We Can't Wait...

The season premiere of the television version of "This American Life". Check out the trailer, it looks fantabulous (as expected). Starts March 22nd on Showtime.

Felt-o-rama

Had a nice weekend visiting my folks and practicing the art of felting for the very first time. The little mushrooms were made with wool roving and a felting needle, as was the little branch and bird. (The green felted bowl had been previously made by Mom.) The blue bullseye is actually a pincushion, made by knitting 4 tubes out of different colored yarn, putting them together, and felting the whole thing in the washing machine. So much fun!

Knitting Update

Here it is- my most recent knitting project, finally completed after a year and a half, or has it been two years? Anyway, I'm calling this scarf "Peppermint Twist" and it is a 1 x 2 rib with little cables on one side. I believe I originally found the pattern in Stitch 'N Bitch Nation.

And here is a pic of my next knitting project, from a book called Vintage Knits, except I'll be making this sweater in navy blue, which seems to be my color of choice recently. You'll have to check back in a year or two to see how it turns out!

Real Genius

In the most recent issue of the New Yorker, there's a fantastic article about local physicist-turned-origami master Robert J. Lang. I loved it for a number of reasons: 1. Lang's work in lasers and his student days at Caltech sound straight out of "Real Genius", 2. It provides a quick little history of origami involving kindergarten, Harry Houdini, vibrators, and a Japanese fishmonger. 3. It demonstrates how origami is the perfect marriage of art and science, and 4. It makes passing reference to a molecule named after a recent obsession of mine, R. Buckminster Fuller.

Lang has been obsessed with origami since childhood, and first made a name for himself with the cuckoo clock pictured above created from a single uncut piece of paper. Ridiculous!

Check out his website for other examples of his particular genius. Pictured below are an elk and owl of his design, along with the crease patterns used to create them.

Spools

My parents came into the city for a visit this weekend, and Mom brought me a whole bag full of beautiful perle cotton in the most gorgeous colors. They're small spools, so I'm thinking of doing some embroidery projects with them- maybe some pillowcases. I've done some weaving projects with perle cotton though, and seeing these wonderful threads really makes me want to weave again!

In other crafty news, over the past couple weeks I've been trying to practice my machine sewing a little bit everyday- so far I've made 2 practice shirts, one out of muslin and another short sleeved shirt out of some printed cotton I bought at the flea market. I'm definitely making progress, but I wouldn't look too closely at some of the seams! The next step is learning how to alter patterns, so the next shirt I make will actually fit me.

Finally, I finished a scarf yesterday that I'd started back in New York- one of those projects that I pick up every now and then when I'm at home watching TV or just needing something to keep my hands busy. I'll post pictures tomorrow!

Geeks 'R Us

There's a little Q&A feature (and a scary big picture) of Lauren and I over at GeekSugar today as part of their Love 2.0 series. In it, we talk a bit about the Curiosity Shoppe, and this here web journal, as well as a few of the geekier aspects of our lives. There are a bunch of other interesting couples featured as well, one of which includes a guy I went to college with (random). Check it out. (It'll help explain the above picture...)

Butterflies+Clovers=Spring

I know it's only the beginning of February, but I'm already itching for Spring! I spotted this cute Spring-y scarf on the J. Crew website and I'm loving the all over butterfly print with the clovers and leaves. It reminds me a little of Andy Warhol's butterfly drawings.

I swear I saw some pink cherry blossom buds starting to peek out on the trees around here, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Punxatawney Phil is right and Spring will come early this year!

Ed Emberley

I recently picked up a copy of Ed Emberley's Jumbo Jamboree Drawing Book at a giant bookstore sale and I'm so happy that I did! Ed Emberley has been creating instructional drawing books for kids since the 1960's, and I just love his illustration style and the way he breaks down all his drawings into steps like a recipe book. I used to check his books out of the library when I was little, and my favorite was the praying mantis, with its triangle head with half circles on either side for eyes. I couldn't find it in this book, but I do love this sweet fox (oops! raccoon)- especially the patch of grass he gets to stand on.