mice are nice

I've been busy stitching tiny mice.  They look really sweet in grey with pink ears...

And they are lots of fun in assorted colors, too.

I used a pattern from this book, and packed up mice for gift-giving with copies of my favorite mouse-related books: Tumtum & Nutmeg by Emily Bearn, The Mousewife by Rumer Godden and Mouse Tales by Arnold Lobel.

I made an adjustment to the pattern and added a bit of extra fabric to the base, so these tiny pocket-friends are also finger puppets.

 Someone around here is fond of this blue one. This mouse will be staying at our house...

maggie rudy's new book

And while we are on the topic of mice, I must tell you about Maggie Rudy's new book.

I love this book... There are practical matters of pet care, comical mishaps and a sweet narrative following little mouse-child who herself seeks the perfect pet.

Oh, look... a book trailer!

la petite souris

In my house we have been reading books about Ernest and Celestine by Gabrielle Vincent (over & over & over...)

The books are currently not in print but we were able to borrow a pile of them through our local library. If you cannot find copies at your local library, editions of some the stories are available here at Book Depository.

Hopefully, however, the new movie of Ernest and Celestine will spark a revival of these sweet books, and perhaps more will be reprinted. 

 

I watched this new movie a few weeks ago with my sons, and was not at all surprised to discover that the movie adhered neither stylistically nor thematically to the original books (except, of course, for the fact that both feature a childlike mouse & fatherly bear as main characters).  Still, the movie had a charm all it's own.

I was especially intrigued by the story element in the movie which involves mice who retrieve children's baby teeth which have fallen out.  I wondered whether this was a French tradition (similar to the tradition in other countries involving the tooth fairy) and so I did some research.

I learned that in many French and Spanish speaking countries it is indeed a mouse who comes to claim baby teeth which have fallen out.  In France the mouse is called La Petite Souris and in Spanish speaking countries he is called Ratoncito Perez.  If you're interested, you can read more about traditions around the world here, and click here to read about a museum in Madrid dedicated to Raton Perez!

And if you are craving yet more bear & mouse stories after reading this post, I recommend getting ahold of some of these books by Bonnie Becker. So funny. Love them.

i think mice are rather nice

photo and mice by maggie rudy

Hello Dear All -- It's been three weeks since I've posted, and now that the very talented Anette Grostad has taken over doing illustrations for the book, most of my work is done. There is still quite a lot to finish up before book #2 is ready to go, but around here, the mad dash is over, and the remainder of my tasks will come along, bit by bit.  All to say, I hope to be posting here more regularly once again!

photo and mice by maggie rudy

And so I thought I would share with you some extreme mouse-cuteness...

photo and mice by maggie rudy

These mice were created by Maggie Rudy.  You can visit her blog here plus read an article about her from Doll Quarterly here!

And if that's not enough, she has created this book (oh, how I love, love, love this book...)

And she has another book coming out this July (yay!)

Just in case there are not enough mice in this blog post to suit your taste, might I recommend The Mousewife by Rumer Godden? The story carries a beautiful message and the illustrations by William Pene du Bois are perfect...

Another favorite mouse-related book in my house: Tumtum & Nutmeg by Emily Bearn. 

photo and mice by maggie rudy

Until next time, happy reading!

Knitting Mitts & Mice

It's the start of June, and as the first day of summer approaches, it hardly makes sense for me to be knitting up a pair of mitts, right? Except that these were knit for a friend in the Southern Hemisphere, where the mitts will warm her hands against the encroaching winter chill.

I knit this pair with the most delicious yarn -- a fingering/sock weight, tonal yarn called Stroll from Knit Picks, and the pattern is a simple one I made up myself.  These mitts can be made with fingering, sport, DK or worsted weight, but no matter the weight of the yarn, for small even stitches, I nearly always knit them up with size 3 needles.

To make them I cast on 52 st., then worked 52 rows of knit2, purl2 ribbing.  After casting off, I stitched up the sides (leaving holes for thumbs), embellished with buttons, and that's all.  Sometimes I make similar mitts with a knit3, purl1 ribbing.

Of course, to make the mitts a bit larger you can cast on a few more stitches, to make them longer, knit a few more rows, and yes, one could knit these in the round on dp needles, but I find it tiresome to keep the tension as I shift from needle to needle (I would rather just sew up the seams.)

I wish I had the energy for more complex projects, but right now, these mitts are the perfect knitting project for me -- small, knitting meditations...

As for the mouse, you can find a pattern for him in this book here.

p.s. Thank you to my 10-year old for modeling the mitts.  He has the most gorgeous (slightly grubby) hands, don't you agree?

Little Button Mouse

Little button mouse,

Hiding in my house.

Upstairs or downstairs,

Where can he be now?

Susan, look and see now!

 

One of the earliest games I taught my children was "Which Hand."  It's likely you already know this little game; it's played by hiding a button, pebble, penny, marble or other small item in one of your hands. You then present 2 closed fists to a child and ask, "Which Hand?" The child chooses one hand and if the first hand is empty, he may choose the second hand.  When he finds the button (pebble, penny or marble) he wins the game.  It's so simple and we play it over and over!

