mermaid parade

The true impetus for our visit to Coney Island was to see the Mermaid Parade; this year marked the parade's 30th anniversary. As expected, there were a lot of mermaids (both male and female), mermen, fish and other undersea creatures. There were also a lot of questionably aquatic themed costumers (Aztec mermaids?), and plenty of just plain weird costumes that I'm still not sure how they related. Either way, people put a lot of work into their costumes (like my favorite, below) and they were much appreciated.

© all photos by me

crafting, baking, etc.

My baby sister is getting married this weekend and we are in the midst of some major project-ing.

From top: Makeshift version of this, granola baking and favors.

528th post giveaway!

HEY - It's my 528th* post and I'm celebrating by having a giveaway. The object of your affection is Evergreen, a knit shawl/scarf made by yours truly, just in time for summer (ha ha)! The shawl is made from an organic soy, cotton and bamboo fiber blend (Linea Pura by Lana Grossa for those who are interested). It's a grayish/silver-y color (not metallic) and can be worn with the point in the front or the back - I prefer the front, personally.

How do you win, you ask? It's easy! Just leave a comment on this post with something you like about this blog, something you want to see more or less of, or just something random! Be sure to include your email so I can contact you. The giveaway is open until noon on June 25th, at which I'll pick a winner at random. It's open to everyone - tell your friends!

Thanks and good luck!

Want to make your own? Search Evergreen on Ravelry.
*originally I was going to do this for my 500th post, but I didn't finish in time!

clare crespo

From the Clare Crespo show, Laissez le bon Crochet Rouler, a fiber-based Mardi Gras feast! On display at Heath Ceramics. Be sure to check out Clare's totally wacky website too.

diamond foam and fabric

I rode my bike over to Diamond Foam & Fabric to get some finishing materials for a project I am working on. They didn't have what I needed, but I did enjoy seeing the juxtiposition of the different colors and patterns together.

elephants like scarves too

Khristina just finished knitting Elijah the elephant.

good luck cowl

Just finished this cowl for my sister. Easy and cute!

lil' pink

Just finished this hat for one of the many pregnant friends in my life. It's a little hard to tell the scale in the photos, but it is small and adorable, if I do say so myself.

project?

I'm thinking of making a necklace out of all those yoyo's that I got at the flea market a few months ago. Cute or weird?
Photo from The Satorialist, of course.

orange crush

Oh, and this was the winning hairpiece from this weekend. The rest of my wedding photos didn't come out so well, so I'll post the professional ones once they are available.

2nd (and 3rd) attempt

Here are my 2nd and 3rd attemps at the hairpiece that I am going to wear at Jesse's upcoming wedding. Honestly, I don't love either option, but the wedding is this weekend and I am sick of working on this....maybe they will magically turn fabulous once I put them in my hair!

first attempt

I am attempting to make a fabulous headpiece to wear at Jesse's upcoming wedding....and quickly learning that these things are significantly harder than they look. After wrestling with fabric, ribbon, and clip-on earrings for an hour, this is what I came up with. I am still going to add the hat veiling, but that stuff is a pain, so I need to motivate to adding it. I might be making this too difficult and should just keep it simple (i.e. less ingredients):


Thoughts? Feedback?
Above images from Ban.do.

2nd anniversary

In honor of my second anniversary, I decided to make Jeff a themed gift to commemorate the occasion. The traditional gift is cotton, so I knit up this super easy heart pattern (available free here) and then embroidered our initials on one side and the date on the other.

It was my first time embroidering anything and it definitely took a couple tries before it looked right. I traced the date and initials onto a piece of interfacing, which I then attached to the front of the heart. Once I was done, I ripped the top interfacing off, trimmed the backing fabric to size, then stuffed and sewed up the heart.


I am so pleased with how it came out that I'm thinking that I want to try embroidering something else.
Thanks for your help Jessica!

play with your food, II

From here.

summertime bandit

I was so pleased with my Springtime bandit that I made another one (aptly named Summertime bandit) for Anna's birthday. To punish me for giving it to her a month late, she was rather uncooperative at our impromptu photo shoot:

Thankfully, Max amused her with monkey sounds just off camera.

Pattern by Kate Gagnon, available here (mine is a slightly modified version).