things I've made

typography tuesday: valentines

2012-02-14T06:00:00.000-06:00

valentines courtesy of Ben Kling

These Valentines by Ben Kling have been making the rounds on Facebook, so you've probably seen them already, but I thought they were awesome, so here's a re-share. :)

Visit Ben Kling's blog for the large sizes.

valentines courtesy of Ben Kling

I'm typically not much for the Holiday of Love, but this year I went on a totally uncharacteristic pink-and-hearts spree. Sorry I've been absent most of the month, but I've been blogging like crazy over on Feeling Stitchy to celebrate embroidery month. I've pretty much spent every waking moment (and some asleep ones, too) on the blog and have lots of interviews and giveaways and love for our awesome and geeky community planned.

Speaking of typography, this weekend I did a giveaway post for Hoopla, and included a pic of the hand-embroidered chapter headings in the book, which I loved:

I also did an English-Spanish interview with Alicia, from the DMC España blog, and would you believe that in all the questions I asked her, I forgot to ask who designed their blog header, which I love:

Hope the Day of Love treats you right. If it doesn't- watch an awful romantic comedy (but wait - aren't they all?), have a glass of your favorite whatever, and eat a bunch of candy. That's what I've got planned for tonight! :)

Photo a Day - January

2012-02-04T21:56:00.003-06:00

Phew! I learned a lot from this photo a day challenge. For one - I lack consistency and a sense of common theme. I mostly used vintage-y effects to bring them all together, but I was inconsistent and I'm not impressed.

However, the most valuable thing to come out of this was that I had my camera with me, every single day - something I haven't done in years. I got into the habit of daily photos again, and took a few pics I liked (just not the ones you see here). :)

Oh, and you know I'll be hiding those pics of me in about a day or so. There are few things I loathe more than photos of myself. I know it's weird. Such is my lot in life.

Do you like any of the pics I took? I know they're pretty eh. Thanks for bearing with me, though! :) I didn't do bad with my January resolutions, either. It was a crazy busy month - going out of town, photographing, and blogging in every spare moment I could get, but it was also a really wonderful month.

Maybe in March I'll do another Photo a day. February is gonna be a killer, though - so so so busy! But in a good way. :) Did any of you do a Photo a day? How did it go?

three things thursday

2012-01-26T05:00:00.000-06:00

It's been fun having my camera with me every day. Mostly, it's the random snaps I love. I've been super super super busy. But I think it's gearing up to be a good month.

Hope you're all doing well, and thank you, Katie and Kat for your sweet comments. :)

typography tuesday: various bits

2012-01-24T18:30:00.000-06:00

Found this lovely desktop calendar (yes I know January is almost over, but it's still lovely) on Rebekka Seale's blog. I love the simplicity of her blog's design, and the cheery way she begins every post with "dear reader." It reminds me of a Charlotte Bronte novel. But with beautiful pictures. And minus the tortured romance. :)

For most of the month, my desktop wore this calm, lovely watercolor wallpaper by Oana Befort.

Really love the free fonts collected on this post: http://makeitmyown.blogspot.com/2012/01/inspire-me-fonts.html (and her sparkle clothespins - what can I say - I love sparkle) :)

And, hopping around the web a few days ago, I found this simple verse exactly when I needed it. From a blog called More Than Sparrows.

And this wonderful site (found via Pair of Pears):

stitching saturday: just stitching along

2012-01-21T21:30:00.000-06:00

Pretty much all of my Saturday was spent stitching and photographing for the Feeling Stitchy stitchalong post. Before that sounds too much like work, keep in mind that I wore the same leopard-print cuddly bathrobe and pajamas all day, whilst doing this. :)

Ok, putting together tutorials like this is a lot of work, but it's also strangely satisfying, too...

Maybe it's because one of the things I like best about stitching is that "idea" phase when everything begins coming together. The planning, the brainstorming, then the process of making, these are the things I love best.

Then there's the after-parts - the comments, the emails, the encouraging words and lovely anecdotes about the things I'm working on and the things other people have made. To me, these things are priceless. Maybe that's one of the reasons I've never felt a draw to sell what I make, or put ads on the blogs I contribute to - it just doesn't appeal to me as much as what I already love, what I already do. Plenty of people sell and craft for profit and for their livelihood, and they have my immense respect, but it's not something I feel drawn to.

photo courtesy of Barbara Turner

A person I dated for years once joked that I was the best at not making a penny from what I do. I remember feeling hurt and stupid, back then, but now I look back on that quote and see that it just describes who I am. There's nothing essentially bad or good about it - it's just that what motivates me in life is a bit different than what motivates others. Giving has made me happiest in life.

I want to say thank you to everyone who's followed this blog over the years, real friends, virtual friends, and all the real virtual friends, too. Your love and support have anchored me in the most difficult times in my life, and shown me what inspires me and who I want to be. Thank you! :)

three things thursday: I guess I like light leaks

2012-01-06T19:28:00.001-06:00

Um, yeah, so far my favorite effect is this glowy - light-leak-y one. :) More pics from the Photo a Day challenge I'm working on...

Photo a day challenge

2012-01-04T20:54:00.000-06:00

I’m just gonna be honest - I have tried those 365 day challenges before and I have petered out, every time. It’s embarrassing. But I take photos less and less, and I really want to get back into being a daily photo-taker.So I’m taking on a Photo a Day challenge I found via Pugly Pixel’s blog. I don’t have an iPhone or Instagram, but I think I can discipline myself to take and upload one photo per day for one month. I think.

For vintage-y effects, I tried pixlr.com - they're a free online editor with filters + effects. I just hit randomize until I find something that suits my fancy, then upload it to Flickr. I think it'll be a fun way to play around while I hopefully get better... Anyone else out there want to play along? :)

typography tuesday

2012-01-03T21:32:00.000-06:00

I love this clean, simple To-do list I found on a cute site called A Pair of Pears. Perfect for my ever-growing, daily to-do lists, I think. :)

On the same blog they're doing a sweet monthly series, featuring a history and profile of a new font every month, called The Face of Type. As a stolid Wes Anderson fan, my favorite post so far is naturally Futura. :)

Lately I've been admiring clean blog designs with lots of whitespace, as I tinker around on my own blogs...

I adore the very clean, wonderfully aligned layout on Quill and Fox. You can always tell when a talented designer is doing the blogging.

I'm also admiring a free Blogger template called Simplo.

Speaking of beautiful, cleanly designed blogs, how about:

Sigh. Truly gorgeous.

Resolutions

2012-01-02T21:47:00.001-06:00

One of the things I have the hardest time with for the past few years is prioritizing. I don’t think it’s just me - we are all deluged by little bits of information, every second of the day. For example, when I first started the Embroidery group 6 years ago - I started it because 1) there was no Embroidery group on Flickr and 2) it was hard to find photos of embroidery on the internet. Now - do a search on embroidery and you are flooded with results - beautiful stuff, blah stuff, exciting stuff, traditional stuff, artistic stuff, amazing stuff.

I remember the days when I’d comb my 5-6 favorite blogs or photostreams for daily inspiration. Now - I have a shortlist of more than 50, and every day I find new people and new projects. With everything and everyone attracting my attention, and every second new, cool, amazing projects popping up, I’m gonna be totally honest and say I am overwhelmed. I can no longer keep up with everything. I have to choose. I have to prioritize.

Add to that, my real life - again I’ll be totally honest and admit that in previous years I was completely content with staying inside 95% of the day, combing the internet, editing photos, and being very indoorsy. But now that I’ve moved back home, I have loved ones and family that are super-important to me. In the end, if I have to choose between writing another blog post, and hanging out with the people I love, people I love are gonna win, every time.

So, to make a very long story short, I decided that this new year was going to be all about making priorities. Deciding what is most important, and doing that. To help me in this task, I’m making a to-do list I’ll refer to every month. I don’t have to do every single thing on that list - and if anything or anyone more important gets in between me and that list, no big deal. The point is, I’ll be making a concerted effort to do these things because these are the things that really matter to me.

So, here are my monthly resolutions:
1. Create 1 tutorial / pdf download / project - done!
2. Make 1 thing - done
3. Finish 1 thing - January Stitchalong - done
4. Draw 1 thing - done
5. Learn 1 thing - couching - done
6. Give 1 thing away - little pink monster to my niece - done
7. Donate to 1 organization I care about - Holy Cross monastery - done
8. Meet 1 person - I actually met many people! :)
9. Take 1 photo every day - done
10. Write 1 chapter (I’m working on a novel!) :) - wrote 1 scene

At the end of this year I can accomplish 12 things I’m proud of, or 120, if I do each thing! (I’m not even gonna count the photos, hey -maybe next year’s resolution is be better at math ) :)

2012-01-01T23:09:00.001-06:00

Just a few gems from the album I'm scanning for my friend Linda. Is it just me, or does that little girl on the bottom left look just like Saoirse Ronan?

stitching saturday: monkeys move out

2011-12-24T21:17:00.000-06:00

Well, I finished my last monkey of the year on Christmas Eve, knitting up a mouth, ears, and stitching him up with a whole lot of stuffing. I watched the Radio City Hall Christmas Spectacular on Netflix with my mom, then my two personal Christmas faves: Edward Scissorhands and Die Hard. It was nice to have a low-key Christmas Eve - just shelling pecans and baking cookies.

Then Christmas morning I popped out of bed for a last-minute photo session with my two remaining monkeys (my first stripey monkey went home with an adorable little boy from church).

These two monkeys would soon be on their way to my sister and my nephew:

I must admit it's hard saying goodbye to monkeys this adorable. But I know they'll be well-loved and well, it gives me an excuse to make new monkeys. :) In fact, I'm pretty sure I'll be starting a new monkey soon - any votes on colors? :)

I hope everyone had a great Christmas with family, friends, and all the people who make your life special. I know I did.

Here's our skinny tree filled with at least 20 years worth of handmade ornaments:
And you know I wrapped all of those gifts. I have a thing for wrapping presents. :)

Time to get back to your end-of year - hope everyone is happy, crafting, and warm. Merry Christmas, everybody! :)

mosaic monday: holiday favorites

2011-12-19T20:35:00.003-06:00

1. merry and bright by Nanacompany, 2. little red holiday tree garland by stitchinnetka
3. Christmas Pudding Ornament by wildolive, 4. romy_rotkaeppchen by revoluzzza

Some more wonderful holiday favorites I found on Flickr. It's right around this time that I start to really enjoy the season, and wish I could curl up with a cup of cocoa, and just make holiday crafts all day and night...

The lovely photo layout you see above comes from Pugly Pixel, a site I have a serious crush on. It's so clean and beautifully designed, with an eye to every tiny detail. I used the free glitter texture samples, which are pretty irresistible. I mean, they're glitter. I love that I'm not the only one with glitter on the brain.

I added a few of the free elements to Feeling Stitchy (for a more holiday theme) and I'm thinking I'll be spending my winter break with a cup of coffee, bloodshot eyes, a blog bling kit, and a $5, 30-day subscription. I seriously have not seen a site I love so much in a long time. One of the nicest things I've ever found via Pinterest. :)

mosaic monday: Christmas spirit

2011-12-05T00:00:00.000-06:00

1. timmies in sweaters, 2. Century Gothic A-Z, 3. wreath, 4. ipad wallpaper

Here's a few faves on a Christmas-y theme. Any of you doing holiday crafting? This is about the time of year when I notice the list is long, and the time is short. But if you have a spare minute or two, there's a December Stitchalong on Feeling Stitchy with vintage holiday patterns (some of them scanned by yours truly). Check it out! :)

stitching saturday: monkey time again

2011-12-03T15:23:00.003-06:00

Well, I did it again, I made another monkey. This little guy has been in the works for a few weeks - I like to rotate my projects so I don't get too bored. They come together the fastest at the end - because when you see a pile of monkey parts it's hard not to want to put them immediately together.

