famous the cat makes good...

space-farm continuum: the new urban homesteading project officially launches!

2012-01-04T16:37:00.002-05:00

get it?! the LAUNCH of the space-farm continuum? i slay me.

while this blog will continue to be my arts, crafting, and general "things i like" blog, my talented and awesome man and i decided that, with the start of the new year, we needed to get off the proverbial pot and start our new project. it was also prompted by the impending arrival of a chicken coop this weekend, followed by four baby chicks in march.

the space-farm continuum will serve as a journal, chronicle, and communication tool as we embark on becoming more and more self-sufficient in our every day lives. we are both working professionals and we live on only 1/8-acre of land, so we are limited in both our space and time, but that's part of the whole challenge.

i want to stress that we really don't know what we're getting ourselves into here... but then, when do you ever know what you're getting yourself into in life (especially if it's good)? hopefully, our successes and missteps will at least be mildly entertaining.

the chickens sure will be. follow us! the space-farm continuum

the final days! 30+1 handknits project goes out with a bang...

2012-01-01T10:31:00.002-05:00

what a great month december has been! excellent family and friend get-togethers, trips, vacation time at home, getting things done, setting up plans for the future... and, of course, the 30+1 handknits project. i can't believe i made it the entire month - and didn't run out of my own handknits to wear every... single... day.

people keep asking me what kind of project i'm going to do next. i'm not sure yet, but i know part of it will be a new homesteading blog (seeing as we have chickens coming in march, plans for a green-roofed shed, and a garden that's going to be off the chain in 2012). that's not really a project with a set end date, like this one, but it's where my focus will soon be, i'm sure.

for now, let's bask in the glow of a new year and bid 2011 (and the 30+1 handknits project) adios, amigos.

12/30/11. day #30, Diminishing Rib Cardiganby Andrea Pomerantz. i'm not a huge fan of this sweater (part of why i waited until the second to last day of this project to wear it). it always makes me feel like a giant, walking square. as in the shape, not as in "uncool." anyway...

you can see where i ran out of one dye lot of yarn on the sleeves! we'll pretend like it was on purpose.

12/31/11. LAST DAY! day #31, Great Gatsby Dressby Mari Lynn Patrick. i still can't really believe i knitted this dress, what with its laciness and drapiness and fitting and teeny tiny yarn. to ring out 2011, we got some of the best tacos on the planet (monon food company in indianapolis), then headed over to the tap room early for a couple of fine indiana beers, then hit up the homestead for some wood chopping / fire building / cuddling action. a nice, peaceful, low-key evening to close out a truly fantastic year.

day #31!

here's to 2012 being a great year. my wishes for 2012 are to use more coupons, start raising chickens, and become emily haines of metric. that's not too much to ask, is it?

days #27, #28, and #29: 30 + 1 handknits project...

2011-12-29T16:11:00.002-05:00

this is a very exciting day in the so bro homestead (that's "so(uth) bro(ad) ripple," for those not from indianapolis). i must depart from our regularly scheduled 30+1 handknits project installation to share this news. frankly, i'm so excited about it that i kind of feel the need to wet myself or run around the house for a while, bouncing off the walls.

see, we've been talking about getting chickens for a while. you know, the clucking, cooing, egg laying variety to eat bugs, poop all over our yard, till our soil, and give us the most delicious eggs we'll probably ever eat. i even got TWO, count 'em TWO chicken-rearing books for christmas. i figured i'd read about them, line up housing for them, and eventually order a handful for rearing later in the spring.

so a couple of days ago, i leisurely contacted a local fellow who makes coops, only to be told that he has so many orders for the spring that he wouldn't be able to get us one before may. SOB! he's a super nice fellow who has been contracted to make 11 coops for area schools - check him out at the urban coop on craiglist.

back to the story - i asked him if we can at least get in the chicken queue now and, rather than receiving bad "i'm way too busy for one man building chicken coops for a living to handle right now" news, i get a message back that we will actually be able to have our very own chicken coop by january 3 or 4! complete with wheels and wire across the bottom of the attached chicken yard!

two hours later, i've ordered us two black australorps, one buff orpington, and one ameraucana, to arrive in a little peeping express mail bundle the week of march 19. and here i am, basking in the glow of chickens to come. BABIES!

now, however, let's get back to the final days of the 30+1 handknits project. it really has gone too fast, although i'm finally running out of my own handknitted sweaters, dresses, skirts, and vests to wear for this project. i guess i need to get to finishing up some half finished knits stat! i have two more days to go still.

12/27/2011. day #27, Mystic Pulloverby Melissa LaBarre, completed december 2011. here we have my most recently completed sweater, done and still drying from blocking right as we left for the holidays. we also got our first real snow - a white christmas, two days late (and apparently everywhere around us had rain or a wintry mix... take THAT, wintry mix!).

SNOW! big, fat flakes.

although i love the idea of pockets in sweaters, they aren't the most flattering things. whatever - they are green and cozy and i love the ugly little buggers.

12/28/2011. day #28, sophie by robin dodge. this is kind of sad, but i have absolutely zero information on this project. i usually save everything in my ravelry projects list, but i think i made this as such a throw away / boredom-induced / stash busting project that i never even entered it in as something i had completed. i rarely wear it, but i actually quite like its weird neckline and super soft yarn.

i also got new glasses! i can see again. amazing.

12/29/2011. day #29, Francis Revisited by Beth Silverstein, completed october 2010. this dress is one of my pride and joy projects. i used the pattern referenced and then just worked my decreases and increases to create waist and booty shaping, added a cable down each side, and knit, knit, knit. as you can imagine, it's quite warm - perfect snow bunny dress for the winter.

i also happen to be standing in front of my NEWLY ORGANIZED craft and sweater wardrobe. this might not sound like a big deal to some, but it took me literally an entire day to reorganize all of my yarn and craft goodies. ah, vacation, how do i love thee? let me count the ways...

just being silly yet again.

days #24, #25, and #26: 30 + 1 handknits project...

2011-12-26T20:05:00.001-05:00

it's the 26th of december, and i am currently sitting on my very own couch, sipping one of chris' christmas beers (we give the gift of booze liberally in my family), which is sitting on our brand new coffee table. in other words, we made it through our christmas-midwest-family extravaganza with flying colors and made it safely back home to the house and the cats.

i'm so very glad to be home.

today, i'm sort of struck with how lucky i am in this life. to say i was slowly dying a few short years ago would be an exaggeration, to be sure, but when i consider the vastly different ways i live these days, the things i'm doing and plan to do, the way i take care of myself, the pride i take in the day-to-day, and my overall level of happiness with life in general, i might as well have been slowly dying.

i guess i just consider myself incredibly lucky. i have another week of vacation - at home with my boyfriend and cats - and i have a whole slew of things planned. the to do list is looking pretty awesome to me. the to do list, in part:

take down tree
plan layout of living room (rug, blanket chest built by dad)
clean car (okay, so it's still a tad boring, but...)
research chicken coops, contact coop builder, look into buying chicks (YEAH!)
draw up backyard and front yard landscape designs (DOUBLE YEAH!)
organize art and craft stuff
harvest worm compost and set up new bin
write thank yous

and so on and so forth. damn lucky. so, without further ado, here are the last three days of handknit outfit love. i'm still going strong, even though we're nearing the end. merry, merry christmas, happy holidays, and happy early new year. it's going to be a good one.

12/24/2011. day #24, Rusted Root by sarah moore, completed august 2011. knitters, this is a brilliant little lace pattern, and i fully plan on making a cardigan or long-sleeved crewneck using this same lacey panel at some point in the future. i never ever EVER buy patterns... but this one was totally worth it (i bought it years ago and tried to knit it before i was really, ahem, up to the challenge... i rediscovered the pattern tucked away with loads others after i found this yarn on sale and needed to find something suitable).

here i am standing in front of the SUN at the adler planetarium. hot!

just your average christmas eve.

they had an infrared camera exhibit. look at how cold my nose is.

on our way out of the planetarium, we managed to catch golden hour with the sun setting over chicago.

12/25/2011. day #25, Printed Silk Cardigan by Connie Chang Chinchio, completed september 2010. this yarn (elsebeth lavold silky wool) gets softer and softer every time i wear it. and the color remains screamingly chartreuse.

what? i've got red and green going on - perfect christmas outfit, right? right-o. i also totally got this hat for christmas and tried my best ruska accent to go along with it.

i was probably singing the muppets version of "12 days of christmas" right here. my favorite part is beaker's part (listen for the "mee-mee-mee mee-mee-mee").

i also got these ridiculous/amazing socks:

12/26/2011. day #26, Mietteby Andi Satterlund, completed april 2011. this was knitted up with more of the yarn that an old friend from my hometown found for me at a thrift store. really, he sent me a 2'x3'x3' box full of yarn last winter, and i haven't made it through even half of it yet. this is another sweet, simple pattern. make it! make it, i say! i've been dying to wear it with a poofy skirted dress of some sort, but i don't really own the PERFECT dress for it. jeans will do.

so glad to be home!

days #22 and #23: 30 + 1 handknits project...

2011-12-23T19:11:00.003-05:00

the 30 + 1 handknits project is quickly winding down, but i've had so much fun that i kind of don't want it to end. it has forced me to make outfits out of some items i've made and then inadvertently banished to the back of the wardrobe, realizing in the process that they are actually quite suitable for wearing... outside... in public.

it's also been interesting planning out outfits in advance for 11 days of travels around the midwest in the middle of winter. i borrowed my boyfriend's giant suitcase (because, if you've ever tried to pack more than a couple of sweaters into a suitcase, you know they pretty much take up ALL THE ROOM), i got baby puke on one of my cardigan sleeves within five minutes of holding said baby (who is absolutely adorable, by the way, minus the puking), i've sweated and shivered, and i've managed to do a few clothing switcharoos based on weather and circumstances (such as, "we will be spending all day driving back to chicago, then taking a side trip to ikea - i think jeans are in order").

all in all, though, this challenge to wear a different handknitted item every day for an entire month has been really entertaining, at least for myself. my man friend has taken some beautiful photos, too. way to go, man friend.

12/22/2011. day #22, Pioneer by kBomb, completed january 2010. chris' mom bought me this same yarn for christmas, only in a heavier weight. it's lovely stuff - wool with a touch of silk. it's all meow-rawr and cozy-warm at the same time.

i actually wanted a shot of me COVERED in presents, but i decided that was a little too third grader, even for me. i settled for lying down in front of the prezzies and the massive tree at my parents' place.

12/23/2011. day #23, Boatneck Bluebell Sweaterby Stefanie Japel, completed january 2009. this sweater, knitted up in a nice purple and blue heathered wool, keeps me toasty warm. the pattern creator, ms. japel, is quite awesome at making sweaters that make the ladies look lovely. no bulky, shapeless masses here, no sirree.

this shot kind of slays me. just a little. i can only act all serious-modelly for so long.

in celebration of being back in chicago, we headed to the christkindl market, watched some amazing guys drumming on the bottoms of plastic buckets (a chicago christmas tradition), checked out the macy's christmas tree, and headed over to the bean at millennium park (of course).

i would love to do a photo project taking photos of people taking photos of their own reflections in the bean. i loved this group of kids.

me and the bean.

and the sweater photographer himself.

days #20 and #21: 30 + 1 handknits project...

2011-12-21T16:39:00.000-05:00

today marks our last day in des moines for the holidays. we'll be missing the real extravaganza here on christmas eve, but i think it's safe to say we've spent some good time with chris' family. last night, we introduced his nieces, 10 and 6 years old respectively, to national lampoon's christmas vacation. perhaps a little on the old side for the girls language-wise, but abigail loved the slapstick parts. and we hadn't watched it yet this year, so it was absolutely necessary.

other things we've done so far: watched the latest mission: impossible at an imax theater, met a mummy and a camel at the des moines science center, eyed dartboards, dreamed of visits to nationally-recognized bbq joints, and hung out with one very sweet baby. i've been feeling really lucky.

