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

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: Forecast by 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...

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?



a happy friday to one and all.

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

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.


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

living simply...

• 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...

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?

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...

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?!

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...

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...

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.