SouleMama

SoulePapa Blogs :: Finding The Beat

I rolled into the driveway right behind Amanda and the kids.  They were practically leaping out before she came to a complete stop shouting, "Papa, Papa we got the drums!  Can we set them up now?!!" A real drum set given to Calvin by a real live musician (thanks, Mackenzie!).   

First... this requires a bit of musical background on my subject.  I present to you a six and a half year old boy with a storied history of abusing and misusing all musical instruments and toys .  "Sweet Calvin?", you say,  "How can this be?"

The answer is easy - because the boy plays every instrument as hard and loud as he possibly can.  This boy that knits and sews and loves fashion, nail polish and pink hand me downs from his aunties. He gets in front of anything that emits sound and crushes it with his hands, a stick, his feet, some knitting needles, whatever.  I was beginning to think he just didn't have the patience or interest to make music at this point in his life.  And, frankly, I've been getting a bit tired of the constant stream of used, abused and generally wrecked musical instruments that come across my workbench.  Granted, I am a master with duct tape and glue.  This is my medium.  But how many times can i mold the wooden xylophone back into shape?  Guitars with broken strings and broken necks.  Congas with ripped skins and cracked wood.  Did somebody leave this flute in the driveway?!!

The porch is swiftly cleared to make room for the new addition to the family.  A tightening here, an adjustment there.  He sets the stool in place ("it's called a 'throne' Papa") and climbs up.  The sticks are too big and his feet don't reach the pedals.  With a slight grin and a determined eye he hammers across each drum with a crisp, thundering roll and crosses back over his body to completely mash the cymbal.  He stops and we are all laughing out loud at the spontaneity and precision of his first attempt.  Later, I realize he had been, inadvertantly, training for that moment his whole six and a half year life. And finally the planets aligned and the drums found him and he nailed it.  Off he goes for an extended jam while Ezra grabs the harp to accompany him and Adelaide is dancing and bobbing her head around the room.  Maybe there is an instrument for every person or even every personality.   And, perhaps, a time to be connected with that instrument.  Maybe if I had taken an electric guitar lesson, as a seven year old, instead of piano, I'd have made it past my first lesson (don't ask).

Now, I'm just digging the beats.

And the band.

SoulePapa Blogs :: Faith in the Fall and the Full Moon

The kiddos were up very late tonight, howling at the full moon and happy to be causing a disturbance in general at such a late hour.  We were shooting a night scene for Calvin and Ezra's pirate movie which, for them, is a very good excuse to play with dangerous tools from the shed.  Calvin had a machete and Ezra a hooked garden implement with a scary looking point on the end.  They were more than a little agitated when the clouds rolled in, foiling the moonlight and drizzling rain on my digital apparatii.  The disappointment was short lived however, as we packed up and ran giggling back to the house trying to follow the erratic rhythm of the flashlight as held by Ez. Inside, the fans were attempting to blow away what will most assuredly be the last of the really warm days of the year.  Amanda and Adelaide joined us for a round of "Animal Lotto" in which Ada, still feeling the lunar pull, provided the comic relief by claiming every animal as her own and dancing around the table to distribute her bounty onto the proper lotto card.  I sat back and took in all that I have and, being a bit of a sentimental type, felt a sincere sadness at the passing of this summer.  I thought that if I could freeze time into one season, of my choosing, it would be this summer.  With my life where it is right now.  With my kids running all day on the beach and swinging in the back yard until dark.  Stopping only to eat and talk for a while.  But...I'll roll with the time and welcome in a new season.  In these parts, people are not impartial about fall.  Some love it.  Some do not.  For me, it is religion.  To relish the long walk into a cold, dark winter.  To meet it with my family in warmth and love.  To have faith that it will all come around again and that it is how it should be.  How it's always been.

from my studio...

Thanks for your nice words about yesterday's shop things! I'm so pleased to see my quilts and smocks headed to their new homes. Friday afternoon, I'll be taking down whatever is left in the shop at that point, so that I may focus on other things. I appreciate all of your support!

{letterpress beauty from Yes Press}

{tote by Good on Paper, from Edith & Edna}

Above are some random scenes from my studio this morning. The studio in which I now need to hole myself up in. I'm nearing my manuscript deadline - yes, I'll be done writing the second book before the first is published. (So goes the book world, I'm told.) After a summer of dedicated work on it, and a generally confident feeling of being 'right on track' up until this point, I've now hit the inevitable six-weeks-till-deadline freakout. (I remember this from last time. And I'm told it's normal. Hmnn...) Yesterday, I read Stephanie (a role model for me in so many ways) talk of her own very close manuscript deadline as thus: "I am alternately cackling that I am so close to the end, and sobbing that I still have so far to go". Yes, oh, yes. Though I could use a little more cackling. Let's hope for more cackling.

