Cradle status

making good progress on my soft, newborn cradle...finished beading the hood with the exception of a narrow strip of dark red in the front that will be added along with an inner liner; tab is done except to cut the fringe; calico is attached to the hood except for a small opening in the back where the tab slides in; rawhide stiffner is all cut and shaped and will go between the beaded hood and inner lining; last is to finish out the seams on the calico. I had taken the fabric to a local seamstress so she could make a nice clean seam but I picked it up, thinking I could do it myself...I didn't want to cut too much and sew alot of seams so I simply folded the fabric and will cover it with the inner lining (which may be some green fleece I have on hand or I may dig thru the remnant bin at Hobby Lobby).

wod comes that baby and parents are moving back to the States after living abroad for the past few years; mom says not to ship anything to London as they are living out of suitcases. I will personally deliver when I go to NYC for labor Day weekend. The baby will be almost too big by then (new born cradles were used age 0-4 months) but it was unlikely to be used much anyway. I ordered a wampum button as a special touch; the Dutch set up the colony of New Amsterdam to trade east coast clam shell beads (wampum) for furs that came down from Iroquois country via the Hudson River. Later the British pushed the Dutch out and renamed the colony New York. The European movement of wampum into the woodland interior continued for centuries and became an important aspect of economic, social and political relations. These shells were expensive then and now; a single button cost $15 so the little guy only gets 1. The shells are becoming more scarce due to coastal pollution so are even harder to get...

this new development gives me time to work on the lizard amulet for his umbilical cord; hope to have both ready when I go east.

May try out the cradle on a neighbor's baby just to see how it fits; no doubt this will require some lengthy explanation...