Banana Upside Down Cake

I've taken banana bread just about as far as it can go with David Lebovitz's Banana Upside Down Cake. It's wonderful.

I've been thinking about old Victorian homes that come with linen closets and butler's pantries and broom closets. There have been several great articles in Martha on making your own hidden storage - a craft space from two bookcases and an office in an armoire. I like this "origami living" style.

Re-skeining

I am frogging my unworn sweaters. It is easier to imagine new projects for old yarn when it is in skeins. 

Linen leaf

This leaf is knit in Louet's worsted weight linen. I'm really over knitting leaves now. I am feeling quite smug reknitting schlumpy projects. 

Felted leaf

This is the leaf pattern in wool leftover from the rug project. It came out of the washer a little ruffly, and then I ironed it flat. With some fiddling I think I could felt it into a dish for keys or a place for scissors and needles and button stuff - can you see that?

Central Park Hoodie again

I wore my Central Park Hoodie twice and then lost it in the hallway because it is too schlumpy. The wool is Rowan's Scottish Tweed in indigo and it is beautiful, too beautiful to be lost in the hallway. I have unravelled the buttons bands and the hood and taken it apart. I think I can get away with simply re-knitting the back slightly smaller and then putting it all back together. No un-wearable sweaters and no un-usable stash!

The Truffle Hunter

There is a page in The Truffle Hunter where a domesticated pig discovers a cave filled with paintings of her ancestors on the walls. I'm going to use the pig and warthog patterns from Knitted Toys to make some of the characters. I would love to wrap it in brown paper covered in pastel cave paintings.

I've been thinking a lot about last weekend's New York Times article on happiness. Even more interesting was the FT's article about the French commission re-evaluating what data determine their GDP. I keep hearing a quote from the commission head Professor Stiglitz, "What we measure affects what we do." 

That quote would make a great gift - engraved on a big metal tape measure or painted on a tiny sewing tape measure. It would make a wonderful Arts and Crafts mantel motto - a still life of old rulers and yard sticks and a huge wooden compass thingy and a clock would be so beautiful with the quote carved in wood or painted on tile - what (and how) we measure affects what we do!

Nigel Cabourn

There was an article in the NYTimes Magazine on Nigel Cabourn. A lot of people know the menswear designer for his 2003 collection when he recreated some of the clothing worn on Sir Edmund Hillary's Everest expedition. One piece is based on a photo of an explorer wearing his sweater inside-out and backwards. I like this year's collection based on a 1924 expedition. The original clothing, pictured in photo, was a mixture of military and hiking pieces. Cabourn's web site is beautiful with special collections and inspiration photos. I was thinking of Teva Durham's vest and how that would look in a tweedy yarn with a funky wool lining. Give me microfiber with a good dose of tweed!

Bookmarks

New York reader Hyacinth has asked for bookmark ideas: "Sometimes, when I can't find one, I just crochet about forty or fifty stitches and call it a bookmark. But headed to The Strand tomorrow and know I won't come home with less than an armload. Any ideas?"
As soon as you mentioned crochet, I thought of the bibelot Cristina made last year, pictured above. She adds mini granny squares and beads to her crochet chain. There is also ribbon embroidered or written on with Sharpie, leather scraps cut into rectangles and decorated with little hole punches, dried flowers encased in organza. In the two dimensional realm, my favorite bookmarks are photos and postcards that usually sit in drawers or envelopes marked scrapbook. If it's a flimsy sort of ticket stub, bus transfer, deli number thing, why not laminate it at a kinkos place or stick it between two sheets of clear contact paper, or iron it between two pieces of wax paper - leaves are nice this way. I like old newspaper clippings preserved this way. Let me know what you come up with.

Eunice socks

This is the Eunice sock from Cookie A's Sock Innovation. Dream in Color's Smooshy yarn is my favorite right now for socks. I love this time of year. I make all kinds of plans for Christmas knitting about now.

Cotton Leaf Rag

I've been very happy knitting these dish rags in all colors of green and a few demure ombre colorways. I knit one in wool and felted it. Knit it in linen or hemp and call it a washcloth. I typed up a pattern for these. It's all done with short rows. If you're not familiar with this technique, you'll need to look it up or sit down with someone who can show it to you. You'll quickly see that it's just a starting point. You can alter the leaf shape with your own decreases and increases. To download the pattern, click on the Cotton Leaf Rag link in the upper right hand corner of the blog here under Patterns.

Design as Art

I am very excited about the mobiles in Bruno Munari's Design as Art. 

Cuts of Cloth

Welcome to September. Have you bought your pencils and notebooks? This year I'm ordering leads for all my vintage mechanical pencils and using sketch books. I'm also going to wear artsy ensembles inspired by this book. Cuts of Cloth by Ann Wiseman is a collection of simple and ancient ideas for making your own clothes.

