I'm smocked, smocked, to find that, um, smocking is going on here.

Several years ago, when I was simultaneously making my wedding dress and some pillows for an art show/sale, I came across a sewing book in the public library. It caught my eye so I tossed it on my "to check out" pile. It was just one of many sewing books that came home that day. I did not know at that time that I would soon feel compelled to buy my own copy (after checking it out for a ridiculous number of times in a row) and that I would, in fact, often take it to bed with me and occasionally have to wipe a bit of drool away. And what book was it?
This book!
Yeah, maybe it's just me, but I love, love, love, looking at all of the textures and techniques over and over (though tracking down the proper diagrams to go with the instructions is a little difficult.) I'm a girl who loves color, so I'm sort of surprised that a book so full of monotones/neutrals excites me so, but it does. Which brings me to this. Again, gasp. I saw this book after looking at this blog and after a little frantic online searching, remembered that I work fairly close to a giant Japanese bookstore that would probably have it in stock.
And it did! So I had a little less cash and a little more happiness that day. The ISBN is 4579110714 if you don't work a few blocks away from such a bookstore.

All of this is a roundabout way of saying that I sat down and made some pillows using these elements as inspiration.
Some version of them may end up over here, if I can get my act together.

And I almost forgot, but this was also very inspiring.
Subtle, no?

Strange and True Indeed

Do You Have the Time?

My grandparents had a cuckoo clock in their living room. I remember the sound of it tick-tocking down the hall at night after everyone had gone to bed.This guy doesn't make any sound, but he is a little cuckoo.
This is my contribution to Craftster's Challenge #18, Felt inanimate objects.

April Apron

A fun trip to Chicago curbed my last minute sit-down-at-the-machine sewing time so a lot of this guy was hand sewn on the go. I am pretty happy with it's overall springy look and I seem to have anticipated the May/June Tie One On theme of "pockets". I am surprised how "mod" my tastes are at the moment. My friend Christie made that kooky little beaded owl staring out at you from the detail view.

Chicago was lovely. It went from winter (though I know 40 degree temps don't really count as winter in Chicago) to summer (91 degrees?!?) in 2 days. We saw some friends, some bookstores (this is awesome and now it's mine, too), some music (the point of the trip) and some culture here and there. This painting was really my favorite, though. That blue...it is really wonderful to see paintings in person that you have only seen in reproductions. One fellow there was determined not to forget his experience. He moved methodically from painting to painting, snapping a picture of each one. I don't recall seeing him look at painting except through the viewfinder.

A drink in a fancy place. (Palmer Hotel--now a Hilton, but I'm ignoring that modernization.)



Some appealing public modern art.
(We're not the only ones taking our picture there.)

My kind of town, indeed.

Sweaters...Oh, We've Got Sweaters

I thought that knitting a two children's sweaters would be easier...or at least faster than making (tall) adult clothes.

And...I was wrong.

But they turned out cute and their little twin owners live in San Francisco, so the springtime gift of sweaters is not quite the idiotic idea that it might have seemed at first. The pattern is from Knitty and the Rowan yarn colors are “Military” and “Ravish”. Not exactly the first words that pop into my head when thinking of children’s clothing, but whatever.

I also thought posting more than once a month would be easier.

ha.

I have been making stuff...I just haven't been photographing it. That should change with a new camera now in the household.

Oh, and I got my very own copy of The Spirit of the Beehive for my birthday, so I can watch it whenever I want.
Yay!

Yummy Fuzzy Bunnies

I made little white bunny cupcakes to celebrate the season that celebrates bunnies!
It feels nothing like Spring at the moment, but that doesn't mean that we can't eat lemony bunny-shaped cupcakes.
Yum.

My model.

(he's rather shy, as you can see.)

Meringue ears and tails ready for the oven.


One lonely fellow, waiting for his pals.


And please, this is a little late, since Easter has passed, but bunnies are thinking, feeling critters with personalties (and needs) of their own. As fuzzy and cuddly as they can be--they are not stuffed animals.
Therefore, regarding bunnies and Easter...

The Spirit of My Beehive

A few weeks ago, I mentioned to my boss that I wanted to see Pan's Labyrinth. Her response was that I should really see this. And she was right (and not just because she's my boss.) While I enjoyed Pan's Labyrinth immensely—at least I enjoyed the parts where I was not cringing in my seat and shielding my eyes from the violence onscreen—I think I enjoyed Spirit of the Beehive even more. I am a sucker for anything remotely melancholic--which this is; the scenery is starkly beautiful--hello nostalgic feeling for wide-open, wind-blown prairie/plains land; I love bees--1985(?) Douglas Co. 4-H Champion in entomology, thank-you-very-much; and little Ana has to be about as cute as it is possible for a human being to be. There are lots of parallels--this was obviously an influence for Pan's Labyrinth, but it is much quieter, sweeter, and the conflict is more internal. Watch it if you can find it.

Oh, and if you are ever in Lawrence, KS, go to the Natural History Museum up (literally) on campus and see the bee tree

Anyway, the whole point of that is that I seem to have been influenced lately by the honey-colored lighting and the honeycomb shaped windows in the movie. Curt called me on it after I showed him the etching that I did (above) and the fabric that I became nearly frantic to lay my hands on last week. I was too slow at Superbuzzy and PurlSoho, but Reprodepot came through for me.

It's going to make one fine fashionable gym bag. Buzzzzzzz

Making Progress

Argyle
Originally uploaded by Luck(x8).

Argyle2
Originally uploaded by Luck(x8).

