Sew it Swift, Sew it Sweet

Last year, I made these pillows for loved ones, but stitching them by hand took hours:

So this spring, I asked MJ to teach me how to use her sewing machine. I practiced my first machine-made stitches along these letters:

With the sewing machine, it was speedy to make this pillow for my skull-loving hair stylist:

For Mother's Day, I sewed a clef note my musical mom, and a peanut for MJ's elephant-loving mom:

MJ then showed me some YouTube tutorials on how to sew animals from socks.

So I sewed her a bunny from a sock:

Then I made an otter:

And this summer, I sewed a queen bee for MJ's birthday:

It's super when we learn new ways to make gifts for loved ones, swiftly!

Bird is the Word

My mom and MJ's mom are both songbirds...

My mom plays classical music on the piano and harp, and sings when she strums folk music on the guitar.  My girlfriend's mom listens and sings to a wide range of music, from 1940s jazz standards to 1970s disco to 1980s rock ballads. Her ringtone is a recent hip-hop song.

For Mother's Day, I made two songbirds for two songbirds:

Here's a video of both moms doing some bird-spotting:

In the same week, my hairstylist (since 1993) celebrated her birthday. Jeannie and I play a Scrabble-like word game called "Words With Friends" on our gadgets. For her birthday gift, I crocheted a word tile of the most valuable letter in Jeannie's name:

*Chirp-Chirp* to our moms, and *Triple-word Scores* to our friends, all year long!

A Travel Suitcase and an Elephant

Last year for Mother's Day, I crocheted a plane for my mom before she flew to China for a vacation.

This year, my mom is headed to Asia again, with an extra stay in Japan. What do you give a globe-trotting mom for Mother's Day?

This overstuffed travel suitcase is filled with good wishes for her overseas adventure this month!

Meanwhile, my girlfriend's mom—Catalina—loves elephants, so I made a long-nosed keychain for her Mother's Day present:

Here's a video of two awesome moms receiving their gifts:

I hope every day is a celebration of moms everywhere, including all the moms who have passed on but remain in our thoughts.

Thank you, Moms!

Raining Cats and Dogs

In Vancouver, we're sensitive about our reputation as a rainy city. In 1998, many Vancouverites became enraged when actor David Duchovny joked, "Vancouver is a very nice place, if you like 400 inches of rainfall a day."


With the Olympic-sized attention arriving here soon, our rainy self-consciousness has resurfaced.

I thought it might be therapeutic to crochet some raindrops. So I made 14 of them, stitched cat and dog heads on each, gave them names, and felt well-adjusted again.

Raining Cats:


Raining Dogs:


To share this rain therapy, I searched for a public space to hang these raindrops. I chose the Davie Village Community Garden because it's the downtown site of a yarnstorming from sunny last summer:

Photo by ChromaticRat on Flickr

Photo by danielabsilva on Flickr

After some rainstorms, Jessica Glesby's knitted wall has seen sunnier days:


The wooden trellis above the garden, however, remained clear and that was where the Raining Cats and Dogs found their new home last week.




My girlfriend MJ was videotaping while her mom guided my installation of the raindrops. Here's a video of the stringin' up process!

The cat and dog faces are enjoying the sight of human faces looking up at them for a change.

(There are more photos on my Flickr. I'll update this blog post as the Raining Cats and Dogs installation inevitably evaporates.)

As all eyes focus on Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics, I hope these raindrops show that we Vancouverites can be proud of the rain that makes our streets shiny and our lush trees grow.




If we remain a little insecure about our rain, our citizens can try repeating MJ's defiant catchphrase: "Yeah, it rains in Vancouver. So what?"

We're just dancin' and singin' in the rain!



UPDATE - September  9, 2011:

Find out what happened to the last raindrop here!

A Regal Feast

Located in a rougher part of downtown Vancouver, the Regal Hotel is home to some of the city's low-income residents, many of whom stay at the hotel for months at a time.


My girlfriend's mom, Catalina, has worked at Regal since 1993, then as a cleaner and now as the hotel's manager. Since 2005, she has organized an annual holiday feast for the Regal residents, who all anticipate the serving of lechón - a roast suckling pig that is a popular dish in the Philippines.

Here is the whole roast pig, carried by a Regal resident standing next to Catalina:


Along with lechón, 2009's feast included turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, roast duck, pancit noodles, macaroni salad, mixed vegetables, multi-layer cakes and a trifle dessert.

The feast was held in the hotel's small hallway, where the food was handed out by Catalina, my girlfriend MJ, and Hector (a chef and former resident of Regal Hotel):


To celebrate Catalina's charitable soul, I crocheted this trophy of her and her famous roast pig dish:

We surprised her with the trophy during the feast, captured in this video:

It's fun to recognize someone who has never sought recognition for their kind deeds. Every holiday season, Catalina is purely happy to provide a regal feast to those who appreciate it the most.


With that spirit of generosity, I hope everyone's new year is full of charitable acts, both given and received. Happy 2010!