Recently

Hello hello!  Spring is officially here, Portland flirts with sunny days betwixt sprinkles and showers, and life marches happily forward in this little corner of the universe.  Returned from an East Coast work/pleasure trip last night, and was struck by the remarkable change my life has undergone in the past year.  The changes I've sought out in the past year.

Meanwhile, I tiptoe towards the holy grail of sewing - for me, that's pants - by completing the runner up in that category of intimidating makes (at least for me).  Coats.  This one took me 3 months; I took it slow, it was my first foray back into sewing since moving, and I was feeling no rush.  A learning project for sure!  But I adore wearing it.  There really IS something to be said for making the cakiest of sewing cake, those utilitarian garments one wears constantly.

And how basic is a navy wool peacoat?  Swoon.  I had a brain fart and cut it with the nap going sideways, and the camel hair in my blend is thus already starting to pill, but honestly, I'm still pretty darn happy with this make.  I'd love to use the pattern again (V2873, OOP) perhaps in corduroy with contrast plaid lapels?  Because I am obnoxious like that :).  Hideous or fabulous, baby!  I've also got my eye on the Minoru.

But first, pants, because I've only got 2 pairs of jeans - one that's half a size too small and requires some minutes of wriggling dancing, post-wash, before I can comfortably sit in them, and one that's been darned in several places and needs several more patches.  Thurlows, I'm looking to you!

As you can see, I've also been knitting, rather unexpectedly, to a theme.

At a Baltimore museum with one of my best friends.  This place has the awesomest sense of color!  The exhibits were so much fun.  There was one that kept John and me laughing for a good 5 minutes, starting with the reindeer coming out of toilets, and right on through the nutcrackers with aliens emerging out of one side of the body.  The Nightmare Before Christmas on LSD.  Really, Baltimore gets such a bad rap, kind of like Oakland.  I personally have always loved my visits there.  A quirky, laidback city with down to earth folks.

Saying goodbye to another of my best friends from grad school.  Kristy's headed back to Taiwan, and Wei Jie is probably returning to Singapore ("Sing" as she calls it) next year.  Asia trip 2015 is all I can say!  Once I dry my tears, that is.

Oh, and I finally unearthed this quilt top that I started when I was 16, and finished piecing it, then sandwiched it and have begun hand quilting.  Wool batting, mmm, perfect for PDX winters.  So squishy and lofty and soft and warm.  Had been slightly tempted to leave it until I turned 32, as I could then call it the quilt that took half my life, but at the rate I've been going, it might not get done until then all the same!  Haha.  Besides which, I've really been digging the blue side of the spectrum for the past year or so, which, as you can see, were perennial favorites in early life, as well.  A return to my roots.  Which is really how I feel.  So much more like myself.  So it seemed fitting.

And how's writing?  Well, good!  Thank you for asking!  Right before my trip, I whisked myself away to a cottage situated on a 230 acre nature preserve, to read through my book draft in 1 go.  Between you and me, internets, I got about 60% in and then my brain rebelled, so I hope there was nothing important in those last 40K words!  LOL.

But it's good.  It gave me the chance to evaluate What are you, book, and what do you want to be?  And I think that I am finally, maybe, starting to see the contours of this story.

It usually takes me about 3 drafts to know what my story is about, another 2 to get all the pieces roughly in place, and then another 2 to refine and polish and fix things up.  Assuming no drastic changes, of course.  Most people raise their eyebrows when they hear this, and you can just see them thinking, though they are too polite to say it, Why, woman, would you put yourself through that???  Because it's a bit like what I imagine motherhood to be like - watching characters (or ideas) begin to define themselves, emerge, and blossom, in ways you both anticipate and cannot imagine.  But then you also have a hand in the process, in the artistry of the form of the story, even if the substance is not entirely in your hands.

And the beauty of writing memoir is that it asks you to revisit and reunderstand seminal moments in your past.  Which, given the deep bout of reflection and soul searching I've done in the past year, has really grounded me in myself.  The timing has been perfect.  Or perhaps this book has been a catalyst of sorts?  Likely these have been intertwined, cause and effect muddied.  Regardless, the result has been so, so worthwhile.

May you experience a beautiful spring!

2 FOs; Ali sighting; Treat Yourself

First finished sweater (and handknit) of the new year:

 

Fiber #58 :: Andi
Pattern: Chuck
Yarn: Cascade 220, a shade my mom calls "more brown than yellow" in response to the "Asians shouldn't wear yellow!" that I keep throwing around.  I need more mustard in my life like I need more handknits, but hey, it's a gorgeous pattern and I love it.  (Color on the right is more true to life)
Mods: added an extra cable twist, lengthened pattern to hit at high hip, used 2*2 ribbing instead.

