tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59816935713889939002011-12-30T09:05:51.676-05:00jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.comBlogger471100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-78285578714869968522011-12-13T11:29:00.002-05:002011-12-14T10:11:28.756-05:00

I have two tough little nephews. They were born in August, at only 29 weeks gestation. They are identical, and as happens in a small number of twins that share a placenta, they had twin to twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). Before they were born, my sister-in-law had two intra-uterine laser surgeries to correct the TTTS. My brother and sister-in-law live in Pittsburgh and we don't see them

Woodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-59759538996347600642011-11-02T14:31:00.000-04:002011-11-02T14:31:02.089-04:00

Remember the robin's nest from last spring? Not long after I wrote that, bluejays came and killed the babies. We hid this from the kids, but it filled us both with an incredible sadness. My wife knit herself a nest and filled it with robin eggs (with one that clearly came from some kind of magical bird). They still sit on her desk at the office.   Spring's a long way off, but I just wanted to

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-30965831982904084332011-10-13T14:28:00.001-04:002011-10-13T16:58:59.674-04:00

I got a lot of requests for a "how-to" after sharing the pictures of my kids in the armor I made (and even had a local friend ask me how to make her son a knight costume out of real steel for Halloween). So here are some basic instructions that I hope at least will demystify the process. There's still plenty of time to get something like this done before Halloween. Materials: To begin you need

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-29822782777725920112011-09-28T10:09:00.000-04:002011-09-28T10:09:02.867-04:00

  Our boy loves his pockets. He often comes in from a walk with his pockets full of twigs and rocks and leaves. He also has become obsessed with belts and the pouches his father has found that attach to them (Dwight Schrute-style cell-phone holders, Yugoslavian bullet cases) and he calls those "patches." When I bought my copy of Liesl Gibson's book Little Things to Sew and saw the pattern for

Woodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-57323557978145785352011-08-30T16:58:00.000-04:002011-08-30T16:58:42.914-04:00

The weekend before last we swung by the Michigan Fiber Festival at the beautiful Allegan County Fairgrounds on its final day. If you are a knitter, I highly recommend finding a festival like this in your area. It really gives you a sense of the entire industry, from the farmers (who brought hundreds of sheep, goats, rabbits, alpacas, and even a camel) to the spinners and dyers. And with hundreds

Woodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-32767802144365664432011-08-10T15:49:00.000-04:002011-08-10T15:49:46.689-04:00

We had a neighborhood garage sale last week and my kids ran a surprisingly profitable lemonade stand and got rid of a ton of old toys that were just languishing around the house. I told my daughter she could use her proceeds to buy a toy of her choice at the Doll Hospital, and she chose this doll that looks quite a bit like her mother (freckles and red hair). Wood decided to make this doll a

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-17720226095993834762011-07-18T15:40:00.000-04:002011-07-18T15:40:22.747-04:00

Back when we were still new to blogging SIX YEARS AGO we would occasionally get a kind comment from the prominent Portland-based knitting blogger Larissa Brown (who has since published several fantastic books, including My Grandmother's Knitting: Family Stories and Inspired Knits from Top Designers, Knitalong, and the e-book Bonnet Love). We were always kind of amazed the Larissa paid any

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-904071405635947902011-07-05T10:51:00.002-04:002011-07-05T10:56:40.831-04:00

This is my wife's most recent effort at an Oliver & S sewing pattern, the Seashore Sundress. I was at the fabric store for some costume materials and saw this really nice and light vintage-feeling fabric and thought it would make a great sundress for a little girl who has finally managed to grow out of all the ones her mother made for her when she was four.  When we were a few miles north of

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-43806165899380099512011-05-11T10:48:00.000-04:002011-05-11T10:48:30.649-04:00

[Wood is out-of-town for work, so I'm writing this to share the Easter dress she made our daughter a few weeks ago] Every year, my wife makes the kids an outfit for Easter [2009 and 2010], but this year she only had the time to make a dress for our daughter. It was a dress she had intended to make long ago: I bought the pattern and the fabric for her last summer, but she has been so busy with