And yes, looking at them side by side, I can appreciate just how wonky my first monkey is. They were knit with the same yarns, on the same needles (the mouths and ears and feet are different colors) - but tiny details like the placement of the ears, eyes, and how much you stuff the body and the mouth make a huge difference. I don't care, I love my wonky monkey anyway - he has a certain charm. Let's just say he's like the James Cagney of knitted monkeys.

But the new monkey is pretty adorable, I just have to say:

Naturally, after all this picture taking, the monkeys were pretty beat...

Hope you like my new monkey! :)

flashback friday: one year of knitting like a fiend

2011-12-02T00:12:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe, but November and December mark one year of knitting like a fiend, for me. :) I started knitting, in all truth, to adjust to my new life in Texas - San Antonio is so unlike New York - the energy is different, the people are different - and after 6 years in another city, I was different. Knitting helped calm me and gave me lots of time to think, or, when I needed to, not to think. It's been a comforting companion through many a TV series, too. :)

Another reason I was knitting so hard last year was because I was jobless and Christmas was coming - I had no money, but thanks to my friend Linda, plenty of yarn. So I knit 11 hats (in 1 month!) for family and friends. I've said it before, but I love things like my once a month Photojojo email and Flickr. Because I have these moments when I feel convinced that I haven't done anything - but then I look over all the photos of everything I've made, loved, and given away to people I love, and I feel a great sense of joy and peace. I may not be perfect, and I may not create like a machine, and I can be disorganized, but I can create, and I can share happiness with loved ones with the things I create. How much more blessed can you be in life? :)

three things thursday: holiday greens

2011-12-01T00:20:00.000-06:00

1. Evergreen tree stocking, 2. green eyes, 3. crochet wildflowers scarf

A few Pinterest and Flickr faves for today - I love that odd, sea, forest-y, wintery green. And since I'm sure I could never pull off green eyeshadow without looking like a David Bowie wannabe, I'll just let the lovely Keiko Lynn do it for me. :)

Lately I am fascinated by the energy of prolific bloggers. I know firsthand how much energy and dedication it takes to put even one post together - so I'm in awe of people who create new photos, makeup, tutorials, and stitch projects, every single day. I'm looking at you, Alli, Keiko Lynn, Mollie, and lucky jackson. Ok, I may not ever have that level of energy and just - organized-ness. But thank you, you guys, for being so prolific that every day you inspire me. :) Does anybody out there inspire you?

wardrobe wednesday: a green knit suit

2011-11-30T00:31:00.000-06:00

A little sketch of a woman in a cute knit suit I saw last week. I was fascinated by the bright colors and the intricate print. It had black piping along the collar and edges, sort of an almost Asian style to it.

Here's a palette of the colors as I remember them:

I have all kinds of ideas about photographing my own wardrobe and uploading it here, but I inevitably hate 98% of the photos I take of myself. So maybe I'll do a sketch from time to time? It occurred to me that I sketch so infrequently now - I need to keep up some practice or I'll get totally rusty...

typography tuesday: color and site design

2011-11-29T00:00:00.000-06:00

Here I am again with a few typography related tidbits...

Found this wonderful site design that was featured on one of my blog subscriptions recently:

It's super-fun to scroll through, I highly recommend investing a few seconds to click over. I loved their choice of fonts, which you can see here.
I love imaginative designs like these - what is it about people who just think in a unique way and do something totally different? That inspires me. In a world filled with endless repetition, it's unique things that call out to me.

I also loved the vibrant colors they chose - just a few basic bright shades that are repeated over and over:

Here's another featured "parallax scrolling" site I loved:

Check out the little rocket! :)

Looking at the colors on that site I saw again there's a common theme to site colors I enjoy - again that blue and orange:

Here's another nice site design - I love how clean and stark it is:

And, once more, I notice a familiar color scheme I enjoy:
I'm starting to see how important color is in (at least my) enjoyment of a design - I'm seeing that it's every bit as important as typography and where things are on the page...

And lastly, here's a really nice spot for design inspiration:
I love that she also includes a color palette at the top of each page generated from the posters - so even if the designs don't strike your fancy you can still be inspired by the underlying colors.

Speaking of designs not striking your fancy, I'm very on the fence about my Pinterest account lately - I was super inspired when I first found it, but lately I find it tiresome - there's so much repetition - a lot of people re-pinning Lauren Conrad's hair or the Olsen twins' makeup and baggy sweaters. I really am tired of the past 3 years of fashion and just wish tailoring would come back in style! Do any of you follow anyone interesting on Pinterest? It's just not inspiring me so much right now...

Enough grumbling - hope you enjoyed today and that your Thanksgiving holiday was wonderful! :)

Three Things Thursday: leaves love

2011-11-17T20:00:00.000-06:00

1. Celebrate Color! Napkin Rings by Mollie Johanson
2. hello harvest by elsie*cake
3. cross stitch heart by Jessica Decker

Just a few faves and a palette I put together on the theme. I love how fall feels warm and cold, both. These cold mornings have been reminding me of New York - the chill that makes all the warm smells of kitchens and restaurants swim up to your nose in one long, delightful parade.

Sometimes I miss you, New York.

Mosaic Monday: more green

2011-11-14T05:30:00.004-06:00

1. castle ruin by mju.tabor, 2. picnic by Daisy Pink Cupcake
3. uncredited Pinterest fave, 4. bear poster

I have green on the brain lately. It's funny because green is a color I rarely wear and pretty much never craft with - but it's a color I love in nature.

When I was a recent college graduate (many years ago!) I remember striking out to get my first apartment on my own. Aside from the interior being in basic working order, I had only one requirement: I must be able to see green from the window. There's something about trees that make me absolutely calm - I love the sound of wind moving through leaves and the way green looks especially green on a cloudy day wet with drizzle...

Here's a color palette I put together from these pics - predictably of course - I included only a teeny bit of green. :)

Stitching Saturday: knitting catch-up

2011-11-12T21:37:00.003-06:00

I've been knitting pretty steadily lately, even though I haven't been updating you - so here's a catch-up post with accompanying crappy indoor photos. :) Up above you see my baby blanket progress - I've knit at least 12 squares over the past week - I find each square takes me about 30 minutes, start to finish.

Those 5 colors along the bottom I am least sure about - so you see I am dawdling about knitting those up. One of the most frustrating things about putting together colors is the way they change in different light - one combination looks great in the daytime - but not so hot at night, and vice versa.

I might just stick with some variation of only these 4 colors...

Next up is my mom and I's wonky patchwork quilt - as you can see it almost covers the top of my full size bed, so I guess it's small-throw size:

It looks a bit crazy in my room, but it's actually nice and cozy looking when it sits on the living room couch...

Finally, here's the Watson scarf - hooray, I finished!

Not so hooray - look at all those little white yarn ends to weave in - ugh. The blue and brown were time-consuming enough but the white ends are extra hard to weave in - no matter how I do it, it looks wonky and I get really cranky.

Other thing making me cranky - how my bind-off edge (left) looks so much wider than the edge I started the scarf on (right):

ARGH! OH well. If anyone has any end-weaving-in advice it would be much appreciated.

On tap for my knitting mayhem was season 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer- which started off slow and a bit dull and repetitive, but ended with a real punch to the gut. The show where Buffy's mom dies? Incredibly well-done, and terribly depressing! And the last episode, where Buffy dies? I'm always surprised at how many really good episodes are hidden in there. I've also been watching Vampire Diaries, season 2, but not with as much relish. It's an ok show, but it's a lot mopier and soap-opera-ish. There's a whole lot more angst and less plot advancement. I finished season 3 of Veronica Mars, and although the last season was the least interesting, I still felt sad to see all the familiar characters go without any resolution. Not a huge fan of the Veronica-starts-the-FBI pilot, but the show as a whole had a lot of potential. Okay, I admit I feel dumb coming clean about my teen-show tv watching, but there's a reason - I'm working on a teen novel. Really - it's research! :)

What have you guys been up to? :)

Three Things Thursday: a little pop of yellow

2011-11-10T19:46:00.000-06:00

1. Knitted bow collection now by Tea at Weasel's, 2. fingerless mittens by oneworldmj, 3. StoryBook5 by Mollie Johanson

Lately I've been enjoying the sunshine in the morning since the time change. This time of year I am most grateful I no longer live in NY - because right now I'd be looking forward to the bleak 5-6 months until spring, when it would be dark on my way to work and dark on my way home. That kind of night is a bit glamorous, it's true, but ultimately bleak. I remember sneaking out each day at lunchtime to get a glimpse of bright yellow sun. Now - I have it all winter long. Sigh. I am grateful!

I've still been tweaking my little palette layouts - today I thought I'd do both new:

And old! A strange assortment of colors popped up in the palette generator (below) but there's something about its odd contrasty-ness that I like:

Three Things Thursday: we dream in green

2011-11-03T00:10:00.004-05:00

1. dreamy by achuka, 2. You Are Beautiful! by -tamaratamara-, 3. Luminous Pond by Ole C. Salomonsen

I always wonder how it is that I find hypnotic, beautiful pictures, all on a theme. Is it chance? Or do beautiful images attract each other, like magnets? Either way, I'm glad I stumbled on these on Flickr.

Oh, and thanks for the nice comments on my costume! :)

Wardrobe Wednesday: Halloween costume

2011-11-02T00:46:00.005-05:00

Should it alarm me that most of my costume was easily fished out of my going-out clothes? :) Naturally, I don't wear them often, but I have worn that top and skirt before. :) I searched and searched for black feathers all week, but to no avail. So finally I sewed on a piece from a black tulle boa - in the dark it looked feather-ish enough. My crown was a Disney princess crown I found literally an hour before (crowns also being hard to find) in the toy aisle. I painted it with black and gunmetal gray nail polish. I thought my niece would get upset at me de-girl-ifying such a pretty crown, but she seemed to approve of the process.

Oh, and apologies for the very cropped and small photo - it took a lot of cropping to remove things like other people's pant legs and a coffee table full of drinks and shots - I know those look oh-so-classy. :)

In the end, I edited the makeup I did - I opted out of the white featherish streaks on the eyes and stuck with black and grey instead. I used Too Faced eyeshadow (from the Naked Eye palette) in Stiletto (which is basically black) and Unmentionables (dark shimmery gray) and a little bit of Hard Candy eyeshadow in Black Hole. And lots and lots of black Liquid eyeliner.

Instead of being completely pasty white (which really looks pretty awful on me) I mixed white costume makeup with a little of my real makeup to make me pale, but not terribly chalky. I used bronzer instead of blush. And instead of that dark dark red on the lips I used a light bronzey-pinkish color that I blended from a few - L'oreal Cashmere being one - and I finished with sparkly lip gloss. I think I looked a lot less sinister, and the fact that I smiled like a goofball in every photo made me more of a cheery swan, but whatever. It was a super fun transformation and I'm happy to say no one mistook me for a KISS fan. ;)

But I did look way creepy in the rearview mirror:

How about you guys? How did your Halloween costumes go? :)

Stitching Saturday: monkey time

2011-10-29T08:36:00.004-05:00

Yes, I know I've been loath to share my monkey with you, although I finished him the weekend before last - why - you ask? I just haven't gotten any really good shots of him - you know, that capture his truly charming monkey essence. Yeah, I'm a bit strange, but he is one charming monkey.

