string*THEORY

The Shop is OPEN!

Wow, after a long night of on-and-off internet connection - not unlike my final days in college (glitches galore!), the shop is officially OPEN!

All of your encouraging words (you all are the best cheerleaders ever, I'm tellin' you...) is what kept me going and I'm proud to say that everything is the way that I hoped for....

Ooh! And before I forget, what's a grand opening without some fun prizes?? Of course, special treats come with every package...but the first 5 "customers" (gosh it feels really really weird to say that) will receive an extra special surprise that I whipped up last night. It's a another big fat THANK YOU for supporting me & everything I do on this blog and in the handmade crafters community.

Le Petite Boutique (trying to be fancy here): www.string.etsy.com

 

Le Boutique

If a girl  was ever scared to do anything in her life, all she would need to do is hint around it on her blog and all the encouraging words she needed to coax her out of her safe little turtle shell would pour in from all her virtual friends giving her the strength to take a risk and try something new.

I'm not really sure why "selling my stuff" is so scary to me, but it is. It might be that I'm exposing myself to criticism and the cold hard truth to be told. And really, it's more then just "stuff", isn't it? But there have been a few really lovely (and loving) things that happened to me this week giving me a renewed sense of confidence that I can do this.Some of which was all your encouraging words (and emails) in reaction to my last post.

Thank you.

We're right on schedule to open up the little Etsy shop on Friday morning. Bright and early at 8am - all the goods will be ready to go. There, I've said it. It's in print. So it must happen.

And the hubs will surely be happy too, not only because he's excited for me, but also because the "...but ...it's for the shop" excuse for the fabric disaster that is our home right now will no longer be valid. Shucks, I was hoping to ride that one out.

*Speaking of Etsy, the last couple of photos are of the most fantastic reversible headband I bought from Anne of Sugar Apple Creations. I can't tell you how much I love this thing - I wear it constantly, and secretly love the feeling of pretending to be from the 1950's*

Hyperventilating

Hyperventilating today for both good + exhausting reasons.

::Good::

Good, or goodness gracious look what Erin sent me. That woman is tres talented, I'm tellin' you - imagine the time she took to lovingly knit this for me....and it's even lined!! Look...

The most perfect little stitches ever...oh! and the Moo Cards - thank you, Erin!

::Exhausting::

I wont say what it is....but I will say that you could probably figure it based on all the clues here AND I'm super excited about it all. Exhausted too....super duper exhausted. But in a good way....okay, I can't keep a secret to save my life, so before I blurt....moving on...

::Good::

This is some patchwork goodness that I whipped up last night. Snuggly, soft goodness, perfect for the summer time + watching fireworks at the lake (if that's where you watch your fireworks, you know). It has more to do with the previous photo....and nothing to do with the coolest Sunday ever! Which was this past Sunday, spent meeting Angela + Steph. Two of the sweetest San Franciscan crafty blogger's. We had a fun filled afternoon involving delectable pastries, coffee talk with craft books + a new sandwich shop I was introduced to.  Thanks, girls, for inviting me on your crafty field trip!

It Is What It Is

My sisters, dad, hubs and I (yes, the WHOLE family) love to tease my mom when she throws that line out "It Is What It Is". It's usually her declaration of "okay, we've been talking about this too long, let's move on"....or "get over it, people"....or "I have no idea...it is what it is".

We usually follow-up with "ooh really, mom? Are you sure It Is what it Isn't?"....or some other smart-ass remark along those lines.

But, really, sometimes It Really Is what it Isn't, isn't it? Are you dizzy yet?

Like Hypercolor T-shirts from the early 90's - remember those? You put the pink shirt on in the morning, and it's blue by the time you get to school. Or Green after you finish playing soccer (but only in the arm-pits and the center of your back.) Why anyone would want to expose their body's regional climate changes like that is beyond me.

Apparently, "Tussah Silk" is also one of these "It Is What It Isn't" types of things. Because IT IS silk when your knitting with it....but then it turns into COTTON after you've blocked it. You think I'm kidding, don't you. Check out the side to side comparison of the yarn before it's been hit by water + then after (click to enlarge):

   

See, told you. Notice the sheen & vibrancy....and then how it magically fades away? Hmmm....It Is What It Isn't.

I'm okay with that. I'm just glad that I finally picked up the needles again and finished something knit. It's been a long time, and for some reason (I'm pretty sure it's the weather) I haven't been in the mood. And for some reason, maybe it's this journal, I've felt guilty for that.

