Things I like - 14.08.09

Gorgeous yarn from Wollmeise. I want it, preferably the 100% Superwash Merino in Dornröschen. Thanks ;)

Link and image courtesy of Skein Queen.

Liberty Love

Have been purchasing some new-old (as in vintage) fabrics from Liberty lately, and although I haven't made anything with those yet, have been replenishing stocks on the badge front. Hoping to get these updated in my etsy shop shortly.

Things I like - 19.07.08

Embroidery by Takashi Iwasaki

Things I like - 18.07.08

Hand printed linen tea towel from Thornback and Peel.

Hello Life, how are ya?

Oh my gosh, it's good to be back. This afternoon I sat very happily on London Fields, working through some ideas in my sketchbook, starting a new crochet project, and generally enjoying the summer :)

Things I like - 23.06.08

Bear Monster gocco print, by Matteart

Things I like - 22.06.08

I have no time to blog right now (hmph) let along make things, so instead will keep you updated with things I like, starting with this print of the same name.

From Birdie1973

Patchwork walls

found on flickr

a slow day

Hi my name's Emma. I've been clubpub-ed. Went out last night to the last ever clubpub... boy have I suffered for it today.

Crafting 365 is obviously going splendidly, as today was my day 3, I think a week after I took the pledge. My year of craft might be a long one!

my ideal dress

I really love this dress, it's pretty nigh on perfect as far as I'm concerned, but there's a little problem:

a) it's $282 (that's £141 to you and me)
and
b) they only have it in stock in small - hmph!

anyone out there who knows how to sew - how achievable is this? I have a sewing machine which I plan to make use of this summer, but am I being overly ambitious here. C'mon, be honest ;)

Coming soon... Ryantown!

How exciting is this? The marvelous Rob Ryan is opening up his very own shop, Ryantown, on Columbia Road of all places.

Wikstenmade

Seems a lot of people are quite excited about Jenny Gordy's new collection, due to go on sale on 31st May - and rightly so, it's cute as! I've got my eye on this top.

enjoy the simple things in life

I've been really appreciating the work of Natascha Rosenberg lately (an illustrator based in Madrid) but today's post really struck a chord with me! Her style is so lovely and whimsical.

crafting 365

Call me ambitious, but I've decided to take up the Crafting 365 challenge over on flickr. I spent a good couple of hours crocheting granny squares for a blanket started last summer... "why not?" I thought.

Of course, I also start my final teaching practice tomorrow. Wish me luck!

In my mind I'm clapping

I've just come across the work of Chrissie Abbott, some really lush illustration and better still, is currently featuring in an exhibition just down the road at The Old Shoreditch Station.

Particularly nice are these totes, which would surely bring a smile to even the hardiest of faces. Available to purchase for 12 smackaroonies by emailing her: hello@chrissieabbott.co.uk

Advice to sink in slowly

"Take time" by Temujin Doran

"Look after your lunch" by Rebecca Cobb

I really like this - Advice to sink in slowly is a project from University College Falmouth (or Falmouth College of Arts when I was there) offering a series of posters designed by recent and established graduates of the college, offering advice for it's future students.

The top poster is really beautiful, and I think there can't really be a person in Falmouth that doesn't appreciate how the pace of life seems to slow down there... it's something I've really missed since moving back to London. But the second one I can especially relate to, having just talked about the ferocity of Cornish seagulls with my family last week. To lose an entire pasty is an embarrassing thing!

Birthday goodness

These shoes, which I actually purchased myself, but wasn't allowed until my Birthday (ahem - today cough cough). I was alerted to these via Ringo, have a banana, which I have to say is just the most genius name for a blog (and I'm rather liking the blog itself a lot too.)

And how good is this? My mother managed to purchase something from Third Drawer Down without any prompt! I know... who'd a thought? Anyway, she picked out a set of hand silk-screened pillow cases 'All You Need in Life' by Lilli Hartmann.

According to Lilli all you need in life is:

a roof over your head
an apple tree in each direction of the sky
a sheep to make you warm
a chicken for the eggs, obviously
a monkey to make you laugh
a ghost to make you cry
and finally
two horny bears

Birthdays rule x

a nice cuppa

These are really lovely - so simple, but very elegant in a kind of scruffy way - I like that. By Agneta Livijn from Sweden (of course)

(tip off courtesy of Poppytalk)

Quilt

For a recent college assignment I had to review the Imperial War Museum in relation to suitability for school visits. I hadn't been there since I was in primary school, and whilst I consider myself to be a pacifist (despite drunken play-fight tendencies) I loved it so much I made my Mother take me back there in the holidays.

Whilst walking around their 'Children's War' exhibit I came across this quilt, which was made by a family member to celebrate the birth of the child. After starting the quilt WW2 started, and so as it was worked on more and more things were embroidered on it relating to that. Whatever the subject though, it's an amazing thing to look at, and gives you a real sense of what the family was going through. I would definitely recommend checking it out.

Apologies for crap pic by the way - the lighting was very subdued.

holga love

Took my Holga on holiday, decided to have a go a cross-processing, and got the most nuts results!

extended holiday

Dear Blog Readers,

Apologies but I am going to have to take an extended holiday as college is currently consuming every waking hour... I look forward to re-joining the land of the living this July.

em x

On Holiday

My dear lovely readers, I am now on holiday (lucky me). No doubt I shall update you on anything made when I return.

em x

show some home-love

I feel a little embarrassed. We live in this amazing place, which is part of an old workshop in Hackney, and it really is amazing. But every time I look at other people's pictures of their houses on blogs or flickr (particularly in the Scandinavian region) I feel ashamed at how untidy mine is, or how cluttered etc.



