dirty doz: neon love

awesome. because yes i need something both neon and 100% merino wool at the same time. this is going to be a shawl which sounds very old lady, but really it's only a knit version of the silk scarves i wear all the time so it'll be a little warmer for outdoor adventures and riding around providence.

i can't even believe this is the 6th project i've cast on since i decided to do the dirty dozen, once i block and take pics of the two other sweaters i just finished i'll have completed two sewing projects and four knitting, that's 6 and it's only april! i should have made up this project for myself years ago. i need more dresses though, warm weather is sewing weather... almost time to put down the knitting needles for the season and start making summer clothes!

happy weekend!

malabrigo surprise

check out these two skeins of malabrigo merino sock yarn that malabrigo sent me straight from uruguay as a gift! along with these there was a third also totally rad one that's a test batch of a weight not even in production. this yarn is going to be turned into something really cool.

it was a pretty awesome mystery package to find.

it begins

nothing beats spring.

db: old and still awesome

my wonderful db is a man of simple tastes. for his birthday this year we both got out of work early to adventure! i stopped at his favorite portuguese bakery in good old east providence to snag some picnic feast supplies, we changed into summer clothes and headed down to the water. seriously, the weather was amazing. we thought when we got to the water the temp would drop the usual 10 degrees and we'd be cold but it totally didn't. we had portuguese picnic on the beach on the second day of spring, it was nuts. uzo wandered around in the sand and only darted off like a total asshole twice, then we got wicked good ice cream and ate it on the grass.

db, can it be your birthday everyday?

puppy pony

i won't be doing anything as ridiculously amazing as getting towed around by a horse sized dog in a carriage this weekend, but i won't be waking up before the sun rises so it will be almost as amazing.

pic

lemon massacre

yesterday was awesome. windows open, walked uzo wearing a tank top, lounged in the grass and then made some real lemonade. in short, the weather allowed and inspired me to kick ass at life.

YELLOW

my bathroom and everything else good in my life is yellow, besides db, uzo, a few of my bikes and my frye boots. yes, i have yellow shoes that could've gone with this that i forgot about... three pairs. did i mention we also have two yellow couches, a bike named "old yeller" and a shelf full of national geographics?

i'd say i have a problem if it weren't so obviously awesome! almost everything yellow is rad, admit it.

2012 dirty doz: candy colored sundress!

the 2012 dirty dozen is coming along really well so far! it's so much fun planning out and gathering supplies for my projects and wearing them or seeing other people wear them is awesome. so far 4 down, 3 in the works and two planned and waiting. i've discovered having too many going on at once is bad, plus my excitement for starting a new one that's ready to go keeps me chugging away at the ones that are 3/4 done.

so for the newest one, you'd be surprised how hard it is to find a dress pattern casual enough to call a sundress that has a waist. this one took a while to hunt down but it was worth it. there's something so alice in wonderland about a sundress with a waist, it's very dreamlife. anyways, this weekend while db was working on our car (can i torch it please?), i went to my absolute fave fabric store. the ladies who own it are super nice and it's always fun going in there and chatting with them. i always have a seriously hard time choosing just one print any time i go because they have so much fun fabric, but this time was easy. the second i saw this i was like, this is going to be like wearing candy, it's PERFECT.

so here it is, the first thing i'm making that isn't going to clash with every single other garment i already own. sweet!

dirty doz, you're going down!

victory! FOURTH victory! this skirt is rad. i absolutely love the way it turned out. lots and lots of ironing along the way, and i winged it and made a lining for it so the wool won't get hung up on whatever i'm wearing under it (tights, leggings, leg warmers, beastly stubble...) and it came out way better than i thought i was capable of. i also really wanted to put this little heart button i bought for a pair of shorts i never made on there too but it didn't need a button... so i sewed it on anyways haha. life's too short to deprive myself of heart buttons because i'm using hooks and eyes. i also cannot believe the pockets lie flat, or that the zipper lies flat. SHOCK over here, not the most experience zipper putter inner. I LOVE IT!

burlington

our burlington adventure this weekend was so fun! i didn't take many pictures because it was cold and my camera battery is like "fuck off" most of the time, but it was pretty rad. it happened to be the weekend that the city (town? it was really not big) of burlington decided to celebrate mardi gras so it was a bit ridiculous, but it was still a good time. saturday night we found the only bar without a line out the door and we got a little table. it was awesome. i do love a good old fashioned coaster with printing on only one side at a bar, the "hair portrait" may have never been invented without one. the hair portrait along with the discovery of "breakfast nachos" were the winners of the weekend by far.

we went out to a few places and did they usual vermont things like drank lots of beer, used vermont maple syrup and went to ben and jerry's. we wandered around downtown burlington and decided that everyone there is like the most hardcore outdoor yuppie we'd see here, it felt like every store was a gear shop. i did manage to find the only yarn shop in burlington and ended up nabbing 2 1/2 yards of some fairly amazing purple fabric for a sundress. we had an awesome hotel room overlooking lake champlain and i tried to bait and catch champy but to no avail, he is an elusive creature after all. when we woke up on sunday it was snowing! i'm not all about winter, but i do love snow.

it was awesome, but it is the last time i'll let db trick me into having a more northerly than where we live adventure in the middle of the winter! next time it's sunblock needed or bust!

"boundary layer"

makin' it happen. this is my newest painting "boundary layer" and first adventure into silver leaf, i'm liking it.

db and i are going to vermont this weekend, it's going to be rad! i hear people are nice there, that should be a weird and shocking change of scenery. i'm pretty excited for beer and ice cream and trees.

see y'all on the other side!