Maybe it's the glazed look in his little monkey eyes...

And, having (unrepentantly) seen Puss in Boots this weekend, I know one must never underestimate the power of fully dilated pupils. :)

Or maybe it's just the silly floppiness of his skinny limbs, which have seemingly limitless potential for hilarity:

Whatever it is, I'm hooked on the monkey.

Everyone I've met is likewise charmed by the monkey- my friend's little boy played with him very politely for hours, and gave him lots of hugs - my niece was much less gentle but his little limbs took the flinging about in great stride. I have also noted, that if I leave him in a certain pose on the couch, he will be in a different one altogether when I arrive home. Providing quite conclusive proof that my mom is playing with him.

A few construction notes - 5 colors of stripes was a pain and time-consuming, but worth it in the end. His mouth is a little crooked, but it just adds to the charm. The pattern calls for a tail, too, but I thought he had enough skinny appendages, and I bet he'll sit better without one.

Linda filled me in on the mystery yarn I used - so here's a quick recap of the yarns on this project:

Top: Louet Gems - Terra Cotta
Bottom - left to right: Bamboo Ewe - Eucalyptus, Wool of the Andes- Cloud and Mink Heather, Bamboo Ewe - Beach Glass

I used size 6 Addi needles and safety eyes from Hobby Lobby. The pattern is called Jerry the Musical Monkey, designed by Rebecca Danger.

So what do you think of the monkey? Yeah, you know I'm gonna make more. Maybe I've even started another one? :)

Wardrobe Wednesday: Halloween makeup

2011-10-26T19:00:00.004-05:00

So, I'm thinking of being a Black Swan for Halloween. And, the way I think about being things is by sitting at home in front of my mirror, applying, removing, and re-applying makeup. All. night. long.

I'm not sure the pasty-white look agrees with me, though, so I might alter it a bit. And there's always that chance that people might just mistake me for a KISS fan in a ballerina skirt, but that's the risk of living in a city with a disproportionate heavy metal fanbase, I guess. :)

I was inspired by these 2 videos:

I'm always in awe of how people who do makeup well make it look so effortless. I can barely line my eyes!

I'm also really inspired by the awesome Dia de los Muertos makeup I've been seeing on the web:

I have no credit for that image, by the way - it's been Tumblr'd so often - let me know if you know the source so I can credit it!

I doubt that I could reproduce this, but it's awesome:

Yup, I'm keeping it creepy - what are you gonna be this Halloween? :)

Typography Tuesday

2011-10-25T00:36:00.016-05:00

Bet you thought I wasn't gonna have one of these again, huh? I just wasn't finding anything that inspired me enough to post last month, but I've squirreled away a whole bunch of stuff recently...

The type up there is from a French advertising alphabets book scanned by pillpat:

Putting those letters together in Photoshop took a fair amount of squinting and scooting (isn't that such a formal term) - if you'd like to know what it felt like, try The Kerning Game: type.method.ac/

Boo, I only scored an 85. My defense is that I was sleepy and my contacts were really bugging me, and well, it's hard. Let me know what you score! :)

Lately I've been inspired by all of her scans - especially this lovely illustrated edition of The Little Mermaid:

I love this poster I found via Pinterest yesterday - that muted color scheme really appeals to me:

poster available for purchase here

Lastly, here's some more fun hand-drawn type:

And you know I love that this type is called "Mexican." :)

Three Things Thursday

2011-10-20T00:21:00.005-05:00

Here's a few Pinterest and Flickr faves and a palette I put together, based on their colors. I was getting bored with my old palette layout, so I shook it up a little (and took off all the hex codes, sorry!) I love the warm, fall, mustardy-tones.

All of those colors remind me of these colors, too:

160 over 90 offices, Philadelphia

I'm loving the feeling of fall in the air - it's chilly in the mornings, just enough to wear a very light sweater or windbreaker. Yeah, that's about AS COLD as it gets in South Texas in October. :) Throughout the week, I've been working on my big patchwork blanket, finishing my Watson scarf, and staring at the unstuffed monkey I plan to re-visit this weekend. Oh, and watching a tolerable amount of Veronica Mars, season 3. There's something about the sudden chill, darker mornings, and huge, gleaming moon that make this time of year so mysterious...

Stitching Saturday: a monkey and a movie

2011-10-16T20:34:00.000-05:00

Here was my progress as of yesterday morning - I was finishing up a skinny arm:

Then I spent all of yesterday (almost) stitching and here are the fruits of my labor - an almost finished monkey (he is unstuffed and has no tail, but you get the idea):

While I stitched, I spent a quiet morning watching Late Spring. I saw my first Ozu film a couple of years ago after I lost my father - I'm always careful when I watch them, because as detached as they always begin, they pack an emotional punch that totally catches me off guard.

Like Antonioni, he has these dreamy black and white shots and he's a master of composition:

His choice of cast is nearly identical in each of his films - and Setsuko Hara has to be one of my favorites:

There's something so luminous and joyful and charming in her smiling face.

One of my favorite sequences comes near the end, when her father is trying to convince her to marry - she's afraid to leave him on his own - but you begin to see it's not just that - she's so happy in her current life that she can't imagine a life unlike it...

There's something so incredibly moving about this scene, as her father tries to convince her that she needs to move on - her time with him is over.

It's really a stunning, quiet, wonderful film.

Stitching Saturday: this monkey rocks

2011-10-08T10:22:00.003-05:00

If you've been hanging around my stream for any length of time, you know I love monkeys. If I know you, I might have even shown you my monkeys. But I thought I'd hit a monkey wall - I hadn't been inspired to sew any more for a loooong time.

This monkey brought me back around:

Yeah, I know, he isn't so exciting yet - but can you maybe envision the monkey he will become? I've just finished up one long, skinny arm and the hand is ready to stuff:

He looks a bit deflated without any stuffing in his mouth, but we'll fix that soon enough.

Aren't my needles so shiny and nice?

A few notes about the knitting process so far - these directions ask you to do Magic Loop for every step - while in the monster book, small appendages like the arms and legs asked for double-pointed needles. Um, can I just say that using Magic Loop instead of dpns is about 1000% easier?! (I feel like a fancy pants since I used the hip abbreviation "dpns", by the way) :)

It just feels a bit funny using needles with such a long cord (I bought mine with a 40 in cord, because I was imagining knitting large stuffed animals - and they were really handy for Higgins / Biscuit. But on a teeny-tiny skinny arm, I had that long cord flapping around every time I turned it and 9 times out of ten it was bouncing off my face (I'm sure the bus riders were amused).

The other thing that is tricky is having 5 different yarns going at the same time. Before every new color I'd have to spend a few minutes distentangling it from the other colors - it adds quite a bit of time to the process. But I think in the end, it will be worth it, because I'm a stripes girl, and I think he looks adorable with his stripe pattern.

I've been faving lots of awesome monkeys on Ravelry, here's just a few:

Hope you're all having a great weekend! :)

Three Things Thursday: blue, blue, blue

2011-10-06T06:55:00.002-05:00

It's that time of year again for chilly mornings that make you shiver, warm socks, scarves (eventually) and sweaters. This is my favorite time of year to knit and make things. I love the way the light changes (I've said it 1,000 times) - there's something wondrous in the sharpness of the shadows...

Stitching Saturday: monkey colors

2011-10-01T19:03:00.000-05:00

I was over on Ravelry and one look at this little guy and my weekend was spoken for:

I don't know what I love more - the monkey pattern, the pose, the awesome photo, or the bright, perfect colors she chose. All of it. I love all of it.

One thing I love about all this crafting I've been doing is how much it makes me think of and notice color. I would have never looked at these 5 colors and put them together, but they look perfect:

Naturally, I was itching to start right away (as usual) so I used the colors I had on hand, and not bad ones, at that. But I'm starting to recognize a very consistent batch of colors I gravitate towards online and in real life:

All except for that rusty, terracotta color - I threw that in for contrast, but it's not in my normal color scheme.

Here are the yarn counterparts:

If you're curious - from left to right they are Bamboo Ewe - Eucalyptus, Wool of the Andes- Cloud and Mink Heather, Bamboo Ewe - Beach Glass. And that rusty terracotta color on top - Linda, help me out (i.e. this was one of many generous gifts from you!) do you recognize it? :)

Stitching Saturday: monsters

2011-09-24T21:41:00.003-05:00

So, here's my new monster - he (she?) is a cutie, eh? They're very huggable and fun to build a fort with. :)

For some reason I thought I'd show you my messy room, complete with monsters (and curlers, and trash can, and wardrobe, and unmade bed, etc.)

Here they are outside, for a size comparison:

Looks like I'm steadily a week behind on these stitching posts... It takes time to edit the pics and upload them and decide which ones are best. And make myself bacon and pancakes and coffee and shower. At least I'm disciplining myself to think consistently about my projects and where I'm at with them once a week. :)

So, last Saturday was a rainy day, my favorite type of day in San Antonio, and I sat in my heart pajamas and knit. All day. It was heavenly.

Here I am starting a foot for a new monster:

But you know, the color combo just didn't convince me. I love the 2 colors on their own, but together? They're not so great:

So after knitting this monster up halfway (a LOT of stitches) I just had to admit I wasn't feeling it and undid them all. I do want another monster in my life, I just haven't found the right colors for him yet.

Here are the beginnings of my baby blanket!

I added 5 more squares on Sunday that are not pictured here, so I'm up to 25. Oh, and by the way, I swear I am not preggers. I just like baby blankets, ok? ;)

My knitting companions this week were season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and season 1 of Veronica Mars, both of which I recommend highly. :) Thanks for telling me about your projects and the comments and compliments you leave about mine - it always makes me happy to read them! :)

Flashback Friday: Little delighted discoveries

2011-09-23T04:50:00.000-05:00

I had been wondering where views on this pic were coming from - and then I found it - a poetic page of quotes and photos grouped together.

I loved the quote that appeared next to my photo:
"Life is both sad and solemn. We are led into a wonderful world, we meet one another here, greet each other—-and wander together for a brief moment. Then we lose each other and disappear as suddenly and unreasonably as we arrived." - Jostein Gaarder

Then I saw how many times it had been liked and reblogged, again without my knowing:
http://danseurs.tumblr.com/post/10442482047

It makes me feel like a kid - I love when people like my photos. :)

All of this got me thinking of a really good friend of mine, who's a photographer. Everything he puts out onto the internet and his site is so carefully curated. Beautiful pics I'd become attached to routinely disappear (to be replaced by new ones). I'm sentimental, and it made me sad when they'd disappear. But over time, I've come to understand what he's doing: he's pruning away what no longer says anything to him, so that everything that remains is meaningful. That sort of discipline in himself is what makes him such a great artist.

So, I was inspired by him and decided to prune away pics from my Flickr stream. My goal is to get rid of anything that doesn't say anything to me (or you!) And boy, do I have A LOT of outtakes. :)

What about you? If you could only keep 1 photo you've ever taken, which photo would it be, and why? I'd be really grateful if you'd share that with me as I continue my pruning process... :)

Three Things Thursday: perfect colors

2011-09-22T00:28:00.001-05:00

Three Pinterest faves:
1. perfect colors, 2. ballerina flats, 3. train case

There's something so perfectly colorful about these photos. I love it when people pull off outfits like this so effortlessly - I love this girl's simple makeup and hair - nothing overdone and yet she looks fabulous. Found her by the way, on the Fred Flare blog which is always filled with fun stuff.

