:: daily meanderings ::

The beginning of this week has been up and down, mostly because I’ve felt a bit overwhelmed lately with the thought of everything I want to, or need to do. Darn my strict, Yankee work ethic; even when I’m supposed to be “recovering” I feel a need to work, work, work! lol. Today I’m busy working on advertisements, new packaging, new business cards (since my blog address changed...), and some secret Holiday stock for the Shoppe! I’ll be posting more about that later, but lets just say I’m quite excited!!

Ysolda’s “Briar Rose” bolero pattern is knitting up nicely; I’m just doing bits here and there, mostly in the afternoons around tea time when my energy is at its lowest. Yesterday I sat down with my cup of tea, watched the last of North and South, and knit most of the first sleeve! I’m so excited; I love seeing knitting projects come together right before my eyes--its almost like magic! I recently found a book in the library system (I trawl through the online catalog every-once-in-awhile; yes, I am a library geek!), Working from a Master Pattern to Fashion Your Own Knits by Sharon Turner, that intrigued me. Besides the fact that the book is part of a series called “Teach Yourself Visually” (how great is that--finally someone got the idea that not everyone learns the same way! lol), the idea of learning how knit patterns are designed sounds very interesting. I have a hold request in and can’t wait to get it!


Today I spent a lot of time working on some new things for the Shoppe. As I mentioned I’m preparing for the holiday season, and thus am designing and making some winterish delights! I can’t wait to share them with you, but I’m keeping most of it a secret until early November! (Because the best holiday things are always kept [mostly] secret!)

Its been raining here all day long; which is great since we’ve been under drought conditions. Dreary, autumn weather always makes me want to curl up with a cup of hot cider, a movie and my latest handwork project. I think I’ll go dig up my favorite pair of wool socks (in sore need of replacement... hmm... perhaps my next knitting project?) and see if we’ve got any cider in the ‘fridge...

Have a lovely Wednesday evening, everyone!

Cheers & Creativity,
♥ Casey [ email me ]

p.s. Abby is doing a whole week devoted to “beautiful books”! Be sure to check out her blog, where she’s already featured two gorgeous tomes.

:: knitting my life away... ::

Obviously this is not the rummage sale treasures post that I promised! My Sunday has been quite full; L. was up for the weekend and we spent a lot of time together because I won’t be seeing him for the next two weekends. So the next two Sundays I dare say I’ll be posting entries with a little more “umph”...

So as not to make this a totally useless entry (eeek!), here are some pictures of my finished Gretel beret!


I know; this is not the Azeala pink yarn I posted a picture of earlier. As much as I love that yarn (it is really pretty), it just wasn’t thick enough. The hat I envisioned would be dense and warm (especially because I get so cold come winter!), and with the pink yarn it was turning out a bit more open. I set that aside and bought a red, worsted weight instead. Its the same yarn I used for my sister’s mitts I knit last winter, and worked perfectly for this project!


Ysolda’s pattern was a lot of fun to work with; very clearly written and included a lot of helpful notes! What surprised me was how quickly the beret came together, despite all the cables and the fact that I still am very much a “knitting infant”. I daresay I shall be buying another pattern from her very soon; the Briar Rose bolero has been calling my name for months!


The only thing I didn’t realize is how big the beret would be. I wanted slouchy, but after finishing the piece I wasn’t sure I wanted something this full! However, after trying it on I’m absolutely in love with the size and shape--I really can’t wait for the weather to get cool enough!!

Have a lovely evening and I shall be posting the Vintage Monday inspiration tomorrow morning!

