Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween!
Autumn in Maine
It's no secret that I love Autumn in Maine. Fall has always been my favorite time of year and New England has the best Autumns of them all. And this year I get to share it all with Little Miss Cleaver - which makes it even better.
This year we crammed both of the Cleaver Family fall favorite field trips into one gloriously busy week: the Fair (Cumberland County) and apple picking (Ricker Hill). Miss Cleaver was wide-eyed at all the new things to look at (but not allowed to put in her mouth) and Mr. Cleaver and I loved watching her take it all in. Steinbeck was just happy to be there.
For years now, Mr. Cleaver and I talked about how some day we would take our future children on these annual adventures with us and what a thrill it is to be actually doing it now. We met in the fall and married in the fall (6 years this Sunday!), and the return of the season each year serves as a reminder of how this little family, my greatest joy, made its start. Small wonder that Autumn's my favorite time of year.
PS: Miss Cleaver just turned 6 months old (how time flies!) and mastered sitting the day we went apple picking.
Or should I say, almost mastered?
PPS: Thanks to those of you who voted for the Pride's Corner Drive-In. Unfortunately they didn't win a new projector, but another Maine Drive-In (in Saco) did!
Help Save the Pride's Corner Drive-In!
I don't often shill for things here, or in my life ever, but long-time readers of this blog know that I am a HUGE fan of the Pride's Corner Drive In in Westbrook, ME.
My whole life I had always wanted to go to a drive-in movie and imagine my luck when I moved back to Maine and found one 10-minutes down the road!
Unfortunately after this summer, there's a good chance a lot of this country's drive-in movie theaters will go dark. Film distributors are largely shying away from 35mm film, which means that most Drive-Ins will need to convert to digital projection to be able to show new films. The cost to convert (about $75,000-$80,000) is a huge hurdle for these small businesses.
We've already taken Little Miss Cleaver twice this summer, and I'd love to be able to take her when she can remember the experience!
So my request here is two-fold:
1. If you live in the area - go patronize the drive-in!! This weekend they're showing a double-feature (it's always a double feature!) of Monsters University and Despicable Me 2. $15 per Car. Gates Open At 7pm. Show Starts At Dusk. (For more info, visit the Pride's Corner Facebook Page)
2. Honda (yes, the car company) is sponsoring a "Save the Drive-In" contest, where the top 5 vote getters will receive a free digital projector. You can vote for Pride's Corner here: http://projectdrivein.com/#vote_68 or by texting Vote68 to 444999. You can vote once each way per day from now until Sept 9th.
That's all - this is just a place I love and would hate to see go away!
-Leah
Miss Cleaver's First Beach Day
This Friday I took the day off of work and we took little Miss Cleaver out for her first beach day. We went to my favorite beach, Ocean Park, where I first dipped my toes into the Atlantic nearly 8 years ago to the day. Miss Cleaver found the toe-dipping experience a bit chilly for her tastes.
Being a trio of pale-skinned red-heads we didn't spend too much time on the beach itself, but all in all it was a perfect day with shaded strolls, ice cream with sprinkles (for me), shuffle-board nap time (for her) and a good time had by all. Just in time too, as my little 5-month-has nearly outgrown that bonnet already!
Introducing: Zienna
Over a year ago, my cousin was having a baby. I asked what kind of stuffed animal she would like for her little girl. She said something jungle-ly. And so, Zienna was born.
This softie is made for babies.
The high-contrast black and white grabs their attention, but the slightly antique tones of the Berocco Remix yarn, keep it looking classic. The zebra is seamlessly knit from head to tail, meaning that it can stand up to all those babies can dish out. I know my little one is a fan.
The pattern is available from the shop or Ravelry for $5 USD
Start 'Em Young
Whenever Mr. Cleaver and I talked about having kids, we talked about how much of we do already is pretty kid friendly (see: apple picking) and how we wanted to integrate Miss Cleaver into as much of what we love about our lives as possible.