So, diving in, I now go and focus much of my attention and energy, allowing myself tunnel vision for a short period of time (Family, Book. family, book. Everything else must wait). Mostly I'll be plopped in this spot above, laptop on the lap (yellow shoes nearby. Equidistant to the Green & Blacks. Necessities, you know), finishing things up and writing a book that I am most excited about. When not in that spot, I'll be trying my best to keep our family life as close to normal as possible, and soaking up as much as fall has to offer us -all while cleaning out our freezer of stocked-up, frozen meals; ignoring the laundry piling up around me; and giving daily thanks to my Mama and Saint Stephen (a.k.a. SoulePapa). Oh, and trying to keep my wits about me. Oh my. Lofty goals.

I won't be gone from here the whole time, but I will, for a short time, now turn over the blog to my very favorite guest blogger (and if we're lucky, guest 'bloggers'). Yay!!!!

Be well!!

a shop update!

The Shop is stocked! Phew (and my apologies again for yesterday's miss)! This will be my last update until a holiday one in late November. But today, you'll find corduroy smocks in two sizes - Small (18 mos to 3 yrs) and Large (3 to 6 yrs). Each is embroidered with a bit of autumn on linen - no two are alike, of course. 

And you'll also find a new project for me - linen quilts! One in a child's take-along size, and one bigger - 'grownup' if you will - version. I can't tell you the fun I've had putting these together - the embroidery and quilting on each was really a delight. And I must say it was fun to work on a project to sell that spanned many days of work, during which time I let my imagination run wild dreaming up where they would be and where they would go on their adventure once made. Seaside picnics, mountain hikes, cozy winter couch snuggles, and so very much more. Me? I think a good fall morning cup of coffee and read with one would be just heavenly. Well, it was. Quite heavenly.

check, check

Please excuse my delay. We're having a bit of both technical and not-so technical difficulties over here today. Let's try this shop update again tomorrow, shall we? Yes.

12noon EST on Tuesday. I promise.

Thank you for your patience!

hello, autumn

A happy Equinox to you - in whichever hemisphere you call home!

Hello to - slippers :: favorite fairs:: foliage :: cardigans :: tights :: knitting weather :: wool socks :: cool weather hikes :: acorns :: baking :: apples :: pumpkins :: crunchy leaves :: a quieter city :: emptier beaches :: and so very much more.

After a summer hiatus, I'll be opening the Etsy shop tomorrow, at 10am EST. I'll post here when it's all up and ready!

summer's end

Farewell!
to a plentiful and lovely summer...

a fiddling report

The amount of time spent practicing for fiddle lessons has turned out to be equal to the amount of time spent preparing the 'coolest fiddling outfit ever' for each lesson. Ah, but yes. All is as it should be.

early fall table

{recently picked, gathered, and thrifted.}

autumn light & rhythm

Oh, that autumn evening light. Am I the only one who finds herself following it around her home? It's bittersweet, this fall light and the changes it brings, but there's comfort to be found in it, too. And so I follow it, and photograph it, and bask in it when I can.

With the changes in light, I feel the change in our rhythm too - the rhythm of home, work, play, and just 'being'. I'm in need of a little blog break as we transition seasons and all that comes with that. For the next couple of days, I'll be sharing photographs and few words. And next week, I'm happy to be turning over the reigns to my favorite guest blogger.

Be well, friends!

while the quilt is being made...

Adelaide did not get her new quilt in time for her birthday as I had planned all summer. Though it does sit in my studio in a pile - pieced, backing cut, batting sized and binding made. (And we're not going to talk more about that except for two things: 1. Let's change the Summer of Quilts to the Year of Quilts, shall we? Yes. and 2. I quite literally dream of a long-arm quilting machine magically appearing in my studio, though it hasn't happened yet. Enough about that.)

So no quilt, but a beautiful bed. A beautiful old, $8 church rummage sale find. And she adores her very own bed to pieces. Adores it - it's a lovely place to play. And sleep? Well, sometimes. But we're in no rush for that. So far, she's made no mention of the fact that it's missing a Mama-made quilt. Phew. The gorgeous vintage pink chenille spread - a gift to me on my own birthday from a dear friend - was perfectly timed and is perfectly placed on Adelaide's bed until her quilt arrives.

