30 Aug 2006: Loot!
I forgot to mention that I bought these at Liberty too:
Two coasters and a wooden placemat by Josef Frank. To go with my tray. I love the Josef Frank/Svenskt Tenn corner of Liberty, and I'll be glad to take a piece of it (however little) with me back to the States.
And today! When I got into work! On my desk! Loot!
And not just loot, Japanese loot! Suzy and I arranged to do a swap a while back, and I couldn't believe my luck when I found out she lives in Japan. The fabric is great, and the stationery is great, and little lip-balm-looking tube? Dispenses SCENTED decal tape -- super great! And I am in love with the Linen and Cotton book/magazine. So perfect. I think I'll use the middle Liberty fabric below to make a bag sort of like this.
Hee, hee, hee. I'm going to sit on the couch now and thumb through the pages for the 800th time today.
29 Aug 2006: Precious Fabrics
I wanted to go shopping all weekend, but Monday was a bank holiday, meaning the shops were crazy over the long weekend (well, past experience leads me to believe they must have been). So I . . . went shopping today instead! (And worked over the weekend.)
My main target was Liberty, because I've got to soak up as much Libertiness as I can take before I go. I bought the above fabrics to make my own 'gypsy' style blanket -- big rectangles of patchwork and loads of running stitch. I can't get the colours quite true on screen, but they go together pretty well. I hope.
And well, you can't just buy Rowan fabric while at Liberty:
And! That was all on sale. They're clearing out old stock for the new autumn/winter season stock (which, if I'm even allowed to say this about anything Liberty does -- meh.).
The print on top was £13-something per metre and is destined to be pillowcases (if you've felt Liberty cotton lawn, you'll know what a great idea this is). The middle piece was a remnant just short of a metre, for about £11. I really failed to capture its prettiness, but it's great. And the bottom -- the needle cord -- £5.25 per metre. I couldn't believe it. I got enough to make a skirt, which should be fun and cute and not overpowering. Just. . . dotty.
After Liberty, I went to Uniqlo, because it's my most favourite clothing store ever, and something a bit unusual happened. I picked up two pairs of jeans, tried them on, and for the first time since, like, puberty, I did not loathe the way I looked in trousers. A big event. And only about 20% of the success can be put down to Uniqlo's general amazingness -- the rest must be the running and the eating right. Result!
28 Aug 2006: Follow Through
Inspiration, planning, results. I cut out that bathroom picture only yesterday, because I liked the blue and white towel that's hanging over the tub. I thought it would be quite an easy design to patch together as long as I didn't mind a little planning -- it's just sewing strips and then cutting them up and sewing them to other strips.
It's only little, about 24" by not quite 24" (but how excellent would this be as a bedspread!?). Maybe it'll be a little table cover, or a cat mat for a chair, or possibly just something to sling over the back of a chair for prettiness. My plan is to eventually quilt and bind it, but I haven't got what I need right now. Ideally, I'd like to back it with this, which means it might have to wait until I'm in America. I've actually got a fat quarter of this, which matches perfectly, but isn't enough, of course. Bah.
So, re: flickr -- I'm totally addicted to uploading photos. The trouble with signing up was really Yahoo's fault, which just goes to show that unholy alliances never work out (except possibly Dairy Queen and Orange Julius). I already had an account with them, and they wouldn't tell me my password, because I've apparently given them a post code different from anywhere I've lived for the past five years. But the problem is solved now. I'm going to go upload photos of my pets, past and present.
27 Aug 2006: Flickr FYI
I won't take back everything bad I've ever said about Flickr, but I'm willing to admit to its awesomeness now. Even though I came *thisclose* to hitting something when I was trying to set up the account (boring story). . .
If you would like to see what I've uploaded so far, my photos are here. Most of the photos have already been posted on this blog; everything's sorted into sets. Whee!
27 Aug 2006: More Homey Thoughts
I think most of us keep clippings books, don't we? I have no desire to store years' worth of magazines, no matter how neatly catalogued they might be, but I equally don't want to forget the ideas I've gathered from them. So I've got my book (which will soon run out of pages).
I keep paging through the book as I think about the house I'll eventually own in Minnesota -- I'm an expert at dreaming and imagining, although it's easier when I can immediately follow through on my plans.
