Hello Again!

We are finally back after a month abroad.  Our family visits took us to Turkey, Germany and Austria*; we had a lot of great times and a couple of not so good times too.  We've been home since Saturday night, and as you can probably imagine, I've spent the better part of the week catching up on things like grocery shopping and laundry. 

*Plenty of pictures on my Instagram feed!

But now I'm ready to get back to my normal routine, and in this post I'm going to pick up right where I left off and tell you all about the Alabama Chanin top I took with me as a travel project.  When last we spoke, I was getting everything ready:  cutting the stencil and the fabric, painting on my design, and putting all my materials together into a kit.  I even did a bit of stitching before we left, as a test.  And what I found is:

I love doing this work SO MUCH!!

This was the perfect project to take along for hot climates, and also for the particular situation I find myself in when we visit Turkey.  That is - it's not the type of vacation where we go around exploring.  Most of the time we are sitting around, chatting with family.  I'm not so great at just sitting, so I always take handwork with me wherever I go.  Usually it has been knitting, but this hand sewing project was absolutely the right choice for me this trip as the weather was very hot and humid. 

I posted pictures of my project in progress on Instagram when I could while I was gone, but I thought I'd re-post some of them here and add a couple new ones so you can see the progression.

Here are the two sleeves - both have been stitched, and one has been cut.

Here are all four pieces after all stitching and cutting had been done.  I'd estimate that at this point, I had about 20 hours of stitching and cutting invested.

My original intention was to completely fill each negative space with small glass beads and sequins - a technique Natalie Chanin calls "armor beading."  I'd done a small test before we left:

I loved how it looked, but I realized after working a couple small areas that doing the entire top this way would make it much too heavy.  I was also surprised by how much weight and heft the stitching added - I used the recommended Button Craft Thread, doubled, and of course using backstitch means you're using a lot more thread than if you use a running stitch.  For the four pieces I worked, I used 4.5 spools of thread just in outlining the design.

So I removed the beading I'd already done and started to work "accent beading" instead.  I wasn't sure I'd like it as much, but I'm very pleased with how it's coming along.

I have eked out a total of about 4 hours work on this since we got back, and at this point I've beaded both sleeves and about a third of the front.  I ended up not doing any beading on our trip, although I'd taken all the beads with me.  It worked out so that by the time I'd finished all the stitching, our schedule became more active so I didn't really have any free time to fill up.


I've always enjoyed hand stitching, so it's really no surprise to me that I'm loving this project.  But there's another element:  during my 2 month sewing hiatus, I thought a lot about how sewing consumes my time and space.  I love my hand-made wardrobe, and the clothing I've made for myself is what I reach for first these days.  However, I don't really think it's sustainable or wise for me to continue making SO many garments per year.  Although I wear my me-mades regularly, there are some I've never worn, because they just don't fit my lifestyle.  At this point, I'm a housewife with no children to care for.  Many days, I see no one but my husband.  Although we do go out fairly often, the number of beautiful dresses in my closet far exceeds my needs.

All this is to say that I'm starting to feel like it's time for me to slow down, output-wise.  However, making is a basic need for me.  A hand-worked project like this, I feel, perfectly balances these two desires.

So expect to see more  . . .  probably as early as tomorrow.

Sweet Home Chicago

Wow, what a trip! 

Before going, I wasn't 100% sure if I would like NYC - I'm a gal who (despite a love of architecture) generally prefers the country.  But I LOVED it!  What a varied and vibrant city!  I will say this though - having experienced Manhattan for a week made me feel like I live in a small town again!  Not a bad feeling to have!

My trip was made all the better by a whole lot of bloggy get-togethers and some very nice fabric acquisitions.  It took me a while to narrow my pictures down, but even so, this is going to be a mega-post.   Let's take things chronologically.  For the sake of brevity, I'm only mentioning the bloggy stuff!

Saturday:
I attended the Workroom Social Pop-Up Party!  I met so many lovely people, some of whom I "knew" and some who were new to me.  You can find a lot of great pictures on Jennifer's blog here.  They even had a table with nail art going on!  Gah!

