SweetAnd Condensed

Oh my, oh my has it been a crazy month: welcome to December! I feel blessed, I feel happy....I feel...tired.  I heart the holiday season there's just so much to do and so much going on... 

I love being busy though and made some cookies for the 2nd Annual New York Holiday Cookie Swap event today organized by Bloggers Without Borders to benefit the Cookies for Kids' Cancer charity.  So many great blog friends to catch up with and new ones to meet.  Oh and did I mention all the cookies?!  

So, someday I'll catch up on blog posts about flower arranging, (birthday present, 2 Thanksgiving dinners, 2nd year of amaryllis for a big fashion client), canning (Brooklyn Swappers event and Justin's first pickles), sewing (new book and material to make my first skirt), knitting (another beautiful book and lilac-colored socks), felting (have the tools, don't have the time), paper crafts (squirrel place cards and so many great friends who are into this!), craft fairs ('tis the season), friends visiting from out of town (yay!), holiday parties (double yay!) and holiday projects (oh so many in mind...)  

But this week is the busiest one of the whole month for catering, so I'll resurface very soon.

Here are some much better recaps of the event, enjoy:

Three Many Cooks: thank you so much for organizing such a fun, tasty event!
Justcook NYC: in which he made THREE kinds of cookies, oh my
The Diva That Ate New York: with a video!
Sweets by Sillianah: she even volunteered for the event
One Tough Cookie: my award for best presentation with her cookie TREE
Healthy Green Kitchen: mmm iced ginger bars...
Abby Dodge: sooo sorry I didn't grab a piece of her caramel 
macadamia coconut shortbread before they all got snapped up
Open Mouth Insert Cookie: an amazing picture summary of the assortment

Helping the Little Guys

[picture by Charlie from Skeinz]

Casually scanning Twitter the other day I saw a tweet by Brett Bara with a link to this article about the plight of penguins who survived an oil spill in New Zealand.  

[photo by Toby Zerna/Newspix/Rex USA seen on abc NEWS]

Even though I don't know much about that part of the world (aside from Flight of the Conchords) I found this especially touching: Skeinz yarn store was calling for knitters to make jumpers to warm the penguins before and after rescue workers cleaned them, and to protect them from preening their oil-soaked feathers and being poisoned.  What a great way to use crafty skills!

[photo from Adorablog]

A similar request 10 years ago from the Tasmanian Conservation Trust for 100 jumpers resulted in over 15,000, and now already Skeinz has reported on their blog they've received enough to reach "critical mass"!  Here's video news proof with cleaned up penguins swimming happily.  But if you've already finished a jumper, or just want to try your hand at creating penguin clothes, you can still use this pattern and send to Skeinz for the Wildlife Rescue Team to keep on hand if needed.

So hooray for penguins and for all the knitting and cleaning hands that helped them out.  I'll leave you with my amigurumi penguin: I crocheted him for Christmas 2009 from a Lion Brand Yarn pattern and I love him so. 

For further reading on penguins and crafting doing good:

• Dyan deNapoli, "The Penguin Lady" has a lot more to say about the conservation and rescue efforts.
• Book: Knitting for Good! A Guide to Creating Personal, Social and Political Change Stitch by Stitch by Betsy Greer, read more about her on her Craftivism blog.
• Book & EVENT!: Craft Activism People, Ideas and Projects from the New Community of Handmade and How You Can Join In by Joan Tapper and Gale Zucker.  Read more about them on their Blog and even MEET them in person for a signing at Lion Brand Yarn Studio in NYC next Monday, October 24th 2011 at 6:00 p.m. (RSVP required).
• and of course Many MANY more pics of penguins in sweaters as Googled by Gothamist

Test Drive for Teeny Tiny Feet

A few weeks before my friend Allison's due date I took More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson for a book test drive: could these little baby socks really take only the suggested 3 hours a pair? Not counting the 12 minutes it took to find the right size needles in my stash, this 1st pic below was taken at 7:30 p.m.

Next by 7:45 p.m.

Then a break to answer some work e-mails that popped up and grab a snack.  By 8:13 p.m. there were 2" and the leg section was done.