12/20/2011. day #20, Girl Friday by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark, completed february 2011. here's me with my new camel buddy - i named him frank (in my mind). yes, i am fully aware he is not real. shhh... let me dream that i met a camel named frank yesterday.

i tried to get frank to get going, but he wouldn't budge. camels are notoriously stubborn.

and then there's this... yeah, i'm pretty special like that.

12/21/2011. day #21, Seamless Yoke Sweaterby Elizabeth Zimmermann, completed november 2008. this is the closest i've ever come to knitting a nordic sweater, but i'd really love to someday do up a crazy winter sweater with snowflakes or snow bunnies or reindeer or some such christmas/winter type of motif. someday!

this was also an unintentional turtleneck, but by the time i got to the neck, i couldn't face tearing it out and figuring out where i went wrong.

days #18 and #19: 30 + 1 handknits project...

2011-12-19T17:27:00.000-05:00

holy criminy, google+ - thanks so much for the featured post on the handmade community! i swear, this is what social media should be all about - sharing projects with people around the world, learning how to make cyborgs and such, cool articles about people being creative in their own little lives (or in really big ways, too). thanks for taking a look, and check out the google+ handmade community to see some general awesomeness. i hardly fit in with the absolutely fantastic things people are making and sharing, and i love it.

12/18/2011. day #18, Leitmotif Cardigan by Carol Feller, completed august 2010. sunday morning marked the second crossing-of-state-lines for the holiday season - the chicago to des moines leg of the trip. for any knitters out there, this was possibly one of my favorite patterns to knit and, now, wear. what a great sweater. sunday = breakfast with my parents, loading up into the car, driving 5 hours to des moines (fueled by cheese popcorn, beef jerky, and gas station machine coffee), then a big birthday party for chris' younger sister with oodles of kids hanging off of every limb. it's good to be in iowa.

can you tell it was FREEZING yesterday morning in illinois? in half the photos we snapped, my hands were balled up into tight little fists.

12/19/2011. day #19, Alderbrookby Cecily Glowik MacDonald, completed in january 2011. i bought this yarn off of some random online broker, who ships amazing hand-dyed peruvian yarn at a fraction of the cost. i have no idea if it's really kosher or legit, which bothers me a bit... but then i look at some bulky, insane, eye-bleeding creation like this, and i'm just the happiest darned knitter this side of the mississippi.

oh, and meet dolores the yaris, the vehicle with the most-est when it comes to holiday travel. of course, she doesn't handle well in the snow, but we'll forgive her for that.

also, my super-talented man-friend, chris, got himself a new lens for christmas. he takes pretty pictures.

days #15, #16, and #17: 30 + 1 handknits...

2011-12-17T22:34:00.001-05:00

the 30 + 1 handknits project passes the halfway point! hurrah! even more importantly, i celebrated my last day of work of 2011 yesterday. hallelujah! i love my job, but i am very excited to have two weeks of nothing but relaxation, puzzle completions, a little bit of traveling all over the midwest, and a dose of knitting and reading (for fun!). i'm currently typing this from my parents' kitchen table, where we just finished a dinner of homemade guacamole and lagunitas a little sumpin' sumpin' ale (delicious, by the way). i'm looking forward to our other family traditions, too, including bailey's in the coffee on christmas morning, boxes of turtles to share over christmas presents, and the muppets christmas record playing in the background.

have i mentioned lately that i love christmas? because i do. i really do. i also love vacation.

12/15/2011. day #15, Blushby Kessa Tay Anlin, completed august 2008. it was strangely 58 degrees when i woke up and went to the gym this morning, so i celebrated by wearing a lightweight little number. by that night? back down to 28 degrees. hello, winter, can you just come and stay a while?

also, those shoes were a $3 score from value world down the street from my house - i love their ugliness.

12/16/2011. day #16, Duchess Raglanby Cecily Glowik MacDonald, completed february 2010. i modified the original pattern with some arm cables in a bulky wool yarn over the course of a couple of days where i was sick as a dog. my plan was to create a cozy wool sweater, reminiscent of cooler nights at my grandparents' old cabin in canada, where we spent long, lazy summer vacations.

this was also the beginning of vacation and a drive up to chicago, so being comfy and cozy just seemed right.

two hours into vacation, and we found ourselves in a magical place - a place called three floyd's brewpub. man, that place is the best. burger with gorgonzola and bacon, washed down with two fantastic beers called big black van. really, that was the name of the beer.

12/17/2011. day #17, Lanesplitter by Tina Whitmore, completed november 2010. today was our huge family christmas party, and this seemed just festive enough (and just green enough) to be appropriate for the occasion. and look! we woke up this morning to SNOW - the first real snow i've seen this year!

my parents live in a very picturesque place anyway. can you believe this is the suburbs of chicago? chris also bought himself a new camera lens for christmas, making me look far better than i do in real life. well done, baby.

happy holidays, all!

days #12, #13, and #14: 30 + 1 handknits...

2011-12-14T21:22:00.002-05:00

without meaning to, i managed to wear three items i knitted almost exactly a year apart each. forcing yourself to wear - and appreciate - things that you made with your own two hands, especially things you frequently overlook, is a really great exercise in creativity and valuing your own work. being able to keep yourself warm via your hands, two needles, and a bunch of yarn is a pretty amazing thing, all in all.

mostly, though, it makes me want to get chickens. and a goat. and maybe a few sheep. and generally just support myself with my own two hands as much as possible. i know, i know, i'm a freaking hippy, but, hey, that's what handmade is all about.

day #12: February Lady Sweaterby pamela wynn, completed in september 2008. this pattern was simply lovely, and monday was definitely a flannel shirt, wool sweater kind of day: such a very cold morning, followed by a very gray day.

this is also a "two-fer" - check out that handknitted, bobbly cowl, keeping my sad little neck warm.

day #13: oscar the grouch sweater (personal pattern), completed in september 2009. i brought this yarn on super sale, intending to make a toxic-sludge looking scarf of some sort. i tried and i tried, but it kept looking straight up fugg and not at all ugly-cute. so then it became a fuzzy little sweater instead! ah, the life of a skein of yarn.

i don't remember what prompted the belly laughs, but it was awesome, i'm sure.

day #14: the leftovers sweater (personal pattern), completed in october 2010. another simple sweater out of my own head, this one features dropped stitch, open ribbing around the waistline. i knitted this whole thing using leftover yarn from other projects - thus, the name. there's something terribly pleasing about not having to buy anything to make a sweater (although it also speaks to how much yarn i have in my stash - i.e. too much).

also, boombox likes leaps:

make a gif at gickr.com

days #10 and #11: 30 + 1 handknits project...

2011-12-11T19:31:00.001-05:00

most of my friends, co-workers, and friendly acquaintances know my december secret: i freaking love christmas. i've watched home alone three times since thanksgiving, i have a nutcracker suite pandora station i tune to all day, every day, and it takes hours and some creative ornament hanging to decorate my tree simply because there are so darn many ornaments to hang.

i love christmas, and i am not ashamed to admit it.

with that in mind, maybe you can understand why this was the best weekend ever for me. friday night, i finished printing a few block prints i plan to give out as gifts this year. then chris and i went to a local theater company's rendition of a christmas carol, which was pretty awesome (mostly because scrooge was THE BEST... seriously, i think he was actually crying at a few points).

on saturday, i finished christmas knitting, worked on a sweater for myself (finally! i'm done with christmas knitting!), made crackle-top mint chocolate cookies, and went to our friends' annual ugly christmas sweater party. afterwards, we drank white russians and built our first fire since moving into the new house.

now is the point at which i digress from the 30 + 1 handknits project to puke a little christmas all over the blog: our first fire in the new house.

boombox poses with chris' white elephant gift from the ugly christmas sweater party: six pounds of chef boyardee. do you see a resemblance at all?

we really are this creepy. and we really do dress like this on any given saturday evening.

okay, okay, on to the actual 30 + 1 project. day #10: Nob Hillby Ashley Adams Moncrief, completed june 2008. i actually pretty severely shrunk this at one point, but i like it even more now (it was sort of lumpy, large, and misshapen before the accidental shrinking). i almost talked myself into thinking i could wear this to the ugly christmas sweater party and be good. what, it has red and green in it! in hindsight, i'm glad i bit the bullet and wore the one that instead looks like christmas puked all over it.

you can hardly tell it didn't get above 29 degrees yesterday, can you? hooray, sunshine!

day #11: Tuckby Norah Gaughan, completed in june 2009. this sweater reminds me of ribs of the bone variety - like a knitted skeleton.

such a weird little number, no?

and now that i've collected kindling from the backyard, we can have fire #2 tonight!

days #8 and #9: 30 + 1 handknits...

2011-12-09T23:53:00.001-05:00

i feel like i'm getting in a groove with this whole endeavor at this point (that is, the one where i try to incorporate a different handknitted item into my outfits every day for the month of december). strapless dress in december? i can do that! layering summer knits over (admittedly machine-made, scored at some box store) lightweight cardigans so as not to freeze, yet still get some play out of them? gotcha.

since it's friday night and i've got important things to do (i.e. cuddle with my boyfriend and watch "the trouble with tribbles" episode of star trek), let's keep this brief, shall we?

day #8: Ariosa Cropped Cardiby Susan Mills, completed april 2011. if you're a knitter, you understand my dilemma behind this little vest. i saw the yarn, petted it, loved the color, and thought it'd be nice to make something out of cotton for once. so i bought it. and then... i had no idea what type of garment it wanted to be. this yarn was three different things before i finally settled on this incarnation - and i think i finally found a match.

day #9: apple cardigan (personal pattern), completed in february 2009. look! it even has a little bustle thing going on at the back! i love this little cardigan - and, somehow, rarely wear it. we just got back from a local theater rendition of "a christmas carol." ebenezer was pretty fantastic, and now it's late and i'm feeling sassy and awake.

night night, all!

but first: boombox t. cat gets his day in the sun with block printed christmas cards - complete with glittered bow ties. MEOWY CHRISTMAS, JERKS!

days #5, #6, and #7: 30 + 1 handknits...

2011-12-07T21:03:00.001-05:00

the 30 + 1 handknits project is a week old today! happy birthday, little project, you! a week in, and i have only two sage pieces of wisdom:

i apparently have way too many articles of clothing in my closet as a whole. this isn't really a revelation, but it has certainly been underscored for me with this here project. i find myself pulling out handknitted items i haven't worn in over a year - and, presumably, handmade clothing should get the MOST play amidst all the random made-in-china pieces o' junk, right?
i started working from home a few months ago, and even though i had the best of intentions at first, i've begun defaulting to jeans and cozy slippers. all day, every day. and that's just sad. it's been kind of nice forcing myself to take an extra minute or two to think about something fun and creative and color-related each morning before the craziness of the day takes over. i also recognize it's a total luxury to even have the alone time and peacefulness to have those few minutes each morning. i forget that sometimes in the busy-ness of life and all the projects i have swirling in my head all the time.

anyway, enough with that. bring on the handknits!

day #5: Beatnikby Norah Gaughan, completed in december 2010. an old friend from high school found a ton of this lovely avocado yarn at a thrift store in chicago for, like, 50 cents a skein. he bought it and sent it (and a ton of other colors) on down to me. so sweet of him, so i had to make something fantastic. i can't praise this pattern enough - it just makes such a lovely little vintage-y sweater.

i also got my first christmas present of the year in the mail: BACKYARD POULTRY magazine! iknowright?!

day #6: Pegboard Lace Tunicby Caroline Bautista, completed april 2009. this is one of those things i never ever ever wear. why? no idea, because now that i've worn it again, i kind of love it.

day #7: Frondby Norah Gaughan, completed in march 2009. two norah gaughan designs in three days! gotta love it.

for good measure, we've got a couple christmas projects complete. here's a cross-filled cross stitch room sign for my nephew...

and a pouf pillow for the nephew!

days #3 and #4: 30 + 1 handknits...

