the dotted line

boulangerie + a rooftop

I have misplaced the memory card for my camera and since I'm still in somewhat of a medicated haze, I don't have the coordination required to search for it [why do they have to be so small?!]. So I leave you with two photos that I took in October, and finally got around to ordering prints of today. Chosen because of the memories that they evoke...

boulangerie :: french riviera

+ hot chocolate + just-out-of-the-oven french bread with slightly salty butter for breakfast every morning
+ strolling around the cobblestone lanes, shopping with my mum...ancient drawers filled with handmade papers, baskets filled with fresh lavender, exquistie collections of lace...

mosaic rooftop by antonio gaudi :: parc guell, barcelona

+ wandering around the vibrant city streets amongst the most amazing architecture, both old and new
+ enjoying tapas on an outdoor patio, listening to a streetperformer sing 'wonderwall' out of tune and with the wrong lyrics

handmade stationery

present for a special someone :: selection of handmade cards, tags + postage stamps all wrapped up in a sewn irridescent vellum envelope

japanese papers :: chiyogami [red cherry blossom paper] and tissue [pale blue with daisy silhouette]

zakka-inspired pouch

black + white pile :: the finished project

zakka-inspired drawstring pouch with felted bottom [yarn :: rowan kid classic in 'smoke']

detail view :: embroidered pea shoots

detail view :: drawstring

I had originally planned to make something a little more intricate + involved, but life seems to have gotten in the way this week...in the form of constant sleepiness, a side-effect of the medication my doctor prescribed for my poor injured stomach. Turns out that the stomach flu I had did some damage that will take a little while to heal - the simplicity + repetition of knitting seems to be the only thing that keeps me awake, when combined with a cup of strong coffee, of course [my excuse for giving into the temptation of the charcoal yarn - now only if I could get my fingers to work properly for more than five minutes at a time!]. I'm hoping that I'll adjust to the medication soon - I'm not sure I can stand six weeks of being almost-but-not-quite sedated. You wouldn't believe the immense concentration required to string meaningful sentences together, while writing this post...and I still don't know if it makes any sense.

oh, the restraint

shopping in santa monica requires much restraint, as i found out over the weekend :: these are the things that just could not be resisted...

graphic design books :: fingerprint [by chen design associates] + d.i.y design it yourself [edited by ellen lupton]

This started off innocently enough. While browsing the art + design section, I came across the D.I.Y Design It Yourself book and remembered it from m a r b a r g a r b o. So I flicked through the pages in amazement, inspired by all of the wonderful branding ideas + technical information on designing everything [blogs :: books :: business cards :: CD's :: flyers :: invitations :: logos :: newsletters :: notecards :: posters :: stationery :: t-shirts :: websites :: wall graphics :: zines]. I've been wanting to learn the basics of graphic design for a while now and can't wait to use this book for some of the projects I have planned. Into the basket it went. I then found myself picking up Fingerprint : The Art of Using Handmade Elements in Graphic Design and when I opened the book, I was struck by the knitted sleeve of an artist's catalogue. I glanced down at the credits only to find that the catalogue was actually that of my roommate from five years ago. Upon looking at all of the other incredibly inspiring pages, I was sold. Into the basket it went. I quickly made my way to the cashier, in fear of purchasing an entire collection of graphic design books.

a quick visit to wildfiber :: koigu kpm in the most beautiful charcoal color [colorway 2409]

Wildfiber has an incredible selection of natural yarns and colorways. And they have little drawer-like boxes filled with the most amazing yarns from habu textiles in the most beautiful colors + textures ever...soft grey, charcoal, cream, natural linen, black...need I say more? Everything was so painfully beautiful, that I couldn't buy anything. This has never happened to me before. Did I mention that this was my first visit to a yarn store since November? Expecting me to come out with a bag full of yarn, and then finding me empty-handed, *J* quickly marched me back into the store and told me that I have to buy something....and that's when I found the Koigu KPM pictured above. I love it, and I'm glad I was persuaded...

a snapshot of the studio :: charcoal yarn on the swift, ready to be wound within minutes of arriving home :: trying to resist starting a new project with it right away

pink + white

The black + white pile is under construction as we speak, but in the midst of it all, a little pink + white pile emerged. And became a mini-moopy bunny [pattern courtesy of moopy & me]. This is the first soft toy I have ever made and I must say that although the pattern was very simple, I found it challenging to work with such tiny pieces. Particularly trying to turn them right-side out without ripping the seams. I had planned to make one for each of our nieces + nephews, but I'm not quite sure my patience will withstand it. Despite being a self-proclaimed perfectionist, when I realised [after having sewn the little hole for stuffing closed] that one of moopy-bunny's legs is quite a bit shorter than the other one, I quickly looked away and decided that a 2 cm difference in leg length doesn't warrant opening the seam + fixing it. Poor moopy-bunny. She did like posing with the pretty daisy though.

black + white

It seems that 'piles' are an important part of the design process for many people [here, here,here, here and here]. I am one of those people. Except I'm a little obsessive about it...I make piles of all the different elements before starting ANY project. More often than not, the pile determines what the project will be. I *love* to see how different colors + textures interact with each other as well as the impact of light + position on the overall effect. It is not uncommon for me to sit in the middle of the living room floor surrounded by piles of fabric + yarn, paper + ribbon, mosaic glass + pattern sketches [okay - the glass doesn't go on the floor, but rather in little bowls on the floor]. I could spend hours perfecting the elements in each pile and forget [or neglect, depending on how you look at it!] everything else that's going on around me [except for when the dog scratches at the door - she's pretty incessant and hard to ignore]. A quick conversation with my mum will confirm that I have always been like this...and she will probably tell embarassing stories about how one day I stayed in my room making 'something' and forgot to eat or drink for 18 hours...or longer. I'm not quite that bad anymore - now I have a husband that calls from work to remind me to eat lunch even though it's 3:30 in the afternoon and who brings me tea + miso soup whenever he's home [he's definitely a keeper!]. I'll be working on the project above next week...

