natalie maed: 2011

we love parkour!

I have been waiting and wanting to make this dress for my little red head ever since I bought this amazing book last year. Well, actually this dress is the reason for buying this book, I just love this dress..and so does Lilly, I help her into and out of it as many time as she requires a day (it's not allowed outside in the backyard we have Red Dirt you know)..today that has been about four and it's only lunchtime. The patterns in this book are just so adorable and simple construction too, gotta love that. Finding the perfect shade of natural gauzey(great new word) material at our local thrifting spot, was all I needed to pull this little beauty together. Now she tells me, wearing the dress, she is a princess and this is her favorite dress ::hugging it::..."can you unbutton it,? I want to go outside.." :)

We have a few vines of passion fruit growing along our fence, actually,you can see them in the first photo's, the girls know how much I love inspirational nature pieces and have been bringing me "presents" in the form of these beautiful delicate lengths of vine. I have them in various places throughout our home and admire them often. When I was putting the final touches on this dress one night, I hung it up next to one one these vines which the wind picked up and blew over, where it caught on the neckline, and stayed. I immediately knew this was the something extra special I had been searching for, you know to add a touch of my own design. To make- I began with blending different tones of alpaca and wool, to make the needle felted leaves. With some lengths of wool and alpaca yarn I strung the leaves onto the center, and fastened the ends to some lengths of silk ribbon. Now the faerie (or princess) has her belt, or crown, depending...cause it's nice to have options, right?

these summer days

As often as possible we can be found here, playing in the waves and sun, laughing, running, swimmimg, surfing, and yes, sometimes even knitting. Summer has always been one of my very favorite seasons and this year celebrating summer on the islands with this awesome group ...what more could a girl ask for?

this moment

{this moment} inspired by soulemama

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see

Fourth of July Frock for Lilly

I just love the fourth of July. Well, all things summer really. This little over a yard of cotton print fabric was a thrift store score that I just knew would be a fantastic color choice, on our little resident fire cracker :)

The price couldn't be beat (2.00!) and while there was some sun fading in various sections, it isn't nearly enough to be noticeable and anyway, I think it's just part of the charm of reusing, don't you? The pattern is my own design and the second version of this simple cross-over pull on style. Which by the way, I love... no buttons or zippers, which makes it really quick and easy to whip up ....say, come Monday morning, when inspiration finally struck (ahem.)

Outside, and all dressed in mama made (knit bag, blanket, clip) the imaginative play of puppy and owner continued with her big sister. Ah, these tender moments that highlight our warm summer days.

::this moment::

{this moment} inspired by soulemama - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see

::this moment::

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see

stash busting sweaters

sweaters, in Hawaii...::sigh::

while I would love to say knitting sweaters is still practical here on island, well it's not. Not unless you want to count those late nights at the beach, or trips to the grocery store or any store here where the air conditioning runs so cold that a sweater is tempting. Also, in the non-practical island knitting realm we have this adorable baby sweater (destination/purpose as yet unknown but loved completely non the less). I had this entire skein of sock yarn left over after last years sock knitting, I made one large pair of socks for Tylor, some fingerless gloves and a wrist cuff all with one skein! So with the other skein and knowing just how much yarn I had, I was feeling motivated and fairly confident as I envisioned this tiny sweater. I had hoped for enough to create the sleeves, but the grey add-on three quarter length sleeves turned out pretty cute, and I actually like it better with the grey.

a good morning sweater for Nia

As middle daughter it is always nice to get something new and just for you don't you think?

With just enough pink and apple green for the sleeves(as requested) I was able to make this little one smile. ..and all that smiling, oh, i'ts the best part

stash busting organic blankets

Island life has been difficult without a family vehicle, up until last weekend if we wanted(needed) to go some where we were biking. Now, while this is a very planet conscious way of travel, with this bunch(and the little legs) it means that we get in one family 'trip' per day. With this much effort put into just getting someplace, well, we kind of just want to stay put for a while where ever we happen to land. This has resulted in a few late nights at the beach where, we just had to stay to watch the sun set over the water, and that means late nights riding home with wet bathing suits. So, I started these knits with the beach and biking in mind, thankfully now the biking will still be happening but a little more for pleasure not necessity. The first night we had our 'new' wagon we all piled in blankets in tow, drove to the coast and watched the stars shinning over the water, and the clouds off in the distance light up with lightning. Warm, and all together..my favorite.

stash busting organic washcloths

::a confession :: Okay folks, ...I've been on a knitting bender..for the last month or so -give or take :)

It has been one part necessity, using up the yarn in my stash is very 'family budget' friendly, the other part well let's just call it obsession(insanity?) with creating some of our daily essentials one stitch at a time.

Today I'm sharing my version of these wedding washcloths, that I stumbled upon over here at the purl bee. {such a great place by the way, if you haven't been yet it's definitely worth checking out, so much great inspiration over there!}

These are so simple and fun to knit, I started with a full skein of patons organic cotton in this lovely plum color (one full skein makes three washcloths). I just love how quick and sort of mindlessly these knit up so I went in search for more yarn and happily whipped up a few more colors with some partial skeins of lion brand organic cotton.

Now, will having some hand knits for bath time make taking baths more inviting for this busy little crew?...hmmm.

contemplating flowers

..welcome June and all the flowery goodness of spring, leaning on towards summer..
my heart is full in this time of renewal for our little family, taking the entire month of May to celebrate our ten years of marriage has been so lovely. As always things are just humming right along around here, and along with the gentle rhythm our days have begun to take on, there is a noticeable buzz of excitement here, too. But more on that later...
Right now I just want to pause, take a long deep breath, and enjoy the flowers...

:this moment:: our love, celebrating ten years

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he's home

The weeks of waiting are finally over! He's home, he's home, he's home!!!
And in celebration of this wonderful occasion, we slathered on a ton of bug repellent and headed out for a jungle hike(Yarno loves hiking,... and the beach) it was such a lovely day for a hike and at the top there was a beautiful waterfall, which I didn't get a photo of because by that time that cute little red head there, was catching a ride on mama's back :) Oh, such a great weekend. So good to be all together again.
Sorry for the picture size & quality It has been quite a challenge taking photos and posting with my phone, thus, the sparce posting...so hope you'll hang in there with me til that new computer arrives! Till then this is as good as it gets people :)

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