Moni Makes

I'm in Portland visiting the lovely Cammie, and having a wonderful time! She wants a new tattoo, and for me to design it. Since she's envisioning a vine winding itself around her arm, I thought it would be best to sketch something out on her skin, rather than on paper, for the true 3-D effect. So we got some henna! Here's what we came up with:

Last week, I took shelter from a thunderstorm in the local bead shop downtown. Being there inspired me to follow through on an idea that I've had for a while: I made my birth necklace! There's a bead for every birth I've attended as a doula and as a midwife's assistant, and one for my son's birth (it's the metal one in the middle.) I'll be continuing to add to it -- in fact, the day after I made it, I attended a beautiful home birth, so this necklace is actually wanting one more bead.

 

I am so happy with this felted bag I made for Cammie for her birthday! She says it doubles well as a hat. Can't wait for a picture from her!

Made a yummy cake for Shell and Kats on their birthday celebration: strawberry cake with chocolate frosting, strawberry jam between the layers, and white chocolate covered strawberries on top.

I also finished knitting a uterus for my childbirth classes. This is a really good teaching tool! It came out a bit small to accommodate the baby model I use, so I'm working on a bigger one. Whenever I go into Home Ec (the amazing new local yarn and crafts shop in town) the ladies ask me "how's your uterus?" It's delightful.

We have been hosting a weekly Buffy Night (yes, as in Buffy the Vampire Slayer) at our house for the past two years or so, and a dedicated and wonderful group of people has hung on through the entire 7 seasons! In honor of the season finale, I silkscreened these T-shirts for our loyal Buffy devotees.

 

This blanket is finally finished! I've been knitting it for a friend and doula client since the fall of last year. (One of my knitting buddies remarked the other day that it's going to be weird to see me without this project on my lap.)
I took this picture as soon as it came off the needles last week, before weaving in the ends. I didn't have time to get a photo of it completely finished, because the morning I finally wove the ends in was the day I got called to the birth. Just in time! The robin's egg blue color ended up being perfect for a baby girl named Robin. (Unplanned, I swear!)

  

It's been snowing SO. MUCH. This year I really get the idea of having 100 different words for snow, because each snowfall lately has been of a different quality. Yesterday J8 came in from outside and said, "the snowflakes look like milkweed seeds." I went out and indeed, there were these huge fluffy puffs floating gently and slowly down from the sky. They landed and collected, sitting so lightly on top of each other, as though the ones on top didn't want to disturb the successive layers underneath. But the most amazing thing was that their structures were visible: those six-sided, no two alike, crystalline shapes that we attempt to cut out of folded paper so enthusiastically in December.

I snapped some photos that I think are pretty cool:

 
And when I say lots of snow, I'm serious!

There are a few things I've been working on that I'm just getting around to posting. First off, in honor of Kat's birthday, I made a ton of tissue paper flowers (with some help from two awesome kids).

And for his gift, a scarf I've been working on for a long time. It's knit in mistake ribbing, with alternating stripes of Brown Sheep and Noro Kureyon wool. I love the way the Noro changes color.

 
And Katarah looks so cute in it!

There are even more pics of him in the scarf, and his birthday party, on his vox.

A few months ago, I made this canvas bag, with the help of my friend Holly. She's great at sewing, and generously led a sewing skillshare at my house. I love the pocket in front; I designed it so it could hold knitting needles and a bottle of wine.

Canvas bags also make lovely hats.

For some friends of ours in Santa Cruz, I drew a self-portrait of our family in colored pencil. I liked the way the cats turned out best.

It was also fun to do the lettering for the cover of the Old World Charmers demo we recorded last month.

Here it is! Kris did a great job of transferring my design, and keeping the feel of the drawing intact. The colors are really subtle, like a watercolor painting. It was a great experience, and I love the way it turned out. Everyone says it looks like it belongs there. I think so, too.

Here's another view, with some kitten cuteness included.

And speaking of kitten cuteness, check out how well our two kitties are getting along! I realize this isn't exactly crafty, but I have been using lots of creative energy to foster the relationship between these two.

I love making papel picado.