Of course, you know your looking at the Forest Canopy Shawl - again, right? For someone who can't stand to do the same thing twice (patterns, movies, books, places to travel to...), I sure have taken a certain comfort in knitting this pattern over and over and over again. No promises, but I'll say now that this will be the last time. Again, no promises. Ahem...

I love to knit lace, but all the other lace projects I looked at where down-right frightening.

1. I'm not comfortable with casting on 5 million stitches - it needs to be a project that starts at the neck with just a few stitches. This requirement eliminates like 50% of lace projects out there. What's up with projects starting like this?
2. I looked at both Kiri and Leaf Lace Shawl. Both looked easy enough + satisfied my neck-cast-on requirement, but what the hell does this mean?:

"Using provisional yarn, cast on 3-stitches. With shawl yarn knit 14 rows. Using shawl yarn knit up 1 stitch from each garter-stitch ridge".

Arggg....I'm just not advanced enough (or patient, really) to figure that all out. But I will be next time, because I'm determined, damn-it, to knit beyond my lacey comfort zone.

Specs if your interested:

• Needles: Size 4 bamboo straights (I know, I know, not the best choice for this project. Circulars would have been much more practical).
• Yarn: About 250 of the 650 yards from a skein of Tussah Silk purchased from Yarn Barn of Kansas at Stitches West. (Yowza, they're selling this for $73.05 on their site, I bought mine for $30 at the stitches market).
• Pattern: Forest Canopy Shawl by Susan Lawrence Pierce
• Time to Knit: On + Off for a month.
• Dimensions: 58" along the top (neck + shoulders), 37" along each side of the triangle, 25" down the middle of the back.
• Modifications: Besides the yarn + needle size, I did 3 more pattern repeats, I should have done an additional 5, it's a little small.

~Enjoy your weekend, people. It is what it's going to be~

The Pops & a Smattering of Thoughts

The past few days have been post-free because I'm just trying to get by without setting fire to the place. It's been "one of those" days...weeks...months(?) involving a lot of tripping, close-calls & general all around clumsiness. More on that later....

 

Fathers-day weekend with my pops in Sacramento was everything it was supposed to be. Quiet, relaxing & just a generally entertaining time as it always is spending time with my dad. He's one of the funniest, most outrageous people I know & always full of interesting thoughts, projects and observations. The big obsession (yes, I get it from him) of the weekend were his tomato plants. Protecting his tomato plants, in particular, from a pack of wild & greedy raccoons with a a fine taste for home-grown organic varietal of this fruit of the Gods.

Every morning when he rose, he would rush out to the backyard to audit the current state of his plants and their succulent fruit. And every morning he was sad to announce to everyone at the breakfast table, that again, the raccoons had conquered another smattering of treats. It wasn't until the last night of my trip when he devised a master plan to ward off the little creatures protecting his prized plants from becoming victim to the aggressive furry friends.

It involved the dismantling of a screen door, the gathering of all the patio chairs & a tent made of beach towels. A brilliant plan despite the fact that it was a little rough on the eyes. The contraption or concoction, rather, of things ripped off the house upset my mom, as you might imagine. She put an end to the scheme, challenging my dad to come up with another, less destructive solution before the night fell & the predators emerged.

My dad opted for a less complicated fort involving some tin foil, patio chairs & the beach towels. Fortunately for him (and for my mom, because she wouldn't have heard the end of it), the tomatoes were in tact the next morning.

I'm wondering though, is there an easier way to do this? Is there some type of natural scent or bright light, or other more simplified solution that might offend the little creatures keeping my dad's prized fruit in tact?

With the exception of those handsome dad's at the top, all the photos are just some general, unrelated eye candy. The fruit of my labor from last-weeks bag-lady sewing extravaganza.

Another Thrifty Weekend....

I can't say enough about how fun the meet up was on Thursday. There's something really cool about meeting blogging friends in the real life flesh. I don't know if it's the coolness of meeting someone "for the first time" - but knowing for a fact that we'll have lots in common. Or if it's the conversation of this n' that about our lives that takes place and we're all familiar with historical references. We know each other...kinda...but just enough. It was great.

If you missed out this time, don't worry, it wasn't the last time we're meeting up. We vowed to do it again....

Also great, are these here treasures found thrifting...estate-sale shopping & all-around "junking" (as they say, although I hate to use that word, since clearly these are treasures!).