I wore the Scout Tee I'd made the week before.  I felt sparkly and glamorous, but HOT!  It was hot in the venue, and my tee was very heavy with 2 layers of fabric.  Plus, I'm an old lady ;-)

Sunday:
I finally got to meet Shar!  She and her family drove in to the city from their home about 2 hours away to spend part of the day with me.  What an honor!  Of course, we used the occasion to model our brand-spanking-new Robson coats.  Shar's was SO new it didn't even have buttons on it yet, LOL!  But look how gorgeous it is!  It made me wish I'd also chosen a floral instead of a solid, although I do love mine too.

We got some funny looks from the concierge when we modeled our contrasting bias tape:

I'm also wearing a new, unblogged Hemlock tee that I made literally days before the trip.  I love my cream floral one so much, and always wished I had a similar black one.  So when I found the fabric at JoAnn's, I snapped it up.  And I'm so glad I did.

Shar presented me with a beautiful and generous gift of fabric:  two and a half yards of this amazing stretch sateen she'd ordered from Mood!

I keep going back and forth between making a floral blazer, or a dress.  Or another coat?  Gah!  Can't decide!  In the meanwhile, I just keep stroking it:

Monday:
Evelyn was able to take a day off and we spent the entire day together, chatting away while she showed me her city.  We started out walking the length of the High Line park - so lovely:

Had a fantastic lunch, and then worked our way back north and into Central Park.  It was a gorgeous day - we really lucked out!

Tuesday & Wednesday:
Hubby was between meetings, so we explored the city together.  I took a LOT of pictures, but I'll spare you :-)

Thursday:
A rainy day, but brightened because I spent it with Sonja!   This lady knows the Garment District, so she took me around to some of her favorite shops.  We started out at Mood.  I was completely unprepared for how huge and overwhelming this place is!  I came with some ideas of what I wanted, but couldn't find what I had in mind.  So I "settled" for this beautiful piece of silk twill, which will likely become an Archer:

After that, I had the presence of mind to ask her if any of the shops carry Liberty, so she took me off to B & J.   This was my favorite of the fabric stores I visited, and not just because they sell Liberty!  It was smaller, quieter, and less of a sensory overload because everything is nicely organized.

I was astounded at the wide selection of Liberty they had in stock.  This is just a small part of the bolts:

The fabrics are cut from these bolts, but they have a very nice system of hanging samples which make it a lot easier to look through all the different prints.

I ended up with two cuts of Tana Lawn, each enough for a shirt:

Friday:
At the party on Saturday, I met Carolyn and we chatted for a while.  We ended up connecting later in the week and decided to have a lunch date on Friday.   It was so nice to talk to her one on one, in a quieter venue!

On my way there, I stopped by B & J again - I just couldn't get a particular fabric out of my mind.  So I ended up buying this as well:

This is also Liberty; it's listed as "textured cotton print."  You can't really see the texture from the right side, but you can from the wrong side:

I really see this as a dress - an Emery if my muslin works out - so I bought 3 yards of it.

Hubby had a fair number of meetings in the evenings, so I took advantage of my alone time and knit up a pair of socks with the yarn I bought last month in Toronto!  You can't tell, because my camera can't handle it, but the colors are NEON!  Such a cool yarn.

So that was my week!  I had such a great trip, and as I said, it was made all the better by getting to hang out in real life with so many of my bloggy friends.  Isn't the internet swell?  These are all people I never would have met otherwise, but I'm so thankful they're in my life!

SF wrapup: Mostly Melizza

We've been home for more than a week now, and my memories are starting to get fuzzy.  Time to wrap it up!

The weekend was spent with family: eating yet another French dinner and walking part of the route of the Bay to Breakers in reverse to get to the Ferry Building.  When we went out for dinner, I wore my newest Cambie dress with a navy jacket and orange sandals, but of course I forgot to have Hubby take a picture of the outfit!  It traveled surprizingly well - I only had to do a tiny bit of touch-up ironing.

