perfect fit

ode to summer. this beauty is across the street from my house. i do not know what this is growing all over the balcony. mama?

sitting in my studio
fairly early for a Saturday night
listening to Aimee Mann [singing along]
after a fun day of play and great finds
lately i've been doing a lot of research for my products
finding inspiration and original ideas
flowers have been my main inspiration for a long time
i can't seem to escape it
so rather than try, i am embracing it, broadening my mind and my creative energy.

i stopped by my favorite thrift store today, to rummage around. lately i haven't been finding anything, but today i hit the jackpot.

two books, "Flowers" and "The Forgetting Room". Flowers was printed in 1950, and is absolutely the best find. all full-color illustrations of American flowers. i've already found my favorites. The Forgetting Room is a collection of prose and poetry and collage by Nick Bantock. can you see the prices? what a steal!

fabric and yarn, delightful colors and textures. i love that mustard yarn, great for some of my new lace projects.

a few weeks ago i walked around my neighborhood, hoping to find some inspiration. these flowers are all over Astoria!

so i looked it up in my new Flowers book, since i didn't know what it was either.


Trillium? is that right? so lovely. [mom, you're the expert here.]













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in other wonderful news, more sales on Etsy! thanks to Heather and her custom orders.

the finished product! embroidery to match the hat i had posted on Etsy, which Heather also purchased.

both cabled, both hand dyed with kool-aid, both hand knit by me.

i'm really loving the new Stitch 'n Bitch i've been going to. since i'm always knitting with yarn i've dyed, a few of the gals want to learn, so i'm going to have a kool-aid dying party at my apartment in a few weeks!

current knitting projects: lacey scarf for myself with beautiful light blue yarn i received as a gift.

i'm also working on knitting graphics with different colors. equipped with graph paper, colored pencils and as many colors as i can carry behind my work, i embark on the adventure of working with color. please attempt with caution. do not begin as i did. this is a sample of course, so i thought it might be fine if didn't wind the yarn on separate bobbins to carry behind my work. it's definitely making it difficult. the graph paper is needed to count the stitches, to know when to really change the color. otherwise, you're knitting blind.

this is going to be a cute little sample that i get to keep. but i really like this little tree, so i'm going to make a baby hat out of it! that orange for the background is actually the same yarn i used to make Heather's cabled hat. the other yarn i purchased, with color already added. i especially love the lime green Butterfly yarn. i bought 5 skeins of that when i was living in Detroit, and i'm so glad i did.

it's funny to me how pixelated and nintendo-like the original image is on the graph paper, but when knit, it becomes organic and smooth.

time to knit in front of a cheesy movie.

new listings!

autumn is upon us
altho the weather doesn't quite seem to want to cooperate, as it will be in the 80's again this weekend. i've begun to dive into my fall wardrobe, only to find myself a bit uncomfortable on my lunchtime walks in the sun. maybe only really from the tights.
i want to wear my knee socks. my brightly colored tights. my doc marten boots in comfort.
goodbye hot sticky weather.
helloooooooo crisp dry cool air and crunchy leaves under my feet.

with a few projects rolling around in my brain, i listed a few new items this past weekend! fabric earrings. i love wearing the pair that i made (which i featured a few posts ago), which were made with the same fabric you see here. these were hand-embroidered, using a simple common backstitch. shown here are the front of one earring, with a Graffiti Blossom stitched, and the back of the other earring. i love formal embroidery stitches. they're really worth learning, as they look so clean on the wrong side of the work.

i also listed this pair, which i machine-stitched. these have a clean edge, as i sewed them inside out, then did a top-stitch to flatten them out. these earrings are a great solution to all the scrap fabric i have in my studio. this particular fabric was included in the package of one of my Etsy orders from DearPony. she's printed a crow onto this adorable polka dot fabric. you can see most of the bird on one earring, while the other only shows part of the beak.

i love asymmetry.

i'm seriously thinking about getting some colored eyelets! how fun.