2011-12-04T16:32:00.001-05:00

ah, weekend. you may be my most favorite of all. saturday was full of christmas and finishing shopping and block printing and buying frames and framing and hanging said block prints and OMG THE LAST EPISODE OF THE WIRE. and egg nog ice cream. i made mashed potatoes for dinner and fell asleep watching the second in the die hard series. a truly great day, right?

the day #3 sweater du jour: Forecastby Stefanie Japel, knitted in july 2009. i don't know what i was thinking, knitting a wool, bobbly, cozy cardigan in my non-air conditioned little apartment in bloomington, in, in the middle of the summer. however, at this point i'm just glad i was thinking whatever it was i was thinking back then because this here sweater is wonderful at getting you through the midwestern winter.

well, i do distinctly remember thinking one thing: that i never wanted to knit another bobble again.

due to the nature of the day (running errands/getting covered in ink at the print studio), jeans were a necessity.

today, i scrubbed the heck out of the house. we're talking counters, sinks, bathtub, toilet, walls, bookshelves, carpet... the works. i am very, very bad at cleaning on anything remotely close to what one could call a schedule. then i find that i live in a pigsty and must spend half the day scrubbing the heck out of the house (see above). at least i had my nutcracker suite pandora station to keep me company. i am also eternally grateful that my boyfriend a) likes to vacuum and b) seems to not mind the christmas music. now it's time for football and knitting and pizza. again... way to weekend it up a notch, us.

the day #4 sweater is a pattern of my own, knitted in march 2010: a candy striped button neck made using three or four different yarns leftover from other patterns. with the rain and cold and overall grayness outside, i thought dressing like a walking valentine was warranted. this is still one of my favorite sweaters, too - i remember being so amazed when i finished it and it actually FIT.

day #2: 30 + 1 handknits...

2011-12-02T23:24:00.001-05:00

today was filled with work then stringing handmade felted wool balls into a giant christmas-y garland then framing silly american gothic-esque photos for ambiance around the house then art openings with gorgeous woodcuts and pill-covered body casts and pieces entitled such things as "rich bitch" then beer and burgers at some upscale arty diner type place with 15 beers on tap. then home sweet home. MAAAAGIC.

and thus concludes day #2 of the 30 + 1 handknits project, featuring the Betty Minisweaterby Hilary Smith Callis, completed in may 2011...

and a polyester button-up i got in college with an embroidered pink rooster...

and a lovely, loving LP plug thingy. what are those things called, anyway?

a happy friday to one and all.

day #1: 30 + 1 handknits = a celebration of sweater weather and style...

2011-12-01T12:23:00.001-05:00

recently, i was staring at all the handknits in my big red wardrobe, idly wondering things like:

when was the last time i wore that weird pumpkin-colored cotton vest with the folded over pieces that look like ribs?
would that shrug i accidentally shrunk still work as something you would, you know... WEAR? like, in public?
when will i make the time to replace those hideous, bright, plastic buttons on that otherwise uber-chic little moss green cardigan? you know, the one i never wear because it has BRIGHT, HIDEOUS, PLASTIC BUTTONS.

and the final thought: i wonder if i could wear nothing but my own handknits, a different one every day, for an entire month? thus, 30 + 1 handknits was born.

THE RULES: this month, i will incorporate a different handknit item each day into my outfits. i'll post a picture or two (or five), along with whatever information i still have about the pattern.

i'm looking at this project as a celebration of yarn and needles, of color, of wool and cotton and linen, of the magic of how loop after loop of yarn can make something that keeps you warm... or cool... but hopefully always stylish.

plus, it's going to be just plain fun - for me, at the very least. come along for the ride!

without further ado, day #1: Rosamund's Cardiganby Andrea Pomerantz, completed in october 2009. take heed - that bear of a piece of furniture behind me is the aforementioned big red wardrobe that houses the handknits. way to go, big red wardrobe.

the cat is boombox, who will likely make many a cameo.

the photographer is chris, who is fantastic. in lots of ways.

there you have outfit #1! and so it begins.

living simply...

2011-10-30T15:10:00.001-04:00

for a rainy day: some interesting looking articles on living more simply.

speaking of simple, check out this fantastic little knitted toy: squarey. i'm thinking maybe one of my relatives needs this little guy.

and, not so simply, charts and graphs and all sorts of pretty data on why people are occupying all sorts of cities these days.

so what are the simple things? street art that makes your heart swell: BLU and david ellis collab.

COMBO a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis (2 times loop) from blu on Vimeo.

feet and bodies that move in ways that don't make sense and are the most beautiful: pumped up kicks/dubstep.

i will be with you when you lose your breath...

2011-10-05T17:36:00.001-04:00

i spent the weekend on the jersey shore, of all places, wandering the beach, eating lots of good food, scooping up multiple scoops of ice cream, drinking coffee, chatting with coffee shop owners/patrons/their dogs, and galavanting up and down a massive wooden boardwalk under looming, windy, out-of-season beach houses.

why, you ask?well, duh - jeff mangum of neutral milk hotel was playing a solo show for the first time in ages. at the show, someone yelled out at one point, "you saved my life." i think that sums up how people feel about neutral milk hotel and this one damaged dude.

"oh, comely," from 1997: oh comely, i will be with you when you lose your breath chasing the only meaningful memory you thought you had left.

and he really did blow us away. i smiled a lot and sang along almost the whole time. it was better than i could have hoped. he played "little birds," which was painfully beautiful and which he had played live only once before, years and years ago. give it a listen: http://walkingwallofwords.com/previously-unreleased-track.html.

and then there's "jersey shore gone wilde." i have no idea how this has escaped my notice until now. drop it like it's hot, girl:

i'll probably just have to listen to some jeff mangum live and solo for a while. there really aren't any recordings surfacing just yet from this recent show, but a girl can dream. i might have to look into the all tomorrow's parties festival he is curating in england in december... wouldn't that be a dream?

i was so glad to get home, though, to my cats and my chris. :) of course, this morning i woke up with a sore throat. but oh well. the weekend was fantastic, the leaves are in full fall color, and things are good.

a taste of lotus fest, anyone?

2011-09-24T12:45:00.001-04:00

bloomington's lotus world music fest is sort of a big deal - at least in bloomington. i don't know if anyone else in the world has ever heard of it... but i suspect some have.this is a "so i don't forget to check into this band more" type of post. from sweden, i give you, MOVITS!

i miss you, i'm going back home to the west coast...

2011-09-24T11:42:00.000-04:00

whenever i head west, this song invariably gets stuck in my head. it's a problem. coconut records, "west coast:"

today a week ago, i was so, so happy to board a plane in portland, oregon, to head back east. it was a long, excellent trip... but mostly, i missed home by a week and a couple of days in. but i saw some amazing things while i was there.

japanese gardens, portland.

steps at the japanese gardens.

i bought a new ring. cargo in portland is a fantastic store - and right by rogue pub and distillery on flanders!

i loved all the bonsai trees at the lan su chinese garden.

an old growth forest on the coast.

my second trip to rogue - i like beer.

we took a dinner boat trip on the willamette.

me at the lan su chinese garden. each of those buildings was designed and built by chinese designers and builders (duh!) in china, then disassembled and reassembled, piece by piece, in portland by 90 or so chinese workers. amazing.

CHEESE!!! at the tillamook creamery. in addition to beer, i also love cheese.

waterfall, i like your colors.

my buddy, my buddy. wherever you go, i'm gonna go.

oh man... voodoo doughnuts. serious yum for just $1.50. i was boring and got the portland cream (this little guy). i did NOT sample such wares as "triple chocolate penetration."

this is an accurate representation of my first day on the coast - classic oregon, in other words.

ominous clouds.

ominous logs.

the sun came out for just a minute at cannon beach.

so many starfish at cannon beach.

so many anemones.

and some more starfish.

and my last day on the coast was sunny and fantastic.

as they say in portland, please bike responsibly.

have i become someone who goes to the symphony?!

2011-09-24T11:12:00.000-04:00

why, yes. yes, i think i have.

we went to the indianapolis symphony orchestra last night - my first trip - to see CARMINA BURANA. it was amazing - full choir for the final part, hilarious (and incredibly talented) operatic folks, a very talented orchestra (which was fun to watch in itself, since i used to play the cello). the coolest thing? we just got the youngest maestro ever to lead a big city orchestra, and he was showing his stuff in full force. his first public concert was a week ago, and there he was, leading the whole huge SOUND coming from the stage without using a page of sheet music. seriously - this whole piece, not a page of sheet music in sight.

i might have a little crush.

here's the indianapolis choir's flash mob of carmina burana at the airport earlier this year:

i think the ISO is going to have some exciting things on the horizon! can't wait to see more.

such an infamous freedom, such a militant peace...

2011-08-30T20:26:00.000-04:00

i just can't get enough of this (not at all recent) beautiful song lately. two gallants, "waves of grain."

and for more beauty, take a virtual trip to wyoming. i don't think my own eyes could see it this amazingly. eric hines, "wild wyoming, a summer of sunsets and dark skies."

Wild Wyoming, A Summer of Sunsets & Dark Skies from Eric Hines on Vimeo.

i also really freaking love green tomato hot dog relish, which i have canned a metric f*ckton of this summer.

and our new perennial garden is pretty rad, too. my drawing, of which i was very proud:

and the initial planting! we've put in a couple of bushes on the corners, and it'll look better as the plants grow.

i also recently made some new friends at the indiana state fair:

and chris ate a doughnut burger (the bun is two krispy kremes):

oh, and i made a friend at the zoo, too. oh, buddy!

long time, no see... video version...

2011-08-21T17:25:00.001-04:00

it has been a wild, awesome, fantastic summer. things just keep getting better.

rather than recount all the awesomeness (and since this blog morphed into a blog of general-awesomeness-and-things-i-like quite a while ago), we'll just go with that. music that makes me smile. things that are pretty/quirky/hilarious/just plain wrong. this will have to be the video version. photos to come in a future post, i think.

matt and kim, "daylight." i dare you not to smile.

jay-z with a cat in the back of a dirty restaurant i would probably frequent.

soul train! i want to dance and dress like EVERY PERSON in this video.

elliott smith, "angeles." it makes me miss him to listen to this.

i've recently been introduced to old school star trek - just finished the first season two nights ago! this is a clip of george takei (aka sulu) being freaking awesome.

john hopkins is pretty rad, too - "insides," live at the ICA. a friend turned me onto him recently.

and please, please, please - if you are reading this, PLEASE click the following link and select "i am under 21." i promise you will not be disappointed at the magic that ensues: black acre brewing co.

i love my father, and i love him well...

2011-06-19T21:57:00.000-04:00

alexi murdoch, "someday soon."

happy father's day, daddio!

things i like, house edition...

2011-05-16T22:03:00.000-04:00

first, though, i want to BE this guy - the KO Hip-Hop Cello-Beatbox Experience: Julie-O.

and who doesn't need a beatboxing chipmunk in their lives? this has not failed to make me laugh yet.

also? our new house!!!

i brought a frozen pizza, prosecco, and strawberries for our first dinner at the house on friday.

i love the idea of handing cocktails and what-not through this little window. that's what i'm channeling here, at least.

chris putting together our lawn mower - a FANTASTIC push mower which i already love and adore!

pretending to examine our first giant lowe's receipt.

baby robin in the backyard:

my big sunday project: tearing up the turf (in the rain) to plant our ingenious (if i do say so myself) squash trellis area. we planted sunflowers in between, too.

my hair gets curly when doing hard labor in the rain.

and, for good measure, i finished a new mini-sweater.

knitting is fun.

ah, love love love...

2011-04-28T22:42:00.001-04:00

i went to this show last night. so, so great.

since there's no one else around, we let our hair grow long and forget all we used to know. then our skin gets thicker from living out in the snow. you change all the lead sleeping in my head to gold.

and i kind of freaked out for this whole song.

is this a sign i'm getting older?

2011-04-19T18:46:00.002-04:00

because i get my music tips from npr lately - gold panda, "you"...

and i get great joy in things like harvesting worm poop...

and i like spending my sunday mornings drinking coffee and researching native trees and planning gardens...

and i get really excited and take way too many photos at orchid shows and conservatories...

and i like to spend weekend nights wandering the canal at sunset...

i may be getting older, but all in all, i guess it's not so bad.

papa watches me on google alerts, hi dad!

2011-04-13T22:08:00.001-04:00

das racist, "sit down, man."

and from the indianapolis show - awesomeness!

