Involving the Senses

Shalom Cardigan pattern now available in Hungarian!

2011-12-19T15:15:00.002-07:00

Many thanks to Eszter Sarkadi Nagy, who volunteered to translate the Shalom Cardigan pattern into Hungarian! The translation can be found here, or in the sidebar on the right. köszönöm!

Two years in the making

2011-12-19T14:53:00.004-07:00

I interrupt this long blog break to show a huge finished project!

I started this navy and white zig-zag quilt about two years ago. The cutting and piecing went very quickly, but I stalled out on the quilting. Life got really busy for a while, but luckily things have slowed down so I was able to concentrate on finishing this.

I'm so pleased with the end result!

The quilt is queen sized and composed of navy and white rectangles sewn together in a zig-zag pattern.

After failed attempts at free-motion machine quilting, and machine quilting in the ditch, I finally decided to hand quilt 3" circles in each square. I used matching thread on the front, so it alternates on the back.

The back is a very simple color block that I think could look pretty good on its own.

I originally wanted yellow binding, but this cheery blue caught my eye, and adds to the nautical look of the design.

I have to say, I was really intimidated by the idea of hand-quilting a queen sized quilt, especially since I had never hand-quilted anything. It did take quite a number of hours (and days and weeks) but I actually enjoyed it. It definitely adds something special and makes the quilt look handmade.

New pottery

2011-04-10T17:58:00.001-07:00

My pottery has been getting better and more consistent. One of my friends told me they looked more 'confident,' which I thought was a good assessment. Here are a few of my latest favorites.

green & brown pear-shaped mug

caribe & white simple mug

assorted cereal bowls

blue & white plus bowls.

Homework

2011-03-21T18:08:00.002-07:00

I spent last weekend trying to figure out the taxes and laws that would apply if I started selling my pottery. After hours of reading and confusion, I finally figured out that selling pottery, for me, would likely be considered a 'hobby' by the IRS because I wouldn't expect to make any money--just enough to cover the cost of my classes. What a headache! In any case, I'm glad I finally understand all this 'cause I think it'll come in handy. I borrowed the books above from the local public library. Libraries are pretty amazing.

I invited some of the girls over a few weeks ago for a housewarming with Moroccan food. I managed to finish enough bowls and plates that everyone could eat off of handmade pottery. One friend liked her soup bowl so much that she commissioned me to make a set of 6 for her. I delivered them today and she was really pleased! The shape and the rough quality of the turquoise glaze reminded her of the Japanese tea bowls she studied in college.

I've also had a lot of luck lately with a new (to me) glaze--Arabia green. I'm playing with layering glazes and seeing how different loose applications of design look.

Still here!

2011-03-06T17:44:00.003-07:00

Life has really been getting in the way of blogging for the past few months. I moved to a new apartment (in the same city) after discovering a major mold problem (and terrible lying property manager) at the last place. I worked on a surprise project at work that was big and exciting, and came with lots of media coverage. I had a few visits with my loved ones. And luckily, I've still had time for creative projects. My pottery continues to improve in leaps and bounds, and I have so many ideas that I can't keep up with them. Thanks so much to everyone for their wonderful feedback on my previous pottery posts. I do hope to sell things online at some point, and will certainly post here to let you know when that happens. Until then, here are a few of my latest favorites.

Bowls with designs in slip. I loved making these, and plan to make more.

My first dinner plate!! I really adore this one. If only everything came out so well!

Gearing up

2010-11-14T08:33:00.004-07:00

No big surprise, I'm still spending a lot of time in the pottery studio. This month, I've been focusing mostly on handbuilding and playing with different surface decoration techniques. I still feel like I have light years to go, but I have made quite a few things I'm pleased with. The annual pottery sale is next weekend--I can't wait to see how it goes!

Eggshell bowls with African textile motifs.

Blue stars bowl.

Sgraffito detail

Little square dishes.

Turquoise and white bowls.

Oh, and I saw Josh Ritter in concert the other night. What a cutie! I've never seen someone grin for an entire concert. If you haven't seen his video for the curse, please click over!

In the pottery studio

2010-10-16T07:33:00.003-07:00

I've been spending a bunch of time in the pottery studio, getting ready for a pottery sale in late November. Lately, I've found a new favorite apron--it's a flight attendant apron from United Airlines previously worn by "Lori." Headphones on, The Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" playing.

The glaze buckets eagerly waiting to be used.

I've been making a lot of mugs--I'm enjoying making this shape, improving my handles, and this time I tested out a bunch of different glaze combinations.

The olive green and white is one of my new favorites. Pretty yet earthy and classy at the same time.

The caribe and white is still going strong.

A bunch of my Alhambra tiles have also come out recently. I'm liking the way the darker colors break on the edges to highlight the carving. These tiles have a little ledge in the back so that they can be hung on the wall by a nail.

Street Food & Other Fun

2010-10-03T17:51:00.002-07:00

After spending two weekends in row out of town last month--and numerous out of town weekends in the preceeding months, I was starting to feel disconnected with my new city. I think these things go in waves for me. But the nice thing is, this feeling gave me a burst of energy to get out and explore a whole lot more. I started following a lot of local organizations on Twitter so that I hear about fun events before they happen, and I'm doing my best to reach out to friends and acquaintances and put myself out there. Having moved so frequently in the past 5 years, it can be tough to start over again and again, but that's just the way it goes. Might as well make the most of it!

This week was packed full of good stuff--I signed myself up to volunteer for an upcoming film festival, I joined a gym, I've been doing some good things in the ceramics studio, and I got to go to a street food party. The Justice League of Street Food is kind of a silly name, but it's a fun concept. Denver has all of these great food trucks and carts--many associated with local restaurants. Every so often, a bunch of the trucks gather in one place for an evening with a DJ and a great atmosphere.

From Deluxe Street Food: truffle & parmesan fries, truffle mac & cheese balls, and a black bean sope. So good!

The sweetest of all, I won a punch card for 6 free cupcakes from the Denver Cupcake Truck. Now I just have to track them down again to collect.

The latest

2010-09-26T16:16:00.002-07:00

Gigantic tea mugs, just the way I like them. These are my favorite so far.

Small vessel, inspired by ancient Iranian pottery forms.

Mise en place bowls. I'd like to make a whole bunch in different colors.

Last weekend

2010-09-09T16:56:00.001-07:00

I spent some quality time with the girls...

Diva

Lola

...and picked some purple cauliflower from my garden

I turn my back for 5 minutes...

2010-08-30T18:52:00.002-07:00

The latest sneaky produce from my garden.

Visiting

2010-08-29T18:25:00.002-07:00

Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory (more fun than I expected)

Tour de B-cycle, Denver. 25 miles, 43 bike stations in one day.

Dushanbe Teahouse, or: why can we import more buildings from Tajikistan?

Historic Georgetown, CO. I just love that pup waiting for his owner.

Ceramics update

2010-08-21T16:19:00.002-07:00

I've spent quite a lot of my free time this summer working on some things in the ceramics studio. This is my first time throwing pottery on the wheel in 11 years, and my first time back in the studio since 2004. I'm still perfecting my skills, so not everything comes out exactly as I want, but I have been rapidly improving. Here's a peek at some of the more successful items so far:

Baby things

2010-08-21T16:15:00.002-07:00

I met my lil' nephew last month and brought a few handmade gifts: Sheldon the turtle (renamed Mervin by my sister), a bright blue baby placket neck pullover, and a small blanket.

Summer kitchen

2010-08-21T16:03:00.003-07:00

Well, hello there!

I've been enjoying my summer so much that I've neglected the blog for two months! To be honest, I'm not knitting or sewing much lately. It might be time to reinvent this space a little, though I haven't quite figured that out yet.

I've been completely buried in vegetables lately--from my own garden, and from the farm CSA. It's great, and overwhelming. Here are a few things I happened to photograph:

Homemade pizza on my new pizza peel. This peel is great--I had been using my largest cutting board, which was not nearly large enough. This is a fresh, organic spinach pizza.

Tahini smashed english peas. Soooo good, I wish I was eating this right now.

Almond cake with strawberry rhubarb compote, via Smitten Kitchen. This was really tasty, though I preferred the cake without the compote. The compote was wonderful with plain yogurt.

Spinach and zucchini lasagne, back when the farm sent me two gargantuan bunches of spinach, and I was not yet at war with my over-productive zucchini plants.

This was either round two or three of zucchini bread fest 2010. There's much much more to come! I think I used this recipe, and it was good.

My first zucchini plant attack involved plucking some of the male flowers to make these great homemade zucchini blossom quesadillas. I used yogurt instead of crema, and threw in some green onion. Quite nice!

Ceramics!

2010-06-23T20:56:00.002-07:00

I started a ceramics class several weeks ago. It's a great class with plenty of open studio hours. I try to stop by 3-4 times a week--if only for an hour. Those of you who have worked with clay know that it takes a lot of time and attention. This is my first time back at the pottery wheel in 11 years--I have done several campaigns of handbuilding since then, however. I'm still regaining my skills, and am very much at the small-bowl-stage, but hopefully by the end of the summer I'll be able to branch out a bit more.

The pots above have been bisque fired and are ready to be glazed. That's the step that always makes me a bit nervous--glazing is as much of an art as making the pot itself, and it can really make or break a piece. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I like most of them in the end!

Meet Sheldon

2010-06-23T20:52:00.003-07:00

My first knitting in months--I finished him over the weekend and my wrists did not appreciate the quick pace of the project. If you haven't met Sheldon, he's a free pattern from knitty.com. He wears his shell like a little sweater vest, and it comes off. I almost think he's cuter without it, just this little green blob.

Craft book projects #2

2010-06-20T15:54:00.002-07:00

My second craft book from the library was Bag Bazaar: 25 Stylish Bags to Sew in an Afternoon. Overall this is a good book, with a variety of bag styles to choose from. I decided to make a laptop sleeve, which is loosely based on the "Ellen" pattern from this book, though I changed it up by adding a flap. I used a nice canvas print fabric I found in Thailand, and vibrant blue fleece for the lining. It came together easily, and didn't take a lot of time.

