Mondo Cable Cardi: Before Blocking

I finished knitting my Mondo Cable Cardi! Here it is before blocking, without buttons:



The pattern was well-written and I think Berroco Ultra Alpaca was a good yarn choice. It's 50% wool, 50% alpaca, so it has nice drape, but the cables still pop and the collar stands up. The colour is a mix of highly-saturated green and blue plies, which makes it look luxurious.

I think I'm going to use these wooden buttons from Button Button in Gastown.



Though I'm also tempted by these white plastic buttons from a thrift store. I think the white is a little too stark, though.



I wet-blocked the cardigan this evening and I can barely wait till it's dry. It's a very trendy design, so I want to start wearing it as soon as humanly possible.

Caplets? Just no or just yes?

I have a question for you, friends and others who read this blog.

Capelets: can they be worn by non-time travelers?


Emily capelet by Ysolda Teague.

I've always like the idea of capelets. They look so pretty and Victorian. A capelet is more steampunk than a shawl and dressier than a bolero, and IT'S NOT A MINI-PONCHO LALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU. Okay, it's kind of a mini-poncho, but more like a poncho/fancy cardigan hybrid.

I could easily make one and I'm tempted by this Ysolda Teague pattern. The cream capelet and blue dress look beautiful together in this photo, but I'm a little dubious about how to work this into my wardrobe.

Opinions? I don't want to look like a twee lunatic and I feel like I'm on thin ice.

Slickety Jims burns down!

This morning, a large fire consumed part of the 2500 block on Main Street (the southwest corner of Main and Broadway). Apparently the fire started in the sushi restaurant and destroyed Slickity Jim's Chat and Chew, Zocalo, and an accountants office.


photo courtesy of Dave's phone

There were a few years where I really loved Slickity's. It was tough to get a table on the weekends, but a weekday breakfast was tasty and cost only $7, including tip, if you got the eggs, bacon and toast. I didn't have a lot of money at the time, and it was really nice to have a cool place to go where I didn't feel shabby or unwelcome. The DiSCORDER staff ate there so much we once made business cards with our regular breakfast orders on the back. I think mine said. "eggs over easy, coffee with milk."

I hadn't been there in a while, but I don't think Slickity's missed me. They were very popular and deserved to be. The food was reliably good, the decor was eclectic without looking laboured, and orders came up quick. Also, they had the best jam in town. I hope the owners are able to reopen at another location--if anyone should bank on their reputation as a well-loved eatery, it's probably them!

Austin Airstreams and Things in Cones

More photos from my trip to Austin, mostly relating to things edible on South Congress Ave:

1) An airstream trailer with a cupcake on top. It reminded me instantly of my friend Crystle, who loves airstreams and once invented a girl band called "Renegade Cupcake." Then I saw that it sells red velvet cupcakes, and I thought of my friend Brie, who would understand why that's notable.



2) An empty airstream in the lot next door. Look how lush and green Austin is!



3) A sign for a trailer selling pudding. In years past I have actually wished aloud for mobile pudding carts in Vancouver. You know, like hot dogs but with pudding instead. Because you never know when the desire for pudding will strike (or, if you're me, you do know when it will strike because you want pudding all the time). So I was very excited to see that South Congress has a trailer that sells pudding in waffle bowls.



I did not eat any because the chocolate was sold out, and there was no butterscotch or pistachio. You know, the classic Jello flavours!

Instead, I drank a little bottle of coke* and ate an Avocado Crispy Cone, which is a battered and deep fried avocado served in a tortilla.


Curtis was surprised that I ate this, because usually I don't like greasy street food, but I couldn't resist the carnival weirdness of a trailer called Mighty Cone. Plus, avocado. Deep-fried.

* Austin loves Coke in little bottles, which is weird because most US restaurants seem to serve pop in huge 1 litre servings, and a bottled Coke is about 260 ml, or 2/3rds the size of a can. Which is exactly the amount of cola I want to drink in a serving. Sigh. Just one more reason Austin is a great food city. (Other reasons include excellent citrus fruits and that green tomatilla sauce they put on enchiladas. Oh man oh man was that stuff tasty).

Yarn Bombing in Austin TX

In October I had the chance to spend six days in Austin TX, a relaxed city full of live music, delicious food, and people on scooters. I spotted this knit graffiti outside the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar.





The Alamo Drafthouse is a movie theatre that combines innovative programming (i.e. showing Hackers in "heckle-vision", which allows audience members to send text-message heckles that scroll across the screen) with food and drink brought right to your seat before and during the show. It's licensed, but no one talked or got rowdy during the movies the three times we visited. Basically, it's a great asset to the cultural life of the city, and a perfect place to be lovingly yarn-bombed.

Remember 2007?

As I recollect it, crafting in 2007 was dominated by the following:

• amigurumi
• knitted cupcakes
• the print version of CRAFT zine
  
• things made from felted sweaters
  

And so Warm Fuzzies: 30 Sweet Felted Projects by Betz White perfectly encapsulates this year. Some of the projects aren't really my thing, but White should be praised for her clear instructions, as well as the best felt cupcakes 2007 had to offer. There's also a pattern for a really cute apron featuring an owl applique (shades of 08's hibou-mania!).



2007 was also the year that my friend Dory expressed a desire to make mittens out of felted sweaters. We bought some thrift store sweaters and chopped them up, but Dory was disappointed with the results. She wanted to make mittens like some she'd seen in a Toronto boutique (probably preloved): complicated and structural with seams in weird places, not mittens made out of two hand-shaped pieces of felt.

Well, I don't know if you're still into mittens, Dory, but Warm Fuzzies has a four-piece mitten pattern:



Behold! I'm sure you could modify them to make them more complicated if you wanted. Wasn't "modding" all the rage in 2007 too? (I'm joking -- modding is still awesome, obviously).

decals are awesome

Most of the crafts I do are "difficult crafts" that require some skill and learned technique. But I still like doing easy crafts. The best easy craft there is a little something I call "putting a sticker on something." It's kind of like screen printing or image transferring, but much, much easier. I have been practicing the craft of putting stickers on things since early childhood. Here's a crafty tip: use a decal instead of a regular sticker for more professional results!

Recently, I customized my laptop using a decal I bought for $3.00 from Smoking Lily on Main Street.



The Apple logo looks cool and creepy when it's lit up, but I couldn't get a good photo of it.

Cost of customized laptop:
1 13" MacBook Pro: about $1600
1 heart decal: $3.21
= $1603.21