I would say that I'm not very good at keeping a written journal, except I've been writing this blog for nearly six years now (obviously, the archives aren't complete). Still, I've never become addicted to writing down my thoughts and feelings in little books, but I like that I can look through my inspiration book and remember what I was thinking at the time. The pictures I cut out just a year ago are different from what attracts me now. It's a subtle change, but it's there.
I've been doing more surfing around flickr lately, and I found this set, which I love. In some ways, the changes made to that house are small -- mainly differences in paint and some decorative touches. But the results are so clean and sharp; I love it. And I know how much work is required for even a simple change of colour!
I also rediscovered Astrid's photos: this set and this set. Such loveliness.
I was scrolling through my photos, in search of an image I uploaded a while ago (but never posted), and I'm tempted to start my own flickr account. I have issues with flickr -- it's so darn slow, and I can't stand when people display images from their flickr account on their blogs; we have a fast connection, and it still kerchunks along. But. There's no harm in putting together a separate album for people to go through, is there? No, sir.
Here's that photo I was looking for. Everybody else is making these; who am I not to jump on the bandwagon? Detail here.
25 Aug 2006: Strawberry Muffins
Mmm, strawberries. I can take or leave those whompers they sell in US supermarkets (and here in the off season), but the little British-grown berries are so good! It seems that you can only buy giant punnets right now, which is just too many berries for me to eat before they go off (Rob doesn't like them).
The other day, I saw these low-fat apple muffins, and I thought, 'Hm. Low fat muffins, you say.' I love to bake (and then to eat the baked goods), but there's the problem of having a loaf/dozen/passel of high-calorie tasty treats begging to be et. Flour? Loads of calories. Sugar? Ditto. And butter. . . hoo, boy. A recipe that doesn't call for butter or oil? Innnnteresting.
I checked around (the internet) to see how people make muffins with no added fat. Yogurt is a common substitute, as is buttermilk. I've always got yogurt going spare, and I knew there was a low-fat strawberry yogurt sitting in the fridge. Throw in the punnet of strawberries, and it all came together. This is how I made my muffins:
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup strawberry yogurt
3 tbsp milk
1 egg
1/2 cup diced strawberries
Preheat the oven to 190C (about 350F, maybe a little over). Mix together the yogurt, milk, egg, and sugar. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and then lightly mix with the wet. I stirred with a spoon until they were nearly combined, but not quite. The mixture sat happily while I diced the strawberries, which I then folded in until everything was thoroughly -- but not over -- mixed. Divide between ten muffin papers and bake for 15 minutes.
The results? Pretty. Not particularly muffin-y, though, as you can tell from the smooth, brown tops. In fact, I can't decide what they ARE like. They're almost bready and lightly chewy, as though there were yeast in. (Speaking of which -- would 190C heat kill bacterias? Have I created probiotic muffins? My brain says no, but my heart says yes.) They're definitely not cakey like muffins or cupcakes, but they remind me of something. I might have another to help me figure it out. In the name of science. You could help by making some too!
If I made these again (and I might!), I'd bake straight in the muffin pan, remembering to grease first. If you use papers, spray the insides with cooking, er, oil (not a fan of propelled oils, myself -- I'm not sure what they're called) -- mine stick very badly, meaning you have to gnaw the bottom from the paper. Not so ladylike. You can definitely tell they're low fat -- simply because they're not buttery and cakey -- but then, they're so far from being muffins, they're nice in their own way. And a bit more-ish.
Rob doesn't eat strawberries, but will he eat these?
22 Aug 2006: Tofu-y
You know, I can remember a time when I didn't like tofu, but even so, it seems unlikely. I never craved it until I started making my own version (cut up as in the photo, pan fry in 1tbsp sesame oil, with soy sauce sprinkled liberally over the top -- about 4-5 minutes per side over medium-high heat), but I even enjoy tofu that's quite bland (what's up with Wagamama's tofu? Everything else has so much flavour!).
I have days where I can't stop thinking how nice it would be to eat a bit of tofu, which I think must be my body asking for some protein. (I had hard boiled eggs and steamed green veggies for the lunch the other day -- it wasn't my brain that made that choice!) When I make tofu as above (which I call 'salty tofu,' so you can too), I usually mix it in with noodles and vegetables, but I wouldn't mind having a bowl of it on its own. In fact -- well, I won't tell you how much I ate while I was waiting for the noodles to finish cooking.