I took a hard look at my handknit sweaters and realized the ones I wear most often are long sleeved, unfussy pullovers, and in colors that match everything else in my wardrobe.  So I decided those were the types of sweaters I'd knit more of.

And a skirt to go with it.

Pattern: Simplicity 2451, again
Fabric: Liberty twill Mirabelle, plus leftover red piping
Mods: shortened at hip and skimmed some of the curve out of the hipline, added a Rayon bemberg lining.  This skirt was meant to be piped!

Also, for those of you dying for your Ali fix, rest assured, she's still alive and kicking.  Late in 2012 I asked if she would be willing to do a swap, a handknit hat in exchange for a couple Renfrews.  I think I came out ahead, check out the stripey beauty she made me!  (Erg, the hat is awaiting a second skein, via Ravelry, to be completed).  Ali and I wear roughly the same size, and sometimes when we grow out of enamorment with our own handmades, we'll do a swap.  We had a stripey exchange, one might say!

Over the holidays, my brother and I took a quick jaunt up to Portland for a couple days.  The city is on both of our "maybe, someday" lists and we thought it would be fun to treat ourselves to a bit of a relaxation.  We found a place to stay through Air BnB - which I highly recommend - and opted to use Portland's public transportation the entire trip - which I do not recommend, not in winter, at least.  There was a lot of waiting for buses in the rain.  However, if I had to do a lot of waiting for buses in the cold, cold rain, there is nobody I'd rather do it with!

We napped.  We cooked.  We spent a lot of time in cafes.  I knit and read and wrote and dreamed and journaled and people watched.  We stared off into space.  We took a ridiculous number of "use iPhone to take pictures of self" photographs that we then had way too much fun hipster-izing with Michael's phone's editing tools.

Michael really likes the show It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, and during the trip he told me about one episode where the characters decide to treat themselves for the entire day.  I haven't seen the episode, but apparently it involves people running around in Batman costumes, increasingly ludicrous scenarios (as seems to be the show's mantra), and a whole lotta "TREAT YOURSELF."  So, that was the motto of our trip, too.

Jessica (in fabric store): Hm, that's kind of a lot of fabric.
Michael: Jessica?  TREAT YOURSELF.
Michael (reaches into wallet): Here, I'll treat you to this one.  *Hands me bill, pats topmost bolt.*

Michael: Fake Moleskine?  Real Moleskine?  I came here to buy the fake one.
Jessica: TREAT YOURSELF.

Jessica: Should I get that flourless chocolate cookie the size of my head?
Jessica: You know what, I should really TREAT MYSELF.

So ... I treated myself this holiday season.

Some Liberty and Sewaholic patterns.  Will 2013 be the year I finally tackle pants?

Some Cake and organic jersey.  Trying not to go too crazy in the knits department, but it's so tempting ...

A yummy new pattern, and some stash yarn.  My latest attempt to control the yarn stash is this rule: for every project I take on with new yarn, I have to complete a project using stash yarn.  Now, some of the stash projects are hats, which is not as stash busting as, say, a sweater, but I will take all the help I can get.  Perhaps I should extend this rule to fabric, too.  Anyways, I used my Christmas money to splurge.  Usually I use my Christmas money to buy boring things like groceries and pay for electricity and such, but this year I figured, it's been a long year honey.  TREAT YOURSELF.

Since this is not exactly a sustainable trend (Christmas money comes but once a year!), I started thinking about the small ways I like to treat myself.  I find it hard to walk that line between frugality and, well, misery.  Sometimes I feel guilty that I am indulging too often in 'simple' pleasures of the non-free variety, but other times I remind myself that it's important to be nice to yourself.  Maybe it's just a question of degree.  Anyways, here are some of my little indulgences.  I figure it's never a bad thing to have a list like this to turn back to from time to time.

Naps. Better still, two in one day!

A skein or two of tasty yarn.

Fresh berries in summer. A basket of fresh figs in fall. Heavenly!

Sunday afternoon meals that take 2-3 hours to prepare. Even better is when I clear my plate for the evening as well, so that I'm not rushing around but can linger in the kitchen.

Decaf lattes. Don't laugh, I know that defeats the purpose of the espresso in the latte! I can't do caffeine, but every once in awhile I will hop into a coffee shop and ask for a decaf. It always makes me feel ridiculously indulgent to do this, probably because I take the opportunity to linger in the cafe, do some people watching, or pull out some knitting, my journal, or a book. Ah, unstructured personal time, what bliss.

