FO: tinkerbell mitts

tinkerbell mitts <– ravelry project page

pattern: princess mitts from knitter’s book of yarn
yarn: rowan calmer
needles: US size 7 (4.5mm)

this is my third time knitting up princess mitts (sir janks’ mitts and moss mitts)

these took me a long time to knit because… well… cotton. i just don’t like knitting with it. calmer is by far the best cotton yarn i’ve knit with, but…. it’s discontinued. it’s 25% acrylic, which gives it a lot more elasticity, so it doesn’t hurt my knuckles as much to knit with it.

you can find calmer online still, which is what i did. these mitts are for my lovely mother-in-law, who is extraordinarily sensitive to wool. i’ve knit for her before with bamboo (wow! so long ago, i did not know how to take pictures of knits AT ALL), but i knew that wouldn’t suit mitts at all (too little elasticity, too much desire to drape). i was searching for blue, and i found this colorway called tinkerbell, and i just knew it was the right choice for my disney-loving mama-in-law!

what are your favorite non-wool/cashmere/alpaca yarns? are there any hidden gems out there that i don’t know about? or do your knuckles start aching just thinking about working with plant-based fibers, too?

3/15 and steal this style!

thrifted hat, blazer – crewcuts chambray – forever 21 belt, shoes – j. crew navy cords

it’s been a while since we did a ‘steal this style‘ feature. i actually took some pictures for one a laughably long time ago. i think i’ll do a ‘spring cleaning week’ after the remix, where i post on some older stuff that just got buried. but here’s a contemporary one. this is chyna! she always looks supremely comfortable and pulled together, which is a look i love.

buffalo exchange sundance sweater jacket, lucky jeans, steve madden purse

forever21 chambray – steven’s rocks & gifts necklace – target brown wingtips

she also has been working on getting a seriously gorgeous tattoo. i’ll try to grab some pics of her when she’s wearing short sleeves!

anybody have a mad crush on this amazing long sweater? i feel like julie’s velvet morning pattern or kirsten kapur’s andokides jackets could be modified into a similar garment…

2/15 blue door

target black tee – untold imprint necklace – thrifted belt
anthropologie skirt – vintage ebayed cole haans

deluge of pictures! jake was in master-photographer mode, and i couldn’t edit them down anymore! we spotted this little blue door while we were out on a walk a couple of weeks ago. isn’t it great? so blue!

in classic fashion, my left pocket caught on a doorknob as i was passing, and it tore… grump, grump, grump. at least since it’s in the remix, i can’t procrastinate on mending it.

sorry about the dearth of posts the last few days, i’ve been on an absolute roll at home, cleaning and making improvements. i’m taking advantage of the surge of energy that the beautiful weather has granted me. i’m sure it’ll peter out soon. you’ll get sick of me as i play catch-up, though, i promise!

ready, set: remix!

for outside where it’s gorgeous

for inside where it’s not

target sunnies – thrifted j. crew cardigan, belt
hand-me-over polka dot blouse – j. crew navy cords – ebay cole haan loafers

are you ready to reeeeeeeeeeeemix? (it helps if you pretend that’s said in a ridiculous announcer voice like it’s the beginning of some kind of match)

i like to use remixes to test run an item i’ve had trouble integrating into my wardrobe. like this skirt, which i owned for five years and rarely/never wore (and only managed to wear once in that remix). post-remix, i handed it over to my cousin, who hopefully gets more use out of it. in this case, it’s this polka dot shirt. in theory, i love it: polka dot blouse with a tie-front. cute, work-appropriate, but a little unexpected and a little vintage-y. i altered the neckline a little to make that more my style, too. but the buttons are a little far apart, so it gaps even though it’s a little roomy on me, and the fabric is very very manmade. nylon? polyester? who knows? so this remix is it’s chance: prove it or lose it!

check out the other lovely ladies who are remixing it up!
rebecca, julie, kessa, ness

after jake gets all of the necessary pictures for me, he likes to grab random snapshots from odd angles, and i usually take that as an invitation to be silly. (classic example) when i look at this picture, i suddenly get ‘all i do is win‘ stuck in my head. so there’s that.

loafers at last

rummage sale hat, liz claiborne purse – target sunnies, white tee
thrifted j. crew cardigan – hand me over ny & co skirt – ebay vintage cole haans

