Goodbye two thousand and twelve

I’m a few days late in putting together my salute to 2012, a year not terribly different from 2011. It was our coasting-comfortable year – same job for me, same apartment, same program for R – a welcome respite after so much change the two years before and what I’m sure is more change to come in 2013.

Compared to 2011, there was not quite as much experimentation in the kitchen this year. There was more sewing though, inspired by my trip to the fashion district of L.A. in early spring. Some mittens, a couple of dresses, a maxi skirt, two shirts, and my biggest accomplishment with the sewing machine: the chevron baby quilt.

Still a lot of knitting. I think Holl was my favorite FO of 2012. I published two hat patterns – Joyride and Ryegrass - and my goal is to do more of that in 2013.

We did a little more traveling in 2012 – Ohio to the park where I found Sam, Oregon, South Carolina, Cape Cod, Los Angeles. Everyone splurges on something, and R. and I have talked about how we’d rather have a tinier house in the future if it meant we could afford more travel (tinier house, but still yard enough for some sheep

Much love to you and yours in the coming year! I’ll sign out with one more photo collage, this one of the person (and pets) that make this space a home.

Labor Day

Read proposes his dissertation topic in a month and just started work as the TA for an intro course. He still does all of the dishes, and for that I am eternally thankful, but until late October he isn’t available much on evenings and weekends. So for the coming weeks I’m open to suggestions for: a) new projects, b) trips with friends, and c) really good television.

I’ve already gotten started with (a) and (b). First, a last minute Labor Day trip to Charleston, SC with girlfriends. I’m actually returning to Charleston in a couple weeks for a wedding, but hey, that’s not when Tami could be there and besides, when is two September weekends at the beach a bad thing?

While in Charleston I finished a pair of gray wool socks that’s haunted Tami for years. She was working on them in Tulum (19 months ago) and then claimed she couldn’t finish without me there to help. Mmhmm, I know…sounded fishy to me too. She is now threatening to start another project, quit, then mail it to me to finish. Just make it something beautiful and exciting Tami.

There are no pictures of the socks. Just one of me knitting them in the front seat on the drive to the airport. I wove in the ends as the sun was setting and raised my arms in victory. Goodbye ghosts-of-unfinished-socks!

When I got back I knit up a little welted toque to send Bethany in exchange for one of her new collages. It’s just 100 stitches around, sz 6 needles, and three six-stitch welts. I hadn’t done welts before – they’re really addicting and I love the look of them. Bethany, if you’re reading, I hope you like ‘em too.

And then today, while Read alternated between dissertation work and NFL highlights, I listened to a bunch of podcasts in the sewing room and pieced the top for a quilt. It will be for a friend’s baby.

I’m really really pleased with how it turned out. I wanted to make something with my scrap stash that was on-purpose-wonky, since lord knows my technical skills nor my perfectionism are capable of turning out “just so” quilts. But I also wanted it to look clean and modern. I was inspired by Six White Horses’ improvisational chevron quilt (check out her blog, she does great work).

I plan to use a dark raspberry color for the back.

 

I have more projects on the needles already and another dress to sew. But all that will require more entertainment, so if you have suggestions for podcasts, Netflix movies, and/or television series – or you have ideas for a weekend trip – send them my way!

Samson’s Ohio homecoming

It’s been eight years since Samson was a stray in Hocking Hills State Park, and in that time he’s made two cross-country road trips and lived in four different apartments on two different coasts. At some point in the past year I was struck by this idea that we would take Sam back to his old stomping grounds for a visit. A dog homecoming. Would he recognize it? Would he care? Was I being really super weird?

The answer to all three was, maybe. But the idea wouldn’t shake. I cautiously rolled it out to a few friends and family members, presenting it as a half joke. Only it seemed to resonate with people. The notion of returning home after a long life adventure is such a powerful storyline that I think we can’t help but be moved by it…even for a dog. Soon we began planning a week’s vacation in Ohio that included a couple nights of camping in the park.

My parents and brother met us there. They brought their old green Coleman stove that I remember from camping as a kid, some tents, and enough food to feed us all for a month.