As so, as she sleeps a lot still and is pretty portable, Miss Cleaver's been and mostly slept through a number of knit nights, neighborhood walks, trips to visit my co-workers, weekly visits to the local library for story time, and Record Store Day.
This past weekend she got a crash course in Mom's nerd loves as she celebrated (read: slept through) International Star Wars Day, Free Comic Book Day, and a viewing of Iron Man 3 at the Drive-in. (Fun fact: the first time we went to Pride's Corner Drive-In back in 2010, we saw Iron Man 2 - how time flies!)
I know it won't always be as easy or practical to take her along on all these things, but as long it is, we'll be bringing her along.
Introducing: Honeymaker
I'm pleased to announce the release of Honeymaker, my newest design for Quince & Co. A feminine take on the traditional aran sweater, with a bee-inspired twist, the Honeymaker pullover features stitch patterns inspired by netting, hives, and, of course, the honeycomb. It also comes with directions to include an optional bee inset into your honeycomb, if you like.
The cables really pop when knit in Quince's Osprey aran-weight yarn, particularly in the less saturated shades, like the faded brick-colored Clay used here. The collar can be worn popped for a face framing effect, or folded for a more-traditional shawl-collar look.
The pattern is knit in the round from the bottom up, with subtle waist shaping. The collar/shoulders are knit back and forth (cabling on right side only) with raglan shaping and the collar ribbing is picked up and knit back and forth for a seamless garment.
The pattern is available for download for $6 USD from the the shop or you can queue it up on Ravelry.
Modeled photos courtesy of Quince & Co.
Blessed Days
Come Friday, Little Miss Cleaver (LMC or Miss C.) will be a month old (well, four weeks). It's hard to believe a) that it's been a month already and b) that's she's only been in our lives a month. The nights are long and the days are short and we couldn't be happier.
I've managed to get in a little sewing, and Miss C. went to her first knit night last week and got tons of cuddles and mom got to use two hands at once. I spend a lot of time just looking at her and thinking how beautiful she is and how amazing it is that she's ours.
I love being a mom to this little wigglebottom.
One Week
So those pictures I posted in my last post with the baby bump? I glad I took them that morning, because less than 24 hours later I was going into labor. Well technically, my water partially broke and I didn't actually go into labor and had to be induced, but by the next evening I was in the hospital working on bringing this into the world.
The afternoon of March 22nd brought 9 pounds and 4 oz of our very own little red-headed girl and we couldn't be more overjoyed, proud, overwhelmed, amazed, everything.
Sometimes I just hold her in my arms and can't believe how beautiful and wonderful it all is and how soft her hair is.
And yes, I've been projectile spit up on and our laundry in the past week has more than doubled and there are a lot of diapers and late night feedings, but it couldn't be more worth it.
Steinbeck has been a very curious but very good big brother and Mr. Cleaver is the absolute best.
I know my life is going to be totally different going forward and I have no idea what to expect, but I'm looking forward to living life with this wee one.
I've debated more about what to call our little girl on this blog than we did on her actual name and I still haven't settle on anything, but it'll come in time I'm sure. Until then, I'm off to cuddle my little one.
Introducing: Latitude
My final design in the Strata and Line Collection is Latitude, a cozy and simple sweater coat.
The coat is worked from the top down with round yoke shaping and a bit of waist shaping. The buttonholes are worked with the rest of the body, while the oversized collar and cuffs are picked up and worked after in the striped pattern (though you could always knit separately and seam on if desired).
The sample features Quince & Co's Puffin yarn in a range of seaglass blues. This fluffy single-ply yarn makes the coat super warm and cuddly.
As a sweater coat, Latitude was designed to be worn with approximately 2" positive ease. The modeled shots show the coat with about 4" of ease. For comparison here's a shot or two of me wearing it over a 38.5 week baby bump and 1-2" of negative ease.
Latitude $6 USD
If you want to queue it up on Ravelry, the collection can be found here.