Das Racist - "Who's That? Brooown!" from MonkeyEatsMonkey on Vimeo.

also, i'm sad i missed this show: cap'n jazz reunion in chicago last year.

and other stuff...

spring is my favorite... and fall... and summer... aw, shoot.

whatever... we have easter eggs!

we also have monuments.

oh, and we have new sweaters!

yes, we do.

aerial photos and music soaring to the sky...

2011-03-31T20:06:00.001-04:00

things i like today: amazing aerial shots of our little world.

bassnectar, "timestretch."

junior boys, "in the morning."

i don't hardly know her... but i think i could love her...

2011-03-23T22:50:00.000-04:00

current jam: crimson and clover.

just got done with a trek through the eastern caribbean.

and i am happy.

heartbeats and apples...

2011-03-08T19:18:00.000-05:00

today's jams: the knife, heartbeats. i just love the little 70s-looking kids skateboarding in some quintessential california neighborhood.

mirah, apples in the trees.

chris and i are going to look at houses in broad ripple on thursday! and a week from today, i will be sipping a pina colada in roughly 80 degree temperatures! hopefully with three - count 'em, THREE! - little umbrellas in it.

without sound, who would i be?

2011-03-03T22:26:00.000-05:00

it's maybe a little weird, but music is ALWAYS something i don't think twice about spending money on, traveling for, whatever. i almost, ALMOST bought tickets for the flaming lips' new years show this past year. the only thing keeping me was the insane car ride back the day after and then having to go back to work. i bought tickets to see jeff mangum of neutral milk hotel (anti?)stardom in new jersey this october with a very special friend of mine with little extra thought. and ARCADE FIRE is playing a show at an outdoor indy venue soon, and tickets go on sale this saturday. you'd better bet i will be sitting at my computer all queued up at 9:55 am.

so i just bought two tickets for chris and me to see these dudes play in indy on april 1: das racist. i pretty much love the ridiculousness, and i can't imagine missing this show. it's rare that indy would get a show when chicago doesn't - but aw, yeah, das racist, you know where the honeys at.

i also scanned in some old photos last night - from, like, a decade ago. weird - those times define me in a lot of ways, but they also seem SO LONG ago. here i am with sparky, the stuffed animal bighorn sheep one of our volunteers at rocky mountain national park gave me on my last day of work, in moab on the drive back to SF.

the summer of 2002 was a happy one. i hiked roughly 30 miles a week on my days off at rocky mt. np. this is me hiding in a rock shelter someone built on top of mt. chiquita, rocky mountain national park. my parents have this pic framed at their house.

a somewhat unfoggy view from my house in san francsico towards the ocean.

latest projects of the life variety...

2011-03-01T19:57:00.001-05:00

looking for houses. looking for jobs. eating salads and dishing about the latest haps. planning art opening trips. planning gardens. feeding the worms. living more sustainably. and knitting things!

this is an accurate representation of me at my house on any given night (oh, and my new favorite sweater - knitted with the girl friday pattern and eco wool).

a cozy winter sweater... just in time for spring. that's how i roll.

also, for my mom's 60th birthday, i had her pick out a pattern and yarn color for whatever sweater she wanted. she picked the melrose peacoat, a wonderfully easy, fun, quick pattern. it fits her BEAUTIFULLY - although, sadly, i didn't get a pic of her in it when i gave it to her a couple of weekends ago. still, here it is, the full view:

scrumptious, cotton-blend, bulky yarn = dream knitting.

in other news, i will soon be snorkeling with fishies in the us virgin islands! i required a floppy sunhat for the trip:

and some sassy shoes:

wily dancing and cheetoh paint!

2011-02-18T17:19:00.001-05:00

i am pretty much in love with this video. and thom yorke. radiohead's "lotus flower."

the president of risd also happens to be amazing. wait until about halfway through when he starts talking about "eye meat" and amber waves of french fries and cheetoh paint!

things i LOVE - baby gorillas and ridiculous-awesome rap...

2011-02-17T17:42:00.000-05:00

ZOMG, first baby gorilla steps! unadulterated, uncut cuteness.

and, conversely, ridiculous-rad rappers COMING TO INDY ON APRIL 1. das racist! case in point: "this is panic attack rap."

happy vday!

2011-02-14T18:19:00.000-05:00

a few songs to get us through the day - enjoy!

harold and maude, the end scene. we went and saw a screening of this last night. such a beautiful, heart warming, heartbreaking little movie.

morphine, "in spite of me."

jawbreaker, "busy."

flaming lips, "do you realize?" (live at the iu auditorium).

and who doesn't love hot air balloons in rapid motion?

i'm going to jersey, baby!

2011-01-28T17:40:00.000-05:00

my very wily friend, carrie, alerted me to this amazingness: all tomorrow's parties festival, curated by portishead. most notably, on monday there will be a solo show by jeff mangum of neutral milk hotel. this is a band i remember very distinctly dancing frenetically (and probably drunkenly) to during my college days. he hasn't played a large, public, live neutral milk hotel set in over a decade. until... NOW.

tickets went on sale this morning at 9 am EST. by about, oh, 9:15 am, the solo show was sold out. and my wily friend and i procured 4 tickets between the two of us! aw, yeah...

"in the aeroplane over the sea."

"ghost."

"my dream girl don't exist."

looks like i'll be heading to new jersey in october! SO EXCITED! i love these types of trips - on a whim, with excellent people.

new favorite knit!

2011-01-26T21:53:00.001-05:00

made with peruvian hand-dyed yarn using the alderbrook pattern - amazing, cozy, squishy sweater. love love love. note: i'm having a hard time editing my photos because i love this thing so much... lots of photos ahead.

neck down:

oh, hi!

collar folded over:

the neck ALLLL the way up.

this yarn is so super scrumptious.

fun buttons - i really should block this... but i'll probably wear it tomorrow instead.

also on the list of amazing things - popup books...

2011-01-24T19:12:00.000-05:00

this dude is amazing with his library of popup monsters and how to make them: robertsabuda.com.

(this is mostly for my future reference because i now plan to make popups that cover the entire WORLD).

that's how it starts...

2011-01-24T17:57:00.000-05:00

lcd soundsystem, "all my friends."

other sights of late: a wild chair at the french lick resort.

the amazing dome in this little middle of nowhere southern indiana town:

hiking in the snow at morgan-monroe state forest:

boombox getting cozy. it's hard to tell which end is which when he cozies up.

other cool stuff: sounds from the week - the forgetters, my favorite rock band boyfriend's new band! IT'S A DEATH TRIP, BABY.
videos of wonderful music stuffs here!

all things go...

2011-01-13T18:36:00.001-05:00

i forgot how much i love this song - i heard it today on the radio driving home, and it made me so happy.

sufjan stevens, "chicago."

vermicomposting fabulousness!

2011-01-11T20:15:00.001-05:00

chris and i have been lusting after the vermicomposting tray systems we have seen various places (a la this), but i didn't want to spend a shitload of money on it. so we decided to make our own!

step 1: find the proper container. this thing is PERFECT - the trays snap together, and you can move the bottom tray up to the top once the compost in it is done.

step 2: safety first!

step 3: dremel large holes in the bottom of each tray.

step 4: cut wire to fit the bottom of each tray.

"it's like i'm in prison!"

step 5: vacuum the bits of plastic up off every surface in kitchen (including us).

step 6: take break to watch colts lose fabulously in the playoffs.

step 7: drill holes to string wire bottoms into each tray (and freak the cat out with power tools).

step 8: string the wire through.

the trays are ready for... the worms!

and there they are - one tiny, sweet little ball of worms.

2011, the first!

2011-01-07T13:26:00.000-05:00

first "things that are awesome" posting of the new year! happy happy!

things i like: girls that say "yumyum" after any description of tasty food encounters. as in, "the pea soup was very good, YUMYUM."

painting with maps (artist: matthew cusick):

recipes for panda bread! i almost wet myself when i saw this (visit the source for the recipe).

thierry legault's amazing international space station transit photos (his copyright language scares me a little bit, but you really should click here to see what i'm talking about... if you know what's good for you).

my new air plants and presidential air plant holder:

the decorated lions at the art institute:

thinking of ferris bueller's day off EVERY SINGLE TIME i see these windows:

super fantastic 3d art:

three floyd's and its delicious beer!

especially when they turned up the "mood lighting..."

xoxo. here's to a fabulous year of more awesomeness.

ladies is pimps, too...

2010-12-31T19:06:00.002-05:00

it's almost 2011! let's continue with the middle to latter parts of 2010, shall we? because those were awesome.

in honor of the new year and wearing a strapless dress for the second time in my life, we have jay-z, "dirt off your shoulder."

pharcyde, "drop." this video was recorded in reverse. brilliant.

you can hate if you want, but she's so darn fun to watch. and the lyrics?! i mean, for REAL?! my co-worker's eight-year-old loves this song and really thinks she has a staff of some sort with a disco ball on the end. adorable.

and a beautiful song from my wayward youth. yo la tengo, "last days of disco."

well, shoot... one more... i may have posted this already, but it's amazing. and hopeful. and sad. and perfect for a new year. arcade fire, "wake up."

oh, expedia... shame on you...

2010-12-09T13:31:00.004-05:00

i am perturbed at the moment about something afoot at expedia.com. earlier today, i received a message saying that they were giving me a $50 credit on my account after a displeasing stay at a hotel in louisville, ky, this past february (the days inn central, to be exact). it turns out, the $50 is actually hush money because they also removed my review from the site. the first email reads, in part, "Please know that since the review you submitted was handed over to this department, it will not be posted to the site." um... why would it be removed exactly?

let's discuss this hotel, shall we? by "displeasing," i mean that we arrived at what appeared to be a prison, got to our tiny, disgusting room, and actually almost decided to eat the $75 or whatever we had spent just so we could stay at a hotel where we felt safe and didn't think our car was going to be robbed. bordering the fenced in parking lot are a highway, a liquor store, a convenience store, and a discount cigarette store. the area was sketchy, and i have stayed in some sketchy places. we tried to walk to a bar on the other side of the freeway, and we actually turned around after two blocks because we were afraid. i was with a 6'2", able-bodied man, by the way.

this was all before i realized the next evening that i also had bedbug bites all over me from the room. in short, if i were a person traveling alone, i would absolutely want to know about the safety concerns, and any sane person would want to know the hotel has bedbugs.

fast forward to today - apparently, expedia has a system for removing negative reviews from their site. when i tried to resubmit my review, it barred me from doing so since i hadn't stayed there in six months. gee, i wonder why it took them so long to get back to me on my negative review?

this is troubling, particularly in the case of a place that has bedbugs and safety concerns. after expressing this to expedia in a follow-up email, i received a "response" that basically says, "sorry you feel this way, if you need anything else let us know. glad you're a customer!" right... the $50 doesn't cover the cost of my very scary, bedbug-ridden room, and you're not even going to let me post an honest review for my trouble?!

long story short, expedia apparently buys people off instead of dealing with health and safety concerns of their featured hotels. following is my initial email back to expedia.com and the response i just received from expedia's "customer service" about my concerns. remember, the review highlighted SAFETY ISSUES and BEDBUG PROBLEMS; this wasn't a "my room smelled moldy" kind of problem.

Message sent to expedia.com, 12/9/10:
While I appreciate receiving a $50 credit to use in the future based on a bad hotel experience I had earlier this year, I am concerned that my review was removed from the site (Customer Case ID: E-******). People considering staying at the Days Inn Central/University in Louisville, KY, should absolutely know that we received bedbug bites while staying there, the rooms were awful, and we were afraid for our safety and our property. If I had been traveling alone, I would have turned around and left it was so bad, and I have stayed in some questionable places - as it was, even traveling with another person, we almost left because we were scared to stay there.

I have no idea why my review would be removed from the website. Again, if I were a single woman traveling alone, I would certainly want to know about safety concerns, and anyone would want to know about the bedbugs. I would appreciate it if you would put my review back online; I appreciate the $50 credit, but I don't know why that would require you to remove my review.
Me

Expedia's non-response response:
Dear You,

Thank you for contacting Expedia about your hotel reservation.