I turned the heel flap the wrong way and had to take a few rows out, then look up the SSK (slip-slip-knit) stitch,

and how to pick up stitches along an edge

since it's been a while since I knit my last little baby project.

Once the heel was done it was on to the toe.

And by 10:11 p.m. finishing off.

And voila!  One done by 10:38 p.m.  So, already that's almost 3 hours (with various interruptions) and the 2nd one took about that long too: twice the quoted time, but I need to brush up on my speed.

In any case, I liked this sweet card to go with it.

And always love gift wrapping, especially for something so very small and soft.  It's nice to use a strand of the yarn for a preview of what's inside.

There are lots more projects in the book I want to try too: soft baskets (2 - 4 hours), spiral seat cushions (6 hours), socks (more than 8 hours) and more...maybe my time ratio will be a little better next time.

Crafty Holiday Wrap-up

Craft punches by Martha Stewart, cards from Papyrus,

pink wrapping paper from Target, white and red paper from 
The Container Store

Better a belated holiday wrap-up than never!  What with such a range of prices for gift wrap this year I got a few different designs for a little holiday splurge and wrapped up my gifts, handmade and otherwise.

When I knit a hat for my Dad last year from Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in Taupe Mist it only fit Guinness the dog, so I tried again for Christmas...it sorta fit, but quite snugly -- gee, a gauge swatch really is a good idea!  Off to buy more yarn and a new pattern, here's to hoping 3rd time's a charm.

I made my sister Emily a lace applique tank very similar to mine.

And used the Heather Prime Alpaca I got back in October from ImagiKnit in San Francisco

to make her a fluffy pink Diamond Knit Cowl from a beautiful pattern by Susan St. Martin.

And THIS actually fit (much easier)!  I whole-heartedly recommend Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off, a really nice finishing touch. 

The tank and cowl got wrapped up in little, pink packages with Martha Stewart craft punch Icelandic snowflakes.

I liked that her gift to me was wrapped so the penguin was peeking out around the little gold bow.

Feeling a little chilly myself I started a cowl for me with 2 huge balls of heavy grey wool my Aunt Jean sent me as part of a big box of craft supplies donated to my blog! 

It seemed the perfect yarn for the chunky seed stitch pattern of the GAP-tastic cowl by Jen Geigley.  I got about 1/3 through before running out of yarn (mental note: this and the hat fiasco proving I must work on more accurate yarn-age estimates...) but no worries, it's quite wide.

I can drape it twice around my neck and hopefully stave off these cold, cold days we've been having in NYC.  

Happy New Year crafting!

Crafty Holiday Prep 2010

[from Martha Stewart Living]

One week to Thanksgiving!  Once again, Martha Stewart Living is having a Holiday Craft Sale, this year on Saturday, December 4th.  I really enjoyed it last year, so I'll sure be going again.  And I can't wait to get their December issue packed with exciting, new projects: ornaments made from strings of sequins?  Yes, please.

Amy Atlas has a very pretty Thanksgiving Crafty Round-up.  I want even just a few more days to do all of these.

I want to make this sweet, little knit pumpkin I saw over on FlowerPot Designs.  How many can I make by next week?!

I'd also love to have these felt oak-leaf bowls from Martha Stewart on my Thanksgiving table.  And how cute are these paper pilgrim hats?

It isn't too early for holiday gift project plans.  Over on the purl bee are ideas to get you started on your knitting and sewing: they have the most gorgeous fabrics and luxurious yarns, a lovely way to make your projects even more special.

Great array of holiday gift tutorials over at Sew, Mama, Sew with categories for Hipsters, Pet Lovers, Foodies and more.

Paper Source has fun holiday card kits.  Looking forward to visiting the new Brooklyn location with Koru Kate!

And lots of holiday decor patterns over at Lion Brand Yarn.  If you're in the NYC area don't miss visiting their beautiful studio.

Those are just a few for now, and this year I want to get back to things I haven't done in years:

1) get a real Christmas tree
2) make a gingerbread house
3) send holiday cards
4) actually cook something
5) have a party
6) go see The Nutcracker
7) and finish a few gifts I've started on already, shhh...

Happy holiday planning!

Back to Reality, but First...

