spotted

There's a wonderful story in the Juillet/Aout (err, July/August) issue of Marie Claire Idees that features some of Denyse Schmidt's fabrics. Here are a few photos:

Don't they look great? I especially like the bottle carrier.

textile jewelry

Last winter S and I were messing around with various fibers and made ourselves some jewelry. I finally remembered to photograph it so I can show you.

S went on a mad finger-knitting binge and swore she would make a scarf for everyone (19!) in her class as well as a lengthy list of additional friends who needed them (according to her--and I'm sure all our corporate-world friends would, indeed, have been very appreciative). Fortunately, she got distracted around necklace number eleven before I ran out of yarn, but I got to pick out the yarn for my own and specified that I wanted a necklace instead of a scarf. So my commission resulted in this fabulous piece made with an Amy Butler yarn. I combined her little masterpiece (yes, I really do wear it) with a scrap of Nani Iro double gauze sewn into a tube, stuffed with a little cotton, and tied with embroidery floss every so often to define the "beads" in the necklace. Someone showed how to do this in a blog a while ago and I can't remember who--can anyone refer us?




I also bought some of this crazy knit collage yarn at Purl and strung it with felted beads to make this necklace. S has a similar one with handmade felt beads (it takes about 15 minutes to make each bead, and I only had time to make enough beads for one necklace before I ended up buying the rest. Someday when I have more time...). As we strung the beads (you'll need a tapestry needle, strong fingers, and a lot of patience), I looped the yarn around my neck and arranged the beads and yarn lengths to my liking. Then I tied all the loops together at the back to hold them in place. It's easy to wear since I just slip it over my head (made sure it's long enough!) and it's lightweight.

Here it is on Pedal at the studio. It's a bit long on her, but I've had enough with modelling for a while.

We've got ideas for a few more textile necklaces when we have time. The felt beads are fun to play with, but S is very busy with play dates before school starts again, and she doesn't have time for crafting at present.

little escape

Last Thursday some friends who just returned from performing in the catskills were asking us whether we had ever considered buying a little house where we could escape from the city on weekends. Todd and I answered that we have considered it, but our weekends are usually so busy that we really wouldn't take advantage of a weekend retreat very much.

Then on Friday we took the train up to Garrison to visit some other friends who are renting an adorable bungalow on the property of a large house in the area. We had such an amazing time spent lounging by the pool, visiting other friends at the lake, hanging out, cooking delicious dinners, and generally enjoying the weather and the country so near the city.

Several times during the weekend I turned to Todd and said, "maybe we should consider doing this after all!" But on the train back home we agreed that it just isn't practical for us. We both have obligations on Sundays, and we wouldn't take advantage of the escape often enough for it to make sense. But still, it was awfully relaxing and really pretty. I'm thinking that if I write another book it would be fun to do the photo shoot up there. Clearly I'd have to think of a way to include the chicken house...

wish you were here

We've spent the week with my family on vacation someplace on the outer banks of North Carolina, where the houses are big enough to hold our entire crew. So far we've been dodging trucks (everyone drives on the beach out here!), admiring the wild horses, building sand castles and sand snowmen, baking (more sandcastles--the beach-themed cake was for my sister's birthday), goofing off in the pool, and I've had so much fun riding the boogie board I've pretty much decided to quit work and move someplace where I can learn to surf. But maybe I'll change my mind again when we get back home.








We're the only ones walking back and forth to the the beach instead of driving, so if you see us, wave!