So….how did my old dog like it? I will say that I haven’t seen him acting so puppyish in a long time. There are days where he looks pretty stiff walking up the apartment stairs, but in Hocking Hills he was scampering up and down rocks and scouting out every cave and holler. He ate s’mores, growled at a raccoon outside our tent, and wooed the little girl in the neighboring campsite into giving him some of her breakfast.  ”He seems so happy,” my mom said. I think he was.

We were too! Even with the drought as bad as it is – all the falls were dried up – Hocking Hills is a beautiful place. I was happy that Read got to see it.

Read took this picture of me and Sam and afterwards laughed, It looks like you’re having a conversation. Hmm yes well in fact we are! I am asking him if he liked his trip and what reflections he might be having about adventure, returning home, and growing old. And bacon, of course. Always bacon.

New additions to the herd

In June we received a Call For Submission email from Read’s mom. A trio of baby goats was on its way to Oregon and they needed names. They were Nigerian Dwarf goats, which sounded pretty freakin’ cute, my only points of reference being dwarf rabbits and dwarf hamsters…both “aww” worthy.

Last week we were in Oregon for Read’s sister’s wedding and I got to see these little buggers in person.

Did you just say awww out loud? What about when I tell you that the black one sat in my lap and promptly fell asleep and started snoring? haha So cute.

 

I’m actually not sure what they’re names ended up being. I heard someone say Asteroid. Maybe a space/celestial theme? I was the big LOTR nerd who suggest Frodo, Merry, and Pippin, which I maintain are good names for troublemakers like goats. Obviously I’ve taken every opportunity to announce to Read that in addition to a sheep, I now want a trio of dwarf goats someday.

Week of Projects from L.A. Fashion District – Thurs & Fri

I missed yesterday’s installment! We were busy cleaning the house for my dad, who came in on the train last night for a weekend visit. Sitting for 18 hours on Amtrak is my idea of punishment, but my Dad had the best time napping, reading, and talking to random people. He said when we’re retired we’ll understand.

So here we go! I’ve been saving my two favorites for the end. This is a 1950′s cotton dress I found at a vintage store on Santa Monica Drive.

It’s homemade from what I can tell, and many of the seams need re-done. But it fits like a glove.  So I’m going to take it all apart, make a pattern from it, then resew it with nice new strong seams.

With the new pattern I’m going to make a second dress from this watercolor-flower-printed cotton. The flowers will go in a wide horizontal band around the skirt, and the bodice will be white.

How to make a pattern from a garment? Well, I’ve never officially done it before…but I did find a few helpful tutorials here and here. I think making the pattern out of interfacing, rather than paper, will make it more durable.

The second project is just sewing buttons on a dress I already own. But it’s a dress that’s been button-less for almost a year. Regular readers may recall this shirtdress I found for half off (because it was missing half the buttons).

I searched and searched for the right buttons in Boston, but couldn’t find a thing, but found them in the Fashion District! They’re frosted clear plastic with little white-painted flowers.

Week of Projects from L.A. Fashion District – Tue

Today’s installment of sewing projects inspired by my trip to L.A.’s Fashion District: some kind of simple breezy shell made from this southwestern print.

The southwestern prints were huge last spring, and while I still see them in stores, they may be on their way out (??). But if I stick to a classic tunic/tee shape the shirt could have some staying power. Untucked with black pencil pants, or tucked into a stretch black pencil skirt…flats or sandals…could be perfect for summer.

More inspiration….

Spoils from L.A.’s Fashion District

The Fashion District in Los Angeles (formerly called the Garment District) is 100 city blocks chock full of flowers, handbags, shoes, apparel, wholesalers, and best of all – fabric.

I walked the Fashion District one afternoon while Read attended his conference. It was like a reality-television shopping challenge: a bazillion stores, four hours, one credit card, no bathrooms, and whatever I bought I had to be able to carry on foot to the Staples Center about a mile away.

Some posts I’d read that morning over coffee (like this one from Sew Country Chick) recommended starting at Michael Levine, which is an actual store and not a stall. Credit cards are accepted, but not haggling.

All the apparel fabric at Joann’s and Michael’s has been pushed out by printed fleece and cheap craft project stuff, which makes shopping there for clothes-sewing very depressing. In comparison, Michael Levine is like Christmas. It’s  just magical. Wool, silk, suiting, eyelet, jersey knit, buttons, chintz, satin….bolts and bolts of it.