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-19452966465722097422011-03-11T11:05:00.003-05:002011-03-11T13:55:07.643-05:00

While we were traveling, I brought a skein of Stonehedge Fiber Mill's "Almost Handspun" yarn (the label has the name of the animals it came from on it!), hoping to turn it into a sweater for Gram. The pattern I used is the Fisherman's Pullover by Veera Valimaki. A few times while I was knitting, Gram would ask me what I was doing, and I'd tell him I was making a sweater for him. Each time, he'd

Woodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-55902668977098304872011-02-12T08:11:00.002-05:002011-02-13T10:30:27.921-05:00

Jim came back from the fancy fabric store (yes, ladies, when you have a house-husband you can send him on errands to the fabric store while you're at work) with a scrap piece of raw denim that had a weird selvedge. It cost something like 50 cents, and I had no idea what to do with it until it occurred to me that it was perfect size for the iPad case I wanted to make as a gift. Honestly, I have

Woodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-25519114180018032212011-01-04T14:49:00.001-05:002011-01-04T16:22:57.132-05:00

I've been busy.A hat for Jim:A pair of felted slippers for Gram:A cowl for my sister-in-law (I made another one of these for my other sister-in-law, but forgot to take a picture of it before I gave it to her):A sweater for Mr. Bear (I have an unexplained love for tiny sweaters):A pair of hobo gloves for Jim:A scarf for my mom (the colors match her new winter coat):(details about all of the

Woodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-50162885317192207282010-12-01T13:16:00.005-05:002010-12-01T15:34:00.122-05:00

Late Fall and Winter are such a great time for knitting. Having handknit items around, both those completed and those in progress, makes the steadily chilling air almost welcome. The challenge for me is to remember that I can't knit everything and that sometimes it is worth it to just buy a pair of mittens. Other times I come across a hat pattern so adorable that I just have to make it, even

Woodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-64133914713476620022010-10-06T13:55:00.001-04:002010-10-06T16:40:33.591-04:00

Hey look! It's another Woodcraft post not written by Wood. . . I know you probably come here because this is the last place on the site where you can escape my constant drivel. But she's been incredibly busy with work lately, trying to catch up after we were on vacation and making up for the fact that I was out of town last weekend. About a year ago she started knitting seriously. In addition

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-10571573313190917612010-09-09T14:10:00.000-04:002010-09-09T14:10:42.344-04:00

We dropped Gram off this morning for his first day of preschool. For weeks his sister has been talking to him about school to help him get ready. Despite that, it'll be a tough transition for all of us. Even though Gram is a little louder and bolder than his sister was at this age, he is still a pretty sensitive little guy, and picturing his tiny face at school this morning is still enough to

Woodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-91782595608128533872010-08-16T23:58:00.003-04:002011-08-30T17:04:22.713-04:00

During our time up north, I convinced Jim to extend our already long drive home by an extra hour so we could go through East Jordan, Michigan and make a stop at the Stonehedge Farm and Fiber Mill. I've long been a fan of their Shepherd's Wool line of yarn, which is sold at yarn stores across the country. My local independent yarn store has a large selection, and I stocked up on it last winter

Woodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-50429396929538324672010-07-22T11:36:00.000-04:002010-07-22T11:36:28.069-04:00

We are the annoying people who come to your kid's birthday party with homemade presents. It's okay for now I guess, but in a few years, when your kid wants Legos and we bring hand-sewn madras shorts or something, it's going to be really embarrassing for our own children. For our daughter's best friend's fourth birthday birthday a few weeks ago, my wife hand-sewed a stuffed fox (sort of along the

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-19536529038076427222010-07-13T12:37:00.002-04:002010-07-15T11:56:37.055-04:00

When I decided to go camping with my college friends a few weeks ago, I realized I didn't have a sleeping bag. I investigated the options on the market, and the cheap ones seemed too cheap and the expensive ones seemed too high tech and annoying. I'm a bit obsessive about buying things that are made in America when possible, and those options for sleeping bags were pretty expensive. I was

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-64238666425194868742010-06-16T10:33:00.001-04:002010-06-16T11:03:01.792-04:00

