Take a minute...PLEASE

Let me just do my part here and encourage everyone to get involved with the effort to
SAVE HANDMADE TOYS IN THE U.S.A.
In less than two months time, small businesses like mine could be a thing of the past. Please take a couple minutes sign a petition or write to your congress person (preferably both). Click on the SAVE HANDMADE bear on the left side of this page to find out how you can help save my (and countless others) livelyhood.

For more information:

http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

There's also a great etsy article and open letter.

One Month

Baby X
Well, baby's first month flew by in a flash, as usual. I'm sure next time I look at her she'll be huge and doing some amazing new tricks. You can't look away for second! She still has no name, which I hear is completely ridiculous at this point (everyday, from everyone I meet). Soon, very soon.

In the meantime, I finally listed some of the new goodies I've been working on for the shop. I love the new sweaters. I love making them. Most of them require lots of different skills, so I don't ever get bored with them. From the moment the yarn arrives at my door from Rachel-Marie I'm excited about those little sweaters. Unfortunately, since they are each unique and rather time consuming, I tend to become very attached to them, so hard to see them go after all the time we've spent together. I have to say, seeing a little one wearing the sweaters makes all that sadness melt away though.


So sweet! I knit each one freestyle, that is, I just start knitting and see what happens. At first I thought I should try to write down the patterns as I go, so I can duplicate the sweaters later, but I get so easily bored creating the same thing over and over again (as I've experience with my beloved seamonster collars). I'm happy with my decision to keep them OOAK, it makes kids feel extra special knowing they are the only one to have that particular sweater.

In other news, the fam and I will be heading out to Pittsburgh for most of August so any orders placed during August won't ship out until late in the month. Bummer, I know.
Have a loverly weekend.

Snow day part II

Well, it's happened again, the rare double snow day. It's truly beautiful outside but inside the family is getting feisty. I dare not venture out onto the ice with the girls in my condition and tempers are flaring while we are cooped up. So, we bake... This time Chocolate Chip Muffins and a recipe for once too!

Chocolate Chip Muffins (vegan)
1/2 +1/3 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 +1/3 c. unbleached white flour
2 T. sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1-1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda

1-1/4 c. soymilk
4 T safflower oil
1 egg replacer (EnerG)w/the water
1 T. apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 c. vegan chocolate chips
sugar and cinnamon for dusting

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease one muffin pan.
Sift dry ingredients. Wisk together wet ingredients.
Add wet to dry and mix thoroughly. Stir in choc. chips.
Pour into prepared muffin pan. Dust top with sugar/cinn.
Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or untiltoothpick comes out clean.
*makes 12 magnificent muffins

I'm using up the last of my real deal sugar before i make the switch back to more wholesome sweeteners like agave and rice syrup. This recipe only has a little actually sugar, the chocolate chips do the rest. they are really yummy and half whole-wheat, so you won't feel too guilty.

Yesterday I told you about some projects I'm working on, well here's one of them now.
I have been making booties as a starter project for my beginner spinning efforts. All of the booties are hand knit with fiber I spun myself with my drop spindle. Except one pair on the left made of organic cotton commercial yarns. None of the booties are actually finished yet, but soon. I also completed my second sweater vest using a new batch of KDG yarn I recently ordered from Rachel-Marie. I'm really pleased with her yarn, the colors are fantastic, the weight is very substantial, but it's also nice and soft. Perfect for little my Spring jackets and vests. I'll post a picture of the second sweater once I figure out which buttons to use on it.

And lastly, speaking of knitting, my 8 year old daughter, M1, brought home her gnome which she's been working on at school this year. She knit the entire thing and chose really great colors I might add.
She also photographed her handwork next to the cat she made last year. I'm so impressed with her. I've recruited her to teach my friend who's pregnant with triplets how to knit because M1 knits the right way (unlike her mother) and she's so much more patient than me. What an amazing person, that's all I have to say, except...
Let it Thaw to You All!

Snow Day!