LOOOOOK, i finally got my LOAFERS! aren’t they great? i started my quest over a year ago, and have been looking fairly consistently. when sidewalk ready posted an outfit recently wearing really excellent loafers, i decided that since a year of scanning the shelves of thrift stores hadn’t turned up my ideal pair, it was time to look more aggressively. to ebay! it wasn’t on purpose, but i think i actually got the same exact style of shoes as her. they showed up in my size and the price was right, so…. imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, i reckon!

i haven’t made my final selection for the remix, but these shoes are definitely in, and it’s likely that a few of these other pieces might be, too. i’ve been wearing this cardigan like crazy in our cool spring days! i hope you won’t get sick of seeing these pieces over and over again!

in other bloggy news, i have a new FO and some WIPs to share with you. knitting update soooooon! plus, i’d better get up my last post about LA as jake and i did some weekend traveling, and i’d feel silly telling you about that before i’d finished about the last trip!

have you found anything you’ve been long term questing for recently? will you be joining me for the remix?

wanna remix?

crewcuts chambray shirt – target belt, ballet flats – hand-me-over striped skirt

maybe it’s the recent good weather. perhaps it’s the strong sunlight. maybe because there’s actually daylight after work… but i have a renewed interest in getting dressed. and with it comes the itch to remix.

SO! a week from today, may 15, rebecca and i are undertaking a 15 for 15!

would you be interested in joining us?

the rules are easy! pick 15 pieces*, make 15 outfits!

* pieces include all clothing items and shoes, they exclude accessories such as scarves, belts, jewelry.

FO: bitsy & bobbsy the second

FO: bitsy & bobbsy II <–ravelry project page

pattern: my own. pretty basic. i followed the same structure as the last one. cast on 90 in smaller needle, 3×1 ribbing for a bit, switch to larger needle for stockinette, creating random stripes all the while. decrease 9 stitches every other row when you feel like it’s long enough.

needles: US size 6 (4.0mm) for the brim, US size 8 (5.0mm) for the body

yarn: various scraps, leftovers, and partial skeins. the burgundy and cream are rowan kid classic (originally used for rain on bricks and the subsequent toast at the seaside), some malabrigo pearl 36 (originally from sleigh rides and snowball fights, totally love this color), the pale grey is probably lions brand, and who knows what the charcoal and black are?

the thing about random stripes is you can’t just wing it as easily as you would think. i mean, they are random stripes, right? you should just be able to be random! perhaps i’m too fussy. but i referenced the first bits & bobs to see which portions of the stripe sequencing i thought was really successful, and i think the the stripes sequence on this one is better. if i make it again, i think the brim will be one solid color, though. (future eliza, are you paying attention?)

whoo! another scrap-busting project. why are they so dang fun for me? maybe because they are low pressure projects? the original intended project for which i shelled out cash monies is over, the scrap busting porject can succeed or fail without any worries from me. plus there’s something addicting about changing yarn so frequently. like a noro project at it’s best, you’re always excited to get to the next color.

anybody been scrap busing recently?

i’m on instagram!

i’m on instragram! are you? come find me! expect lots of dramatic skies, pictures of shoes, fake light leaks, and nails! at least, that’s the pattern so far. who knows what the future holds?

thrifty thursday

thrifted old navy button down, ann taylor blazer, j crew skirt, ray ban wannabe sunglasses
not so thrifted j crew belt, target shoes, handmade necklace

i haven’t been great about grabbing documentation of my outfits recently. but it’s been so beautiful out, and i ended up being inadvertently fancy, i thought i’d better get some pics. i got excited when i realized that my major outfit elements were all thrifted, too! it’s harder to get thrifted shoes in, for some reason. there’s so much kitty hair on my black blazer…

i’m starting to feel an itch to do a remix…. anyone interested?

lately

cheap daffodils from the grocery store

i decided to pull the old paint splattered burgundy canvas off of this little stool.

ah, much better! this picture makes me want to re-paint the trim in the kitchen, though. okay, let’s be honest. looking at the trim in the kitchen makes me want to re-paint it.

i made smitten kitchen‘s tomato and italian sausage risotto the other night. it was incredible. i’d never made risotto before. i could barely believe that i had made it, it tasted so good! ‘surely,’ i says to myself, ‘this is beyond my culinary ken!’ ‘apparently not,’ i responded, ‘and don’t call me shirley.’

… sometimes the oddest things happen when i sit down to type up a blog post.

the days are getting warmer and sunnier, but i just got an exciting belated birthday present that has me wishing for some rain! but i’ve been so pleased to just throw the windows open and let in the fresh air. i’ve been doing some spring cleaning, which also feels great.

what’s been going on with you lately?