Why not crochet a simple silk "yoke" and sew yourself a Cleopatra gown?

More leafcloths

I've knit up all the green and greenish dishcloth cotton, now it's on to exotic leaves and radiccio leaves. Cristina's lettuce comment inspired me to use bits of white or light green to get lettuce veins. My short rows are getting neater. I think some felted wool leaf coasters are next. This Missoni mohair lace dress in the NYT Magazine is so beautiful - as a curtain or a string bag. Why not knit one tunic length? We're headed out for the last two weeks of Summer. I hope you are enjoying yours! See you in September.

Leafcloths

We've been weaving potholders which naturally leads to knitting dishcloths which has lead to leafcloths. They look so pretty scattered on the counter, left in the sink, drying on the faucet. They can easily be pressed into service as coasters or set under flowerpots. The slip stitch dishrags are actually swatches for a rug.

Stripey sweater stash buster

I am fiddling with swatches for a Kaffe Fassett stripey sweater sport weight stash buster.

Ideas for rugs

On the left is a Vanessa Bell painting adapted for needlepoint in Melinda Coss's Bloomsbury Needlepoint and on the right is a rug designed by Duncan Grant. I think both would make wonderful hooked rugs - even a single panel of Grant's rug would be a wonderful runner. Ann Wiseman's book has lots of wonderful advice on hooked rugs including a section on inspiration: "adapt from the masters, beg from the innocent, borrow from the past, steal shadows". I especially love the designs inspired by enlarged coin rubbings and old playing cards.

My Mr Boy

This is my Mr Boy by Cristina Shiffman from the Summer Twist Collective. After knitting a denim version for my nephew, I pulled out some stash and began this version in a plain 3x3 rib with a crew neck. The sleeves will be three-quarter length when I finish. 

Can you imagine the Jane Austen version with a square neckline and smocking to give it an empire waist and a white linen blouse puffing out from the 3/4 sleeves? I would also like a high neck tweed version with a bronze zipper. A teen size would be cute with contrasting sleeves, or sleeves and top one color, a thin stripe, and then the bottom another color. You could also substitute a Cat Bordhi moebius collar, try it on and then pick up stitches for the saddles, front, and back from the edges, kind of a movie star walking the dog sweater, knit a little longer with pockets.

Kiki Mariko at rest

As I bound off the great tube I was not excited. I felt that by sticking to my stash I had compromised the color options. As I hoisted it from the washer I was even less excited. The various stash yarns had all felted differently. But I remembered Kay's post and I kept driving. Now I adore our new rug. I could never have planned the colors this way. It looks like a watercolor to me. It feels wonderful. I am planning another, larger version.

Bug in a rug

I'm at 50 inches of Kiki Mariko stash buster! It's been hard using only stash. I can't wait to do another with oranges and yellows and reds! In time management/project planner news, I did receive my telegram from two weeks ago about buying more nectarines!

Apron strings

While cleaning a cabinet I found two quarter yards of material meant to be aprons. I traced around a vintage apron I have and sewed on a little bias tape. They just need some ribbon for the strings. 

Time to cook!

I've been reading books about time. Michael Pollan's New York Times Magazine article this Sunday fits well with Stefan Klein's The Secret Pulse of Time. How do you spend your time?

The stash buster to rule them all

I am bent on clearing out my "leftovers" stash and the Kiki Mariko rug from the second Mason-Dixon Knitting is gobbling all the feltable wool.

Housekeeping

I've been paging through these housekeeping books looking for schedules or forms to add to my planner. There's a chapter on canning in So You're Going to Get Married that reminds the reader to ignore snide comments like, "I thought Mr. Dole canned pineapple!" Whenever we are discussing making anything from scratch (mustard, bread starter, yogurt) I hear that voice.

Wishful sewing

The current Selvedge has an article on Alison Taylor's SULA clothes. I love this tunic. I love these pleated clothes by Issey Miyake and the many ways you can wear them. This is what I want to be able to sew.

Telegram to myself

For my daily calendar/project planner, I want to be able to send notes to my future self. The usual lessons learned/best practices lists hide in drawers and are never delivered in time to save Christmas or prevent a back-to-school mishap. I want a telegram with specific warnings or shopping lists to arrive two weeks before a holiday or deadline. I'm making a stack of telegram forms in my planner that can be written out and then filed in the correct week of the following year. I also need weekly reminders. These Arctic Rose nectarines were heaven. The pluots were so-so. Why didn't I buy eight more? I sampled them. I knew they were wonderful. On Thursday, buy way more nectarines than you think you need!