lip service

Dear America,

The service is crap. Yes, it's ingratiating but it's slow and inefficient and frequently borders on obsequious. It's also often mechanical and insincere. Who is impressed by a sales assistant who pounces on you the moment you walk in the door with a well-rehearsed "Welcome to wherever, it's my pleasure to assist you today. Let me know if I can help you to find anything" delivered in a monotone and without once even looking you in the eye? Ok, I exaggerate, but only slightly.

On the other hand, my favourite lipstick for pretty much half the Australian price. At least I can buy it online.

Sincerely, Amelia

this is ... my favourite children's book

Childhood truly does have some magic about it. There are certainly things from childhood that had a magic quality to them, things that seemed to be secret and one of a kind and didn't exist anywhere else in the world except for the spare bedroom at my grandmother's house. That was Eloise for me.

I remember this book so fondly and it's one that I can't wait to introduce to baby bear. Nowadays I would just tap the isbn into good ol' abebooks and have my own copy winging its way to me in no time. In this 'information age' where basically the magic of anything can be dispelled with a quick google search, what will hold this kind of mystique for our children?

I think that I will keep looking for Eloise in the second-hand book shops and perhaps my cry of delight at the old-fashioned thrill of finding something special that you have long sought after will give baby bear a magic moment to remember. I rawther, rawther hope so.

ottobre

Did you know about this? How come no-one had ever told me about Ottobre Design? Why did I have to wait until now? Ah well, I have been fortunate to come across it, and in the most inspiring way - by witnessing what Naomi made from a length of fabric from the Salvation Army and the Autumn Walk in Paris pattern. Recycled style - my favourite! I think that she has done a fabulous job, especially with the pattern matching on those covered buttons, and I am very inspired. I had bought a McCall's pattern to make a coat from my Romeo Gigli wool flannel but this coat is much more what I had in mind.


Anyway, back to Ottobre - I haven't had a chance to get my hands on an issue yet but I really like what I can see on the website. They appear to do four children's issues and two woman's issues each year, available in English, German, Finnish, Dutch or Swedish. Patterns in the children's issues are divided into infants, toddlers and older children's styles.

I gather that the company is Finnish, the layout and aesthetic of the photo spreads is good with a healthy mix of very normal looking children and women modelling the garments. And they're healthy looking garments too - no midriff-baring five-year olds. I suppose that issue after issue the patterns might get a bit repetitive (how many variations on the onesie can you do?) but of course at the moment I want to have a peek at all of them. Anyone have an issue that they are ready to part with (or lend)?

snigger snigger

Whereas you conjugate a verb, in some languages (for example Latin) you decline a noun. For example, the declension for the Latin puer, meaning 'boy', is:

puer - nominative
puer·ī - genitive
puer·ō - dative
puer·um - accusative
puer·ō - ablative
puer - vocative
puer·ō - locative

From whence we get the English word 'puerile', an adjective meaning:

1. Characteristic of, or pertaining to, a boy or boys
2. Childish; trifling; silly.

Which brings us in turn to this:


Highly amusing.

letter to america

From 1999 to 2004 the incomparable Alistair Cooke sent out to the world a 'Letter from America'. You can listen to them in the BBC archives and I highly recommend that you do.

A few weeks ago now, the delightful Maureen from Annapolis paid me a great compliment by suggesting that I do my own version, a sort of 'blog from America'. What I've settled on is a new and occasional series named 'Letter to America', partly because I have a few things to say and partly because I think that Australians love to let America know how odd we think it is. So, here goes:

Dear America,

Cheese is not orange.

It is coloured with annatto. Please stop doing this because my revulsion for cheese the colour of earwax is greatly limiting my dairy intake.

Sincerely, Amelia

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

shhhh

Here's a little something that I have been working on, on the side. Not too many details because it is a gift for my secret pal.

the price of admission

I really hate to admit defeat but it has come to my attention that I can't do everything, or at least, not all at once. I do have a bit of a habit of over-enrolling myself in activities, over-committing myself (even if just to myself). It's just that the world is so exciting and there is so much to do and really, I am interested in so many things.

I had my deferred exam for Introduction to Health Economics yesterday - hooray. It went ok, I'm confident that I passed but the lead-up to it was very stressful. And now I am enrolled in two subjects this semester and I just don't think that I can manage it. I am vacillating at the moment between discontinuing just one of them (already done) and discontinuing them both and just taking a breather. The thing is, it really means something to me to be doing this course - makes me feel like while I am taking this year out from my 'career' that I am still achieving 'something'. Because raising a child, moving countries, settling in and setting up a house doesn't count as something? Oh, Amelia!

