honeyflake

bon voyage...

our miniswap three box filled with crafty surprises finally set sail, on its way to our partners! safe travels little blue box.

a little bit of print

this i've been waiting for. issue #3 of mixtape zine! it made it all the way from australia to my mailbox this past week. have you seen a copy? i had no idea how small and adorable this sweet zine would be. but it really is. perfect size to sit down with, flip through and enjoy the printed pages. which i've been doing all week. reading a recycled pillowcase article here... a hippy-weta bug article there... i'm so happy it is finally here. the little articles are all so nice. i'll also say that it was pretty exciting to flip through immediately upon its international arrival, to find, amidst this bunch of crafty, eco, musical info, the book review i submitted to nichola and justine a few months back. (i have to thank molly for setting this up. thanks molly!) writing and submitting the review was one of those spontaneous things i found myself doing, but i'm so glad i did. being able to contribute to and be a part of this project from the other side of the globe was quite cool... and now i'm so very much looking forward to their future issues. aren't you?

ambition

this little bit of green is just the beginning of our garden 2008. saturday, we found the first of our veggie seeds pushing their way up above the soil of their seed trays (about a week earlier than last year). all striving to reach and grow into something great — a tomato? a pepper? a tomatillo? broccolli? we're really excited for each and every stretching sprout, and as always we're happy to cheer mother nature on.

a few days... and a few japanese craft books later...

a few details to share from wednesday's trip into the city to see martha... let's see..

1. the show will air on monday the 25th.

2. the day was really fun. i was able to scoot up to midtown before the taping began to browse the craft section of kinokuniya (and picked up a couple japanese craft/sewing books since the bag project flowed so nicely). after perusing the book store for slightly longer than i had planned, i walked down to the studio, arriving plenty early for the show.

3. i got a lot of knitting done on my legwarmers during the whole process (while waiting to go in, while waiting for the taping to start, while watching the taping, on the trip home, etc...) and while i got to knit, i got to talk to knitters...

4. the audience was truly filled with knitters and their creations of all types. there were some serious knitting skills in that group - sweaters, hats, toys, blankets, etc... most of it didn't make it on camera i don't think, but a few cool things like toys should be on. (they were really amazing.) and there was something so cool about being surrounded by so many knitters. people were so friendly, asking what you were working on, what pattern you used, how long you've been knitting... all these people with the same interest gathered together in one spot, sharing their happiness was just so nice.

5. the taping of the show went fast. lots of bright lights, clapping and energy. there was an adorable craft/baking segment on making marzipan look like knitting. and a just as sweet segment on projects from sock and glove, which was originally a japanese craft book (do you see a theme here?) that has recently been translated into english. then at the end, as we all left the show, we were handed a copy of our own to take home with us. excellent.

new knitting sack

so i've been wanting a bag for my knitting for a while. a hand-made tote of sorts specifically for carrying around my knitting projects with me from place to place. it hasn't really been a top priority because i've been able to get by with any old bag that holds the yarn and supplies. but when i received confirmation that i'd gotten myself a ticket to be a part of the martha stewart show's audience of knitters (yes really, an audience full of knitters while the show gets taped), sudddenly "sew a new bag" bumped itself up to the top of my to do list.

the making began with gathering some linen, cotton, embroidery thread and a pattern from this book. a truly simple tote with a basic circle bottom. so simple, it didn't really matter that i couldn't translate any of the japanese instructions. seemed just the thing for carting my wool, needles, etc... i followed the pattern pretty closely, but decided to add the circle embroidery on the pocket and add the inside lining. this morning it was completed and i was very excited. just in time to stuff it with all i'll be needing for tomorrow's martha adventure!

pocket yoga

7:45 p.m. thursday evening, found me packing up like usual to head out the door. however in addition to my yoga mat, keys and bag, i was bringing along something extra... fringey, colorful, crafty, inspiration for all. every once and a while we are asked to prepare a talk on a yoga related topic to present and share with everyone — i've previously chosen to explore topics in the past like the "life of the buddha" and the "eight limbs of yoga". this time i decided to simply go with a small 4 line poem. it is something that i connected with early on in my yoga practice. i love how the words realate to the flow of breath, the in and out flow of the ocean's waves, and just the flow of existing in general... and then i envisioned offering each person their own little pocket sized copy of the poem. this called for some cardstock, x-acto knife, a little watered down paint, and a printout or two of the text. there wasn't much of a plan. but as i started working they evolved... and then came the hole-punching and touches of embroidery floss... until there was a stack of eight cards ready to go. portable yogic prose. the creative flow of the process too gave me more of a chance to think about these words and their meaning a little more and just a pretty good happy feeling.