Craft book projects

2010-06-19T15:04:00.004-07:00

I decided that if I'm going to check out craft books from the library, I'd better actually make an effort to do some projects from them. Up first: Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson.

I'm a bigger fan of this book than I expected--there are a lot of really nice, simple, and elegant projects--many of which you might have trouble giving away when you're finished. I chose three projects to complete. It helped that two of these were things I needed, and already had fabric for. The third will make an excellent gift.

Quilted coasters made with batik fabric my mom brought home from Indonesia. My poor coffee table will certainly thank me!

Kelly's pincushion in an assortment of fabrics from India, Africa, and home. I've never had a pincushion before, and already it has come in handy!

Lastly, the super quick + easy baby quilt. Oh man, I was absolutely loving this quilt when I sewed it up--it was effortless and so fast...

...then I realized that I had four threads to knot and tuck in for each of the cute little satin diamonds that quilt the piece together. It took me the better part of my evenings this week to finish that. But, hopefully the little guy will love his blankie. The fabric is from Joann--pretty cute!

New Recipes

2010-06-19T14:56:00.002-07:00

This was a pretty successful week in the kitchen. My new CSA (community supported agriculture) started. We got three kinds of lettuce, spinach, cilantro, and parsley. Very green! With the spinach I made:

Spanish white beans with spinach.
I made a few changes, including using butter beans instead of cannellini. It had a very nice flavor.

The absolute star of the week was this amazing savory mushroom tart. So good!

Also delicious: artichoke & white bean dip. I added some tahini, to make it more hummus-like. Fine Cooking Magazine is quickly becoming my favorite.

It's Aunt Meghan, actually.

2010-06-10T16:28:00.002-07:00

My first nephew was born today. What a cutie.

Any favorite sewing/knitting patterns for baby boys?

Awesome weekend

2010-06-06T16:54:00.006-07:00

It was my first free weekend at home in a month, and I got to do so much! My house is clean, I got to spend some time in the ceramics studio (bit by bit I'm regaining my old skills)...

I bought myself a ticket to see The National. They're not coming til October, but it should be well worth the wait. Check 'em out here, if you want.

Library loot! I got my library card--which never ceases to be exciting--and this is what I came away with for now. I've got a few holds on other sewing books. The Built by Wendy Dresses book has some fun ideas in it. Hopefully I'll have time to make something before I have to send the book back to the library. I'm hoping the Threads Fitting DVD Series will help me figure out how to get a better fit on this tricky vintage dress I started months ago. Bag Bazaar would be a good starter book for people interested in sewing bags. The patterns I'm interested in are fairly simple though, I could probably figure them out on my own.

There happened to be a street fair outside the library, so I stopped by and picked up some free Lara bar samples. Yum!

I also walked around the art museum for the first time, and snapped some pottery inspiration photos:

The handle and spout on this South American pot are so elegant.

And I love the simple yet striking designs on these pots.

Not exactly awesome, but I've decided, after all, to unpick the messy free-motion circles from my quilt. It's just too frustrating and slow to try to do this on a queen-sized quilt on my tiny sewing machine! I was pretty crazy to think this would be a successful idea for my second time quilting ever, but hey, I like to dream big. Once I finally unpick the edge I started, I'm going to machine quilt in a zig-zag pattern following the blocks. Hopefully that will be more instant gratification!

Finally: summer.

2010-05-31T19:50:00.003-07:00

I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful weekend. Here in the US, many of us had a three-day weekend, which made it all the better. For dinner tonight I made the most wonderful dish of brown rice, roasted veggies, and vinaigrette. It was very loosely based a recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine called Orzo & Grilled Vegetable Salad with Olives & Oregano.

Really, if you break the recipe down, you can rebuild it with whatever you fancy. Just pick one grain, grill or roast some veggies (I chose corn, radishes, zucchini, red onion, garlic, and red pepper), and add a simple mix of mustard, oil and vinegar. You could even toss in a handful of nuts. I added some olives and feta cheese. This would be great warm or cold, and perfect for a summer picnic.

Also, just in time for the gorgeous weather, I bought this bike for $40 off of Craigslist. It needs a bit of work, but I think it will suit me just fine for my 2 mile commute, and trips to the veggie garden. In other exciting news, I'm starting a ceramics class tomorrow. Ceramics was a love of mine in college and shortly thereafter, but with all my moves in recent years, I never had a chance to pick it up again. It will be great to be elbow-deep in clay again.

Major gratitude

2010-05-23T18:51:00.002-07:00

While this is pretty off-topic, I just had to share--it's really the least I can do. In the past month I started having a lot of trouble with my 4-year old MacBook laptop. At first it wasn't waking up from sleep--which was annoying, but not the end of the world. I took it into the Apple Store, and the 'geniuses' decided to send it in for a repair. Despite the fact that I wasn't under warranty, they didn't charge me since they said it could have been related to an earlier repair. When I got it back, they had done some major work, and even installed the newest operating system. Fantastic! Unfortunately, it had immediately developed a new, and much worse problem--it would shut down randomly and without warning.

I took it back in, and they replaced a couple parts, again free of charge. I took it home, and it still had the same shut-down problem. At this point, I was a bit worried and annoyed--my problem was so much worse after the repair, that it rendered my computer basically unusable. I brought it in a third time, and without my even asking, they decided to give me a brand-new MacBook, free of charge! I figured I was completely out of luck, and that maybe I could beg them for a discount, but in my wildest dreams I didn't think they'd give me a brand new computer. So awesome. While I certainly never wavered in my love of Apple computers, this experience has certainly showed me that they are a company deserving of my trust and loyalty.

Community Gardening

2010-05-23T18:43:00.003-07:00

I've been experimenting with vegetable gardening for the past year and a half, and was really excited this spring to help build a new community garden. My new city has quite a few of them, but in general it can be difficult to get a plot, since so many people hold on to plots year after year. I was delighted to see an ad for a new garden that was only a few blocks from my house. I jumped at the opportunity, and in no time was digging, moving mulch, and learning how to build a fence. The growing season is really short here, and I had to wait until this week to actually plant anything (trust me, I learned the hard way!) But I'm excited about my little plot, and hopeful that all my veggies will be happy there. I'll have tomatoes, cucumber, zucchini, radishes, peppers, beans, and purple cauliflower (which I'm a bit skeptical about in the heat of the summer, but I read somewhere that it could be planted now). It's all very experimental, but I just love seeing veggies grow--it's such a departure from my otherwise very urban existence.

This week, in the new kitchen.

2010-05-23T18:29:00.004-07:00

I had been dreaming about making Alfajores since my Chilean friend described these chocolate-covered dulce de leche-filled sandwich cookies. I cut out a recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine (also found here) and finally found the right occasion to make them this week. It all seemed to be going quite well at first. The dulce de leche was thick and tasted divine. The cookies seemed to come out alright, despite this being my first attempt at high-altitude baking.

Filling the cookies was fun, until I looked down at the completed ones to see all of the dulce de leche squeezing out of the sides! What a crying shame! I tried to remedy this by quickly dipping them into the chocolate, but disaster struck again--the chocolate wouldn't set, and ended up running all over the pan (I had thoughtfully placed underneath the wire racks!)

They ended up looking like a mess, but I was still hopeful that they would taste good.

But sadly, without much dulce de leche, I was just left with a fairly bland cookie and a too-rich layer of messy chocolate. Sigh. If only I had found the recipe reviews online before I started! Has anyone else made these successfully before?

Much more successful was my attempt to use up a surplus of potatoes and feta, by making some very yummy potato, artichoke and feta latkes.

I really liked the addition of fresh mint, which I picked from my garden.

Highs and lows, but all in the name of learning.

New Spanish translation of Shalom!

2010-05-17T19:10:00.001-07:00

Well, the previous Spanish translation of the Shalom pattern mysteriously went off line, and Tejer Bien gratiously volunteered to retranslate it! Very sweet! The new version can be found here. Muchas Gracias!

Lithuanian Weaving

2010-05-13T17:48:00.003-07:00

For my birthday, I got the most wonderful gift from my aunt: a beautiful textile from Lithuania. I had originally thought that she purchased it recently, but when I called to thank her, she told me that her grandmother made it! She even spun the wool herself! It's really a very well-made woven textile. The geometric patterns are very intricately woven from cream-colored linen and black wool yarn. Although it is meant as a bed cover, I decided that it was the perfect size to cover a bare wall in my bedroom.

I hung it up using a technique we often use with museum textiles. You machine stitch velcro to cotton twill 'tape' and then carefully handsew the twill tape to the textile. The other part of the velcro is then attached to a bar that is then attached to the wall. This is a nice way to evenly distribute the weight of the textile, and to allow you to put it up and take it down without much trouble.

Quilt progress

2010-05-13T17:45:00.002-07:00

In the couple weeks between when I finished my last job and when I moved, I did a lot of work on my quilt. I finished piecing the front and back, and basted. I then tried to teach myself free motion quilting so I could make these large, imperfect circles. I've done one edge so far--I had second thoughts and nearly went at it with a seam ripper, but after a couple weeks off, I think I like it again. I hope to start working on this again soon. It will be great to have it finished!

Around the house

2010-05-13T17:38:00.002-07:00

One of my coworkers raises chickens and goats. He brought in about 8 dozen fresh eggs for us last week. Love it!

I now live less than a block from an Ethiopian restaurant (my favorite) and an antique mall. I stopped into the antique place today after work and found this large handmade ceramic bowl for $12. All I've had for the past several years are Pyrex mixing bowls, and I think I'm now officially too old to use mixing bowls as serving bowls (I forgot to mention in my update that I also turned 30 a few weeks ago!)

I'm feeling much more attached to my current rental than my previous few. I think it's because it has a lot of great vintage details--which I love--and because I think I might be here for more than a year. This is my favorite corner so far. I got the chair off of craigslist for free, and the pillow is from Morocco--I have about 7 of them in various sizes. This one seems to fit this chair perfectly.

I just can't quit you.

2010-05-13T17:32:00.002-07:00

Well, it's been a jam-packed two months, without a single blog post to show for it. I half considered throwing in the towel, but I still enjoy sharing things with the greater blog community, even if I can't commit to sharing as often as I'd like.

