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Busy Bee:: Lots done, Lots to do

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of creative energy for me. Despite a few stresses at work, I am learning to take solace in “my” time and focus on doing the things that I really enjoy. Last week I had the chance to take a 5 day weekend from work for the President’s Day weekend to just relax and focus on myself. It was nice to just sit back and do nothing and everything all at the same time.

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.

First Look :: Boat Neck Cabled Sweater

Creative Energy

Over the past few months or so I’ve been looking for ways to stimulate my creative energy. I used to have a lot of it and I realized it’s because I was exploring new things, reading, going to museums, looking at art, having interesting and stimulating conversation,etc. I’m getting back into the swing of that. I’ve been reading more books thanks to my Kindle, as well as, talking more with my friends and getting back into the habit of exploring NYC. I’ve also been playing around with one of my favorite past times….

I heart Legos…..I really do.

This surge in creative energy has also allowed me to really focus on this cabled sweater project that I’ve been working on for awhile now.

I’m hoping that it will turn out exactly as I see it in my head….and that I don’t run out of yarn before I’m finished. The panel on the far left is the front and the partial finished panel will be the back. I didn’t want them to match exactly. Hopefully it will be done soon. With all this snow & cold in NYC, I’m due for a new sweater.

For your viewing pleasure: That car in the background is Jay-etta encased in 15 inches of snow.

In The Stores: Liberty of London @ Target

This past weekend I traveled to middle America (Cleveland) to visit my parents. In the 2 days there I ate really well, got a pedicure w/Mamacita and Bill (mom & sis for those that don’t know), went to Jo-Anns, and made 2 trips to Target. Did I ever tell you how Target is my happy place? Having a bad …go to Target. Having a good day…go to Target. But I digress….

Anyway… on Sunday I had to stop in to pick up some things for my father and stumbled upon the opening day of Liberty of London at Target . I became aware of Liberty of London a few years back as a hybrid department store with a lot of items from their own brand. ~~Kind of like an upscale Target~~. (My bad. I was misinformed. It’s a high end department store.) One of their signatures is their floral prints. Interesting but not really my thing.

There was a lot of hype surrounding this collaboration between LoL & Target so I took a few stealthy camera phone pics to chronicle what I saw.

I only made it to 2 pics before I lost the desire to take more. Here’s the thing… LoL prints, in my opinion only, are a weird cross between Laura Ashley floral sweetness
and a bad psychedelic acid trip

After 2 pics, I was either A.) tired of looking at the prints B.) realized I was too old for the actual cuts/styles & color combos of the clothing, or that C.) the fabrics & dyes are of a much lesser quality than the LoL fabrics that go for $25-35/yard at the fabric stores. I do think the prints & colors were better served in the housewares section.

If you get a chance, stop by Target and take a look for yourself. It may be your thing. If not, then can always stock up on the fun $2 knee-high socks like the ones my sister bought me.