Mosaic Monday: stripes

2011-09-19T00:24:00.000-05:00

1. Nymph, 2. striped wallpaper, 3. striped dress, 4. Paper transfer tutorial

Just a few recent stripey faves. Really love those adorable blonde girls in the retro ads - for some reason I don't think it's tacky at all to have roots showing. I suppose it's all about your attitude, and the girl in the lower left seems to have plenty. :)

Stitching Saturday: knit knit knit

2011-09-17T08:41:00.000-05:00

I am woefully behind in my posting this week - I think I've been knitting and crafting so much that I can't do all that, photograph, upload, and blog at the same time. Erg - sorry!

Anyway, up above are nine colors of Love This Yarn that I'm using to make a baby quilt - maybe - this quilt?

Yeah, you know it, I totally fell in love with this baby - I mean - look at those sweet eyes! The pattern suggests nine Lion Brand colors, but I subbed Love This Yarn instead.

You know? It's REALLY HARD to find nine colors that look good together. I just assumed I'd march in there and buy the first 9 pastel shades I came across, but it wasn't that easy. I'm still not 100% sure all nine colors I chose will make it into 1 quilt.

Here I am with my cell phone camera, trying to piece together a decent color combo at lunch:

The pattern neatly blocks out where each color will go, but I wanted to play with placement anyway.

I made another monster, but since I haven't uploaded the most recent pics, you'll just have to see her half-finished:

I knitted up the little arms (also in pink) and found myself giggling at how, um, unintentionally phallic they are. You'll see when I show you the finished product. ;)

I used Love This Yarn for this monster as well - I have to say I prefer the texture it has on garter stitch than stockinette:

It's just a cheap acrylic, but it's really plush and soft when worked in garter stitch.

And lastly, here's a wonky patchwork blanket I started last year and am continuing with my mom:

She's already knitted up a huge pile of blocks to practice her knitting - so I'll add those soon and update you. I like that it's imperfect, and that it's something we're making together. I can be such a crazy perfectionist that I sometimes feel paralyzed by my own excessive standards for myself. I am very, very hard on myself - so I like to give myself a break and say "This one can be wonky, as long as you finish it, and it makes you happy." How about you guys? Any recovering perfectionists out there? :)

Hope you had a good weekend, and are enjoying the end of summer and the first hints of fall...

Flashback Friday: one year ago today

2011-09-16T00:10:00.001-05:00

One year ago today I was bored, not yet employed, trying dresses on and getting my technique down for the wedding photobooth I did for my friend. I still had longish hair, and if I do say so myself, I was looking pretty cute. But I only seem to appreciate my appearance in retrospect. :)

Hope you're having a great Friday and have an even better weekend!

Three Things Thursday: hazel gray and white

2011-09-15T00:49:00.002-05:00

1. espresso 6 small, 2. hazel kitty, 3. Albino / Leucistic Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Just 3 little things I loved this week - from Alli's adorably cheeky coffee post to Hillary Lang's kitten that matches her sofa to this dreamy white albino hummingbird which looks even more dreamy and amazing in motion.

Hope you're all having a wonderful week - I've been busy finishing up knits, planning quilts, sending out prizes, finalizing contest details at Feeling Stitchy, and putting ant traps everywhere in the house. And enjoying the dreamily beautiful skies and shift in light and color that happen just before every equinox....

Stitching Saturday: Winner(s)!

2011-09-10T21:48:00.003-05:00

Okay, I must admit that I loved all of your names, but 2 in particular had my heart: "Higgins" because my little guy is shaped exactly like Higgins and "Biscuit" because well, how can you not love a blue monster named "Biscuit." In a vain attempt to choose one, I did a thorough scan of Lime Riot's blog and Dani's Flickr stream for some background, and I saw that Mrs. Lime Riot is an awesome knitter and crafter who has already stitched quite a few monsters, (so I don't think she needs another copy of the book) but I did want to reward her genius!

So I decided to award 3 prizes!
- Addi needles for LimeRiot
- The Big Book of Knitted Monsters and Addi needles for Dani

Dani is also a fabulous knitter, and I pretty much fell in love with her blog when I read the following:
"If you aren't smart enough to listen and look for cars while you skateboard down the middle of the street, well then, perhaps you ought to be pancaked on the road and removed from the gene pool, whippersnapper!!"

I, too, am a grump who knits and freely uses the word whippersnapper! This prize was clearly meant for you. I think we are grumpmates. ;)

Ladies, please contact me by email at unafloresita AT gmail DOT com with your addresses and preferred Addi needle size. :)

Thanks, everybody for entering! My post was linked from another blog, which brought me a lot of new visitors - thank you so much for dropping by. :) Hope you all enjoyed this and are ready for even more knitting. :)

Three Things Thursday: blue, red, and teal

2011-09-08T00:28:00.000-05:00

1. vintage computing '67, 2. plaid jacket, 3. teal coat

Here's a Flickr fave and a few Pinterest faves for you - I tend to favorite things in waves, matching odd little bits unconsciously. That last fave from Pinterest - the teal coat was funny - it was someone else's pin, and I laughed, because I actually own that coat. I bought it Labor Day weekend of 2009, in this pretty little town called Saugerties. The tag inside says Tulle, and they make really lovely, structured, gorgeous coats. It was a warm, cheerful coat through a particularly cold, cold winter, and my favorite part was how often people (New Yorkers, at that) stopped me to tell me how much they loved the color. I love it, too.

Here's a palette based on those photos:

If you guys like knitting (or want a cool gift for someone who knits) have you entered my giveaway yet? All you have to do it give my knitted monster a name. Go on, he's a cutie, and he doesn't bite... much. :)

Wardrobe Wednesday: what I wore

2011-09-07T00:12:00.004-05:00

2 years ago today, I lost a friend - he was riding his bike to work in NY and was hit by a car. And when I say "friend" that doesn't get it right - he was a piece of my soul. Granted, time had passed, and the time that I knew him and was a daily part of his life had passed, too. Up above is one of the first pics I ever snapped, in my backyard on a dull winter day - it was a black and white dress I wore all the time in high school, when I knew him...

He was a kind person with a quick, dry wit that was full of sarcasm but never any meanness. He had these crinkly eyes, even as a kid, from a lifetime of making people laugh, and laughing himself. We were both skinny, scrawny kids with huge glasses when we first met in middle school and I demanded that he write me letters in the summers. I was pretty bossy and annoying, but he came through and I have a box at home filled with letters, to prove it. He told me that he crushed on me then, but I have a hard time believing it - I mean, look at me:

Dork city. As for myself, I was busy crushing on some popular dude with a side part who wore a lot of saggy Girbauds and Cavariccis. We went to different high schools and the next time I saw him, he'd grown a foot (literally) and all it took was one look at him and I forgot about every dumb crush I had going (at least 1000). We were inseparable, and at times it felt to me like we were the same person (only he was the much better half - I was the half that looked ok in a dress.)

Of course, what can I add, but the obvious - we didn't end up together forever, we parted ways in college. He was an adventurer and I was a stay at home, codgerish type that just wanted to study, watch movies, and read novels. We tried to stay friends, but in the era before Facebook, we drifted apart. The one thing I'll always be grateful to Facebook for is giving me the chance to get in contact with him again, share emails both serious and silly, and answer the really important unanswered questions like what his favorite Prince song was. :)

I think of him all the time - I guess the hardest part of his death was finding out after it happened - I was out of town for Labor Day, and came home to find condolences in my inbox. How could I have not felt him leave when he was such a part of me? I still see little traces of him everywhere - little echoes. His spirit remains - in everything silly, everything funny, everything full of adventure and daring and fully alive. I miss you old friend, but I know you're out there. I wish I'd been a better friend. I wish I'd been a better girlfriend. But thank you for loving me with all my faults, just the way I was.

Mosaic Monday: winter whites

2011-09-05T00:03:00.000-05:00

1. Heather Gray Pixie Bonnet, 2. Untitled
3. Molly's Sketchbook: Linen Stacking Pillows, 4. ritter4

I knitted a monster giveaway

2011-09-03T19:10:00.007-05:00

Yes, your eyes do not fool you, I finally finished knitting my monster! Aside from the small scarves I've knitted, I've never undertaken anything this big before, and I'm quite pleased with him. He was constructed through numerous 100+ temperature days and many TV series, including MacGyver, Magnum PI, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so I can only assume he has taken on the characteristics of my favorite lead actors and is a take-charge, crafty, good-looking monster with a quick wit. Yeah, maybe all this knitting has made me a little loopy. So what. :)

I learned quite a few different things on this project, including Magic Loop, knit front and back increases, and 3 needle bind off. Also, I got to play with those cool "Safety Eyes" I'd never even seen before:

They sell them at my local Hobby Lobby, which probably means they'd sell them anywhere. I guess they call them "safety" eyes because they have a plastic part that snaps into place on the other side of the fabric, presumably so they don't end up in the mouth of an infant. Still, if you pay 99 cents for 4, I wouldn't trust them not to fall off. Anyway, this monster won't be anywhere near a child, he'll be my trusty cohort. :)

I pulled out my huge bag of polyfill and spent a whole afternoon stuffing mr. monster:

I had so much fun learning how to make this guy, that I thought I'd do a giveaway here! I guess I've done all my giveaways on Feeling Stitchy in the past, but I thought it would be nice to do a giveaway just for you guys - peeps who've been my blog friends (and lurker blog friends) for years. :) This book was a gift from my friend, so I'll pass along the knitting goodwill by giving away a brand new copy to one of you.

And since I loved this book AND my Addi Turbo needles, I'm doing a giveaway of both:
+

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post by midnight this Friday - please help me out and give my new monster a name:

Also, can you tell me if my monster is a he or a she (or an "it"?) :) Next Saturday I'll announce the winner - I'll either select my favorite name, or make it random, if all the suggestions are equally awesome, and I'm stumped. :) Oh, and please include your email address so I can notify you if you're the winner.

So what do you say? Want a cool knitting book and the best knitting needles around? Leave a comment here! :)

Flashback Friday: my aunt

2011-09-02T00:01:00.007-05:00

My cousin was kind enough to give me a disc filled with family pictures she'd scanned - it was one year ago, but at that time I was still settling into life back in Texas, had no internet to upload and sort through them, etc. So I recently combed through them properly.

I really love these paparazzi-style photos of my aunt:

I love her cat-eye glasses and simple stylishness:

Is there anyone in your family that inspires you? Hope you all have a great weekend!

Three Things Thursday

2011-09-01T00:24:00.001-05:00

1. crochet beard, 2. sheath dress, 3. denim skirts

Here's a few recent Pinterest pins... There's something rather lovely about all this subtle navy tan and white.

Mosaic Monday

2011-08-29T00:08:00.000-05:00

1. Another Little Bears Cardi, 2. IMG_2640, 3. Finished Tie, 4. IMG_4102

As you can see from my recent Flickr favorites, I've had a lot of knitting on the brain. And, for some reason, blue. I'm not sure why, but blue keeps recurring. :)

Here's a palette I made from my favorites:

A whole lotta knitting

2011-08-27T09:00:00.007-05:00

I've been knitting like crazy lately. It seems like the sensible thing to do, given that it was 111 degrees yesterday, and walking outside makes you feel like your skin is on fire. Instead I sat inside placidly with the AC cranking, knitting.

I finished this pink baby hat 2 weekends ago. I started with the stripe pattern from my first hat ever, then did my own stripe pattern on the main part of the hat:

I feel pretty meh about it. I like it so-so.

If you're wondering about the little orange guy above, he's from the Big Book of Knitted Monsters. My friend gave me the book and it was sitting on the coffee table where my niece saw it. She asked for the teeniest little monster on the cover.