But when you're snappy at your husband, impatient with your little one and generally at the end of your tether, it's time to stop, take a breather and smell the roses. So, I do admit defeat, it's time to slow down and do some joyful mothering, a bit of crafting, relax a bit and be happy - that's kind of a little victory in itself.

ps. Can you see that I've been quilting? More about that next time.

this is ... a work in progress

Ha ha, this topic makes me laugh. A work in progress ... well, what's not? This life, this blog, this post ... all of it, a work in progress.

But oh, the crafty kind? A while ago I attempted to document my works in progress, all tagged with 'best intentions' but really, I couldn't keep up with all of the materials and ideas that I kept coming up with. There's a little list over there in the side bar which I will dash to update as soon as I have hit publish. Some of those things are languishing heaven-knows-where and there are others that I am halfway through which haven't even made it onto the list. Like this:


My quilt is coming along really well. My $3.00 quilt top, with some $25.00 of cotton batting, $15.00 of backing fabric, an $8.00 spool of yarn, a $25.00 freehand embroidery foot,a packet of machine quilting needles, and two packets of basting pins at $10.00 each keeping it all together! Oh well, some of those things are reusable. And I have an idea for recycling some cotton weave blankets that I came across at the op shop as filling for any future quilting projects.

I still haven't worked out how/why it is that some projects just grab you, harness your motivation and practically get themselves done, intruding on any number of other things that are on your to-do list. This is one of them. Perhaps because it is so big (204 cm x 219 cm) I felt that I just had to get it out of the way. I have been machine quilting it and am about three-quarters through. I'm really enjoying the process - the machine quilting is really addictive. Quick, instant results and you think, oh, I'll just do another line ... and another ... and ... (oh dear, I sound like a coke head).

Any ideas for binding it? I'm thinking something a bit whimsical so that it's not too twee - perhaps a sage green with small white or cream polka dots?

this is ... my trade secret

You might question just exactly what my trade is when I claim that Origins Pinch Your Cheeks blush/gel is my trade secret. But really, when do you not need to put your best rosy cheek forward?

I used to wear a lot of makeup. Mostly because I was very self conscious about having bad skin and well, it gave me something to hide behind. I never wore blush though - even though makeup is an artifice, I didn't like the idea of it just sitting there on my cheeks. And I had no idea how to apply it besides.

That's why I love this stuff so much. It actually stains your cheeks (and the tips of your fingers a bit - slight drawback) so it doesn't at all feel as though it is sitting on your face. Many is the time that I have been complimented on my rosy cheeks and general healthiness. If you're a bit shy of blusher as I was but need a secret lift on a grey day, I highly recommend something like this.

I'd just like to take a quick opportunity to thank Angela of Three Buttons for initiating 'This is ...' and for asking me to suggest this week's theme. I am really enjoying participating and I love the way that the topic each week makes me think about things in my own life, to sometimes see or interpret them in a different way. Do be sure to go and have a look at what some of the other participants have written about (links via Three Buttons) - I don't think that any one has come up with a secret blend of herbs and spices but there is something for almost every other taste!

james

James is a lovely little boy who lives across the road from our old house in Melbourne. He is one of baby bear's very first friends. His equally lovely mother is one of my very dear friends. James and baby bear were born twelve days apart and as they grew up, so did Leah and I as mums. Boy, did she see me through some tough times. Thank you Leah!

And so this little jacket is for James.

Again, it's a 100 per cent natural fibres, 100 per cent recycled materials project.


The woollen outer is refashioned from a MaxMara knitted skirt (75 per cent wool, 25 per cent angora, chosen for its delicious softness and warmth), the body lining is from a Princess Tina t-shirt (100 per cent cotton, chosen for its great graphic) and a random dark green t-shirt to line the sleeves (100 per cent cotton, chosen because it toned in). All were purchased at the St Kilda Salvation Army, the first two during one of the designer sales.













The pattern that I used is from The Golden Hands Book of 60 Things to Sew for Children, which incidentally is one of the second-hand craft titles that I reviewed in mixtape #5 (no, not incidental at all really - editorial honesty gets the better of me, I've been saving this post for until the 'zine came out). Have you got a copy yet?

this is ... my chance to catch up

Oops, I completely missed the topic 'this is ... what makes me happy', partly because it really set me thinking and it's taken me this long to gather up my thoughts. So, I'm going to use last week's open theme as time to catch up and also as a chance to incorporate the ‘Tree of Happiness’ award that I received from the Vintage Detective - thanks Chloe! This award involves listing six things that make me happy and passing the honour on to six other bloggers.

