these razorbacks are made for walking....*

I'm planning to write some sort of year-in-brief post, but maybe I'll just wait until the year is completely over, because then nothing new can happen for me to write about.
Because, well, you didn't hear this from me, and see, I ain't really saying anything about it, but there just might possibly be a fourth mobile biped around here, before the time two thousand eleven closes.
Maybe.
Seems far fetched, but the individual in question is possessed of some strange, crazed determination.

yes, indeed, Kieron Tyler, celebrated his tenth birthday by taking steps, unassisted.
i think he took up to four at a time.
Then he got so pleased with himself that he kept dancing in celebration and losing his balance, or he would forget to move his feet, and simply lunge forward towards whatever goal.
 He is definitely a motivated mover!
Aiden clapped and tried to teach kieron to jump and twirl,
but i think we better stay on the walking stage for a bit longer, first.

*Kieron likes when we do 'this little piggy' on his toes, especially when Aiden does it. Aiden has never really had the rhyme down right, plus he takes after his mom and his pop-poppy, changing lyrics and words whenever it suits him. It suited the little hog fan to change the lyrics last week:
'...dese wazobacks go wee wee wee, pig sooiee!!'

back!

if the posts below this look familiar... it's because i posted them a couple months ago, just days before the huge blogger outage. the blog disappeared, but my posts were preserved in my husband's google reader, and i was able to get the domain back.
But then i got busy with other pursuits, and I never felt like beginning this blog again.
but today i felt like it, and here it is, back!
 And i hope that this blog doesn't get deleted again :D

Sweet Pea Pilot Caps

i absolutely LOVE pilot caps for little boys. My kieron is a fussy baby. he cries a lot. a whole lot.
(EDIT: actually this is an old post from before the Great Blogger Outage of 2011, when this blog disappeared. now i'm putting it back up, but it's no longer true that Kieron cries a whole lot. when he was 2 1/2 months old, i think he was finally ready to have been born, and has smiled much more and cried much less since. Just to be fair to the Kieron, i wanted to point that out. also, it might encourage someone with a fussy babe, it gets better, sometimes sooner than you expect. okay, read on.)
But, sometimes he calms down instantly when we put his hand-me-down hat on his head.  My mom had made it the previous year, out of a recycled t-shirt. it was great for keeping the wind out of aiden's ears on during the Easter egg hunt at great-gramma's house.

Aiden modeling a pilot cap

This is a great link for making a pilot cap

The ones in these pictures were made by my mom, using that basic pattern. but mom never follows instructions exactly - a trait she passed on to me :D
Her caps have one layer - no interfacing - and used upcycled cotton/lycra shirts as the fabric and FOE (fold over elastic) for the binding.

if you try this pattern with these idea, let us know how it works for you! and if you'd like, comment and link to a picture of your finished product on your blog, it'd be fun to see what you made!
more ideas for upcycling old t-shirts later - don't forget to become a follower, or add my blog to your reader, so you don't miss the ideas!

A brilliant idea: how to make your own pattern and keep it neat for storage

while perusing my mom's blog to find a certain post, i happened across this tip i'd forgotten about. Mom's favorite way to make your own pattern
this method uses cardstock and packing tape. One other pattern making method i've seen (and used) involves newspaper. besides the mess of the print,  I   a certain person found that rather distracting...

Boys!

I have two sons (no daughters), 5 brothers (2 sisters born when i was all grown up), and my husband has 3 brothers (plus one sister and one sister-in-law).

I have been surrounded by boys my entire life.

I wanted a boy first - so he could be his future siblings' hero, squash bugs for me, follow his daddy around, and take out the trash (that was a boys job when i grew up!) and i got one. Aiden Timothy. He's 1 1/2 and has blonde hair, mischievous blue eyes, his momma's chunky thighs, a goofy sense of humor, and perhaps a little TOO smart to handle!

it is SO much fun to have a little boy around.

My second child, Kieron is another blue eyed treasure, who will get more adjectives as his personality expands from 'gassy, fussy baby' into... whatever! But before he was born a couple months ago, i was secretly hoping for a girl. not that I'm tired of being around so many boys, really, i'm not!

but girls are just more fun to dress! shallow, i know.

My two little sisters gave me a taste of the fun of making things for girls - crocheted flowers, ribbon flowers, beaded socks, embellished fun fur socks, not to mention all the dresses, skirts, and hair bows mom made, plus a huge selection of girly yarns, fabrics, and accessories to work with. and if you finish dressing and accessorizing all the little girls in your life, you can dress their dollies!

but, boys don't wear hairbows, or frilly socks, or easy pillowcase dresses.

What can the beginner seamstress/crafter/crocheter make for a son? i'm still not quite sure, but i'm getting some ideas...

If you want to make a handmade baby shower gift for a girl, there is a huge array of easy but adorable crafts you can make.

but what can a handmade gift giver make, if the baby shower invite is blue?

unless you have skills of an expert seamstress and can make the kid his first three piece suit without breaking a sweat or shedding a tear, you might feel like you're stuck crocheting yet another baby blue blanket.

You don't have to be.

There are other things besides blankies that you can make for the little guys in your life, it's just a little harder to find ideas, that's all. there are great tutorials, patterns, and ideas, but they are very spread out.

Follow along with me as i explore the world of crafting for boys, and post tutorials, links, patterns, and pictures to help you share your creativity with the little boys in your life.