Cheers & Creativity,
♥ Casey [ email me ]

p.s. Alright... it only took me the time of writing this post to break down and just buy the Briar Rose pattern! lol. I think I know what my next knitting project is...

p.p.s. Don't forget to update your blog feeds to my new blog address!!

snowy weekends

The first snowflakes of the winter fell much of yesterday afternoon. It was really pretty to watch, although bitterly cold and I dreaded having to deal with the campus lot today with the aftermath. :p It wasn't much accumulation though, so that was good! I snapped a couple, quick (and very badly done) pictures from inside the warm house. :)

Walk into my room on any given day and you’re sure to see little piles of clothes that aren’t my dirty laundry. Most are recent thrift finds, waiting to be sorted between washing and sending to the dry cleaner, but still others are earmarked for alteration. I admit that, as the old saying goes, my eyes are bigger than my time, so the average wait time is about 4 months (at least). Recently though, spurred by the desire to have a short jacket (since all I seem to have accumulated are coats... hmm... must remedy this!), having spied several fetching ones on a recent shopping trip, I went through my “stash”. My hands pulled out a vintage Bill Blass bomber-style jacket in a black and white houndstooth. I bought it because I liked the material and thought I could possible work with it (and if not, I still liked the fabric... lol), but the style was decidedly dated. Huge shoulders propped up with even bigger shoulder pads (I kid you not; these things were massive when I pulled them out!), the back waistband gathered with elastic and shiny gold metal buttons on the breast pocket flaps and closure. See for yourself:


So I started to pin, dart, rip, take out; generally wreak havoc with my seam ripper and stash of pins. I pinned my first ideas in place, namely darting the shoulders and shortening the sleeves:


Those changes just weren’t doing it for me, so I took out the elastic, ripped off the pocket flaps (those were actually just for show, there were no breast pockets) and decided to loose the cuff for the sleeves and shorten those to slightly above the hem of the jacket. Suddenly I had the swing topper I had been coveting! Here was my second “pin fitting”:


A little stitching here, cutting there and lots of ironing, and voila! Much improved, don’t you think?


(I did take some pictures of me modeling the jacket, the lot of which overall didn't turn out. I uploaded one to Flickr, just in case you're curious to see how it looks on a person. ;)


What I love best about revamping old clothes is not only breathing new life into something formerly demode or just plain ugly, but the fact that I’m taking part in a centuries-old tradition of remodeling old clothes. It not only helps fill my closet with clothes that I otherwise couldn’t have, but remodeling is a form of recycling (which is one of my pet subjects lately anyway...)!


The cabled bolero from the current issue of Vogue Knitting is coming along very nicely, despite frogging the first pentagon twice. First time I dropped a stitch and couldn’t find where, second time I decided after looking at the finished garment sizes I need to choose another size (note to self: pay attention to the text before the pattern next time! lol!!). Its actually a quick, easy knit; I like the rhythm of the decreases every-other-row. I have to say I’m excited to see this finished. ;)

winter's sharp winds

Winter has set in. Its leaving me chilled to the bone, envying all those Australian bloggers who are in the midst of warm weather!! lol. Its been blustery too, which means I’ve had to bundle up!! I recently made something that keeps me nice and cozy, but I’m going to hold off showing you for a couple more days. hehe. But the above is a sneak preview! ;)



One of my first assignments in a design class is to create a series of three geometric-based motifs for a repeating, all-over pattern we’re eventually going to execute in Illustrator. I want to do something fun and whimsical--a bit more “me” than anything I did last semester. I suppose this is due to the fact that I’ve finally gotten serious about university-hunting and have realized I need to get my act together and start putting really good work out to eventually compile a portfolio! Eeek--it makes me queasy just thinking about it! lol. So anyway, back to the patterns: I started playing around in Paint Shop Pro (not as nice as Illustrator, but hey--it works for now!), and came up with one pattern I really liked. I have to say I was inspired quite a bit by the amazing textile designs that Amy recently posted about. This is too fun--addicting possibly. lol.

I hope if you’re like me, in a chilly place, you stay warm and cozy this weekend! (And if not, enjoy the warm weather!) This is how I shall be spending my weekend (besides *coughcough*homework*cough*):


‘Till next week, take care!! :)

sunny daze...

