Happy Halloween

Pink Pearl apples from the market.  This post explains their Turkish crabapple lineage. Happy times here: apple cider and cinnamon sticks in the crockpot, orange construction paper pumpkins on the windows, beautiful Jack-o-lanterns for the porch. I'd like to find some nice leaves to dip in wax for the windows as well.

Floorquilts

The subtitle says it all: "Fabric Decoupaged Floorcloths - No Sew Fun". I have always planned on doing a floorcloth - painted heavy cotton canvas with layers of varnish on top, but now I'm excited to try a fabric decoupaged version. I'm using Denyse Schmidt's book for inspiration. I keep thinking of the "unswept floor" mosaic in the Vatican Museum. Gold Japanese Maple leaves would be lovely decoupaged onto a floorquilt like this - or letters on a hallway rug beneath the mail slot, Hubba Bubba wrappers in the diningroom, rose petals in the bathroom.

Mechanical pencils

Like all my obsessions, it began with a handful of hand-me-downs. I love the tiny golf pencils, the bullet pencils, but the advertising pencils are the best. These make great gifts with a personalized notebook or moleskin. Some have loops for attaching tassels or cords.

Printing by Hand

The artsy Miss Lear has been doing some screen printing at school, and now we are all wild to do the same. I just got Lena Corwin's Printing by Hand and I'm throwing it right into the runcible bin with the sticker book and Sonia Delaunay. I'm counting on some wonderful ideas to brew over the weekend for gift wrap and t-shirts.

Newsprint background

I love this picture of a Handmade Expressions bag from Country Home. I like the idea of printing on newsprint for gift wrap. I also love using newsprint fabric in quilts. I've been playing around with applique in newsprint fabrics - like practice silhouettes or practice templates. I would like to decoupage the interior of a desk drawer with newspapers and ticket stubs, etc. I have to fiddle with this a little more.

Clay, beads and wire

I tore this picture of Iradj Moini's insect brooches from an old Vogue. I would like to make creatures like these with leftover clay and wire - fantastical creatures and backyard specimens. I love clay pots with wire handles, why not clay beetles with wire legs - that hold the mail, my glasses, Bart passes?

A Platter of Figs

I love cookbooks, especially when they are beautifully photographed, written and printed like David Tanis's A Platter of Figs. I need to concentrate on making platters for these menus. I also need to roll out some plates and whistles for Christmas.

Another Stairway Walk

We hiked another of Adah Bakalinsky's Stairway Walks in San Francisco. This was Walk 1 which includes the nineteenth century alleys around the Pyramid, the parrots of Telegraph Hill and Chinatown. Chinatown is best early Sunday mornings when the funeral bands go by, but twilight is good too.

Easiest Chocolate Ice Cream

I don't have a great picture of this ice cream. Here it is mixed up and ready to go in the freezer. No ice cream machine needed. This is David Lebovitz's Easiest Chocolate Ice Cream Ever. This is wonderful while watching the financial news. I can imagine a scoop of this in a milky-coffee drink. It is also wonderful just leaning up against fridge.

Photographs and Technology

Look closely at the chairs here. I am thinking of photo transfers appliqued onto pieced landscapes. The photo appliques could be on the inside of one of those quilted carryalls. Every time you open your bag it is like opening one of your own slide shows. I keep thinking of the Mad Men episode about Kodak's Carousel.

When is dressing a jar?

I have lost the magazine where I saw this idea. I have done this with plastic spray bottles for diluting cleaning liquids, but it wasn't this pretty. I used a Sharpie to mark lines on an old peanut butter jar to guide kitchen helpers when making salad dressing. Imagine this with those art store glass paints - painting the whole jar except for a bottle silhouette window. I wonder what else I could use this for - limeade ratios? The French press? A glass teapot?

Tri-color Monteagle Bag

I am inspired by the bags on Ravelry knit with stash and remnants. The Summer before last I knit dozens of these out of linen, cotton, and hemp. I now see that my leftovers bag contains a lot of tri-color possibilities. There's also the nylon cord option for swim-laundry-bath bags. In the bottom of the runcible bin I've thrown some saved bits of cord and twine and string, the kind that comes on packages and out of little desk drawers. There is an idea brewing down there with buttons and bits of pink paper and silver foil.

Mason-Dixon Felted Candy Corn

I love the Felted Trees in the new Mason-DIxon book. With my bag of leftover green yarns I am set to create a forest. But all I can think right now is - candy corn forest.