My niece is kind of a sweetheart, so although I had no clue if I'd do it right, I had to try it...

I must say he came out pretty cute, and he was a pretty quick stitch on double pointed needles. I winged it with the little legs, though - the pattern called for a basic heel on the feet to create a sort of sock shape. I just made them long and skinny instead.

Of course that little monster made me want to make a bigger one, so I started on Hugo:

He's a couch potato, like yours truly! :) Naturally, I bit off more than I could chew - I'd never tried a knit front and back increase before, which was necessary on the little feet, which are knit from the bottom up. Those first 3 rows were the most frustrating knitting experience of my life. I am not kidding when I say I spent 3 hours alone trying to knit one foot. But after a billion mess-ups, slipped stitches, and so much cursing my mom shut her bedroom door, I prevailed and had 2 stitched feet. I do think it's kind of funny that knitting a monster turned me into a total monster. :)

Next up, was transferring the 2 feet to large circular needles and joining them together to form the body. Eep. That was super frustrating, too. I spent another 3 hours or so trying to get that right. I'd never done Magic Loop knitting in the round before, and I couldn't understand why it was so hard for me. I grasped the concept but I felt like I was wrestling with the needles.

I had picked up Boye interchangeable needles at the local Hobby Lobby because I was so impatient to begin:

They're really pretty to look at, but I had no luck with them. The cord was really stiff, there was a hard join in the plastic, there's a funky slant at the edge of the needles that my stitches would get caught on, and best of all, with all the wrangling and wrestling I had to do to slide my stitches around, the tips came unscrewed and I sat there, staring at about 10 unraveled rows of knitting. Maybe these needles are good for some other types of knitting? But for Magic Loop knitting, and me, forget it.

I read a lot of blog posts, forums, etc. and the only needles that were mentioned over and over again were Addi Turbos. So I put an online order in and let Hugo sit for a few days. And Addis are every bit as amazing as everyone says they are. The cord is super light, thin, and flexible, so there's no wrestling and wrangling. The join where the cord meets the needle edge is smooth, so your stitches don't get caught. The tips are just blunt enough that they don't split your yarn, and just sharp enough to pick up your stitches.

They're so easy to knit with that I found myself knitting happily for hours:

I'm not kidding, if you're at all considering learning the Magic Loop technique, or even just regular knitting in the round, get yourself some Addi Turbos, they are worth the extra 10 bucks.

As if that wasn't enough knitting, I decided to make a knitted tie for a special person:

I used this free pattern from Lion Brand yarn, but try as I might, I couldn't get seed stitch to work for me. But I've seen plenty of nice versions in garter stitch, so I did that instead, and was very happy with it.

I've also been working on my Watson scarf, which is almost finished! What about you guys? How's the end of summer treating you? Any bit as scorching as it is here in south Texas?

Flashback Friday: a summer morning in South Texas

2011-08-26T00:36:00.002-05:00

2 weekends ago we visited one of the World Birding Centers in Weslaco, Estero Llano Grande. I am a real bird and animal freak - and the older I get, the more sharply attuned I am to creatures and critters on the periphery of our notice.

For example, this little screech owl almost missed my notice - almost. :)

To the naked eye, he looked like fuzz oozing from a bird box, but luckily I had my zoom lens so I could see his sleepy, grumpy little face.

We heard a weird rustling sound, and suddenly this little fellow popped out of the bushes and loped across our walkway:

I love armadillos, but boy are they strange. They really look like they should be extinct, and I love Texas even more when I see prehistoric weirdness like this all around me on a hike.

We heard a bizarre, clucky cacophony of sounds and spied something else in the trees... I didn't get a good picture, so I'll just describe it to you.

By the way, "chachalaca" is my new favorite word. Seriously, just say it a few times. You'll want to keep saying it, over and over again. :) There were birds everywhere. Naturally, I captured none of them in my shots, but oh well. They were there. :)

We walked over to one of the ponds and saw this stern sign:

We didn't see any big guys but we did see this little guy:

South Texas is such an odd, pretty amalgamation of sky blue, dry earth, and green leaves...

I love the way this bunny thinks he is hiding by standing perfectly still, even though I am 6 inches away from him, with my camera. He does do a good job of blending in, I must admit.

I'm such a weird bird freak that I bought a little something at the gift shop to commemorate my visit. If you're ever in the McAllen-Edinburg-Weslaco area in South Texas, I really recommend this place!

Three Things Thursday: love, love, love

2011-08-25T00:09:00.001-05:00

1. I heart my hometown, 2. My 2nd piece, for Valentine's :), 3. Cafe Loveless

It's weeks like these that I'm really grateful to the world for Flickr. When I'm uninspired, or feeling blah, just logging in and seeing these wonderful bursts of color and thought and creativity just buoys me up.

I'm seeing a lot of greens in my faves lately. And knits. I've been knitting pretty steadily lately, actually working on about 5 different projects now, which I'll show you very soon! :) But if you have a Ravelry account, you can get a sneak peek! :)

Lastly, here's a palette I made, eyedropping the 3 pics in that mosaic above:

Hope these posts are inspiring you any bit as much as they do me! :)

Wardrobe Wednesday: the black dress

2011-08-24T00:47:00.002-05:00

Here's what I've worn to, oh the last 3 weddings I've attended - including last weekend's. :) Yes, I actually styled my hair in a flip - it's pretty retro, but I've always loved that look. Plus it's low-maintenance, and that's the only sort of look my naughty hair can maintain.

A cute pair of black satin peep toes with black chiffon flowers from (where else do I get special event shoes at the last minute?) Payless. I was surprised at how comfortable these shoes are, given the heel height. But they fit perfectly and I trotted around in them all night with no problem. Not bad for 18 bucks. (on sale) Has anyone else noticed that Payless shoe prices have been creeping up? Regular price for these was 35. I know they're nicer shoes, but still. They should just call the 30 dollar and up shoes Paymores. :)

This dress is just a simple black chiffon halter dress, but I really love the length and the style and it goes with anything. It's dressy enough to look dressed up but not SO dressy that you feel like you're cheesing it up in satin. I actually wore it as my bridesmaid dress for my best friend's wedding - we were all allowed to pick our own style of dress, as long as it was black, and past the knee. The #1 compliment I get on this dress is that it looks "very classy." I can deal with classy. :)

What about you? Do you have a favorite dress you wear to weddings all the time? :)

Typography Tuesday: tea and small caps

2011-08-23T00:41:00.002-05:00

I love looking down in the course of my day and noticing tiny, beautiful things like the typography on this tea label.

I love small caps. They're so beautiful and understated. To me, it's like a person speaking in an even tone, clearly, but not shouting (like ALL CAPS). :)

In my opinion,

Mosaic Monday: a little bit of red and blue

2011-08-22T00:01:00.004-05:00

1. elaine fong poster, 2. okay-lets-do-this, 3. Tidying Up in threes, 4. pretty red flower and tropical dress

From Pinterest and my Flickr faves, here are some of my favorite shades of

Here's a little color palette I made for today, eyedropping all 4 of the images in the mosaic:

By the way, how beautiful is Casey? Way beautiful, and I love her 40's style and sewing posts. Now, if I could only get my hair to do what her hair does, just once. :)

Three Things Thursday

2011-08-18T15:22:00.003-05:00

1. Leafy Sprig, 2. big crafty booth, 3. Emerald Green Dress with Handmade Bug Pin

Above, here's a few lovely things I stumbled on in my Flickr favorites.

In particular, I really love the

Here's a palette based on the pictures above - I wasn't liking the palette the generator made for me, so I made one myself, using the eyedropper tool in Photoshop, and lots of squinting:

How are you guys? I haven't been around much for comments - out first for the wedding and now with a bad cold. Hope your week has been better!

Mosaic Monday: black and tan

2011-08-15T00:19:00.004-05:00

Something about these shades in Bauer Bodoni just looks so delicious.

Here's a palette for today's mosaic:

Weddings

2011-08-12T00:10:00.001-05:00

I'll be at my cousin's wedding this weekend, so I thought some pics of the aunts and auncles getting married were in order. Hope your weekend is every bit as festive. :)

Blue, blue, blue sea

2011-08-11T21:23:00.003-05:00

1. by the sea, 2. Three Things Thursday, 3. torre belem, lisboa, 4. Positano

Thinking of blue things and wishing I was by the sea....

I love this cute font called Skitch:

Adorable hand-drawn sketchiness and borders.... Hope you're somewhere blue.

Crazy greens and large patterns

2011-08-10T00:30:00.003-05:00

I've always had an affinity for big, bold, colorful, odd prints. Ok, I don't like all of them, but it's one of those "I know it when I see it" sort of things. I just have a gut feeling about prints that work on me. Usually, the individual colors don't look promising, and I'll get funny looks from whoever I'm shopping with, but when I actually take it out and wear it, people love its uniqueness and I get lots of compliments.

I think that maybe certain combinations of color and texture actually make people happy. And I like being able to stumble across them. In particular, I used to love wearing bold colors in New York - when the skies are gray, the streets are dirty, the morning's cold - just looking across the platform at that one happy burst of color makes you almost want to walk up to that person and thank them for what they wore. And, people actually did that to me. A lot. :)

Funny thing about that skirt - I loved wearing it in New York, but not so much in Texas - it sits in my closet, untouched. Are certain colors only wearable in certain environments? Maybe so... :)

In any case, I brought out that pic because I've been thinking about the embellished fabric stitchalong John is doing over on Feeling Stitchy right now... you should stop by and take a look!

Here's an odd, lovely palette from my odd skirt pics:

Framboise-ish

2011-08-08T00:04:00.000-05:00

1. chocolate-stuffed raspberries, 2. Red Sheath Dress
3. Black knit tie, 4. Domo Icebox cookies

Here's a few recent Pinterest pins on a raspberry red theme. I'm loving Pinterest.

Mysterious silver landscapes

2011-08-07T22:28:00.001-05:00

I adore these photos that I'm scanning for my friend Linda.

Here's a more recent photo of that mysterious formation, Heart Butte, North Dakota.

A brief history of my knitting

2011-08-06T10:43:00.003-05:00

I've been knitting a lot lately, so I decided to pull out the old behemoth monster that was my first hat (above). The thing could freaking double as a tube top on me (and no, I won't demonstrate!) :)

I was amused because, without even intending to, I chose almost the exact three colors of yarn the last time I went yarn shopping:

Those 3 are Patons Beehive Baby Sport yarns, by the way. What can I say, I guess I'm a sucker for teal and pink. I hope it's not the mauve of this generation. Because boy, do I hate mauve.

Anyhow, since I was never happy with that big, lumpy, HUGE first hat I'm gonna re-do it as a baby hat (pictures soon!)

In the meantime, here's my third baby hat:

Here it is unrolled, looking kind of like a PacMan ghost:

And here's a brief summary of my recent baby hat knitting:

Do I like this color palette? Of course I do!

Here's a few Flickr faves on that pink and teal theme:

Flashback Friday

2011-08-05T00:05:00.001-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about New York, and one of the things I miss the most is being an hour or two away from such cold, beautiful, stupendous beaches... This pic was taken more than a year ago, on a rare hot day in March, walking one morning on the ice-cold sand, so cold it numbed your feet.

I love the palette this photo made:

I think this means I need to go to the beach. :)

Three Things Thursday

2011-08-03T23:05:00.001-05:00

You would not believe how much I toiled and toiled at choosing fonts and colors for this one little post - but finally, I like the one I chose...

I fell in love with the light, airy colors the generator made from this mosaic:

I'm not normally a girly-girl, but I love this Miss Dior ad that was filmed by Sofia Coppola a while back - it's just so lighthearted and colorful and sugary sweet.

