Where to begin… I got a new job.

Now the backstory….

Over the past few years, I’ve been on a journey to find my place in the fashion world. I came to NYC, got a fashion degree, and immediately started looking for work in fashion. While one wants to find a dream job the reality is that you find work so you can survive. And with this economy you can find yourself compromising a lot.

That said, I spent the past few years working in “technical design”. It’s less about design and more about fit and construction. I will say that I learned a lot and honed my skills, but after some time I realized this was not my dream, and in the end, not what I wanted to do every day for the rest of my life. So I back tracked. I’ve gone back to a world that is more technical, analysis, and project oriented. Gladly it’s still in the fashion industry and I think this will play better to my strengths in fashion & technology and make for a better long term career. And the added bonus, it will also allow me to focus on my own pursuits in my after hours.

What I Learned About The Fashion Game::

I usually shy away from talking about my day job but just this once I’m going to give some tidbits on my experience and share some of the interesting things I’ve learned along the way.

* Fashion really is not as glamorous as tv makes it seem *
Fashion is only glamorous for the head designer, celebrities, and the people in PR & marketing. Everyone else is working, and working hard long hours for no money. Unless you own your company, or are really high up, you make squat. Maybe less than squat. You get no credit, no invites to shows or parties, no love. You have to do it because you love it.

* A lot of people that work in fashion don’t actually like fashion *
To me, fashion is about art. For most, fashion is about what they like to wear. The most amazing thing I witnessed is that people in fashion don’t read the magazines, follow the trends, go to shows, etc. They don’t make their own clothes or craft their own look. They really just like to shop. And somewhere along the way it seems that the only requirement to be in fashion is a good shopping sense and the ability to copy the few people that actually do design from an art perspective.

* Fashion is where insecure people come to roost *
If you have insecurities about your body or your look, you would think that you would avoid a career that focuses on these things. That couldn’t be further from the reality.

* Fashion is filled with a whole lot of nice people, and just a couple assholes *
I try to refrain from profanity in print but that word embodies the sentiment perfectly. In all my time in fashion school, internships, freelancing, and working I discovered that most people in the fashion industry are very nice people. So much so that initially you’ll think someone is playing a trick. For instance, the head designer at my last job was a woman with a whole lot of power and influence but she was an absolutely wonderful person. She could be serious when need be but really pleasant and would hold a conversation with you about any random thing.

Now on the flip side, there are 1 or 2 assholes that can ruin the whole experience. The reality is that they are genuinely awful human beings. Miserably awful people. Awful people who will go out of their way to crap on you because you recognize they are awful people and want nothing to do with them. Like the person that barely talked to me in the first place, that went out of their way to let me know they were giving me the silent treatment because I forgot to say hello one day right after my grandfather passed. Because regardless of what I was going through, saying hello should always be my priority. Yep…that type of awful

So those are the highlights.

I’m happy to say I’ll be able to start focusing on my own work with a clear creative head. I’m really looking forward to it. As I get back into things, you follow my creative process and other random stuff on tumblr, twitter, goodreads, and pinterest.

My latest work of knitting goodness which is featured in Knit Local by Tanis Gray.

Cabled Car Coat by Sauniell Nicole :: Copyright by Sixth&Spring/Tanis Gray - Knit Local :: Photography by Scott Jones

A few years back, Tanis contacted me about a book that she was putting together based around US-based yarn companies. The premise of the book is using local yarns to reduce the impact on the environment and support farms that take great care of their animals. I liked the idea and enjoy working with Tanis so it was a no-brainer.

The sweater is made in Farmhouse Yarns Andy’s Merino. I enjoyed using this yarn and really liked the color. I would honestly recommend this yarn for it’s softness and great colors.

If you get the book, you’ll see the story of why I chose this design but I’ll share it here too….

Back when I was in high school there was this Polo Car Coat that I desperately wanted. I had never heard of a “car coat” before or that there were coats specifically for driving. Only in America. And since I was learning to drive I felt it was most important that I have this “car coat”. The coat was $250 which mother thought was a ridiculous price for a coat for a teenager. Instead she took me to a fabric store on the other side of the city and bought me $50 in fabric & buttons to make the coat. I LOVED that coat! This cabled car coat is my homage to that coat.