Across the street is Michael Levine Loft, where all fabric is $2.50 per pound. The bins (i.e. huge cardboard boxes on pallets) have obviously been pawed through by many a bargain shopper and it’s hard to excavate past the top few layers. I’m sad to admit that my arms got tired.

Just as I’d resolved to leave, someone called out “New fabric ladies!” and wheeled a huge bin in from the back room. It was full of beautiful prints, all perfectly folded. A fellow shopper and I went to town. She commented on every piece of fabric passing through her hands, which isn’t really that weird. It was external processing stuff like, “I could make a flowy dress thing out of this!” Pretty soon though I realized she not only wanted to comment, she wanted me to respond. If I didn’t, she’d persist: “Don’t you think? Huh? Can’t you picture a flowy dress?” So I spent the next 45 minutes stacking my favorite fabrics in a little pile and emitting a steady stream of “Yeah” and “Definitely” and “For sure”.

I left with just under 8 lbs. of fabric, the projects for which should keep me busy all spring and summer. This week I thought I’d post one project plan per day. First up is this lightweight jersey knit in gray, black, and yellow:

The print is somewhere between feathers and a geological cross-cut. It’s really pretty. My plan is to make a long maxi skirt with a fold-over waist:

The pattern will be simple to improvise, but I haven’t sewn much with jersey…do you have any tips? This is when it would be great to have a serger, but hopefully I can make do.

Holl-iday

Before I show you pictures of my finished vacation-knitting-project, a few quintessential SoCal scenes:

Oranges

Beaches

Succulents

Footprints of the Stars (were Rita’s feet really so small?!)

the Garment District

It’s been a super sunny and relaxing vacation. Even the LA traffic was tolerable since I was always a passenger and always had my knitting in hand. Today I finished Holl – the structured but slouchy pullover made from di.Ve’ Zenith.

I love it. It was really hard to frog the pretty little Vignette when I’d just finished it, but it was the right call – this pullover is more my style and the batwing sleeves keep my pits from sweating.

Following the advice of Meganimal, I did a provisional cast-on. This allowed me to initially add an extra band to the body of the sweater and then decide later whether I wanted to keep it (I didn’t). It also allowed me to join the front and back and knit the bottom band in one continuous loop.

There was just barely enough yarn….here’s a picture of everything I had left over after seaming:

Details
Pattern: Holl by Kirsten Johnstone
Yarn: di.Ve’ Zenith
Size: I had a diff gauge so I knit a Large – it’s more like a Small
Mods: none, just the provisional cast-on
Ravelry link 

And then randomly at the end of our photo shoot, a chicken walked into the yard. I fed him some apple.

Does Rhinebeck live up to the hype?

Yes. Yes, it does.

I heard about the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival  (conversationally referred to as “Rhinebeck”) when I lived in Oregon. The BIGGEST, BADDEST, BESTEST fiber festival in the country…only I lived on the wrong side of the country.

I was delighted to discover that Rhinebeck is now just 3 hours away, so when my mom and aunt wanted to come to Boston for a “girl’s trip” we planned it for the weekend of the festival. We spent Friday walking around the North End, eating Italian pastries with unpronouncable names and reading amusing epitaphs in Copp’s Burial Ground (i.e. …Sacred to the Memory of Elizabeth Fernald, amiable wife to Capn. Abraham Fernald).

Saturday was a full day of driving, exploring Rhinebeck, and driving again. Here’s a list of our highlights and notes to remember for next time.

Bring snacks for the traffic jam
Traveling the last 3 miles of road took 45 minutes…which is completely understandable given the small size of the town and the huge size of the festival. We were also getting in around noon, which I imagine was a popular time. My mom couldn’t stand just sitting there, so while we waited she cleaned the backseat of my car with Armorall wipes, even going so far as to wipe each groove in the floormats (see, this is why she should take up knitting! A knitter is never bored waiting in a line).

