happy solstice! the bunny and ian and i will be heading south for christmas in a few days. i expect tumult, turmoil and tremendous amounts of good cheer. from the adults. alden doesn’t take well to change, but we’re hoping a few days won’t get him too down. especially since he has turned into mister smiles when he’s with us at home. and his giggle is just the most charming thing ever.

i hope to be back on a very very small scale soon after the new year, but one of my resolutions is to relax and not be too hard on myself, so maybe yes and maybe no. either way, eh?

merry winter festivities, friends!

lena’s post today reminded me that i am always, constantly dreaming of an airier, cleaner, greener and more colorful life. not that i don’t enjoy the one i have (though perhaps i could spend a bit more mental energy on the present) but it’s oh so nice to dream of new places and spaces. tamera is particularly good at collecting images of places that make my heart twinge longingly. she’s also busy crafting one such place of her own. ah. someday.

in the meantime, happy thanksgiving everyone!
i’m closing up shop for the holidays. i have a tiny sewing project going on and though it’s so small and ordinarily would take me no time at all, sewing is a challenge lately! and i need to keep my focus on bunny beansprout at the moment, what with him being all wee and sweet and growing so quickly.

if you’re in nyc and would like undies (they make a great gift!) they will be available at lena’s holiday sale on december 12th in her studio in fort greene. info: here.

oh hey! it’s sale time!
buy three undies, get free shipping.
now through next wednesday, november 18th.
complete the checkout process and then wait for an adjusted invoice. if you forget and pay, i’ll refund the shipping charge to your paypal account.
hooray!

hi hi hi.
so! babies! they take up SO MUCH TIME!
i’m enjoying (almost) every second of it, naturally. but! whew!

ok, so i’ve been working on a pattern for baby leggings. s l o w l y.
like, maybe i will have some baby things in the shop by springtime?
that s l o w l y.

in the mean time, i’ve added some of the liberty print undies back in the shop!
none of them are completed yet (still need to elasticize them) so kindly give me a few days to finish them up before they’re sent off. and the compound dresses are taking me roughly two weeks to complete at the moment, so please order with some time to spare.

alden is finally figuring out how to entertain himself for like, oh, five minutes at a time. it’s a start! the main obstacle in our playing/working situation is that the play area is in the living room, which is kind of far from the studio and the studio is not baby safe. well, neither is the living room, but at least there aren’t pins and needles and paints and scissors everywhere. we’ll work it out! we had a play date with an eight month old the other day (an older woman! ooh la la) and it was remarkable how independent she seemed! totally chillin’ with her toys and clappin’ and sittin’ and bein’ cute as a button. i’m not in any hurry for my tiny little baby man to grow up or anything, but at least i know that *eventually* i might be able to get a few things done when we’re alone together. so far, all of the sewing needs to be done on weekends when papa’s home.

oh, right! this isn’t the baby blog. see? they take over your brain. completely. it’s kind of awesome and kind of frightening.

hi!
ian is holding a crabby baby who needs to be put to bed.
i have two seconds to tell you:
the etsy shop is back!
right now it’s just the compound dress and valerian cards. free shipping on the first, sale on the latter.
woo!
yes!
hooray!
and when i have a tiny bit more time, there will be new things. no collection or nothin’. just some stuff.
but it’s a start!
here we go!

ok, friends. i’ve never enjoyed keeping more than one blog. i try to be a Here I Am sort of person, not separating one part of me from another and i tend to think that separating blogs by subject or theme or aesthetic, what-have-you is like posturing or having a split personality. i can think of two notable exceptions, so please don’t be offended if you’re a multi-blogger! and anyway, here i am. the time has come. for this blog will eventually, as my flickr account has done, become The Alden Show and as much as i obviously enjoy bragging about our golden boy, i also need to remember that i am a separate person. yes! me! i am still me. and i plan on sewing again! hopefully sooner rather than later. and this blog should be about that. and you know, random soap-boxing.

this isn’t to say that i’ll never mention the bunny. how could i not? also, i’d really really like to eventually get some baby and kids’ clothes out there. it’s just to say that The Alden Show is moving to its own channel. he does deserve it, after all. good news if you like baby blogs, good news if you don’t. it’s a win-win for all–hooray!

anyway, i don’t want to jinx anything, but the past three nights have seen sleeping stretches of four hours or more, so i may just have some functioning-human-style energy back soonish! this (and the pending arrival of fall’s cooler temperatures) is bringing me slowly out of my in-the-moment state of mind and thinking ahead again. only this time, instead of worrying about what’s down the road, i’m really excited and happy. nothing is perfect and in fact, much is incredibly tough at the moment, but i’ve never been more optimistic or hopeful. so maybe there will be sewing news soon! or maybe not! but there will be sewing news here again.

woahhhh, hi blog!
i’ve missed you!
sorry for the long stretch of silence. i guess you could say i’ve had my hands full.

so, babies, huh?? pretty awesome. in our month together, alden has managed to weave himself into our hearts in such a way that it’s hard to imagine that he hasn’t always been there. i know, i know! but it’s so true. he looks like everyone i’m related to and everyone ian’s related to an even though he’s still brand new, he’s so familiar, even while we know we’re just getting to know him. his name does mean “old friend” after all. he has more personality than i thought possible for a newborn and though he has yet to really smile or laugh yet himself, he cracks us up constantly.

