Idle Hands

Two thumbs up: They Draw and Travel

Do you know They Draw and Travel?  I discovered this site recently through Uppercase magazine (where else?). 

They Draw and Travel offers artists a place to express their passion for travel via illustrated maps.  The best way to demonstrate this awesomeness is just to show you.  

 

For instance, Brussels:

Yes, please!  I would like some frites! 

 

Off the Beaten Track in Mexico:

The widest tree in the world, you say?  I want to go! 

 

The combination of images, text, and geography communicates so much.  The artists clearly love the places they are illustrating, and that enthusiasm is infectious: every map makes me want to plan a trip. 

You can also print the maps or order them printed on canvas.  I think they would be a great way to commemorate a special trip.  

Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair

Last weekend, I headed up to Brooklyn for the Renegade Craft Fair.  I'd heard great things about this event, so when Uppercase magazine announced that they were looking for volunteers to work their booth, I jumped at the chance.

I had a fantastic time!  It was great meeting the Uppercase team and talking with so many creative people. 

In addition to seeing work from old favorites Namoo (beautiful, modern quilts) and Horrible Adorables (the most whimsical statues you'll ever see, perfect for kids), I was excited to run into local DC artist Katharine Watson.  I had seen her block printing at the Textile Museum gift shop, and I instantly recognized the beautiful designs.

I also found a ton of new things to covet.  I was charmed by Abby Berkson's ceramics, which draw inspiration from children's illustrations:

and by FeltForest's crowns -- possibly the perfect dress-up toy:

There was plenty for grown-ups, too.  I was tempted by just about everything over at the Chez Sucre Chez booth, which featured quirky embroidery, like this adorable bag:

I can't show just one, because they're all so fun:

I loved the tanks and tees from Photosynthesis Brooklyn, which feature hand-printed leaf designs and the chemical formula for photosynthesis:

On the website, they also sell vintage tops printed with similar designs.  Warning: this is dangerous, because it is virtually impossible not to order one. 

Speaking of science, I couldn't help but pick up a few things at the justAjar Design & Press booth.  My favorites were some beautiful cards that incorporated images from the Academy of Natural Sciences.  justAjar is also the publisher of a very fun book entitled SoilMates: Companion Planting for Your Vegetable Garden.   

In insanely witty and entertaining prose, it describes perfect pairings (tomato & basil being the most well-known) to maximize garden yield in small spaces, accompanied by lovely illustrations. 

Last, but definitely not least: I was absolutely enamored with Bettula birch bark home decor. 

The pieces are all so beautifully natural, clean, and modern. 

So many amazingly talented people!  If you're reading this from the West Coast, you still have time to visit the San Francisco and Los Angeles Renegade Fairs.  Have fun!

Oktoberfest

This weekend, we celebrated Nick's mom's birthday with a reunion of sorts.  In Munich.  At Oktoberfest.  Crazy, right?  But it was so much fun! 

I expected to have a great time drinking beer and eating pretzels, which I did:

What I didn't know is that Oktoberfest is basically the world's largest carnival, and I LOVE a carnival.

I also wasn't expecting Oktoberfest to be a knitwear extravaganza!  I know, I know, I'm such a dork, but within an hour of arriving at Oktoberfest, I was stalking people for photos of their socks and sweaters.  A big part of my excitement stemmed from the national dress Germans wear to Oktoberfest, which not only includes elaborate knit socks:

but also, in some cases, what I can only describe as calf warmers:

Aren't they awesome?  There were also a lot of men wearing elaborately cabled sweaters:

and sweater vests:

The men weren't the only ones sporting awesome sweaters.  You know those adorable sweaters you see in knitting magazines that seem unwearable?  Check it out:

Have you ever seen so many bobbles?  I also loved this cabled pleat:

Who knew beer and pretzels could be so much more fun with cables and bobbles? 

 

 

Field trip: New York

Last weekend, I went up to Brooklyn to visit my dear friends Lindy and Shannon.  It was a beautiful weekend full of talking, crafts, and teen fiction -- in other words, perfect. 

Saturday morning, we headed to the Brooklyn Flea Market.  I have never been to a farmer's market with so much amazing food.  I bought spicy pickles from Rick's Picks:

and an apricot lavendar popsicle from people's pops:

Sunday, I headed over to the Lion Brand Yarn Studio.  It's an incredibly welcoming, fun space -- along with Purl and Wool and the Gang, definitely a must see for knitters visiting New York. 

I love their crazy window displays.  The current theme is Coney Island:

The staff are incredibly helpful, and I love that they have samples of all the yarns knitted up, so you can see and feel the way they might come out in your finished project. 

After that, I was off with Lindy to 3rd Ward for our embroidery class.  3rd Ward is a Brooklyn-based arts collective that provides classes, workspace, you name it.  Our teacher, Iviva Olenick, has a funky style incorporating text and drawings.  I've been wanting to do more embroidered text without the finished product feeling too much like a traditional sampler.  And, more practically, I've found it incredibly difficult to transfer designs to fabric.  Books recommend a lot of different methods (holding the fabric and design up to a window for use as a light box, chalk, etc.) but none has really worked consistently for me, and I have a few projects in mind for which I wanted to create a really precise image (more on those soon). 

It was really fun taking the class with Lin. Iviva called us the precision twins because we were very into small, even stitches and had a similar style.

Although I knew a lot of the stitches we covered before, I learned a lot about ways to transfer designs, and Iviva's work was very inspiring.  

 

 

 

 

Bolt neighborhood fabric boutique

The Portland fun continues!  Yesterday, we went out for some exploring at Bolt neighborhood fabric boutique, a lovely little shop in the Alberta Arts District.  The store is chock full of pretty and whimsical cottons:

This Halloween print was my favorite find, although I have no idea what I would make with it:

They also had just about the greatest selection of ribbon I’ve ever seen, in bins and bins like this one:

I bought two ribbons that are so me (a Scandinavian-looking design in red and an embroidered flower design) and a beautiful book of patterns to kickstart my sewing resolution.   

My visit to the City of Roses

I am in the midst of one great vacation. I flew to Portland on Saturday, and since then I have been very busy napping, knitting, eating delicious food, and getting to know the first baby to join my inner circle, Tate.

Sunday, we had a great trip to the somewhat confusingly named Portland Saturday Market, where I bought a very cool bicycle tee from Wardrobe Ink and had a delicious snack of elephant ears and beer (Outside! Not even in a beer garden! Things are very different here in The City of Roses.)

Yesterday, Tate and I had some bonding time, and I made a lot of knitting progress: I am 12 rows farther along in my baby blanket! With any luck, I’ll be finished before this little guy turns two.