Back to Reality, but First...

Oh my, longest blogging hiatus ever!  The SF trip was wonderful.  
May I please move into the apartment with this view?  Since then it's been pretty hectic, so here's a little recap.  

Just wish I had pics of hanging out with Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef: Shauna, Danny and their extremely adorable daughter, and with Diane and Todd, a.k.a. White on Rice Couple.  Good food and chatting about how they collaborate on their blogs as couples: they made this video featuring their new cookbook both of which brought happy tears to my eyes.  So inspiring that I may actually try cooking! and I'm very lucky to have spent time with them.  
Justin already covered some of the yummy things we ate, but there were some crafty things I liked too.  After working hard on Fashion Week NYC it was a luxury to be able to do as this window suggested:

This awesome building is The Contemporary Jewish Museum and the colorful Mexican banner from The Museum of Craft and Folk Art.  

Right next door is the Indian restaurant Amber where I had butter chicken and met Marisa from Food in Jars, a canning blog: I totally want to try it this winter!

I spent quite a while in this exhibit of glass blown sculptures by Loretta Hui-Shan Yang: they were substantial, yet delicate.  After the vessel and flower are created separately they need to be joined at just the right temperature, or both pieces will shatter.

I couldn't believe this luscious fountain could be found in the middle of the city!

And yea, it's touristy down at Fisherman's Wharf, but I love the water and the sweet faces of the sea lions.  The lobster bisque and dungeness crab I had for lunch were pretty good too.

The Blue Angels were in town for Fleet Week and they roared overhead much to the shock of everyone within miles.

I adored this turtle bread from Boudin Bakery so much that I wouldn't let anyone eat him.

Britex Fabrics has 4 floors of beautiful bolts, patterns, supplies, notions and a very helpful staff and I bought some vintage lace.

At The Ferry Building Marketplace I wanted to fry up these pimientos de Padron right there.  

Instead, I got some lemon shortbread from Miette, and later, a very flat, portable umbrella from Kinokuniya in Japantown.

Snapped a cool window display of sewing spools and this crocheted dress at Louis Vuitton

but forget which store created this very large display of paper butterflies and sequins that spanned 3 windows.

At ImagiKnit I bought some soft pink Heather Prime Alpaca.  More on that soon...but I wish I could make it to the book signing on November 21st with Twinkie Chan for her new book of Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies, cool.

How was the coffee at Little Bird Coffeehouse so good and how did the baristress create this lovely swirl?

Everyone told us it was unusual for it to be so warm (in the 70's!) and in our walks up and down the hills we spied this doggy Halloween costume

and a display of angel cats!  

Oh, to be on vacation again...

Happy National Sewing Month and...a Winner!

I just found out that September is National Sewing Month and this is 2 bunches of fat quarters from Purl Soho, a birthday gift from my boyfriend "for encouragement and inspiration" as he says, very sweet, as he's also contributed to my crafty endeavors before.  There is a fantastic selection of projects you can make from fat quarters on Sew, Mama, Sew! and I'm definitely picking one soon.

Walking down by South Street Seaport this weekend we passed a fence adorned with sewing spools that stretched for blocks and blocks...until we came to a description:

noting that it's a temporary installation by Katherine Daniels: check out her site, amazing work with fabric, beads, wire and more.  I'm so glad I passed by this!  We also saw some cool graffiti in the East Village.

And I started a new project on the way up to Northampton, Massachusetts for a little trip.

We saw a Crafts Avenue:

and while there weren't craft shops on that block, there were 2 yarn boutiques in town:

and we had such a nice time browsing through the fantastic gifts, cards, books, Japanese and Korean design products and great craft section at Essentials where we had the pleasure of meeting owner Sydne and manager Colette: so lovely to chat with both of you! 

For dinner we had a sushi Love Boat for 2...

which brings me to the winner of the Knit Sushi Giveaway:

Thank you to everyone who entered...the futomaki prize goes to entry #4: Small Burst! 

So, I will be sending this along to Small Burst just in time before NYC Fashion Week, which will mean lots of work for me, culminating in the 2nd year of Fashion's Night Out on Friday, September 10th:

And next week on Tuesday, September 14th, CBS will air a special behind-the-scenes look at the planning and the parties, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris (who I'm watching sing about suits right now on How I Met Your Mother).

A Tiny Gift

This week I had the honor of meeting a very tiny person for the first time.  

His welcome card is strung with a clothesline bearing a t-shirt and bib cut from cotton fabric made a little sturdier with some fabric stiffener, and a tiny bootie knit on #3 needles.

I started this v-neck sweater months ago when his parents told me they were waiting for a special baby and when news of his arrival came I just needed to close up the seams, 

add a little blue merino wool heart,

straighten it out with steam from a warm iron,

and wrap it all up.

He slept in my arms for over an hour and stole my heart when he held my hand.

1/2 Over Recap

The year's 1/2 over, time for some VACA, but 1st, a look back over 2010 so far.  Sent this card to my sister Emily while she was studying for 1st year med school finals.  My job may be crazy, but as someone told me today: there are very few real emergencies in life (and Emily's much more likely to face them!)  That's my usually relaxed cat, Tobey.

I try to catch a few chill moments at work when I can, like this shot from The Museum of the City of New York, the calm before the event began.

Made this amigurumi flamingo for my friend, designer Mika Wyche, and she added it to her family of lovely handmade animals from around the world, I was touched!

Baked for the first time in a looong time: pink rice krispie treats!  Oops, there miiight be a bite missing from the one in the front....

...but in a much more accomplished baking endeavor, my friend, pastry chef Michel, who helped me with this Valentine's Day project, created this beautiful croquembouche with sugar flowers.

Been really enjoying the ever-changing array of vendors at The Hester Street Fair (seems their site is currently down, but don't let that keep you away from the fair!)

Posted about seeing the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop, loved it, then saw this street art in Chinatown.  Wanna check out Soapstone Gallery's Graffolution next week, where the exhibitors will include my friend, Miles Wickham, who's shown his work at Coney Island, The Museum of Sex and even The Museum of Modern Art: check out his site for graffiti tutorials!

Bought some cute, little glasses at Ikea, but alas, a few months later and they have proven so delicate that now there are only 2 left, sigh...

on the up-side, my parents' dog, Guinness (lower left), enjoyed watching Dug in the movie UP, it just makes me happy.

Got some lovely fabric, not to make something, but....because these are 2 bikinis from Hollister.  They've been to the beach one time each, but the season is still young...

...and speaking of clothing, how did the new AllSaints boutique in Soho get a bazillon antique-looking Singer sewing machines for its displays??

and yes, posted about going to The Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn, but haven't done a full report: it felt like just about the hottest day ever....kinda like today.