Just back from my Knit Pig Meetup, which was smaller than anticipated because of a local outbreak of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Virus (yuck).
Because so many people had wanted to attend the meetup, I had shifted the location of the playdate from my small living room to the woodsy spot in the Laguna Niguel Regional Park by shelter 11 that I’m so fond of. I was impressed that four mamas showed up, even having to walk in 10 minutes from the car. It was a walk-in playdate, like hike-in camping.
The parameters of attachment parenting and craft and being outside attracted a especially pleasant crowd of moms (and dads) this morning, and our conversation went in a lot of crafty directions. We talked about an article in Mothering Magazine that I had meant to post about last month; it was called, “Crafty Mamas” – “Everyday objects are elevated to the sublime in the art and blogs of five creative women.”
The featured blog, SouleMama, is amazing! Amanda Blake Soule unschools her four children in Maine and cherishes the hand- and homemade object. She enjoys her kids fully and the way she photographs and writes about them reveals the loving and calm way she is raising them. Her book, The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections, was recently published. I find myself wandering over to SouleMama often. And when I’m not there, I think about her and her family, and their lifestyle; she is really a source of inspiration.
The other four bloggers in the article (I haven’t gotten past SouleMama yet…) are Amy Karol at angry chicken; Eren San Pedro at The Vintage Chica; Sally Shim at Shim and Sons; and Stephanie Congdon Barnes. All five make rather than buy practically everything their families need. The article was written by Jean Van’t Hul, a freelance writer who also blogs about art and parenting at artfulparent. While I’ve provided all the links here, I do recommend you take a peek at the article in a hard copy of the magazine if you can, because the many photographs are lovely.
I want to be on that list!
[Update: Another confirmed case of Hand, Foot and Mouth virus in the group and Christian woke up with a fever today… : ( ]