Keeping with the black + white theme, here's Oscar having his daily 6-hour nap on our bed. I have also discovered that he is the culprit behind yesterdays' escapades. He can open the front door if it's not properly locked, as well as the studio door and the cupboards - he opens the cupboards by pawing at them until they gain enough momentum to open just a crack and then jams his paw in to push the door open. The mystery that remains is how Bailey opened her kennel. *J* thinks that she figured it out by watching how we close it - the lock is pretty basic - the pin doesn't 'latch' in place, it just slides into the opening. Hmmm, perhaps a new kennel is called for? I also caught Bailey in the act of stealing yarn - I was busy cooking dinner when I saw her jump down from the sofa, trot into the studio and return with a pale pink ball of mohair in her jaws, looking very pleased with herself. Until she reached the middle of the living room floor, when she looked up to notice that I was watching her. She immediately dropped the ball of wool and with her tail between her legs, ran into our bedroom, jumped up on the bed next to Oscar. Like I said, partners in crime. Can you tell I did a lot of spying yesterday?

escape artist

Want an update on this? Well, now she only barks for 10 minutes before giving up. Until today. Today she found a new way to deal with the situation. She can now open the door of her kennel from the inside. So when I came home this afternoon, I found Oscar [our cat] in the cupboard scooping cat food out of the container and knocking it to the floor for Bailey to eat [Oscar prefers dog food and will gladly offer Bailey his cat food as a quick snack]. Partners in crime! It took me a minute or two to realize that eating cat food was only the beginning of the story. There was the escape from the kennel, the opening of our studio door [where the kennel is] and the shredded paper towel EVERYWHERE. As well as the tangled mountain of yarn that had been transported from the studio to the sofa. The little monster is now sleeping soundly. And thinking to herself "Oh really!?! You think you can leave me here while you go off + buy groceries? We'll see about that!"

3 hours later :: all of the yarn is recovered + rewound

planting herbs

A sunshine-filled afternoon spent planting herbs...and savoring the smell of soil + lemon balm + basil + peppermint on my hands.

sweet marjoram :: peppermint :: lemon balm :: thyme :: chives :: sweet basil

sequoias

more sequoia pictures :: here

Despite being sick last weekend, the hubby surprized me and took me to see the sequoias [not the tallest, not the widest, but the largest trees in the world] thinking that perhaps the fresh air would cure me - admittedly, I slept through most of it, but what I did see was absolutely beautiful. And the snow...it was wonderful to see snow again! It's hard to imagine that there is so much snow only three hours away from here, where it's hot every day. We can now cross Sequoia National Park off our 'things-to-do-while-we-live-in-california' list. Next on the list: Sausalito, Berkeley, Sonoma, Monterrey, Big Sur, Joshua Tree...and learning to surf...

the spring experience

It was wonderful to wake up this morning and feel better, after being horribly sick for the past two weeks. So much so that I actually made my favorite breakfast, called my mum, then proceeded to make cupcakes and clean the house. Quite an achievement - being able to eat and keep it down [yay!], talk without choking or sounding like a giant croaking frog, being headache-free for long enough to concentrate on a recipe - even just being able to walk around without clutching my stomach, head or chest is a breakthrough. As is being awake and fully conscious of my surroundings. This mysterious illness started out as a 5-day stomach-flu which then evolved into a full-blown cold turned sinus infection, followed by some kind of chest + throat thing. The good news is that our US health insurance just took effect. A little late, but nice to know that we can now reap the rewards of paying $400 a month for my plan. Setting up health insurance has been one of the most overwhelming aspects of our move to the US - we know nothing about it and can't get over just how expensive it is. A quick look at the potential cost of NOT having insurance is enough to scare us into acceptance.

It seems that winter has changed to spring during my two-week absence from the real world. When we first came to California, I was amazed that the trees still lost their leaves despite the hot + sunny weather. Regardless of my understanding that seasonal changes are largely dependent on the amount of sunlight available rather than temperature alone, the 'seasonal experience' has felt a bit like the twilight zone for me. Imagine what the height of summer feels like, smells like, looks like. But the trees are bare. Until today that is. The tree outside our house has tiny little buds. The first [and only] sign that spring is here.

I've been admiring lots of 'morning' images - which inevitably include several yummy breakfast photos - Stephanie [little birds handmade] and Mav's [port2port] project, 3191, as well as simply photo's new blog, simply breakfast. Feeling inspired by these beautiful morning shots [and my new sense of well-being], I thought I'd take a photo of my favorite breakfast. A soft-boiled egg with buttered toast and tea. This has been a favorite of mine since my mum told me about reading 'Peter Rabbit' to her younger sister at bedtime, then sneaking downstairs to make a boiled egg, toast fingers and hot chocolate as a midnight snack for the two of them. I *love* this story so much that my previous aversion to eggs has been cured, and I rarely make myself anything other than this for breakfast. The hot chocolate has been replaced by tea - although I love hot chocolate, it would probably send me right back to sleep and I wouldn't be Scottish if I didn't have at least one cup of tea a day, would I?

More chocolate cupcakes...last time they disappeared rather quickly [*J* took them to work], so hopefully these will stick around long enough for me to have one...