The added bonus for me, is that when I envisioned this coat, I pictured this city/country version of the coat and even sketched it out with the girl in tall boots….

so you can only imagine how much I’m loving the photography for my project.

Cabled Car Coat by Sauniell Nicole :: Copyright by Sixth&Spring/Tanis Gray - Knit Local :: Photography by Scott Jones

The book is available on Amazon, in bookstores, and at your local yarn shops

The summer before my 1st year in high school, I was looking forward to a summer of doing nothing. I just wanted to sit in the house & read. I didn’t have a lot of friends that lived close by, I was too young to work, and I couldn’t drive yet so this was the perfect option for me….or so I thought. I made it through 2 weeks of this plan before my mother had other ideas. SHE decided that I wasn’t going to spend my entire summer in the house and told me “I want you out of the house by 9:30am and I don’t want to see you again until 6. I don’t care where you go. Here is some bus fare”. Yup! She sure did. That set the tone for my whole summer.

So with that memory in mind I established “Field Trip Saturdays”, where I set out to do something new and different every Saturday, in addition to spend time with more people during the week.And it was a good summer. Of course that meant I didn’t give myself time to write blog posts about everything I did or post pictures on facebook. Now that the summer is over here is a quick recap of some of the highlights of my summer….

McQueen Platos Atlantis

Went to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Met the first week it opened.  I missed the worst of the lines

World Wide Knit in Public Day

WWKIP Day.  Sat at the Vogue Knitting Table in support of the Local Knits book

View from Brooklyn Bridge Park

Traipsed around the city on my day off & made my way to Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Nemo Fisheys @ Mystic Aquarium

Jellyfish @ Mystic Aquarium

Took a trip to Mystic, CT to visit the Mystic Aquarium

Cupcakes @ CityCakes

Discovered City Cakes on one of my random walks through the city.

Economy Candy Store in NYC

Candy! Candy! Candy! I found my new supplier of Sixlets

Hostess in my cousin's wedding in the red dress I made 2 nights before

Had the honor of being a hostess in my cousin’s wedding.

Boat Ride to Governor's Island

Taking the ferry over for my 2nd Annual Lazy Afternoon on Governor’s Island. One of my favorite places in NYC.

Road Trips to Cleveland

I’m looking forward to the fall and seeing what else I can get into.

I wanted to share some pics of the one thing I’ve actually finished in 2011 thus far….

It’s a blanket for my 4th (yes 4th) godchild. That makes 3 boys & 1 girl. It’s my tradition that each child gets a knit blanket for their christening/baby dedication. At such a young age I feel that clothing & toys get lost along the way but things like a blanket make it into a child’s everyday life for years. Originally I found it challenging to come up with boy blankets because I don’t like lacy blankets for boys and I’m careful about the color schemes. Plus I hate “baby” colors. So this go round I decided to pick a few colors and go free form with the stripes. I had to add a tubular edge on side to hide all the floats. I started to do a crochet edge but it wasn’t hiding things the way I wanted.

WWKIPD – World Wide Knit In Public Day

WWKIPD is Saturday June 18. If you take the time to look around I’m sure you’ll find many people huddled in groups, knitting on that day. I will have the opportunity to knit in public while sitting at the table for Soho Publishing at the Brooklyn Central Library @ noon in honor of Tanis Grey’s book Knit Local , which I have the pleasure of being a part of.
If you get a chance, come out and see me. They will have projects from the book and pictures for viewing.

This past weekend so how became the Weekend of the Donut.  Saturday I was running errands in Chelsea and decided to stop by the new Doughnut Plant Here are some shots I took with my camera phone.

The special of the day was Pistachio donuts and Strawberry donuts. I purchase the yeast donuts instead of cake which in my opinion was the better choice because they were nice and warm and light and sweet. The place was packed but they were well stocked with all the donuts you could want. The decor was cute, with themed donut pillows adorninng the walls.

On Sunday while hanging out with Tammi & Clay, we indulged in Bed-Stuy’s latest addition, Dough. By the time we got there, the place looked like it had been scavenged. Barely any donuts to be had, and as soon as they put some out they were gone. Luckily I was able to snag a regular glazed and a cafe au lait. Both were absolutely tasty

The red covered donut is there Hibiscus donut which I thought was pretty but had no interest in trying. Maybe next time.

You should know that all of these donuts were not in eaten in one sitting but over the course of the 2 days. Needless to say that I may have overdone it with the donuts. Tasty but overindulgent. 2 should have been enough. I feel like my heart pumps sugar right now and it’s Monday.

This weekend I had a tryst with some donuts but I hope to return to my original love, The Cupcake, real soon. Because summer’s coming and that means Cupcake Tours through the city.

Over the  past few weeks I started to notice some changes in my vision that I attributed to my contacts. A bit of blurriness ….it must be dirty contacts. Etc. Etc.  Then without my glasses or contacts I started to notice this…

left eye	right eye

Can you see the difference? I still have vision in my right eye but with a dim red tint.

Then came the floaters & flashes. Luckily NYC has a the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary which has a 24hr urgent care for eyes so Monday I went and was was diagnosed with a retinal hole and some retinal detachment in my right eye. As it turns out for different reasons, but one simple one being nearsightedness, you can get these small tears/hole in your retina and if left untreated too long it can cause your retina to detach thus affected your vision. Wait too long and you’ll go blind. ( See this link if you want more info )

So while I did nothing to cause this condition, I should not have waited as long as I did to see a doctor, and could have had preventative treatment sooner. Friday morning I had the pleasure of have my eyes dilated for the 3rd time in a week and having a laser shot into my eye (Laser photocoagulation is the technical term) to try and force my retina to heal back into place.  I have to wait for things to heal before I know if all is well.  I was slightly saddened that I didn’t walk away from the laser room with any new abilities…

Cyclops from X-Men

but I guess I will settle for my eye healing without any need for more surgery.

So I say all this friends as a cautionary tale.  PLEASE go to the doctor for regularly scheduled physicals and eye exams.  Some things you may take for granted…. like the gift of sight.

In that time I had the chance to see my friend Avril’s Alicat Fall 2011 Runway show. Avril is handbag designer who also design all the clothing for her runway shows to highlight her bags. I’ve been helping her develop her website in anticipation of this show so it was great see all the hard work she’s been putting in forth for the show (take a look)

I also had a chance to be an extra in short film for Randy Wilkins. I had the opportunity to work with Randy before on his Osvaldo’s film project, so I was more than happy to be a part of the creative process. It wasn’t until the morning of that I remember that I have no aspirations to be an actor and had no idea how I was supposed to “act” as an extra. Nevertheless, I channeled my acting skills from all the childhood plays I was in (I was the child that could memorize everything & my mother says I was a dramatic child). In reality, all I had to do was stand there but in my head I was acting

During that weekend I was also able to make myself some jeans, leggings, and finish the cabled sweater (as seen in the previous post) and a Presidents’ Day apple pie. With all those things finished I was ready to dive into the next set of projects.

This past Friday, I stopped by Purl to pick up some yarn for baby blankets. It was my first time visiting their new space and it was interesting. The space is nice and definitely more spacious. Maybe it’s just me but they definitely give off that “we are the cool kids” vibe now and I don’t ever remember anyone asking me if I needed help even though I had questions. The old space may have been small but I felt like the women that worked their realized you were actually in the store. Nonetheless I bought some Cascade 220 Sport Superwash for baby blankets because I didn’t know of another place in the city to get it. The red will be for a solid lacy baby blanket for a girl and the other colors will be used for a striped boy’s blanket.

I also spent some time working on a pattern dress jumper for myself. If it turns out well I’m considering grading the pattern and making a couple of pieces for sale.

And to end off my weekend I’m making some soup for dinner (and lunch this week). During the winter I really enjoy making soups. It’s a great comfort food and the leftovers are great for lunch. This week’s soup is a chicken potato leek soup. It’s cooking as I type.

I’m off now to enjoy some soup and knit a bit before heading to bed. Happy work week everyone. And if you don’t have to work…..lucky you. I’m jealous.