Janie's Inspiring and Inspirational Inspirations

My sister-in-law, Janie, is one of the most creative people I know. She is always sewing or embroidering or knitting or painting or learning some new, never-heard-of craft that will surely, some day, catapult her to fame and fortune.

But until she gets all famous, she's happy to surprise us all with fun, handmade gifts. Perhaps you remember me thanking her for the boys' winter hats in this post:

(I sort of miss their curls.)

And I think I forgot to mention just what she had made them for their birthday this past March:

Handmade, magnetic letters! Spelling out their names! For the fridge!

She's really truly talented. If you don't believe me yet, take a gander at the winter hat she made for Charlotte this past Christmas:

(Yes, I know Charlotte's shirt is too big. And yes, I know she's sitting in the grass, wearing her hat in July. I didn't have a picture from this winter. I guess we were a little busy then.)

(Char's new thing is pointing with her long, skinny index finger. She also says "dada" and makes sloppy, loud kissing noises when she's happy. All of these things make up for the week from you-know-where we recently had because of the upper front tooth she is cutting, which is evidently VERY LARGE and EXTREMELY PAINFUL and ENOUGH TO DRIVE HER MOTHER MAD.)

Aren't those leaves and pinwheels just dainty and darling and divine?

Charlotte also got a rattle that looks like a cupcake, hand-knit by her loving Aunt Jane:

There is, of course, more. If I know anything about truly gifted people, it's that they just can't stop, and Janie is no exception. The blue bathrobe Janie made me years ago, before Stephen and I were ever married, is battered and faded, but I love it desperately and will wear it threadbare. Stephen loyally wears the loudly striped pajama pants she sewed him for Christmas one year. I have a hand-knit hat she gave me for Christmas that makes me look like a naughty elf, and Stephen has a cable-knit neck warmer in charcoal gray, made to match the gray cable-knit scarf I hand-knit with loving, painstaking care bought him from the Gap several Christmases ago. But we don't have pictures of those things because we were all too cranky and cold to bother with that this winter. Believe me, they are wonderful.

In short, my sister-in-law is really very talented, and I am dedicating this post to her because of her awesome skills (mad skillz, if you will) and her inspiration. You'll see in a few days just how she has inspired me. And no, it's not knitting-related. That's on hold for now, probably due to the trauma induced by The Largest Yarn Snarl in the World.

No amount of inspiration may be able to overcome that.