Sources of those 3 inspiring pics at the top:
1. lg mutation by valerie roybal, 2. pretty hoops, 3. adorable Miss Dior ad

The second pic I initially found via Pinterest, and it's a perfect example of something that's been re-pinned and re-blogged so many times that the original credit to the creator is lost. But I am an avid detective, and I found its original source, a blog called Welcome to Wonderland. You can also find an interview with the project's creator here.

Wardrobe Wednesday

2011-08-03T00:04:00.005-05:00

This post doesn't actually contain my wardrobe - it's a sweater my friend crocheted, but I really liked the colors in this photo, and wanted to use them as a branching-off point:

I'm really liking those small caps in the font I chose (Sweet Sans). It reminds me of the kind of really classic stationery I love. I like how subtle small caps look.

Typography Tuesday

2011-08-01T23:05:00.002-05:00

I really love the colors and typography in this poster by Steph Baxter. (If you were around yesterday, you'll recognize it from the mosaic I made.) I chose a chunky, slab-ish font that reminded me of the one used in the poster.

I really like the funky color palette that emerged when I fed it through the palette generator:

Totally unlike my normal preferred color scheme... I've realized over time that I am not a green fan - I can think of very few times I have willingly reached for it, actually.

I just started using Pinterest - so far it's helped me collect all my typography links in one place, and the inspiring links and pics I find outside of Flickr. I really like its mood-board-like arrangement of things. The only thing that gets confusing is when people have pinned things that were tumblred or re-blogged so many times that you lose track of the original designer or photographer. So I'm trying to keep detailed notes of the origins of my pins. :)

Mosaic Monday

2011-07-31T23:01:00.041-05:00

How weird - I put together this little mosaic last week with no particular aim in mind - then this morning I saw the Pantone Fall 2011 color trends forecast, and lo and behold, check out this color:

I think I'll just pretend I am really fashion-forward, and planned it that way. ;) I'll focus on each color for a series of posts, and see where that takes me... :)

By the way, those pictures above come from these talented Flickr peeps:

1. Untitled by heylucy, 2. Be Happy by Steph Says Hello
3. 030 by ghosty dreams and flower things, 4. Herringbone Cowl by pigeon pair

Stitching Saturday

2011-07-29T23:49:00.001-05:00

Once again, my Saturday was all about the knitting. There's something about the extreme heat of summer that makes me love curling up inside by the AC on the couch, watching a movie or dumb tv show. It's nothing like the feeling of winter in New York, where you're so cold your bones are cold. Have I mentioned I love living in Texas again? :)

Up there is the baby hat which I started and finished, all on the same day:

I won't show you the back, where the stripes wiggle and don't quite match up, because this is the internets, and I can be that way. :)

Here's progress on my Watson scarf, as of yesterday:

I reckon I'm about halfway done, so I headed to the local Joann to buy another skein of each of the 3 yarns to finish with.

While there, I of course fell in love with some baby yarns, and have already started another baby hat, this time on teensy #5 needles:

This is seriously the softest, squishiest yarn ever, and I am in love.

Lastly, inspired by my newest yarn, here are a few faves from Flickr users on a sea-green-ish theme:

Happy Saturday to you all!

Wardrobe Wednesday

2011-07-26T23:01:00.017-05:00

This Wardrobe Wednesday is a bit of a throwback, but I was thinking of this dress after reading an article about how Michele Obama shops at Target. :)

I was pretty amused that we own the same dress:

I always found the length a tiny bit unsatisfying on me - my favorite length for dresses is just below the knee, but it's so hard to find them. Especially in south Texas, where all I tend to see are micro-minis or ankle-length broomskirts.

Anybody else own something a famous person wore? I shall require photographic proof! ;)

True Blues

2011-07-24T23:20:00.000-05:00

1. Bram Explores by mercuryglassmoon, 2. The Blues by cauchy09
3. I tried to think of the most harmless thing by infobunny, 4. littlemermaid by peekerboodesigns

Typically, I'm not the type of person who goes in for "true blues" - that bright, royal blue-ish kind. I always opt for light grayer blues or greenish blues or teal-ish aqua blues. Oddly, I looked in my favorites and saw lots of real blues there lately.

What about you? Do you have a favorite shade of blue? :)

Sunday night scanning

2011-07-24T22:39:00.010-05:00

Anyone who knows me well at all knows that I adore old photographs. When my good friend Linda saw my post about having scanned all of my family's old pics, she joked that she could make me scan hers, too. I don't think she anticipated that I'd not only eagerly volunteer, but also get started right away! :)

Her photos are housed in an exquisite little leather bound scrapbook with black pages, and the teeny-tiny 1940's-era photos are the smallest and sweetest I have ever seen. For many of these, you aren't even sure what is in the photograph, until you scan them and see the large size.

I love the feeling of mystery in photos like these. Like that top photo, of the young woman on a diving board. Is the photo of the young woman, or of the cute boy just behind the fence? Does it matter? Or that random, from-the-car-shot next to it - was there something specific being photographed? Usually, I get so lost in the beauty of the silver-brown tones that the original meaning of the photo isn't so important to me.

I'll be adding to her archives bit by bit, and sharing a mysterious few with you here. Thank you, Linda, for letting me scan these for you!!! :)

What about you guys - do you have any lovely old pics you'd like to share? I'd be ecstatic if you left a link in the comments! :)

Stitching Saturday

2011-07-22T23:09:00.035-05:00

Thank you so much to everyone who made suggestions on how to stitch the Watson scarf! You were all super helpful, and I'm well on my way stitching it.

Color choice was a pain for me, until I just stepped back, realized my choices would never be exact, and settled on the colors I liked best:

There's something so inspiring and subtly pretty about these muted browns, blues, and grays:

Something about this palette reminds me of Cape Cod - the air, the water, the sand, and beach cottage shingles the color of beach glass or weathered brown. Here are some Flickr favorites on this blue brown grey theme:

1. Ferns in White by Janine - Foxtail Creek Studio, 2. woodgrain by Drama-Club
3. i stayed in your heart by Bec Groves, 4. Embroidered Diana Pocket by SewLovelyEmbroidery

What do you think of the Watson scarf so far? I could do a whole separate post on how frustrating it is trying to match my photos to what these colors really look like - argh!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Flashback Friday

2011-07-21T23:01:00.000-05:00

Here's another example of a photo that I like just as it is. It's scanned from a slide, and it's not clear to me if it was ever color or a black and white that got really weird with age:

But I love its odd, pinkish hue, if not the billion teeny dust scratches that cover it. I removed some from this version, but it took hours to achieve even this.

I love the expression on my mom's face - there are very few pics that show her like this, and it's a rare pic in which she reminds me of myself as a teenager. She was a teenager here, too. There's something so sweet about her necklace, and the pink of the photo, and the way she's standing. I love it.

Three Things Thursday: red, teal, sea green

2011-07-20T23:01:00.002-05:00

1. lol by rabs1985, 2. Dear Creatures + ModCloth by elsiecake, 3. thrifted joy beverage bottle by doecdoe

Sometimes, I love the way my brain works. Often, it frustrates me, in its wiggly-line way of weaving through facts and being rather unordered and random. But then, all those wiggly lines and unordered randomness sometimes meet to make a whole....

Case in point: I love the way my brain unconsciously matches things. Colors, textures, moods, etc. The world is an endless visual playground for me.

I started off looking at a pic by Elsie Flanagan, who by the way, endlessly inspires me (thank you for that, Elsie!) Then I thought it looked perfect next to that pic by doecdoe (Gina, you always inspire me, too!) The last picture took a bit of digging, looking for colors to harmonize with the 2 pics.

I dug and dug and found this pic by Rachael in my favorites:
...
I did lighten it and up the contrast in Picnik, to establish the relationship with the other pics.

Then, I looked at fonts to play with today and for some reason when I saw Mister K, it just “felt right.”

Only when I was done did I notice the similarities in the script on the “lol” and the soda pop label. When I see little relationships like that, totally unplanned by my conscious brain (but totally apparent to my unconscious) it just makes me smile. It totally makes my day. And restores my faith in my wiggly, weaving, unordered, random (but creative) brain. :)

Typography Tuesday

2011-07-18T23:00:00.001-05:00

Found a cool site for today:

http://tty.pe/

It offers such a nice random selection of fonts and descriptions of each.

Also, I don't use Tumblr, but here's a nice template for it:

Movie Monday

2011-07-17T23:01:00.004-05:00

So, I was sitting in the audience for the midnight showing of Harry Potter on Thursday (what's that, you say - I'm a dork? You sir, are correct!) and patiently waiting through all the laborious previews.

That is, until I saw this scarf:

My best friend was already wearing a Gryffindor scarf I'd knit for the last Harry Potter, but I leaned over the second I saw Watson's scarf and breathlessly peeped "I wanna knit that one!"

Now, I am no knitting genius, but I know the basics, and I quickly jotted a few notes over coffee and lucky charms the next morning. On to the real bear: color selection!

By the way, I'm loving color names like "irish coffee" "carnaby tan" and "blumine."

You know I was secretly hoping the palette generator would somehow magically tell me which yarn colors to buy. I mean, I have a rough idea in my head, but it would be so much easier if I could just feed a picture through a generator and voila! it tells me exactly which wool, which shade, and which pattern to use. (App makers, listen up!) :)

In any case, the palette maker did not tell me exactly what to buy, so I am officially winging it. I've skulked around Ravelry a fair bit, looking for inspiration, but if I have any knitters in the audience, you'd be a real help if you could make some suggestions for me!

Is this a fisherman's rib? Or could I get away with just stockinette stitch using bulky yarn on bigger needles? Should I knit this in the round like the Hermione Grainger Deathly Hallows scarf? I need help here! Clearly, in more ways than one. :)

Also, that wonderful trailer still of Watson comes from an amazing site I just discovered called Clothes on Film. I adore their articles and the way they deconstruct costume design. I also love that they actually interview costume designers and include you in their process - it's absolutely fascinating. Definitely recommend them.

Stitching Saturday

2011-07-16T22:27:00.035-05:00

Not feeling terribly inspired today, I pulled out my huge collection of Presencia floss and set out to make good on my threat to make floss palettes to match the hex palettes:

Not bad, huh? I think I did a decent job color matching, but it was much harder than it looked! For one thing, the color I was looking at in real life looked different on camera, then different on my computer screeen, then... argh. So it was kind of an added challenge. Not an exact match, but maybe - colors "inspired by" the hex codes. :)

As usual, the most accurate color representation occurred when I dragged all my threads outside and photographed them in daylight.

Here's a couple of nice Flickr pics on that fuschia-ish pink theme:

Hope you have a great weekend!

Flashback Friday

2011-07-14T23:00:00.016-05:00

A few years ago when I still lived in New York, I embarked on an ambitious project to scan all my family slides and photographs. Considering that this covers hundreds of images from the 50's to the current day, it was very ambitious, indeed. So far, I've covered the 50's through the late 70's (and have hundreds more images to go).

One of the most challenging elements of scanning and uploading old pics has been deciding how to edit them. Some are easy fixes (tweak contrast, remove scratches, etc.) but some I don't know if I should even touch.

For example, that photo above - I know it looks washed out and yellowed with age. I know that it probably doesn't reflect the colors it once did when it was taken. But I have a nostalgia and sentiment for that picture, exactly the way that it looks.

