it's almost over

summer that is...ive only been camping once!

but in the last two months i have:
- planned my company picnic
- hosted the first ever 17th avenue block party
- found a place for our fall 2010 wedding
- acquired a p-patch and taught myself gardening
- finished knitting this huge ass ball of yarn into a very long beautiful scarf for fall

lots of pictures have been uploaded to my flickr so head over there when you get a chance.

tonight we are heading out to sole repair for trust...a monthly dance party. it will be good to get out of the apartment and shake a leg or two.

siff movie #4 garbage dreams was so good. hopefully this movie gets wider distribution because i highly recommend you watch it.

thursday night craft night went to the columbia city art gallery to help artist/crafter, mandy greer crochet pieces of a blue stream that she will be putting together as a larger installation at camp long in west seattle called mater matrix mother. i can't wait to see the finished product. the coolest part about being involved in mandy's art installation is #1 she got the community involved by letting us contribute our smaller pieces to make the installation and #2 she taught us how to crochet and i must admit crocheting was so much easier than i thought.

julia and claudia learning to crochet with artist mandy greer

sooo easy! for someone that has been knitting for almost 2 years and finished a handful of projects, crocheting was frustratingly easy!

and so friday morning when brian and i hopped on a plane for the shortest trip ever to north carolina, i brought some yarn and a pattern. i wanted to prove to myself that knitting can be a weekend project and still be ultra rewarding. so one roundtrip flight to north carolina later and i made a pair of gloves. yes, the gloves may look familiar to you and that is because i have knitted them before. the first pair i lost two days after knitting them, this pair i plan to hold on to for a while longer.

knitted gloves, pattern from knitty

it's wednesday night.

i started a new knitting project. a scarf. can you believe that? tomorrow's high is in the mid 70s.

i actually had an anxiety dream about this yarn last night. i bought it with the intention that i would crochet a bulky cowl scarf similar to this one but i lost the only crochet hook i own! in my dream i found crochet hooks everywhere...under the carpet (i don't have carpet), in small nooks and crannies, places that crochet hooks would not fit in. so i got home, changed straight into pajamas and began knitting (yes, knitting) with this bulky yarn.

check it, using moss stitch pattern on #15 needles

moss stitch
1st row: K1, *P1, K1; repeat * to end
2nd row: P1, *K1, P1; repeat * to end
3rd row: repeat 2nd row
4th row: repeat 1st row
Repeat these 4 rows


to get perspective on how huge this ball of yarn is (that is an 18oz bottle)...


well at least the bulkiness means quick results.

while i am knitting, brian and i are also watching the who documentary, the kids are alright. i like this movie but i am not sure i am a fan. i do like their more "mod" style but the zeppelin type songs are just well, too zeppelin and almost on the brink of cheese.

SIFF movie count: 1
- All Tomorow's Parties (documentary)

hello! i am back from cabining in leavenworth. i had such a beautiful fun time. eric, stacey, dan, jenny, kitsy and janko were all great company for a weekend in the snowy cascades. the cabin was amazing. i think it slept 16 people so we had a ton of space to dance and goof off. every night we got in the hot tub, made delicious food, and even had delicious drinks (mulled wine, dark and stormy, ginger hot toddy, etc). we kept ourselves occupied with drinking, dominoes, catch phrase, card games, and a talent show.

while cooped up, i started knitting a red beret for myself. i'm a little tired of knitting in the round but only because i knitted a pair of awesome wool cable gloves and lost them somewhere between broadway and harvard at pine st. damn! so i am taking break from the red beret and knitting a ribbed scarf for brian. it's a tad mindless but still gives me the satisfying feeling that i love when i'm creating something.

pictures from the cabin, click here.