Last month Susan Perrow was visiting us for a few days during a break in her ambitious schedule of workshops and speaking engagements across the US.  Over dinner one night, my little one was getting restless at the table and so I started playing "Which Hand" with him.  Susan offered to teach us her version and we gladly accepted!

Little button mouse,

Hiding in my house.

Upstairs or downstairs,

Where can he be now?

Susan, look and see now!

The words Susan taught us are sung in a sing-songy chant, and instead of the fists presented side by side to the child, the fists are set one on top of the other. Then the fists are switched from top to bottom in repetition to the rhythm of the chant.

Besides the sweet little chant which goes with this game, there are little rhymes which are said in response to the guesses.  Did the child choose incorrectly?  Then you say, "No, not there.  Try elsewhere!"  And when he finds the button mouse, you can exclaim, "You're right!  You're right!  What a delight!"

Also, I have written Susan's name into the rhyme, but of course, the child's name would be substituted here.  My toddler learned this rhyme quickly and sings it to me often.  He has cleverly substituted in my name, so that he chants the final line, "Mama look and see now..."

Of course, a button, pebble, penny or marble can always always be found to play this game, but I couldn't resist making some tiny mice to play with.  Imagine how surprised my boys were when I opened my hand and, instead of our usual button, there was a little mouse!  The knitted mice were created from a pattern in this book here, and the wee felt mouse is from a pattern I adapted from this book.

Little Mr. loves playing with the mice...

The other day he used them to tell a funny story about a mama & papa mouse who longed for a baby.  They found a magic walnut shell and were very surprised when a baby mouse hatched from the shell as though he were hatching from an egg.

Finally, just for fun, Casey's Wood sells these very tiny mice  Aren't they darling?

Little button mouse,

Hiding in my house.

Upstairs or downstairs,

Where can he be now?

Mama, look and see now!

Goodnight little house, And goodnight mouse

 

When my Little Mr. was small, our readings of Goodnight Moon were accompanied by a little brown mouse finger-puppet.  This little mouse helped us find the tiny mouse hidden in the illustrations, cheered our success at finding the little mouse, gave kisses to the little mouse and also gave enthusiastic kisses to Little Mr.

The comments everyone left on my post from Monday about the books of Margaret Wise Brown were  delightful and so today I was inspired.  My inspiration was thus: I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be nice if we had a little grey mouse puppet to exactly match the mouse in the book and accompany our readings?"  And so, while my Wee Bloom had a little morning sleep, I hopped on over here to visit my friend Shannon at her blog Rhythm & Rhyme.  Shannon has a "Seriously Cute Mouse Tutorial" and, clever mama that she is, she has even provided a pattern you can print out for those "seriously cute" mice!

My Wee Bloom slept long enough for me to get everything cut out (note: I extended the length of the body of the mouse 3/4 of an inch and didn't bother cutting out a base since I planned to leave the bottom of the mouse open to serve at a puppet.) My wee fellow sat on the floor playing with a set of measuring cups... just long enough for me to get everything stitched up (but not long enough for me to add whiskers.) He stood at my knee, gazing imploringly...

 And so we took that little mousie for a test-drive!

Goodnight kittens

And goodnight mittens

Goodnight clocks

And goodnight socks

Goodnight little house

And goodnight mouse

Bread Mice

We have many favorite baking projects in my house, but the most beloved is bread mice. The first time we made them we laughed and laughed at how fat our little mice grew when they were set out to rise before baking. That night, as I put Little Mr. B. to bed, he whispered to me that he had had the best day of his life. When I asked him why, he answered, "Because those fat bread mice were just so funny!"

This is the recipe we use, but frankly, any bread recipe would probably be fine (I think whole wheat bread dough would make lovely, light brown & speckled mice!)

INGREDIENTS
1 cup warm-to-the wrist water
2 TBL room temp. butter
1 egg
3 1/4 cups flour (plus maybe a little extra for kneading)
1/4 cup sugar or honey
1 tsp salt
1 packet (or 1 TBL) yeast
1/8 tsp turmeric for color
currents (or small pile of raisins, cut in half)

DIRECTIONS
Pour warm water into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle yeast over it. Allow to sit until yeast starts to "bloom" (about 10 minutes.) Meanwhile, gather and measure all other ingredients. Whisk turmeric and salt in with the flour (the turmeric makes the mice a pretty yellow color -- you can omit the turmeric if you wish.) As soon as the yeast starts to really get blooming, mix in the butter, egg, and sugar (or honey), then add the flour one cup at a time. When the dough seems to form a ball and is starting to look dry enough to knead, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes (or if your little one has been at your side all along, pouring and mixing the ingredients, then it's time for your little one to knead!)

After kneading, place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a dishcloth, place in a warm spot and allow to rise approx. 1 hour (or until double in size.) Punch down, invite your child to knead for another few minutes and then form dough into 1 1/2 inch balls. Stretch the front of the ball to create a tear-drop shape. With a clean scissors, make a tiny snip at the tip of the drop and pinch a current inside the cut (making a small cut in the dough exposes a sticky interior -- your currents will stick better.) Then, just above and slightly to the sides of the little nose make 2 more snips and pinch in your mouse's eyes. Finally, take your scissor and make 2 very deep cuts behind the eyes.
Place mice 2" apart on a greased pan and allow to rise approx. 45 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees and bake 10-12 minutes.

Squeak!