...Who's Got The Button?

I made this adorable little sweater. Oh dear, I love making things for babies and kids. I just do! They are so...wee. I love how quickly they work up. I started this one yesterday and finished it today. AND, I worked all day, both days. So, you know. It's made from organic cotton, just like this cape, and it's one of my favorite yarns for kids/babies because it's so soft and sweet. The pattern is the super easy and completely free "Baby It's Cold Outside". It can be found here.

I made this for my former principal's very first grandbaby...a little girl born just a few weeks ago! Oh, a new love story is being written, and I'm so happy for all of them! Her daughter-in-law was a student teacher in my classroom a few years ago, and I fell in love with her too. I am giving it to my former principal tomorrow, to pass along to the brand new mommy, and I need two buttons for the side closure. I've got many buttons, most of them recycled or thrifted. You can never have too many buttons!


But I'm having a really hard time picking the right button. These are black, made of wood. Erik thinks these are the best ones, he always says "black buttons" because it's "classic". I think it looks okay, but is it too stark? Pink and black, for a newborn? hmmm....




So I tried white. I think we can all agree that this doesn't work.








My not-so-great-camera (which feels just-right-for-me-anyway!) makes this hard to see, but I wondered, you know, maybe a dark green, or a dark blue? Make it a little more funky? Would that be right? I don't have the most sophisticated taste, so I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure a completely not-matchy color would be cool. Possibly wayer cooler than someone like me can legitimately pull off.


Every once in awhile, when notions are on sale, I 'splurge' on a few new packs of buttons. During one of those reckless sprees, I brought home these little turtles. I love turtles, and I wrote a whole 'ode to turtle' on my first blog. This reminded me of it, so I went back and found it. The original story, minus 6 words and one sentence, follows below, if you're interested.

In the mean time, do you have an opinion about the buttons?

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Previously posted in October, 2004....


What I was thinking about, was this whole turtle thing. I love turtles. Even though I have never shown my tatoo before this year, all my classes have always showered me with turtle gifts, because they know how much I love them. Kids are cool like that.

When I was growing up, I loved to find places that I would just fit in. I think my dollhouse obsession stems from this. I love not just little things, because you know people collect miniatures for a hobby, and that's not me; I respond to things that are just the right size. It can be huge, but only if what's inside of it is also huge. I'm very moved by this condition. I have a physical reaction of peace and well being when this state is met. When I was younger, I would sleep in cardboard boxes in my bedroom, or I would pull my bed out from the corner so I could squeeze back there and that's where I would read and do homework. I'd find spots all over the farm - behind a bale of hay in the shed, or under an overgrown bush, or I'd sit for hours in the wheelbarrow and read. I felt the safest when only I fit, when nobody or nothing else could breach my cocoon.

I remember the first time I met a turtle. I cried. Here was this little animal, and he carries around a house with him that only he fits in. My soulmate. I know, snails, crabs, I get it. But the turtle was the first, and my first true love.

And there's more.

Turtles are slow. Like me, when I'm running. Turtles live in a hard shell, but they have vulnerable little bellies. Like me, when I love you. Turtles can die from being flipped over, because they can't get back on their feet, but they can't breath for long when they're on their backs. Like me, when I'm hurting but I can't ask for help.

See. I'm a turtle.