ooh! my first time sledding

i woke up at 8am this morning so i could check out so much yarn's inventory sale. it's not my favorite yarn shop in seattle (weaving works is top notch) but you can't beat a sale. i bought a whole lotta of yarn at 30% off. i'm so happy. the line was 25 ladies deep when i arrived at ten till 9am. shortly after i got there about 15 or so were behind me. the sale was great. everything in the store was up for grabs at the discounted rate. i went for lots of wool and wool blends. oh and i finally bought a couple of skeins of the beautifully soft debbie bliss alpaca silk aran yarn in a bright red. i have not idea what i will do with it but i imagine it will be the silkiest warmest scarf in the whole world.

the line

a new stash to add to my existing stash

what a beautiful fall afternoon. i'm trying to figure out what to do with it before the sun goes down in the next hour or so. brian met amy and i for lunch today at julie's garden. they have the best pho in downtown seattle! afterwards, we all basked in the sun and chatted on the sidewalk. i made some progress on the knitted gloves while riding the bus home today. a funny girl got on the bus and stared at my knitting. she said "wow, how does it do that?". i think she meant how do 4 needles make a circle, i tried to explain but she still looked puzzled.

looking good.

'round we go!

its 827am on saturday. brian just left for his half day at work. i'm really excited about my day out in the university district. i plan on checking out the u-district farmers market for some farm fresh veggies and eggs. i just saw on the news that there will be an apple celebration with an apple pie eating contest, free cider (isnt there always free cider?), and other events. yay!

after the farmers markets, i'm heading to weaving works for a set of double pointed needles. i've been knitting regina a pair of fingerless gloves and the project is going much faster than i thought. then after all that is said and done, im heading to KUOW to volunteer for the fall pledge drive. i volunteered for the spring pledge drive and it was pretty fun, plus they always give away KUOW goodies (nalgene bottles, shirts, books, etc).

yesterday after work, brian and i picked up a couple of beers to-go from the elysian. i bought the delicious season pumpkin beer and an immortal ipa. we came home and listened to this american life as i prepped a sewing project. then we made a frozen pizza and watched 30 Rock together. we have been enjoying the tina fey/palin skits so much that we decided to rent her show and it's effin' hilarious. i'm a little bummed that we finished season 1 of mad men so quickly, shame on us. haha. i guess we were really ready for a new show since lost has not been on tv for almost a year now. geeze!

i wish i had a digital to show you pics of my projects, maybe i can borrow a work camera or something one day.

later tonight we are checking out a grafitti art opening at 11th and pike by artist NKO and Scratchmaster Joe. it's hosted by grey gallery. apparently, the duo also did the grafitti at the bridge motel project. there will be drinks, dj's, and free toys (says their flickr site). i'm intrigued. apparently the whole project is sponsored by the mayor's office of cultural affairs and funded by area businesses (ie value village, grey gallery etc.)



also hanging at grey until december 6th.

artist, eduardo benedetto

have a good weekend!

i want to make this dress

my eyes are getting wider and wider as i continue my research on fabric, yarn, and vintage shops in san francisco. check out this map i found on craft zine blog. i think i peed my pants when i saw this map.


View Larger Map

it's pretty incredible and super intensive. i've created my own SF google map with select yarn, vintage, and fabric shops. this way i don't get overwhelmed as i have mostly been feeling when i look at that other map. oh my!


View Larger Map

brian said he will check out amoeba and a park while i'm out doing crafty shopping. i think this is for the best.

tee for two

step 1: get golf clubs

done! $25 on craiglist. thanks to stephanie in west seattle for selling me her mother's golf clubs! i started knitting golf club covers for the drivers. they are going to sport some massive pom-poms at the top.

the chronicles of yarnia

i know, i know! totally cheeseball but whatever. through vanessa's blog i found the rad craftzine blog. holy shit those people posting know whats up! check this out...a yarn store in portland, where you can customize your own yarn. hells yeah! it's called yarnia. you can pick the fiber, thickness, everything! i wonder how long i would spend in a store like that? considering i spend an average 2 hours and $80 each time i go to the yarn store here in seattle. ahh! bad news bears.

also, i am totally making these for derrick's rock band drum kit. circular needles! i need to get a pair of those if i do this.


and who doesn't want neapolitan cupcakes. score! i'm for sure making these tonight!


i'm very happy it's the weekend!