2. After editing the contrast and color temperature in Picnik:

3. What Picnik gave me when I clicked "Auto-fix:"

4. Me throwing up my hands in frustration and editing in Photoshop. :)

Maybe these look more true to the original image, or maybe just more true to the colors they were actually photographing (although how would I ever really know that?). But neither of these evoke my original emotion for the picture. After "correcting" it, I'm not sure that I like it anymore.

I'm thinking this could be a good recurring theme for Flashback Friday - I'll show you an image I've scanned, then some tweaks, and ask you to help me decide which (if any) is better. :)

So, what do you guys think? If you had to choose one of these versions, which would you pick?
1. 2. 3. 4. ?

Pink, blue and violet

2011-07-13T23:00:00.005-05:00

Three lovely things from the following Flickr people:
1. rings by elsie*cake, 2. drip drop by Gemma Tyler-Cook1, 3. de vivo 1 small by alli_lucy

I love looking at photos and seeing a rhythm in color, texture, and shapes. I do it constantly, and unconsciously - certain photos just seem to "go" together. In any case, I'm not sure why, but these 3 photos just seem to have some sort of relationship to each other.

I generated palettes for each of the 3 photos:

All of this makes me want to start some super-ambitious project where I photograph all my embroidery thread and make "palettes" out of those, too. Hold me back. ;)

Red and white bathing suits

2011-07-12T23:00:00.004-05:00

There's nothing super-special about this doodle of mine, but it's an example of what I frequently do to "visualize" what I'm wearing (or want to wear). I've pretty well memorized my shape, and so I like to "try things on" this way. In this case I was daydreaming about a cute red and white striped bathing suit I'd tried on a week before.

I like to do little sketches like this to sort of test my brain and see how many small details I can remember about a thing... I wasn't too far off from the actual suit.

The palette generator showed me lots of nice warm browns this time around:

And yes, I also think it's funny that my favorite color this time is named "whiskey." :) What about you guys? Does anybody else sketch their wardrobe?

Typography Tuesday

2011-07-11T23:01:00.004-05:00

So, in case you haven't noticed, lately I'm feeling very inspired by typography. :) One of my favorite things about stumbling around the internets is when I happen on a page that is so beautifully designed that I forget I'm on the internet.

To me, good typography is key to that experience:

(I highly recommend a click through to this actual post, it is beautiful).

Several things surprised me about the design of this blog - 1. just how breathtakingly pretty the balance of whitespace and text is, 2. even though I'm clearly looking at a computer monitor, I feel like I'm looking at a printed page, and 3. that the body text is actually Rockwell.

And just when I was thinking how weird it was that someone was using Rockwell so successfully on a blog, I found another blog using it well:

Anyhow, back to Veerle's blog - there's a beautiful image of artist Ty Wilkin's posters that I used to generate today's palette:

What about you? Do you find typography inspiring? Any favorite fonts? Any fonts you hate?

Music Monday

2011-07-10T23:01:00.007-05:00

So, a couple of weeks ago we did a giveaway on Feeling Stitchy for Pearl and the Beard's latest CD. They were kind enough to send me a CD, too, and I adored their cover art so much I thought I'd post about it today. Well, loosely, anyway. :)

Basically, I'm in love with the color combination on that sweater, so I popped their photo into the palette maker and generated this palette:

I love the very subtle, lovely variations here. By the way, isn't Bodoni Bold nice? I love the mix of sharp lines and rich curves, and the way those letters just hold color. Hope you're having a great Monday! Well, as great as a Monday can be.... :)

Stitching Saturday

2011-07-08T23:01:00.009-05:00

Yes, I know, assigning a name to each day of my posts is pretty silly, but it's helping me focus on posting, and it's giving me words to put together in new fonts. :) By the way, if you're curious what fonts I'm using, just click on the image to go to Flickr and see the details.

1. White Floral Bull Skull by Lilac Saloon, 2. afternoon tea by Bec Groves
3. Squirrel love by knittingbeauty, 4. Faux Bois Embroidery by imafundork

Up above are pictures I found in the Flickr Embroidery pool - I can remember when the group first started and how excited I'd get every time I'd see a new picture. I've been tagging pics I want to blog as they come through, and at the end of the day I'll be overwhelmed to see I want to blog at least 20 different things! :) So I thought I share just a few of my (many) recent faves here. :) I've seen such a progression in the past few years, and I truly had no idea how the group and embroidery in general would grow.

This is the palette that was generated off of my first picture. It's so much fun fitting all these pieces together... hope you're enjoying this as much as I am - it's really inspiring! :)

Flashback Friday

2011-07-07T23:18:00.026-05:00

My mom would kill me if she knew I was posting this picture, but it's one of my favorites of her, my Tia, and my oldest brother. It's hard to believe that this little boy is now a grown man with kids of his own. Since I can't be at the beach today, I thought I'd live a little vicariously. :)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Three Things Thursday

2011-07-06T23:00:00.003-05:00

1. life is better with you by Yellow Dandy
2. bojangles by me
3. rain by Claudia Marchán

Here's three things I thought were wonderful lately... that middle pic is mine - I was digging through old pics on my laptop and found it. By the way, I'm really having fun playing with fonts for these posts...

I've been generating color palettes for each of the fonts, using the palette generator on Big Huge Labs:

I just created a static image, but you can also save the palette in Adobe Swatch Exchange format (not that I've ever used that before). :)

Wardrobe Wednesday

2011-07-06T05:03:00.015-05:00

So here's a new dress of mine. Like most of my wardrobe since moving back to hyper-hot Texas, it is pretty short. It breaks a few of the cardinal rules I swore I'd never break - first, it looks romper-ish and I hate rompers. However, I've seen this style so much, and it looked so nice on, I got over my romper hatred and bought it. Plus, it isn't a romper, it just looks like it should be. :)

Also, it's leopard print. As a rule, I steer clear of leopard print because when worn the wrong way it can look trashy. I think this dress is loose enough to squeak by. :)

However, it does follow one of my rules which is: it has pockets. As a relatively shy person, I'm always sort of fumbling with my hands and pockets are a great excuse to just tuck them away. It also follows the "cheap" rule - as it was only 24 bucks - I found it at one of our little local shops on the Riverwalk. :)

What about you? Any wardrobe rules you make (and break) for yourself, sort of arbitrarily? :)

Tutorials Tuesday

2011-07-05T17:19:00.003-05:00

So, I'm going to try to post more often here, especially for this week. And if I can only keep it up for a week or two, or this month, that'll be good. :)

I also thought I'd use this opportunity to experiment daily with fonts - hence, the rather huge, hit-you-on-the-head statement below. :)

First up is a tutorial I found on my blog reading elsewhere:

It's called How to Create a Futuristic Sci-Fi Scene. I'm a big sci-fi fan of all decades, but it's my opinion that sci-fi hasn't been so great in the past 10 years. Anyhow, I love futuristic scenes like these, and it just fascinates me that there's a walkthrough and actual process you can follow for creating one. :)

Next up is a free Wordpress blog theme I really like called Melville:

I really love clean, open designs like this that focus on the text. Templates have come such a long way since I started blogging years ago. I'm thinking of shifting all of my templates (and the Feeling Stitchy one). I find this one inspiring for my own blog...

Purplish dreams

2011-06-29T22:53:00.018-05:00

1. tulips by anniebee 2. owls by tishous
3. weekend 9 by alli_lucy 4. Petal Beret by lindamade

I'm still not giving up on personal blogging, but it has been tough getting myself to stay still lately. Whenever I'm in this mood, I fall back on making mosaics of my favorite Flickr pics (above). I can't believe it's been almost 1 year since I moved back to Texas! This time last year I was getting rid of all my NY possessions and packing what little remained in tiny postal service boxes. I'd walk them 8 blocks to the Post Office by myself in the dank heat, listening to my headphones. Considering most of the items were books, I have to applaud my sheer determination. :)

Early this morning I had 4 nightmares that were each exactly 15 minutes long - sometimes my brain is funny like that. I only remember the last one - an old friend was looking down sadly at photographs of me in high school. How random is that? I always wonder where my brain gets this stuff...

How is the summer treating all of you? Good, I hope!

Inspiration for a rainy day

2011-05-12T09:11:00.000-05:00

1. cat waits for dinner by fluffs cupcakes 2. bouquet by ghosty dreams and flower things
3. Spring fever led me to get flowers on my toes by heylucy 4. Party Up by Amanda Jean

Just a few awesome pics from Flickr peeps to inspire you on this rainy day...

You know what? We don't get much rain here in south Texas. But for the past few years, we've had dramatic mini-floods for about a week at a time in the summers, and living in New York, I missed them all. Today it's super-dark, the air is warm and ready for something amazing, a really, really big thunderstorm, I can feel it. There's nothing like that excitement in the air before a really big Texas thunderstorm.

More shirt stitching

2011-04-17T23:32:00.000-05:00

Yes, your eyes do not fool you - I am here again, with more progress! Granted, this was last week's progress, and I'm only just now photographing it - but considering how busy my weekend was, this is an accomplishment. :) Ever have those weeks or days or months when your to-do list stretches farther than the eye can see? My to-do list has to-do lists. This weekend I went to a party, a parade, the post office, the library, church, the wal-mart, the mall, and a friend's house. Somehow, I also managed to do taxes, laundry, and nap. A lot. Oh hey, I even watched a Buffy episode. Overall, not a bad weekend in the to-do scheme of things. (although I still didn't get everything done)

But I digress - progress. I'm almost done with this t-shirt embroidery - I decided to use light sea greens and peach colors for the octopus:

Midway through the lettering, I ran out of my DMC color, so I just subbed a comparable Presencia shade. It's a tiny bit lighter, but I decided not to freak out about it:

I'm thinking of using this color for the "water line" in the lettering:

Haven't decided if I'll do satin stitch or what....

Either way, I'll be using this handy white charcoal pencil to re-draw the lines that have rubbed off:

Also on the super-long to-do list this weekend: an interview I did with Salley Mavor, illustrator of Pocketful of Posies, over on Feeling Stitchy:

One of the most amazing things about blogging and crafting over the years has been the incredibly talented people I've been able to meet. Learning about their creative process is so inspiring - as artists and creative people, I think we tend to feel a bit isolated among the more "normal" non-creative types. I love this online world for the chance it gives me to chat with like-minded peeps. Or in Salley's case, people with mind-blowing talent way beyond my own - it was an honor to interview her.

So, how about you - what did you do this weekend? If all you answer is taxes - don't worry, I will be impressed! :)

Hasty crafting, or how not to do things

2011-04-13T21:48:00.001-05:00

Ugh, it's been forever, I know. I thought I'd update you on my progress on the, um, MARCH stitchalong for Feeling Stitchy. Yes I am unrepentantly slow on my progress. :)

I thought I'd share my progress as it was a total learning experience for me and might be helpful to any of you hasty crafters out there. Are you a hasty crafter? I'm a total hasty crafter. Meaning, I want results NOW, have no intention of waiting until I have the proper supplies, the right floss color, the right material, etc. As a result, I frequently have these hilarious "argh" moments in crafting. :)

Case in point - this t-shirt embroidery idea:

Getting that octopus traced and transferred onto a t-shirt was a mother of a process. Let's just get this straight, friends, because this is probably the #1 question I get on my blog and on Flickr - embroidering on a t-shirt - not a good idea. Yes, it is possible, but it is also frustrating and painful. So when asking yourself whether or not you should try embroidery on a t-shirt, just take my advice and don't do it. But, I am stubborn, so I did it.

