doughnuts and bracelets - otherwise known as today.

This morning I waited in line for a half hour in the rain for doughnuts from the Doughnut Vault, a new shop that is a block from work. It was worth every minute - the doughnuts were amazing. 

Can you spot me in this picture from their facebook? Hint - I am the most colorful person in line. 

This morning I took this tutorial from V & Co. for a spin, and I like the results:

It's just a simple finger knitting technique, but I think it turned out fun and summery and I'm hoping to swap some with some long-distance friends! Anyone else wanna get in on that?

Patchwork Spring Wreath

This weekend, while Chris made chili, I made this new spring wreath! 

Last spring I made this yarn wreath, and while it was nice or whatever, I never really loved it. A few months ago I patched together some scraps into a little something-or-other that needed a purpose. Two "meh" projects on their own - so I put them together!

To begin, I pulled all the red flowers off, and squared up my patchwork into one long rectangle that was a bit bigger than the circumference of the wreath. 

After that, I loosely pinned the fabric around the wreath and whip stitched it in place.

Finished with a bow and much more spring-time than before! 

inside a knitting kit

It's been a pretty lazy weekend over here. As I mentioned yesterday - it's really sunny in Chicago right now, but it's also freezing. Like 33 degrees freezing. Way too cold to consider leaving the house or, say, putting on real clothes. 

So Chris and I have been catching up on movies - Winter's Bone and The Kids Are Alright - and I've been knitting socks from my Knit Picks sock kit. 

knitting in my pj's

I wanted to experiment a bit with my iphone camera, so I took some pictures of my supplies. Yarn, pattern & mini knitting kit.

I always love to see "what's in my bag" posts, so here's the mini knitting kit version:

From top left: stitch holders, needles for weaving in ends, safety pins, tiny scissors, waste yarn, Emergency Fix Keychain, row counter on a big safety pin, measuring tape and coin purse from h&m. 

Despite appearances, I swear this post is not sponsored by Knit Picks! But maybe it should be... 

new felt & vintage fabric boxes

Just wanted to pop in and share some pictures of a new crop of stacking boxes I made a few weeks ago. The outside is a nice wool blend felt, and each are lined with a different vintage fabric. 

It's a terrible Saturday here in Chicago - bright sun but cold. How rude! It should be Spring!

And lookit these - a great use for my recent thrifty find. Want to make your own? Use my tutorial - here. 

Intro to Embroidery in Chicago!

Exciting news! I'm teaching a few classes at Sifu Design Studio in Chicago!

I'll be teaching a 4-week Intro to Embroidery Class and two workshop classes - Embroidered Vintage Hankie and Recycled Sweater Pincushions. If you're new to embroidery, take the Intro class, and then join us for the fun projects in the workshop classes!

All the info is here, along with the full schedule of craft classes, including extensive knitting and crochet classes!

recent vintage finds

I haven't had a ton of time to thrift lately, but I did want to share a few fun finds from the past few months.

First, the prettiest vintage sheet you-ever-did-see:

Second, when I went home to my parents' house for my cousin's wedding in February, my dad insisted I look through some of the stuff in their basement. I found this groovy hanging lamp, perfect for illuminating my favorite crafting spot:

And finally, some Pyrex. I've dabbled in collecting Pyrex in the past, but never really got INTO it. Well, watch out, because this gold butterfly pattern is awesome:

I was gifted the casserole dish, and found the butter dish on ebay and the shakers on etsy (here). All in great condition and all in frequent use in our home!

I got an iphone!

I got a new iphone! I was using the tiniest, oldest flip phone for the longest time, and I finally decided to upgrade to the fancy iphone 4. Although there are many cool features, I love the camera most of all!

I've been playing with camera apps. Any recommendations?

And a picture of my current favorite nail polish - a minty green:

winnerrr!

I enter a ton of blog giveaways, but I rarely ever win - luck of the draw! So when I got an email from Julia & Yuriy of Mr & Mrs. Globetrot, saying that I won their giveaway, I was extra excited. 

Julia & Yuriy took 6 months to travel the world after their September wedding, and they post tons of gorgeous pictures and interesting stories of the people and places they've seen. After taking so many awesome pictures, they opened a store for their prints when they returned to the states - Handle with Care.

They sent me a t-shirt! I love the cute illustration. You can get one for yourself or look at their pretty prints here.

collaboration

I've been busy directing a reading of a new play - Su Sessiz. One of my favorite things about theater in Chicago is the sense of open collaboration between artists. A playwright starts the process, and then the director comes in and adds their ideas, and the cast and the designers add theirs, and finally the audience responds - for better or worse.

This is rare with sewing projects, but lately I've been lucky enough to collaborate with a few shop owners and artists on some new items.

A special wedding owl.

A set of patches commissioned by my life-long friend, Randi, for her etsy shop. Check out her baby hats - so cute. 

A special mustache for Sacred Art's 5th Anniversary. 

A million owl magnets for Sifu Design Studio. 

Beatnik. Finished.

Nothing like terrible weather, the month of February, and a bad cold to help one power through a complicated sweater! At the beginning of February I joined Alyson at the Sweatshop of Love for a knit-along, and it's been pretty awesome. I learned how to knit two sleeves at once - a huge brain-saver! 

The details - the pattern is Knitty's Beatnik, and I knit it with Cascade 220 on size 6 and 8 needles. 

I knit it almost completely according to the pattern, with only one mod - I knit the body in a size Medium, but after seeing how wide it was, I knit the sleeves in a size Small. I have tiny tooth-pick arms. If I had the heart to rip it out and re-knit the body in the smaller size, I would have. Instead I just blocked it aggressively and the fit turned out great!

I'm so happy with how it came out. I LOVE the collar - although knitting 4" of twisted rib is not something I'll be rushing to do again any time soon. Very wearable!