if the shoe fits

I’m always delighted when I come up with a gift for one of the dudes in my life — they are so hard to sew for.  My sister-in-law suggested that I make my brother a shoe bag for him to carry his gym or work shoes back and forth.

This was a very simple project.  It’s an easy drawstring bag made out of soft grey wool and lined with ripstop nylon to keep wet or soiled shoes from getting everything else in his bag dirty.  I monogrammed the bag with a bit of embroidery.

 Love this.  So simple and classy.  AND my brother actually used it!

 

strawberry fields forever

A number of years ago, I made this drawstring bag and little pouch for my sister-in-law out of too-cute strawberry and polka dot seersucker.  For Christmas last year, she asked for a ditty bag big enough to hold the family’s toothbrushes when they travel.  Since she uses the drawstring bag for her toiletries and I had a bit of the seersucker left, I decided to make a matching set.

However, I did the math completely wrong, so she ended up with two ditty bags instead.  The strawberry one on the right was the first iteration and I accidentally made it short and tall, so I whipped up the second polka dot one to go with it.  Luckily, my SIL agrees with me that one can never have too many ditty bags.

 

playful picnic

Continuing with our belated Christmas review:  

For my littler nephew, my sister and I made this fun little picnic set.  I love love love the knitted food that my sister made!

This nephew was just 20 months in December, which is a good age for learning to button and zip, but also an age when both boys and girls seem to love little bags with pockets.  We spent a lot of time on Christmas packing and unpacking the picnic and spreading the checkered tablecloth on the ground.

This was structurally one of the most complicated bags I’ve made, with the two different pockets, but it’s cute enough that if little Jed gets tired of it, his ma can find another use for it.

 

meanwhile…

Let’s hop in the way-back machine and head to December 2011.  Among the gifts given and received was this cute police set for my one of little nephews.  I made a police badge out of embroidered felt along with a nifty holster out of corduroy.  My sister knit the handcuffs and a walkie-talkie.

The holster has a velcro closure so it would be easy to take on and off but also would enable him to wear it as it grows.  It could also double as a tool belt or rock-climbing belt  (pretend only, of course).

Over and out.

 

pie mania

A personal record, dear reader…THREE pies in one day!  Holy deliciousness.  I had a housewarming/graduation party last night with my lovely Trojan friends and dished up a Derby Pie, a Lemon Chess Pie, and a Pumpkin Pie.  Superyum.  The best piece may be the pumpkin I had for breakfast — pie for breakfast is divine – but all three were great.  I’m gonna bust out a piece of lemon in a bit.  The Derby won the pie race by a nose since there was none left.

 

sweet pie, tart pie

Last night was my friends’ annual Fakesgiving — a nice, stress-free pre-holiday gathering of friends and locals.  My contribution was two pies.  I had never made either before and couldn’t really decide between them.  I figured one of them would have to be good, right?

The one on the left is a Quebec Maple Syrup Pie, courtesy of the Pie of the Month Club (I used the second recipe on the card).  The recipe was for an 8-inch pie but my pie plates are 10 inches, so the maple syrup filling was low in the shell and it looked pretty sad.  My friend Jamie (who is learning to make pies, yay!) and I decided to put the whipped cream right on top to fill it in, then, in a Martha moment, made a heart stencil and sprinkled nutmeg and cinnamon on top.  This one was a bit too sweet for me, but easy to make and other people liked it.  I probably won’t make this again any time soon as there are so many other pies to explore.

The second pie is a Bog Berry Pie (aka Cranberry Pie).  Ridiculously easy.  Also courtesy of the POTMC though the recipe isn’t on the site.  It was very tart and I liked this one a lot.  It would have been good with ice cream or even the whipped cream which I brought and forgot to use.

With the cold weather* and holidays approaching, pie season is upon us!  Looking forward to making quite a few more pies over the next few months.

*So I hear.  Today it was in the 60s and I found a violet blooming in the yard!  What the –?  Global warming?

 

whole new world

Hello, friends, it’s been a while…

Six weeks ago, I went into overdrive trying to finish my dissertation in time to defend and graduate this semester.  Success!  You may now address me as dr. kleio’s belly!  (Or is it dr. kleio?…dr. belly?)

At the same time, an opportunity presented itself to move out of my old shabby apartment into some friends’ gorgeous Greek Revival house down the street.  In between writing, defending, packing, and moving, I am still teaching 250 students in four classes at two colleges.  Yikes!  I think you can understand why blogging dropped way down on my list of things to do!

The decision to move is a long story that involves me saving money, living on a better block in a nicer space, and helping out some friends in the meantime.  I couldn’t begin to list the ways that this space is better than my last, but look at the view from my front window.  Sweet!

Among its many delights is that it is even more spacious than my last place, so I have already started hosting monthly crafternoons with the local ladies.  Such a great way to spend some time together and find some inspiration.

My most recent project was curtains for the new kitchen but with Christmas just over a month away, it’s time to get serious!  With the dissertation finished (I still can’t believe it!!) and the semester winding down, I’m hoping to get back into a crafting and blogging groove.

I am feeling so full of joy and gratitude as I enter this new chapter of my life.  And so excited to see what comes next!