For my first try, I behaved very well and pulled out my red transfer pencil. Hey, it worked in the past? Why shouldn't it work now? Well, my mom had this odd tracing paper that was much thicker and more paper-like than what I normally use. But I'm the hasty crafter, right? So instead of run out and purchase the right tracing paper, I just used the one I had. And you know what? It didn't work. Not one line transferred, no matter how hard I ironed. :(

At this point I was a bit cranky. So I tried method #2 and slipped my t-shirt over my computer screen to trace with a charcoal pencil. It worked on my pillowcase project, right? You know what? T-shirt fabric is very stretchy. Drawing clean lines on stretchy fabric? Not exactly an option here. At this point I had a few smudged lines on my t-shirt and a very cranky disposition.

On to method #3 - transfer paper. Here I made another bad choice - I assumed that since the shirt was a medium gray, the regular transfer paper (like carbon paper) would show up fine. Wrong again. It was really hard to see, which meant I had to keep lifting the paper to check, and losing my place. I ended up with a sad, lopsided, barely visible octopus. At this point I was all kinds of pissed, and it was all my fault. So I threw the shirt in the washing machine in utter disgust. You know, I probably should have washed the shirt first to begin with? But I am the hasty crafter, remember?

So finally, the method that did work!

After testing on a small part of the inside of the t-shirt I discovered that transfer paper for dark fabrics (transfers white) worked like a charm. (Sublime Stitching sells this.)

The key to using transfer paper on a stretchy t-shirt fabric is to have a nice firm surface underneath - the back of a sketchpad is perfect:

So finally, after about a thousand "argh" moments, I had an octopus on a t-shirt to stitch:

Now here's the other #1 question I get - do I use a t-shirt stabilizer? What's a good t-shirt stabilizer? Nope, I don't, so I can't really suggest one. Yes, I realize in theory this would make stitching easier. But I'm a hasty crafter, right? So I've never bothered. :)

Stitching on a t-shirt? It's just always laborious and tricky, but I like the added challenge. Pull a stitch too tight and you've got a horrible mess. Use too much thread and you'll poke a big, unfixable hole in your shirt. But I kind of like teetering on the edge of disaster. :)

There is pretty much no "easy" stitch on knit fabric. I used a combination of chain stitch, stem stitch, and back stitch for my octo:

For the lettering, I'm using a combination of stem stitch and back stitch (only stem stitch is pictured here):

So, to summarize: I don't use t-shirt stabilizer (maybe you guys can suggest a good one?), I am a hasty crafter, no, I do not recommend stitching on a t-shirt, and don't be a hasty crafter like me. :) How are you guys? Promise I'll have a finished t-shirt to show you soon! :)

Yup, I've been AWOL

2011-03-24T22:20:00.002-05:00

I know, it's been a long, long time. But what with starting a new job, fitting in my workouts, and just feeding myself, I've had little to no time to blog here. Also, there are so many cool up and coming things in the works on Feeling Stitchy, that it's all I can do to keep up!

Example: this dude by Corvus

I'm thinking t-shirt embroidery? And I gotta get on that, like this weekend! We're busily reviewing TONS of new books on FS, I'm reviewing a new pattern - sheesh! How about I hire someone to live the rest of my life? ;)

Hope all is well with you guys - miss you!

Superbowl stitchery

2011-02-07T21:14:00.005-06:00

You know something? I kind of know nothing about football. I'm usually a very attentive person, fascinated with how things work, detailed rules and rituals, etc, but somehow football throws all of that out the window. Every time I watch it, I imagine I'm watching a very clumsy and extremely confusing ballet. With big dudes. Who look really mean. Punctuated by fascinating, but equally confusing whoops and screams from everyone around me, who magically know the proper moment at which to whoop and scream... And so needless to say, every time I watch football, I occupy myself entirely with something else. :)

Case in point - the pillowcase I stitched almost in entirety in the 4-5 hours I was supposedly watching the Superbowl. :) Again using the free patterns from last month's Doodle stitchalong, it's another pillowcase with a goofy phrase, this time "home sweet home" rather than "gnome sweet gnome."

I love the cute little kid patterns, and so did all the curious people looking over my shoulder while I stitched them... :)

It's really fun to stitch around people who don't craft - I always expect people to poke fun at me, but usually everyone is fascinated by the idea that anybody makes anything anymore. I love the different names people give to whatever I'm making - it's a rare bird that actually knows I am embroidering - usually they calling it sewing or crochet or knitting. :)

Here's the little toadstool house in progress:

Almost done - just futzing with the "home sweet home" which came out a bit more crooked than I planned. And aside from that, just working hard on the Feeling Stitchy February stitchalong, and minding a lot of other little pots on the fire... :)

How about you? Did you watch the Superbowl or just craft through it? :)

Gnome sweet gnome

2011-02-04T13:46:00.003-06:00

Yup, there it is, I actually finished it - a pillowcase based on two of the cute free designs from the Lark Doodle Stitchalong. Yes, I know it is way cheesy, the phrase "gnome sweet gnome" but I couldn't help myself. :)

Here's a closeup of the tree stump-house. This was pretty much my first time experimenting with fill-stitches, and I like it - it adds a little bit of texture, so that the whole design is not just flat colored outlines.

My only regret is that one of the hoops I used was dirty on the inside, so there's a tiny faint ring of dirt around my gnome. :( Oh well, maybe with enough washes it'll come out.

Now, I'll be getting ready for the first stitchalong I'll be doing on Feeling Stitchy this month.... Meet me there later if you're interested! :)

Inspiration: Fake Polaroids

2011-02-01T19:46:00.000-06:00

Whenever I feel a little uninspired with my photographs, I take a big stack of them and feed them through my fake Polaroid-maker, or Poladroid.

The results are always dreamy and strange and never fail to inspire me...

It's 33 degrees here! But I'm cozy and warm, drinking Mexican hot chocolate, snuggled under a blanket, emailing. Hope you're cozy wherever you are, too!

Stitchalong bug

2011-01-26T21:15:00.000-06:00

I guess it was just a matter of time - I got bitten by the stitchalong bug. I'm not usually a gnome person (I can't watch that new gnome movie trailer without groaning) but this gnome is pretty undeniably adorable...

I started this little guy on day 2 of my flu, before it really laid me up on day 3 and 4. But now that I'm better, I hope to show you a bit more of him soon... :)

Inspiration: Peach-pink

2011-01-24T11:59:00.000-06:00

Pics above from the following talented stitchers:
1. Octopus by glazedangel101; 2. Stickros 2 och 3 by ericaSvala
3. Stitching.. just because.. by Carina; 4. Peachy Keen by moxiedoll77

I've been stuck inside with a cold and cough which is rather uninspiring, so I thought I'd start putting together some daily inspiration mosaics. I really want to resurrect my old Mac so I can enjoy editing pics again - I love my PC laptop, but I'm never confident about the colors I see being representative between Mac and PC. Anyway, here's my favorite shade of peach-pink, as interpreted by many talented people in the Flickr Embroidery pool. :)

Start of new year and start of new things

2011-01-08T11:11:00.000-06:00

There's something about this time of year that feels like new beginnings all around...

Just a few of the neighborhood pets I've been photographing. I've made more hats, scarves, and stitching, but bear with me as I get the photos added... :)

In the meantime here's a hat I had to unravel:

And some New Year's sparklers:

Happy New Year!

The perils of knitting far, far too much

2010-12-10T11:58:00.002-06:00

I should have known it was going to get ugly - up there you can see Hat #5 and Hat #6, both of which I knitted in one day. Apparently, there's only so much knitting the human body was expected to do, and I have been exceeding my quota. :) I've had a doozy of a backache last night and today, but.... at least I have hats to show for it. :)

There is my first beret, knit from a pattern suggested by my sweet friend Julia (p.s. Ramona, here's the pattern). I was doing a great job until close to the very end, when juggling the stitch markers got really hairy. So a few slipped off, and I suppose it's not perfect, but I still very much like my first beret.

I finished The Vampire Diaries, season 4 of Lost, and I'm halfway through Dead Like Me, which is quirky, bizarre, and fun. Yes, I know I'm late to the party on all of these, but I consider the past few months to be catch-up on all the TV I've never watched. :) Any suggestions for more fun, quirky shows to add to my queue? (P.s. Molly I'm already a fan of True Blood and Glee! :)

Oh, but the back is really killing me! Have any of you knitters had any similar knitting injuries? Suggestions on how to treat / avoid them? Yes, I know the most obvious answer is: stop knitting, but I'm hoping there are other coping methods. :)

I really love all the knitting comments you've been leaving!

Hats, hats, hats

2010-11-30T13:43:00.001-06:00

You know what? Making hats is really addictive. They don't take up that much yarn - with a simple pattern (like the one I chose) you can just knit and knit and knit without even looking down very much. They're portable, easy for me to truck around town, and there's always the added hilarity of onlookers trying to figure out what I am knitting. I had a great conversation with a very hungover homeless dude yesterday who was marveling at how fast I knit. If I see this guy again, all he has to do is ask me one more time about my knitting and I'm giving him a hat. Because that's what happens when you ask questions about my knitting. :)

Oh, so the turquoise striped hat was Hat #4, and there below is Hat #3:

My personal favorite and the one I plan to keep for myself. :) I used this great Alpaca yarn for Hat #3 and #4 - it's kind of spongy and springy and squooshy. Yes, I'm liking all of those adjectives in reference to a hat. :)

Here is Hat #2, and my other favorite:

I added a few more stitches on this one, because my stitches are pretty tight. I used a really nice merino wool that I found at Kid N Ewe:

It's so soft and totally non-scratchy, and it feels so nice to work with. Anyhow, that hat now lives with my best friend and her husband, and since it looks cute on both of them, I should probably make her another hat so she'll stop stealing it from him. :)

I'm using my knitting as an excuse to catch up on bad television - I knitted my way through Season 4 of Dexter, Season 3 of Lost (I made the mistake of getting my mom ADDICTED to that show), and I'm halfway through Season 1 of The Vampire Diaries which is way campy. I'm always irritated by shows that make teenage characters wear too much makeup (yeah I'm just glossing right over the teenage promiscuity, drugs, and drinking - it's THE MAKEUP that bothers me :) Seriously - I get so irritated when characters roll out of bed wearing a pound of makeup, and have perfect hair. I know teen shows are no place to seek verisimilitude, but still. :)

Aside from that, I'm enjoying the brief bits of cold that settle into south Texas in the fall. One morning I'll wake to mid-40's and wind, and it will almost feel like NYC. :) Thanksgiving was cheerily chilly, because there's nothing more lame than a hot, humid Thanksgiving. But I love how the sun and the heat are never far - there are never those days like the kind you get in NY, when you feel so, so, cold, and it seems like you'll never be warm again. In San Antonio, all you have to do is wait a few days.

I pulled out my novel, and I'm starting to gingerly add to it. How about all of you? Has the holiday funk hit you yet or are you keeping busy?

Knitting the hat

2010-11-18T13:03:00.000-06:00

So here's my first hat! I did a lot of griping and cursing when switching from the circular needles to the double-pointed needles at the end, but I muddled through it ok:

I was rather stunned to look down at my hat and see it looked, sort of ok! I was so sure I was going to mess things up. Because, ugh - the stitch markers kept slipping off, I kept cursing and combing the carpet for them, etc. etc. Anyone have advice on working with slippery stitch markers and double-pointed needles? I also tried tying little bits of yarn, but those slipped, too. :(

So, the back of the hat is what I'm least happy with - at some point the stripes stopped lining up correctly - not sure how that happened, by the way.

Oh, and HA HA:

Luckily, I have a knit/crochet expert who lives nearby, so I will ask her what I did wrong. But, overall, I'm pretty happy with my wonky first hat!

Any advice on my hat or hats in general? Patterns you like?