Coit Tower, some boats and the Ferry Building.

I have no idea what these guys are supposed to be!

Lovely mosaics on the walls inside the Ferry Building.

On the Monday, I had my final meet-up with Melizza of Pincushion Treats.  I honestly can't remember how I "met" Melizza.  I have a feeling I first became aware of her through the Colette Patterns group on Flickr:  she's made some darned cute stuff from those patterns!  At any rate, I started reading and enjoying both her blogs - at the time she was living in London and had her sewing/baking blog and another blog about her adventures as an expat.  And then some time later, I was lucky enough to win a giveaway she held for one of her handmade pincushions and a beautiful fabric-covered buckle from Liberty!

Melizza is stateside again, and lives a little south of SF.  So I hopped back on the CalTrain to go down to meet her and her gorgeous baby boy, Ollie.  It was a warm beautiful day, so we spent a few hours together walking around the town.  We started out with a nice brunch, followed a little later by The Most Delicious Gelato I have ever had.  And then of course we needed some coffee to perk us back up :-)

Here's the bad news:  neither of us remembered to take a single picture of us together!!  From the moment I got off the train, we were talking non-stop until it was time for me to head back to the city.  I didn't realize until I was already on the train that we'd forgotten to take pictures!  But I will tell you this:  Melizza is beautiful, inside and out!  And she was amazingly relaxed for a new mom - little Ollie is only 2 months old! 

So instead I'll show you a picture of the little gift I brought for each of the ladies I visited.  They are all knitters, and they are also all into cooking and food.  So I made them each a project bag with this cooking-themed print:

fabric is Michael Miller Atomic Kitchen

With polka dots inside:

Now here's a little secret:  I've been shy my whole life, and am often hesitant to meet new people because of it.  But meeting these three ladies was such a joy, and not at all scary in part because I already felt like I knew them from reading their blogs, but also because they are all warm, wonderful people.  I didn't feel the least bit awkward or tongue-tied with any of them.  Melizza said it best in an email later, and echoed my thoughts about all three meet-ups:  "It truly felt like I was catching up with an  old friend."

So thanks again to all three of you for rearranging your schedules so that I could come visit.  My three meet-ups were truly the highlight of my trip!

SF Day 2: CalTrain and Kristen

On Friday, I got up bright and early and made my way to the CalTrain station to head south for my meetup with Kristen of Knitionary.

Kristen was among my earliest Ravelry friends.  I probably discovered her through either the Rowan group or the Kim Hargreaves group on Ravelry - we both love Rowan and Kim, and have pretty similar taste in sweater designs.  I was following her work on Ravelry and being inspired by her beautiful knits long before I started reading blogs.  But once I did start reading blogs, I followed her on Knitionary as well, where I got even more inspired by her gorgeous garden.

I love trains, and was super-excited to be able to take the CalTrain down to see her.  I know - it's a commuter train, but a train is a train!  I got to see some very pretty scenery along the way.  So many of the stations were really cute, and I loved how so many of them are convenient to the centers of the little towns they service.  I swear I'm going to ride the Metra train here in Chicago one of these days - as soon as I can figure out where I want to go!

Kristen doesn't live in Palo Alto - I just thought the station was really cute!

When I got off the train at the stop Kristen had designated, she was there waiting for me.  One of the great things about already "knowing" your blogging buddies is that you know what they look like, and you don't have to say, "I'll be wearing a coral coat" (which I totally was)!  She offered me several suggestions of things to do, but in the end I opted to wander around her little town and visit her LYS.  I love wandering around new places and just looking at things.

Along the way to the LYS, we stopped in a few cute little boutiques, a couple of shoe stores, and even a beauty supply shop - Kristen was out of her favorite color of nail polish.  She told me she'd already gone through 3 bottles of that color.  I was astounded - I don't think I've ever completely used up a bottle of nail polish!  Of course, when you have 300+ bottles to choose from, it takes a while to use them up. 

