A Year in Pictures

I've noticed this on a few other blogs, and I thought it was a charming idea. So here goes, a picture for every month of 2007:

January:

February:

March:

April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:

October:

November:
(ok, I cheated a little... this is also a December photo... but November was so busy with my show and such that I just didn't have anything good...)

December:


Happy New Year Folks

Thrift

So, I don't know where the rest of you folks out in blog land thrift, but for the most part, the thrift stores in my area are the homes of the old and grimy, rather than the cute and kitschy. However, the other day I made this little, adorable discovery at Housing Works:

There was another identical mug as well, and while I felt a little guilty separating the pair it was hard to justify another $4 for the second one, let alone for the first. (Another thing, our thrift stores aren't always that terribly cheap either.... I suppose that's NYC for you).

Too cute though, the mug has a label which says it's dishwasher and microwave safe so you can heat up soup in it ;) It's also says it's circa 1989, the year I was born.

Well, it's almost the new year... still haven't done any crafting since finishing that hat, but I need to make those mittens before I go back to school or I won't have them until next winter :o We'll see what happens ;)

The Houndstooth Hat, and other holiday fare

New yarn and goodies from knitpicks arrived lightning fast and I began on my Center Square. Once I got the hang of the fair isle (this was my first project with colorwork!) I decided I wasn't happy with how the colors were looking in the pattern. So, I frogged the thing and then this morning, started again, using a houndstooth colorwork pattern instead. I finished it about an hour ago, and I am incredibly happy with it! So this is also my first finished object in a single day ;) (and I still had time to beat my dad at risk, and loose at various other games, including a very close game of scrabble in which I had a 40+ point move! We also ate wonderful homemade pizza (pesto, potato, carmalized onions, and goat cheese) and cookies and other things... so overall, a very good day!) Anyway, here is the hat:




Oh, and another cute Christmas thing: on the way back from my french lesson yesterday I noticed a Christmas tree stand selling "Charlie Brown Christmas Trees" for $1 each. I thought it was way too adorable, and since it's been a few years since we've had a tree, (we don't really celebrate Christmas, though we used to get a tree when I was little and call it a "Hannukah Bush" haha) I thought why not? It was extra fun because my dad and I called my mom telling her we got a tree and she was a little angry because of all the work she would have to do... until she got home and say this:

needless to say, she cracked up ;) And my dad thought it was appropriate that our tree be smaller than our menorah (which was still out yesterday since we had a belated Hannukah celebration when I got home from school)
(The trimmings are all my doing of course. And yes... those are earrings ;) haha)

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all who celebrate! And to everyone else, I hope you had a fabulous day ;)

A Lack of Posting: brought to you by college

So, here I am. My first term of college is done, and while it's been fantastic, it left me with almost no time for crafting. I was so busy... there just wasn't even a moment. For blogging either in that matter. From classes that were hard, to the show I was in--yes, I am quoted in both articles ;), and working as a newscaster at the radio station, and acting in a student film, and new friends... I could go on and on. In the past 4 months all I managed to do craft-wise was to finish this unicorn for a swap:


and to start knitting my first sweater, thermal. I'm a bit further along than this poor picture portrays as I was stuck in Ithaca for an extra day after my exams ended due to snow. Beautiful snow. So what did I do? Knit of course.



brought to you by:


Anyway, while I'm going to miss my friends, my cast mates, and so many other amazing things, I'm excited for more knitting and sewing and crafting over this break. I hope to knit some mittens and maybe hats too, work more on more of my thermal, stitch up some gifts... perhaps... (suggestions anyone?) and maybe even make that dress I've been wanting to start since the summer. I don't know... there are always plenty of things that I intend to do, though one of them certainly is to blog about whatever does get created, and if I don't do this- yell at me! haha. But first... to unpack the exorbitant amount of stuff I brought back with me, including a lot of craft supplies who were sadly neglected up at school.... ah yes... I'll get to that...

Once upon a time there was a girl named Natch

Wow... last post August 1st... 17 days later I left for college and the rest is history. So, yes, basically, I am still alive, but now that I'm at Cornell I have almost no time to craft, let alone blog. I am doing my best to keep up the visual journal I started in July, though I had to cheat and make September after it happened, and maybe I'll share some of those pages with you at some point. However, other than that it looks like both blogging and crafting will be primarily a winter and summer break phenomenon. So, don't forget me, I'm around, and I miss the crafting community oh so much, but my school work, rehearsals, and choices about what I may be doing with the rest of my life come first. haha. Keep crafting and enjoy, I hope to be back here more permanently soon, though likely it won't be until December. :(

My new children

The past week or two has been filled with lots of crafting tidbits combined with driving, work, and college preparation (accompanied by the necessary freak outs).