One Arm Waving

I'm on the second sleeve of Cafe Bastille. This is one of those knits that could become an obsession - a bulky cable sweater in every color with every neckline. I should do mini versions for the little Lears. 

Baby gift stalls

Thank you for all the comments! I'm plugging away on the little baby wrap wishing it were done so I could start the embroidery. I have been thinking of Hideyuki Oka's book "How to Wrap 5 Eggs." I check it out of the library ever so often to go over all the gorgeous Japanese packaging - some fancy - some farmers' market sensible. I would like to wrap my gifts in this elegant natural way.

Mason-Dixon Knitting: Outside the Lines

The new Mason-Dixon book is out today.  Make yourself a pot of coffee and find a little something to munch on, because once you open this book you will not be able to move. I'm so proud to be included in this wonderful book. There are over 30 patterns - women's coats to tiny felt trees.
Not only are the patterns wonderful as written, they inspire other creations as well. Cristina's Via Veneto Table Runner in something silky would also make a lovely wrap. The Margaret sweater is so adaptable, and the embroidery directions would create an incredible baby blanket. The Belinda wrap in two shades of linen would make a wonderful window hanging. All the blanket patterns could be used for smaller projects like pillows or the felted bag. Kiki Mariko is driving me crazy - a rug, a bag, a floor pillow, a slipcover, a king-size bedspread! I want to make the tiny girl coat, Fern, for myself, but I can see it as a long wrap as well using the same shades for the stripes, but something like Silky Wool or Rowan's Summer Tweed. I'm going to use the Superfestive Lantern pattern to cover artsy Ikea lamps. I haven't even talked about the stories, the techniques, the top-down sweater, the Jane Austen dress and shrug - and the potential holiday gift items, like my Monteagle string bag available here. 

Saturday with the dudes from Nerdistan

We toured the new California Academy of Sciences this weekend. It is different from the Natural History Museums we have visited in Vienna, New York, and Chicago. I cannot forget the albino alligator resting behind the seahorse railings. At the aquarium we saw this starfish and thought he would make an excellent pillow. Even softer would be the black velvet and fur ball behind him. I think the chocolate chip star fish will inspire a dessert. Perhaps we will start an ocean theme in the livingroom - with a jellyfish lamp and an octopus pillow too.

Watch band

I want to make a series of beaded watch bands that I can quickly change - seeds, Sculpey in the shape of old bones, those little silver charms at the bead store. The only thing holding me back is "connectors". I'm going to go through Bead Simple again and make a shopping list. I also love those teeny macrame bands - wouldn't that make a simple band? 

Embroidered baby wrap

Inspired by an old Debbie Bliss pattern, I'm using Barbara Walker's top-down directions for a baby kimono. I'm going to embroider it with something wonderful from The New Crewel. This may be the prototype for my own kimono. 

Double Indemnity

Yikes this was good! I don't know how people can get away with lines like these: "Maybe I like the way his thumbs hold up the wool." For an excellent post on this and photos see Needled.

Executive Suite

Get a load of William Holden's house! I like this one. Go designers!

Cafe Bastille Cables

This lovely Silkroad Ultra is finally becoming a wonderful sweater. Yarn this marshmallowey can be tricky, like the Michelin Man, like football pads. I've always loved this pattern because real waiters modeled it for the cover of Interweave Knits.

Pimp my armoire

About this time last year, I was contemplating a carrel; it looked messy. So once again I am fixing up our armoires. Each one holds the promise of an entire extra room. Pictured here is the beginnings of a young Lear's private library - much like the Duke d'Urbino's "cabinet". We are planning covered bulletinboard panels on the doors, a fold-down desktop and customized cubbies for stationery and supplies.

The Minimalist Cooks Dinner

I love this book. My Cafe Bastille sweater is coming along, but it is too hot to even pick it up. I'm going to start some socks and listen to the speeches.

Gansey complete

I knit the collar during the closing ceremonies. The color in this photo isn't true. I may knit another of these for myself. I usually don't knit sweaters in pieces, but I needed this one to be portable. I do not like sewing seams or fitting the sleeves. I will go back to picking up stitches and knitting sleeves in the round. My favorite way to knit a sweater is from the top down, a la Barbara Walker. That way I can be sure I have the shoulders and armholes fitted correctly before I take on the bulk of the sweater. But I also like being able to knit in pieces here and there.