I didn't think I needed anything, but I was wrong.  I ended up getting 2 of the new OPI Liquid Sand Bond Girls polishes:

Honey Ryder and Jinx

When these first came out, I didn't think I'd get any because I'm one of those freaks that continually feels the polish on my fingers, and I like it to be smooth.  But I was intrigued by the swatches at the beauty supply store and decided to try it out.  I ended up liking them so much that later I went to another shop and got Solitaire:

Solitaire, Honey Ryder and Jinx

And here's how Honey Ryder looked on the nail:

I'm really kind of fascinated by this stuff!

OK - back to my visit with Kristen.  Sorry for the nail polish detour, although it wasn't totally off-topic!

We finally ended up at Kristen's LYS, Uncommon Threads.  She loves this place because they stock a lot of Rowan yarn, and I loved it for the very same reason!  Here we are:  two happy, yarn-loving ladies, in our element:

Kristen was wearing her gorgeous Lily sweater.  And I was wearing my dying Danskos - you can see that my feet are turning outwards here!  And also my Floral Stripe Dress, which you can't see beneath the Coral Coat.  Oddly, I ended up not buying any Rowan yarn.  But I did end up with a nice skein of sock yarn:

bright pink and a few shades of green . . . mmmmmm

After some lunch and a little more walking around, we headed over to Kristen's beautiful house, where she gave the the grand tour.  Then we got into her sweater storage and looked through lots of her hand knits, talking about different patterns and yarns.  She also showed me a bunch of the quilts she has made over the years. 

Finally, I got the garden tour I'd been hoping I would get.  If you're a reader of Kristen's blog, then you know that she is a serious gardener - her posts are often full of gorgeous pictures of whatever is currently in bloom.  Back in the day when I had a yard, I loved to garden too; I've always loved flowers, plants and trees.  So it was a real treat to get to actually be in the beautiful garden I've been seeing all these years on her blog.  I was so entranced I didn't take a single picture, but there are plenty over on her blog for you to peruse!

By that time it was late afternoon, and time for Kristen to pick up her granddaughter and for me to head back to SF.  I had such a great time with Kristen:  she's just as warm, friendly and generous as you'd imagine from reading her blog.  

And it ended up being a good thing that I had a low-key, relaxing day with her, because as soon as I got back to the city, I ended up going out for the rest of the evening with Hubby and a group of friends to Cafe Claude again!

SF Day 1, part 2: Britex 1

First off, let me just admit that I was surprised to hear all the San Franciscans say "Brite-ex" -- in my mind I've always been pronouncing it as "Brit-ex!"

So, after Stef and I parted ways, I wandered back toward my hotel.  Luckily for me, Britex was right along the way.  Hubby and I had accidentally discovered its location the night before when we were looking for a quick dinner.  The sweetie even offered to stop in with me then and there, but I was kind and spared him, knowing I'd have opportunities to return on my own in the coming days.

The first thing that struck me when I walked in the door was the very high ceilings on the first floor!  Then I looked down and saw roll after roll of beautiful silk prints on the tables, and tall shelves full of bolts lining the walls.  (Sadly, photography is prohibited within the sacred walls of Britex.)  A little overwhelming, especially as I was tired from the trip out and a full morning. 

After about two minutes of looking at some of the silks on the table, I started to feel stressed.  I'm the kind of person who, when I do shop, can't bear to shop in department stores or at places like TJ Maxx or Marshalls (as much as I'd love to - my BFF is always finding the greatest stuff in those stores!).  It's just too many choices; I get overwhelmed and can't focus. 

So I decided to employ my usual shopping strategy, which is to scan all the tables and shelves to see if anything pops out at me, rather than try to look at all the offerings. And having taken a gander at some of the price tags on the silks, I decided to start with the remnants room up top.