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knitting. i finished the turquoise pair of gloves i had shown last week, and sent them off to my best girl M for her birthday. i added a button for a nice detail, as well as a way to keep the gloves together when not being worn. a string of yarn fed through the bottom of the opposite glove, then wrapped around the button works well. then finished them by stitching bare branches with red kool-aid dyed yarn. (Heather, this is very similar to what yours will be! altho the stitch details will match your hat.)


here is Heather's finished left glove! a lovely purple dyed with kool-aid. and very toasty warm. i couldn't resist posting that second photo. my roommate collects the funniest objects, and this is a very fun 70's paper weight which sits on a platform with a light that shines through the bubbled glass. so psychadelic!

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i held a very small baby this evening. visited my old boss from the cafe where i worked all last summer, who just had a baby! only 5 weeks old, he was so calm and sleeping and precious in my arms. made my night.

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i highly recommend listening to April March. she is bound to make anyone's life more exciting.

gloved piano fingers

i have been back to work this week
feeling much energized and enthusiastic
a glow has filled my inner being
maybe it's the set of my mind changing
purposefully
maybe it's the fact that i have taken all pressure off of myself
or maybe it's this.

the photo might not say much to you. but it means the world to me. to have a place where i can spend moments immersed in what i love doing the most.
my refuge.
my atelier.
my studio.

two rectangular work tables, procured from the Depot at a small affordable price (for a poor gal paying her student loans). pieced together with a lovely corner desk piece left by the lady i'm subletting for (of which i am so grateful). makes for the most efficient work space a girl could ask for. these photos were taken a few days ago, i've spread out a bit since i first took these. new projects, old projects, inspirational books. and my new toy.

it makes me almost sad to say this, but it has been over 5 years since i have lived with a piano of some sort. it's about time i had one! a nice man in Ridgewood, Queens was nice enough to sell me this Yamaha PSR-172 for $35 (Craig's List!!). it is absolutely perfect! i had to take like 5 trains to get there from Manhattan (not really only 2) and then 3 (yes, really 3) to get back to Astoria. how crazy is that! but totally worth it.

and oh yes, you can see the finished gloves there!! i ventured down to the West Village last night, to go to the Stitch 'n Bitch party at The Point Knitting Cafe . what an inspiring group. i just sat and sipped my minty jasmine tea, met some new interesting people, and touched lots and lots of yarn. i finished my gloves there, and one of the men knitting there (yes there are men in that group! makes me happy) couldn't help himself but to try them on! i almost gave them to him, they looked good and seemed to fit. that's the nice thing about knitting. it stretches so very nicely. i will definitely be going next week. my friend L might even come! my knitting friend.

my sewing machine, Jewel the Janome, under her cover. henna, cowboys, indians. lots of embroidery floss. the window in my studio looks out onto our balcony. i like to talk to my roommate while she's tending to her garden.

my knitting/reading corner. all i need is a little extra light, and i'm good to knit for hours. my supply basket, with recent projects, scissors, needles, etc. my pink cloth bin full to the brim with yarn and wool fleece. maybe this is a sign that i can stop buying more yarn. problem is, i only like to knit with yarn that i dye myself now.

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Heather's gloves are started! i decided to make it easier for myself and just dye the yarn instead of trying to find the perfect color to match the hat. you won't be disappointed. they're still purple!! and they'll smell like grape. with a hint of cherry.

thank you for visiting my studio. i play a tune for you, and goodnight.

sick days knit days

called out sick for the past two days
ho hum.
life could be worse than laying around on a big black leather sofa all day and night, watching HBO movies, good and bad. but it's no fun when coughing and sneezing.
ho hum again. don't mean to complain. i'm feeling much much better, and will be going back to work tomorrow. good thing i picked a short week to be sick.
i did get some things accomplished while lazying about. i finished lacey scarf for K! there she goes, gone to Ireland for a few weeks, but it will be ready for her when she returns. as i'm sure the cold weather will be upon us as well.

you can see me modeling it above. i added some yarney tassles/fringe for a nice finished look. it's not super long, but i'm satisfied with it.

again, i used the lace pattern on page 126 from The New Knitting Stitch Library, by Lesley Stanfield. a wonderful book full of original and inspiring stitches for the avid knitter.

knitting knitting and more knitting. i have 2 projects going, now that i just finished the scarf. another is a pair of fingerless gloves for myself. AH! i haven't knit anything for myself in awhile.