Here's a brief summary of my life lately:

I was offered a new job, and accepted. I moved to a new state (and my 8th city in 4 years, in case you were counting!) Hopefully this one is for keeps--at least for 3-5 years. I've been in my new city for a month now, and am really loving it. It's much more suited to my lifestyle than the previous city. So far I've been busy going to lots of concerts, volunteering on a farm and helping build a new community garden, and settling into my new cute 1940s cottage. I haven't had any time for crafting since I moved, but I do hope to get back to that soon. I will also be starting with a new CSA in June, so I should have new recipes to share.

Thanks for staying with me!

Living the dream

2010-03-08T20:30:00.002-07:00

I often dream of the day where I will have enough time and energy to start my own small craft business. In the mean time, I love to live vicariously through some of the successful ladies who have turned their creative passion into a living. One of these successful entrepreneurs happens to be a friend of mine, has a blog, and a very ambitious project. Jennyvi Dizon has made a name for herself in Phoenix for designing and sewing custom bridal gowns. She recently started an Etsy shop, and has made it her goal to add one new item every day to her store--while at the same time posting tutorials on her blog about how she creates these items. I'm eagerly following along with her project to see what she comes up with. Good luck Jenny!

Photo by Nikolai De Vera
Courtesy of Jennyvi Dizon Couture.

Weekend sewing inspiration

2010-02-27T08:49:00.005-07:00

1960s Mail Order Pattern 9484

Gosh I love those vertical lines and the cinched-in waist. Someone needs to make this!

1960s Mail Order Pattern 3232

The second version is my favorite.

Simplicity 2444 from 1948
Such an adorable vintage play suit.

Butterick 2460 from the 1960s

I especially love the flouncy skirt overlay at the upper left.

Second quilt in progress

2010-02-21T21:13:00.003-07:00

I took advantage of having a weekend at home to work a bit more on my second quilt. This one will be for myself, and should be queen-sized, if all goes as planned. I previously discussed my inspiration, and this weekend I decided that I'd like to try some free-motion quilting on this--most likely a large pebble pattern, or something to that effect.

For the textile lovers

2010-02-21T21:03:00.002-07:00

I picked up a couple Kuba raffia textiles last weekend at an African market. These textiles are from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and are only 5-6 years old. I have admired the striking designs used to weave these textiles for a few years now, so I'm pleased to be able to admire them from close-up, as much as I want. I chose two that had some really intricate designs and a lovely asymmetry. I'm sure they'll be even more striking when I find a place to display them (i.e. not on my carpeted floor!)

One of the things I particularly love about Kuba weaving is the pile weaving, which I hope you can see here in this detail shot. The contrast between the colors, and the flat and pile woven sections is just great!

If you want to see more impressive Kuba textiles, try here, or here. Enjoy!

Oh my my

2010-02-21T20:01:00.003-07:00

This just came out of the oven:

And I promptly ate three slices. It's my variation on the soft cheese bread from Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day. I added sauteed swiss chard and green garlic. It has a lovely soft texture and a very decadent flavor. So good!

Rutabaga and carrot puree.

Brown butter and scallion mashed potatoes.

Quinoa with black beans and cilantro.

The latest food

2010-02-18T18:20:00.004-07:00

I'm still going strong with my farm share veggies--I think it's been about 4 months of eating local organic produce! Most weeks are fantastic, and it ends up feeling very much like Iron Chef in my kitchen. I think I've been making a lot of old favorites that I've already posted about, but here are a couple new ones:

Palak Paneer with Parathas from the local Indian market.
Based loosely on this recipe, plus improvisation based on what I learned from an Indian cooking class years ago.

Improvised wheat berry pudding. Kind of like rice pudding, but much chewier. I added ground almonds from Trader Joe's. I've been adding ground almonds to my oatmeal in the morning too--it's a really nice extra bit of flavor!

This week's CSA bounty includes green garlic, rutabaga, swiss chard, carrots, scallions, and cilantro. I'm most curious about the green garlic because I've never had it before--I'm thinking about using some of it for bread with sharp cheddar and swiss chard. Any other recipe suggestions are welcome!

Valentine's sewing

2010-02-18T18:11:00.002-07:00

This year, I surprised my Valentine by sewing him a new pair of pajama pants. His favorite pair got ripped and were hanging out at my place waiting to be repaired--so I was able to determine the best size to cut based on the measurements of the old pants. This is the first time I've sewn a garment for someone other than myself. I took extra care by making machine-wash-friendly French seams, and tried to line up the plaid as best as I could. I used New Look 6321, which I chose for the pockets and the elastic waistband. It is a unisex pattern, so I cut a large--though he wears a men's medium in the real world. Overall, I was pretty happy as I ended up with a comfy, wearable garment. No modeled pictures this time ;)

The occasional present

2010-02-07T17:38:00.003-07:00

I don't normally give presents (and ask that people don't give me presents--or if they insist, that the gifts be as low cost and impact as possible). However, I do make exceptions to my lack of gift giving if the occasion is especially remarkable, or if the present is certain to be needed or wanted by its recipient. I may sound like a total scrooge, but in general I find gift giving to get out of hand too easily, and I'm trying my best to live a happy but minimalist lifestyle.

Now 2010 will have a very remarkable day--my first niece or nephew will be welcomed into the family. I wanted to give the parents something handmade that also had some significance. In talking to my other sibling, I suddenly got the idea of making a baby onesie with the logo of our old summer camp. My parents ran the camp for 25 years, us three kids spent our whole childhood as campers, and worked as counselors as teenagers. So this little onesie was deemed 'my best idea ever' by my sister, and my brother really got a kick out of receiving it.

To make the stenciled design, I photographed the original from an adult-sized t-shirt. The logo was scaled down to size in photoshop and printed. I then made a freezer paper stencil of the navy areas, and ended up hand painting the while areas since the design got to be so small and detailed at baby-scale. Overall, I'm so pleased with the result and I can't wait for the summer to meet the newest MacWillies camper.

New favorite cookbook

2010-02-07T17:28:00.003-07:00

For Christmas, my Mom got me a copy of Peter Reinhart's new book Artisan Breads Every Day. It's like a perfect meld of his award winning The Bread Baker's Apprentice, mixed with the newly popular Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. This book teaches you to make all kinds of beautiful gourmet breads with minimal effort. What can be better?

I made the cinnamon rolls from The Bread Baker's Apprentice several years ago, and they were amazing--just like the one's from Ann Sather in Chicago. So naturally, I had to see how the easy version of this recipe would go. And let me tell you, they turned out beautifully and couldn't have been easier. If you're looking for a good book to start bread baking, I highly recommend Artisan Breads Every Day!

Sorry folks, these beauties are long gone.

Keeping busy

2010-02-07T17:05:00.002-07:00

Hi there, and thanks for sticking around during my hiatus! The last couple of months were busy with out-of-town trips, holidays, and work. What downtime I had was taken up by utter relaxation. As always, I'm still working on some creative projects, and promise to share them when the time comes. In the mean time, I just started my second session of my farm share and as a result I've been very busy in the kitchen. Here are some of the successes:

Gingery stir fried tatsoi with brown rice and fried egg.

Papadi Chaat.
Best Indian snack food ever. Most of the ingredients were purchased, but I did make the cilantro chutney. This video is a good place to get started.

Smashed rutabaga with ginger roasted pears.

Roasted butternut squash risotto. yum.

Homemade pizza with sauteed kale and garlic. Kinda like this.

Borscht.

Spaghetti squash with tomato sauce.

Turnip love fest.

Vintage patterns too fabulous for words.

2009-12-13T20:24:00.002-07:00

These gorgeous, architectural dress patterns are from the 1957 Vogue Pattern Catalog. It's not so much that I want to own all these patterns immediately, it's more that I'd like my closet to already be full of unique, gorgeous outfits like these, so that I too can look completely fabulous all the time.

Shawl collar vintage sweater

2009-12-13T19:42:00.004-07:00

If you've been following this blog for a while, you might recognize this vintage placket neck sweater that I talked about last Spring. Well, I'm happy to report that it's finally finished!

I chose a tan color Cascade 220 wool, and knitted it in a size that would allow a somewhat slouchy fit. I think I was inspired in part by the granny-chic look that seems to be everywhere in indie fashion these days.

The collar can be worn up or down. I think I prefer the look of it down, but having it popped up will certainly keep the chill away in the cold. Overall, it's a really warm and cozy sweater--and I can see why Cascade 220 is so popular. The downside to the sweater is that I feel a bit frumpy in it--if I were to do it over, I would have chosen a more vibrant color to balance the plainness of the design.

I think if I had a better sense of how to style clothing, I'd be able to pull this sweater off a little better--but that's nothing new! Despite that, I'm sure I will appreciate the warmth of this new sweater when I head back home to the Midwest for the holidays.

CSA Love: big recipe recap

2009-12-13T19:32:00.004-07:00

I've been making a lot of repeat recipes as I get repeat veggies in my weekly CSA pick up, so I thought I'd wait until I had a bunch more recipes before I reported back here on the blog. So here goes:

Tonight's dinner: Potato, chard and scallion soup
Using what I had on hand. I sauteed one chopped yellow onion for several minutes, added 4 cubed potatoes, 5 cups of veggie stock, and simmered til tender. Then I added one bunch each swiss chard and scallions (all chopped), and cooked for 5 minutes more. The whole thing was pureed with my immersion blender, and then I added a bit of heavy cream. It was really yummy! Especially with a good helping of fresh pepper and parmesan.

Potato and scallion pancakes. Yum!

Salad with spring mix, red carrots, feta, sunflower seeds, and balsamic vinegar.

Acorn squash veloute with Indian spices.

Roasted rosemary potatoes

Pumpkin streusel muffins.

Roasted sweet potato with scallion miso butter.
If you like sweet potatoes, and sweet-salty combinations, this is the recipe for you!

Craft wish list

2009-12-11T08:51:00.002-07:00

I want to make this quilt. Is craft imitation the sincerest form of flattery?

I'm also looking for a new knitting project. I will either try to tackle one of the designs I've been thinking about for ages, or maybe this or this.