of course, it isn’t all cooing and giggles and i’ve definitely shed my share of sleep-deprived tears over his late night whimpers. and today? today i silently wept on the L as i desperately tried nursing him while ian held up a blanket to cover us and alden wailed and screamed and took on a look not unlike a cooked lobster. we were on our way home from a trip to the met with my parents and bunny had been in his carrier, strapped to me pretty much all day, taking only a few light snack breaks when i would worriedly remind him that he needs to eat. it was hot out and by the time we got on the train, though i’d taken off all but his diaper and cover, he was clammy and cranky and i, in my sleep-deprived state, was convinced he had heat stroke and was going to pass out if he wasn’t hydrated IMMEDIATELY. sigh.

needless to say (for anyone who has had babies), he was fine and as soon as we got home he stopped crying and opened his big blue peepers and gave me a look as if to say, “that was fun! what’s next?” and i was the only one left crying. such a novice! but after a nice, 2 hour nap, we’re back into our little quasi routine, about to eat some dinner and watch the last disk of mad men, season one. bunny’s asleep on my chest and all is well.

except, what is up with this health care reform backlash?? i swear, you drop out of society for a month and the country collectively puts on some sort of absurdist play. unbelievable. and woah, whole foods, huh? well, for anyone else in need of a little sweetness to counteract THAT insanity, alden’s been hamming it up over on flickr.

he’s here! alden louis was born on the ides of july. he is the best thing ever.

i’ve been debating whether or not to type out his birth story here. going in, i was very excited to be able to eventually share mine, since reading others’ stories was really helpful to me in the weeks leading up to alden’s arrival. but i don’t want to scare anyone, as our story, though it isn’t necessarily frightening, has some parts that still freak me out and give me nightmares. suffice it to say, that what just about every mother will tell you is completely true: no matter how much you read and research, there is absolutely no way to truly prepare for the experience of giving birth. you never know what is going to happen and you can plan for a normal birth as much as you would like, but in the end, all that really really matters is that you and your baby are healthy. so! there we have it, for now.

ian went back to work today and the babe and i are just hanging out, eating and sleeping and looking at one another. he’s pretty irresistible. and he eats A LOT. so i’m operating on maybe three hours of sleep total for the past 24 hours. i’m pretty sure the past week has been like this, but the days run together like they’ve never done before. so pardon the quietness around here. we’ll post some more photos soon…

a belated happy independence day!
here we are on the morning of july 5th and i have absolutely no news to share. alas!
i have had a feeling that the sprout will be the late-to-the-party sort and that is totally ok. except that we’re getting antsy! and i’m not sure i’m comfortable with the thought of a ten pound newborn…

oh he won’t be that big. right? right??

anyway, here’s my little place holder update for wondering friends and family, complete with a little tiger (stripes!) that i made this week. the pattern is from here.

all is well! but unless something very exciting happens, or i become incredibly bored waiting, there probably won’t be any new updates until little man has made an appearance. take care, buddies!

my friend melissa posted a photo to flickr of the most amazing quilted pillow, and a link to an excellent tutorial on how to make a cathedral window quilt. i am officially obsessed.

above is my first attempt. well, first attempt that will result in a full quilt–it’s much easier than i anticipated! granted, my work so far is not anywhere near perfect. and there’s no way that i’m hand sewing this thing. i mean, that’s ludachristmas talk. but it’s just for our own little bed and so hey, it doesn’t need to be gallery-wall-worthy. i say this partially for my own benefit, because if i start obsessing about the imperfections, it will never be completed and that would be sad. we need a quilt! or, we will when/if it’s ever cold again.

also, i am teaching myself to knit! or…i plan to! one of the joke names for the (as yet unnamed) sprout that we came up with early on was Stripes. don’t ask. i realize it’s not funny, but for some reason, i found this hilarious. anyway, we’re not naming him Stripes. instead, we decided to buy him a toy tiger and name that Stripes. only we hadn’t been able to find just the right one, until i saw this little guy (ok, girl) on etsy and bought the pattern. cute, huh? i’m not going to make the dress. i think the tiger is cute enough on his own. and well, honestly, i am not entirely sure i’ll be able to make the tiger.

today was a 4 train sort of day (L to the G, walk to the C, walk to the…R?, back to the L) and one of my many stops was purl in soho, where i was blown away by the helpfulness of the staff, who LOOKED UP my pattern on etsy (because i was there on a whim and had not planned accordingly) and helped me gather everything i will need. everything except skill, which i am hoping to acquire from this dusty copy of knitting for dummies that i forgot i own. so we’ll see.

it’s nice to be making some things that will be sticking around. things that aren’t intended to be sold. i really don’t do this enough, which bums me out a bit. it’s nice to not feel rushed or pressured. it’s nice to feel free to experiment a little. and hopefully this tiny bit of relaxed making time will inform the would-somebody-buy-this (?) style making of making, making it better. eh? perhaps. but no! corrupted thinking. we’ll hold off on worrying about that for the time being. for lo, it is time for tea.