It's kind of like when you see someone with a great body and instinctively suck in your belly (a little like I did at the ballet last night). And so... on top of all the other things, I am going to make more of an effort, to keep it looking ace, or make it more so, or at least clean and tidy - you get the point.

So, these pictures here will soon be updated, oh yes...

bearded cap

The Bearded Cap by Vik Prjonsdottir

This would be a perfect thing to make for David for this winter. See the similarity?

DIY Weaving

This is awesome... I love the fact that someone has wanted to do something so badly they've come up with an inspired way around not having the money (or space) for such a hefty piece of equipment. Shamefully, my mother has a beautiful loom sitting up in her loft, eternally hoping that someone will come and have a go...

a fruitful afternoon

Yes indeed, a very fruitful afternoon it turned out to be yesterday. Made this little lot (which, I might add took a lot longer than I had expected!), and even managed to get in a pint of cider with David at Pub on The Park to enjoy the last of the afternoon sun.

Ravelry

Woo hoo - got my invite to Ravelry in my inbox today. Will have to investigate and make my way around the site/community.

New members can only currently join by invitation, but that's purely because it's in testing and they can only add so many people at one time. All you have to do is sign up, and wait for an email... and then you're off!

I heart Sundays

I officially love Sundays again. Today is a good day for the following reasons:

1) The sun is out - could Spring finally be arriving?
2) The clocks have finally changed to British Summer Time - here's to bbq's and evening cocktails outdoors :)
3) David cooked me a lush breakfast
4) I found this excellent site via Ashley G's blog
5) Which lead me on this site, which is full of things too lovely for words, such as these Lux Apt Milk Bottles by Julia Rothman (pictured above).

And finally... I now plan to spend the rest of my day making - Happy Sunday!

more on the blanket...

I only just noticed yesterday that this blanket has a touch of the rasta in my choice of colours... hmm. But just look at all those horrid ends in the distance, waiting to be weaved in - urgh! Still, if I carry on at this rate I should have it ready in time no probs :)

Too much surfing, not enough making?

Do you ever feel like you spend soooo much time looking at the big www and blogosphere that you don't get to put half the inspiration to good use? I do sometimes.. I live without a TV and lately have felt like I've replaced it with the internet.

On that note, I am off to 'make' - have a shipment of badges to be sent to the Owl & Lion gallery in Edinburgh by the end of the week.

In search of the perfect scarf...

If confused by the picture above I do apologise, this is here in lieu of a more relevant one, and dear reader, read on and all will become clear.

Scarves are the one thing that I made obsessively when I first learnt to knit, and so it follows that as I improved I moved on to more complicated fare. Still, recently I have been hunting high and low to find a really indispensable navy scarf (one of my absolute favourite colours, in spite of the school uniform!)

Anyway, inspired by a rash purchase today (which I will come to later) I have decided that I am going to make my own - using Debbie Bliss Cotton DK (my new favourite yarn), in moss stitch, hence the picture above.

Now, onto this picture above and today's rash purchase Baby Knits for Beginners, again, by the aforementioned Debbie Bliss. I didn't knit these, but have plans to, and lots of, as it seems that all of my friends are getting pregnant like there's no tomorrow. So, whilst technically not pregnant, nor with any immediate plans to be you can begin to see how this may have been a rash purchase. I put it down to the impending god-mother-hood. Am I taking this too seriously?

PS - this fine photo came courtesy of Something From Nothing, whom I believe are based in Oz.

Baby Blanket

Later on this year - all things being well - I am to become a Godmother, which I am very excited about for a number of reasons. One such being that I finally have an excuse and little person to make things for. It looks much darker here than it actually is, but hopefully this should be ready in time, as I've been told I only have 10 weeks, and am due to go back into school for my next teaching practice soon - yikes!

Pattern is here if anyone fancies it, although I've substituted treble stitch for double, using Debbie Bliss Cotton DK, as the baby's due in June so I wanted to go for a cooler blanket that was easier to wash.

Here it is again, this time sitting on one of David's cast resin milking stools

Saipua

I've umm-ed and ah-ed about whether or not this counts as being handmade, but it totally does. Saipua are a shop and florists in Brooklyn, selling seasonal flowers and handmade soap. Their flower arrangements are absolutely beautiful, but it goes beyond that really... it's the whole aesthetic, from the look of the shop (even the open sign!) to the packaging of their soap. Again, I guess it's like my love for Labour and Wait... must photograph that shop!


I couldn't resist this picture of ranunculus. They are very dear to my heart at the moment, and like the rest of the photographs on their site - this one is a beauty.



This link came courtesy of the lovely Small Stump.

Field notes

Awwww, how nice is this? A new site from Field Notes brilliantly satisfies both my obsession with stationary and Labour and Wait-vintage-style. I love it that they've used a picture of a book with squared paper for their main shot too. Top work...

Thanks to Poppytalk for pointing it out.

The marvelous Rob Ryan

I've been a fan of Rob Ryan's work for a couple of years now, and have been lucky enough to pick up a couple of his screenprints cheaply at opportune moments such as Peepshow's Christmas fair and the Summer Fete at the V&A last summer. But, for those of you not lucky enough, the chance shall soon present himself, as he's designed a set of four greetings cards in conjunction with Roger La Borde, which will be widely available.

This, I think is my favourite.

Beehive Invasion

Following on from designersblock last year, David received his first order of 'products' to be sold in a shop in Singapore called Strangelets. One of the things they ordered was a 'beehive' set of drawers, of which I am the proud owner of the prototype, I might add.

Anyway, he improved upon it and decided to make the base of the inside of the top covered in one flat colour. The outside of them is entirely made of untreated cedar, so it's a really lovely contrast. Here you can see them shortly before they had their lids put on. Shame I couldn't take any more pics - we were on a tight schedule to have them wrapped in time to be shipped!