this pattern i got from Knitty, a great website with amazingly wonderful and free patterns. my first gloves! i chose fingerless to make it a bit easier for myself, but wanted some difficulty, hence the cables. the left glove is done, still working on the right.

you can see the lacey scarf underneath. this lovely turquoise cotton yarn i bought from a lady selling some of her stash outside her apartment before she moved. i was riding my bicycle in Williamsburg, Brooklyn after getting one of my tires fixed, and i had to stop and ruffle through her yarn. some i bought she actually spun herself! trying to think of a project for that.
also, in the very left corner of the photo, you can see the other project i'm working on. a hat made from merino wool i dyed with kool-aid awhile ago. another project for a friend. this is an interesting hat. i'll have more photos of it soon. can't give away the secret just yet!

exciting things going on! i joined a Stitch n' Bitch group, which meets in the West Village on Tuesdays! excitement. i'm also researching getting a tax ID number to start selling my goods at street fairs and flea markets! first things first. i've gotta get my studio going, then kick out the products.

Pink Graffiti on the streets! here i come!

threads for dreads

hello again!

labor day weekend come and gone
and here i am in my apartment, finally with internet flowing through my sparkly clean computer.
thanks to my wonderful and able C, my roommate and i have internet, stress-free.

i am currently milking a weird cold/allergy thing goin on. but was still able to paint my studio!
after a mini-adventure last weekend to the Depot (Home that is), i found 5 quarts of unwanted paint, all different colors ($1 each!!!). 4 for the walls, and 1 for the trim (semi-gloss of course). excitement ensued as i imagined this tiny little guest bedroom/studio (of mine!) in pastel blues and greens. how bright it was in my mind.

after 2 days of pretty intense labor (pun intended), it's done! i am so happy.

walls 1 and 2. the shelves were there, i like them so much. decided to keep them. i took these photos just tonight, so they're a bit yellow with the incandescent light. it's difficult to take good photos during the day, with the light pouring in the window. so yes, you can see wall 1 is a nice light olive, while wall 2 is more blue/green. the trim is a light sea foam green. the lacey curtain you see courtesy of my roommate J.

walls 2 and 3. wall 3 is very similar in color to wall 1, just a little lighter.

walls 3 and 4. looove that blue wall. another cute shelf for goodies. weird thing, as much as i love color, i'm becoming somewhat of a minimalist. my parents are going through a lot of their stuff, and becuz i moved here on such short notice i ended up leaving a lot of my stuff there. the more i think about it, the more i just want to give away or throw out. in the year i've been out here in NYC, i've barely acquired anything. all my belongings still fit into one room.

--

later this week.
buy some work tables for my studio. (2) 4' x 2' folding tables. very useful when we have guests over and can fold up for sleeping room. J and i are going to pitch in together and get an inflatable mattress for such occasions.

on this note. goodnight.

almost autumn

....and with it brings excitement and adventures!

i have been quiet lately. something in my computer seems to be broken, and not letting me log on to the internet at home. i thought an explanation would be nice, as i have at least (4) posts to do!

as i do not have any photos taken recently on my computer at work, i shall post this of my mother and i, from my visit back to the farm in Michigan a couple weeks ago.

oh how i want to see the farm in the fall!

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work is brewing at the homefront. i'm sprucing up my studio! decided that i'm staying in this apartment for at least another year, so i'm painting and making it my own. for as long as i have it. photos!

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coming....Montauk trip, continuous adventures in NYC, new office, and stu.stu.studio!

songs of brother

another night in this city, and instead of going home right after a long day at work, i went to a rooftop party on Madison Ave with my friend Martha. she's great, my friend M. always invites me to interesting shindigs.

her friend Jonny from London is a VJ [video jockey], does very interesting things with video and sound. using equipment that mesmerizes me. i went to a party a couple weeks ago with Martha, where i first met Jonnny, got to see some of his work.

M is a freelance photographer. she grabbed my camera and took this shot of the video equipment, tv on the right. the same images were projected onto the ceiling. if you squint you might be able to make out Jonny somewhere on the left.

the roof had the most amazing view. the sky was so open, not a lot of tall buildings. except for this one.

