tiny baskets

i got all excited to try out this mini crochet basket tutorial, but then realized it doesn't specify what type of material they are made from. it looks sort of like rafia... or maybe twine?

today is my birthday

this face pretty much sums up how i feel about it.

staring at babies

as is implicit whenever i come to madison, i had lunch with adam today and took uncomfortably close-up pictures of things.

there was a baby at the table behind me who was having a staring contest with him. he put up a good effort, but she totally wiped the floor with him. there was also a table with three of the best-behaved children i have ever seen. they were just calmly eating and entertaining themselves with their kid-thoughts, and interacting with each other without any poking or screaming or crying. we suspect there was valium in their orange juice.

songs that make me cry: track 1

stephen merritt's voice in general makes me feel extra-emo, but this song in particular makes my heart feel squishy and my eyeballs all tingly. which i realize doesn't necessarily sound like the best feeling. but it is.

paper cuts

some little collages i made as christmas gifts, based on my nature-collecting/documenting habit.

old-school dating tips (a.k.a. freakishly astounding display of sexism)

on the one hand, i have apparently been doing this dating thing ALL WRONG. on the same hand, excuse me while i go puke in a bucket.

merry day

cut-outs

paper cut-out's by pablo lehmann

captain tommy

this is Tommy. he belongs to anna and joseph (but sometimes they belong to him). he is especially round, and hilariously affectionate. he is also almost totally sane, when contrasted against their other cat, Spaghetti, who's displays of "affection" might more appropriately be described as "sexual harassment".

"whaaa? you can see me on this orange chair? camouflage FAIL."

How many random things can I make at once?

The answer, it turns out, is a LOT. I've been busy. These are the only ones I can show you though, because some of the others are top-secret present things. I know you understand.

hypothetically, of course

i just wanted to share this article i enjoyed today by mindy kaling (writer/producer/actress on the office). the idea of imagining your potential family, making plans and considering decisions you don't (yet) have to make -- i find it all very sweetly relatable. i am a big planner, and i'm not going to lie... my friend jeni and i have embarrassingly frequent conversations about the strengths and weaknesses of potential baby names for our hypothetical children. we can talk about it for ever, and have even gotten in some almost-fights because, evidently, we both have extremely good (i.e. similar) taste in baby names, and our hypothetical future babies can obviously not be named the same hypothetical name. that would just be silly.

and here is the cutest picture of a baby i have maybe ever seen, which i found while searching for sweater patterns (i'm totally sold on this sweater, in addition to this baby).
also, as long as i'm imagining hypothetical scenarios, mindy kaling is my imaginary BFF.

reworking the plan

i really like giving presents. the whole thing makes me happy, right down to selecting the perfect wrappings.

i had some pretty grandiose plans for holiday giving this year, but the reality of the ever-approaching deadline has forced me to accept defeat. it was a really nice idea to hand knit outerwear, paint unique, personalized paintings, and intricately bead jewelry for everyone ever. but you know what? i was making myself crazy. plus, my list of recipients is much longer this year than ever before, which makes my over-ambition all the more ridiculous. so i am now scrambling to come up with acceptable alternatives, and prioritizing people i know i will be seeing first.
(above is a montage of some of last years gifts)

house goodness

images via apartmenttherapy and designsponge

overboard

time to cool it with the yarn-buying, i think.

bluegrassy

i've been listening to a lot of Old Crow Medicine Show - i guess i've been feeling bluegrassy lately. and a little twangy.

moo

I've been commissioned to make a set of animal finger puppets that will be a christmas gift for a sweet little 3 year-old. It's kind of the most fun project ever (above is the wisconsin dairy cow).

hannukah aftermath

help?

i think i might need an excuse to make a bunch of fabric flower pompom ball things.

and/or this fabric flower pompom garland?


so pretty, yes?
via designsponge

octopus situation

things like this really don't help my already super-red-hot-mega-crush on jake gyllenhaal. i mean, are you serious? can we please get married and have a bunch of babies so we can teach them lots and lots of words?

respect

i am totally fascinated lately by lady gaga, both as a person and as a performance artist. she is so unabashedly crazy, to the point where it you start to think maybe she isn't crazy, maybe everybody else is crazy and she's completely sane. and whoa, i just really respect that.



read a new LA times article about her here. whatever you think of her theatrics, you gotta admit that even without all the glitz and glam and amps and back-up, she really can sing (and writes all her own songs, too).

best game ever

you have a place here

maybe my favorite thing about my trip to lincoln nebraska was this awesome bookstore/coffee shop/social enterprise called indigo birdge books. in the center of the bookstore area is this giant fabric tree sculpture, all aglow with twinkle-lights.

and over by the coffee shop area is a large table where they host a daily meal of homemade soups and breads, which is donation based and open to anyone - you get a little envelope with your bowl of soup, and give what you can. (click the image below to read the full explanation)

renegades

gina and i went to the craft fair and got inspired. then i came home and listened to this while i painted:

show and tell

anna sent me this amazing painting while i was home for thanksgiving. it's big and gorgeous and has sheep in it. how lucky am i?
(click for higher quality image)

weekend interior inspiration

(cleaning up my messy desktop i came across a bunch of interior images i had meant to share...)

humanity, i love you

here is a little video that made me gasp, made me uncomfortable, made me happy, made me ache.

PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death and God from Frank Warren on Vimeo.

if you haven't seen the post secret website (an ongoing community mail-art project) or books, you should probably do so immediately.

snow piece

i am home from nebraska and have been greeted by chicago's first real snowfall. the sudden temperature drop is a shock to my system, although it's pretty nice that winter has held off until now. no snow until december? that was sweet. now if we can be all done with snow by april, that would be fab.

in honor of the day, here is a really lovely instructional performance piece by Yoko Ono:

SNOW PIECE (1963)

Think that snow is falling. Think that snow is falling everywhere all the time. When you talk with a person, think that snow is falling between you and on the person. Stop conversing when you think the person is covered by snow.

banal photo documentation of my midwestern road trip

here is the nerdy picture i took in the car because my knitting matched our coffee cups:

here is the adorable ice cream shop we stopped at:

and here is the nebraska state capitol building. i've seen a few state capitols in my day, but none as odd as the one here in lincoln. it's so tall and institutional looking, and it doesn't have that grandiose dome-and-columns feeling that i'm used to.

i know it doesn't seem very exciting, but i'm having a grand time.