Okay, it's me again. Sorry! Wood's job has been keeping her really, really busy. She has her first trial today and I just haven't been able to get her to write any blog posts about the projects she has been able to complete over the past few months. She has made some really cool clothes, including this dress she made last week: That's the back of the dress. Aren't the buttons cool? She used the

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-48429507458629464932010-04-20T13:54:00.000-04:002010-04-20T13:54:56.014-04:00

As occasionally happens here at Sweet Juniper Woodcraft, this text is actually written by Jim. Hopefully, Wood will be back in this space very soon to share her latest knitting project or her efforts to sew the kids' Dutch costumes for this year's Tulip Time. Part 1: The Wagon This is what I started with, a 10-year-old Babyjogger Twinner II double jogging stroller, I purchased on craigslist two

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-68218199641456135872010-04-07T11:03:00.001-04:002010-04-09T21:24:25.422-04:00

Jim has been asking me to make Juniper a chambray dress for months. I'd forgotten about that, though, when I set out on a Saturday afternoon with Juniper to go fabric shopping for her Easter dress. I knew I wanted to make her an oliver + s jump rope dress, and I was imagining it in a muted solid or gentle stripe. Of course, when we got to the fabric store, she was captivated by the bold Easter

Woodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-70878127837831800672010-03-26T10:35:00.001-04:002010-03-26T10:43:30.888-04:00

My daughter has been asking for slippers all winter. Around Christmas, I saw that many places were selling "boiled wool" slippers, and I thought, hey, that's just felted yarn! Why buy slippers for $19.99 when I can spend sixteen hours knitting them?I had to explain it all several times to my confused husband: yes, first you knit slippers and then you wash them in hot water to make them look like

Woodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-14305957510840868842010-02-26T09:40:00.006-05:002010-03-09T10:02:11.594-05:00

A few months ago, my knitting mentor DW sent me some beautiful yellow yarn from a local mill on Prince Edward Island. She knew that I wanted to make something for Juniper, and she knew that yellow was her favorite color. The yellow yarn she sent me was gorgeous and incredibly soft; I couldn't wait to make something with it.The only problem was finding the right pattern. I fell in love with this

Woodnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-44217030647904592332010-02-08T09:13:00.006-05:002010-02-08T10:51:07.420-05:00

Knitting has helped tear me away from my sewing machine, and I love being able to make something without sequestering myself in our dark basement tied to my sewing machine for hours. I bought Kata Golda's Hand-Stitched Felt hoping to find quick, easy projects that I could make completely by hand, and I was not disappointed. Not only is wool felt lovely to touch and work with, but there is

Woodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-24813455621614476202010-01-26T14:45:00.001-05:002010-01-26T14:48:42.871-05:00

After my daughter went to see The Lion King musical with my mother-in-law last summer,  I made the mistake of letting her watch the Disney version on DVD, and whatever crack the big D puts in its movies infected her completely and she quickly figured out a way to turn every game into something to do with Simba and Nala and the elephant graveyard. While there are toys for just about every

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-48182876634732028562010-01-05T01:00:00.000-05:002010-01-05T01:00:06.861-05:00

One of the most hilarious parts of having younger children is that you can totally get away with making their Christmas presents yourself and not having them react with visceral disgust. In a few years, our boy will be pining for a Playstation 5 or an XBox 1080 or whatever, and even if we spend countless hours knitting him a protective koozie for his two-year-old Nintendo Yuu controller

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-56633549083875328912009-12-07T13:27:00.005-05:002009-12-08T10:48:07.332-05:00

After I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to learn to knit, a kind reader commented: "If you're serious about the knitting thing, send me an e-mail - I can give you lots of good tips on which books to buy (and not) and what type of yarn/needles to start on. There's a lot of variety out there and it can seem veeeerrrry intimidating."Of course I emailed her immediately, saying, "Yes, I'm

Woodnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-14196939082502988152009-10-30T15:57:00.001-04:002009-10-30T16:00:10.214-04:00