Weekend vintage

2009-12-06T10:17:00.003-07:00

Variations on a collar theme:

Vogue 7208 from the 1960s

Vogue 7060 from the 1960s

Simplicity 6239 from the 1960s

Vogue 6948 from the 1960s

Sewing book recommendations?

2009-12-04T07:10:00.002-07:00

Hi there,

I've been working on resizing some vintage patterns for a better fit, but I feel that my instincts for doing so are fairly limited. Do any of you have a good book to recommend that would teach me how to properly adjust patterns for fit?

Thanks!
Meghan

Botanical garden

2009-11-29T21:53:00.004-07:00

I spent the afternoon at the Desert Botanical Gardens today. It was a really lovely day in the mid-60s, with some intense sun. Visiting gardens always makes me wish that I had a garden of my own. I came away with a lot of inspiration.

They had a whole herb garden that I was particularly interested in. So many chile varieties, and more rosemary that I had ever seen.

But I would say that the Monarch butterfly house was the highlight of the visit. Because it was a slightly chilly day, the butterflies were all lazily sunning themselves.

They decorated the trees like beautiful flowers, or perhaps Christmas ornaments.

CSA Love: Week 5 Recipe Recap

2009-11-29T21:47:00.003-07:00

This week's haul:
Spring mix
Tomatoes
Turnips
Acorn squash
Roasted chiles
Kale
Swiss chard

With the Thanksgiving holiday, and some general busy-ness, I managed to do a terrible job of documenting this week's recipes. I made a salad and some kale and pesto bread to bring to a work potluck. The bread was made in the same manner as last week's kale-parmesan bread. The turnips were sliced with some potatoes to make a mediocre gratin (silly me thought I could sub milk for cream...). But the saddest thing of all is that I don't have a photo of one of the best recipes yet: curried red lentil and swiss chard stew with chickpeas. It was amazingly good--even if you can't stand greens--seriously! I guess I was too hungry to photograph that day?

Great vintage shapes

2009-11-24T21:31:00.003-07:00

I was thinking about bringing back Vintage Pattern Thursday, since I'm sure that many of you love finding inspiration in vintage patterns as much as I do. It isn't Thursday today, but I had a little time and found some vintage patterns with really great details.

Vogue 5175 from the 1940s
It may be completely the wrong season, but I think the shape of this sun dress is so classic and would be really stylish these days.

McCalls pattern from 1944
The gathering on the bodice of this dress is so cool--it must look like soft armor when made up.

Modes de Paris pattern from the 1960s
This pattern looks like a marriage between two dresses, but it somehow works for me. I do kind of what to iron the seam at the center front though...

CSA Love: Week 4 Recipe Recap

2009-11-23T20:31:00.005-07:00

This week from my CSA:
Zucchini
Beets
Green acorn squash
Roasted chiles
Two varieties of bok choy
Melon
Kale

Zucchini Soup
The zucchini was really large, and therefore no longer great for stir fry. It did make a nice soup though, with onions, lemon, cheese, and various odds and ends I had on hand.

Kale chips!
I had heard these were pretty good, and thought they might help me get over my lack of enthusiasm for greens. Indeed they were great--they may look like the leaves you need to sweep off your porch, but they taste like thin, delicate potato chips.

Stir fried bok choy with brown rice
This was loaded with fresh ginger and garlic, and I ate it with soy sauce and Sri Ratcha. Very good! I made it several times over with the two types of bok choy I received.

Beet green and potato puree and beet carpaccio
This may look like a very strange meal, but I assure you it was excellent. Pureeing the cooked beet greens and adding them to mashed potatoes is an excellent way to enjoy the nutrients of the greens if you don't enjoy them on their own. The overall flavor is definitely that of mashed potatoes. The beet carpaccio was really good--most especially for the caramelized onion marmalade. It was to die for.

Kale and parmesan bread
I used the amazing no-knead boule dough recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, and followed the recipe on their blog to make this bread. I'm not a huge fan of cheese breads, but the folks at my work went crazy for this. LQ accused me of playing 'hide the kale,' and I most certainly admit that I'm enjoying this game.

Caramelized onion bread
Using the same boule dough mentioned above, and the caramelized onions from the carpaccio, I came up with this creation. It was really good. I didn't share. I will make it again.

Cultural connections

2009-11-15T18:05:00.002-07:00

Last weekend I went to a couple cultural events in Arizona. Although I've certainly enjoyed festivals and such in other places--here, for some reason, it often seems a little more special. I guess I can really feel how the people and traditions are connected to the location.

I happen to live very close to an Indian Reservation, and since I moved here, I had been very curious to learn more about it. While driving home, I saw a banner inviting the public to a Pow Wow--and so I made sure to attend. The event was the Red Mountain Eagle Pow Wow. There were about 75 dancers and numerous drum groups competing. The dancers all had amazing outfits, and I loved the fact that their ages ranged from the little kids to grandparents. Some of the most impressive dancers were teenage boys--and I was so happy to see that there were so many young people interested in traditional dance and music.

I then headed to Tucson to see the All Souls Procession. This was my first time at this event, and I have to honestly say that it was the most impressive city event I have been to anywhere. The procession celebrates the Day of the Dead--participants celebrate the lives of lost loved ones. One of the greatest things about the event was that it was very inclusive. The crowd ranged from hipster artist-types, to other diverse members of the community. Most everyone had masks, or painted their faces to resemble beautiful skulls. There was a really positive, energetic feeling to the evening.

After several hours of the procession, the crowd made its way downtown for the finale. Flam Chen, a local Tucson pyrotechnic theater troupe, put on an amazing spectacle. There were women on stilts in bug costumes with flaming staffs, a band of skull-faced bagpipers, and most impressive of all, was a six-story crane from which ten people were suspended like a mobile.

They released a giant, glowing bag of balloons into the crowd below, then juggled fire as they spun around high in the air. I'm doing a terrible job of explaining how amazing this all was to see. In the end, a large sphere was attached to the crane that contained messages to lost loved ones. The sphere was lit on fire to send all the messages to another world.

Despite being tired and having a long drive home, we had an amazing, inspiring time. I'd encourage you all to attend in the coming years--if you have any friends in Tucson, be sure to visit them in early November!

Dinner party dress

2009-11-15T17:55:00.002-07:00

I had a more successful sewing experience this weekend. I made up McCalls 5701 in a stretch sateen bottom weight cotton fabric that I picked up on sale at Joann fabric. It's a really lovely deep eggplant color.
This is a pullover dress that is purposely very boxy and voluminous. It certainly isn't figure-flattering, but I do think it has a nice contemporary feeling to it. I wouldn't wear this dress if I were trying to make a great first impression, but I would wear it to a dinner party with good friends. It would be really comfortable to hang out in for an evening, and has just enough attitude to make it a little special.

I love anything with pockets.
(click on any image to enlarge)

The pleats on the reverse give the dress even more volume. I still go back and forth as to whether or not I like this detail.

Vintage goods seeking new home

2009-11-15T17:44:00.002-07:00

In my recent pattern and fabric cull, I found a couple of vintage items that I would like to find a new home for. If you are interested in either item, please send me an email: [megp47 at yahoo dot com].

McCalls 8979 from 1952
Size 18 (bust 36)
I love this pattern, but when I worked up the bodice in a muslin, even with adjustments for fit, I realized that this would just work better for someone more voluptuous than myself. The pattern is cut and all pieces are present. The envelope is torn around the edges, but overall the pattern is in good vintage condition. Click on the image to enlarge.
Asking: $5, including shipping to the US.

5 yards vintage fabric.
I also still love this fabric, but I've had it for a few years, and still haven't figured out what to make with it. It is some sort of synthetic, but does not seem to unravel very much, and is pretty dimensionally stable--so I don't think it would be too hard to work with. The turquoise-blue is slightly brighter in person, so that it really pops nicely. The design has always reminded me of drafting rulers (you know, like the ones I imagine architects use?)
5 yards, 44" wide.
Asking: $10, including shipping to the US (that's just $2 a yard!)

A bit of crafting

2009-11-11T21:54:00.003-07:00

Although I don't have much to show for it on the blog lately, I actually have been spending a fair amount of time on creative projects. Perhaps not as much as I would like--between my return to the working world, and my frequent weekend trips out of town--but I'm still plugging away.

I've been knitting a placket neck pullover from a 1950s pattern, that just so happens to match my couch. Never mind putting away my knitting, I've now trained it to camouflage into its surroundings.

I've also been sewing. Having unpacked my fabric stash, I'm a bit unhappy with how large it has become--the same goes with my pattern stash. So I'm weeding things out, and have come up with a plan to sew through several things in the upcoming months. I tried out the following two patterns this week, but both ended up as failures-- for the time being.

I started to make this Cynthia Rowley top out of some gingham I bought for super cheap in Thailand. When I bought it, I was pretty sure it was 100% cotton, but now that I looked at it again, it was clearly a synthetic blend--probably like the poly/cotton gingham they sell at Joann. I'm terrible at working with synthetics at this point (and knits, too, for that matter). I just don't have the skill or patience to deal with things that unravel or change shape. So, this top didn't work out this time, but I still plan on making it again in a natural fiber.

I then finally broke out the famous 'walkaway' Butterick dress. I had 5+ yards of uninspiring quilting fabric that I bought for about a $1 at an estate sale. I remembered that I don't like Butterick since they don't print any of the finished garment measurements on the package. And, because of the unique construction of this dress, I found it difficult to determine exactly how I could cut/alter it to get the best fit. After making up most of the dress (which was super easy), I determined that I wasn't going to get a great fit without a lot of tinkering, and quickly decided that I wasn't excited enough about the dress or the fabric to continue.

While it might sound disappointing, this is all progress! I was able to say goodbye to two stash fabrics, and one pattern. On to the next!

CSA Love: Week 3 Recipe Recap

2009-11-11T21:46:00.003-07:00

This week was a great week for my CSA:
Pecans (! Now if only I had a nut cracker...)
I'itoi's onions
Green tomatoes
Acorn squash (so pretty!)
Roasted green chiles (frozen for later)
Cantaloupe (unfortunately already over-ripe)
Turnips

Pasta with i'itoi's onion sauce
I followed this recipe meant for scallions. It's a great way to use up a lot of green onions, and turned out well--though I much prefer pesto. I think this is a great idea to play around with.

