Adventures in Transportation

So this weekend I went down to So Cal to visit my family for an important milestone in my sister's life. It was a wonderful visit. And I got to see one of my best friends and spend some time with her love and future of her life. 

It was a great visit and getting there was entertaining. 

First in San Jose I was confronted with an unreasonable security line for domestic flights, I am talking like 150 people all standing single file waiting to be looked over by "checked" by apparently the only two qualified individuals available to work.

And while I was waiting for all eternity I noticed this sign...

 THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN SECURITY??? Really, come now flight policy people, did I really have a choice? Thank you for stripping me down to nothing and making me stand like a convict so that you can check to see if I have embedded anything dangerous in between my toes or in my armpits. THANK YOU. 

When I arrived to LAX I did feel vindicated that someone out there was getting there come-upance. 

 FYI, if you hold up traffic at LAX, real LAPD come and write you a ticket, travelers beware...and be hasty. 

Lastly the day I flew back my mom and I stopped for a brew and noticed these hardworking individuals, mom with their laptop and daughters with theirs.

 I think when I was there age I was picking my nose and trying to race rolly pollies, just a thought. 

Weekend Projects: the Third

Another item on my forever to-do list (that is the mental list of items that I have been meaning to conquer for oh, forever) is my own version of the classic Chanel tweed jacket. 

Although I am not that in to designers, although Alexander McQueen always makes me happy. But the Chanel tweed is classic. If Jackie O and Beyonce can pull it off, I feel like it is probably something I should try. 

While visiting my favorite fabric store, Crossroads, I found a great tweed for an unbelievable deal (their specialty is unbelievable deals, my before mentioned hammer pants only cost me $2 courtesy of Crossroads). 

So I went to work and I have a rough jacket now.  The shape still isn't right, but it is in progress and I already love it. 

I am thinking of doing a ruffle instead of a traditional plain bound edge. Although I may ditch that idea because I really want this to be a piece I keep for a while. 

I kind of love this bow on it, maybe I'll throw a pin on the bow so I can wear them together when I am feeling bold. 

And now I am at a standstill until I pick a fabric for the lining. I am thinking red, so I will feel secretly bold and powerful, but I still haven't committed. So here it shall hang, until I do. 

Weekend Projects: the Second

For many, many weekends now I have been hobbling toward the finish on my first major knitting project, a a baby blanket.

When I started I had no one in particular in mind, all I knew was that a rectangle was probably going to be the easiest thing to make. Since then the blanket has been claimed, well that or I promised my friend to make her one in the colors of her choosing, someday when her belly is big and beautifully round. 

Even though I pulled my usual, and distracted myself with a million other projects, like these washcloths,    and some other random projects, including the fact that I actually made myself a pair of hammer pants, well now the fashion world likes to call them 'harem pants' but we all know what they are. 

But despite myself yesterday, I finished it! A full crib size cozy knit blanket. (I made it the same size of my favorite blanket from when I was little, if it ain't broke don't fix it)

I have decided to put a ULTRA soft minky on the back and to trim it in turquoise jersey for boy or girl. Too bad I'm not a baby or I would keep it for myself. I'll let you all know when it is finished for real! 

Weekend Projects, the first

Okay, not just weekends. Pretty much whenever I am not working (which is kind of a lot these days) I devote a serious part of my time to ongoing projects. Which has also turned me a little into a recluse, but it is kinda cozy and sort of not in my nature, so its fun to change things up.

One project that has been forever on my mind was my jewelry box. It was literally a BOX with all my junk thrown in it. I would basically wear the same stuff every day because the rest was a tangled mess.

Well anyway, I was hiking with my friend Heather, she may be my newest friend but we have made up for time lost. And we found these amazing Manzanita branches that had fallen off the tree during the storms the days previous. So we hiked back to her car with our new found treasures, which came in handy when we ran into a bobcat...just kidding. No really, we heard it growling at us from the thicket, that little branch somehow made me feel safer. Thank you branch.

Anyway and my dad and Dom helped turn it into the jewelry stand of my dreams!

Isn't it lovely? turned out better than I imagined!

In this picture you can kind of see how beautiful Manzanita wood is. It is an awesome shade of deep red. 

 And it is so wonderful to look over it all, so much of my jewelry has been gifts so now I have a daily reminder of those people. 

 I love that it makes all my jewelry, even the $1 ones feel like art pieces. 

 And I can see EVERYTHING at once and it glitters and shines and makes me smile and the river stones kind of make all my pins, brooches, and family jewelry look like the were just found there.

 I seriously love these flea market find earrings

And this dish was perfecto for this project. Now Heather and I are going to do the same with her branch.    Let me know if you want to know how to make it!