But, and this is where I got stuck, can things really make you happy? If it were that easy then we could all be happy, all the time. It would be as simple as eating another piece of chocolate. But constantly eating chocolate doesn't keep you constantly happy; it just gives you a tummy ache.

Happiness, it seems to me, is beyond that. It's an a priori state of being. There are a number of things that I am unhappy about at the moment - the frustration of not having a bank account or being able to work, missing my friends and support network in Melbourne, the stress of settling in here - but regardless, above and beyond those things, I'm happy.

So, in short, I think that there are things that you can be happy about (or unhappy about) but it's not within the power of things to make you happy. Having said which, here are six things that I am happy about:

1. My family - just delirious. The absolute joy that baby bear brings to my heart, the depth of love for my husband.
2. Where my creative processes are taking me; sometimes I feel a bit overwhelmed but am constantly inspired and that is uplifting.
3. Moving to a house in Seattle proper this weekend, out of this drab serviced apartment.
4. Having found some great knitting groups here - Kirkland Knitters, Purly Girls and Capitol Hill Knitters of Doom (all on ravelry).
5. Lovely new friends that I have made since moving here - hi Lisa, Anna, Blair!
6. The stunning natural beauty of the Puget Sound area (photo by Andrew Hitchcock, originally posted on flickr - thanks Wikimedia Commons).


Jenaveve, Jeanne, bird bath, Lisa, A, Pherenike - what are you happy about?

Further, the very lovely Angela of Three Buttons who hosts 'this is ...' has given me the opportunity to nominate this week's theme. And it is 'this is ... my trade secret'. Any tricks of your trade/craft, snazzy gadgets that give a lovely professional effect, any techniques that the rest of us would also benefit from knowing? Go on, do share!

an affair to remember

I'm having an affair. That grand old dame St Kilda is not famed for her morals (well she is, but not in a laudatory sense) so I'm sure that she will understand my fling, my passionate fling, with King County Library System.

It was lust at first sight. Here is the evidence:


This is the best public library service that I have ever encountered and certainly one of the best aspects of the US for me so far. In a country where public administration falls (in my limited experience) somewhere between dismal and appalling, the library is just fantastic. Look at the books! Yes, I know, many of the craft titles are American and so more likely to end up on the shelves here but they have multiple copies, just standing there for the borrowing. These are books that took several weeks to turn up when I requested them from St Kilda.

As well as the usual access to computer workstations, each library patron gets 75 free printouts ... each week! I've been stocking up on BurdaStyle.

not happy amy

I quite like Amy Butler's products, not a the rush -out-and-buy-some kind of like but certainly a leisurely-leaf-through-this-book kind of like - Amy Butler's Midwest Modern : A Fresh Design Spirit for the Modern Lifestyle. The book is indeed a visual feast, full of colour and pattern, excellent photography, a bit of text.

As I was leafing through the book though, getting quite excited by a particularly nifty little dress, it slowly dawned on me that there was not going to be a patterns/tutorial/how-to section at the back for some/any of the projects illustrated. There's just a recipe for a foot bath (but I don't think that counts) and some instructions on pillow covers. I was so disappointed. It made it seem more like a vanity project, a big hardback promotional catalogue. Yes, I know there's a heap of sewing projects in her other book and I see now that she has a heap of free patterns on her website and ... ok, I love Amy.

But still, instead of going out and buying the lotus dress pattern, I went out and bought this top second-hand instead. I see a resemblance, shape wise, and I know that this fits me a-ok. This is an issue because it is almost impossible for me to find woven fabric blouses or dresses that fit me across the bust. I am tired of always wearing t-shirts and want some items that are a bit smarter. And dresses are so great for summer so I am taking matters into my own hands.

My plan is to pick the top apart (done that) and reverse engineer a sewing pattern from it and add a skirt, possibly with help from the Sidonie pattern on BurdaStyle. Am I crazy?

In other sewing news, I have made a quilt top out of this fabric. Yep, just whipped it up.


