Pantries

Many thanks to Mary S who suggested I look at The Pantry - Its History and Modern Uses (Pond). It is a wonderful illustrated history of how we store our food. I love the modern DIY pantry a woman built by hacking open the wallboard to store canning jars between the wall studs. 
I have read that designating a place for things (Julia Child's pegboard kitchen walls) is akin to scheduling time for things (Twyla Tharp's Creative Habit). Making a pantry and taking the time to stock it creates order in place and time, and it creates confidence in a future place and time. Pantry-making is going to be my act of confidence in the future, both in earthquake country and shaky times.

Paul Taylor's home

I love this series in the NYTimes about peoples' homes. Can you see the basket turned lampshade in the photo? the Jaws/Moby Dick/Jonah's leviathan portrait above the mantle? Mostly I love his cardigan against the bright turquoise wall. 

Sport weight swatches

I have a one pound cone of Bartlett Yarns sport weight still in my stash. I think it is the beginning of many light weight heathered wool cardigans with something going on along the edges - something like beads or crochet. I keep looking at the cardigans in Rowan's A Season's Tale and looking at crochet edgings. I've been thinking of a sweater the color of old bricks with a faded advertisement knitted in - something like this. 

Ice-O-Mat

Nothing says October in Berkeley like Ice-O-Mat! For a mere $2 I have a lovely ice crusher and all my icey drinks look so professional: lemonade, ice coffee, Clara's back porch fizz. 

Electronic books and knits

All this talk of ebook screens and digital content makes me think of Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age and William Blakes' graphic novels if he printed them today. Would Thoureau have a blog? (One of his friends wrote that he would have starved in Walden if his mother and sister hadn't brought food out for him every few days! Where did I read that?) I love steampunk - that spot where handmade/DIY and hacked technology meet because of the need for customization, for the love of an inexpensive solution, or all that and a desire to knit with electrical cord and conductive thread and fashion ceramic squash blossom gramophones.

Leaf plate

I've been making leaf plates. I like the idea of a table covered in black or very dark navy linen and filled with ceramic leaf plates of food. I need to make these much larger - leaf platters.

Ceramic gramophone

Look at these beauties! Caption reads: Jason Marks' Euphorn channels the sound from an iPod, £230 or £990 to order. 

Paula sweater in moss

Fiona Ellis's Paula sweater from Twist Collective is finished. I still need to block it and weave in the ends. I used discontinued yarn from my stash which knit at a slightly larger gauge, and I used the ridge pattern instead of the cable pattern for the collar. I plan to reknit the collar slightly larger. When I've knit through my stash, I'm going to get some Ultra Alpaca in a heathered rust or dark red and knit it again.

That scarf again

I am haunted by the multi-stripe scarf sewn in two pieces! Remember that Gap holiday scarf last Winter? I planned one in leftover sock yarn and tweedy 4ply, but I did not get very far. I am inspired, but I don't like the way tweedy 4ply feels on my neck! I am going to think about what Kaffe would do if he had a very sensitive neck. I could sew all my stripey swatches together for half the scarf and then sew on a strip of printed wool or velvet for the other half. I like wool fabric with hand tied yarn fringe, why not take it a step farther with a knitted wool scarf sewn to a woven wool scarf?

Handmade lamp idea

I would like to make a lamp similar to this one using wire and ceramic beads.

Budgie knitting

We have a new pet, a sweet little budgie. At night we cover his cage with a shawl, but I may have to knit a cover. I like the idea of doing something from Kaffe Fassett's Pattern Library. I am also thinking of dyeing sock yarn in budgie colors  - a beautiful marigold to begin the toe that matches his beak, followed by white and grey for the stripes on his face and  a little bit of violet for the stripes across his cheeks - then blue and black and white and finally black and a dark turquoise for his tail - budgie socks. 

I just saw Ann Weaver's post about her Christmas ornament patterns in the new Interweave Holiday issue. I am going to have to make that pinecone for our tree! I also love the Nordic Striped Ball.

Personal Footprints

Have you seen Cat Bordhi's new book on socks? I love this book. I love all her books - they are just my pot of tea. The patterns are based on the technique she first introduced with the Houdini sock for Twist Collective. You knit the foot as a seamless piece and then open a space for the leg. I've made one template for my son and plan on sketching everyone's footprint. Knitters' Review has a review here. 

Terrariums

I had one of those nifty vinegar bottles and couldn't bear to toss it in the recycling which lead to finding this terrarium book at the library. I like the idea of creating a terrarium in the middle of a larger planter - like a geodome in the jungle or the Climatron in Shaw's Garden. I should go buy a six of Orangina and a few more of these vinegar bottles and then macrame plant hangers from red hemp, fill them with carbon and potting soil and grow little planets in the kitchen window.

On second thought, I could forget the soil and plants and go right for glycerin and sparkles and do some funky snow globes.

Second sock syndrome

I'm falling prey to second sock syndrome. The pattern is too intricate to knit while watching the Cardinals!

Paula in green

Twist Collective just blogged about knitting the Paula sweater in different colors, and by coincidence, I started one Sunday in some mossy green Elsebeth Lavold Classic Al from my stash! My gauge is a little larger, so I am fiddling with the numbers. I would love to make one of these in some Berroco Ultra Alpaca - as soon as I've knit through my stash!