera lens fog up! So if I need accurate shots I have to let my camera rest outside for about 3o minutes before I begin shooting. However, as shown above, taking a shot through the foggy lens can have a sort of beautiful result too, especially in early evening sunlight.


Humidity +
A most definite plus to the humidity is watching the golden headed boy turn into a curly headed cherub once we're outside for more than a minute or two. As if I needed another reason to dote. And I sweep him up and kiss the sweaty nape of his blonde curly neck. He must wonder why he gets kissed in the dreadful heat like this over and over again.

Sorry I slipped away without a "hey I'm slipping away" note. If I could add tags to my last week or two with a few keywords they would be the following:

New York, TopShop, Balthazar, Purl, Brooklyn, Pratt, Williamsburg, Knoxville, fireworks, honey whiskey, family, cousins, swimming, sunburns, fireworks, needlework, slip-n-slides, gin & tonic, lime, lemon, yum,

Be back next week! put your feet up! xo,Anna