The weekend of the 21st (yes, Harry Potter weekend, and yes I did get the book at midnight and finish it before the weekend was out) was spent up in the Berkshires which lent itself to more driving practice, and you guessed it- craft shopping. While Joann's did not satisfy my palate in terms of fabric, I did come home with a Built by Wendy pattern, as well as many other supplies ranging from foam and felt to thread and cover buttons. Very exciting indeed.

However, other than Mr. Potter, the highlight of the weekend was spending time with my grandfather... and building the newest addition to my crafting family. A swift. When I arrived home I ordered a ball winder online and just this Monday I was finally able to enjoy some blissful yarn winding time.

she's a little crooked but she was made with love and care and I'm so excited by how these two new toys work together! Winding up beautiful little cakes of yarn is such a breeze... and such fun! Granted my setup is a little... erm, makeshift... right now, but maybe someday I'll have a table to use for these things.

Anyway. Tracking back a bit, last Friday merited my first trip to Purl Patchwork downtown to spend a gift certificate from my birthday. And what a fantastic place this is! I was sad that I deterred myself from purchasing from superbuzzy during the last update, and this really lifted my spirits. While the store is small, bolts of gorgeous fabric- ranging from Japanese to Amy Butler to anything you might desire- are piled high. It's such eye candy!
Anyway, I came away with a nice little addition to my ever growing fabric collection.

and yes, those are the ever coveted little Japanese hedgehogs... oh how they set my heart afire ;)

However, I did not stop at that. Saturday we took a trip up to Ikea for dorm shopping and came home with quite a nice little haul. I think my favorite thing was Ikea's "yarn store" which demonstrated storage and other furniture for small business... but it was so great! I didn't get to spend long mulling over fabrics because we had other clear purposes, but as you can probably tell from the picture above, I did not come away empty handed in that department.

With all these new fabrics in tow you can imagine my desire to cut into something at once. The Japanese fabric still being too precious to me, I broke into my piece from Ikea to create a cloth grocery bag.

This baby is strong! And he has a lot of character. Unfortunately his lining (from Germany) is quite bulky and so he does not fold into his pocket like he should. However, I love him and took him for a test run recently.

Something about carrying this baby around makes me feel very hip... hahaha. And I love how miserably he clashes with many of my outfits... I really do love it ;)

Well, this post is getting on now... but I promise I'll have more exciting things to show you soon. Including another new baby who excites me more than you can believe! Oh just you wait and see ;) hahaha

Dankeshen

Now, I know you've all been waiting to here more about my trip to Germany, and especially to see pictures of all the delightful things I got while I was there. In Berlin, we visited many flea markets, including a huge one which had many "craft" type booths, a Turkish market, and various shops. We also spent time in Gorlitz, Dresden, and the Saxon Switzerland region while paying super quick visits to Poland and the Czech Republic. The trip was fantastic and I'm so excited to show you everything I brought home with me ;)

First, buttons. Flea markets are always loaded with vintage buttons, but I happen to think I picked up an especially fabulous batch that my photos just don't do justice to.


A few of my favorites:

(the small flowers came in all sorts of colors, and I may use a little paint or polish to fix up their insides)

I found this great hat at the same flea market:


Later, I found this handcrafted felt hat at a sort of craft market set up near our hotel:


And got a lovely dress from some very nice crafters who gave me tips about the Turkish markets (for fabric):

(do excuse my mess of a room)

The advice was good, and I brought home 3 yards of simple, but beautiful, cloth.
I've already paired one of them with two pieces from my stash ;)
(The first 3 on the left are from the market, the two on the right are from my stash)


Close up of the printed one:


I even picked up these shoes at the same market! Any tips for how I can seal them so they won't get too too dirty?


My largest, and most favorite purchase from the trip had to be this fantastic messenger bag (Though the felt hat comes in close behind, it doesn't count because my mom bought it for me) ;)

The flaps unzip and are interchangeable... the walls of the entire store were full of flap choices. It was great! Visit www.taushe-berlin.de for fantastic photos of more of their bags and their shop. Plus, their name is a combination of "tauschen" (to change) and "Tasche" (bag) - how cool is that?

detail of back zip where you change the flaps:


Lastly, as a tourist in Berlin, I had to buy a small piece of the wall... even if I don't like the idea of making money off of things like this.

also pictured is an adorable "make your own matchbox diorama" set given to me by the woman at the toy museum in Gorlitz ;)

I know it seems like our vacation was all shopping, but we spent quite a lot of time exploring, visiting museums, and seeing beautiful scenery and architecture... I promise!

More from me soon, as we will be in the Berkshires this weekend, which, of course, means a trip to Joanne's ;)