I am still on a slight roll from the weekend.
The end of this vest draws nearer. It is my first steek-cutting experience and I am apprehensive. I kind of like how the knit-the-whole-thing-in-the-round process turns a vest into a funny skinny worm.
Speaking of skinny...I hope that it's not too skinny. The pattern said it's a close-fit but it really seems awfully close-fitting.
I guess I shall see once I get up the nerve to take my scissors to those pretty stripes.

Under The Sea

Ahhh...that wonderful feeling of finishing a project that started small (the sketch was 4 rows of 4 squares) and ballooned into a many-month long process. Our bathroom has a bit of an underwater theme—sea shells, a scuba-diver painting by R.Land Art, a top-hat-wearing-octopus painted on the wall, glow in the dark jellyfish, etc.—so I wanted to make a shower curtain showcasing squid/jellyfish (I guess they are kind of a hybrid).




I think I bought the fabric back in October, thinking I'd finish it in time for Curt's mom's NYC marathon-viewing visit. ha. Fast forward 4 1/2 months and I'm proud to say it was finally hung today.
I seem to be on a bit of a roll with the completion part of many a project.

Pink Elephants On Parade

Well, they're not parading now, but they were last night as I photographed them for the Softie Awards (the animal category). They are made from some heavy linen that I bought years (close to 10!) ago to make curtains for my apartment. I think they look rather sophisticated. The pink inspiration comes, of course, from the dancing pink elephants from Dumbo. The idea of linking them together comes from the circus elephants who must walk through the Queens-Midtown Tunnel on their way from Queens to Madison Square Garden when the Ringling Brothers Circus is in NYC. Curt and I went to see them one year. People crowd the streets around the tunnel on the Manhattan side and wait for these giant creatures to emerge sometime around midnight. They are remarkably speedy for creatures of such great size and they each grip the tail of the elephant before them. It's a terribly gentle gesture—it looks to me like they are reassuring each other that it's not so bad, really, it's not. I haven't been to the circus in many, many years—and that was in Kansas—because I find the reality of it very depressing compared to the fantasy of it.
My elephants have a little braided loop of a tail which can fit over the trunk of the elephant behind him (or her).



I also entered the pincushion category. My prickly little hedgehog has already proved himself to be very helpful.



I intend to make a little velcro wristband from the hedgehog fabric so that he is even more portable.
No more pins all over the table (and subsequently on the floor)!!!

Colorful Monday

We took a trip out to the NYC Aquarium yesterday with some friends. It's been many many years since I've been inside. The overall feeling is a little sad, but the jellyfish in the alien stingers exhibit are stunning. I found myself wishing that I could always be surrounded by gently glowing glass walls filled with jellyfish. It was very relaxing. We emerged from that dark exhibit to a light flurry of snow swirling about. Finally, proving that the third time is indeed the charm, we were able to eat at Totonno's Pizza. The appeal is definitely in the pizza rather than the service, but it was a tasty, tasty meal.
When we got home I made this cake (a jelly roll cake, oddly enough),
which was inspired by this. I have sampled bit and pieces, but my first real taste will be part of today's lunch.
Yum!

Wingin' It

This is my latest entry into the angry chicken's Tie On One Apron Show-and-Tell. A few other shots are here and here. The January/February theme was Valentine's Day so I thought I'd go over the top a bit and make myself into a little cupid (though I did not do the cherub-diaper aspect—yikes!) It has a bit of an Alice in Wonderland look, too. I think that comes from the high waist.

I've only managed to get my act together enough to participate a few times including "Your Favorite Musical" and Favorite Family Recipes (don't look too close, I used the same pink bunny fabric) but how many aprons does one girl need? I have had a good time doing it. Funny how I'm always finishing them on the night of the last day of the month. And I mean funny in a lack-of-sleep kind of way.

I'm proud of the fact that this is entirely from my (too large) stash of fabric. I love the red print. I bought it here back at the beginning of my love affair with Aunt Grace prints and made a 50s-style casual dress from it. To this day that dress is one of my most commented-on and complimented outfits. And it's wonderfully comfy.

The apron bottom is a vintage border print that I bought on eBay, thinking that I was going to make a bed skirt and then realizing that there wasn't enough fabric there. I smocked the ribbon years ago at the early-planning stage of my wedding dress. It was subsequently abandoned and thrown in a drawer. I am happy that it emerged in time to trim the heart and give it that over-the-top vintage feel.

Yay for using up things that you have!

I'm Definitely Anti-Scurvy

yum.

Morning

Snow

It made noise as it fell so it should really be classified as sleet, not snow.
It was still chilly on the toes, though.

Copycat

I have been enjoying this lately, so I thought I'd give it a try, albeit solo.
I like the idea of a quick little shot of creativity to start the day off.

Slowly Making Headway

I always have about a million projects going at any one time.

This is good for my short-attention span days, but bad for ever actually finishing anything. It allows me to just pick up something new rather than attend to those not-so-fun nit-picky details: buttons, hems, etc. This shirt has been (literally) hanging around waiting for me to finish the hem for a month or so—all so I could knit some yarn swatches, make bias strips for napkin-edging, work on a new bathrobe, etc.

The pattern is vintage and was actually originally a dress. I bought the fabric from MakeMe, a wonderful vintage fabric store. It seems that they have a brick-and-mortar outpost in Barnardsville, NC. Their fabric is quite lovely! I want most of it, but do not have time or space for such dreams.

Thankfully I can cross this lovely off of my to-do list now, though I guess I should wait until the temperature rises at least above freezing before it can make it's debut at the office.
Ah, winter.
I guess it would make sense to go knit a few rows on that half-finished vest.

Honky-tonk'n

Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co. at Otto's Shrunken Head with the camera set on "manual".
Very entertaining...assuming you like twangy music and tiki-drinks, which I do.