After I've done the complete round on my walk-through, I step away for a little bit and then see what filters to the top of my mind.   On this occasion, I did that by going to the notions department.  I'd forgotton to bring along a tape measure with the socks I planned to knit!  In addition to the tape measure, I picked up this nifty little gadget:

I'd often wished for something like this but had never seen one in any other fabric store.  I find my seam gauge isn't very accurate for measurements like 3/8" - the little slider just won't stay put.   This nice little tool will get used a lot, I'm sure.

All the while I was in the notions department, I kept remembering a piece of fabric I'd seen in the remnants.  So I headed back upstairs to purchase it:

This is a nice, wide piece of cotton/lycra sateen with enough width to make a dress.  I'm envisioning some kind of dress with a fitted bodice and slightly full skirt.  However, I'm not allowing myself to start on it until I've done some more reading on fitting and have figured out what I need to do up top.  So for now, it's stash!

I noticed this fabric because of the color combination, but when I pulled it out I was just as delighted by the print.  It's a horizontal wavy stripe pattern that reminds me of bamboo.

Here's a zoomed out look to show how the stripes are arranged:

I'm really happy with this purchase, and even happier that it didn't break the bank!  I've heard so many people say that Britex is quite expensive, but I'd convinced myself the prices would be similar to those I pay at the "fancy" fabric store near my home.  Wrong!  I really had a few moments of sticker shock!  And I won't be complaining about the prices at Fishman's any more!

Once I'd purchased my fabric, I was pooped.  So I headed back to my hotel for an early night.  I needed to rest up for the adventure the following day!

And as the title implies, I did go back to Britex on another day when I found myself with a spare hour.  But since I'm a crazy blog lady who likes to keep things chronological, I won't be sharing that for a few days :-)

SF Day 1: Stefanie and ArtFibers

Hubby and I arrived in San Francisco on Wednesday, May 15.  The next morning, I met up with Stefanie of Knitspiring Odyssey at a very unique yarn shop just a couple blocks from our hotel, ArtFibers.

I first "met" Stefanie about a year ago when Evelyn started her Ravelry group and organized a charity hat knitalong.  Stef was one of the earlier members to join the group, and she was also the winner of the July prize, which was a box bag that I made.  It was great to finally meet her in person:  just as you'd expect from reading her blog, she's a real sweetie, and adorable to boot!  Here's a picture of the two of us:

Stef really loves hats, and on that day she was wearing a gorgeous Sideways Grande Cloche that she'd made.  Purple is definitely her color, don't you think?  Also, I really need to get with the program and make that pattern!

Stefanie suggested ArtFibers as a meetup location because it was a shop she hadn't visited yet and was interested in checking out.  If you ever decide to go there, make sure you have the address with you:  the space is on the third floor of a small building sandwiched in on Sutter Street, so it's really easy to just walk right by the little doorway that leads to the elevator which takes you up to the shop.

But once you step off the elevator:  what a space!  The third floor loft is lined with windows, so there's lots of natural light, and all the shelving is kept at mid-chest level (for me) so that the overall effect is open and airy.

The owner of the shop, Roxanne, was really friendly and helpful, and spent a lot of time talking with us and explaining the concept.  ArtFibers sources their raw materials from all over the world, and then has unique yarns created for their shop right here in the US.  One thing that Stef and I both really enjoyed was the large posters on the walls with pictures and information about different fiber types.

Each yarn has its own little display, complete with a notecard stating the fiber content and many sample swatches in various colors and stitch patterns, so you can get a great idea of how the yarn works up.  All the yarns are on cones, and the prices listed on the notecard are per yard - you can have as many or as few yards wound off as you want!

We spent quite a bit of time going up and down the aisles, touching all the samples and looking at the colors available in the bins.  Of course, neither of us wanted to go away empty-handed - but boy, was it hard to make a choice!  I finally figured out which yarn I wanted, but then couldn't decide between three colors.  While I was thinking it over, Stefanie started flipping through a magazine and came across a picture of Veera Valimaki's Color Affection Shawl - perfect!

Roxanne got on Ravelry and looked up the pattern for me and we figured out how much I'd need of each color, and then she wound it off for me.  I ended up getting a yarn called Carezza, which is a merino/alpaca/silk blend.  Yes, it is as luscious as it sounds!

