Not the best sunset photo I've ever taken, but probably not the worst either.
It had some pretty colors and we caught it as we were waiting for my weekly half hour of knitting to start.
Oh, I mean, my son's weekly half hour piano lesson. How easy it is to mix those two things up, isn't that funny?
My Alabama Chanin DIY skirt is still progressing along. Not sure if you can tell from the photo, but it's almost half done. Only a small part of the upper right is not sewn yet.
I'm liking the look of it and I also really like the feel of it. The way the fabric feels is actually different after you the all the sewing and cutting. It has a better drape to it. I'm excited to finish it and wear it. The sewing process is slow though and my creative time is pretty limited these days. It is a blast though and the Olympics are coming soon so that may help me finish it off.
In celebration of the Olympics, we are getting a Tivo. They are supposed to be easy to use so I'm looking forward to that since our DVR that we have now is simply put horrible.
Meanwhile, I'm catching up on some old shows trying to watch a few things on the old DVR before we kick it to the curb. I only have 1 more Downton episode left to watch.
Hope this week ends up being less hectic than it looks like it might be. Hope that you have a nice week too. Squeeze some sewing time in. Just do it!
The January bug bites and organization is on my mind. Not in a big way of course, since I'd rather create stuff than organize.
Still though, I've put a little effort into making a tiny bit more space.
Is it just a matter of devoting time to ensure you have a well-curated stash, or how best can you ensure you have just the right amount of tools, fabrics, yarns, paints...to create without having most of it fall on your head when you open your closet door?
Ideas? Solutions?
There's only so many small scraps of yarn you can hide in jars on your desk, as I've found.
Lots of people are obsessed with washi tape.
I had picked up a couple of rolls of it but was still warming up to it.
If you look around out there for photos of what people do with it, it's really sort of amazing.
Since it has Japanese roots, I figured I should pick up some in colors that I like more and see if it sticks, har har.
I stuck a bunch of it over the keys on my computer keyboard just for fun. Good thing I can type. My little 3rd grader might get a kick out of playing his learn to type game on it now. Certainly a much better challenge.
Trying to relax on a week night triggered a session of Dawson's Creek watching on Netflix. Wow, it's been a long time. This was seriously 'it' back in 1998. I even love the songs! Maybe I'm showing my age here. I should stop now before you lose all respect for me.
The 1930's double wedding ring quilt that is usually on my bed is missing only a couple of small pieces.
They are just altogether gone leaving little traces behind.
I have owned this quilt for a good while now and perhaps subliminally known that the construction method was not what I would have done if I was the quilt maker.
Each of the colored pieces were sewn to the next using a sewing machine. Then the rings were hand appliqued down to the background fabric.
The pattern is so beautiful that I have considered making one many times. I have only thought to do a pieced version though. Hand applique on the edges of both sides of all the rings seems too much work to be reasonable. I would never finish it!
It is cool that somebody else finished it using this method. I guess I love this quilt even more now. It made me want to to some repair work on the missing squares out of respect of all the work that went into the hand applique.
It's kinda funny really that I never tried to figure out the construction method used on this before. The quilt and I finally understand each other. Sorry it took me so long, my friend.
2014 seems to be in full swing for us, moving along quite swiftly, pun intended.
It's the calm before the baseball season storm rolls in with less after school duties and a tiny bit more free time.
Channeling my optimism, I wound up some skinny yarn into a ball. It's Anzula, sock weight, and I will someday make a Boxy sweater out of it by Joji Lokatelli. Probably not on my short term project list, but still...on the radar.
I'm not in love with my clover yarn ball maker. Someday I hope to get a more serious one, perhaps the Heavy Duty Yarn Yarn Ball Winder from Nancy's Knit Knacks. Will take some saving up first.
In other news, Stitches West is coming up. If you knit and live in Northern California, it's worth checking out. I'll be in the argyle sock class with a few of my best buddies.
And a random thought, I found some baker's twine from The Twinery that is to die for that has silver sparkles in it. I want to wrap everything with it. Maybe I've lost my mind. Perhaps it's time for the weekend.
Hope you have a great one.
Just a quick progress report for you on my Alabama Chanin DIY skirt.
It's almost 25% done and I'm still really REALLY getting a kick out of working on it.
Because the paint color is almost the same as the background fabric, it is strangely easier to work on in the evening with a lamp rather than in daylight.
It's easy to cut out the pieces though on the weekends during the day so that is sort of how I'm sorting out the sew/cut work.
Maybe I'll finish it up over the Winter Olympics or something. I'm already looking forward too that.
I think that the Alabama Chanin Company will soon come out with a non-hand made line of clothing that should still be made in the USA but will probably be more affordable. I'm really looking forward to checking that out.
