The mysterious button store

For a while now, I’ve been hearing about some super secret button store which is stocked with all manner of vintage buttons. I never understood why it was a secret, because I’m sure such a tiny little business could use the support and customers!
Anyway, I finally found it. Exclusive Buttons in [...]

Continue reading The mysterious button store...

Coral crochet scarf

Still addicted to crochet, and working on more complex things now. This is a lace scarf made from KnitPick’s CotLin. I think the color is “island.” It’s a perfect vintagey coral color, which looks rose in some lighting and peach in others.
It’s basically just a bunch of joined motifs from the Japanese [...]

Continue reading Coral crochet scarf...

Japanese crochet books

I’m guessing crochet must be very popular in Japan, judging from the amazing array of great crochet books they have at Kinokuniya. I picked these up recently.
The book on the right are just a treasury of different motifs and edgings. The book on the left is called “romantic lace.” The below images [...]

Continue reading Japanese crochet books...

Like a princess on casual day

“You look like a princess on casual day.” That is what Kenn says about my new headband.
I’m learning to crochet more than simple edgings, and this is my first finished project. I’m starting to really get into crochet. I love that crochet has two different sides: One is very homespun and folksy, [...]

Continue reading Like a princess on casual day...

Cropped Lace Cardigan from Rebecca #31

Here’s another sweater I finished not too long ago. I hadn’t shown it before because I despised the buttons I’d chosen for it, which were cheap-looking plastic things, so I replaced them with these gorgeous etched glass ones.

The pattern is from the German knitting magazine, Rebecca, which labels itself “the young knitting magazine with [...]

Continue reading Cropped Lace Cardigan from Rebecca #31...

1934 Lace Sweater with Frills

I finished this sweater fairly recently, and I’m really liking the way it turned out. It’s a British pattern from 1934, which is contained in my copy of Jane Waller’s A Stitch In Time.

I used a somewhat heavier yarn, Knitpicks’ Shine Sport in Orchid, which is bit more violet-based than it looks like here. [...]

Continue reading 1934 Lace Sweater with Frills...

Handmade Weddings on The Storque!

Just a quick, belated note that I wrote a short little piece for The Storque on vintage bridal style, for their Handmade Wedding series.
The Storque is Etsy’s ezine, and right now it’s full of ideas for DIY weddings. Reading about DIY weddings makes me want to throw more parties.
{And thanks to Rhiannon [...]

Continue reading Handmade Weddings on The Storque!...

Pricked: Extreme Embroidery

It’s times like this that I wish I still lived in NYC. I missed the Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting exhibit at The Museum of Art and Design, and now there’s Pricked: Extreme Embroidery. This show looks amazing.

This last piece reminds me of The Two Fridas.
Check out many more of the [...]

Continue reading Pricked: Extreme Embroidery...

Hetty Rose Handmade Shoes

Wow. I just discovered these amazing handmade shoes by Hetty Rose via an article on Craft Boom. The article talks a little about the business and the shoemaking process, which I’d love to learn more about. The end result here is amazing, custom shoes made with vintage kimono fabric.

Like a lot of [...]

Continue reading Hetty Rose Handmade Shoes...

SXSW 2008

I’m back from South by Southwest! Austin is a pretty cool city, full of neon signs, tons of music clubs, very weird weather, and dirt-cheap thrift stores. I came home with much more than I left with, thanks to my beautiful and super-hospitable cousin Danielle, who really showed me around. I will [...]

Continue reading SXSW 2008...