Ahhh...

I recently decided to start going to therapy again as I'm smack in the middle of a quarter-life crisis. One of the screening questions was "Do you have trouble getting rid of things?" and I actually laughed when the analyst asked it. I LOVE getting rid of things! In fact, there is nothing more cathartic for me than emptying old Tupperware, recycling old magazines, shredding old schoolwork and making piles of clothing to drop off to the Salvation Army. Whenever I go on any sizable shopping trip I feel like I have to get rid of some older stuff to maintain equilibrium. A lot of old shoes have had to go to make room for the summer beauties! The Remix shoes have yet another fan, this time an actual fashion editor. Blueprint magazine is my new favorite, full of DIY projects and witty advice.

I'm moving into a new place for the summer (really close to work!) and I've been chucking stuff left and right. Some of you might be horrified to know that I'm not above donating or just plain tossing handknit items. Moving means facing the stash (no, this isn't all of it!) and I've mentally 'let go' of a lot of projects.


I usually follow Jean Railla's advice in Get Crafty for cleaning out my closet. It's very common sense advice (toss it if it's damaged or worn out, not flattering, unused, illogical for your life, or if it causes low self-esteem/discomfort) but it helps to have the pep talk. While I seem pretty spendy, I'm dead cheap when it comes to clothes so I usually have a fair bit of thrift store/clearance rack flotsam to toss and I force myself to do it often.

As for knitting, I have to accept the fact that grey stockinette will probably see more use than crazy Noro (I can always knit blankets out of it...). I really agree with Stefanie's post about not really loving the outcome when knitting from published patterns. I'd like to start designing from the ground up a lot more. That said, I think there is still great inspiration out there. These were some of the things that caught my eye in the summer Interweave:

Little Smocked Top:

Josephine, especially the sleeve detail:


Bella Blouse, free online:

Another bit of Gaughn greatness:

Lacy Yoga Bags:


Spiral Boot socks:
And just like last time, some pretty tempting ads! I love Tulip from the summer Rowan:

And the latest offering from Blue Moon Fiber Arts:

Over and out,

CR

Puesta del Sol

I ordered the yellow shoes! Eep! Since my first yellow shoe lust was sold out, I specified a back-up choice at Remix. Thing is, I'm going to be walking a lot this summer. To and from work (back at Webs!) and around that...not small...store. We once wore pedometers and were blown away at how many miles we all logged in a single day. I've actually got a bunch of sturdy looking sandals coming (along with a new incarnation of my favorite Hepburn-y go-to, the black ballet flat (currently Crocs Primas). The Primas are pretty great, but they can be embarrassingly squeaky and a little sad. I mean, even if it's fancy rubber, I'm still wearing rubber shoes. I can hear people think to themselves, "Jellies are okay for 8 year olds, but geez..." Still, they're bouncy and fun to wear. And, a friend of mine spilled soup on my foot the other day and I just rinsed it off! Anyhow, I'll be trying on and send back as needed. I hate shoe shopping any other way, Zappos rules.

Anyhow, shoes--I momentarily feel guilty for how much I spend on them BUT, here is my reasoning--I have BAD feet, painful shoes can ruin your day, since I don't own a car I can consider shoes to be a transportation cost (tires for my feet!), I spend woefully little on my wardrobe...uh...they cheer me up when I look down...

Okay, that's enough of that. One of my main reasons I'm so excited about the Remix Shoes is that I have a new dressing goal. After seeing Pan's Labyrinth I decided that I really needed to wear more: leather satchels, tweed, utilitarian aprons, shawls, Mary Janes with socks and dresses. Oh, and a little knife hidden in my skirt's waistband! The best accessory. (Mom, if you haven't seen this yet, we're watching it together in June!!)




Thanks for all the awesome comments about my dress idea! I don't really intend to over dye it unless I look truly appalling in that much yellow but I will certainly be dunking these swatches into a dye bath out of pure curiosity! Swatching normally doesn't happen this swiftly but now that I've 'leaked' my idea I felt compelled to get going! First up, some simple eyelets, which I imagine would form an empire waist:


Could thread a ribbon through it, but that might be too twee for me:


This is the wrong side (flash is on, heightened orangeness!), which is the right side for the Eiffel Tower eyelets right above ribbon eyelets. I don't know, they remind me of getting a run in one's tights...not exactly a look I want to emulate. Blocking didn't straighten them out at all. Blocking didn't help my drunken attempt at Dayflower, either! Why did I save the hardest for last again? I was a goner after the last minute of The Office and the lace suffered. I blame John Krasinski completely!