We appreciate your thoughtful comments and we are sorry we disappointed you on this matter. We are also happy to know that you count on Expedia.com for your travel plans. We rely on customers like you to provide us with the information we need to continue improving our services. To this end, we will share your comments with the appropriate department. We hope you will visit us again, at www.Expedia.com.

If this does not answer your question or solve your problem, feel free to reply to this message or call us at 1-800-EXPEDIA (1-800-397-3342) and reference case ID: M-******.

Thank you for choosing Expedia.
Expedia Customer Service Team

i'm guessing i won't hear anything more back. so let's recap, shall we?
moral of the story #1: never stay at days inn central in louisville, ky, unless you like bedbugs and fear.
moral of the story #2: stop using expedia or at the very least double-check user reviews of your planned hotels with an independent source, such as yelp.com. if you see one negative review on expedia, who knows how many more were deleted?

ETA: this is probably fairly common - i mean, corporations in general are focused on making money, not the safety of their customers. however, i've always had the perception that i could at least use user reviews as some sort of baseline. apparently, not so much. seriously, it was so bad that we snapped photos out front before we sped away as quickly as possible the next morning. i probably would have looked even more pissed here had the bedbug bites started showing up that morning:

christmas time is here...

2010-12-07T18:57:00.002-05:00

i love the charlie brown christmas music. it's so spooky and kind of... sad.

in honor of all things christmas-y and wintery, i give you this amazing video (which i can't figure out how to embed): melty japanese maple leaf.

some of my favorite ornaments:

sushi!

and the raveonettes, "christmas song."

it's you and me...

2010-12-03T00:18:00.001-05:00

kate bush is awesome, if you didn't know: "running up that hill."

i dig you...

2010-11-30T13:46:00.001-05:00

i somehow forgot about this song. oh, how could i forget about this song?! boss hog, "i dig you."

also, this woman is amazing. seriously - she makes things like this:

and this!

AND THIS!!!

"guess what i wear as a hat? a lentil..."

2010-11-16T19:09:00.001-05:00

i absolutely love marcel the shell with shoes on: "we only fight when provoked."

and i can't get enough of this song lately. i'm a sucker for harmony - iron and wine and calexico, "he lays in the reins."

snoop dogg is my life coach...

2010-11-10T18:22:00.001-05:00

bringin' it way back: drop it like it's hot.

other things i like: my worm bin and my pioneering worm, juanita:

accidental reflections of red bridges that make me look EEEEVIL:

dressing in fall-camo - can you even SEE ME in this pic?! i didn't think so.

the storytelling chair at the nc botanical gardens...

in which i tell stories like this:

doggies that look like muppets and obama in da club...

2010-11-08T18:15:00.003-05:00

this guy's photography is fantastic: http://www.timflach.com/. look through all his portfolios. the muppet doggies and delicate bat wings and elephant eyelashes are really making me swoon.

also, OHMYGOODNESS: obamas in the club.

electric blankets and israeli reggae...

2010-11-06T20:03:00.003-04:00

i heard reggae sung in hebrew today! and you know what? i liked it.

i also like this: "sleepyhead," passion pit.

and packing tape room design is pretty cool:

other things i like: TODAY. i like today. i spent the morning at the bloomington handmade market spending way too much money and the afternoon driving around town in the cold, clear sunshine with a good, good friend, chatting away, buying toilet paper and chocolate, and generally enjoying the world. AND i now am the proud owner of an electric blanket. time for snuggles!

speaking of snuggly, i finished a new hat on a whim. i needed some instant gratification, and this was almost too instant. i started it one night, finished it the next.

other things i like: my new worm bin. they turn my food into magical, plant-nourishing worm poop!

my healthy army of green plants:

metal tree leaves: did i mention we took our first big trip out to north carolina?

life-sized chess pieces: the horse was my favorite.

plants that eat meat:

flowers pretending to be globes:

weddings of dear girls and boys:

trees with gigantic leaves: i would like to read in a hammock under this tree every day.

blooming flowers in october:

the west end wine bar in chapel hill and this fantastic painting, which watched over us as we sipped:

adventures in crockpot cooking: butternut squash and pinto bean chili! YUM.

tonight, creamy potato stew is on the menu for the people:

and fresh fruits and veggies are on the menu for the wormies!

and, of course, in a list of things i like, let's not forget chris:

i love all things fall...

2010-10-21T17:38:00.001-04:00

fall means leaves! and pulling out forgotten favorite scarves! and hats! and sweaters! and mittens! jewel-toned flowers and tiny gourds!

this essay pretty much made me chortle out loud - and, yes, i do feel this way about fall (warning: lots of swearing): "IT'S DECORATIVE GOURD SEASON, M*THERF*CK*RS," by colin nissan.

leaves!

expeditions!

fun new knitted articles of clothing!

sweater dresses! my first "real" sweater dress (i.e. wool, turtleneck).

goofing with the work ladies!

hotel bed jumping tests!

and i've been stuck on this beautiful, sad song. mirah, "archipelago."

wishes for the universe...

2010-09-29T18:10:00.004-04:00

oh, AND - this whole blog is amazing. here we have a commissioned piece of knitbombing - a skirt for a rocket, upon which people pin their messages to the universe: my fair isle.

simply amazing.

x-ray vision, apple picking, and crockpots!

2010-09-29T17:51:00.002-04:00

i've been amassing "things that are awesome" lately. i think it's just because, in spite of killer allergies, fall is finally here.

first, though, take a look at the x-ray visions of one nick veasey (the bus is my favorite): do i look fat in this?

next up - apple picking at anderson orchard!

we also found loads of these, which i discovered today is the pod for the american chestnut. talk about evolution! on a side note, i was trying to figure out what to google to find out what this was without getting *ahem* answers i decidedly did NOT want at work. "seed sack" didn't seem quite right.

in food news, i just ordered a crockpot! and a vegetarian crockpot cookbook! and a whirley-pop popcorn popper! CAN'T WAIT! and i WANT THIS NOW:

and finally for this disjointed little entry: scout niblett and will oldham, "kiss." i love this video.

sometimes there are entire weeks that are pretty darn good...

2010-09-24T16:36:00.001-04:00

this be one of them!

things i REALLY, REALLY like today:
- this amazing time lapse project of various locations in chicago - 5,300 pictures. beautiful! it makes my heart hurt! i love chicago.

Summer Sped Up (A Chicago Timelapse) from Josh Kalven on Vimeo.

- friends from long ago getting in touch to tell me they found TONS of new wool yarn for, like, 50 cents a piece at a thrift store, all in varying shades of green, thinking of me, then going back to buy an entire shopping cart of yarn to ship to me! seriously, it just made my day.

- an entire set of amazing origami on flickr, including things like this:

violently happy...

2010-09-23T18:00:00.001-04:00

things are good! i may have a freelance gig, which is uber cool. i'm going to squirrel all that extra moola into a "christie fun fund." or maybe a "greece or croatia or italy or istanbul or germany or scotland or ireland fund." or a "moving on up to the east side fund."

and there are tons of other things i love, like my ridiculous cat and his lazy tongue:

going to see shows and loving the opening band even more than the headliner. here's s. carey, who was amazing on tuesday here in sleepy bloomington.

nasa declaring last night's harvest moon "extra harvesty." see: the nasa blog.

the whole world is a song...

2010-09-20T17:32:00.003-04:00

my song o' the day: brandi carlile's cover of bryan adams' "heaven" and its utterly bizarre video.

sponsored by MY NEW PRINCESS LEIA HEADPHONES! now i can ignore eileen (my favorite co-worker who, rest assured, i really don't want to ignore. i just like giving her a hard time).

also - i'm bustin' out the fall colors again! and SCARVES! ohmygoodness! (i'm also knitting a wool dress, but that's a story for another day). tonight, we bake apple pie - even though, ironically, it is 90 degrees today. whatever, indian summer.

things i like, the recap...

2010-09-12T23:05:00.003-04:00

i haven't done one of these in a while! things i have liked as of late: knitting ridiculous garments of clothing with leftover yarn.

whales named mr. splashy pants!

collecting wrist bands.

grand monuments you can climb to the top of.

finishing sweaters.

camping with my nephew who doesn't, in fact, hate me (he was in need of a nap here... really).

washington state. i want to hike the pacific crest trail now.

reflections on clear, clear water.

did i mention i think my nephew is the cutest thing on two legs?

also... the tulip train trestle.

also also, i don't have pictures of these things, but: seeing four moons of jupiter using binoculars. hanging out with neighbors on stoops, talking about movies. watching the international space station zoom past overhead. watching planet earth on impromptu sleeping bags on the living room floor. breakfast burritos. and cuddling.

the doctor, the writer, the hairdresser...

2010-08-24T16:05:00.001-04:00

today's jam: metric, "the police and the private."

new favorite article of clothing...

2010-08-23T20:48:00.003-04:00

no, really. i love this thing so very, very much. and it's my first completed project in a while. made with the leitmotif pattern. pretty pretty. let's hope i don't shrink this one on accident.

my face looks stern. rest assured, i am elated.

extra-long arms, whee!

also, a lesson in pattern reading: i cast on just like normal without realizing the backs were designed to match up perfectly (if cast on is done appropriately). so yeah. whatever.

other things i like: boombox t. cat!

the zoo! and cheetahs!

and, most notably, CHEETAHS SPOONING!

creepy and cute...

2010-08-23T15:09:00.003-04:00

i like things that are creepy and cute. like pygmy hippopotamus! and penguins! like me! and most of my friends!

and this song and video! brazilian girls, "jique."

it's you, it's me, and there's dancing!

2010-08-19T21:57:00.002-04:00

los campesinos are awesome.

in keeping with my animation kick: peter bjorn and john, "young folks."

did i mention i'm going camping with this little dude (aka my nephew) in a few short weeks? in washington? i can't WAIT.

no, seriously. THIS kid! did i mention i can't wait?

my current jam...

2010-08-18T19:27:00.002-04:00

gorillaz, "rhinestone eyes."

other things i love: my amazing friends. sunday tea party with sally-mander sunhat!

new dresses.

gifts of handknitted shark magnets!

the perseids...

2010-08-13T23:58:00.002-04:00

i am a fan. i have nothing more i want to say in this particular forum, other than... wow. i don't wax romantic in general these days, but last night was the most perfect night.

in lieu, i give you this. my most played song, according to itunes. magnetic fields, "100,000 fireflies." who knew? but also fitting.

if i am lost, it's only for a little while...

2010-08-11T23:14:00.002-04:00

band of horses, "monsters."

i live in a house that was built in 1851. i have no air conditioning. you get more attuned to the outside world by force when you live in such a situation. it rained the other day for, oh, 15 minutes. i thought it would help. with heat index temps of 108 degrees, however, that didn't quite work out. instead, i live in a sauna. however, i got a pretty smeary photo from inside my car.

i still like people, though. fear not.

post script...

2010-08-05T22:57:00.001-04:00

aka how did i not post this already?! seriously. watch it. just give it until 3:12 and then wait for the shit to hit the fan.

"i get kinda sweet when it comes to bedtime..."

2010-08-05T21:27:00.002-04:00

referencing the ever-brilliant "fishing with john" and the magic that is willem defoe.

other things i love: i witnessed this driving home in the hot, hot heat from a shopping trip i took pretty much just to avoid my non-air-conditioned house in heat index temps of 110 degrees.

good friends coupled with half-priced champagne cocktails. you, too, can feel fancy for under $10!

boombox becoming completely one with the new chair. i mean, really. this is a happy cat.

lcd soundsystem, "i can change."

smashing cars and dumpster diving...

2010-08-01T17:14:00.002-04:00

things that make me happy this weekend: the monroe county demolition derby!

the girls' heat - they kicked some serious butt.

green, hairy, spotted monsters on bicycles (won at the art hospital silent auction last weekend).

visiting three states in one day: bloomington, in > cincinnati, oh > newport, ky.