Filling a large glass half full with ice, topping it off with a fizzy drink, squeezing in half a lemon, and climbing into the tub for a good soak.

What about you?  What are your small indulgences?  I figure it never hurts to have more ideas for this type of thing!

Miniretreat to Mendocino

Whoops, my last post went up out of order, this one was supposed to go up first ...

Before I started my new job, I took myself on a miniretreat up to a tiny cottage in Mendocino for a couple days.

No internet, no television, no phone for three days. Wow.

My first time using a wood stove!  I have to admit, I'm not terribly brilliant at building a fire.

Made myself breakfast in bed.  Twice.  Heavens, why don't I do this more often?  And for the first time, truly appreciated how nice it is to brew oneself a pot of tea, then slowly savor it through a morning, afternoon or evening.

The gardens outside were absolutely beautiful, too.  The cottage is maintained by a landscape architect, and there were multiple charming spots to just sit and relax.  Their property was within walking distance of the beach, and the cottage had no shower, just a clawfoot tub under this very 100+ year old tree.  Drawing myself a hot bath each night under the stars and trees, the sound of waves crashing in the background ... definitely a highlight of the trip.

This felt a bit like a convalescence of sorts.  I was physically tired, emotionally exhausted.  A couple months ago, I remember reading an Agatha Christie novel set in the earlier part of the last century where Ms. Marple went off to the seaside for a month to convalesce, and I remember setting the book down and thinking, "Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.  Why don't we do that anymore?  When did it become the norm to pop straight back up after every illness and get straight on with life?  Why do we feel compelled to drag our sorry asses around when we're not feeling well?"  (OK, I realize that sometimes this is an economic necessity.  But I also think that we tend to discount the mental and emotional toll that our modern lives take on our inner selves.)

Although I spent most of my time curled up in the cottage or out on their grounds, reading or knitting or sipping tea or napping or walking along the sand dunes, I did venture out a bit as well.  Beautiful.

There were all sorts of things I could have gone off to do - hikes! clambering among tidepools! walking about town!  But I deliberately tried to do less, and I realized how much better I felt because of it.  I feel like I spent a lot of my early and mid 20s running around, trying to cram more in.  Honestly folks, right now I am just tired.  All I can do is take it easy.  Maybe it means I run 2 days out of the week instead of 3-4.  You know, that's OK.  Maybe it means I make 1 garment a month instead of 2 or 3.  You know what, that's OK.  Napping once/day on the weekend?  Go for it, kiddo.  Waking up from the nap, and then continuing to lie there?  Absolutely.  Do it.  There will come a period where I do not have that luxury of empty time, but it's all I can handle right now, so that's all I'm going to ask of myself.

Come now, I couldn't visit Mendocino and not wear my Mermaid shell, made with the Heather Ross fabric from the Mendocino line of fabric!  Love wearing button-downs, unbuttoned of course, over casual clothing, for a slighlty-more put together look.  Just slightly.  Still quite casual.

I figure, I post so infrequently and when I do post about handmades, so often it's to showcase how I made up an old pattern that I've already made before, so clearly that's not what's drawing back those of you who still stop by this little blog, so it's OK to put out there that I'm only expecting to make up 1 new garment each month.  In keeping with this latest shift in my life, I'm consolidating blogs and only posting once per week, and I'll try to keep up a steady "Photo Wednesday" with random snippets from my life to keep things interesting for y'all.

Asia 2012 - postcards

Ah, more photos for you!

I was in Korea for just under a week, mostly in Seoul staying with a friend from high school, but we also traveled out of the capital city and into a smaller city called Yeosu along the coast, and from there took a boat to a small island, Sado, to spend the night and check out tiny island life in Korea.

Waiting for the boat.  Boats make the trip between a string of small islands and Yeosu, a couple times per day.  Takes those weekly grocery shopping trips to a new level, eh?

Inside the boat.  Dan and I sat in the part of the boat with seats, but the front half had bamboo mats and a cubby to store your shoes, and the women who occupied this space sat on the floor, traditional style, or, on the early morning boat, some of them lay down to rest.  Although as you can imagine, they spent so much time gossiping with one another that it wasn't really possible to rest!

You are looking at the total number of houses on the island of Sado, I kid you not.  It was incredibly peaceful and quite beautiful.  Dan and I each had a New Yorker to read, and by 9:00 we were both out cold.  There's something really comfortable about traveling with somebody you've known that long, you know?  Like, you don't have to try to make sure the other person is entertained, if you feel like lying down at 8:30 and drifting off to sleep, nobody's offended.