So that there would be something handmade on her bed while her quilt is in progress, I made her this little quilted log cabin pillow with fabrics from her soon-to-come quilt. I used the log cabin pillow tutorial from Dacia Ray (thank you!) as a guide.

After finishing hers, I dug around the monstrous pile of unfinished projects to unearth this bit of log cabin pillow - started this spring as a precursor to Ezra's quilt. So I quickly finished this one up for him too (which will be a lot less awkwardly squished when I get the proper size pillow form in there).

And now...to the quilt...

in the air, in my hands

One project off the needles - a baby sweater (Child's Placket Neck Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts) for sweet little Lydia. And now, on to the new...

In addition to the sights, the smells, the sounds, and the tastes of autumn approaching, there's also the touch of autumn that I'm feeling these days. It's that of the knitting in my hands. I'm most definitely a seasonal knitter at this moment in my crafting life - feeling the draw of the needles and the yarn as the air shifts cooler and more warmth is needed. For a few weeks now, I've been taking inventory of fall hats and scarves and mittens - if outgrown knits can move 'down' a child, and thinking about Papa's annual hat, and who needs what and where to start. Then my thinking goes ahead a bit to the long cold winter approaching - making a checklist of wool socks and wool sweaters (pictured in progress below) which will be worn for months and months. My project list quickly grows with filling in the gaps. Not all of it will be possible to make myself, but a few little things will surely be completed, and for that, I am grateful. And honored, really.

The fall knitting not only keeps my family warm in the end, but it keeps me warm too, in the right now. The act of fall knitting is warmth itself to me. Holding wool in my hands, moving rhythmically with the needles, it keeps just the slightest of chills off my hands in the evenings. Soon, there will be fireside knitting to warm us up. But for now, in the evenings, I put on a sweater and let the knitting itself do the warming. In my favorite evening moments there are children reading, drawing, playing, jumping on laps and playing music all around me. And knitting on my lap. Always there in some way - always present - always a quiet click of needles passing the time. I think often of so very many women (and now, men) around the world doing just the same. I especially think of the generations of women before me - and their own quietly clicking needles, and running-about children - and that brings me tremendous connection and warmth too.

This autumn for the first time ever, I'm blessed with another knitter in my home and at my side, from time to time. He's trying - wanting so very much to learn without too much help from Mama. From the other end of the couch as I, I hear him repeating, "IN the woods goes the hunter, ROUND the tree goes the dog, OUT pops the rabbit, and OFF they run." And so he continues, and knits, and hands the needles over silently when he needs some help. And I hand them silently back when I'm done. It's a garter stitch scarf - in a beautiful soft, thick, green wool from Mexico that came to us via friends in California - well traveled and loved already. The scarf will be perfect, I just know. I keep telling him that. "There's a lot more to knitting than the scarf at the end," I say. But I think he already knows that.

made with little hands

The sibling gift making that happens before a birthday is so very dear to me. It's such fun to watch them dream up what they could make each other, the way they plan it out with such excitement and enthusiasm, and oh - the attempts at keeping it all a surprise (which usually entails a lot of REALLY LOUD whispering next to the birthday person). The gift-making and presentation is full of super proud-parenting moments that you remember, tuck away, and pull out when needed in the less-than beautiful moments of sibling life.

Calvin worked on this tote bag for her, making a picture on both sides of the bag with scraps of felt. I love the careful and thoughtful choices of color and design - a bird on there, of course. He started with handstitching the pieces down, but quickly - like his mama - grew tired of that and opted for the machine (he's totally rocking the machine these days). Which is why he tells everyone that this was not, in fact, handmade, but machine made. Right. She loves her bag, of course. She fills it with shoes.

Ezra's gift to Adelaide was a song he 'wrote' and played (foot stomps and all) on his fiddle just before she had her cake. I know. I melted. I really and truly melted from it all. She adored her song - she literally sat smiling with her hands clasped and ready to clap. Ack! In the days before the party, in addition to practicing his song, he told me he also wanted to 'make a pillow for her that looks like the way her birthday fiddle song sounds." Right. Okay. Ezra's always good for a curve ball, puzzler like that. BUT! We came up with this: a doll pillow he stitched - curduroy on one side and linen on the other. On the linen, he wrote (with a fabric marker) the "words" to her fiddle song. He added a button and trim, because, well, who doesn't want to play with buttons and trim?