70s armchairs scooped up at goodwill. i think boombox is a fan, too. we tried some dumpster diving, too, since august 1 is the switchover day for a lot of the apartments in town. i found: multiple vacuum cleaners, various decorative wreaths, a whole chicken, a tire, a really awesome tall work table if i had a use for it... in other words, it was not too successful, but goodwill is overflowing right now.

this amazingly hot song (and amazingly bizarre video).

finally, something knitting related! this sweater from the latest interweave knits is next on my "to knit" list - as soon as i finish my current knit bomb project and a cardigan i've been working on FOR-EV-ER.
(source).

begin the age of love...

2010-07-29T22:04:00.002-04:00

mylar and hot glue...

2010-07-29T18:20:00.002-04:00

things i'm loving today: tara donovan's art.

source.

dixie cups.

source.

tim biskup's art.

source.

the indianapolis museum of art. as a whole. people are living in this thing - check out their blog.

thousands of hands, holding me up.

a sculptural ode to indiana's obsession with basketball.

sunday after lake time, after woodlands rock shows, before showers, before pancakes.

things i like this weekend...

2010-07-18T19:43:00.003-04:00

new baby toes!

dresses with pockets.

this song - sleigh bells, "tell 'em."

and planning my first knit bomb... barber shop poles for all!

floating, floating, floating and technicolor boys...

2010-07-05T16:56:00.003-04:00

things i like this weekend: 4th of july parades in the shade and cooler weather.

time in the lake.

and this amazing video.

things i like today...

2010-06-30T00:47:00.001-04:00

this is my kind of protest.

and this song... mirah, "mt. st. helens."

i found a reason...

2010-06-26T13:49:00.001-04:00

i forgot about this song. and the video is really beautiful.

also, i had a phone in my mouth last night. technology.

things i like today...

2010-06-24T21:26:00.004-04:00

listening to this song: e.p. hall, "emperor's note." and watching this video. the paper trees!

finding some awesome pictures of me from 5+ years ago and thinking i looked so incredibly different back then.

thinking it's thundering out - when really they're just tearing down the old school across from my house.

receiving this guy for ben! (purchased from the brilliant daniellorama).

things that make me happy today...

2010-06-23T18:59:00.003-04:00

this song: band of horses, "i go to the barn because i like the."

my nephew.

and modeling his super rad knitted cotton overalls! (looks like the kid has some growing to do. get on that, kid). i'm planning a trip to seattle in august so i can hang with this little bumblebee before he is no longer a babe.

you can vote however you like...

2010-06-21T21:22:00.002-04:00

okay, so i've not posted here in a while because, well, i've been a little uninspired. i have been knitting, yes. i have decidedly been making things. i just don't much feel like talking about them. but there are things i like on the interwebs, and so i'm going to share those instead. deal? deal.

danny macaskill insane bike tricks from 2009, somewhere in edinburgh.

this will never fail to make me laugh. a lot.

and i would totally have thom yorke's little alien babies. cover of joy division's "ceremony." did you know that not only did mt. st. helens erupt on my first birthday, but the lead singer of joy division killed himself on my first birthday?

okay, and i guess i'll do a massive photo log of everything i've finished from february until now, knitting-wise.

saroyan scarf, made with malabrigo. yum.

i made this from my head with yarn my mom gave me. and i love it.

fuzzy pink.

ruffles are nice, right?

pumpkin baby blanket for my friend, emily's, soon to be pumpkin.

baby overalls, organic cotton, for my nephew.

and another pair for baby ilan, sibyl's wee one, in germany. crossing borders, yo!

in action!

and i bought a gorgeous new painting from my talented friend, jeremy brightbill. it has hair and tea in it!

a new year, what what?!

2010-02-23T18:01:00.003-05:00

i have SO many projects in the works right now. it's a little ridiculous. we have:
- a cardigan for me
- a baby cardigan
- one sock done, one sock needing to start
- a very fuzzy brown scarf
- a red leafy wrap

okay, i THINK that's it. i guess that's not so bad? that's not figuring in the projects that are more or less forgotten from a year or more ago. yikes.

i have finished two things that i love, though. so here you go: photo time. first, pioneer sweater in elsebeth lavold's silky tweed.

i did some increasing ribbing on the edges in an attempt to make it slightly more fitted. don't know how much i succeeded at that.

then last week i got super sick and decided to knit a freaking sweater. it took me about four days - that's how sick i was. i had in my mind a picture of the sweaters i wore as a kid at my grandparents cabin on lake despair in canada. you could only reach it by boat, and even in the summer, the cool nights required a good old fashioned camp sweater. i used the duchess raglan pattern for the body, but then pretty much did my own thing to make the sleeves extra long and fitted. i also ended up having to decrease the front and back every other row instead of every 4th row with the sleeves in order to get the top to fit correctly. oh, and i made it extra long, too - it ain't a camp sweater if it's too damn short. i pretty much love it.

me feeling ill.

christmas and post-christmas knitting!

2009-12-28T18:03:00.003-05:00

i've been so busy knitting, i haven't had time to update! so here goes - this post will likely be photo-heavy and text-light. probably. maybe. well, we'll see.

first, my nephew, ben, loved his knitted baby blocks. and he can grab them! and put them in his mouth! he got his first tooth on christmas day, so i'm guessing he'll continue wanting to put everything and anything in his drooly little mug. this was over thanksgiving - ben's FIRST first christmas celebration!

here they are, minus the adorable, drooly little guy.

here's me singing ben the charlie brown christmas song.

true to form, when faced with all sorts of craft-related deadlines (finish a sweater, make 40+ christmas cards, finish dad's golf club covers, etc.), i decided to start a million other projects. like these legwarmers. i pretty much just did a cabled pattern, knit flat (because all my circulars were taken up with other projects), increased evenly up the calf. also? my cat is a camera whore.

this was another side project, made while i should have been finishing other projects. and i wonder why i felt so rushed the week before leaving for christmas? i started knitting this in seattle over thanksgiving - with a small baby, we ended up having a decent amount of downtime around my brother and sis-in-law's house, which is just fine by me. that's how i like my vacations - knitting, movies, some mellow sightseeing, maybe a candy apple and hot donuts from pike place market thrown in for good measure. i used the pattern from the leaf t-shirt, and then just kind of made up the rest on my own. i love the fit. this is one of my favorite finished objects to date.

and one more ridiculous/awesome project - i decided this orange and hot pink leftover yarn i had were screaming to become hot pants. again, i was procrastinating finishing all of my other projects. i finished these this morning, and i am seriously, seriously in love with them. i predict a hot pants dance-off in the streets of bloomington. i also plan to wear these under a dress soon just so i can flash people all day long. i made these using seasha's studio shorts pattern - it took a little work to eliminate wrap and turn-related holes, but in the end, it worked like a charm.

on christmas morning, i was also thrilled to learn my mom's christmas sweater fits her like a glove! i think she likes it. i used the cabled pattern and sizing from rosamund's cardigan, but i centered the front cabled panels and, obviously, made it long-sleeved.

i was shooting for this sweater from j. jill, which my mom saw and loved back in september or so. i think it looks somewhat, kind of, sort of similar. right?

and to round this whole picture-laden post out, here's a sampling of photos from the last month. merry christmas, happy holidays, happy new year! here's ben and i over thanksgiving playing the "eat the baby" game, which he loved.

me and mom on the underground seattle tour.

the proper way to handle a baby. this picture slays me.

mt. rainier caused a traffic jam on the bridge back to redmond.

me pretending to be a ballerina in the nutcracker ballet. ah, christmas...

christmas time for real! the girl cousins at our family christmas party:

the museum of contemporary art in chicago. i need more plexiglas ceilings in my life, i think.

more plexiglas love.

trent con plexiglas and steel.

mom and dad at the macy's tree in chicago. aren't they adorable?

ah, christmas morning. one of my consistently favorite days of the year. maybe my only.

one of my christmas gifts - a page in the best book ever of all time. ever.

normally, i would be at work on a monday morning. instead? this was me at, oh, 11:00 this morning. i woke up, did yoga (rodney yee kicks all butt), drank coffee, and finished knitting a pair of hot pants. lovely. i love vacation.

the prolific knitter...

2009-11-08T13:56:00.005-05:00

things for which i am currently thankful: bagels (one side with cream cheese, one side with peanut butter - crunchy, of course); open windows in november; football; coffee; laundry machines; my cat, boombox; super-ridiculous-fun weekends with friends; and perrier citron.

i have been crazy prolific with the knitting lately. like, it's a little frightening. i think really what it is is that i'm working on two sweaters right now. due to the sweater knitting, i have had the intense need to be able to start and finish a project in one night. add to that the fact that i have nearly countless single skeins or half-skeins of yarn, and the result is that i have a whole slew of hats and neck warmers marching off the needles lately. marching two by two.

first, though, i did manage to finish the farmer's market cardigan for my sister-in-law. christmas will come early this year since we will be flying out to seattle for thanksgiving, and the bro, sil, and newphew will be headed to maine for christmas proper. so yeah... had to get the thing done! it is so ridiculously cozy, and now i want one of my own. excuse the crappy photo - my house has no good lighting in it.

on to the small things. i've started getting pretty good at making neck warmers and hats from my own head. this one didn't even make it to my etsy shop - i'm selling it to my friend, susanne, instead! i used a stitch pattern from my grandma's ancient knitting book, then did a split bottom and a split, foldover top. i kinda love it.

the main stitch pattern - sort of a fake cable waffle thing going on. mmm, waffles.

i also did up a slightly bulky, slightly lacy simple tube neck warmer. available at famousthecat.etsy.com!

and last, but certainly not least, my friend, ian, has been clamoring for a handknit hat for ages. AGES. geez, will he just shut up already? in order to shut him up, i went for it. again, this is knit up with yarn from my ridiculous stash. the unfolded, slouchier version of ian's windy city hat:

the folded version. i thought i'd like the slouchier version better, but i think this is my fave way of wearing it. plus, the foldover brim gives those little ears some extra wooly coverage when the wind is whipping off the lake.

happy weekend!

shameless self-promotion: famous the cat designs LIVES!

2009-10-25T15:36:00.003-04:00

this is my totally self-serving way of saying i finally got off my butt and listed some items for sale on my brand new etsy site! so far, i've got four fabulous neck warmers and a bag that i am kind of in love with. take a look if you'd like: famousthecat.etsy.com. i will be adding more soon, i'm sure - i realized just how much extra yarn i actually have right now lying around, and i figure i might as well make a little cash off my knitting addiction. for instance, we have the "living in a coniferous world" neck warmer:

in other news, i went to a sock puppet party on friday night (at which the birthday girl was not at all surprised after her husband gave it away earlier that day), which also involved the making of sock puppets. hey, we have to make our own fun here. this is my dino tube sock, which i adore.

my green tights are already pilling because i love them so much.

i also have gotten a LOT closer to finishing my sister-in-law's christmas sweater (needs to be done by thanksgiving, dammit). i've been fully enjoying fall, mostly because i can't stand the thought of gray... everything for the next 5 months. this was the crazy sky from my office on friday.

walking through the leaves.

i love this one - it looks like some weird, smeary oil painting.

sunshine in leaf form.

a forgotten skein of malabrigo + my grandma's pattern book = love...

2009-10-18T17:36:00.004-04:00

i was going through the many half-finished projects hanging on the back of my front door (that's where current and not-so-current projects go to get finished or languish) the other day, and i realized i had a gorgeous skein of highly saturated, blue-purple malabrigo yarn. just sitting there! how could i?! i discovered the magic of malabrigo when i took a trip to several yarn stores in philadelphia this past may. what a dream that yarn is.

so yesterday, feeling rather tired of working on my mom's christmas sweater, i decided to do up a quickie cowl from my own head. i wanted something with a fun pattern for the main part, but with a split extended bottom edge for extra warmth without having to worry about increases to make it fan out. i decided, in the end, to do a split foldover top, as well. currently, it's blocking, but i might even add a button along the top neckline to cinch it in even more (this was after walking around town in the bright sunshine and cold, cold air... i forgot that it gets COLD here).

the central pattern was from a knitting book my grandmother gave me years ago. the book is from 1971, and it is literally hundreds of pages of nothing but knitting stitch patterns. there's a cabled section, a ribbing section, a reversible stitch pattern section, etc. etc. it is truly amazing. strangely, i also just received the book "reversible knitting" by lynne barr - it, too, is amazing in almost exactly the same way. i look at all of the stitch patterns, and my mind immediately begins thinking of all of the amazing garments i could work up in each stitch. so. cool.

so anyway... enough about me. here's the grandma's knitting book cowl!

better detail of the lacy pattern:

for my own future record (please only use these notes for personal use, not for sale)

- co 103 (or any multiple of 4, +3), do not join.
- work in 2x1 ribbing back and forth for 3”, maintaining a 3 st garter stitch edge at beginning and end of each row.
- join to knit in the round, place marker, k 1 row, decreasing 8 stitches evenly.
- start main pattern (i used “baby variegated ribbing” from an ancient knitting book my grandmother gave me years ago).

baby variegated ribbing:
r1 - p1, k3, p1 - rep from, end k2.
r2 - k2, p1, k3 - rep from, end p1.
r3 - same as r1.
r4 - k2tog, yo, p1, yo, k3tog - rep from, end yo, p1.
r5 - k2, p1, k3 - rep from, end p1.
r6 - p1, k3, p1 - repeat from, end k2.
r7 - same as r5.
r8 - p1, yo, k3tog, yo, p1, yo - rep from, end k2tog.

