amigurumi!

I've been crocheting for a year or so now, and I'd seen these super cute little toys but they never interested me. I was mostly into afghans (of which I've made several now, and will post about when I get around to taking pics). But afghans are a pain to work on when it's hot. So when I saw the book "Creepy Cute Crochet", I decided to give these little guys a try.

I think they turned out pretty great!  I posted them on facebook and offered them to any engaged or married friends, and they found a home within just a few minutes.  I think I'm even going to give him a bow tie before I send them to their new home.

I'd never crocheted this small before, and never with cotton yarn, so it took some practice getting them right.  Of course I'm now obsessed with making all of the patterns in the book.  I'm currently working on Nosferatu, who is adorable.

well, this is awkward...

not that anyone was really reading this blog, besides my mom. But after almost two years I've decided to give it another go. And this time it's going to be about everything, as the header says...soup to nuts! Crafts, my thesis film, thrifting, my apartment, whatever I feel like.

So if you ever read it, welcome back. And maybe this time I'll find a few new fans!

craft drought!

From the lack of posts here recently you would think I hadn't been working on any projects. I haven't been lazy, really! But it's all for work and things that will be appearing in upcoming French General books, so I can't spoil them by posting here about it. But I did get a bit of a break recently and had a chance to whip up some kitchen curtains, which were on my long list of home projects.

So I picked up some new Amy Butler fabric, and voila!

We have a super crappy view from the kitchen window, so I thought cafe curtains would be a good choice. And I went with the clip-on curtain rings, so it will be really easy to change out the fabric whenever I feel like it.

I'm really happy with how they turned out, they warm up the kitchen and make the new grey winter mornings more bearable!

Sofa's Choice

So I took a bunch of pictures of the apartment today. Brian is working on a show at Fox and they need apartments and houses they can shoot as backgrounds for this crazy animation/photography hybrid they are doing. We're hoping there's some money in it for us if we get chosen, so we thought we'd try our luck.

Anyway, just like seeing a candid picture of yourself is the best way to jump start a diet, looking at all the pics of the apartment pointed out to me all the things I want to change about it! There's a lot of little changes I can make, but perhaps the biggest choice concerns the big couch that dominates the living room. I don't even know what color to call it...beige? grey? putty? Whatever, I hate it. It's a total non-color. I wasn't committed to even keeping this couch until fairly recently, but it's just too comfortable (and too much hassle) to get rid of.

Sooo...slipcover time! Since covering this giant will be a major investment of time and money, I thought I'd try a little photoshop magic to help me make the decision. But now I can't decide!

A dark chocolatey brown? I'm envisioning a short cotton velveteen...I'm also imagining all the cat hair...

A vintagey golden yellow? Maybe in a wide wale courdoroy?

A subduded robin's egg blue? Or is that color too trendy?

This bold turquoise reminds me of a vintage couch at my parents house, which I love. It would be great in tweed.

Another vintagey color, perfect for cotton velveteen.

Or, the standby, white. Boring, but it hides the cat hair and it's easy to bleach clean.


So help me! Tell me what to do! I live with a colorblind roommate!

Vintage Bargello

I should really change this to the "Bargello Blog", since that's what I seem to post about most often. But look what I found at my fave Salvation Army today! For $1.25!!!

It's a "four-way" Bargello design, which I've been wanting to try. It's in great condition, with no funky smells and totally clean. There were a few pulled stitches which I repaired in 5 minutes, and it needed a new pillow form because the old one was completely flat. I can't believe how great the colors are, it fits in perfectly with all the ones I've made so far.

I also picked up this cute little pot. No marks but it looks sorta Scandinavian and I love grey pottery in general. All in all a great thrifting trip and not bad for $5 total!

Yarn...

is soooo yummy. At least, this yarn is. It's all vintage Persian wool, in perfect condition, with tags dating from 1968-1977. Now that I've totally cleaned them out, I can reveal my source, Kit Kraft in Studio City. The guy who runs Kit Kraft told me it was brought in by the daughter of a woman who collected it for years, and when she died no one in her family wanted it.

Buying this yarn started as an impulse but has resulted in a incredible creative burst that has energized and inspired me. I've already used a lot of it up for my Bargello designs, but there is enough left to keep me busy for quite a while. I feel like the woman who collected it would be happy that another needle crafter has been able to put it to use. I plan on using it until every bit is gone. Then hopefully, I'll find another hidden treasure trove to inspire me!

New Bargello

I've been doing so much crafting for work that I haven't had a second to do anything for myself! It's good though, I'm happy as a clam coming up with new craft ideas every day. Anyway, here's the latest needlepoint pillow I finished a couple weeks ago. I bought several old books on bargello recently and this design is from one of them. I liked the result of leaving the top and bottom white, I think it keeps it more modern. Soon the house is going to be filled with these pillows, but they are so satisfying to work that I can't stop!