The strangest thing about living in this relatively stylish city, is that the thrift store options don't at all reflect the print + pattern you see on the streets. For lack of a better word, I'd have to say that thrifty in San Francisco is pretty "weak". The options are "ok".....and the prices are usually too high. Same goes for estate sales. Trust me though, it doesn't stop me from trying.

Sacramento, my friends, is where all the action is. Myyyyy gooooodness, boooy did I hit the mother load of vintage fabric today.

Pictured here is just a small sampling & I'm sitting at "home" (is it weird that I still call my mom & dad's house "home"?) listening to the hum of the washer as it works hard to prepare the bounty for the cutting + sewing that will sure to come this week.

Shutting down the computer now to watch some type of ridiculous fighting/wrestling competition with my dad. Because, you know, it's Fathers Weekend, and if my pops wants to watch a fighting show with his daughter, then THAT is what I'll do.

~.~ a peaceful holiday to you all ~.~

Balancing The World Out

*.*.*.*.* DON'T FORGET*.*.*.*.*

Bay Area peeps - Movie night is TONIGHT! Details here....

*.*.*.*.* DON'T FORGET*.*.*.*.*

Have you seen the Three Colors Trilogy consisting of the films, Blue, White & Red directed by Kieslowski? One of the consistent themes is this idea of balance. When something good happens, something bad must happen - to keep the world in balance. Twisted as it may seem, this means that good things are looked at as bad luck. I'm simplifying it here, so if your a major Decalogue buff & I'm butchering the themes too much, read ahead a bit so I don't irritate you.

Subconsciously, yesterday was all about keeping the world balanced. Except, it was about doing something good for myself....and then doing the right thing by balancing it with something trashy.

After being cooped up in the sewing sweatshop house for 3 days, I finally escaped to breath the warm fresh, breezy air of San Francisco. I dragged my happy-ass to the gym. Feeling especially ambitious, I decided to take (for the first time, ever) the kicking boxing class. Why I thought I could keep up with the cracked-out robot that is the kick-boxing instructor at the gym is beyond me.

But it felt good. Great actually. All that kicking and punching and sweating was empowering. For the full 34 minutes that it lasted, anyway. Yes, I was "that girl". When I realized that I just couldn't take it any longer, I did the look-around....find the escape route...wait until everyone is facing the front....nonchalantly kick-box my way over to my gym bag...and jam the hell out of there!

I met eyes with a couple of people as I was running out. And I know they were judging me more out of envy rather then disappointment. We were all in pain, I just know it. Anyway, balance needed to be made, because at this point, 34 whole minutes of exercise was just too good, & it was my responsibility to do everything I could to make sure it wouldn't throw the world out of whack.

Naturally, that landed me right on the couch with a popsicle in one hand and the remote in the other. It was time for some good old fashioned trash-tv. Dr.Phil was just the medicine I needed. I watched an hour of "Dr. Phil Investigates" involving Robin (his cryogenically frozen wife) & the Doc chasing after some "Gypsy Scammers" posing to be a part of the show & stealing money from viewers. It was wonderfully mind numbing.

You can thank me later for keeping the world on it's axle. I do it for the kids.

The photos you see are also for the kids. One newborn baby, actually. And is, of course, another late gift. A small, cotton, simple-patchwork blanket (again with those hedgehogs, I just love those little guys) & a couple of crisp linen bibs. Those bibs, as simple as they may seem, were actually quite complicated and involved a few prototypes to be tweaked during the design process. I think I got it though, and depending on how they are received, I may consider offering them up on Etsy.

Bag Lady Part II

When someone says "best" they're usually referring to the most superior one thing in a group of things, right? Unless of course they're ten years old & their talking about their friends. In which case, there is almost always more then one, there is usually a whole group of "best".

I'm a lucky member of a group of four "best friends", & have been since around the time when I didn't realize that "best" was supposed to be only one. Good thing, too, because it would have meant a life time of quiet birthdays, boring college living-situations & a rather small bridal party.

Four "bests" is much better then 1, I have to say.

The other great reason why four is better then one is the mixture of personalities. You have the quirky one...the busy-chaotic one (that's me)...the shy one & of course, every group of four needs an organized, punctual one.

Last week, the punctual one called the busy one (I prefer to go by "busy" rather then, "chaotic") to remind her that the shy one has a birthday coming up.

Thank God for that, because, as usual - I forgot. Her big day came up...and I thought about her all day. Should I call now? Nah, it's too early. How about now? Nah, she's at work. And now? No way, its dinner time.