Roasted acorn squash salad
With toasted almonds, balsamic vinegar, and some roasted turnips tossed in since I didn't have enough to cook on their own.

Roasted acorn squash with maple glaze and almonds
This was freaking amazing. It has just a hint of real maple syrup, rosemary (from my porch garden), garlic, butter, and almonds. It's the perfect mix of sweet, savory, soft and crunchy. I'll definitely make this again with other sorts of winter squash.

Blue dress, again

2009-11-07T15:44:00.003-07:00

I had enough of the blue cotton fabric to make a second dress. But this time I carefully followed along with an invisible zipper tutorial to make sure I was doing it right! The extra time and effort paid off, and I have a much more professional looking dress this time around. Next time I'm going to work on adding even more length to the bodice. The 5/8" extra I added this time was definitely not enough.

CSA Love: Week 2 Recipe Recap

2009-11-04T21:20:00.005-07:00

This week's CSA haul:
Arugala
Spaghetti squash
Green tomatoes
Anaheim chiles
Melon
Swiss chard
Okra

I feel like I didn't do quite as well with my recipes this week--in part because I had a few more new (to me) veggies, but also because I was sick for a few days, and out of town for the weekend... But still, not too shabby!

Green tomatoes are really pretty.

And quite tasty when fried and stacked up with layers of homemade pesto.

Denver-style chile rellenos
Last time I was in Denver, my Aunt and Uncle made some fantastic homemade chile rellenos. Only they weren't the kind I had seen before. They wrapped theirs in egg roll wrappers instead of batter--and they were great! Perhaps not traditional anywhere but Denver, but they sure are easy to make and very tasty.

Swiss chard and onion quichelettes
Definitely the best of the swiss chard usage to date! I keep making things in muffin tins and freezing them for later (they're easier to thaw in portion sizes that way). I feel a bit like an astronaut eating all these complete meals with the same shape.

Crispy bhindi kurkure
Indian-style fried okra. This was pretty good, but would have been much better if I had a whole spread of Indian food to accompany it.

Spaghetti squash with Moroccan spices
My first spaghetti squash! At first I wasn't too sure about it, but it has grown on me. I added way more spices, some cinnamon, toasted almonds, caramelized onions, and raisins. Not bad!

CSA Love: Week 1 Recipe Recap

2009-10-28T17:49:00.002-07:00

I cooked an unbelievable amount of food this week. I can't stand letting food spoil or go to waste, so my fridge full of CSA veggies was like a time bomb to motivate my kitchen creativity. Here's what I came up with this week:

Green chile
I based the dish loosely on this recipe, but altered the quantities based on what I had on hand. I also threw in some cubed potato, since I had one that needed eating. It came out pretty well!

I'itois onion pancakes
I've talked about these before, made from a Chinese scallion pancake recipe on La Fuji Mama's blog. I made a couple dozen for the freezer (and helped myself to several during the week). They are so amazingly good.

They also make for a decadent little lunch when cut up in bite sized wedges and paired with fried egg and a soy/tahini/chili sauce.

Rustic butternut squash and caramelized onion tartlettes

I like these, though I left out the goat cheese since I didn't have any on hand. As a result the flavor was perhaps on the subtle side, and I would consider increasing the onion the next time.

Toasted butternut squash seeds

Swiss chard sauteed with sunflower seeds and chili-garlic sauce
Based on a Jacques Pepin recipe suggested by my Uncle. I thought this had a really nice flavor, but to be honest, I've got a bit of a textural issue with cooked greens. I knew this going into it, but I was hoping to overcome it. Not so much.

Braising mix gratin

The Whole Foods website promised that this recipe (meant for swiss chard) would make anyone love greens. While the flavor, again, was fine, the prominent texture here was still that of cooked leafy greens, and I suspect that I'm not the only one out there that has this particular food texture issue. But fear not! I haven't given up on greens yet, and thanks to a comment from Farmgirl Fare Susan, I have an idea of how to enjoy the flavor of greens, without having their texture be the overwhelming focus of the dish.

While waiting for the gratin to cook, I roasted the last of the radishes with a bit of olive oil and salt in my toaster oven. So yummy.

Banana nut muffins

Ok, these have nothing to do with my CSA veggies, but I did have a couple over-ripe bananas that I didn't want to waste, so I made these based on this recipe, but subbed walnuts for coconut. I cut the sugar slightly, but would reduce it even more the next time. Great texture though, and it's always nice to have a bunch of muffins in the freezer for when guests are in town.

CSA Love: week one

2009-10-22T18:10:00.003-07:00

About 5 years ago, while living in Chicago, I heard about this amazing thing called CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). While I'm sure many of you savvy blog readers have probably heard of this, I was surprised when no one at my work knew what I was talking about. When you join a CSA, you buy a share in a local farm for a set period of time. Each week, you get a selection of the ripe produce from that farm--in whatever quantity or variety there happens to be that week.

I had been wanting to join one for years, but I kept picking up and moving right in the middle of every subscription period. Luckily for me, now that I live in a hot part of the country, farms can grow veggies year-round. I just joined a CSA for a local farm, and today was my first pick-up. I've been excitedly talking about it for two days, and it didn't disappoint! My spoils:

A huge, sweet watermelon
roasted chilis (yum!)
swiss chard
i'itois onions (similar to scallions)
braising mix (does anyone know what I am supposed to do with this bag of leafy greens?)
radishes
tomatoes
butternut squash

I'm so excited--I think it will be a real cooking adventure for me, and I'll try to share any interesting recipes that I come across. I've never cooked with swiss chard (send recipe ideas!), and have only a little experience with butternut squash, so I think this could open up all kinds of new possibilities.

I'd really encourage you to check out Local Harvest, a non-profit website that allows you to search for farms, CSAs, and farmer's markets in your area. For a lot of CSAs you need to sign up pretty early to get a spot, so it wouldn't hurt to start your search soon!

Old vintage, new vintage

2009-10-11T14:41:00.003-07:00

I picked up a folding knitting basket a couple weeks ago at a thrift store for $3. The original fabric had a certain vintage charm to it, but it was torn and a bit overpowering with its orange and lime green theme. I took it apart, made a game plan for recovering it, and chose to use some of the lovely vintage fabrics I've picked up recently. For the outside, the "Harwood Steiger" linen I bought at a Tucson vintage mall. I just googled his name and learned that he hand screen printed fabric in his Tubac, Arizona studio in the 1970s. For some other examples of his work, click here, here, and here. For the lining, I used some cream colored linen I found at an estate sale.

I'm really happy with how it turned out. It was a little tricky, and did involve some hand stitching. I'm sure it would be easier if the frame were disassembled first!

Housework

2009-10-11T14:29:00.003-07:00

I'm expecting my first house guests later this week, so it's about time I finish putting things away. My porch container garden is going pretty well. I'm really enjoying having so many fresh herbs at my disposal while I'm cooking. I also have some peppers growing, and some tomatoes which may or may not eventually decide to fruit.

I finally hung some artwork:

A hand drawn image purchased in Chennai, India.

My 'Bamenda bag' from Cameroon.

An embroidered tree silhouette I picked up at the Goodwill this weekend for $3. It's signed 'Paula.' I'm thinking about finding some other predominantly black images to couple with it.

And my favorites! Above and below, two vintage French posters that were used in schools to illustrate geography. They are double sided, and remind me a lot of Tin Tin illustrations. The one above is "La Plaine" and reminds me of flying over France. I've always wanted to make a quilt based on the geometric shapes of agricultural land. The one below is "Le marais salant" You can see various workers drying sea salt. My Aunt found these (and others) for 5 Euros a piece in France several years ago. What a find!

Gray and green

2009-10-09T07:03:00.004-07:00

I spent a few days in Montreal and Quebec City last week to attend a professional conference (and give my first talk!) I hadn't been to Montreal since I was 17, so it was great to have a chance to explore a bit. It had definitely already turned to fall--the leaves were changing, and the weather was very gray and rainy the whole time. I loved it though--it reminded me of home! Certainly a far cry from the 100+ degree temperatures I had left behind in the Southwest.
Among the highlights of my trip were visiting the Algerian bakeries in the Petit Maghreb neighborhood (almonds and orange blossom water in so many delicious combinations). I didn't take any pictures, but I'm making plans to try to create something similar at home. My previous attempts at Moroccan sweets were ok, but seeing as these are among my favorite flavors, it's really about time that I perfect the recipes.

I also went to the most fun concert I had been to in a while (and I go to a lot of concerts!) The group is Bajofondo. They are a group of 8 people from Argentina and Uruguay. They mix tango with rock, Euro dance club, and some hip hop. The audience was really into it, and we all danced the whole time. If they ever come to your town, definitely check them out.

In continuation of the theme of my week, when I arrived home I injected some Autumn and French influence into my kitchen my making Apple and Almond Clafoutis, based on the recipe recently posted by La Tartine Gourmand. I love clafoutis as an alternative to pies or tarts. They are very simple to make, and have such delicious flavors.

The sewing machine was unpacked first.

2009-09-20T14:07:00.002-07:00

I'm mostly settled into my new place, and true to form, the first item of furniture I bought was a cute little desk for my sewing machine. While I avoid writing papers and presentations for my professional life, I have jumped head first into several of the sewing projects I've been dreaming up for the past few months. Up first is this adorable dress from McCalls 5927. I chose to make view C with cap sleeves and attached fabric tabs around the neckline. I made fabric covered buttons for the first time, which was fun, easy, and adds a nice finished look to the outfit. I used a thick woven cotton that I got for cheap at a place that calls itself "fabric by the pound." I love the color, and also the thickness of the fabric--which I think helps give the pleats and other details some nice structure. The skirt features pockets at the hip, which I also love. The only thing I don't love about this dress is that, once again, I managed to butcher the back a bit as I installed the zipper. It seems that anytime I go a few months without installing a zipper, I completely forget everything I previously learned. Sigh. I think it's still wearable, and it does look super cute from the front. I'd definitely recommend this pattern to others!

