Whoa! Look at this! What a beautiful drawing, even if it is of me! You'd never know what a stinky photo it's from too. So cool!

Long time since I've posted, but so many sewn and knit objects to post actually, hopefully I'll get my act together soon. Taking a good photo is always what trips me up.

tova top

hey, i made another wiksten pattern! these patterns are so incredibly well-made. the only modification i made was to adjust the pattern to use french seams because i don't have a serger. and i actually can't believe it turned out ok - it's just my second time doing french seams. the only thing i screwed up was not clipping the corners on the front placket, so the seam is thick and the gathers in front are a little funky. doing gathers with french seams was a little tricky.

i want this vintage fabric to be some kind of awesome wool blend, but truth be told, it's probably polyester. meh. and the save the day story? when all i had left was the collar, i burned the right shoulder with the iron! what?! i was a little heartbroken, but kept my cool and went straight to bed. the next day i cut out a piece of fabric for a yoke in back like a western-style shirt and i Saved The Shirt. and then i forgot to take picture of that. maybe i'll add it later.

look at this dorky picture. i need modeling lessons.

oh, i give in

i'm blog-crazy, i'm tired of it, i'm back. who knows what i want. but the tumblr thing wasn't working for me - i really don't know how it works and how to format it the way i want. although that's true for blogger too. which is why those two pictures above are actually supposed to be at the bottom but i can't seem to move them today. perhaps my return to blogging may again be short if it's as much of a pain in the $#5 as it always was. anyways, i've been busy knitting and sewing and never seem to want to keep my big mouth shut, so i'm back. and here's some of what i've been up to (thermis above):

manti size 3 but with a smaller gauge to turn out a size 2. she's so cute, it really doesn't matter what i knit. really happy that it fit and hope it can also be worn by a future sibling (or two?...)

i have more to take pictures of and post... among other things that make blogging difficult, is the fact that i really can't take a decent picture of myself wearing my creations. pictures of garments lying on my couch are only so interesting. some combination of crappy camera, uncomfortable model, no good backdrop and not home during daylight hours make it challenging. but i have a knit obi-style belt done, a tova top, and i'm closer to a humanoid knock-off...

tired of this blog.

that's it. so for now i'm justing posting pictures on tumblr: http://littlegraybird.tumblr.com/

pictures of my projects, photos i've taken, and other photos that inspire me one way or another.

happy birthday elmore

i normally don't post non-craft-related posts, but today is the day we brought elmore home... from the parking lot... and i have so many good pictures of him to celebrate with.

(this picture was taken when we played photo booth a couple weeks ago. he loved it).

most people who have known me a while know i didn't really like cats.... but i love this stinkin cat.

a new couch

well, not exactly. but new to us.

finally, after living with this for a year... wait for it... *jaws music*

eek! well, to some people. at first i didn't hate it too much when ben had it in his apartment. but we've been well overdue for an upgrade. i love the contrast of orange and blue, so i wanted to tie that into my great grandmother's painting...:

and the fabric i'm using on the coffee table top for the antique "thing" from a textile factory in fall river, circa 1900 (the bottom of the table, not the fabric. the fabric was from the remnants at lorraine. see picture below for the coffee table. i still have to cut and sew the fabric):



pretty happy with the results, although the sewing is far from impeccable. i didn't photograph it, but the backs of the cushions are held with rusty red plastic buttons.

elmore likes posing and likes, uh, helping me too. the lump in the second picture below is my dear cat.

oh my god i almost forgot! total for the supplies used for this makeover: about $25. love the remnants. although i do have about another $14 worth of leftover fabric, but that's whats great about cheap fabric, i can buy too much in case i screw up. which i did a little.

my... "studio"

i have finally completed my little, tiny workspace. it consists of about a 4'x8' section of my little, tiny bedroom. unfortunately for ben, it's on his side of the bed...
i've lived in this apartment for a year now, and am almost close to being done with the major decorating and arranging. phew. not a quick task with a small budget and the primary source being yard sales and thrift stores. but much more satisfying than a quick ikea fill.




i've collected a few vintage pieces i love, including the antique typography drawer that i mounted on the wall and filled with spools of threads, and the egg-shaped case that holds fo's or projects in time out. i LOVE vintage suitcases and have them all over the apartment for storage/decoration, including the one holding my sewing supplies.

a big source of inspiration is family, including the pictures of my mom that i've blogged about before, a membership card of my grandmother's from 1968, from the amalgamated clothing workers of america, a picture of my father's grandmother knitting in a rowboat in 1917, and a knitting tag of my father's sister. i think about my nonna ALL THE TIME when i am sewing, which is such a great way to remember her.

the last step is a change of curtains. another long overdue decorating project will hopefully be posted soon.

a great memory

look at this! a friend from my days in fredericksburg still has a gift i gave her years and years ago. i kid you not that i thought about this gift not too long ago - i bought her frames because i knew how beloved her dogs were to her (like mine was to me) and i scribbled little pictures to go in there - i thought i was hilarious. honestly, i was a little too delighted with how funny i thought i was, and jokingly told her that the gift was actually the pictures, not the frames. then quickly corrected myself in case she should actually think for a second that i expected her to like my little drawings. but i guess she did! i don't know whether to laugh or cry. i love it. thanks jen!

tomatoes!

the tomatoes have arrived.there are four varieties, but i only remember three, amish paste (which, until just now when i looked it up, thought were the little orange ones, but are actually the plum tomato-shaped ones) a beefsteak variety (big boy i think?), and black prince. so i'm not sure what the orange ones are, but they're all good. i made a teeny bit of sauce but mostly have eaten them raw, and that beautiful beefsteak above was eaten sliced with a little bit of salt.

the warmth that radiates from a giant just-picked tomato is amazing.

i can't boast the same about corn. corn is hard! this ear tasted not so great and was pretty much all we got. now the stalks are dry and dead and impossible to pull from the ground.

the animals (and by animals, i mean rats and possibly raccoons) eat the vegetables too fast, so i picked this little bell pepper too fast so i could have it first, and it was tiny and good. there are more coming!

i can't even touch the inside of the pepper and then touch my lips without running for water. these peppers look beautiful but are, wow, hot.

i just pulled all the carrots today and there are finally some legit carrots. two actually.

to add to the list:

successes:

• italian roasters and jalapenos

what didn't work:

• corn. maybe if we had more space we could make a square cluster and space them a little better. they might like more water too.
• green peppers, only because of the critters

for the fall:

pickling cucumbers, broccoli, kale, and brussels sprouts