Empire at day.


















Empire at night.


















there were quite a few nice people at the party.


my new friend Zac on the right, also a video jockey, who's from Chicago.

ended the evening with a walk in Bryant Park, my favorite. another beautiful fountain. behind the fountain you can see the movie screen that HBO puts up every summer for their film series. i went to one this summer, to see Wait Until Dark, with Audrey Hepburn. everyone sits on the giant lawn, on blankets, eating and drinking and watching. gives me chills just thinking about it. the movie and the experience.

this was such perfect timing because i had a bit of a rough week last week, and have been craving some adventure. i'm actually taking a train out to Montauk with M on Saturday! i was hoping to take C there, get him out of his apartment and outdoors, but he is acquiring a new bicycle and will be picking it up that day. i do hope he can ride it soon.
my real fascination with Montauk is from the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. there is a lighthouse, beautiful beaches, just pure loveliness. the train ride is about 3 hours from Jamaica, Queens, so it'll be a nice day trip. excited to leave the city for a few hours. put on my bathing suit.
so i'll have some nice photos next week!

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TGIF. moved my office this week. the space is just lovely, but what a headache. glad it's over with. here's a quick preview before we started unpacking.

my desk is the one at the very back, by the windows. cork flooring, all of our material binders are on the red wall shelves, including carpet and wall covering books. can you believe we have so many to fit on those shelves? it's a bit ridiculous. a photo to come later showing more of the finished space.

hope all is well with everyone. my love to you.

washingtonsquarefilmforumharrypotter

it all began last weekend
seeing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in the theater.
of course my obsession returns.
all craftiness in me is geared towards this. transferring my energy.

so to distract myself, i took a walk in Washington Square Park. Sunday (July 15) was the perfect day for a movie. no, not Harry Potter (saw that last Saturday). but Flying: Confessions of a Free Woman, at the Film Forum in the West Village. i decided to venture into Manhattan a bit early to wander, since i don't do that enough.

(photo: fountain at Washington Square Park)

Washington Square Park is just wonderful. full of tourists and city-dwellers alike. chess players enjoying the heat, children playing in the fountain. steps leading to the fountain create a haven for visitors relaxing, dipping their hot feet into the cool water.

children cooling off in the pool. i watched them for quite awhile. they're having the most interesting conversation. i wonder what they're talking about.

the fountain of youth, a drinking fountain in the park. i feel younger and younger wandering around this city. so much to see. so much to learn. about myself. about life. about other people. society.

after wandering around for a few hours, it was off to meet my friends (Carmina and Ina [[EEEEna]] from the business women's meeting i used to attend) for a cold drink at the Grey Dog Coffee on Carmine Street, right around the corner from the Film Forum. a very quaint cafe, serving delicious sandwiches and coffee and tea. pictured above, the brick walls are lined with paintings of dogs, Walter's Dogs. We caught up (since i hadn't seen these ladies for a few months), brilliant conversations about business.

the film was quite long, but an eye-opener. a bit. definitely directed toward the single woman living in New York City. it really could be applied to single women everywhere, but it was worth watching. i did learn a bit about myself, and maybe a bit about my friends. the world is so different now, isn't it? the role of the woman has changed. for the better i think. it's just a matter of really going after what you want.

(photo: i am enjoying a lovely conversation with Carmina and Ina on the bench outside of the Grey Dog)

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so the whole point of this entry.

HAPPY HARRY POTTER #7 DAY!!!!

went to a party tonight in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with my friend K. she and her husband own a bar right across the street from this small hole-in-the-wall bookstore. they had a nice party, with a trivia game, free food, sangria, and then sold the book at 12:01. i was in Hufflepuff house for the trivia game, and we tied with Ravenclaw! the two houses LEAST represented in the books!!!! bloody brilliant.
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receiving my book in the mail in less than 12 hours.

i
am
stoked.

fabric earrings

hot weather makes lesley a motivated girl.

spent a lot of this weekend indoors, making new things, sketching new ideas. sometimes it's difficult for me to be motivated in the summertime, what with all the outdoor activities, hanging out with friends, grilling, etc.

so i had a bit of an anti-social weekend, except for spending some time with my gentleman friend, multi-tasking like nothing else. i couldn't make up my mind! i have a knitting project that i just adore right now. for my friend K who may be leaving for Ireland for a few months in September. now i say 'may' becuz she may NOT end up going. but even if she doesn't go, she still needs a scarf to keep her warm.