Ok, it was just five straight seams but I'm still proud of myself, if not only because I actually did it instead of dreaming about it. Have you noticed that many of my ideas don't get off the ground? Sometimes I feel as though I am swimming in them. This past weekend I bought seven panels of this floral fabric from a garage sale for $3.00. Someone had used them as curtains and I think they were cut down from something else in the first place (a tablecloth perhaps?). So I have re-repurposed them by sewing them back together. Inspired by the very straightforward ideas in Make Your Own Contemporary Quilts I am planning to simply add a layer of cotton batting, back it with plain fabric and do some very simple machine quilting (or maybe just some knots ...) to hold it all together and then bind.

walk straight across the road, don't run

And all this time I had thought that it was self evident that you stop so as not to maim or kill anyone.

mememe

Well, it is my blog. Jeanne at Four Chickens has been kind enough to tag me and give me the opportunity to share a bit about myself. There are rules but I'll let you click on over to Jeanne's post to check them out (and to learn more about her, too).

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago - 1998 - I was 23 years old. By mid-July I think I had moved to Amsterdam to study for the second time (either that or I was still working in a dreadful customer service role for Australia's largest telco; let's just talk about Amsterdam, yes?). I went there to study art history for a year. Technically, according to my enrolment, I was there to study general literature but as I was just there for the experience I took whichever classes took my fancy, namely art history. I have a vivid memory of a gorgeous summer day, cycling down the street through the dappled sunlight. I was wearing a red v-neck t-shirt and I remember that I had a particularly nasty blemish on my poor delicate decolletage, so nasty that it warranted a bandaid. It left a little purple scar which I still have to this day. Lovely.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today- not in any particular order?

Oh dear, it's bedtime so my list for the next 24 hours is: go to bed; go to the Microsoft picnic; get some knitting done; take some photographs of a finished project and even try and get it in the mail; and the perpetual supermarket shopping.

3. Snacks I enjoy.

Corn chips. Olives. Carrot sticks.

4. Places I’ve lived

Armadale, North Caulfield, East St Kilda, Prahran and Balaclava - all suburbs of Melbourne. Nagoya and Tokyo. Amsterdam. Annandale in Sydney. Kirkland on Seattle's eastside.

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire

I think that I would probably pass out from the shock of it and then develop crippling anxiety about what to do and whom to help first and end up a blathering mess. It does strike me often though that I would love to have the money (and nothing better to do with it than) to do up old rundown houses that everyone else would consign to demolition. The kind of renovations/refurbishments that are completely uneconomical and wouldn't be done by anyone in their right mind. But as I've said, becoming a billionaire could well send you that way.

I would save this old house in Redmond from the condo developers.

6. What are some jobs you’ve had

Hmm, retail, retail (sales assistant in a bookshop - not as pleasant as one might think, I got held up); all-singing all-dancing hostess at Tokyo Dome's Baseball Cafe; more retail; and then an illustrious career as a public servant, most recently as senior advisor in the strategic policy unit unit of Metro Health at Department of Human Services. I am currently a completely financially dependent not-working-outside-the-home stay-at-home mother and am studying to be a health economist. One day I will have a job with the World Health Organisation and get transferred to a country where my husband cannot operate a bank account. But forgive me, I gripe.

Another reason that I didn't include the rules is because I don't intend to play by them. I'm not going to tag other people but should you read this blog and haven't yet received this meme, I would love to know more about you. Please do leave a comment to let me know if you choose to.

ps - Apologies for the sardonic tone of this post. It's strange how the writing sometimes takes on a life of its own - I had no idea that this was the mood I was in tonight.

this is ... what gives me goosebumps

Goosebumps are a funny thing - a bit like blushing. Not something that you can make happen just by willing it to, something that you can't stop from happening when it comes along. What actually gives you goosebumps is also unpredictable, and I don't think necessarily causes them every time. For instance, I was chatting on Monday with someone about Australian cinema and she mentioned Rabbit Proof Fence (fantastic film) and there they were - goosebumps. I saw RPF several years ago when I lived in Sydney and have heard it mentioned numerous times since and never before has it caused goosebumps. So, there you go.

So, for this week's topic I've gone with quite a literal interpretation and, after all, extreme cold does often and reliably cause goosebumps. And really, I was just waiting for an excuse to tell you about my current preferred form of extreme cold - Snoqualmie icecream (and gelato and frozen custard!). Sooo delicious and the only ice cream that I could find in our supermarket freezer that doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup.

Things have been a bit quiet around here on the blogging front this past week or so. It is no reflection of what is actually going on here in real life. Or rather, it is not for lack of anything to say but having too much to say. I have any number of partially composed posts floating around in my head, getting entangled with each other, petering out, crystallising, coalescing ... individualism, thrift shops, traffic, cross walks, accommodation, uni, deferred exam, invigilator, library books, Amy Butler, sewing, knitting, pattern drafting, reverse engineering, block printing, parking tickets, 'no parking' signs, convenience, Department of Motor Vehicles, social security number, Department of Homeland Security, over-engineering, property rights ... in no particular order.

this is ... my most treasured childhood possession

At the moment my childhood seems like a long time ago and a long way away. Having a child, however, allows you to recapture some of your own juvenile history and coming to the US allows you to avoid prohibitive postage costs.