Priorities

2009-08-29T11:49:00.002-07:00

I've spent the past couple days scouring garage sales, estate sales, and second hand stores for furniture for my new place. In typical form, I didn't find anything on my list, but I did find some nice vintage fabric! I think these might all be linen. On the left is a decorator weight vintage print, then some chenille embellished valances, and finally a gorgeous and simple linen with a nice sheen to the surface. They will be the perfect size for small projects.

New news

2009-08-25T16:28:00.002-07:00

The last two weeks, briefly:

-finished Master's Degree
-traveled to 3 major cities across the country
-got a job (!)
-getting ready to pack up and move to a new city
-acquired a few new fantastic vintage sewing patterns

Bear with me for a little while longer. I hope to start many new exciting creative projects once I settle into a new place in the upcoming weeks.

A plea to animal lovers

2009-08-12T21:54:00.003-07:00

I wanted to bring your attention to a fund raising effort underway by my good friend Martina and her family. On August 4, Martina was driving with her family in rural Arizona when they saw the driver ahead of them hit a puppy and drive away. The dog had broken its hind legs and was left for dead on the side of the road. The owners of the dog and the police who passed by were both content to leave the dog to die (a process that would have taken 5 days, according to the vet), but Martina and her family could not stand by while the poor little guy was suffering. They instead decided to take the puppy with them to their vet, several hours away, where it received free emergency care from a compassionate vet.

Unfortunately, the injuries to his legs and pelvis were so extensive that he needed an expensive surgery. At this point, Martina and her family were committed to saving this dog, named him Wishbone, and thought of him as the newest addition to their family. They are currently doing everything they can to raise money to pay for his $4,000 surgery. A car wash has been scheduled for this weekend, and Martina's mom is holding one of her famous bingo's at her house.

Wishbone is a very strong, healthy, and sweet 6 month old, and is doing very well post-surgery. He's even back on his feet a bit and can't wait to run around with Martina's twin boys.

If you would like to contribute to Wishbone's medical expenses, they have set up a dedicated bank account and paypal account for donations. The paypal account is associated with the following email: [mddawley@gmail.com] Even small contributions will be greatly appreciated. They have raised $1,000 already in the first week, and I'm confident that with their enthusiasm and dedication, they will reach their goal!

A few odds and ends

2009-08-12T21:28:00.005-07:00

Oi! It's been a busy couple weeks, and it's only getting busier. I wanted to share a few things that have been in the blog queue for a bit.

A new bag made of fine wale corduroy and Simplicity 2750

Grilled flatbread with za'atar. Mmmm...

Continuing on a theme: grilled pizza with tomato, balsamic, pesto and fresh mozzarella.

Plaid please!

2009-08-06T16:22:00.002-07:00

I'm obsessed with plaid, which is no wonder considering how prevalent it has been in the past couple seasons. But I swear my love of plaid goes back farther than that. I'm still thinking of making a modern version of the cute little pinafore dress my mom wore as a kid in this photo. I haven't come up with the perfect pattern yet--if you have any ideas, let me know! I also love the idea of mixing bias and non-bias cut plaid to create different effects. Here's some inspiration:

Pintucks plaid bodice (so great!)
Felt Up design's school marm skirt
gretchenlohse's plaid dress (lovely vintage pattern)

Ok not plaid, but similar idea:
Pintucks 80's dress

Deutsche Shalom

2009-08-02T18:53:00.003-07:00

The lovely Lisa (glitterhippo on ravelry) has translated Shalom into German! I tell you, knitters are some of the coolest people you'll meet. It's so kind of Lisa and the other translators to volunteer their time and talent so that the Shalom pattern is available to more people. Many thanks to Lisa! You can find her translation here, and on my sidebar.

Shalom now in Polish

2009-07-28T11:30:00.002-07:00

Thanks to Kate (Truscaveczka on ravelry) the Shalom cardigan pattern has now been translated into Polish! It can be found here, or through the link on my sidebar. I'm still so flattered and surprised at the popularity of this pattern. For those of you who are thinking of knitting one, be sure to spend some time browsing the many great modifications made by the talented knitters on ravelry.

Summer grilling

2009-07-27T18:05:00.003-07:00

I'm staying at a new place for a while, where there's a really nice, easy-to-use gas grill. It has inspired me to make a couple grilled meals in as many days.

Kebabs for me and LQ
[note: you must pronounce Kebabs like Jemaine in 'Flight of the Conchords']

A really really yummy fattoush salad with grilled veggies and pita. I changed it up a bit by adding a generous helping of za'atar spice mixture (my newest obsession from Israel), and I left out the cheese and olives this time. It was great! Oh, and I should note that this second dish was my first attempt at grilling by myself! Success.

And I'm back!

2009-07-27T17:54:00.004-07:00

I'm back from Israel, and have a knitting surprise to share! It wasn't all-work-no-knitting, after all, despite my blog silence. I had enough free time to whip up a lovely version of Heidi Kirrmaier's Buttercup sweater. I followed her modifications for the second version with longer sleeves and ribbing bands. I also knit it in a smaller gauge with Frog Tree Alpaca Fingering weight wool. I'm extremely pleased with how the sweater fits, and the clarity of the instructions.

Here's the ravelry link to the sweater, for you knitters out there.

Scenes from Jerusalem

2009-06-23T08:54:00.003-07:00

We had a 3-day break to mark the midpoint of the dig, and I went to Jerusalem!

Still here!

2009-06-15T11:10:00.003-07:00

Hi everyone--I'm still in Israel (almost at the halfway point). My blogging efforts are focused on the Kesley Museum dig blog for the time being. Please head over for a bit to see what we're up to. My goal is to post at least one thing a day (there might be a delay in when they show up on the blog though). The blog comes in different sections:

the main blog
our find of the week
and dig life

If you have any questions or are curious about some aspect of our work on the archaeological dig, send me a note on the comments and I'll try to address it through the Kelsey blog. thanks!

A week in Israel

2009-06-02T20:41:00.003-07:00

I've been working in Israel for a week now, and everything has been fantastic. We're staying in a lovely guest house with gorgeous gardens and a beautiful view of the valley below:

Miriam Avitan, who runs the guest house with her husband, makes us 3 fantastic meals a day. Last week for lunch we had homemade falafel:

I do my conservation work in a covered shed at the guest house, while most of the team works at the dig site in the mornings. I was able to visit it for the first time last week to see how things were going. They have a gorgeous view from up there of vineyards, and you can even see the Lebanese border on nearby hills.

This summer I will be repairing a whole lot of pottery. Although I do something very similar in the museum setting, here I have added challenges. For example, even though the ceramic fragments are sorted into groups before they come to me, there are usually a few sherds that don't belong. The two pots below were found in the same bag. I also don't have any idea of what the pot will look like when it's completed--or if I have all the pieces. It's like doing a difficult jig saw puzzle without the box, and with a handful of pieces missing.

The cool part about it is that I am the very first person to work on these objects, and the first to see them complete! The pot below was really challenging to put together--if you look closely you'll see that it was actually thrown in two pieces and put together so that the wheel marks run in a different direction than you'd normally expect. It took me a little while to figure out what was going on!

I hope everyone is enjoying a great summer. Although my internet connection is super slow, I'll try to add some pictures to the blog on occasion.

Summer slowdown

2009-05-23T18:08:00.004-07:00

Early Monday morning I'll be leaving the States and heading to Israel for 8 weeks. I was offered a chance to work as a conservator on an archaeological excavation, and jumped at the opportunity. This will be my first time working on a dig, my first visit to Israel--and I'm very much looking forward to it. As a conservator on a dig, I will be stabilizing and putting together artifacts that are excavated by the team. It will be an intense work environment, where we will work from early in the morning until the evening 6 days a week. I will be knitting as much as possible, but do expect this blog to remain pretty quiet in the upcoming months. I'll try to post interesting pictures and stories if I can. In the meantime, I will also be guest blogging about my professional work as a conservator over at the Kelsey Museum website:

http://sitemaker.umich.edu/kelseymuseum.digdiary/blog_

If you've ever been curious about life and work on a dig, do keep an eye out for updates. And feel free to send questions my way!

Best wishes for a great summer,
Meghan

Knitting obsessively

2009-05-16T12:09:00.002-07:00

I finished my second shawl of the summer--just in time for the thermometer to reach 100 degrees. This is the fantastic textured shawl by Dark Trico, which is available for free through Ravelry. I knit it using a soft green hue of Ultra Alpaca, which I had originally used for my first garment project several years ago. I'm really happy with the way this turned out, and I can see myself loving this during winter visits back to Chicago. [Ravelry link]

I've also cast on for 2.5 other sweaters (the .5 is still a swatch, but will be my traveling project this summer). Above is Anais by Nora Gaughan, which I'm knitting from a large cone of sport weight alpaca I bought for $10 at a yarn sale. It's a really deep eggplant color. I'm thinking of trying to make long sleeves ('cause what good is an alpaca tank top?), and am also thinking of modifying the neck line a la Carrieoke. Although I realize that the lace inserts are the whole idea behind this pattern, I do think it makes quite a nice shape without them. We'll see.

The final project is that second vintage sweater from one of my previous posts--the one with the placket neck. I was nearly finished with the back of that a couple nights ago. I started winding a second skein of yarn when I realized that a colony of mites (insects) had decided to hatch their babies in the box of yarn. If this sounds gross, let me tell you, it was. The yarn got put in zip lock bags and was banished to the freezer for 3 days. It's currently defrosting (to give the remaining eggs a chance to hatch, if they haven't died yet) and will then go back into the freezer for several more days. After that, I'll vacuum the dead insects off, and try to forget about what happened as I knit up the rest. This freezing procedure is similar to what we do in museums when there are infestations (a fairly common occurrence). I've never heard of wool-eating mites, so I'm thinking they just liked the dark cozy yarn-in-shipping-box environment. Blech.