I know without a doubt that I will completely forget about the xylophone that we got for her second birthday. Or any of the other little gifts we purchased or fretted over. But oh - these extra special, oozing-with-love gifts from her brothers are sure to be remembered by every one of us as the best gifts of all. They always are.

what i love :: some yellow with my green

What I love :: this vintage hair clip from a birthday visit to Ferdinand. Who doesn't need a row of lemons in their hair? Exactly. My little girl got the strawberries. SO cute.
 

What I love :: these little flower/weed things (that's how much I know) that grow right outside my front door, even though I've never noticed them before. I think they make me sneeze, but I still can't stop smiling when Ezra places them in every empty vessel throughout the house (and hair).

What I love :: my new shoes!

the birthday dress

I fear being redundant, and therefore sounding insincere in saying this. BUT...I have been so completely touched and moved by the emails and words of kindness I've received in days' past, particularly from those of you who were moved to write after hearing the CraftSanity podcast. What I've received from you is nothing short of beautiful and lovely and amazing, and I thank you -rather inadequately, I know - but I do so thank you. I wish for a way to respond in kind to your energy sent my way, but I do fear that time will not allow for that to happen. Email is a bit of a struggle I have at the moment, and so I just hope for understanding about that. Thanks, friends.

Having our birthdays so close together means that the celebration rolls into a four-day-long party. So much fun. I still cannot believe that my little baby girl is two. Really, now, two?! But she is - and she is so very clear about that fact. My sweet, strong babe. I'm going to stop myself from going on (and on) about her fabulousness here, but I did write it all down in a birthday love letter to her. The baby books' may not be up to date (did I even start one for her?), but I'm hardcore about my birthday love letters.

This is Adelaide's birthday party dress, which thankfully, she loved and actually wanted to wear - even if only for a few minutes of the day. The dress is from Ottobre Autumn 2006, with Joel Dewberry and Heather Ross fabrics. It was my first Ottobre pattern try - and it went okay. The pattern-tracing was easier than I feared (find your color, find your number, stay focused), but the pattern-instructions were a bit more sparse than I thought. Around about the fourth time I ripped out the zipper and neckline, I remembered the Ottobre Yahoo Group. I did see that the group has some helpful tips for individual patterns. I also think it might be a pattern 'language' you sort of get used to - making the next one even easier. I hope, anyway, because I really do think the pattern is quite cute. (I wish I had a picture of the back - with the sweet ties at the waist, and zipper up the back. But I don't, and now the dress is covered in cream cheese frosting and in a heap of laundry. Sorry.)

When I finished I was disappointed to think I had made yet-another dress too big for her. And then her birthday morning arrived, she tried it on and oh my - she really is that big. Two years old, afterall. Oh my, oh my.

many little things

So many things to tell you about, and so many places to send you in this little weekend post! Grab some tea, my friends, this might be one of my long ones.

First up, we've been very busy celebrating. As of this weekend, my two feet are now firmly planted in my thirties. Yup, 31 it is. It's been a weekend full of soaking up and savoring favorite things - my four favorite people, extended family, good food, good wine, a perfect day at the beach, casting on a new knitting project, ice cream, and a fresh pile of Netflix. And today brings a grand flea market expedition with my dearest girlfriends. Clearly, all the birthday essentials are covered. There's much to be grateful for in all of that, and much more celebrating ahead still as the littlest of the birthday girls pictured above turns two (two?!) in just a couple of days!

And now on to some fun news bits that just happen to be coinciding with birthday weekend. First up, new digs for me! www.amandablakesoule.com is a project I've been working on this summer - or rather, it's a project Kevin and Dave from Portland's iKnow have been working on with vague and often bizarre direction from me ("Make it look pretty!"). Right. But they did, and they rock. The website is up and live, and will serve as a place to hold more book details as well as news and events about what's coming up for me so that this little blog can chug along as it always has. There's a preview of the book there too  - with the Table of Contents and a chapter excerpt to give you a little taste of what you can expect inside!

Also this weekend, you can find an audio interview I did with Jennifer of CraftSanity - it's Episode #60. You can listen to it in your browser, or you can download it for an ITunes listen - super easy. If you haven't yet heard CraftSanity, be sure to give a browse around her archives for some truly inspiring stories - her podcast is one of my favorite studio sounds, and I'm honored to have been interviewed. And be warned - it's 1 hour and 19 minutes (and full of my nervous laughter and ramblings), but I hope - a fun conversation to listen in on when you have the time. Thanks so much, Jennifer!

