baker's doz: vavó's birthday shawl

my vavó is awesome. she taught me how to knit the scandinavian way, always made me eat a bowl of soup as big as my body when she would babysit me and would without fail tell me i was going to have nightmares every time she'd catch me watching MTV. we don't speak the same language, but we have always managed to be able to communicate about food ("comer mais!") and making things by hand. when i was probably 15 she brought me into her room and spread all the styles of doilies she could make out on her bed and asked which style i wanted for my wedding gift someday. it was a funny exchange of gestures, pointing out details, nodding and smiling. when she finished crocheting them maybe a year later, she pulled me into her room again, opened a little box lined with tissue paper and showed them to me. she told me she would keep them safe until my wedding, then wrapped them up and put them away to wait. how cool is that? when i got engaged she was so excited she brought them out immediately, the look on her face was just as amazing as the doilies. those doilies are at the tip top of the 'what will i save if my house is on fire?' list. even if i'm not using them i know exactly where they are at all times, just in case.

since i've started making things that i can actually wear she has totally noticed. now whenever i visit she asks me if i've made what i'm wearing. it's really cool, she and my aunt connie both investigate whatever garment it is and talk to each other in portuguese while pointing at seams or turning it over in their hands. it's really funny, the things i have in common with the older people in my family are generally considered lost arts. i think it might be kind of novel to them when people of my generation are interested in making things by hand because it seems like not many people do anymore. i think it's cool because it's like i have something in common with them that other people don't get, like a secret club.

well, this year my vavó is turning 100 years old. it blows my mind, it is just beyond rad. she remembers the first time she saw a car, and the hindenburg used to use the islands my family is from as a checkpoint when flying/floating over the atlantic. they had no idea what it was and she remembers that. is that not insane? so, for her 100th birthday, one of her youngest grandkids is giving her a lace shawl in her favorite color made the old fashioned way. we may not be able to use words to talk about it, but she'll know exactly what it's all about. i'm sure there will be a few gestures, pointing out of details, nods and smiles. i really can't wait to give it to her, i hope she likes it!

here's a pic of it being all shawl-like. i don't wear them this way but maybe she will, she is 99, she can do whatever she damn well pleases right?

anteros shawl by mari chiba

madelinetosh pashmina - windowpane

look up.

some of my favorite local building's aesthetic upgrades. i like to pretend it's talking directly to me... sometimes it is.

i look up a lot walking around this city. i don't care if people think i'm a tourist because i'm so in awe of all the beautiful things going on. i'd rather people think i'm just visiting when they see me smiling noticing fun graffiti, a cool building's architectural details or how cool it looks when rust runs down concrete, than to walk around looking straight ahead missing everything like everyone else i see. i'm never in that big of a hurry to get my sandwich, bike tube, sewing needles. i like participating in my surroundings, when other people leave their traces around i like taking note. isn't our entire world at this point just a series of interactions? interactions with each other, with the environment, with materials. we are living in a world of results, but none of them are end results. isn't that cool to think about?

baker's doz: luxury monster triangle!

sweet, sweet victory! this lovely mass of silk and merino wool was put into shape thanks to a wonderful birthday gift of the pattern and possibly one of my favorite souvenir gifts of all time, the yarn. seriously, fellow yarn lovers know where it's at in both cases. i wanted to make this enormous and totally powered through the last lace stripe and a half that would take and HOUR to do one repeat of right side and wrong side. so worth it! this thing is awesome. it was hard not to wear it a lot to keep it sharp looking long enough to take nice pictures. now? all bets off.

about the pattern, i loved it. i modified it a little to make the lace stripes a little wider and the triangle itself wider so i could wear it more like a gigantic scarf thing (details on it's ravelry link), but i really liked this pattern. it's really easy to memorize, is lace but works surprisingly well with loud variegated yarns and the finished shawl is amazing looking. finding a good pattern is always really exciting, and i usually end up using it more than once...

anteros shawl by mari chiba
blue heron silk merino - deep blue sea (which appears to be discontinued)

spring.

it is so coming for us.

this weekend we sat in the park for what felt like two hours and could have actually been two hours for all we know. we ate breakfast on the deck and rode our bikes without gloves. there were new birds around. it was the best.

yo GUYS!

so yeah, ain't nothin' blog-able happening over here recently... but this happened!

my parents came to visit and being normal humans they like various tourist crap (independence hall? what's that?). so, db and i secretly conspired to take them to the art museum which has the steps rocky runs up in the movie because that's FUN tourist crap. as if the steps aren't enough, now they've put in this ridiculous and amazingly funny statue to... commemorate? (?) that historical event. SO FUNNY! i went to take their pic and someone behind me was like "do you want to be in it?" well, hell yes!

now maybe i should watch the movie since i played the music in marching band for 4 years and have now been photographed with his (life sized, obv) likeness. have a great weekend and go do something ridiculous won't you?