Oh my, longest blogging hiatus ever!  The SF trip was wonderful.  
May I please move into the apartment with this view?  Since then it's been pretty hectic, so here's a little recap.  

Just wish I had pics of hanging out with Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef: Shauna, Danny and their extremely adorable daughter, and with Diane and Todd, a.k.a. White on Rice Couple.  Good food and chatting about how they collaborate on their blogs as couples: they made this video featuring their new cookbook both of which brought happy tears to my eyes.  So inspiring that I may actually try cooking! and I'm very lucky to have spent time with them.  
Justin already covered some of the yummy things we ate, but there were some crafty things I liked too.  After working hard on Fashion Week NYC it was a luxury to be able to do as this window suggested:

This awesome building is The Contemporary Jewish Museum and the colorful Mexican banner from The Museum of Craft and Folk Art.  

Right next door is the Indian restaurant Amber where I had butter chicken and met Marisa from Food in Jars, a canning blog: I totally want to try it this winter!

I spent quite a while in this exhibit of glass blown sculptures by Loretta Hui-Shan Yang: they were substantial, yet delicate.  After the vessel and flower are created separately they need to be joined at just the right temperature, or both pieces will shatter.

I couldn't believe this luscious fountain could be found in the middle of the city!

And yea, it's touristy down at Fisherman's Wharf, but I love the water and the sweet faces of the sea lions.  The lobster bisque and dungeness crab I had for lunch were pretty good too.

The Blue Angels were in town for Fleet Week and they roared overhead much to the shock of everyone within miles.

I adored this turtle bread from Boudin Bakery so much that I wouldn't let anyone eat him.

Britex Fabrics has 4 floors of beautiful bolts, patterns, supplies, notions and a very helpful staff and I bought some vintage lace.

At The Ferry Building Marketplace I wanted to fry up these pimientos de Padron right there.  

Instead, I got some lemon shortbread from Miette, and later, a very flat, portable umbrella from Kinokuniya in Japantown.

Snapped a cool window display of sewing spools and this crocheted dress at Louis Vuitton

but forget which store created this very large display of paper butterflies and sequins that spanned 3 windows.

At ImagiKnit I bought some soft pink Heather Prime Alpaca.  More on that soon...but I wish I could make it to the book signing on November 21st with Twinkie Chan for her new book of Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies, cool.

How was the coffee at Little Bird Coffeehouse so good and how did the baristress create this lovely swirl?

Everyone told us it was unusual for it to be so warm (in the 70's!) and in our walks up and down the hills we spied this doggy Halloween costume

and a display of angel cats!  

Oh, to be on vacation again...

Happy National Sewing Month and...a Winner!

I just found out that September is National Sewing Month and this is 2 bunches of fat quarters from Purl Soho, a birthday gift from my boyfriend "for encouragement and inspiration" as he says, very sweet, as he's also contributed to my crafty endeavors before.  There is a fantastic selection of projects you can make from fat quarters on Sew, Mama, Sew! and I'm definitely picking one soon.

Walking down by South Street Seaport this weekend we passed a fence adorned with sewing spools that stretched for blocks and blocks...until we came to a description:

noting that it's a temporary installation by Katherine Daniels: check out her site, amazing work with fabric, beads, wire and more.  I'm so glad I passed by this!  We also saw some cool graffiti in the East Village.

And I started a new project on the way up to Northampton, Massachusetts for a little trip.

We saw a Crafts Avenue:

and while there weren't craft shops on that block, there were 2 yarn boutiques in town:

and we had such a nice time browsing through the fantastic gifts, cards, books, Japanese and Korean design products and great craft section at Essentials where we had the pleasure of meeting owner Sydne and manager Colette: so lovely to chat with both of you! 

For dinner we had a sushi Love Boat for 2...

which brings me to the winner of the Knit Sushi Giveaway:

Thank you to everyone who entered...the futomaki prize goes to entry #4: Small Burst! 

So, I will be sending this along to Small Burst just in time before NYC Fashion Week, which will mean lots of work for me, culminating in the 2nd year of Fashion's Night Out on Friday, September 10th:

And next week on Tuesday, September 14th, CBS will air a special behind-the-scenes look at the planning and the parties, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris (who I'm watching sing about suits right now on How I Met Your Mother).