For Christmas, I'm not the easiest person on the planet to shop for, but yarn is always welcome.
Between my little sister and my DH, they gave me a sweater's worth of yarn from Brooklyn Tweed's yarn line called Shelter in colorway Thistle.
I have not swatched for the sweater yet, but I'm looking forward to it. I want to make this pattern called Greenwood that is a pretty simple looking cowl neck pullover.
Some impressions on the yarn:
It is super squishy and lofty. It will probably be very warm. I has a lot of bounce and personality, more than most yarns I've seen. The color is out of this world.
It did break when I first put it into my yarn ball winder, so I think it is quite delicate. I don't knit super tightly so hopefully it will not break during the process of knitting.
I noticed an unusual amount of VM (AKA veg matter, AKA hay or other prickly scratchy stuff) in the yarn. I guess I'll try to pick it out it as I go although I'm still not totally sure what to do in truth.
The yarn is otherwise very nice so I will press on.
Call me a sucker for a good shade of purple and an nice bouncy yarn.
As a quilter or a knitter do you find that time passes too quickly?
I constantly feel like I could use that 8th day of the week, or that 25th hour where nobody bothers me and I can do some creating.
Because it feels like time flies and also because I am having so much fun these days, I decided to start a One Line A Day Journal.
My rule is that I try to capture whatever happened that day that was good. I don't write about the bad, annoying or sad things for the most part. I often write about the boys because they have so many good things going on right now. Much more so than the adults. I do record when I finish a creative project though.
I started this last February. It has a page dedicated to each day of the year. In another month or so I'll have the treat of reading what happened to me last year on the same day of the year. I'm looking forward to that.
Perhaps I will bore my DH to tears. Perhaps he will fall asleep faster? Perhaps he should be thankful that I only have one historic year of information at this point!
For less than $15, it's been a lot of fun for me.
I have even taken it on trips with me. Once I was sick and asked my DH to write in it for me.
Is it too much if I make a beautiful taupe quilted cover for it? Maybe with a little applique of our house on it?
I look forward to seeing the first issue of the year come out from both Quilts Japan and Patchwork Tsushin because they have the calendars in them.
Some years I pick up a second copy for my mom because the calendar is so knock your socks off incredible.
Other years I cry over quilts that just don't speak to me or photography that could have used some help.
This year both calendars are a bit on the so-so side. You can judge for yourself, but I'm not sure I'm over the moon about either of them.
The issues themselves are a different story.
Quilts Japan #156 is an incredible issue. It's full of the bright primary colored floral prints that I love and have collected for a while. The quilts are bold and beautiful. This is one of my most favorite issues.
Patchwork Tsushin #177 was lukewarm for me. It has a lot of holiday projects as well as some whimsical designs with pom poms and ric rack. Not my personal favorite, but somebody with a sweeter cuter aesthetic might really love it.
Either way, it's nice to kick the year off with some Japanese eye candy, that's for sure.
Hope that your new year was full of joy and peace. We had a great holiday in general and relaxed for once.
I'm still working away on lots of creative projects. Progress is more tortoise than hare, but progress is progress.
My Alabama Chanin DYI skirt is almost 1/4 done after a road trip of working on it and some evenings watching movies. It will probably be a while before it is actually done. I may have to have a small party whenever I get another quarter of it finished. I'm also thinking of playing around with some embroidery on the waist band just for decoration and to have some fun.
Some movies I saw were good, some not so much:
The Internship - feel free to skip it
South Pacific - time to re-watch this movie is always now, I could watch it all day
The Perfect Game - awesome, inspiration story of a Mexican little league team, highly recommend
Next up for me is The Lightening Thief. I hope it's worth seeing.
I'm also knitting my first KnitSpot knitting pattern by Anne Hanson. It's a sock pattern so very portable called Waffle Cream socks. I'm knitting them for my DH. It's a lot of 1x1 work, so slow, but looking ok so far. Photos of that soon.
As for my theme for 2014, I think it will be Finishing. I have so many incredible projects that deserve to be finished, let's see what I can do to put a fork in a couple big ones.
Wish me luck on that. It won't be easy.
You have your theme picked out? Broken any juicy resolutions yet?
Is it cheating if I try to sneak one more blog post under the wire this year?
2013 has been a full year for me. Full of amazing moments, and some challenges too. I guess you could say that about most years.
The times spent with family were of course my favorites.
Some people pick a theme for the coming new year.
My 8 yr old picked "Europe" as his theme word. I told him that sounded expensive.
My 4 yr old picked "Movie_Theater" as his theme. That sounds more like my budget.
My husband picked "Get_A_Babysitter" as his theme word. That sounds good by me.
My theme is still rolling around in my brain, and I reserve the right to think about it for at least another day, but it will probably relate to setting priorities, finishing what's important, and getting an incredible amount of creative work complete in the coming year.
Above, you're enjoying a photo of a twig that I wrapped with yarn and hung pom poms off of, made with my new Clover pom pom maker - which by the way is very very cool.
The paper stars were a gift from my friend Pamela, a super talented textile designer. She's hosting a tea towel give away right now on her blog Paint Me Bright that you need to enter. It is so incredible. Wouldn't a new tea towel calendar be the best way to ring in 2014? Of course it would.
Happy New Year to you all out there. Thank you for reading my blog, thank you for all your comments, and for the inspiration I get from read your blogs. I wish you the best for the coming year.
The Christmas season is usually a busy one for us, and this year has been no exception.
Most of the rest of the year is spent running around for other reasons, but these days we have been working on getting gifts wrapped, food cooked, and doing deeds that lead to making people smile. It's a good cause and one that puts me in a good mood. Even with all the busy...it is hands down my favorite time.
The kids enjoyed their gifts and are still playing with them even days later, which is a good sign. The books were a big hit this year with our older one who has grown into being quite the bookworm.
Speaking of bookworms, I was excited to get a new cookbook called The Daily Soup. It came recommended on this podcast I like, called Knit Knit Cafe, from podcaster Abby - super awesome to listen to, BTW. I'm really looking forward to playing around with the new recipes. I'll be reporting back on all the best ones.
As for the creative work, I'm sewing away on my skirt still but it is progressing inch by inch. I'm not sure how else these sorts of extremely detailed projects progress. Don't they say that all journeys begin with a single step or something like that? Is that supposed to make you feel like it's OK that it's taking F O R E V E R ? Well...I'm patient, but still...progress is shall we say, on the slow side.
So are you picking a theme for 2014? I'm thinking about it. I usually try to...gosh, not a lot of time left to do that. Ok, will hunker down and decide soon.
Maybe it will have something to do with Instant gratification, since my little sister recently got me playing around with Instagram. It's fun and low hanging fruit to share some quick images.
Hope that all of you had an awesome holiday and that the coming year will be even more creative than 2013 was for you.
Before I turned my eye to the final push of Christmas cards and gift wrapping, I had lofty ideas of finishing my Alabama Chanin DYI kit skirt before the holiday party.
Well...it's looking like I may wear it next year instead. Maybe I'll have to host a summer BBQ or something when it is finally done.
It's not that sewing it is a chore or anything, it is just slow going because I think the pattern I picked out, called Facets, has mostly very small pieces with only a handful of larger cut outs. I'm enjoying it and plugging along at it, and will probably not drink red wine while wearing it if you know what I mean. I am also really glad that I decided NOT to put beads on this project. That might have killed my chances of ever finishing it.
In past years I have had more cycles for play time. I used them to create a custom Quilt Otaku Calendar. It was really a labor of love and took me several hours to create. This year, I'm behind the 8-ball so to speak and looking to order a calendar made by some other creative genius.
Design Milk hosted a modern calendar round up which I really liked. The Risograph calendar by Jp King from Paper Pusher is a leading contender for me, but I haven't bought it yet. I'm open to other ideas if people have them. What calendar are you using in 2014?
Is it too much to also get the daily Polaroid calendar? A new Polaroid photo each day...it's called the Poladarium 2014. They even have a call for entries into the 2015 version. Hm...I wonder if any of my favorite images will make the cut for that. Cross your fingers.
It's almost time for St. Nick to turn up. Until his arrival, our gifts for family and friends are all wrapped up and en route to the right spots.
Here's hope they all get to the right spots.
I used white gel ink pens and brown craft paper along with silver sparkle baker's twine to pull it off. Oh yes, and some colored pencils too.
The package that my son is holding up is for our uncle who's birthday is on Christmas, so we never forget to send an extra gift for him.
This year I'm asking for Santa to bring some anti-cough vibes to our household. Everybody has a cough and the horrible air quality due to the Big Sur fire is certainly not helping. Send a cough-free thought our way here.
Holiday prep is in full swing around here.
Lots of wrapping, this year with mostly hand-decorated paper. Kids have had a blast helping out with that. A couple got decorated with some stamps from Yellow Owl Workshops.
It's been fun to wrap a bit here and there and to have help, rather than trying to do a big push and wrap it all late in the game, as per our usual.
We're listening to Diana Krall's Christmas songs while our hands are busy working.
Yarn Whisperer interview on Wisconsin public radio was something that I ran into recently and really Enjoyed. Clara Parks recently wrote a book about her life in knitting and yarn, after her life in tech, in Silicon Valley. I kinda want to read the book after listening to this cool interview. Maybe I'll put it on my son's kindle when he's not looking.
This is my favorite time of the year, and I'm enjoying it. Hope you are too!
I have luck in some things, but I've never been one to win a lot of contests.
That changed a little bit today when Anna Hrachovec from the famous MochiMochiland knitting books and blog selected one of my photos for Honorable Mention in the annual photo contest. Check out the other winners here. For more about my photos of the teenie turtles (knit on something like size 00 needles, if I recall...) check out some of my past posts on knit mochimochi turtles.
Thanks very much Anna for hosting the contest and for making me blush by selecting me from so many entries for this cool honor. Perhaps it's time for me to knit a mochimochi Yeti.
I finally watched this really campy movie last night called The Perfect Game about a Mexican Little League team who had such a cool real life story that they made it into a movie. Although it was a bit low budget, the movie itself was heart warming and I enjoyed seeing it. While watching I worked a bit on my Alabama Chanin DIY skirt, and in the end found myself with an empty spool. I'm wondering how many more spools to go before it's done! Maybe another 4 or 5? Stay tuned.
It's one thing to hand applique a 4" x 6" piece of jersey as a drink cup coaster. It's quite another to undertake making an entire garment, like for example a skirt.
After playing around with lots of small 'coaster' projects to learn what time investment goes into the various methods of working with jersey, I have finally jumped off the diving board into the deep end. The good news is that the water is warm.
We have a holiday party coming up with the weekly quilting & knitting group in less than 2 weeks, so my thinking is that I probably will not finish the skirt in time to wear it to that but I'm having fun working on it and the construction is done. Applique is a joy, and Alabama Chanin finished garments are to die for.
Right now, my excitement about sewing this skirt far exceeds the amount of time I have at my disposal to play with it. Still though, pressing on....
Handmade books have crept into my heart lately so I made one for my mom's birthday gift.
The cover is hand marbled paper that I purchased. Someday I would love to try to make some myself. I think all I need a this point is two seconds to rub together. Interesting how difficult that is to find sometimes.
I hope she gets some use out of it. I did some calligraphy for her on the inside cover to personalize it and attached some Japanese index label stickers by Midori to the back inside cover using a couple pieces of washi tape. The sticker tabs can be use to divide up sections of the book for different topics.
When I was in Kinokuniya recently I picked up a book that of course is in Japanese so I cannot even read you the title. it is an adorable 'stick figure' -ish style that looks super Japanese. It's pretty cute. I'm not quite able to draw everything but some things are so simple that even a kid could replicate them. Picture of the book cover here.
On other fronts, we are starting to attend Christmas Tree lighting ceremonies, holiday school band concerts, and think about where our own decorations are hiding in storage.
And the other night I unfortunately watched the first disk of Game of Thrones. Oh my goodness, too intense for me...off to remove the rest of the disks from my queue, pronto! Who has a stomach to watch such things!? Wowza, not me. Do you guys watch this?
With Thanksgiving behind us here in the US our thoughts are starting to turn to the Christmas Holidays.
The kids and I made an Advent calendar together today 'Just In Time' to open the first installment on December first.
It was a lot of fun, I'll have to take a decent photo of it for you.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday we ended up visiting Southern California with a brief stop through Los Angeles.
The Last Bookstore is located in downtown LA and is a HUGE shop where you can get almost any book you could imagine, used, for a great price. The kids went crazy in the children's section, grabbing up handfuls and handfuls of books, begging me to buy out half of the store. I bought them a copy of A Light in the Attic which they have fallen in love with. It makes them really laugh.
The shop itself is a beautiful space, I highly recommend a visit if you have the chance.
On the 2nd floor, there is a small but very interesting yarn shop called Gather. I was smitten by their boxes of tiny 'mystery yarn' balls for $5. You could make a lot of striped socks for next to nothing. They also had sock yarn by a British company called The Uncommon Thread. I picked up a skein of their Lush Twist in a cream colorway called Manuscript. Very pretty, will have to finally knit myself some socks from it.
I also did some sewing on the trip. I'm working on an Alabama Chanin style 'coaster' - meaning a very small piece of fabric that you may use to put your coffee cup on. It has a ton of bead work on it and has been quite slow going. Sewing with beads has proven to be fun but it is far from a speedy undertaking. I want to eventually use this technique on a larger project but it will likely be limited to the lower couple inches of a skirt or the lower sleeves of a bolero or something. Photos of it soon for you.
And in other news, Jay recently left me a comment to a link where you can get EVEN MORE Yoko Saito books in English (thanks Jay!), so check out this shop called Willow Lane Quilting Company - it looks quite cool.
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