If you've never got on well with tofu, but think you ought to eat more, do try my version. The trick is to slice it fairly thinly (about. . . half a centimetre) so you get more outside crunch and less inside squidge. Mmmm, tofu-y.
20 Aug 2006: Shopping
Look what I found at Spitalfields today! (Not the yarn; that was just sitting on the messy table.) One of the shops in the market had about half a dozen Cram Cream things -- some of these mats in different patterns as well as a few shopping bags.
I guess this is meant to be a beach mat or a floor mat or something -- I can't be bothered to measure it, but it's fairly large. I'm not sure I'll have any use for it as it is, but I wonder about cutting it up. Has anybody tried to work with this sort of material -- woven plastic? It seems to be finished on the top, but I'm still afraid it would just fray into bits. Anyway, it's just a fun little thing -- I wasn't expecting to see Cram Cream designs at the market!
I got the latest (for the UK) issue of Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion. Do you know which cities were featured in their shopping section? Minneapolis and St. Paul! Or as they say, Minneapolis-St.Paul. They even made a point about people saying Minneapolis-St.Paul as if it were one city, which has my brow furrowed a bit. The airport is called MSP, but I think people who live in one city or the other think of the two as separate. I do, anyway.
I found the section really interesting, though. I grew up in the metro area and have spent a certain amount of time in the cities as an adult, but I've never heard of the places they listed (except Ax-Man, which isn't so much my thing)! It will be very fun to poke around. As if the Paper Source alone wasn't enough. . .
17 Aug 2006: A Bit Domestic
Well, as you can imagine, I've got big plans for whatever tiny house I wind up in in the Cities (I'm not sure yet if I'll be in Minneapolis or St. Paul -- I've got areas of both picked out, so it's just down to which houses are available when I start properly looking). The bathroom? Beadboard as far as the eye can see! And so on.
I bought these little treasures the other day:
I think I saw these on Design Sponge (er, maybe not -- does anybody remember?), and I hightailed it to Heal's that afternoon to find them. (What will I do when I can't just stop in at Heal's/make a pit stop at Covent Garden/drop into Liberty?) I love the mini bunny terrine, which will be my sugar bowl. I wasn't totally sold on the mugs at first -- they're cute, but a bit too 'novelty' for me. But they're big, with thick walls, and the handle is roomy enough to comfortably fit your fingers. That's a good mug, cute design or no, so I bought a couple.
I've been feeling really inspired lately. I'm pre-typesetting Living the Good Life (going through and deciding what needs formatting how and where the photos will go), and I just love it so much. It's got me started thinking about my own eventual garden. When I was growing up, my mom usually grew things like sweet corn (and pop corn!), potatoes, beans, and sometimes broccoli and always zucchini. I'm excited to do the same, and I'd really like to try growing my own loofas.
Other inspiring things -- Stephanie's 'At Home' set on flickr. What are some other good home sets on flickr (besides the Corners of my Home pool)? I think I'm going to have to finally break and buy some of those homey picture-type books from Amazon.co.jp.
One last thing! Joy and I met up for lunch and shopping yesterday. It was so nice to meet somebody new and instantly get on with them -- it gives me a lot of hope for friend-making back in America. We visited a bunch of my favourite shops, but I managed not to buy anything. Well, except new wool and amazing sweet treats from Ottolenghi. But that's just the basics, really.
15 Aug 2006: Toaster Cozy Bag
Here's that new bag I was working on during the 12 of 12:
It's a bit wider than it looks in the photo below; it's small, but big enough for everything you need plus a book. This bag actually came to me in a dream, right before I woke up one morning. It wasn't exactly like this -- I don't really own the fabric I dreamt up, but this is pretty close. I've been calling it the toaster cozy bag, because of the quiltiness and its striking resemblance to my parents' toaster cozy (. . . duh -- that didn't really need explanation, did it?).
This is one of the first new projects I've made specifically with my book in mind. I took photos of each step, and I don't think I'll be able to resist playing around in InDesign for much longer.
