5 Things+then some (a F.O., even!)

I was tagged by Into the Fray quite awhile ago! I haven't forgotten, I've just been busy. These 5 things might not fall into the 'weird' category, but they are frivolous little factoids about me that the average Skrilla dabbler might not come across.

1. I have always had a love affair with magazines. I used to think that I wanted to be a magazine journalist and pursued this for about 2.5 years in college. I made a zine in high school called Wit's Ashtray under the pen name Rebel Without Applause. A highlight was when a local (this was in Germany) hardcore band mentioned it at a show of theirs while I was in the audience. Now I just cut my mags up and use them for design inspiration. Here are some pages from my notebook that is full of these clippings:






2. I have a serious salt problem. I often joke that I want a salt lick, like a deer. Eric is always begging me to go easy, and he's right. It's in my blood (no blood pressure pun intended), my Nana loves her salty Italian cold cuts and Dirty Martinis. For me it's salt and vinegar chips, French Fries (with mayo no less, what's up heart disease??) and popcorn. I get by with nutritional yeast sometimes.

3. I am fastidious about school/office supplies and anything related to them. This is slightly OCD, but I can't bear smudges, crinkled edges, sudden pen color switches. I once wrote and performed a song (spontaneously) that sums up the level of crazy this involves--it's called 'Tape Lamination' and it is sung to the tune of the Bee Gee's 'More than a Woman'. Crazy, I know, but when I spill coffee on my notebooks I just WIPE it off!

4. I actually hate shopping. I am very sad that my beloved local Trader Joes is getting more and more crowded. It used to remind me of the old mini-market exhibit at the Boston Children's Museum. I am in love with Internet shopping because it allows me to A. not drive, B. comparison shop until I'm blue in the face without getting the eye from store owners, C. support friends with stores and fellow crafters, D. act like Veruca Salt and get basically anything I want in the world. I know that sounds terrible, and fear not, I support local merchants as often as I can but places like Ex Libris Anonymous and the like make me very happy. Also, like all humans, I love getting mail.

5. I can't believe I'm going to turn 25 this year. I still feel like a little girl.

Time for a mini book review! I've gushed about Built by Wendy enough, and I sorta feel like it's already old news in Blogland. And a quick Google search just turned up a far better review for this book than I would've written.


I'll just add that I find the clear pictures very helpful for a new sewer like myself. They are probably embarrassingly simplistic but I think the assumption that a verbal description is sufficient is a major failing of most sewing books.

The photography is gorgeous, spare, tres chic and all that. I have been batting around the idea of writing a paper on the Anthropologie aesthetic that seems to authoritatively dominate anything geared towards young crafty types with cultural capital to spare. The A-word has been uttered by stylists at several of the photoshoots I've done and it seems to be heavily ripped off in the catalog world in general. There is also the influence it has with crafters--I wonder what the numbers are for people like me, who get the catalog and pore over it (sometimes going as far as interpreting the designs) but can rarely afford to buy any of it. I'd like to get to the bottom of its appeal.



This is my favorite project in the whole book. I still die laughing everytime I see a granny cart because it reminds me of Grumperina's saga about her granny cart breaking and no one in Cambridge helping her. I can't for the life of me find the post on her blog, but it was super, super horrible/funny.

I finished some socks for a friend who recently turned 31 and will be starting to write his dissertation soon. He claims that he loves tweed but doesn't wear it because he doesn't want to be a 'professorial cliche'. I figure this way no one has to know. I knit them toe-up because I was wary about my yarn, but each sock took less than a ball of Regia 6-ply tweed. I knit it them on size 3 Susan Bates. I'd started them on 2s but that was nearly cardboard. These were supposed to have an 'embossed' (read: purl stitches) monogram but it looked crap so I skipped it. It was also supposed to have a 'princess foot' (read: reverse stockinette sole) as a joke (as in, he is a delicate flower) but it looked odd and I skipped that too. Yawnsville, but still, a finished object(s).

The best part of this process was taking my pattern book to a copy shop and having them chop the spine, drill holes and spiral bind it for me so it will lay flat! I can't take credit for this (a Webs customer came in with all of her books sporting this treatment once) but that doesn't stop me from feeling WICKED CLEVER whenever I look at it.


Still with me? Here are some randoms, Eric wearing a LOT of handknits at Mass MOCA (it was great, you have to go and see the Notion Nanny):

Just a few more sew-y pictures including my ham (hee hee!):

Some more fabric:

A few more 1.99 patterns:



And my current WIP, for the store. This is Valley Yarn's new sock yarn Franklin in Mountain Spring, dyed by Gail the Kangaroo Dyer. Very pretty and knits sort of like Lorna's Laces. It's hanging out with my new textbooks right now. I should quit blogging and attend to both...


Have a great week and sorry for the sporadic and massive posting habit I've gotten into =)

CR