Participatory art: wear your favorite handknit
My absolute favorite thing about Rhinebeck was the sheer volume of handknit items worn by the crowd. Nearly everyone had something…hat, sweater, felted bag, shawl. A non-knitter might not see and notice it all, but if you are a knitter, there’s a sublime happiness to seeing handknit wardrobes all around you. It’s like a high society ball, but instead of asking Who are you wearing tonight? I was asking What’s the name of that pattern? When was the last time you saw so many knits in action?

Kami was there
I couldn’t believe it. I got up from eating a pulled pork sandwich and sweet potato fries, and there at the end of the table was someone wearing my Kami hat pattern. At least I thought so, but I had to ask to make sure. And it was! Seeing as how there are (according to ravelry) 16 of them in the world, I think I’m justified in being amazed at the odds of meeting one! It was dark green malabrigo and very cute.

Make a shopping list and make early purchases
Rhinebeck is sensory overload. I spent a couple hours on ravelry Friday night making a list of yardages and yarn weights to look for, and then made those purchases in the first hour. By the end of the day, we’d seen so many vendors and so many yarns that it was difficult to be decisive…so my best advice would be to buy early and spent the rest of the time leisurely perusing.

Say hi to Babydoll
There were a lot of cool animals there, but Babydoll took the prize. I told Read that in our future-dream-house, I want some sheep in the backyard. He said that’s fine, as long as he can get a basketball half-court. I see how this bargaining is going to go…

Consider a 2-night trip
This requires a little saving, since accommodations in the Hudson River Valley can be spendy. But most of the places (even hotels) require a 2-night minimum stay. I found us a relatively inexpensive Friday night at the Chatham Travel Lodge, but if we went again it would be fun to splurge on 2 nights in a vrbo. Something like one of these:
Historic Red Schoolhouse in the Berkshires
Litchfield County Converted Barn
Hudson Valley Panorama
Classic 1880′s New England Farmhouse

What else should a newbie know about Rhinebeck? What’s your favorite part of the festival?

Learning to love your city…

…by hosting houseguests. My mom always said that having people over to stay was a great excuse to thoroughly clean the house. True. It’s also a great way to be reminded why the place you live is pretty cool.

Last week was our 1 year anniversary of living in Boston. Most days could be a day lived anywhere—-shower, fixing coffee, commute to work, office, dinner, taking Sam to the park (clearly the perks of big-city living are mostly lost on me). But when people come to visit, suddenly we’re cruising down Storrow Drive, walking the North End, swimming Walden Pond, and I think, “huh, Boston’s pretty awesome!”

Two weekends ago we hosted a small wedding party from out of state. Just my friend, her partner, and a few family members. Read was the officiant and I was the location scout. My July days spent hunting the perfect low-budget beach wedding spot were spoiled by Hurricane Irene (gah!). At least there weren’t any reservations to deal with though- we were just gonna pull up to Crane Beach at the crack of dawn to try and beat the crowds. Worried about wind and water surges, we scrambled on Friday to find another (free) location.

 In the end, my Anne-of-Green-Gables-filled-walk through Middlesex Fells provided a great backup option. We had the nicest little morning wedding on the shore of Spot Pond, followed by lunch at our house. The sky was overcast, but that was ideal for photography. Between four people and three cameras, 2,000+ photos were taken that weekend. Then some left early and some left late, but everyone safely avoided the hurricane.

This weekend my friend Rudy flew in from Cincy. His name’s not Rudy, but he was introduced by that nickname my freshman year of college and I’ve never called him anything but. In fact, his voicemail message – where he uses his real name – weirds me out.

Between three people and one camera we took a single photograph this weekend. ONE. It’s Rudy on the steps of the church in Harvard. He said he wanted a “Look Ma – I’m in Harvard!” picture. What I don’t have photos of is the BC/Northwestern game, the Freedom Trail, a surprise St. Christopher’s parade in North End, and my new favorite street fair food – a ginormous spinach rice ball. Mmm. Our upstairs neighbors just got a deep fryer…maybe I can learn how to make them.

After Rudy left I went on a huge Labor Day deep-cleaning spree. I washed all the windows, shook the rugs, took the window air conditioners to the basement, and scrubbed the dirty prints by the light switches. Things are looking good for our next houseguest, whoever it may be. Don’t you want to come to Boston?? eh eh?