In case you haven't had enough yellow for today, here is an update of my travel project, my April/May Project Spectrum sock:


If you can call that an update...it's on zeros and I'm actually leaving it at home when I head to the library. Simultaneous read-knit days are pretty much over for this semester. I love how perfectly variegated it's knitting up, it's veddy pretty. I should be working on my Sock Pal socks, but my order from Little Knits is lost in the ether, apparently...

I'll leave you with a tease, a project that has come out of hibernation and will actually come in handy during some of the chilly thunderstorms we've been having lately.


More soon,

CR

Resolved.

Hi, Happy New Year! I just installed Photoshop which should help me to be a better blogger in two specific ways--I would like to venture out of the apartment for more of the photos I take, and I'd like to update more frequently so that I don't have to make these massive photo-heavy posts every two weeks. I've been "busy" but in a very scattered way, but I promise that 2007 will (hopefully) see a more focused Skrilla...

Eric and I went to Salvie's in Spencer, MA and I cleaned up quite nicely. I wasn't expecting to find anything, but I found some irresistible basics. Too 'boring to photograph': a black merino cardigan with 3/4 length sleeves, a tight and tagless black cashmere (?) sweater with some holes that make it look very cool and deconstructed, and a big wooly saddle shouldered sack the color of pea soup. Also, a cashmere/silk/wool (79% cashmere!) cardigan, with huge already mended holes in the elbows, which I patched!


Clearly, I'm quite happy with the result. I wanted to go with fuschia or lime green but Eric talked me into a nice neutral brown. It's some brand of alpaca knit in seed stitch. If anyone would like specific directions, let me know. This was quick and I feel like it's a whole new, much cooler sweater now.


Since I pretty much only shop Salvie's and sale racks, I've started to splurge on good shoes. This is kind of justifiable because I have a tarsal coalition that I don't "treat" in any other way, but it can be quite painful when I'm standing or walking for a long period of time. Anyhow, I suddenly get the fuss! I tried the felt ones at first and couldn't get a good fit, but these are amazing! I saw Kate wearing these at Webs and instantly realized that the strap would keep me from falling out and twisting my (already bad) ankle. She also made me realized that they're the perfect way to show off handknit socks. Now, to knit them...heh.


Occupying both the small improvements/thrift store score category is my Ganomey with an (improvised) flower pin. If you want details, I can give 'em but I'm actually planning to make a lot of these and then post about my 'technique'. Also featured: my 100% lambswool scarf, woven in Scotland, a whopping $1.50!! Look at that sky! That's my favorite, pastel sky and black black trees. Nikki McClure does a lot of that:



Earlier today I saw beautiful tree that looks like a woman in a backward yoga bend:

What next? Knitting? Clothes? I suppose this 1/2 an Enid is both:


In other news, I hacked up an old sweater, felted it and covered a little lumbar support pillow with it. The rest of it will become a new apron for Stitches West in February. Maybe this year the temps in Cali won't be freakishly cold again. We rented a convertible and it was miserable! P.S. Why haven't I been privvy to the amazing Nigella before today?? I mean, I knew of her but I was sort of over all the celeb-chefness...she is so so cool. I should've known, two favorite bloggers are always raving about her.


Another clothes/knit combo, a Calorimetry in Alchemy Lonestar in my new favorite color and an amazing wool/cashmere jacket that I scored for under 10 bucks.


I suspect it was homemade from a Vogue Pattern, a lot of the seams are lumpy and look at this label:

Another score, a little boy's school blazer:


Uh, I've been watching a lot of America's Next Top Model reruns...Eric just said "ohhh, are you in the Strokes??" Yeah, so I'm practicing poses because I was more than a little stiff at my last faux-toe shoot. I seem to be stuck with the hands-jammed-in-pockets approach.


And my last ridiculously lucky find, a grey J.Crew all-wool sweater with lonnnng PUFFED SLEEVES (what's up, Anne Shirley?) and a cute keyhole closure in the back.

Lesson for the day--one ladies trash is another's treasure =)

CR