One of the lessons I learned with the Crafter's Companion is to let ideas and styles gel before diving right in with the actual designing. It took several goes to get CC just right, but when I found the perfect font and colours, I knew it, and it was much easier from then on.
I keep having little ideas pop into my head for my own book (which I'm calling Useful Things (to Sew and Crochet)), so I'm just filing them away until I get to a point where I can start serious work. One such idea is 'Easy Peasy Projects' -- little sidebars/bubbles with extra simple projects (things like the mousemat cover I made a while back) which hardly need explanation; they're mostly there for inspiration.
Lastly, thank you for all the well wishes! It's not so much that I don't believe in having regrets (you can repeat mistakes without them, after all); I just don't regret the choices I've made in this case. I'm passing on 50% of my well wishes to Rob, if you don't mind. At least I get to go off and move to a 'foreign' country to keep my spirits up!
P.S. -- Having just read Mary-Ellen's comment on the last post, I'm reminded -- does anybody want a nice pair of birdies? They. . . use up scraps of fabric that would otherwise litter your floor. They sing lovely songs that sound nothing like a squeaky trolly and aren't at all loud. Free to a good home in the London area! They come with their own cage! And a giant bag of seeds! Definitely worth it for the seeds alone! I'll also bake you your very own loaf of pumpkin bread!
13 Aug 2006: Changes
I've been putting off saying anything, but in late October, I'll be moving back to Minnesota. Rob will not be coming with me; we are going our own ways. It seems weird to be explaining this to the internet, but there are no hard feelings between Rob and I -- we just want different things for the future.
Obviously, any break up is hard, especially when you get along as well as we do. I'll miss living together, and I'll miss taking walks and watching tv in the evening. But I've got a lot to look forward to as well, and I'm choosing to focus on that for the time being. Some good things:
- Moving into a house. I've been itching to move into a proper house for a while now, somewhere I can settle in for a number of years and which I can make my own. Highlights of being in a house in the States include finally properly taking possession of the piano my grandma passed down to me and this desk which I spotted on craigslist, and which my mother is picking up for me today.
- Working from home. Because I work for the best company in the world, I get to stay on even though I'm moving to another country. I've wanted to work from home for a while, and now I can.
- A dog. I'm going to get a canine buddy for company and (perceived) protection. I want to adopt a young dog from the humane society, and I'm very excited about it. Also, Booty the Cat might come to live with me.
It's an awfully big trade-off, of course -- getting to do all these things I want but without the person I imagined them with, but it's not really a choice we get to make. So there you go.
The strangest thing is that a few people have said to me things like, 'Well, at least you've had this opportunity to get some really good experience in publishing, and it was like an adventure.' I don't think I'm quite capturing the feeling there, but it's as though people expect me to regret moving to London to be with Rob. How could I? Why would I have any regrets about a choice that fulfilled a long-standing dream to live in the UK, that changed my ways of thinking and being, that introduced me to great friends, and that allowed me to live with one of the best people I know? I'm only sad it's coming to an end; the choice was still the right one.
p.s. -- I also meant to say: I'm going to need new friends. Any totally awesome crafty folks living in the Twin Cities?
13 Aug 2006: 12 of 12 August
Oh dear, can you believe August is nearly half over? It's very worrying. On the upside, the craft book has gone to print! It won't be out until October, so I'll give more details then. On with today's (er, yesterday's) 12 of 12.
5:55 on a Saturday morning. And I've already been up for about ten minutes! During the week, I set my alarm for 6:00, except the clock is twenty minutes fast (I can't explain it. . . ). So I wake up at 5:40 -- if I sleep until the alarm sounds, which I usually don't. Early riser? Yeah. . .
Continue reading "12 of 12 August" »
05 Aug 2006: Isle of Mull
Sorry to run off for so long without saying anything, but I had places to be. The Isle of Mull, namely.
My friends Whit and Sam have finally got married (they've been together for nine years already!), and they decided to tie the knot where Whit's parents were married thirty-one years ago. What with them and their family being from America, we had the shortest distance to travel, but it was still a multi-legged journey. Drive to the airport, fly to Glasgow, hire a car, drive to Oban, get the ferry to Craignure, and then weave your way around a single track road. The wedding was lovely, sweet, and funny, and the scenery was definitely worth it!