- continue with pattern to desired length, ending with either row 2 or row 6.
- k 1 row, decreasing 8 sts evenly.
- work 2 rows in 1x2 ribbing, then split. continue knitting back and forth in established rib for 3” or desired length of neck foldover section.
- bind off all stitches loosely.
- block with neck folded down. attach button to foldover extra fabric if desired.

in other news, since it was not only NOT raining but also sunny as heck the past two mornings for the first time in i-can't-even-tell-you-how-long, i went for walks both days. and, of course, took pictures. apparently, someone is looking out for me (my initials are cw, for any who don't know), and this is on the corner right by my house:

my favorite trees are the ones that change from the outside in - little flashes of red on all of the edges. this one is right next door to me, so i get to watch it transform.

a different tree, more color.

i also realized this morning, while walking past a church with these beautiful mums, that i have been dressing lately in the colors of mums. seriously. this was my outfit yesterday, and today the color scheme is basically exactly the same.

self-portrait recap....

2009-10-17T01:21:00.003-04:00

i realized it's been a really long time since i've posted my weekly self-portraits. yeah, i've kept up with it. i tried to do the 365 project a few years back... it went well until, oh, about march (starting the first of the year). i just don't have the wherewithal to think that i can take an interesting picture EVERY SINGLE DAY. one each week? now that i can do.

not to say these are at all interesting. but whatever. deal with it.

7.18.09. my messy, messy house, post-market.

7.24.09. i maintain every girl needs a pair of hot pink tights.

7.30.09. prettifying?

8.6.09. boombox gives you the sultry eyes, i give you the scary eyes.

8.12.09. i got my cello out of hock.

8.15.09. look! i stole a benjamin! we took a walk through the park during my august trip to seattle.

8.22.09. perched at my desk.

8.28.09. still my favorite belt buckle of all time. i can't remember where i was going... out somewhere.

9.5.09. feeling decidedly lackluster.

9.10.09. testing out the width of my bed in nashville (it was a good foot wider than i am tall).

9.15.09. a caricature made of me during our work trip to nashville. what's up with my picasso-esque boob area?!

9.27.09. i spent way too much money (on a pair of boots i adore).

10.4.09. what being sick looks like. there was theraflu in that mug. i'm only now starting to feel better, and my mom likes to boast that i survived swine flu.

10.8.09. me. looking awkward. in my living room.

10.15.09. i thought the self-timer was on. it wasn't. i kind of like this picture, though. why do i always put my hand in my mouth?

warm wallaby...

2009-10-15T20:30:00.004-04:00

hooey! it's been a while! i have been knitting my little hands off, working on a variety of top secret christmas knits, and as a result, i haven't been posting much. no more! done! fin! nein! niet! no mas!

first, let me tell you why i had to bust through the current sweater on the needles. it was a project just for me - rosamund's cardigan in knitpicks bulky wallaby. wallaby! who doesn't love a color named wallaby? really, it's kind of a dusty brownish gray. but whatevs. wallaby! so that was on the needles, but then my mom and i went shopping. she fell in love with the following sweater at j. jill. and i was like, "dude! i could knit that!" so i went ahead and ordered yarn - and, for once, the yarn came way too fast. i had to get my own cardigan off the needles before i could start the one for my mama. so yeah... i tore through this sucker like no other.

here's the inspiration for my mom's sweater. basically, i'm doing a second rosamund's cardigan, only long-sleeved and with the front centered rather than off to the side. the color of the yarn is a bit lighter than i was hoping for - but it was the closest i could come. really, as long as it fits and she likes it, i'll be happy.

and drumroll please... here is my new favorite finished object.

i love this shot - i thought the self-timer was on, but no.

oh! and i made a ridiculous oscar the grouch sweater. the yarn reminds me of toxic waste. this came from my head - just an easy, seamless top down raglan. i wanted it to be cropped. the yarn made me think of those little fuzzy mohair sweaters chicks wore in the 50's. only, you know, toxic waste-y.

i'm working on the farmer's market sweater for my sister-in-law, but i've kind of hit a wall. i'll get back to it once i'm done with mom's sweater... or once i hit the sleeves. sleeves are such a pain in the butt. i asked my bro and sis-in-law what the nephew might need - a hat and mittens. okee-dokey, says i! again, these are more or less from my own head. i love the way the malabrigo pooled in the hat into that weird psychedelic swirlie.

look! ear flaps!

and mitts - gotta connect 'em somehow.

finally? proof positive that my nephew is the cutest, most ridiculous, most talkative 3-1/2 month old in the universe.

oscar the grouch sweater...

2009-09-27T11:53:00.002-04:00

finally! a finished object of the knitting persuasion! i've been working on so many little things that i haven't actually finished anything in quite a while. this guy was knitted up from my own head. it started as a cowl, then i realized i a) had a lot more yarn than was needed for a cowl, b) it would be REALLY ITCHY on the neck, and c) it was screaming out to be some sort of sweater instead. so i ripped it all out and went for it.

i knit it initially with the thought that the outside would be the inside - but then i decided the reverse stockinette showed off the funky yarn a lot better than plain old stockinette, so i went inside out with it. purty.

the length - a short little sweater for wearing over other things. maybe dresses, too. that'd be a good look, don't you think?

in other news, we had a lovely fall LUPEC yesterday (that's "ladies united for the preservation of endangered cocktails"). look at these lovely ladies (and this is only a small fraction of the awesomeness).

natasha took some glamour shots. i like this one.

oh, hello, old friend...

2009-08-20T22:24:00.004-04:00

things have been a little surreal lately. a little bizarre. a little nice. i realized i haven't updated this thing in almost a month, and i honestly thought, "well, what the heck have i been DOING?!" mostly, i've been working and having fun. so there's that.

i went to seattle for a brief stay last weekend to meet the munchkin, aka the nubbin, jammin, benjamin, ben, the nephew. it made me so sad when i left to think that the next time i see him at thanksgiving, he will be five months old. so much time to miss in baby time.

there are far too many "favorite" pictures to post from the trip, so we'll only do a few. i was there for a total of two days - the second day, we drove up to deception pass state park in washington and made our way down whidbey island to the ferry back. this was after a very satisfying hunt for rocks at north beach.

the prettiest seaweed in all the land.

ben is a noisy, vigorous little guy. he does everything vigorously. he even SLEEPS vigorously, with his grunts and coos and hoots. he's not fussy at all. he's just vigorous. however, get him in his wrappy thing in a noisy place (like, say, pike place market), and he's passed right the heck out.

me and dad in his humboldt state sweatshirt. i don't even own an article of clothing from humboldt, and i WENT there, for goodness' sakes!

i really love this photo. ben's first ferry ride! he loved the light, the noise... and he loves hanging his head upside down when he looks at the world.

oh, and in addition to pike place market on friday, we also went to the most hilarious brewery tour i have ever been on. redhook brewery tour - if you are ever in that area, you must go. me, my bruddah, and my mama.

our flight out of seattle circled around mt. st. helens. goodbye for now, pacific northwest. i will always love you.

i got home and finally finished up a few projects that had been blocking for lord knows how long. first, i made myself a sweater. i'm really proud of this sucker ( ihaven't counted the bobbles yet... the bobbles sucked).

although my initial desire was to make this sweater in some bright, crazy color (as i have been known to do on occasion), i also desperately needed a warm, black, awesome cardigan. so yeah... i went with it.

then the christmas knitting begins. this'll be for my mom, made using the springtime bandit pattern and good ol' noro kureyon yarn. i really want to keep it for myself, but i guess i'll settle for just making another one.

best thing i've seen today...

2009-07-24T20:57:00.003-04:00

this! i know it's likely you've already seen it (what do the kids call it now? "viral?"), but if you haven't, please watch the whole thing. maybe i'm just pre-menstrual, but it almost made me cry with how dang sweet it is. my personal fave would be the slow-motion part.

i just got back from dinner and a drink after a ceremony for a memorial statue for a friend who died almost two years ago. he wasn't a close friend - but he was one of those people who, when you were with him, made you feel like a close friend, like you had known him forever.

i suppose, since this is my knitting/crafting/making things with my hands blog, that i should report in on some of the stuff i've been working on? i've been addicted to a black, crazy, bobbly wool cardigan a la forecast - i'm on sleeve number one, FINALLY. i have finally met my match - bobbles become no longer fun to knit after about, oh, the first round of them. maybe when i'm done i'll count the bobbles. alos? black knitting is difficult to take photos of.

there are a few other things in the works. maybe i'll try some photos later. pics or it didn't happen, right? isn't that what the kids are saying?

and just so this isn't all boring old lady text, i give you: what my bathroom window looks like every day in the summer when i return home from work. serene, right?

the kid...

2009-07-20T22:35:00.002-04:00

this kid just cracks me up. "what the heck are these ARM things?!" my nephew, benjamin's, latest youtube update. and look! he's wearing one of the onesies i made for him!

self-portrait roundup...

2009-07-17T20:22:00.002-04:00

yes, i have still been doing my weekly self-portraits (more or less weekly, that is). i've just been absolutely horrendous at posting them, apparently. so here's the roundup - from the last time i posted one until now.

ready. set. go!
5.29.09. on the steps of the school across the street from my house, which will soon be torn down to make way for a parking lot for the new, much less interesting looking (but likely nicer) school.

6.3.09. i fully maintain that everyone should own at least three pairs of brightly colored tights. at LEAST.

6.11.09. my new ruffly-butted swimsuit.

6.21.09. what way too much heat and no a/c looks like.

6.26.09. nighttime pony races at churchill downs!

7.2.09. spinning with sparklers on kirkwood ave.

7.11.09. and, even though this was in my last post, it was also my self-portrait for the week. me (30) in my house and me (4) at the lincoln park conservatory.

baby boy benjamin goodies...

2009-07-13T19:47:00.002-04:00

my good friend, jes, in san diego sent me a lovely care package a few months ago, which included luscious, beautiful moda dea tweedle dee yarn in a lovely blue-purple combination. i had to figure out what the heck to do with it, of course. i had made the munchkin (aka the nephew, aka little benjamin, aka jammin) a hooded summery blanket out of cotton yarn, so i decided he would of course need a winter blanket soon enough in the great pacific northwest. i searched through an ancient knitting book my grandmother gave me years ago. it is chock full of nearly every stitch pattern you could ever want. i decided on something simple that would look nice from either side of the blanket ("striped fagoting" was the winner). next, off to the LYS for two matching shades in nice lamb's pride bulky, and i kicked off the knitting.

we have a blankie, my friends. a nice, wooly, bulky throw that i think will work wonderfully tucked in around a carseat or laid out on the floor for the wee one to practice his rolling skills. we have side one:

and side two:

well, as always happens, you've either got plenty of yarn leftover or just barely not enough. this time, we had quite a bit extra. what next? baby sweater! i followed the mossy jacket pattern because, well, it looked like a quick, easy knit and i had never tried it before. i'm pleased!

in other news, i have managed to restore my hair to its four-year old status. rock what you know.

things that make me smile...