When planning this trip, I really wanted to see Korea and also parts of China I had never been to before, but I also wanted to take it easy and spend some time among nature, since I find I reflect and unwind best when amidst greenery, trees in particular.  So I picked out a couple small towns in the western part of Guangxi province in China to visit.  A Chinese acquaintance I made years ago on the road had said that visiting this string of tiny towns had been one of her favorite trips.  It was just what I needed.

On their way home from school.

Some days I was up early and sightseeing and then came back for a nap.  Other days I woke up and wrote for half the day, grabbed lunch, and then headed out for an afternoon hike or bicycle ride.  One of the luxuries of traveling solo, just listening to whatever you feel like doing that day and going with it.  I had no idea how I would take to being alone for two entire weeks, but I will honestly say that I loved almost every minute of it.  I was lucky enough to make a couple friends, very funny, generous, interesting people.  Seriously, I think I had the best luck on this trip!

Not sure if you can tell from the different scenery, but I visited 3 different small towns in Guangxi Province.

I sandwiched my time in rural China with trips to 2 large cities, Chengdu and Beijing, which I think was a smart way to mix things up.  I have a friend from my China days who is in Beijing now, and spending Saturday afternoon and evening with her and her boyfriend was truly the best way to wrap up my trip.  Beijing is a city quite close to my heart, and if I could have it my way I think I'd take a month sabbatical and just plop myself back into the city and take each day to reacquaint myself with just one different part of the city.  Like when we met up, we headed down to the little neighborhood that specializes in tea and teapots.  Who knew there was part of Beijing devoted entirely to tea?

What a trip!  Truly, one of the best I have ever taken.  Sometimes I close my eyes and reimagine myself back into a moment in the trip, that feeling of contentment and happiness, adventure and exploration, an entire day stretched out in front of me with no obligations and untold stories and laughter and scenes and people watching ...

Asia Trip By Numbers

Number of days gone: 21
Number of cities visited: 7
Number of old friends seen: 2
Number of new friends made: 5



Number of train rides: 2
Longest train ride: 25 hours
Number of long-distance bus rides: 6
Number of laugh-out-loud China moments: 3



Number of crazy national holidays encountered: 1 (not recommended in a country of 1.4 billion)
Number of traffic jams during sid crazy national holidays: 1
Number of new foods tried: 2 (fresh bamboo, fermented crab. I almost added horse to the list but chickened out. It was a very small town in China.)

 

Number of stitches knit: somewhere in the 20,000+ range

Number of journal pages written: 37

Number of naps taken: 5

Number of bicycle rides: 4

Number of hikes: 3

Pairs of shoes that will never quite be the same again: 2

Number of times I pretended to be photographing something else so that I could snap a shot of members of the sisterhood of knitting: 1

Couple more photos to share later!

Also, I am unofficially playing along with MMM and haphazardly snapping photos, will upload those at some point.

Happy Mothers Day!

Scenes from a weekend in Baltimore

Last week I had a conference in Washington DC, so I took a half day Friday and spent the weekend in Baltimore with some friends.


Cherry blossoms were out.

Checking out constellations with Google's app thingie.

Watching a friend perform at the cafe that his friends open up to the community three times a week. He played us some pieces he composed, before just freeform improvising for awhile.

An evening walk. I had napped that afternoon and my friends meandered along this very same trail, and when I joined them a second time around, I kept making the exact same comments that they'd already made, some 3 hours earlier. The funniest part of it? They'd only met that weekend. They hit it off so well ... I just sat back and watched them at points.

Quirky cafes, as evidenced by their bathroom decor. Love! My kinda city.

I took a break from crafting for about 3 weeks. Didn't pick up a single needle, sewing or knitting or otherwise. I've got too many projects that are ~70%-98% done and none of it appealing to complete. I was reading a NYTimes article the other day about habits, about how they start with a signal and end with a reward, and it hit me that my current projects all make me feel "meh" so I don't feel like completing them because there's no reward associated with a job well done, so they just linger there and I feel zero motivation whatsoever. But it's OK. I've been writing a bit, and that's something. And this weekend I did finally pick up the knitting needles again. That's something, too.

Postcards from the East Coast

Thank you all for the cardigan refashion love!!! As much as I love making things myself, it's always nice hearing that I'm not the only one crazy about crazily embellished cardigans =). I leave you with some photos from my recent trip to the East Coast. It was such a lovely week, full of good food, good people, and a good break away from life! Like a mini retreat. Such a treat, to be able to fly 5 hours and see some of my favorite people and sights!

New York:





And Boston: