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 Minisweater
by 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?
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 Cardigan
by 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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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."
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.