New recipes

2009-05-16T11:59:00.003-07:00

Meghan's Summer Garden Pasta
(inspired by the bountiful fresh zucchini, scallions, and rosemary in my garden)

1 small zucchini, cut in small cubes
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
2 green onions, chopped
About 1/3 of a package of linguine pasta
A bit of butter or olive oil
salt and pepper
Grana padano parmesan and mozzarella cheeses, or what you have on hand
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Prepare the pasta, drain and set aside. Saute the garlic and zucchini and in the butter or olive oil until tender. Add the rosemary, cook for about a minute more. Toss in the green onion, and the pasta. Stir to incorporate. Add salt, pepper, and cheese to your liking. Add a nice squeeze of fresh lemon juice, stir for a bit until the cheese is nice and melty. Serve hot. This will make one very large serving, or two normal-sized portions.

Falafel with homemade tahini sauce, cucumber and pita.

Potato gratin with emmental cheese

Thrift score

2009-05-16T11:50:00.002-07:00

While perusing the local thrift stores for clothes to bring on my upcoming summer trip, I happened to find two pieces of Kanga fabric from Kenya for 99 cents each! The other wasn't quite my style, with large overlapping red and purple polka dots, but I did buy this green and yellow one. In trying to remember the name of this type of textile, I happened to find some examples of Obama Kanga. Pretty cool.

A good evening

2009-05-04T21:31:00.004-07:00

I came home after work to find a surprise 6.5 inch zucchini growing in my garden! They had all been pretty tiny until this one. I promptly cut it off the plant, sauteed it up, and ate my first home-grown zucchini! It sure was good.

What a beaut!

Since I'm starting to think about packing my place up, I took a moment to look through my fabric stash and pick out fabric for my potential second quilt. It's an assortment that includes mostly clothing or scraps left over from making clothing. I've also thrown in two vintage pillow cases and several items of clothing I purchased in India. I'm not sold on including the darkest blue fabric (it's my favorite!) but over all I think this combination of blues, yellows and greens might be nice.

Any thoughts?

I'm currently thinking either of a whirlygig or string quilt. Though I'm open to any awesome pattern suggestions you've seen around lately.

A belated birthday brunch

2009-05-03T15:20:00.004-07:00

There were flowers from my garden,

Vegan tofu scramble with a heart-shaped mushroom,

Cinnamon swirl buns,

Breakfast strata with potatoes, rosemary, and swiss,

A vegan ice cream cake,

And my lovely new butterfly pin from Chile, made with dyed horse hair.

Finished knit: North Roe Shawl

2009-05-03T14:59:00.002-07:00

My second lace shawl, this time the North Roe Shawl in midnight blue Knitpicks Shadow alpaca yarn. I held the yarn doubled and used size 6 needles. The perfect thing to wear during top-secret espionage missions. [ravelry link]

Help me choose

2009-04-20T17:54:00.004-07:00

Ok, so I'm doing a bit of overseas travel this summer, and I think I need a sizeable yet mindless knitting project to keep my hands busy. I do have a couple design projects I'd really love to work on, but I think both will be too tricky to manage while on the road. This evening I thumbed through my stack of vintage knitting magazines and found a few candidates. Any thoughts?

Adorable striped cardigan. The dark stripes are seed stitch, while the light ones are stockinette. I love this in the two shades of gray.
From Fleisher Hand-Knit Favorites vol. 37 from 1967

This placket neck sweater might be the leader at the moment. I'm seeing it in a soft fawn brown color, but not mohair like the original.
From The Mohair Book by Bernat, 1961.

This bulky cardigan is so great with the collar and cables. It reminds me a bit of that really popular Drops cardigan. I'm seeing this in a rich navy blue. Bonus for this pattern is that it calls for Fleishers 'gigantic' yarn on size 15 needles. It looses points for the same reason though, as it would take up more space in the luggage.
From Modern Needlecraft No. 42 Fall Winter, 1963

EDIT: Thanks for the great suggestions so far, guys! I should note that I will be abroad for 8 weeks, and I will be nowhere near a yarn shop (or any other shop, for that matter). The length of my trip (and my flights) and the lack of opportunity to buy new yarn is why I was thinking of going with a bigger project.

First baby sweater

2009-04-20T17:49:00.005-07:00

Using about 2.5 balls of leftover white cotton from Sweetgum Duncan, I quickly knit up this cute baby sweater. It is the 6 month to 1 year size of the Child's Placket Neck Pullover which is available in the book Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, and also as a free PDF from the Purl Bee. I think this is really a timeless design, and should be really cute on a baby. This little sweater will be sent off to Chile as a gift to my friend's niece, who was born last week.

Stencils take two

2009-04-14T21:27:00.002-07:00

We tried out the freezer paper stencil idea on knits last week, with success! This time we cut out the stencil using mylar (thin but sturdy plastic material) so that it could be reused. The drawback to mylar is that it won't adhere to the fabric. I used a bit of glue stick to tack it down, and then was as careful as I could be to avoid getting paint under the edges of the stencil. I also learned that you can use scotch tape to add in little details, like the eye on this 'animal.' The lettering and word bubble were hand painted since stenciling thin lines is kind of a pain. Working on knits is not as nice as woven fabric because it tends to warp more with the moisture in the paint, and the paint stiffened the fabric more than the knit. All in all, a fun project and the recipient of the t-shirt was very pleased.

Recipe roundup

2009-04-14T21:20:00.002-07:00

New in the kitchen this week:

Vegan Laksa
Very nice curried noodle soup with tofu. I added a bit more curry than I would have ideally liked, but otherwise this was a nice dish. The fried tofu with salt and pepper was good enough to eat plain, and the generous splash of lime juice really added a nice note.

Fancy Mac & Cheese with Leeks
Yum! Historically, I am not a mac & cheese fan, but this was delicious. The leeks added enough flavor to keep me very interested.

Snickerdoodle Muffins
Also really tasty. Please note: the batter rises like crazy in the oven, so don't fill the tins too high! I ended up with burnt muffin bits on the bottom of my oven. That being said, this decadent treat reminds me somewhat of those cinnamon covered cake donuts, only better.

Meet my latest obsession

2009-04-14T21:10:00.003-07:00

I planted a vegetable garden in early March, and it's just about all I can talk about these days. It's the first thing I visit upon waking up in the morning, and the first thing I go to see when I come home. It is so satisfying to see the plants grow day by day. This is my first attempt at gardening, and it has been at least 18 years in the making (and that was before I actually liked vegetables).

The radishes are the first edible products from my garden. They are wonderful to grow because they only take about a month to mature from seed. See the little one peeking out beneath the leaves below?

I harvested a bunch of them today, and was shocked to see how big some of them became! Although I did eat a few raw, I decided to see what other possibilities there are for radishes. I came across a recipe for roasted zucchini and radishes that had wonderful reviews. I'm guessing you're like me (and everyone I've mentioned this to) and have never heard of cooking radishes, but I must say it's actually quite good!

Once roasted, radishes lose their bite and most of their crunch, but remain really juicy and have a nice mild flavor.

It's pretty incredible to know exactly where my dinner came from, and that it was as fresh as it could possibly be!

And the winner is...

2009-04-12T20:57:00.001-07:00

Wisy of Sew Isy is the winner of the sewing patterns for giveaway #3. Thanks everyone for playing!

Quilt notes

2009-04-12T13:25:00.003-07:00

A few weeks ago I finished my first quilt, and I wanted to share some notes on how I made it to encourage all of you to give it a try! It is a twin sized quilt, and I finished it in under three months. In order to save time and keep myself interested, I ended up taking several shortcuts. I figured that if I didn't, I'd lose interest and this would take me many months to complete.

The first step in making a quilt is picking the pattern, colors, and fabric. I spent a good long while thinking about this. I looked at flickr for inspiration, flipped through books, and thought a lot about what colors go well together. I was nearly set on making the 'ice pops' quilt from Denyse Schmidt Quilts, but I found it difficult to choose colors for it. I didn't really want many shades of a single color, and I didn't feel it would work with the color palette I wanted. So I moved on instead to the idea of making a wonky log cabin quilt following the great little tutorial at Tallgrass Prairie Studio. After seeing her fantastic Square Motion quilt, I was pretty sure that this tutorial would lead to a great first quilt.

I wanted to choose colors that were somewhere between neutral and bright. I wanted to keep it simple, but perhaps have something related yet different on the back. I mostly used Kona solid cottons with the exception of the green fabric, which was a Kaffe Fassett shot cotton. The shot cottons have different colored warps and wefts (in this case blue and bright chartreuse). While I absolutely loved the way this fabric looks, and the fact that the color changes depending on its orientation, it was not the most fun to quilt with. The fabric was thin and more likely to stretch and warp. I really wish I had used wider seam allowances with it, because it has already started to tear at the seams in a couple places. Sigh. But hopefully it will hold up to use. The Kona cottons were great: very easy to work with, lovely range of colors, and sturdy enough to last.

I cut my fabric in long strips of varying width and pieced them somewhat randomly by machine. For the back, I tried to use large pieces of fabric when possible, and pieced a smaller section to make up the difference. I used a 100% cotton batting and spray adhesive to baste using the tutorial from Anyone Can Quilt. This saved a whole lot of time and held everything together securely during the machine quilting process. I chose to quilt in a diamond pattern with white thread as this seemed like a good, straightforward way to jump into quilting for the first time. Plus I like how clean it looks. I'd love to try free motion quilting sometime, but perhaps on a baby quilt. This one was hard enough to wrangle for straight lines!

Although I suppose I could have made my own quilt binding, I chose to save time again at this step by purchasing quilt binding made of Kona cotton in the 'curry' shade from here. It was really nice to have the binding ready to go, and by following Heather Bailey's tutorial, I ended up with a really nice finish.

Since this was a wedding gift, I really wanted to give it a personal touch for the recipients. I decided to use some sort of symbol that made me think of them. At first I thought maybe a tropical flower from the wedding destination, but that didn't feel quite right...finally I came up with the perfect thing: a retriever silhouette. Both dog lovers and owners, I figured this would do the trick. I sort of followed the freezer paper stencil tutorial at Neither Hip Nor Funky, but I only had wax paper, which apparently will not stick to fabric when ironed. I ended up using a bit of glue stick on the back, then ironing the stencil in place. The Jacquard textile paint I bought at Dharma Trading worked really well. Be careful about what textile paint you use for this--the majority of the ones sold at Joann or Michaels are too thin, and require a resist material to keep them from bleeding.

After stenciling the dog onto the fabric, I zig zag stitched the patch in place before making the quilt sandwich.

Box bag

2009-04-05T21:16:00.003-07:00

I completed my first box bag today. You can make your own by using the tutorial at Dragon[knit]fly, and the helpful suggestions at Twenty acres. It went pretty smoothly, though I managed to break two needles on the zipper (and nearly lost an eye in the process). I also got so caught up that I forgot to follow the directions and accidentally left out the handle. I made mine from a larger rectangle--16" x 20" with squares 2.5" on each side cut from the corners. I wanted to be able to fit my straight knitting needles inside. It's pretty large (11" x 5" x 5"), which would be great for a sweater-in-progress. I might need to make a smaller one for smaller projects too...

The fabric I used is vintage canvas that I found at an estate sale around Washington, DC a couple summers ago.

Minimalist giveaway #3

2009-04-05T21:11:00.003-07:00

I've been Spring cleaning and found a few patterns I'm unlikely to use for one reason or another. The patterns should all be complete and are in the Small to Medium size range. There's a vintage Simplicity skirt suit and blouse set, a Betsy Ross hip blouse pattern (they are a small indie pattern company), and two recent McCall's patterns. Yours for free! I'll draw a winner from everyone who comments on this post one week from today. One entry per person, and you must leave me some way to contact you (email, blog, ravelry, etc.)

Stash organization

2009-04-03T07:39:00.002-07:00

I recently had some big news that changed all my plans in the upcoming months. I'll be leaving the country again this summer (and will tell you more about it when it gets closer) and there's a chance I might have to move out of my house several months earlier than anticipated. As a result, I'm already starting that familiar process of paring down my possessions. My yarn stash got ignored during the last move, and I ended up bringing a bunch of yarn across the country that I probably will never use. Last night, I brought out all the odds and ends to see what I realistically could use, and what will be passed along to a friend or via a giveaway.

I thought I would share a tip on what I did, cause I thought it was pretty clever! First, I organized my odds and ends into piles. I then took note of the approximate yardage and weight of the yarn. After writing all that down, I hopped onto Ravelry and used the advanced search to see what patterns might be possible with the amount of yarn I had. You can input the yardage and yarn weight, and even limit it to only free patterns. Let me tell you, there were a ton of great patterns to choose from that I never would have thought of on my own. I decided that three groups of yarn could stay and be knit up, and I feel much better now that they all have a purpose.

Leftovers from Sweetgum should be enough to make the Child's Placket Neck Pullover, which is from the book Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, and is also available as a free PDF from the Purl Bee.

Two skeins of Ultra Alpaca (one of which is currently knitted up into a never-worn Anthropologie shrug) will be used to make a February Baby Sweater. Now, I've never made baby clothes--mostly because very few of my friends have children. I'm hoping that by the time I knit these two baby sweaters I figure out who the recipient might be! I'll be able to get the Knitter's Almanac from the library for this project.

Two skeins of Knit Picks Shimmer lace weight yarn will be plenty to make one or two lace shawls. I've really enjoyed the bright red one I made, and this midnight blue color should also be lovely. I really like the look of the North Roe Shawl, which is available for free in French and English here.

Recipe recap

2009-04-03T07:18:00.002-07:00

French Lemon Yogurt Cake
From Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours, and blogged here. Very nice, simple recipe using ingredients you probably have on hand. I might reduce the amount of oil next time.

Perfect Pumpkin Pie
This took about 8 minutes to prep then an hour to bake. Easy as...

Eggs Ranchero
Another excellent recipe from Karina's Kitchen. I can tell that it's been a week with some mental turmoil for me because I not only forgot to add the cilantro, but I also completely forgot to add the fried eggs! It took me about 2 days to realize they were missing. Still excellent even without the eggs.

Chow Mein Casserole
This week, we decided to do a little kitchen experiment and try to make a couple of LQ's favorites from home. Casseroles always make me think of the American Midwest in the 1950s. There's something very wholesome and comforting about them. That being said, as a vegetarian with tastes that tend toward Asian and Middle Eastern food, I have very little experience in this realm. It was fun to try some new things! I don't want to give away his mother's recipe, in case it's a family secret, but this recipe kind of gives you the idea--although we made ours vegetarian with faux ground beef and cream of mushroom soup, and there wasn't any rice involved.

Scalloped Corn

Casserole #2, basically a mix of cream style corn, egg, and saltine crackers. I forgot how much I loved cream style corn as a kid!

Vintage Pattern Thursday

2009-04-02T20:01:00.002-07:00

Let's hear if for knitting during the warmer months:

Modern Knitting, Crochet and Needlework, 1948.

Early 1980s (?) lacy halter.

Above and below, Good Housekeeping Needlecraft from the 1960s--lots of fantastic patterns.

Ikat love

2009-03-30T17:35:00.006-07:00

My good friend Sara emailed me this weekend to ask if I knew of any good sources for ikat fabric. Ikat seems to have gained a bit of a following lately. For those of you who aren't familiar, ikat is a type of resist-dyed weaving that originated in Indonesia. The warps and/or wefts are resist dyed with one or more colors prior to warping and weaving. It is quite an advanced weaving technique that can result in the most beautiful fabric.

I was lucky enough to see some ikat weavers in action two summers ago at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington DC. The picture below shows the resist dyed threads (not sure if these are warps or wefts, I'd guess warps?). I find it staggering to try to imagine how to create a particular pattern this way...

...let alone the skills it must take to get the design to actually line up properly while weaving:

I have no idea how she kept track of all those bobbins.

In my search this weekend I actually found quite a lot of fantastic ikat fabric. I'm sharing it with you so that I can hopefully inspire more of you to make something of ikat fabric, because I'm dying to see all of these in action.

From Batik Tambal, 100% cotton, made in India.

Mmm...madras ikat, from The Cotton Club.

Silk Shoi fabric from Uzbekistan, Uzbek Applied Arts

Cotton ikat, Uzbek Applied Arts (remarkably good price for 10 feet of fabric!)

More Silk Shoi fabric from Uzbekistan, Uzbek Applied Arts

First quilt

2009-03-30T17:19:00.003-07:00

I am so thrilled to finally be able to share this project with you. I've been working on a surprise wedding gift quilt since January, and just this afternoon I got a call to say that it had been received! So here it is, my first quilt:

front

back

I have a lot of thoughts to share on this process, the decisions I made, and the lessons I learned--I'll spread that out in a few posts as I have the time and energy. For the time being, you should know that it is a twin sized quilt, 100% cotton, and it was machine pieced and quilted. It took me the better part of three months, and craft monogamist that I am, I offer this up as the main reason my finished craft posts have been a bit infrequent. There were many highs and lows experienced during this project, but now that it's finished I can honestly say that I'm very happy with it, and I'm very proud to have finally made a quilt! I'm also very happy to have it out of my house, and hope one day to sweep up every last little thread that has found its way into the darkest corners of my house. More to follow soon.

Vintage Pattern Thursday

2009-03-25T21:40:00.002-07:00

This week: cute vintage finds I wish I had time to make for the summer.

Beach-ready capris with the perfect belt. McCall's 9229, from 1952.

Classy blouse with a great shape. McCall's 6185, 1945.

Mail order play suit--adorable in a cute print fabric. Vintage 1940s.

Simple yet effective dresses--I love the blue and red ones. McCall's 9465, 1968.

Sailor inspired, and I love the way the bow pops through the jacket opening. I'm picturing blue and white stripes for the contrast fabric. McCall's 5021, 1959.

This week in food

2009-03-22T11:59:00.003-07:00

Well, actually the past two weeks. I'm going through a brief spell where I don't really want to think about food. Or rather, where nothing in particular sounds appealing. Despite that, I did manage to cook and eat some tasty things.

Chinese scallion pancakes
These were easy, fun to make, and I'm already making a second batch. I made six and stuck the dough in the fridge to cook them as needed throughout the week. I also whipped up an easy sauce of low-sodium soy sauce, Sri Ratcha chili garlic sauce, and tahini.

Rosemary potato bread
Historically, this has been my favorite type of bread. I must say that I was slightly disappointed by the outcome--perhaps I need to buy better flour? However, three friends who tasted it thought it was very good. Perhaps I just had very high expectations. This recipe appears in The Bread Baker's Apprentice, which is a really excellent book. A few years ago I made the most amazing cinnamon rolls using his recipe. They tasted just like Ann Sather's in Chicago.

Roasted cauliflower in lemon-tahini sauce
Don't let the less-than-appetizing photo fool you, this is an amazing recipe. It won the reader's recipe contest from Vegetarian Times a couple years ago. I make it often because it is easy and delicious. Sometimes I add carrots and/or whole chickpeas to the roasting pan.

Trader Joe's Canelés de Bordeaux!
I saw these magical looking creatures on some foodie blog [perhaps this one?] a few months ago, but figured that I'd never get to try them since I didn't want to invest in a special pan. Then last week as I perused the frozen food selection at Trader Joe's I found these! They are really really tasty. I did not bother looking at the nutritional facts, as I don't want to know. They go quite well with black tea.

Vintage Pattern Thursday

2009-03-19T19:21:00.003-07:00

This week's vintage pattern finds:

Dress with fantastic gathered neckline, circa 1950s

Mail order dress pattern, circa 1960s
I thought this was a pretty cute wrap bodice, then I saw that it came from the Progressive Farmer Pattern Department, and that gave me a whole series of interesting mental images.

Sleeve drafting patterns, circa 1945
I think this would be such a great resource if you're at the point where you're learning to draft your own patterns. There are some really unique sleeve designs here that would look spectacular and current. A1, D, and C are my favorites.

Cute hats, circa 1940.
I especially love the plaid one.

Vintage Davy Crockett Frontier Costume, 1976.
Ok, you might think I'm totally nuts, but if you take away the hat, rifle and powder horn, and make the pants a bit slimmer, wouldn't this outfit be completely in style right now? Ok, maybe you'd have to draft slightly different sleeves with the above pattern...but really, I think I've seen this ensemble in Lucky Magazine.