[note this is Jim, not Wood writing] Halloween is definitely the favorite holiday around here. I kind of hated it during the whole sexy/clever period of our mid 20s, but now that we have kids, I just can't imagine a better holiday experience than dressing up AS WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BE with all your friends and then going out in the dark to get a bunch of candy. Beats Hanukkah by a mile. This

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-21908237767301765792009-10-08T11:02:00.000-04:002009-10-08T11:02:57.070-04:00

I have been searching for a perfect picnic blanket for years. I've looked in stores and online, and I've never found one that was just right (at the right price). I wanted something pretty, lightweight, and easy to carry that I could bring to the beach or playground or just put down in the backyard for an afternoon snack. It didn't occur to me to make my own blanket until I was drooling over the

Woodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-84213249179970667702009-09-13T21:22:00.008-04:002009-09-16T10:53:10.497-04:00

Jim finally uploaded all the pictures that have been sitting on my camera for the last few months. I am amazed when I see all these other bloggers taking these beautiful photos and getting them online within seconds. Even when I do manage to take pictures, I'm pretty incompetent when it comes to getting them onto the computer. After a few months of trying to force me to figure it out on my own,

Woodnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-29714820372062794782009-07-28T16:58:00.008-04:002009-08-06T07:52:48.982-04:00

Some nights, after the kids are in bed, before the dishes are put away or the toys are picked up, if my husband is watching the baseball game I sneak down to the basement where I keep all of my sewing supplies. I pull out fabric, push aside the scraps from my last project, and start cutting. I should only sew for 2 or 3 hours, but mostly I push past that, heading upstairs well past the time I

Woodnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-60806937218922442772009-07-08T14:18:00.003-04:002009-07-08T18:18:39.139-04:00

Our niece Metta was born last Friday. Like our Gram, she made her parents wait a week past her due date. I was itching to sew something for her, but I wanted to wait until she was born. I wasn't sure exactly what I'd make, but once she was born and I saw the adorable pictures of her during her first moments I knew I wanted to make her the kimono shirt from Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing.

Woodnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-81669707938607324462009-06-30T11:37:00.005-04:002009-06-30T12:40:54.070-04:00

A few nights ago I finally walked down into the basement to open up the giant plastic bag that I’d been avoiding for nearly a month. A familiar smell floated out as soon as I untwisted the top: a smell of stillness, of clothes long unworn, but also under it all the laundry detergent my mom's been using since I was in high school, the smell I'd bring back to California after a long trip home where

Woodnoreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-47156260286982493712009-06-24T13:43:00.009-04:002009-06-25T17:11:06.149-04:00

After a cold and rainy first half of June, it is finally so hot in Michigan that the kids are spending a good portion of each day in their bathing suits. But when Juniper isn't wearing a bathing suit, she is wearing a sundress.You can sew a girls' sundress in a little over an hour, making it a ridiculously easy project perfect for this weather (it's always better to be outside than cooped up

Woodnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-11700119488417334892009-06-04T23:26:00.000-04:002009-06-05T00:40:22.684-04:00

My wife is really busy at work lately so I'm doing the craft post this week.We fell in love with Owly Shadow Puppets when we met Andrea at the Detroit Urban Craft Fair last winter, and we bought mermaid, fairy, and robot puppets. They're so beautiful we put them in the flower vase sometimes when we don't have any fresh flowers.The kid and I wanted to try to make some for ourselves to tell the

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-71492252206187397672009-05-07T11:57:00.011-04:002009-05-07T21:53:12.201-04:00

Amazingly, over a week later Juniper's favorite color is still yellow (though she tells me that soon it will be purple, but just not yet). The best thing about yellow is that it isn't pink, but it also looks great on her. To mark the momentous occasion of her first new favorite color in two years, I made her a yellow dress.I used this tutorial for turning a men's dress shirt into a girl's dress.

Woodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-13732390217758565802009-04-20T14:42:00.004-04:002009-04-20T16:25:29.241-04:00

In early March, I started sewing an Easter dress for Juniper. We worked on a sketch together, and I could picture in my head exactly what I wanted it to look like. She picked out the fabric, I supported her choice, and we headed to the basement where my sewing area is. And then I had one of those days where you keep making mistakes. I did my best to fix every mistake, but then when I finally

Woodnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-7819444231419861532009-03-26T10:50:00.010-04:002009-03-26T11:42:17.797-04:00

You know those nursing covers that they sell at Target? Last year at this time, I bought one, and it was okay -- it served its purpose. It wasn't really worth $30, but I kept it stashed in my purse and used it to nurse Gram in public (it also came in handy for mopping up spit up).My problem with the nursing cover was that it was too thin. So when my friend recently had a baby, I decided to make

Woodnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-18426772385048932552009-03-05T09:49:00.000-05:002009-03-05T09:51:59.657-05:00

A local mom in the midst of preschool birthday party season says she always has her ears open about potential gifts for the kids whose parties she knows her daughter will be invited to attend. "If I'm going to spend hours making a gift that I could have purchased in a matter of minutes, I want to make sure I know what the kid is interested in." That's why, she says, when a young man in her

Woodnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-8426425832458979922009-02-20T14:55:00.006-05:002009-02-20T15:43:21.769-05:00

I am completely outnumbered by Aquarians in this family, so last month, I made a birthday banner that we hung in the bowling alley for Juniper's party:Yes, that's me drinking a beer at my daughter's birthday party. It was delicious. For Gram's party last weekend, I made a smaller banner with his name on it that I hung under the same happy birthday banner.I love how this project came out. It took

Woodnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-322862946784021872009-02-13T22:13:00.001-05:002009-02-13T23:18:53.087-05:00

I made something for myself this week. Or rather, I made something for my newest love: my first MacBook. My husband and I are late converts to the whole Mac world (he claims he resisted so long because he didn't want anyone to think he could ever be swayed by an advertising campaign involving anyone who would ever date Drew Barrymore). But we're in now and there's simply no going back.I needed a

Woodnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-47944355928270702802009-02-05T16:18:00.005-05:002009-02-05T20:08:25.025-05:00

Two weeks ago in this space I noted that crafting isn't any cheaper than shopping, and that sometimes your materials add up to more than you would spend to buy a similar garment already made. I didn't get into any of the global economic realities or the emotional satisfaction of you get from creating things, but comments to that post---and the similar discussion started by the pattern-maker on

Woodnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-43677200262257874752009-01-29T10:53:00.000-05:002009-01-29T23:43:33.932-05:00

Today Juniper turned four. Jim and I still exchange at least ten looks a day over her head that say to each other: "Can you believe this? Can you believe that she's our kid?" Every day has a moment or two that feels like the day we brought her home from the hospital and sat on the couch staring at how perfectly her tiny hands curled on her chest. This year I requested one of those really small

Woodnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-79942940591652408792009-01-22T15:19:00.000-05:002009-01-22T16:05:51.810-05:00

For years I sewed infrequently, occasionally making a purse for a friend or a little something for Juniper once in a blue moon. And what I made was pretty awful. I never used patterns. My finished projects were best viewed from at least 10 feet away, and that's just not a great feeling to have about something you spent so many hours creating.I admit I was intimidated by patterns, and never even

Woodnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-88174962663700468752009-01-14T21:09:00.000-05:002009-01-15T18:22:46.242-05:00

Gram has elevated one of his blankets above all the rest. When he finds it, he buries his face in it and sits still for a few seconds, and stillness is not ordinarily one of his virtues. We had the blanket custom made by Javis Davis, a great small company that has advertised on Sweet Juniper in the past, with a cool geometric pattern on one side, and this soft, almost furry, fabric on the other.

Woodnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-58788296911382971182009-01-08T10:29:00.000-05:002009-01-08T14:29:28.914-05:00

Based on the response to the quilt I made from Juniper's baby clothes, a lot of you feel just like I did before I started: like you want to make a quilt or just get figure out how to use your sewing machine that hasn't done anything but gather dust in your basement for the last few years, but you're overwhelmed and not sure where to begin.I have the perfect project for you: a doll quilt. Although

Woodnoreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5981693571388993900.post-67085618839419615152009-01-07T23:37:00.000-05:002009-01-07T23:38:13.525-05:00

TEST

jdghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17138644775090861195noreply@blogger.com0