a beast of a sweater

Many months ago Carmen scored a lot of superbulky yarn from the ebay branch of Handpaintedyarn.com/Malabrigo right as the website stopped carrying it (and the price was subsequently raised from $5 to $12). The yarn is really nice and Ive made several hats out of it (pattern for cabled hat). I decided to make a raglan cardigan but I wasnt sure 10 skeins was going to be enough. I have knit and re-knit most parts of this sweater several times because I apparently have no ability to plan out a project ahead of time and I keep changing my mind. I just decided I wanted pockets, but not patch pockets since I wont have much extra yarn, so I ripped out the whole body back to the top of the pockets. Its pretty quick knitting and this is the sort of sweater that should have been done in about a weekend but my indecision has drawn it out for months. It also weighs a ton. All I have to say is thank goodness for interchangeable needles!

nasturtiums

I made this skirt in middle school from some fabric my mom had lying around. Needless to say it no longer fits me but I love the fabric so much that I need to find some appropriate use for it. I was thinking about piecing it together with some plain colored fabric to make the top of a blanket but im not sure how much I like that idea. Anyone have a good suggestion of what I should make?

pork chop!

I bought this stuffed pork chop from Sweet Meats at the craft mafia trunk show in SF this last weekend. It even came all wrapped in butcher paper with a deli sticker. So cute! I think apollo likes it too...





this weekend really did have too much shopping involved. I may or may not have the energy to talk about it (yes it really was that exhausting) except to say it involved BOTH the Mountain Hardware wharehouse AND the Patagonia outlet and that some items were cheap enough that I had to buy them and Ive already started pawning jackets off on other people... (I have two more - anyone my size?)

Avocados grow on trees! and other news from Hawaii

lava!, originally uploaded by abmatic.

At last! i have uploaded photos from my Hawaii trip. You can see the full set of photos (ok, actually I tried to pare it down as much as i could) here, a condensed set here and a few favorites are below. We saw lava flowing into the sea, white, black and green (olivine!) beaches and sea turtles. We ate grass fed Hawaiian beef, tropical fruits and shave ice with fresh coconut and drank large quantities of kona coffee. The first day we had lunch with Phoebe in Waikiki and the next three days we stayed with Ingrid who was visiting at HVO in Volcano National Park. Then we spent two days sitting on the beach and two days sitting around on our porch looking out over the ocean. It was warm and wonderful and in strong contrast to the 30knt winds and 40 degree temps in chicago right now (where i am sitting in the airport-- almost home!) and thats not even cold for Chicago...

anyway on to the photos

Green Sand Beach


Punaluu as a storm was coming in. This beach was 100% shattered basalt and entirely black.


Sea Turtles! There were a bunch of them hanging out at Punaluu


Punaluu





Waipio Valley


Sunset from the porch

Make your own Cardboard Spurs

So I was invited to a halloween party this past weekend with a western theme (is a theme even allowed at halloween?) for which I had little to work with in the way of costume items. What is a girl to do? Make her own cardboard accessories obviously! This set of photos on Flickr explains how you can make your own pair of cardboard spurs so you can be ready for whatever halloween throws at you. There isnt much complicated about it but you will need some way to cut cardboard, a tapestry needle and some yarn or string.

I would love to say that the spurs won "best use of cardboard" at the party but it's hard when your up against someone dressed as an outhouse....

Jeans, resurrected

DSCN2508.JPG, originally uploaded by abmatic.

I get very attached to my jeans but there comes a time when wearing them out of the house is a dangerous enterprise (for the jeans). Since I dont want my beloved pants to actually die I have been stratigically re-inforcing all the weak points I can find to prevent tears and gaping holes from forming. I have two pairs I have been working to save and so far its been pretty sucessfull. Above you can see the patches I've added to pair #1. They are right-side out below.


There are 4 main weak points that seem to deveolp in all my pairs.
1. Left side pocket area develops a hole in the corner from my cell phone
2. Back center belt loop is badly worn and sometimes tears all the way off. It must chafe on something, maybe my backpack. Have you ever tried to wear pants with a belt when the back belt loop is missing? It's rather disastrous if you actually need the belt.
3. Right hand pocket area sometimes develops hole from my chapstick
4. Knee area cloth wears thin and tears

weak point 2 with repair:


weak point 4 with repair:


I have broken down and bouthgt a new pair but I love the old ones so much that I'm determined to keep them going.... at least for now.

Homeade Belt

DSCN2507.JPG, originally uploaded by abmatic.

On a trip this summer a friend of mine had some problems with descending pants and was dreadfully in need of a belt. I dont want to name names here but since the lady in question is vegan i thought a homeade belt would be a good solution (no leather involved). I dont think she reads this page (does anyone?) but i do risk ruining the surprise.

Its been done before and it is in no way ingenious but here Ive gone and done it again. The belt is plain canvas on one side and printed fabrics on the other. I used a variety of scraps to get the full length and put colored fabrics on both sides at the end where the belt folds back after the buckle. If i did it again i might consider using some iron on adhesive to add more stiffness and keep the layers tidy during sewing. Other than that it was quite simple to do, its quick and I like the finished result very much.

Now I only need to get over my procrastination of going to the post office....

From the side:


Several people have commented on the cat appearing in lots of photos. In realitiy its far more difficult to frame a photo in my apartment without the cat in it. What can I say, he is a total ham.

Stage 1: Apollo comes in to investigate what is so captivating to me


Stage 2: where Apollo usually sits on top of the item of interest


Stage 3: he usually begins rolling in, clawing or trying to play with the item as in the photos of the Clapotis