Then, sadly....it slipped out of my mind...

11:35pm rolled around and I did the old - "OOH SHIT"...jumping off the couch...flinging the knitting aside....and paced about, yelling "what do I do?? what do I do??". I never called the shy one for her birthday. She's notoriously early to bed (and I'm a major night-owl), so an 11:35pm phone call would not have gone over well.

So, I sent an email. Technically, I contacted her on her birthday....but really, come one - that's just not cool.

So in a bout of redemption, I ran to my sewing machine. I needed to make her the best birthday present ever. And yes, I'll add this to the rest of her "bests"...from all the previous years, that I've done this. No, this wasn't the first time.

Equipped with guilt, and the hope of tricking her into forgetting my forgetfulness, I designed this little beach bag. She's one of those "itty-bitty-purse" types that can't hold much more then a cell phone & pen. Something of this size should come in handy.

Without getting too mushy, I'll say that the bag represents her current transitional situation. Bag's are designed for transition, right? Today she lives in the hustle and bustle of sourthern California. This is represented by the cars and people on one side of the bag. Soon, she will attempt to slow her life down a bit with a move to a peaceful, natural spot in Vermont - represented by the trees on the other side. The bag will hopefully carry her most treasured things, keeping them near during this time.

Two weeks late, she'll receive her bag, a framed art-card from Etsy artist D-Kim and a few of those gift tags I told you about the other day....

Now tell me, how many Hail Mary's do I need to recite?

*.*.*.*.* DON'T FORGET*.*.*.*.*

Bay Area peeps - Movie night is TOMORROW! Details here....

*.*.*.*.* DON'T FORGET*.*.*.*.*

Back to the Basics

With all the super-duper technology in the world, sometimes it's comforting to take a break and return to the basics. Wireless internet, remote controls that let you change the channel with your watch, and microwaves that cook your food in light speed, it's all helpful, but often a human energy absorber.

That's how I feel when I use my mortar to crush croutons to make bread crumbs (yes! an excellent substitute when you don't have any & you're too lazy to run to the store). And when I barter for goods, I feel like I'm going back to the basics, living the old fashioned way. It's not something I usually do, but wouldn't it be fun to fulfill all your needs this way? Hungry? Sew a tote-bag and trade it for vegetables with the local farmer. Have a weird rash? Trade some medical advice & medicine for a painting...or something. Okay, maybe that's taking it a little far.

This week was full of trades. My goods for yours. Notice my snazzy new banner? Yup, never did figure out the ol' Photoshop. But Charlotte's, quite handy with the tool - and so, we'll trade. Some of my goods, for her design services. She never actually asked for anything, but I think it's only fair - look at that thing, it's wonderful! And what about Megan? She and her mother make carefully crafted organic bath goodies. So, yes, a trade is taking place...a hand sewn & thoughtfully designed accessory for some of her sweet smelling soap. Perfect.

I could get used to this way of living....

Bag Lady

As if their lives weren't hard enough, they have ding-dong's calling them ridiculous names making fun of some of the only things they have.

So when I say "bag lady", I'm not saying "homeless woman, down on her luck", I'm saying frantic, Madame String who spent the whole weekend making bags. And, shopping for thifted fabric, of course...to make bags. Because there is always time for that.

The walk, to the thrift store was, of course, colorful. I wonder who "Babby" is....

...and then there was the obstacle of the naked men on bikes (wouldn't that hurt?). [click on the photos if your interested in the detail. Go, ahead, you know you want to....]. Nice camera, dude!

A little street art. Who needs graffiti when you have crazed-cupcakes? hmm....

 

...and the bounty....YUM! This was my first time to this thrift store and when I got there, I noticed 3 or 4 crafter types already cruising the linens section. This weird frantic feeling swept over me & the desperate thoughts of "they're going to take all the good stuff" creeped into my calm saturday-mind. It was overwhelming, really. I finally got a hold of myself,  and kept repeating the "there's plenty to go around...not eveyone loves the 70's..." mantra. Stay Calm & Carry On. Turns out they were into "solids", which, I clearly am not. So, we're friends now.

....and magically, some of that 70's fabric turned into this.

...and a bunch of other stuff that I'm going to hold out until tomorrow to share.

*.*.*.*.* DON'T FORGET*.*.*.*.*

Bay Area peeps - Movie night is this Thursday! Details here....

*.*.*.*.* DON'T FORGET*.*.*.*.*