dresses

ok. i am officially crazy. feminist that i am, i just spent the entire day yesterday trying on every white dress in new york city. notice: i did not say "manhattan". initially, i was all, "oh, i'm not going to be one of those women who gets all nuts about what she looks like on her wedding day. i'll just get a cocktail dress off the rack at the last minute. this is so not going to be 'wow, look at the beautiful bride.'" ok. first of all, i'm totally vain anyway, even though i try really hard to keep it a secret--by not wearing make up or fancy clothes and stuff like that. but the more i think about everyone looking at me on june 16th, the fancier my idea of a dress gets.

anyway, i think i found the dress i want. that's what prompted the shopping day from hell yesterday. because i was like "i can't just buy the first dress i try on and like. i need to know that it is the best dress in town." there's only one of this dress in my size, and it could get bought at any minute. but no way could finding a dress be that easy, right? it has almost everything i want: it's short and not strapless. it's casual and fancy at the same time. it's beautifully made and comfortable. it's both cute and sophisticated. it's both tailored and flow-y. i just know that if i don't buy it before someone else does i'll never find one i like as much, and if i do get it, i'll see something that has all those qualities plus is satin like i wanted. like i said: crazy. i may actually break down and drag a girlfriend to the store to weigh in, which i said i'd never do. (the dress pictured is not the dress. i didn't have my camera with me when i saw it.)

today's spring update

spring east village 2007

i thought i'd let all you people with jobs know what's going on with nature around here. yesterday the lovely warm weather caught many by surprise. today was rainy and perfect for taking pictures.



not a lot is fully blooming yet, except for, of course, the crocus. some daffodils are blooming, but all of my pictures of them were too boring to post. if only every picture could include a charmingly misspelled sign.








i saw some funny yellow flowers that i've never noticed before and couldn't identify. their trees looked like cherry trees. are they japanese maples? i'll have to keep an eye on them and see what they become.

spring watch 2007

i made a really boring hat for someone who would never wear the kind of hat i usually like to make for people. but he got me a job, and it's a korean custom to give someone a gift (PLEASE EVERYONE STOP USING "GIFT" AS A VERB) when they get you a job. there's a special term for it, but i've forgotten it. i like to do as many korean things as i can, since i don't even know of that many to do. a whole half of me is korean after all.

handspun yarn

i really dislike unnecessary gadgets. and the people who have them. people who knit can be just as guilty as those ridiculous home cooks who have a different peeler or corer for every type of fruit, the hand blender and a food processor and a regular blender. why can't those people just donate some money to charity instead?

i am really proud of my arm and magazine rack skein maker. and my mug-weighted drying method.

that having been said, i just received in the mail these hand cards i won on ebay (for six bucks, brand new ones are sixty)! (hint: they were so cheap because they were not in the "spinning" section, where there is much competition for these items. if you are looking for some carders, i recommend doing a search for "wool card", "carder", and "carding", and bidding on the ones that are not in the "spinning" category.)

non-spinners, in case you don't know, these objects are used to prepare wool to be spun. supposedly you can use a dog brush instead, but i have witnessed a comparison, and it is worth it to get the carders; the wool poofs up a lot more when it is carded, as opposed to dog-brushed. and i like my yarn poofy.

i plan to go to a sheep shearing day at a local farm this spring and pick out my own fleece. i'll card, dye, spin and knit something with it. i'm thinking maybe a hardcore tricky lace shawl.

here is the latest loveliness. made with some mystery fiber i got from sheep shed studio. i dyed it myself with various cake icing dyes i found at the new broadway panhandlers on 8th st.