Somebody on Ravelry suggested putting all the yarn for your work-in progress projects for the month into a separate bowl or basket. This month I’m attempting to finish my Interminable Blanket (I’ve started sewing it up, yippee!) and my Lacy Wrap and for my quick and easy portable knitting I’m treating myself to a new pair of orange socks.
Dawn Bassett of Seattle-based LiT Shades makes bespoke lampshades for any room in the house, using designer fabrics such as Marimekko, or custom letterpress printing.
Until 7th August Dawn is running a competition on her blog where you can win your very own custom couture lampshade. All you need to do is send in a picture of a lamp in need of a revamp and Dawn will pick one to crown with its own special bespoke shade.
I mention this by way of a public service announcement because I love my readers, though I don’t particularly want any of you to enter as I’ve just entered my own sadly neglected Ebay lucite lamp. Anyway, if you must, full details of how to enter are here.
A lamp in need of a vamp.
One of my absolutely favourite artists is the incrediby prolific Portland-based Amy Ruppel (I just wish we could afford something nice and big by her).
Her latest endeavour is a limited edition run of pictures of the official US state animals (no, I didn’t know until I moved here that every state had one either). If you don’t manage to nab one of the originals, she’s also making prints.
Here are a few of my favourites – clockwise from top left Virginia, Arizona, Utah and Washington. You can buy them here.
Washington’s state animal is apparently the orca, though after going on not one but two fruitless ‘whale-watching’ trips, we are convinced that orcas are just a figment of the Washington State Tourist board’s imagination.
We went, we saw, we bought. AND there was air-conditioning. What more could you ask for?
UCU has grown up. It still has a pleasantly friendly and chaotic vibe, but there was so much more stuff that was actually worth buying. Still a lot of felt though.
Here are a few images of the Uprising. I’ll talk about some of the individual stallholders over the course of the week.
Just a quick reminder for Seattle-based peeps that the first ever summer Urban Craft Uprising is taking place tomorrow and Sunday at the Seattle Center.
I got to a UCU a couple of years back when I first arrived in Seattle and found it to be a charming mishmash of the homespun, the bizarre and the fabulous. Included in the fabulous this time round will be Dave Sheely Designs and the Cakespy herself.
One thing I have been able to do a lot of recently is knit.
Part of the reason for my recent knitting obsession is that it is the perfect hobby to combine with looking after a four year old. The Minx has got to the stage where I can take her to the wading pool or playground without having to be too attentive, but I still need something to stop myself internally combusting through boredom. Knitting is perfect as, unlike a book, I can keep one eye out for the Minx, chat with friends and pick it up and put it down when I need to.
Here are a couple of small finished projects, and I’m also just finishing up a cardigan, the first garment I’ve knitted for myself since I was at college, of which more anon.
My Gaia Shoulder Hug.
The lace wrap I began in Portland is still less than half way completed, mostly because it requires a lot of focused attention and is not the right sort of knitting for playground duty. But in the meantime I have finished my Noro wrap. I realise that this might not be to everyone’s taste, but I like it a lot. Not that I’ve had any chance to wear it in the recent Seattle heatwave.
Note to self: Next time you pose pretentiously for photos it might be a good idea to wear a bit of makeup.
Secondly I knit a quick pair of yoga socks for my friend Laurie who is training to be a yoga teacher. These were quick and fast and cute and I may need to make some for myself, if I ever manage to go to yoga regularly that is.
Project details as ever on my Ravelry page. Do come and be my friend.
Just saving these pics of a metallic Alexander Wang cardigan (available here from Shopbop) as inspiration.
I love it, and its top down raglan construction is not dissimilar to a cardigan I’m currently working on. I’m wondering if I could adapt my current pattern to become something like this, maybe knit with this silk and stainless steel yarn. Of course I could knit it out of spun gold and it still wouldn’t reach the $495 price tag for the original.
Just a bit of a knitting catch up. As you’ve probably noticed I’m not afraid of a bit of colour, so I’ve become endlessly fascinated by Noro self-striping yarns from Japan. The colour changes are beautiful as they’re spun into the yarn, not just dyed into it and it’s mesmerising to watch the individual plies within the yarn change colour as the next colour comes through.
The colour combinations are also very unusual and generally contain a couple of ‘ugly’ colours, but somehow they seem to work incredibly well together – with the ugly colours somehow making the colour scheme seem more sophisticated.
Firstly, I finished my crochet project. I’m really pleased with it and it has had loads of compliments on the few occasions I’ve been able to wear it (Seattle has been ridiculously hot and sunny these last few weeks). I think I can now officially say I can crochet, which is good as I have a ludicrously large crochet project in mind.
I obviously hadn’t got the Noro completely out of my system when I finished the scarf because I immediately cast on a Gaia shawl in Noro Kureyon Sock. I’m enjoying knitting my lace wrap but it’s taking forever and is not very portable/social, so I was looking out for a quick and easy very casual wrap that I could wear up on the deck on chilly evenings. This wrap is a lot of fun as the colour changes in the yarn dictate the pattern.
This colourway (180) is incredibly garish, but I’m sort of loving it – I think it will work really well with jeans and a purple tee-shirt for a sort of ‘punk grandma’ look.
All details as before on my Ravelry page.
Remember Abigail? Well, this jewellery designer extraordinaire happens to have bagged herself a boyfriend who, not only designs handbags, but also, after some instruction from Abigail, is designing jewellery as well. Ladies, would that we all had such a man about the house.
Check out all Ryan’s bags and jewellery here. It’s all great but I have absolutely fallen in love with these tiny chick ear studs. Something about the expression on their faces I think.
My knitting seems to be following a springtime theme at the moment.
I managed to persuade the Minx that she’d like a little shrug in, horror of horrors, SPRING GREEN (and not her favourite colours of red or hot pink) by promising to embellish it with little pink beads. If I’d been left to my own devices I would probably have used lilac, aqua or white beads, or more probably still, saved myself a whole lot of trouble and not used any beads at all.
Most importantly though, the Minx herself seems delighted with the result and may actually deign to wear it. I’m not convinced a modelling career beckons though.
I’m also working on a crochet scarf for me. I like this as it looks fiendishly difficult but is actually pretty basic (it has to be as it’s only the second thing I’ve ever crotcheted).
The beauty mostly comes from the Noro Silk Garden yarn. I love watching the yarn unfold in all its different colours and textures. It sort of makes me want to take up spinning and dyeing in all my copious free time (ha ha!).
Apologies for the light posting recently. Life has been a getting in the way a bit. For those readers who consider the approach of summer to be an excuse for excessive drinking rather than excessive crocheting, may I point you in the direction of my latest post on Shelterrific, where I attempt to educate the US in the ways of Pimms.