chocolatey

the cocoa hued yarns i got going on the needles today. started that pair of legwarmers (the pattern is from this book, which i've taken out from the local library for the third time...), and so far the mix of the wool and mohair is turning out to be extraordinarily soft. i can not wait to be able to try them on, but i've got a bit more knitting and purling and knitting and purling to do first...

the cocoa covered marshmallows we whipped up for valentine's day sweets. same as last year, natural marshmallows dipped in a melted homemade chocolate/butter creation, wrapped-up and tagged...

here's to cocoa and sweetness filled days...

wintery mix

a little morning mediation... a little knitting... a little valentine making... a little knitting... a little chamomile tea... a little knitting... a little snow... a little knitting... a little more snow... a little knitting... a little finished wool hat for my mom... a little photoshoot out in the snow... a little more tea.

today

new favorites

a few fresh new books and tunes that are being read and played in heavy rotation around here lately:

• necks out for adventure (love, love this one about a bunch of little sea dwelling creatures, and margaret does too. the amazing illustrations have a very different, edgy feeling but still keeps everything sweet at the same time. i like that. this one has us planning a warm weather trip to the bay to see if we can spy some sea clams in the sand.), little hoot (very sweet. by the same author and artist who created little pea. the images are all quirky and adorable — and it puts bedtime in a new perspective!) and zen ties (i've had this one up on my sidebar... again, the illustrations are amazing here and the story/message is great to read again and again. now, this one has us digging up every old haiku book of ours that we can find from boxes up in the attic. i thought we'd find one or two... right now the haiku book pile is at seven, perhaps they belong in their own post "old favorites"?)

• sleep through the static. just yesterday i downloaded this new cd from jack johnson. its pretty dreamy. if you feel like checking out a video of the new song it can be found here (can't everything be found on youtube these days?). enjoy!

sweaters

sweater #1: maroon cardigan. originally worn by my mom, when she was in college. last spring, she was cleaning out some things, found this old sweater of hers and decided to give it to me for a possible felting project. i tried it on and decided i could not possibly throw it into a hot wash and dryer cycle. so now i wear it on occasion... like today.

sweater #2: gray short sleeve cashmere. originally worn by my sister, a year or so ago? last summer, when she was cleaning out some things, she found this old sweater of hers and decided to give it to me for a possible felting project. so i washed it. dried it. repeated the cycle until it shrunk up really well... it was really quite small when i was done. so, before i even had a project lined up for it, i let margaret try it on. she loved it. so now she wears it on occassion... like today.

it worked out today that we both were sporting our "intended-for-felting" hand-me-downs. a bit strange, i think, but kind of fun none the less.

birthday cake(s)

chuck's birthday was sunday and in celebration we baked a big cake. (which was accompanied by one of margaret's mini-side-kick cakes. i gave her some extra batter for her little springform pan). while it sort of resembles last year's marshmallow creation in looks, this year's cake actually took us down a different path...

a carrot cake! the cookbook says to make this for a big occasion, for many people, for a happy party. so we did. the recipe had us steamming raisins, shredding 4 cups of carrots, chopping walnuts, mixing cream cheese, etc... until the cakes were complete. it turned out pretty good - which i'm thankful for, because as the recipe mentions, it was a big cake, and that means there are still quite a lot of slices to be eaten! and it is almost as if for each slice of cake, there is another celebratory portrait of papa that appears — coffee cup, birthday crown, goatee and all...

happy birthday chuck.

shadowy

we had sunshine and shadows for ground hog's day today (unlike last year). so, six more wintery weeks then? hmmm, we'll see about that...

(not sure if these guys were checking out their shadows or seashells...)

happy groundhog's day!