And here are the colors I chose:  a silvery off-white, a gorgeous aquamarine and a misty plum:

Roxanne very kindly offered to ship my yarn to me, which meant that not only did I not have to carry it back with me in my suitcase, but she also didn't have to charge me tax!  (Although I was surprised to learn that the sales tax is a couple percent lower in San Francisco than it is in Chicago.)  Stefanie also walked away with some yarn, but I'll let her tell everybody on her own blog what she got :-)

By this time, a couple of hours had passed and we were getting hungry, so we asked Roxanne for a lunch recommendation.  She directed us to a little French place just around the corner, Cafe Claude.  This place and a couple of others were down a side alley that you'd probably walk right by if you didn't know there was something down there!  I saw that type of thing in a few places in San Francisco - I think it's pretty cool!  Anyway, I liked it so much, we ended up taking some friends there the next evening for dinner.

After lunch, Stefanie had to run off to a meeting, and I wandered back to my hotel . . . via Britex, which I'll tell you about another day!

So that's the story of my first blogger meet-up in San Francisco - it was a great start to a lot of great adventures with amazing people!

San Francisco Ate My Shoes

Hello, hello!  I wonder if anybody guessed that I've been gone for the last two weeks? 

The last five blog posts were scheduled before I left :-)  I'd planned to continue replying to comments and commenting on your blogs as well while I was gone, but I discovered that it's not that easy with just a phone and an iPad!  I'm also starting to feel that Bloglovin' is a hindrance in some ways, but that's a story for another day . . .  At least I was able to keep up with reading your posts and your comments here - thank you for all the lovely comments you left!  I was especially fascinated by all the different approaches to list-making.

Anyway, Hubby had a conference to attend in San Francisco, and since we have a fair number of friends and family in that area and we hadn't been there for ten years, I decided to tag along.  And this time,  instead of staying in bed with a sinus infection like I did ten years ago, I went out and about while he was busy with his meeting. 

Before I left, I organized meet-ups with three bloggers who I've "known" and followed for a long time - I'll be telling you all about those adventures in the next few days.  I did consider making an "announcement" a month or so ago with an invitation to meet up, because I know there are at least a few other bloggers in San Francisco who I follow.  But as I said, we have quite a bit of family and old friends that we also wanted to see - there just wasn't time for everything!  While we were there, Amy at Sew Well announced a meetup at Britex for the following week.  I was bummed to have to miss it, especially as our hotel was only a couple of blocks from there.  But we'd had that evening set aside to see an old and dear friend, so I had to let it go.  I'm hoping it won't be another ten years before we make it out there again!

We were blessed with nice, if cool, weather on our trip, so we mostly got ourselves around by walking.  I always prefer to walk if I can, so I brought along my trusty old Dansko Margrete shoes.  These things are at least ten years old, and have been all over the US, Europe and Turkey. 

These have always been one of my most comfortable pairs of shoes for walking, but about half way through the trip I started noticing that they weren't so comfy any more.  But I just figured, "Hey, I'm getting older, I can't take all this walking as easily as I used to."

I also noticed some black pieces of rubber on the floor in the hotel room on a few different occasions.  And I thought, "Hmmmm, I must have dragged something in off the street."

On Sunday morning, as we were taking all our stuff to the lobby of the hotel to start heading toward the airport, I started feeling really wobbly, and thought, "What is going on here?!"   I finally checked the soles of my shoes and this is what I found:

They were completely disintegrating!  How hilarious is that?!  And no wonder I kept feeling like my feet were rolling to the outside!

It's the end of an era.  These shoes have stood me in good stead for many, many years.  If you look at the first photo, you can see that I had to replace the elastic on the left shoe a long time ago, and I only had white on hand.  I think it's finally time to retire this pair.  Fortunately, I'd bought a new pair of Danskos just before we left; I guess it's time to start breaking those in!

And time to get back to life as usual!