Well, it's not exactly snowing out, but school is most certainly canceled. I am all for it! We are looking forward to watching the snow start to fall, staying cuddled in bed and doing some much needed baking. I go through these baking spurts in my life. In the past month I've baked more than I have in years. Coffee cake, chocolate cake, cookies, granolas, sticky buns and of course the donuts(which aren't exactly baked). I've got a killer sweet tooth that will need to be reined in at some point soon. This chocolate cake recipe was from sweetpepita, you can find it on the YetiLovesSeamonster blog

I substituted rice milk and I used my Martha mini loaf pan to make tiny little cakes. The frosting is just powdered sugar, Earth Balance, vanilla and rice milk. I added the rice milk until it was nice and creamy and I whipped it really well so it was light and fluffy. Mmmmm. So here are a couple of other updates on the home front. First, we went to our ultrasound a couple weeks ago and baby3 is superb and I'm feeling almost normal. It's a little bit strange to be in bed for so long at the beginning of pregnancy and then when I finally get up and start moving around again, I'm huge. Oh don't worry I'll get even bigger, I'm only half way there! They gave us another 3D shot this time, so cute. Baby has been kicking up a storm and we started childbirth classes in the Bradley Method taught here in Lancaster city by Kelly Cassidy a couple weeks ago. It's a refresher for me, and a beginners course for pops. It's really fun and informative. My first birth 8 years ago was a pretty sad home birth attempt/ emergency cesarean. But my second was a very successful almost pain free VBAC delivery. Thats the goal again this time! Bradley is really great because they teach you all sorts of information about what you body is going through, relaxation, prenatal exercises, medical interventions. It makes you feel really well informed and empowered when it comes time to birth that baby.
I tried my hand at dying some roving last week and that was a complete fiasco. I only did a little bit of wool because I have Procion dyes and they work best with plant fibers. I dyed some really beautiful tencel and bamboo in pink/purple, and yellow/green.
I love that stuff, so shiny, soft and silky! The gray yarn is some "black diamond" bamboo roving I spun. It's my favorite of them all. In other fibrous news I also squeezed through a little loop hole in my fabric buying strike and bought a pack of king sized organic sheets on clearance at Target for $30! I've been craving some organic fabric to go with some yarns I bought a while ago, but I'm not buying new fabric, remember? I'll dismantle the sheets, dye them in a variety of colors and see when I can do with them. Luckily the dye is still out from the roving mishap. This is the funniest.
It started out as beautiful light and fluffy wool and then it became a pink mass of sheep dreads. I have no idea what to do with it, does it need to be carded again? I have no means to do that though. Oh, so many silly little projects like this, but I do honestly have about a million ideas these days and I'm actually bringing them to life. I feel so much better about this craft business when I worry less about the business and more about the craft. I'll leave you with some happy family vegan dinner ideas that we've been eating around here lately.
Chili with 'cheese', no-smash guac, fruit salad, 'Red Hot Blues' chips

Miso soup, tofu-veggie rolls, salad, blood oranges

Baked potato, garlic sesame tofu, fruit salad, green salad, carrot apple juice

tofu salad on toast, potato salad, fruit, greens, tomatoes

veggie star pasta soup, 'cheesy bread' w/ pizza sauce, chard, rice milk


Happy Snow Day to All!

Halloween Eve

Well, I'd like to say that I've been busy working on Lumpkin related stuff in the past couple of weeks, but I have not. We had a happy happy Halloween weekend with lots of visitors from out of town this weekend. We ate at the Catacombs on Saturday night and it was very dark and spooky. Then we went to see the Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D.

The girls were so happy and surprised.

We had lots of spooky fun. It's finally chilly out, actually it's downright cold. I don't usually advocate wasting water taking showers to regulate your body temp(LIAN!), but this morning a scorching shower may in fact be the only thing able to prying me out of my jammies.

On another note, just because I haven't been working on the Lumpkin items I said I'd be working on doesn't mean, I haven't been working on other Lumpkin stuff. Usually when I designate a goal for myself it somehow translates in my brain into an obligation and then it's just no fun, and I feel slightly uninspired. So, I've been working on some other ideas, that I won't mention lest I spoil those too.

Moving on, I got me an ole' knuckle buster and signed up for a Propay account this morning which means... I NOW ACCEPT CREDIT CARDS AT SHOWS!!! Can you tell I'm excited about that? I really am.
In other news I'd like to announce that a selection of Little Lumpkins magnetic paper dolls, knits and T shirts will be available at this years CRAFTLAND in Providence RI. If you are in the neighborhood or somewhere along the eastern seaboard please stop by and peruse the handcrafted goodness at this one of a kind holiday shop.

Well, I have taken inventory of all of my sewing supplies this morning and I just finished extracting a piece of foam from M2's nasal cavity(?), so I think I'm ready to buckle down and get some work done. More excitement on the horizon. Trust me, things are about to get very, very exciting around here.