[photo: lacey scarf for K, knit with yarn dyed with Koolaid. cherry blast for your neck! this same yarn was for sale on my Etsy site for awhile, bit i decided to put it to good use. the pattern was taken from the book you see, The New Knitting Stitch Library by a woman with my same first name. brilliant. you can also see my little stitch counter. very useful.]

after looking through the Etsy site for awhile, comparing my ideas to what's already out there [also very useful and inspiring], got some great ideas and started sketching/making. didn't get too far, but came up with these!!

fabric earrings dangling from my ears! 2 layers of fabric sewn together, and then quilted-like with a machine-stitched graffiti blossom. added an eyelet for a finished touch, and voila! instant earring! i'll keep these for myself and make some more elaborate ones to sell.

front and back of my new pretties.

making has been a bit difficult for me lately, as i jammed my middle finger on my right hand rock climbing a couple months ago [i am right handed, doh!]. so i've finally decided to keep it in a brace permanently for at least 2 weeks. this is a bit counter-productive for me, and makes it hard to knit, sew, type....you can probably imagine.

and now to teach myself how to knit continental style. thank you YouTube! be sure to check out this tutorial if you'd like to try out a new way of knitting. they say this is better for those of you with arthritis [mama! i'm not sure about carpel tunnel, but it may be worth a shot!]

inspiration today

i am fortunate enough to live in a city of endless possibilities and resources. sometimes i feel like i take this for granted. and then other times, like today, i realize the possibilities, and i grab them as fast as i can.

i decided to venture down to Brooklyn again, to the Etsy Labs, for a free workshop talk with Antonio Gould, about creating a global brand, yet keeping it at a less-than-corporate level. this of course was just what i needed to start my creative juices flowing. while taking notes, i scribbled down ideas, sketching, looking at the artisans around me, wondering if their minds were as occupied as mine. knowing they were.

[please excuse me. i'm reading a Dan Brown novel at the moment]

after coming home, ideas flowing, i decided to do a post on my inspirations. to compliment this, i will be posting some of my older work. constructive criticism always welcome.

1. FLOWERS
i wish i could scoop them up into my head and create a garden. everything i do i think of flowers, floral, botanical, organic. there's so much life, so much love in it. the colors are abundant and forever glistening.

[photo: hand-woven messenger bag w/ embroidered abstract flowers. hand card-woven strap. double reinforced for structure and stability. approximate labor hours: 80]

2. TEXTURE
anything i can touch, see, taste. fabric especially. brick walls lead to concave metal rails leading into darkness and i wonder what it would look like as a woven tapestry hanging on my wall.

[photo: taken in nyc metro subway station. just look at that concrete. you can see how the gravity plays with it. approximate labor hours: .125]

3. GEOMETRY
really i know this is a bit like the opposite of organic but organic can really only make sense if it's paired with geometry.

[photo: i am modeling a cabled hat i knit from yarn dyed with koolaid. this was my first attempt at a cable hat with ear flaps and a pompom top. birdies embroidered also with koolaid dyed yarn. approximate labor hours: 35]

4. ABSTRACT FASHION
i know i know, what does this mean? only in vogue.

[photo: fashion project, sophomore year at CCS. inspired by Russian fashion, both old and new. installation included dress with muff, 2 old doors found on parents' farm hinged together to create room, all scrap fabric used during project, an inspiration board, and the word 'RED' in Russian. pronounced, 'kraksnie'. my outfit of my own making as well. hair using felt remnants by Diana Jellinek. approximate labor hours: 100]

5. DOT TO DOT
drawing is something i push myself to do. embroidery is drawing with thread, which is much much more exciting than a pencil.

[photo: embroidery on felt. approximate labor hours: .5]

some of my favorite projects [felt embroidery aside] are so labor intensive, i find it difficult to duplicate and sell. but they can be inspiration to me. and they are.