Domesticity

Question: What does one give an eight-year-old girl for her birthday?

Answer: An old sheet. Well - not quite, today’s answer is an old curtain.

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Yesterday morning my daughter greeted me at the door as I came home from work. She was beaming ear to ear. Her new book bag more than met with adolescent approval. It was in demand. Her friend’s birthday was on Saturday. The friend wanted a book bag just like Sis’s. And could you make one pulease? Today? And put pockets in it? And maybe a water bottle holder?

Apparently I am now in the book bag business. This time I followed the pattern to a “T” and made this bag with gussets. The material is a repurposed curtain. I even put in pockets (but no water bottle holder - this time).

We filled the bag with three hardcover books from my daughter’s out-grown book pile. And voila! An inexpensive birthday gift was born.



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I’ve been knitting up a storm in anticipation of the holidays. I’ve made two of these Lucy Bags and am working on a third.



I also knit a little hat; little being the operative word. The pattern is Swell from Knitty.com. This is the second time I’ve knit this pattern and it turned out tiny both times (i.e. it will not fit my twelve-year-old son as I originally intended). I’m guessing this incarnation would fit a 12-month-old child. Only I don’t know any twelve-month-olds and am therefore not sure what to do with it. I lined it with mustard yellow fleece - for kicks and giggles. Maybe I should open an Etsy store...




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Oh - it looks like my muffins are done, wait - let me go take them out of the oven. In the spirit of the season (hooray for autumn!) we whipped up these pumpkin delights. I took Maya’s advice and substituted chocolate chips for raisins. The muffins are worth it solely for the smell wafting through the house but they are also most delicious.


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I love autumn - baking, stews, knitting, crafting; crisp mornings, warm afternoons, cozy evenings by the fire; the sounds of football pouring from the other room. Autumn brings out my domestic side. It's a time to take stock, to infuse the house with cinnamon and apple cider, to gather my family close. Maybe I was a squirrel in a previous life. I'm gathering my nuts for winter. Or, perhaps, I'm simply nuts. I'll let you decide.