Thanks A Lot

Here's what our (American) Thanksgiving looked like this year: arugula pecan salad, roasted pumpkin soup, stuffed squash, parsnip bread pudding, turkey...all of which are clearly better enjoyed with your top off (I don't know what it is about dinner and shirts for my kid.) We were "upstate" as they say in New York City, in Rhinebeck, a small village made famous this summer by a certain former president's daughter who got married there.

Before we ate (with our good friends whose home is the backdrop above), I said we should all go around and say what we're thankful for. Somehow,  between tricking our toddlers into eating vegetables and, you know, actually eating our own food, we didn't get to it. So here goes: I'm thankful for my family (naturally; snore), friends, cold weather (never thought I'd say that, but seriously NYC is godawful in the summer/early fall), and my new camera that can take lovely pictures of such occasions.

Etsy Shop Open!

Look. Over there. On the right in that white rectangle. Under the headline "My Etsy Store."

That's right: My newly opened Etsy shop (where you can buy doll carriers for your lovely children this holiday season) has been longer in the making than the 2nd Avenue subway line. Well not quite. I started my Etsy account three years ago, not really knowing what I should sell there, just that people kept telling me I should. It seemed like a natural fit. I like to make stuff. Sometimes people like that stuff and they ask why I don't make a bunch of whatever it is and sell them somewhere. But I just couldn't figure out what my niche should be. I'm still not really sure. But I'm hopeful I got it right. I designed the carrier and drafted my pattern (hooray for my FIT education!) this fall originally as a birthday present for Lucy's best bud. It turned out so well, I made one more for Lucy. I adapted the pattern a bit to make sewing en masse easier and forged on. Now I have a whole bunch. (Again, see that box over there on the right?)

Anyway, I don't need to post any more photos of these carriers, do I? I've done that to death already. But they are cute. And so fun for doll-loving preschoolers to play with. I really am proud of how they have turned out.

In short:shop www.Etsy.com.

And the Winner is...

Big Bird!

No, just kidding. But Big Bird was the most popular answer to my question, probably due to the fact so many of those who answered have toddlers at home. I personally would like Elmo to carry me around for a day — so I could watch that tiny red monster suffer like I have through countless rounds of "La, la, la, la, lah, la, la, la...Elmo's World!"

Anyway, the real winner is Lisa (last name rhymes with "winner") from Winnipeg! I'll be sending her the doll carrier tomorrow. Her son just started walking a while back so he may not be quite ready for the doll carrier just yet, but I'm sure it will get put to good use eventually.

The winner was chosen at random using this random number generator. (It paid to make that 2nd entry on Facebook/Twitter):

 

A special shout-out should go to Briony for sending me this picture: 

 

It's Mark Ruffalo in GQ magazine, which is apparently for straight guys — because straight guys love looking at photos of Mark Ruffalo making his "come hither to my hirsute den of baby-making" pose. Huh?

Enter, enter, enter, enter!

Only 5 hours left to enter my giveaway for the handmade doll carrier pictured above! If you haven't entered already because you don't have a kid of your own or one the right age, just remember Christmas is coming and you may have a niece, nephew or friend's kid in need of a charming, handmade gift. You'll save money. I promise I'll ship quickly and you'll have it well before the holidays.

If you haven't entered because we're good friends and you're worried it won't be fair if you win, get over it: Fair's fair and I have no qualms about giving this to anyone who enters — even my own mother (not really: she doesn't have the Internet, or a computer, or any idea what a blog is).

If you haven't entered because you can't think of an answer to my skill-testing question, just make one up. Or use one of my helpful suggestions: Jolly Green Giant, Vince Vaughn, Yao Ming, or the Pillsbury Dough Boy.

Proceed: http://mybeaubaby.blogspot.com/2010/11/doll-carrier-giveaway.html

The Grosgrain-inspired Leaf Sweater

I just the love the mottled sunlight that filters through the metal gate that keeps intruders from entering our apartment via the fire escape outside my kid's bedroom window. Now and then my husband will claim to have OCD, but as fas as I can tell, his condition only flares up when it comes to making sure that gate is locked before we all go to bed at night. (OK, he's also OCD when it comes to checking CNN's politics webpage during election time — which is ALL the time in the U.S.)

Anyway, here I am this morning in a newly revamped sweater that I got at a clothing exchange last winter. It's a nice sweater, but kinda boring so when I saw this sweater over at the amazing Grosgrain blog (where the very talented and prolific Kathleen is posting tutorials for all sorts of embellished sweater projects this month), I was inspired to make it...better. See hers:

 I'm not going to post instructions or anything. She's already done a great job of that, and if you're interested, go see her site and tutorial. I should note this whole thing took maybe a half-hour. It's a super quick project. The thing that takes the longest is felting the sweater used for the leaves. I had to wash and dry it three times before it was felted enough. Here are some close ups of the neck and wrists: