happy leap day!

Random: My cousin-in-law's son sam's birthday too. Happy Birthday Sam! He is officially now two birthdays old.

A little less random: I took this quiz that I found via How About Orange. It's a fun little time waster where you watch 5 second videos of 20 people and you rate whether or not you think their smile is genuine or fake. I got 19 out of 20. Sizzle!

I thank Marcia Taylor-Croft for forcing us to examine portraits during acting studio.

number 2

So I have a freakishly sensitive sense of smell. No lie, I can tell if my friends have changed up their shampoo to a different brand. I would have made one hell of a nose (the perfume industry kind) I tell ya. And when I had my sinus surgery last summer, my surgeon was telling me how great this was going to be because I would be able to breathe easier and my sense of smell would also improve. What?

How to even say the next part? Let's just say that I find bathrooms a bit on the unpleasant side. Particularly one that has just recently provided a service of the... post-digestive kind. I've placed a candle on the top of the toilet tank with a book of matches or sometimes a lighter to encourage guests to light up when the need arises. I also have a bottle of eau de toilette (whose scent I don't care for on me) which I placed on the shelf above the toilet intending for it to be used as a room spray. But both tactics seem to miss the mark.

I decided yesterday that maybe if the bottle was placed on the toilet with higher visibility, it would encourage more frequent use. Oh, but it's a glass bottle and I'd hate for it to tip over and fall or maybe someone set it down too hard on the ceramic toilet top and there be broken glass.

Problem solved.

That's right. You're lookin' at a hand-crocheted room spray cozy for the bathroom. All the stylish loo's in design mags have them. Haven't you heard?


I decided to name this "Number 2" figuring that a pointed euphemism was preferred over a more direct nomenclature. Preferred by me at least.


With further suggestions on the back. Just in case you missed the point.

Your time is probably better spent elsewhere. I've nothing interesting to say. Though I spend a lot of time doing so.

The most distracting of all distractions is here today. M took the day off of work so that he could relax a bit and also get some writing done. I find it hard to stay productive when he’s around. Not that he’s trying to get me to goof off all day. But just having another body around makes it harder for me to focus. On weekends I usually end up pacing around the house for most of the day unable to really get momentum going on a project. Or I get some housework done that I normally put off in favor of getting projects completed. Ah well, what can you do?

The parade of photos continues.

Did I mention that I bought a couch a few weeks ago? It was during one of my thrift store days and I got it for dirt cheap. Probably because the lady thought it was ugly beige-y white with denim cushions. What she didn’t realize is that the denim slipcover for the couch is missing so it looks like a beige and denim combo, but Shazam! it’s not. It’s in great shape too with just a minor cosmetic damage to one of the legs. Easily repaired with some light sanding and finish.

Right now it’s covered in blankets and towels so that my sweet little bastard cats don’t scratch it up. Last night I had to involve some masking tape as well since I've heard them sharpening their claws on the sides where the blankets don’t reach.

Some fabric that I intend to transform into slipcovers for our new couch.


Some more fabric that needs to be laundered. I recently learned that you should wash fabric three times to wash off the manufacturing/delivery muck as well as to deal with shrinkage. Sheesh what a process. But totally worth it. I would hate to have gone through all the work of sewing up slipcovers that fit my couch only to have them shrink after the first washing.


Um. More fabric.

I do like having it all in one place where I can glance over at it for inspiration, or a quick inventory reference. I felt triumphant organizing all my fabric and stacking it into this bookcase. Then I turned around and realized that I still had this stack of fabric that I’d set aside in another bookcase. Argh.


Taking all these pictures made me want to photograph my apartment. Maybe help me take stock of how it's laid out and figure out how to deal with some of the quirks that don't flow as well (a la Apartment Therapy's 8 Week Cure? but in a less structured manner). Just the living room for now. It’s also my office/studio. I used to feel like it was super-cramped in here and hated that there was so much art supplies (not that I planned on getting rid of any of it) teeming from every corner. But I’ve decided to pretend that I am one of those people who live in artist villages. Have you ever been on art walks through them? A lot of them live and work there and it’s cool to see these huge loft spaces filled with canvases, concrete floors splattered with paint, and then a corner of living space with a bed and teeny kitchen consisting of a shelf of dishes, crackers and a teapot. Maybe a hotplate and a sink too.

Our place is not quite as bohemian, but neither is it a contender for any interior design awards.

When you walk in, this is the first thing you see:

Hm…somehow this looks like total shite. Much more cozy and welcoming in real life. If you can ignore the two boxes of crap and the drying rack with 10 yards of dried fabric draped over it.

A little better from this angle.


The office. I had to rearrange everything when we got rid of our old love seat in favor of the new couch.

One day, my bookcase will look as pretty as Jenny’s. Actually her whole studio is a dream. Check out the rest of her before and after photos. We lack the space, alas. So we make-do. (Gods. I hate that freaking lamp that looks like a sorry joke for a V8 ad. Hear me, I will find a better one at the thrift stores and kick this one to the curb!)

Our space gets so messy so quickly. Um, especially when my crap is sitting in the middle of the living room.

I’ve called this photo: my husband is a saint for 4 putting up with this bs.


I wish I could say that this is a temporary arrangement. Well, it is. It’s temporary until I can figure out what to do with these two boxes. Figuring this out hasn't been a top priority for me. It's been sitting here for two weeks. The top contains “art” that I don’t know what to do with. And the bottom is filed with old sweaters intended for felting projects, fabric scraps and old clothes that I want to save cause I love the fabric their made of.


Maybe in a few weeks I'll have made some progress with all of these projects (I've got ambition to spare, haven't I?). For now I'll leave you with an image that makes me smile inspired by Alicia. The chicken apron is in the wash.


Now that I've dorked around for far too long, I'm off to incorporate these pretty flourishes into a logo for my friend.

distractions

So I was not very productive today. Well, let me start by saying that I took care of some business first thing so at least my day wasn't totally washed up.

And I also cleaned and dusted the whole place if that counts for anything.

But there were other projects that were calling my attention. Projects that I haven't completed. In, like forever. And it's driving me nuts. Maybe sharing my lame-ness will give me the boot to get these babies done. Or perhaps, I should stop coming up with new ideas and buying supplies to realise them.

At any rate...

Here I have started a swatch because I believe that one day I will knit and design a sailor shirt (is it just me or have those been popping up in lots of places lately?) out of a fine sock yarn that will take me too long to knit. It will be cream with dark navy stripes with a boatneck collar. It will perhaps be more tunic-length and I shall wear it like a too-short dress with slim jeans. I also plan to knit a smocked mini-dress the color of that swatch yarn up there. I plan to call it the Meg dress after meg from the White Stripes, cause she was wearing something like it in a poster I saw at my haircutters a few weeks ago. It may have cap sleeves.

I just have to hope that these two design ideas will not meet the same fate as this cardi which I bought the yarn for about a year ago (maybe) and knit up and ripped apart about three different times.

The final design is that little drawing in the corner. Too bad I've lost the patience to finish the sleeves and buttonband and be done with it.


I do believe I purchased this yarn the summer before I got married. It stayed a skein of wool until after I got married. Then I decided it was going to be socks for m. It's so pretty, but I grossly miscalculated and after knitting most of one sock, I am running out of yarn. I was supposed to rip it apart and maybe knit something for me.

Trying to be a good wife who knits, I bought this yarn last summer intending to make m some socks.

He only has one pair hand-knit by me and I consider this to be a considerable travesty. They are still yarn. One day, they shall be socks.

In the meantime he actually requested that I knit a scarf for him (!). M is a little tough to knit for since he has a particular sense of style that mostly confounds me. Anyways, I came up with a brilliant idea to buy a sweater from the Goodwill and unravel it to repurpose the yarn for a scarf.

This photo is of said yarn from a really soft wool sweater that used to be from J. Crew. Sadly, I lacked the sense to realise that this fine, fine (read: VERY THIN) yarn will take me three lifetimes to knit on those teeny toothpick-like knitting needles that I’m using (size 000 in case you were wondering). It's meant to be a simple 10x10 ribbing. I've been working on it (casually) for about two months.


image from punky b's fashion diary
I saw this scarf and got really excited thinking that I should scrap the green yarn and buy some pretty grey wool to make him this scarf. Then I realized that he wouldn't go for this because, though it is heritage-appropriate, it's perhaps too ornate for his manly-man tastes.

This yarn came from a really pretty aqua sweater that was once sold at the Gap.

I bought it for 3 bucks at the Goodwill and unraveled it intending to knit a chunky cabled scarf for me. I never got past the swatch because I felt guilty having fun knitting myself a scarf (when I already own several) and poor m all cold and scarf-less.

This is deadline knitting for someone's birthday (a prestigious number birthday) that I abandoned because it was irritating me. I can't even remember the reason.

Possibly I knit it too big. Dammit. It needs to be finished pronto cause the birthday is comin' up.

Here's a stack of pouches that I never finished cause I'm having computer issues.

I’ll leave it at that.

I would try and make it up this evening, but m and I got tickets to see the Celtics play in town as our xmas gift from my in-laws. I actually have another dozen or so photos that I took for my amusement and intend to share with you. But that will have to wait for tomorrow.

Incidentally, don't you just love blogs? I can just post stuff up and if you want to read it you can. And if you find photos of my yarn and apartment boring, you just move on. Brilliant!

Oh, and: GO CELTS!

I would have perished as a bedouin

or: Sanch-teo: I can certainly commiserate.

Ahhhh.... stuff. I do love my stuff. I tried (I really really tried) to downsize and gave away or threw out a bunch of my stuff a few Octobers back. But then all this new stuff was out there tempting me no end.

I did attempt to keep my consumption of the practical and useful kind (functional - not just pretty, sturdy thrift store finds instead of cheaply mass-produced goods made in some overseas sweat factory with no labor regulations). Oh but then I kept finding so many pretty things that I just couldn't pass up. I've even begun collecting again. Oh dear.

From yesterday's rummagings:

A Blue glass mason jar?? Are you freaking kidding me?Who knew? And that wooden bowl is perfect as a sink-side catch-all for the soap pump and dish sponges. The blue ceramic container is actually from West Elm, but I loved the color and it felt plenty sturdy. And that green box has a hinged lid and a stamped motif on the bottom that I just couldn't pass up. I'm sure functions will be found for these guys soon.


From top to bottom: I've become fascinated with hand-embroidered or hand-appliquéd handkerchiefs. But it's a particular kind of hand-embroidery/appliqué that I just can't describe in words, but I know it when I see it.

Then there's this new thing with doilies. Circular hand-made ones. Again, who knew?? I used to mock my mom for her obsession with doilies. No lie, the woman covered EVERYTHING in doilies including electronics like the VCR and stereo speakers. But I've got sort of an art project in mind that I need these doilies for. More on that as progress warrants.

And that coil of white lace in the upper right hand corner? That's hand-crocheted lace. Holey-mazoley! Over two yards and I got it for like 2 bucks! That's such an amazing score I can barely speak of it.

And all of these lovelies are sitting atop vintage bedding that I can't stop scooping up either. Then there's the baby blue (it looks a little drab in the photo, but I assure you it is anything but drab) linen fabric all the way at the bottom. Kind of a coarse linen, but still quite nice.

And if that wasn't enough loot, I hit a hand-made apron goldmine. Unfortunately another woman zoomed in on my section of the thrift store which got me feeling all woozy and territorial. Fortunately she was a different size than me and picked up a few aprons that I probably would not have been able to comfortably wear. Unfortunately, they were really cute and I experienced covetous thoughts for the rest of my time browsing there. Fortunately it was my first stop so I felt better as the day went along and I kept finding so many cool deals. But here's what I ended up taking home:

Are you freaking kidding me?? A chicken apron?


And then a sweet little apron (possibly child's apron? but I think I could still wear it) with pockets (at top) and a little linen number with orange trim and orange embroidery. Whew.

Which brings us to the confession part of today's post. I'm embarrassed to to admit that I have been slowly starting a new collection (just two pieces so far) of... um, baby clothes.

Okay, what kind of weirdo collects baby clothes when she doesn't have any babies? Discuss.

It started with this guy down here in all it's amazing red and white hand knit glory. I knew I had no need for such a thing. So it didn't make sense to buy it. But I couldn't put it down. So I photographed it, thinking that I could always enjoy it by looking at the photograph. But then it came time to pay for my stuff and I hadn't put it down.

So I bought it.

Even though none of my friends have babies. Or have girl babies. Or have my sense of style and would put something like this on their kid. I'd thought I could save grace by putting it in a frame and hanging it up as decoration, but then that yellow jumpsuit + shirt number popped up yesterday and I knew I was doomed. To my weaknesses. Gods, I have no will-power. In my defense, I wasn't even shopping in the kids section (why would I?), these were hanging around in linens and lace. See? It's as though it was meant to be. Or at least that's what I told my husband.

my bedroom air guitar routine just doesn't compare

Edited to add: I figured out how to embed videos on my blog(!).

M watched a documentary about the international air guitar competition last night. No need to queue it up on Netflix, this was the best part:



This guy just cracks me up.

(sorry, I just can't seem to figure out how to post the video directly on this post.)

random

I've been eating a lot of chard. Mostly swiss chard. Last night I got some rainbow chard. I am charmed that it's called La Fraise Arc-en-Ciel in French. Or perhaps that's just in Canadian French. La-voila, mes amis francais, maintenant vous savez le mot en anglais pour la fraise arc-en-ciel. Something about strawberries that I find so charming I suppose...



Such pretty pastel colors.


I'm working on an idea for some aprons.


I got some interest in the tea kettle polka dot apron from a few weeks back (glee! glee! squeal!!).


I wondered if it would be fun to have a few drawings to choose from? Here's the sketch of the tea kettle that I did in illustrator:

I wanted there to be a sense of forward-motion. Like a steam engine locomotive or something. Something on the verge of HAPPENING. I'm happy with the way the tea kettle conveys this. My other two ideas, perhaps not so much.

A little iron rearin' to go?


A cheerful broom?


M (who is one of the best art directors I've worked with) says that the iron and broom, though effective in conveying motion aren't as fun. And he likes that the kettle has a playfulness and is a clean design and represents something a little fun. Sweeping and ironing isn't as fun in his opinion.

I don't know... what do you think?

I love public radio

I might have already shouted out about this program, but I have renewed interest in it lately and it deserves another shout-out. M and I were channel surfing one Sunday evening as we were driving around town running errands. And we stumbled upon a fascinating radio program whose topic that evening was Morality. How humans deal with it, how they define it, if it's unique to humans. It was FASCINATING. Sorry, are caps used like that annoying? I am a little at a lost on how I can convey just how compelling this program was. We sat in the car in the middle of a supermarket parking lot for an extra 30 minutes before we reluctantly shut off the radio and continued with our Sunday evening grocery shopping. We found out later on that this show is called Radiolab and is produced out of WNYC. And later on, we found out that there were podcasts, so I signed up.

I'm not sure what I was saving these up for, but I subscribed to the podcasts and never really listened to them. I listened to one once when I was knitting and wanted something to listen to. It was an episode called Musical Language and it totally jazzed that nerdy linguist part of me. I've been listening to one nearly every day as I go out for my daily constitutional. The shows are fascinating. They sort of remind me of This American Life where they take a theme and explore the ideas in the theme and produce stories for the theme. But where This American Life deals with more every day life, human interest type stories, Radiolab deals more with science and how it related to humans in themes.

So far I've listened to stories about stress (the human biology as well as psychology behind it), what happens when the brain stops communicating with the rest of your body, theories on the expanding universe (jenn: it's basically the raisin bread theory, so stuff you and I discussed all those years ago but still fun to hear other people talk about it and also the behind the scenes dirt on Carl Sagan's love-life, it's sweet actually), dominance of a genetic mutation (which I might be a part of incidentally. cool!) and the psychological effects of a placebo.

I really enjoy the two hosts' (Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich) personalities. They play off of each other well. And they also produce the program with a lot of audio textures that paint a visual picture for you sort of the way a good movie has a great cinematographer or production designer. I read in their bios that Robert Krulwich has won awards for his science reporting and has a particular knack for explaining really complicated scientific things clearly for the everyday person which I would have to agree with.

PS. Good logo.

thrift store score

Dudes. Check out what I picked up today:

That's right. It's a sleeve ironing board. Useful for easily ironing long sleeve shirts and any little corners of fabric.


But check out the fantastic craftsmanship! Here's the board with the top part swiveling into the "open position" See that wing nut there?


That wing nut says, give me a little twist to open'er up.


With the wing nut in the fully upright position, the sleeve ironing board can be completely opened.


But that's not all...


Twist that wing nut back to secure the open sleeve ironing board so that it stays put.


In the open and upright position, it's ready for all your sleeve ironing needs. Sorta looks like a bird ready to take flight to me...


And this, probably my favorite part. I wish more of it were intact so I could read what the clever graphic designers of yore had written.

It needs a new cover which I can easily whip up but I am pleased as punch with my thrifty purchase. I love the mechanics, the old instruction copy and that it's made of wood and metal. I actually got a sleeve ironing board at the same thrift store a few months back, a cast off Target model made of metal, particle board and plastic. I ripped off the cover since it was a little shabby but never got around to replacing it so I never used it. But also, it was a little wider and shorter than this one so I'll donate it to Goodwill and use my "new" sleeve ironing board.

on the importance of copy editors

I went down to the Fashion District yesterday morning. I giggled when I saw this storefront.



I should snap a photo of the antique furniture store down the street from my place. They advertise great prices on "French Pervintial" furniture.


{In case some of my international readers have missed the point, the correct spelling for the above should be: crepe (as in crepe de chine a type of crinkly fabric - sorry, I know I'm missing some accent marks in my spelling), gabardine (sometimes used for suiting), tulle (a light sheer fabric, think ballet tutus) and taffeta (a shiny fabric that I think looks a lot like wood grain)}