I haven't been knitting too much lately. Mainly because it's been hot, and also because I've been busy with other stuff. Finding the Etsy shop, Design by Nihan, totally makes me want to spend a day sitting on the couch knitting.
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packages!
Lots of packages going out. I am sure I look really funny walking to the post office!
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Check out the shop if you haven't recently. I finally reached my goal of 100 items for sale!
mod birth announcements
Check out these mod birth announcements. I love that they are different than the standard stork or lots of photos of the baby kind of card.
via [studio-laucke.com]
t-shirt yarn
T-shirt yarn?! YES, PLEASE!
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the dollar rede$ign project
If you have been a reader for a while, you know that I love Swiss bank notes and think American money is as ugly as barf.
So, when I came across the Dollar ReDe$ign Project this week and wanted to share it with you. The project invites readers to submit their own design for American currency. From the site... "It seems so obvious to us that the 'only' realistic way for a swift economic recovery is through a thorough, in-depth, rebranding scheme – starting with the redesign of the iconic US Dollar – it's the 'only' pragmatic way to add some realistic stimulation into our lives!" I pulled three of my favorites to share...
I have always felt that the bank notes should reflect our culture and not just show dead old white dudes or random government buildings. So I was happy to see this design showing writers and musicians. I'm not sure of the actual design, but the premise I like.
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I would imagine that any actual redesign of US bank notes would retain the original (ugly) green since it's so engrained in our collective minds. That's why I like the next two submissions. They've taken something familiar and pushed it to the next level.
The first design uses national monuments in Washington combined with dead old white guys on the back. Two of the constitutional amendments appear along side the dead white guys. I'm not sure I like the amendments but I do like the idea of some memorable speech or poem by some notable American writer or politician. The color stripes break up the (ugly) green and give each denomination some individuality, albeit small.
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I like the next set for its simplicity. The use of the darker green and shifting bars nicely breaks up the design of the note. The black and white images provide nice contrast and the amount is easy to read.
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Looking through the Dollar ReDe$ign Project site I haven't seen much thought given to those with visual impairments, i.e., different sized notes, brail or markings to read amounts. Overall, it's a fun site with a lot of cool things to look at. Check it out.
Coming up in the next few days... a sneak peek at the NEW Swiss bank notes. They're even crazier than before!
mod love
I am so loving these vintage 60s illustrations from "La Vie Privée de Dyane" (1968)...
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Drawn by Michel Quarez, artist on "Mod Love" (1967).
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via [world of kane]
new items!
There's lots of new items in my Etsy shop, Kitsch Café. In fact, the shop has more than tripled in size since June. So, go take a look! I'd love it if you stopped by.
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repot depot fabrics
I want one of everything at Repro Depot Fabrics, please. Thanks.
blackbird
You can see on my mini bio off to the right that I teach a high school color guard. We are very competitive and spend a lot of time and money making our shows/productions creative and competitive. The kids love being competitive on a national level and take it very seriously... you can hear a pin drop at their rehearsals because they are so focused, which is even more impressive when you realize it's 130 teen-agers being quiet.
Anyway, our show this fall is based on "Blackbird" by the Beatles. The song is woven through the 8 minute show along with two other songs. The color guard always bring the theme of the show to life through props and dancing. We wanted their costumes to hint at birds, but not be literal. This is what we came up with:
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The kids need to be able to have the freedom to move their bodies/dance, so it's basically a dance unitard that's dressed up. The company that makes them are in Los Angeles, so they have a great supply of materials they can find.
Some of you may remember that my parents have a peacock (it's a long story). They've saved all his feathers over the years and are donating them for us to use. So, we will be adding a headdress and adding more feathers to the body of the costume to make it a bit more birdlike.
Pretty cool! I'm excited to see how its' all going to look once it's finished. I will take some photos of the kids so you can see how it all turned out.
If you don't know what color guard is, check out this Wikipedia article and watch this YouTube video.
men's knits
Does anyone know anything about this book?
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I just stumbled upon it and it looks interesting. Erika Knight is almost right up there with Kim Hargreaves in my book, so I am sure it will be decent. Men's knitting patterns are always so lame, so I'm curious how this book will fare.
I knitted Erika Knight's "Deep V-neck Sweater" a while ago and, to be honest, it's one of the only hand knitted sweaters that I actually wear.
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This is the cover sweater from her book, Classic Knits. It's a women's pattern, but fairly unisex if you ask me. Anyway, I'm excited about this upcoming book to see what kinds of patterns it has.
UPDATE: This book has been released in other parts of the world. Below are some of the patterns in the book. For more, check here.
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coloring books
During the summer of 1982 my family took a three week vacation to California and Nevada. We flew to Las Vegas, rented a car and drove everywhere for the rest of the trip. All six of us were crammed in a sedan, for some crazy reason.
I mostly rode in the back with my mother and sister. To pass the time in the car, my sister would color in a coloring book that was nothing but a series of patterns. I think she had a Barbie coloring book, too, but I mostly remember the patterns.
My sister was 16 years-old at the time, didn't want to be on a family vacation, and was determined to let us all know. At one point, while driving through the Nevada desert, I accidently spilt her Magic Marker set, and she made me put them all back. When I was finished putting all the markers back she made me do it again because they weren't in rainbow order. I was 6 years-old at the time, so I'm not entirely sure why my mother let her get away with that.
Anyway, I was thinking about that memory the other day and did an Amazon search and came across a few pattern coloring books. The ones I remember from that family vacation were something like this, but more 1970s-ish:
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Hmmm, I think maybe I found a Christmas gift idea for my sister...
generation mid-century
Check out the cool mid-century British Columbia home of "Generation X" author Douglas Coupland featured recently in the New York Times:
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Coupland was an artist before he wrote "Generation X." His home is filled with his art, much of it inspired by Damien Hirst.
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via [modern craft]
stripes
You can never have too many striped shirts, I say. That's why I love this sailor-ish outfit I found on Face Hunter the other day:
image from facehunter.blogspot.com | click to enlarge
It's a very retro-always-in-style look, yes?
drew is:
- In his early mid 30s. He lives in Cincinnati. Drew is a graphic designer. He started knitting 5 years ago to control anxiety. He teaches a competitive color guard at one of those big suburban high schools. His ultimate dream is to learn French and move to Paris. Drew has a HUGE sweet tooth. Mid-century modern furniture makes him swoon. He is additcted to the internet and loves tea and hot chocolate. Drew is the youngest grandchild on both sides. His parents are cool. He loves Korean food. Drew is happy you are here.
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