I (heart) Tuesday, FO edition

I had a great holiday weekend! I hope you did as well.

I went for a hike and then out to the Gorge to see Flight of the Conchords at Sasquatch.




But besides all that, I finished two projects, YEAH!


First up, Blithe.






Knitting Blithe was a breeze, but finishing it up was the bear of all bears! I'm not sure why, but when I tried to sew it up, the seam looked horrible. I must have ripped it back about 30 times. I even thought the fact that I only steam blocked it made a difference, so I washed it and let it air dry and, of course, it didn't make a damn bit of difference.

I finally crocheted the seams together, placing the right sides together, so the crochet chain is visible on the inside only. It's still not perfect, but 'good enough for government work.'
This is a look at the results.




And next, my first dress!




I had to do alot of ripping out of seams and I didn't fully understand what the sewing directions were telling me, but I think it turned out okay.

Well, except for the sleeves. I keep hearing Tim Gunn say "It looks like you are about to tell me the specials at Benihana."

Oy. So I think I will adjust the sleeves, then give you the details.

I heart Tuesdays, cancer edition

There seems to be an unfortunate number of people that I know who are battling cancer. Seeing how this is suppose to be an uplifting post, I'll start out by saying that none of these people have succumbed to their illness.

And while I'm at it, I might as well add that I'm a cancer survivor. I was treated nine years ago for cervical cancer. I had a rarer form of the disease, so the vaccine you hear on the commercials wouldn't have prevented the type that I had, in fact my pap smears would come back clean as a whistle.

As I write this, I feel a little odd sharing this with the blog-o-sphere, mainly because I don't see myself as a cancer survivor. It isn't a part of my daily life now. I did have major surgery and I had to go through radiation and chemotherapy, but my chances of having cancer again are the same as if I had never had cancer at all, so normally I have only my yearly checkups and a faint scar to remind me of my illness.

But with a few of my family members, a few friends and a coworker dealing with the disease, I'm reminded of how cruel the disease can be. I was 26 when I was diagnosed. The oldest person in my circle affected by cancer is in her 50s. My coworker is pregnant and undergoing chemotherapy. She'll have to go through radiation after the birth of her child.

I wanted to share my admiration for these people. I went to a wedding on Saturday and the groom is a cancer survivor. My coworker is excited about the upcoming birth of her son. I saw my aunt a few months ago on her first trip to the United States and witnessed her and her sisters (one of whom is my mother) scream at the top of their lungs at the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland like they were teenagers.

I know this has been a long-winded, non-knitting related post, but I just wanted to let someone know about all these amazing people who have had some unfortunate luck lately.

So with these loved ones in mind I'm training for the Race for the Cure.

Thanks for making it through the whole post. I have been up to some stitchery and knitery, so I'll try and post so FOs soon!

I (heart) Tuesday, Robert Rauschenberg tribute edition

Robert Rauschenberg died.

I (heart) Tuesday, lo-tech edition

My inlaws were visiting with us last week. Actually, nine days, but it felt like a crazy whirlwind rather than what I was thinking when A.K. told me they were going to be here for nine days. Mainly because we got a new deck, grill and cushions for our window seat! My inlaws are the best!

I'll have beauty shots of the deck for the next post, but I have a cute teaser photo of my cat on the cushions!


Okay, now back to our regularly scheduled post.

I LOVE TECHNOLOGY! If I called people more often and didn't already own like THREE IPods AND have a 17" MacBook, I would soooooo have an iPhone. (oh, I left out the PDA that I use pretty much just so I can count my knit stitches. yeah, I'm THAT GIRL)

But the truth is, my life is ruled by scraps of paper. Receipts, little notes, post-its and I earn my living designing a newspaper. When I get concert tickets, I like the security of a paper ticket, and any important document (i.e. passport, mortgage papers) is still printed out. So this is my homage to paper ...


I got a thing for typography, being a designer and all, and I love the cover of this edition of James Joyce's "Ulysses."




I have a terrible sense of direction, really. When at a stoplight and I'm uncertain which way to turn, I go so far as to turn in the opposite direction that I want to go in, and this usually keeps me out of trouble. Maybe this means I'm a directional dyslexic, but whatever, it's a good thing for me to keep a map on me and this Moleskin is perfect. I can keep a list of all the yarn shops in the greater Seattle area and I have a map to make sure I make it there before the shops close. (on a side note, I'm very good with landmarks, so if I've been to a place once, I can usually find myself back, it's just the initial trip that messes me up.)


Okay, not paper related, but when I was taking the other photos, I thought I'd take a picture of my radiator. I'm not usually an ornate, scrolly person, but when we were looking at houses, one of the reasons I wanted the one we live in now is because of the radiators.

Oh, I got some knitting in during the visit, here's a photo of the back on Blithe. Hopefully it will be finished in the next few days.

I (heart) Tuesday, late edition (i.e. on Wednesday)

Sorry, I know I ...

a.) am late with my post (and I'm on deadline constantly for a living, so it feels really weird to blow one.)

and

b.) guilty of leaving you hanging about my big splurge.

So I apologize and give you these in hopes you will forgive me.




And now for my splurge ...





Can you tell what it is?

I got a new camera! Okay, a second-hand Nikon d-70 body from somebody on Craigslist, but it's new to me!

I'm still playing with it, since I wanted to be able to use my old lenses, I'm having to dust off that part of my brain that knows what the hell an f-stop and iso are.

The inlaws have been helping us around the house, namely A.K. and his dad are building a deck for our new house and A.K.'s mom is helping me make some cushions for a window seat. (I'm nervous about putting cording and zippers on the cushions.) Hopefully I'll get the hang of my new camera and take some great pictures. Or I can continue taking lame photos with my super-duper camera. Well see how things go.

I (heart) Tuesday, New Zealand edition

STERIOGRAM'S WALKIE TALKIE MAN
Greatest video EVER that features mass amounts of yarn. Steriogram is a great New Zealand band. This song was used in one of the the iPod silhouette promos, but they should have shown this video. In fact, I bought their album before the iPod commercial because of this song.



Also this is the behind the scenes video about how they did it.



While I'm at it, I think I'm a Kiwi-phile.

My spinning wheel is an Ashford,

The New Zealand Merino is my favorite sheep,



I'm not-so-secretly crushing on Flight of the Conchords,


and who didn't like Lord of the Rings? (seriously, do I need to link to this? How about I link to Bret of Flight of the Conchords and his adventures as FIGWIT?

I (heart) Tuesday

I've been a little down and to get myself out of a funk, I've been looking around for inspiration, reminders of people and things that make me happy and places I want to see. It's been working and I thought it might help others, so today and every Tuesday, I'll be posting a list of some inspirations I found.

ALSO
Graphic design firm which I wish I was talented enough to work for.



OKIDO
Great British children's magazine. I can only oogle online as the subscription price is a little beyond my means.



ENFANTTERRIBLE
Really cute online kid store. The animations just made me smile.



FUJIYA & MIYAGI
Great band out of the U.K. (even though their name sounds like they are Japanese) you should check out "Collarbone."



LIAM FINN
I love this video, as well as Liam Finn.



What do you love? What inspires you? Where do you wish to visit?