I had forgotten about this vintage Fisher-Price garage that I had as a child until I found a very battered example in the toy cupboard at baby bear's playgroup. Instantly I wanted one for her. Upon arriving here one of the first things I did was got on ebay and bought one. It came with the four cars and little people, the gas pump intact, decals in fair condition and with the grease rack. My only disappointment is that the bell in the elevator doesn't make quite the same ping that I recall.

I loved this toy as a child. I love remembering this. I love it now too. (Oh, and so does baby bear - she is allowed to play with it!)

knitalong

Some weeks ago when I was browsing in the Rizzoli bookshop in Milan (oh sorry but the trip has almost worn off) I came across this book, Knitalong.

It's a well presented book, a good introduction to the whole knitting scene so possibly a little basic for someone who is already familiar with it. Even so I have since found it worth a read (having borrowed a copy from the library). The knitting patterns are fairly basic and didn't inspire me although, again, a new knitter will find some good projects there to start out on. (Note, however, that this is not an instructional book - I mean someone who can already knit and is ready to try a few things out.)

The best part of the book, for me, is the chapter on recycling and not least because it's all about my friend Nichola and her cyber-progeny Wardrobe Refashion. It was so fantastic to be in a big bookshop in a foreign land reading about the achievements of your friend. And I'd like to add that she now has three little girls. This section also has the one thing in the book that I was instantly moved to make - a pincushion (one of which I have wanted for ages) from a felted jumper. No trouble.

The instructions are in inches which just swim before my eyes so I just used a square quilting template and cut out four squares, cutting two of them further in half. Then I followed the general instructions. This is my first effort here on the far right - the jumper came up very fuzzy so the fair isle pattern definition has been lost. I also hand sewed my pin cushion which may explin the lack of definition at the seams compared with the book's version. I also have some tarnished metal buttons that I think would match better but that would involved re-binding the whole thing. I'll have to think about it. I would also recommend not over-stuffing the pincushion so that you have more leeway with the binding process.

The second incarnation was a little more successful, made from a jumper that I bought at a 'yard sale' just outside Issaquah (fabulous name, once called Squak) on my first weekend in the US (yes, I know how to start with the important things). That's already been gifted but I think that I have enough fabric left over for a version three. And it's given me some great ideas for other felted jumper three-dimensional shapes - what about a ball?

this is ... my best op shop find

I trust that much has been written long before I came along on the nature and essence of US culture. Regardless, I will add my two cents' worth. What has really struck me here, after the trucks (although not literally thank goodness), is what seems like an all-pervasive principle of individualism. One of the results of this is an amazing and overwhelming consumer culture where everything is available, in every possible permutation, for every possible market. Hence the possibility of ordering a low-fat double chai soy latte frappuccino (spelling?) and a take-home doggy bagel (to feed to your dog) without so much as a self-conscious blink of an eyelid.

A follow-on effect of all this, combined with a throw-away mentality, is that the op shops (yes, I know, thrift stores - bear with me) are AWESOME. They are chock full of the most amazing stuff - cashmere cardigans, espresso makers by the dozen, antique picture frames and hand-pieced, hand-quilted patchwork bedspreads.

I have so much more to say about all of this.

vol ?

Alas, my series on Golden Hands: the complete knitting, dressmaking and needlecraft guide has been cut short by the fact that they are all buried away in a storage at present. I'm not sure but I think they were a British publication; if I do happen to see any over here I'll sneak in some shots (or something). In the meanwhile please do have a look back in the archives at the richness of volumes one to ten.

Happily, I have unearthed some craft projects which I have been working on. I had so intended to post more progress shots of my projects so here we are:
A child's tam from the basic pattern in The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns: basic designs in multiple sizes and gauges by Ann Budd. Yes, work in progress - I still have the little crochet loop at the top to go. That would involve finding my crochet hooks so it could take a while longer.

There has also been considerable progress on Mavis but unfortunately the stitch count seems to be off. Yes, off by a couple of stitches. A couple of stitches out of 280 in 4 ply - practically invisible. Can I live with it? Unfortunately, I doubt it but I certainly can't face ripping it just yet so yes, that one might take a while longer too.