2009-07-11T12:55:00.000-04:00

i can't get enough of this video. seriously, just watch it.

oh, and did i mention?

2009-07-05T15:00:00.000-04:00

I AM AN AUNTIE! meet benjamin damon, born early monday morning, 6/29. and i am in LOVE.

little jammin, rocking out while sleeping out.

mini-holiday!

2009-06-28T19:26:00.002-04:00

mini-holiday recap time! i went to louisville over the weekend to visit a friend and just get the heck out of dodge. what a great weekend. i saw my first pony race, called a winning longshot pony (which allowed us to win back our money, get free AMAZING tacos from a non-english speaking taqueria, AND parlay our winnings for three more races), went shopping at nitty gritty, ate a massive breakfast at lynn's paradise cafe, watched movies, ate ice cream, visited some local drinking establishments, and sang along to neutral milk hotel. what an excellent weekend.

whooshootoo, our first bet (#2). did i mention it was a nighttime race? odds were 22:1 by the time the race started - and they ended up in second place! rob made $100 off that one, and we made $50 or so.

churchill downs, yo.

our next horse, paper shredder, was in the lead until the very end of the race. go, paper shredder!

pony action shot.

rob and me, looking spoooooky. lordy lou, was it ever hot.

our lovely racing mates: jon...

and victoria.

these dudes were absolutely ridiculous. there were about six of them total.

and video, of course. yes, i'm the one talking.

and my new skirt! one of five rad finds at nitty gritty.

seriously. stellar weekend. thanks, louisville peeps.

serious ugly cardi for the win...

2009-06-16T17:52:00.002-04:00

so what if it's june? so what if wool is not precisely the yarn of choice for summer in hot, muggy (and, this year, incredibly pacific northwesty rainy) indiana? so what, i say? keeping with my norm, i just finished an incredible heavy wool sweater - just in time for summer.

when i was in philly, i bought one skein of malabrigo kettle dyed yarn in lettuce. i didn't know what i would do with it, i just loved it - it passed both the ogling test and the petting test by leaps and bounds. i ended up, of course, having to risk buying two extra skeins online and praying the colorway would match up (thankfully and shockingly, it did) and subbing in a bit of a leftover yarn i had in my stash. and you know what? i LOVE it. LOVES it, even. perhaps, i even LURVE it.

this pattern was almost totally from my own head, although i did model it loosely after zephyrstyle's 28thirty sweater.

i look like i have to pee in this picture because, well, i did.

attempting to show off the super-fancy-neat back decreases.

the neckline, which i love and adore.

i had a stellar weekend visit with the parents. we did so much we've never done before! the arts market at the farmers market, textillery outlet, butler winery, dinner at finch's and at falafels... um, what else? oh, brunch at story inn! like i said, stellar. also? my dad not only bought a yaris last week, he got the same exact yaris as mine. yari! like daughter, like father. my dad, his car, me, my car, my house, and my fab tuck vest.

tuck one in...

2009-06-06T12:29:00.007-04:00

i have the tuck vest almost finished - just needs buttons - and i LOVE it. i'm not exactly a vest-wearer, but i saw this and had to do one up for myself. knit up in knitpicks comfy sport, october. next thing on my saturday to do list? take a shower, then go buy a latch closure of some sort and finish this up.

it rolls a lot on the edges, which i usually find exceedingly annoying, but it actually works with this particular garment, i think.

we can haz pleats?

ETA: all done! i am in love.

they look like little riblets across the front!

great gatsby, ahoy! and vacay time...

2009-05-25T14:42:00.003-04:00

i made it safely home from my EPIC vacay to philadelphia and nyc at, oh, 1:30 on friday morning. what a trip - what a whirlwind. it's trip recap time, i suppose! i've been lazy and fully pretending i was still very much on vacation all weekend long. this afternoon, it's barbecue time, then back to work tomorrow. wheee! and boooo!

before i left, thomas and i got all dolled up and went out to a fancy schmancy dinner at restaurant tallent. amazing - i had bacon wrapped pork. i couldn't be bothered with the "sides." i just wanted to eat all the pork. thomas got the lamb shank.

this is what i looked like. i got a full-on bullseye in darts after dinner and kicked his butt. it was rad.

i flew into philly on saturday afternoon, got my rental car, and promptly headed into the city and to two different yarn stores. got a wee tad lost and realized i probably wasn't in the best part of town when i walked past a housing authority type of place. oopsy daisy. i did find some stellar yarn, though, and am currently knitting up a super awesome, do-it-as-i-go topdown cardigan in malabrigo lettuce colorway. it's gorgeous! photos soon.

woke up on sunday, the day of the wedding, with awesome bedhead:

then i headed to west chester (very sleepy town on a sunday) and to valley forge:

poor little kite.

then it was wedding time! i think kim was making faces at nathan at this point to keep him from breaking down during his vows. it was pretty freaking sweet.

on monday, i met up with karen and bach in downtown philly. what a wonderful day - i had my first cheesesteak, it was sunshiney and beautiful out. we met up with jef at this awesome downtown bar where they had a baby sitting on the bar, games everywhere (like hungry hungry hippos and operation), and we witnessed competitive rock paper scissors! simply amazing. and, somehow, i took zero pictures.

tuesday afternoon i was headed to nyc, but first i wandered to independence hall.

then to nyc. i dropped my pack at gray's office, then we sauntered about for a while before the methodman/redman album release party. (no, there were no celebrity sightings... but i did get a rad new pair of kicks for 25% off and drank some hideous pink fizzy booze made/sponsored by ludacris).

on wednesday, we had a late breakfast (BAGELS!), then trained it up to central park. we wandered everywhere, got ice cream, went to the guggenheim, wandered some more, then tried to go to the moby release party. i say "tried" because we got there, and gray realized that the party is, in fact, NEXT week. BOO! he made up for it by taking me to paul's, which is this amazing burger shack. seriously, amazing. i had the best burger of my life.

my rad new kicks. did i mention the methodman/redman thing was at the adidas classic store? i wanted to buy ALL the adidas.

that night, we went to a different bar in his neighborhood, where they played the blow, clap your hands say yeah, and other fantastic music i love. the bartender even put on mclusky at my request. and sang along with me to it. beautiful.

thursday was shopping and slow-moving day. we got bagels at murray's and ate them in washington square park. then i spent far too much money at american apparel, hopped in a cab, and started my long journey home. my feet HURT. i had some ridiculous blisters. i think we might have walked 10 miles on wednesday. seriously. a lot.

in knitting news (and just to make this post a LITTLE longer), i finished the great gatsby dress from interweave knits! i am in love.

on the needles currently: tuck in knitpicks comfy sport in a nice pumpkin color:

and the aforementioned topdown cardigan in malabrigo worsted in this colorway:

yum-yum-yummy.

see you later, twenties...

2009-05-14T19:42:00.004-04:00

i am told everything gets better when you turn 30. that you breathe a deep sigh of relief. that all the waiting and the crap of the twenties just kind of... flits away. that it's a weight off of your shoulders.

29 was tumultuous, but all in all, very, very good. i left for europe the day after i turned 29 on a solo trek from barcelona to paris to venice to rome. it may be the most amazing thing i have ever done. i lost a tooth and got three new ones. i got settled into a new job, which i still love. i had heartbreak, i had manic-crazy times, i knitted a lot and pet my cat and made new friends. as i said, overall, very, very good.

so i give you the last weekly self-portrait of my twenties. i look painfully serious, but i promise i'm not. on saturday, i leave for a friend's wedding in philadelphia. i have printed out maps to get to various yarn shops in philly, i have maps from hotel to liberty bell to south street, i have a "map" of nyc, which is really just a drawing of various stops i have to make, including the best bagel in the world. i have a charmed life some days.

i also have a motorcycle and an ailing houseplant on my back porch.

a prolific knitter...

2009-05-09T11:44:00.004-04:00

i have been going nutso with the knitting lately. seriously, i don't know what my deal is or how i've been putting stuff together so darn fast - but things seem to be flying off the needles.

case in point: i started the great gatsby dress from interweave knits' latest issue. i'd been dreaming of the perfect knit dress for a while. then i check my mailbox and, voila! there it is, staring me in the face. i started this on may 3.

on may 6, we were looking at this for the back:

by yesterday, may 8? the back is done! (also, kitty cameo appearance as he tried to bat at all the hanging threads).

i really can't wait to wear this! i'm halfway there. oh, and i'm using knitpicks cotlin for it - the gauge is a bit off, but i think as long as i'm careful around the top portion, we'll be just fine. i'm knitting the smallest size, and so far, it's just going to be a bit longer than the pictured dress. just fine by me - so far, it's pretty much perfect.

i also finished another shawl collar baby sweater, this time knit up in three different yarns (hello, stash busting!). the red buttons make me inexpressibly happy.

finally, self-portrait day! my birthday is coming up. my mom sent me a check for 100 bones (which i promptly used to buy yarn online - free money, free yarn!) and THE FIRST TWO DIE HARDS! i love my silly action movies, and i love my mom.

speaking of how much i love my mom, i painted this for her for mother's day. now, i am not a painter. not at all. i paint like i draw, basically. so yeah, it looks a little like something an eight-year old would paint. i still love it, though. it was based off of a photo they took in the greek islands when they were there for my cousin's wedding a few years ago. "my uncle, ulysses athanassiadis, skin dives for octopi in the mediterranean" is possibly my favorite sentence ever uttered. and it's true - he does.

for the sophisticated babe-to-be...

2009-05-01T17:21:00.003-04:00

i give you: baby sophisticate (free ravelry download)!

knit up with leftover cascade 220 heathers.

i added some moss stitch in halfway through and at the bottom. didn't realize the stripes didn't line up so well - whatevs.

i actually have another multi-colored green one blocking right now, too. too cute! i think i may have to work out the pattern for an adult lady size for moi at some point. in other news, i just received the yarn for my great gatsby dress. of course, i need to finish at least two other projects before i can really get cooking on this one. but i WANT TO START NOW! so bad. i'm a knitting addict.

rock and roll prom, baby gifts (oh, and a little bit of knitting)...

2009-04-29T19:45:00.003-04:00

first off, i am rather freaked out by this whole swine flu thing. the thing that frightens me is realizing how easily a virus like this can spread across the entire world in such a short period of time. it doesn't take much. you look at maps and see flagged cases popping up in the most random of places. only it's not random. that's the interesting part, from an epidemiological standpoint. of course, it's also a good thing that, so far, at least, it appears that it is mostly just making people ill. here's to hopes that deaths continue to stay low (says the girl who will be traveling to new york city in a few short weeks).

anyway... i finished off the day at work, which included a lot of swine flu updates, then headed out to find a birthday present for my brother and some mother's day goodies for mom. i decided to give my brother a gift card and then send him some more baby stuff. i got a 5-pack of onesies at target, then some iron-on printable transfers at hobby lobby. i give you THE cutest onesies on the face of the planet:

another tree.

"they call me munchkin." and mama and baby elephant.

the back of the munchkin one.

and for kicks and giggles, i've gotten addicted to tiltshiftmaker.com. here's a recent one: a photo of my sis-in-law, the mom-to-be, at moraine lake in canada.

also? rock and roll prom was a few weeks ago. the theme was "talk nerdy to me," thus some of the outfits. here's my favorite photo booth shot: this was immediately after i accidentally elbowed megan in the face bouncing on the bed. why do i look so happy?

oh, and finally, a knitting project. i've been going nutso with the baby knitting lately, but i also have a top secret lacy tunic in the works. the body is done - now i just have to get onto the neck-wrappy part. here's your sneak peek:

it's been a while since i bought new yarn, like, online. i've been to the yarn store off and on, but even that has been a while. i've used up some of my stash yarn on baby stuff. i swear, i've been good! yesterday, though, i bought some lovely wine-colored yarn to make this: the great gatsby dress.

and i just now bought some hemp yarn in a (hopefully) nice chestnut color on ebay to make this: sunshiney summery awesomeness in shirt form.

i think i'll be starting with the dress... oh, right, once i finish this hat i'm making and the lacy tunic and this baby sweater on the needles. too many projects in the works!