Phew. I've got a few more days of gorging on the likes above and celebrating before I'll be back here again. Have some cake for us this weekend, will you? Or maybe just the ice cream...or some Green & Blacks (which I was happily showered with for my birthday - bring on the shrinking clothes!). Oh, heck, just indulge in our honor however you like best, will you? I'd really, really like that. 

finally fiddling

Ezra and I are about to begin a new journey together this fall. He's waited a very long time to be 'old enough' to take lessons. And now "four and a half" has finally arrived, and so have our shiney new fiddles, and he can barely contain his excitement. It's contagious - I can't wait either.

"Mama - can you even believe that a four and a half year old fiddle player lives here now?"

Oh, my sweet. I can, I really, really can. And this is going to be so much fun.

feet facts

feet :: going

1. I've talked about painting this porch for five years. I bought the paint three years ago. When will I paint said porch? Hmmn...not anytime soon.
2. Right outside of this shot are my three naked littles (clothing not required until October, apparently). They were waiting for the long goodbye procedure to begin - which includes no less than a hug, a kiss, a backwards hug, a blow-kiss, a butterfly kiss, and one more hug. For each. Someday - I know I'll really miss that. For now, I soak it up.
3.The shoes? Miz Mooz. I'm apparently Miz Mooz' target market because everytime I'm shoe shopping I pick up their shoes unknowingly. But because I'm cheap frugal and wise, I usually buy mine a season behind. Like at infinityshoes.com (and if you guys buy them out of Time in yellow, size 38, or Postage in red, before I get some shoe cash, I'm going to be very sad. Please don't do that to me.)

feet :: on the way

1. These pants are hand-me-downs from my sister. 90% of my clothes come from little sis Katie, or dear friend Rachael. Because I get incredibly bored and impatient shopping for clothes and I must confess - this is also true for thrift store clothes shopping. Thank you for keeping me dressed, girls.
2. The leaves. It's September - not my favorite month or even in my top ten of favorite months, truth be told. (There, I said it.) But it is a good month nonethless - some really good stuff going on and lots to celebrate and be joyful about. For sure.
3. That's not a snake in the top right of the photo. Not that you thought it was. Or not that I looked in the LCD screen of my camera and jumped thinking it was a snake. Nope, not a snake.

feet :: out

1. Those other feet belong to a friend I saw last night for dinner, chat, and some mild accosting with a camera pointed at her feet. Anyone recognize those feet? Cute feet. Local feet. Blogging artist feet.
2. Dinner was yummy. Blueberry crisp for dessert. Summery wine. Fabulous company. Good food and good friends = a very good night.
3. There's a birthday coming this way very soon, and I think shoes are always a good idea, don't you? Somewhere, dear Steve, deeply and mysteriously embedded in this post, is a teeny tiny hint for you to uncover and decode. Here's one more : postage and time. Good luck.

Ah, feet week.

what i love : end of day ordinary

scene from the end of a day -

the favorite, softest summery cotton pajama pants - slipped on just as the sun sets :: a few more striped rocks added to the pile from the day's adventure :: the splashing, laughing, tired sound of 'three soules in a tub' :: late summer flowers from a visiting friends' garden :: earrings and hairbands removed with a deep sigh and sink into at-home end-of-day comfort :: all resting on my grandmother's linen.

What I love: The everyday, ordinary, mundane and beautiful moments at the end of the day.

pants to skirts

The air is getting cooler, and I find myself digging deeper in the closet for the warmer, heavier clothes. I reached in last week for these pants - my favorite short pants of last fall - only to find they had succumbed to the terribly contagious and vicious shrinking disease that has taken over my entire closet now. You might remember - the favorite vintage dress? Anyway, I have no room for sassy pants in my closet, and so - snip, snip went the legs.

And out came some skirts. With a little trim at the hem, serged top, waistband casing made, elastic inserted, and voila - 30 minutes later - two new-ish, fall-ish little skirts.

One for my babe, and one for her cousin. I'm trying to teach them the fine art of matching. So far, so good.

my early september pledge

"We try to hold on to the last days of bare arms and legs. Early caches of sunflower seeds stored by eager squirrels sprout a leggy forest hoping for just a little bit more. Just a wee bit more. Don't let go. We only have sixty-four? Eighty-seven? Ninety-four summers if we are lucky. We hold on and take the last quick swim just to say that we did."
--Nikki McClure, Collect Raindrops: The Seasons Gathered

My September pledge? Take in, soak up, and dive in. Just a wee bit more.

I hope you're having a lovely - perhaps long - September weekend. I'll see you back here on Tuesday.

{PS. There's a wonderful Weekend Read up on Bloesem now - 5 bloggers lists of wish gifts. Lots of lovely gift inspiration over there - it was much fun to join in. Thanks for the invitation, Irene!}