Thank you to everyone who bid on my pieces (as well as all the other lovely items!) in the Kim Family Benefit Auction! I am very humbled to see how much my two bags raised. I was certainly blown away when I pulled up the auction page shortly before it ended to find that my squirrel bag had shot up over $200! I’m just so happy that the bags were able to raise a sizeable amount to donate to the James Kim Memorial Fund. I have to admit I’ve been downplaying my role in this all week, not really telling anyone about it, Dad having to drag the latest details out of me... My sly sister and mother though have been throwing a monkey wrench in the whole thing and doing everything from Googling for press coverage to going around the house loudly talking about it. Its not that I’m embarrassed, but I don’t feel that I have any place to brag about my involvement. I just donated some handcrafts; Lisa, Stephanie and Gerrie are the real superstars in this. :)


Otherewise, my weekend was really bizarre. Things just kept happening strangely or badly: it was like I was in an episode of The Twilight Zone. :p I didn’t feel really at ease, like things were back to normal until I sat down to knit Sunday evening. I finished up my cabled bag from Philo’s pattern! I made mine slightly longer, and I think it ended up slightly wider as well, but it was a super-quick knit (I would have had it done sooner had I not taken a four-day break from all knitting)! I used the same black handles that Philo used, because all the other ones at JoAnn’s had bad cases of serious ugly or season/material-inappropriate. I added a black satin ribbon and vintage pin to the front for some extra “pow”. My mother is in love with this, and has been eyeing it jealously. Should I be worried that it might mysteriously dissapear? lol. I think I need to make another one though. In black yarn though, since I love black accessories. :)



I went thrifting today, only to find that two of the three shops I wanted to visit were closed on Mondays. Ugh. Seriously dissapointing! Pickings were very slim at the one that was open; I only got a handful of bits and pieces (better than nothing though, right? lol!). But my favorite find was this children’s craft/activity book from the 1950s. I paid 50 cents for it, which was a steal, imho. The illustrations are just too fun!! The endpapers are my favorite aspect of the book though. :) I have a few more photos of it on my Flickr thrift finds stream.

Oh, and as a side note, I updated the list of "Inspiring Blogs" on my Blogger side bar. Lots and lots of new blogs to peruse! :)

the end

I was at a party the other evening, exclaiming to one of my friends how hard it was to believe that 2006 is nearly over. My goodness, this year certainly went really quickly, to the point where I feel I couldn’t sit and savour some of the moments I wanted to. But, how does the French saying go? C’est la vie? That kind of sums up 2006 for me. I lived up to my “big” resolutions for this year: exercise more often (check) and get out and meet new people, do new things and put myself outside of my comfort zone (triple check). For 2007, I want to:

+ keep working toward a healthy lifestyle
+ live life to its fullest. don’t plan. don’t second-guess. just go.
+ work towards opening a small online shop to market a few of my handcrafts
+ write a blog post at least twice a week!

Sound reasonable? lol. What are your New Year hopes and dreams? I’m feeling very hopeful about ‘07 right now; much more so than I have about any other year. It just seems like life is finally opening up to me a bit more. Maybe because I’ve changed as a person inside; I no longer feel like the unsure teenager I was at the beginning of 2006. I’ve done things, gone places and experienced feelings that I didn’t know previously this year. The number of new people I’ve met, whether in real life or online, has been amazing! I feel so incrediably blessed by all my online friendships that have taken root this year; the creative personalities, generousity and kindess of the crafty blogworld is just so amazing. You guys are all so awesome! :)

I was planning on going to a concert tonight with several friends, but that would have been the third late night out, and I just wasn't going to make it! lol. So, I'm staying at home, tucked cozily away with my current knitting project, curled up on the couch with a bowl of popcorn and tune into the SciFi channel’s Twilight Zone marathon. Can’t beat 1960s kitsch for heralding the New Year!



Oh, and just as a reminder: the Kim Family Benefit Auction starts up January 3 (Wedndesday!!), so be sure to keep your eyes open for the debut of all the gorgeous items that have been donated to be auctioned for this fundraiser.

Hope you all have a lovely New Years!! :)

holiday hangover

Wow. I woke up this morning and checked my email to find a comment from the lovely Philo mentioning that I had been featured on Whip Up! I’m just... blown away (is that too exaggerated?)! Really. I honestly didn’t think my little paint chip pieces were that fab, but I’m glad other people are enjoying them! Thanks, Whip Up!

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! It was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Sunday morning was fabulous--I wore my vintage dress and got a ton of compliments on it (its such a beautiful, nearly pristine, dress that it just loves compliments! lol!), including a couple people saying I needed to get professional pictures taken in it! Like an idiot though, I totally forgot to take pictures of me in it!!! No matter though, I plan on wearing it again this Sunday since it’s New Year’s Eve. Sunday evening was a little rocky: I managed to pinch my right eyeball while taking my contacts out causing some bleeding and a little discomfort! Ouch is right! I was very afraid I’d have to spend Christmas morning in the emergency room, but thankfully it seems to have cleared up (though it still looks ugly). I just have been wearing my old glasses for a couple days to prevent any undue strain. But, needless to say I was not a happy girl as of late Sunday evening.



Christmas morning itself was lovely though. We took our time getting around to opening presents; I was able to read a few chapters in Elegance (more about that later) and tea was made before we all settled in front of the tree for exchanging gifts. I had spent the previous three days working my fingers to the bones on a pair of green fingerless mitts (using the Fetching pattern from Knitty) for my sister. She had requested them back in August, forgotten about them, and was utterly delighted when she opened them! They’re perfect for those late nights in the chilly house hunched in front of her computer using her new tablet. ;) I think the best part of Christmas is giving to others, rather than what I get, so I’m going to avoid undue bragging here. Except to say that Santa did bring me a new Olympus digital camera! This baby is a piece of technological beauty; over 14 preset modes for specific photography situations (indoors, fireworks, candlelight, self-portrait, behind glass, museum, etc.), macro and super-macro, a nice bright flash... so much more than my well-used Fuji FinePix (a good first camera, but it was several years old, not to mention limping after a run-in with a ceramic floor). I’ve been having fun playing with it! Its going to be fun to document that bangle tutorial I promised with this (which is on my agenda for today)!



A few days ago I noticed a post on my Live Journal friends list mentioning in passing the book Elegance by Genevieve Antoine Dariaux, published in 1964 and billed as "A Complete Guide for Every Woman Who Wants to be Well and Properly Dressed on All Occasions". I had picked it up over the summer at a used book sale for next to nothing, being intrigued by the title, subject (clothes! fashion! style! what more could a girl want?!), and the vintage publishing date. I hadn’t picked it up until now though, and have been having a delightfully good time reading it. It deals with topics of "elegance" from a-to-z (age to zippers!) and is quite charming. Some of the advice still rings very true (see "Fashion"), some is quite dated (1960s ideas about women in the workplace, foundation garments), and yet some is just plain silly (see "Eccentricity")! Its a fun, light read and look back at the fashion ideas of the age it was written in. Reading it, I realize how lucky I am to live in a time where fashion is so much less conformist and predicated on owning expensive garments to look chic. Online communities like Wardrobe Remix have really highlighted the free-for-all mentality that modern fashion has taken and I think is far more interesting (not to mention encouraging creative expression of self, worldview and lifestyle through clothes).

So, I have had a ton going on and it looks like it isn’t going to slow down right up to the start of the new semester! But, I am looking forward to making some time for further crafting (like finishing the ladybird and apple bags...) in the coming days and weeks. What, I haven’t a clue yet. Anyway, I need to do some serious catch up with all my friend’s blogs--I tried very hard last week as I was finishing those mitts to keep myself from getting distracted! lol. In the next day or two look for that bangle tutorial! :)