spring has sprung!

It's official: spring is finally here! Where I live it's been raining like crazy these past few days and now it's spring break! Sorry for the lack of posts now and the lack of posts to come--I probably won't be able to write so often. Anyway. I am knitting yet another useful item (not a hat!) that I'll show you guys when I come back. For now enjoy these pretty spring pictures!

This would be the perfect Easter card if you celebrate. If not send it as an April Fools card.

 Speaking of April Fool's day, to my friends who watch this blog: Be Prepared. Last year AM and I sent the Smiley Cat song to peoples' voicemails, so be warned.
You haven't heard the smiley cat song?! Surely you josh. It's ok though, you can watch it right here. Anyway. Onward.

I read a hilarious article that said fruit was very 'in' for spring and decided that this stylish $100 piece (called on Modcloth the 'Blushing Banana' dress) would 'go perfectly with anything.' The day has finally come when you can wear banana dresses in public without being ridiculed (by the STYLISH among us, anyhow). I want one of these now. They also offered banana necklaces as an accessory.

 To finish off this stylish slip you of course need makeup:

I've always wanted my lips to look like a bee. I think these were made by Michelle Phan's less mainstream twin.

 And don't forget shoes!

happy spring everyone!
<3

project: sweet treats!

Hallelujah!!!!! You know those times when you're craving sweets but too full to eat another bite? Now you can feast your eyes on a scrumptious hat of your own making. Yes, that's right friends: I finished the cupcake hat.
It looks complicated, but it's really easy to make. I knitted a ribbed* rectangle (the purple stuff), cast off, and knitted a seperate mini-hat using the same pattern for a full beanie hat, just shortened (the white stuff). You can find many patterns for this on the internet, but I used one from a book that used just straight (regular) needles. Then I sewed the two together using my genius finger method as demonstrated in the sweater rescue tutorial. Using a swell pom-pom maker, I created the cherry on top. Then using the finger method I sewed rainbow sprinkles to the 'frosting'!
This hat was a cheerful addition to yesterday's rainy afternoon (although I did get a menacing glare from a random fashionista on the street.....)
now here are some pics (taken a la photobooth, I was lazy)

 

Then of course I played around with the settings to make the cupcake glow with holy gloryness (is that a word? Now it is.)

I thought the picture above looked a little like I had angel wings, so I went all the way and made myself an angel/chicken hybrid

if you by any chance knit this hat, please send me a picture. We can be cupcake twins of awesomeness!
<3


*for those of you just beginning to knit, ribbing can be created with the pattern knit/purl/knit/knit/purl/knit....

project: (Irish) Tee Time!

It's tea time, everyone! Ring the bells, get out the scones and butter and don't forget your Irish teabags! Today we're dealing with a whole nother class of tee--THE BLAH KIND (oh no!)
I had this shirt sitting around from a couple St. Patrick's Day's ago....it had a funny saying on it (you'll see in a mo) but other than that it was nothing....remarkable. And I like my wardrobe to be remarkable. Stupid me forgot to take a before shot (I was caught up in the moment!) but it looked something like this:

A lime green shirt with a better phrase than this one. Also, I'm not blond and thirtyish (at least I wasn't the last time I checked)

So I got my hands on this great book that I can't stop reading--seriously, this woman is amazing!

This is my new favorite book <3

I used project something-or-other, called Ties to Die For. And the outcome was....

Irish girls have more fun--yes they do!

 My kitty cat snuck into the shot :) she's such a glamorous model! She wasn't even supposed to be outside because yesterday she 'lost' her collar--for the 3rd time!

Close up on the clever catchphrase--and the delicious shamrock cookie I'm enjoying. I love those Pilsbury ready-to-bake cookies! "Wow, how did you get the picture on the cookie? Did you make these yourself?" "Why yes, I baked them myself...."

Now it's more like a 2-leaf clover!

If you don't have a St. Patrick's day tee you can still make this project and applique a shamrock onto it, a la the first t-shirt project I posted on here.
Happy St Patrick's day and don't forget to wear green tomorrow!
<3 kai

some key questions for 'twilight' fans

I have absolutely no idea why I was thinking of 'twilight' or why that stupid book is STILL invading my thoughts....however, my little brain was stewing over some key questions. Twilight diehards, feel free to answer or get offended. Twilight diehards who read my blog, please pass over this entry and keep following. :)

1. Can Bella locate Florida on a map?
2. If not, why is she in all honors classes? Also, why has she not flunked out of said honors classes seeing as she never does any homework?
3. Can EDWARD locate Florida on a map (it might be a little hard for him, seeing as he's never been there).
4. If Edward's been alive for 117 years or so, why hasn't he thought of using sunscreen to combat the sparkle yet? Or a lot of foundation. Or just white paint.
5. If Edward's heart doesn't beat and yet venom runs in his veins....he must be very sloshy.
6. Why is Bella such a loser? Why does she never, ever go anywhere in her town except the grocery store, her house, school and the beach?
7. Why are Bella's surrounding towns made up of absolutely nothing but a few lonely bad restaraunts, a clothing store and a spiritual bookstore?? (and lets not forget the dark alleys where the small-town thugs are hiding)
8. If Bella's afraid of blood, why did she marry a vampire, for heaven's sake?
9. Why does Edward, Mr Chinos and Polo Shirt, even bother collecting rows and rows of emo cds? We all see through that fabrication easily.
10. Why does Bella's dad never ever care what she does, even if she limps through the door clutching her broken ribs? And why oh why does he need her to teach him how to cook PASTA?
Ok. Rant over for now.
Also a minor craft note: I'm knitting a hat shaped like a cupcake. Tutorial to come!
<3 kai

the fruits of my labor!!!!!

YIPPEEEEEEEE! The school fashion show was yesterday and now y'all finally get some pictures!
(or not. my camera was being STUPID again). I mainly got pictures of blurs and I can't find the professional shots. They'll be up in a few days; I'll post 'em in. For now you get to see the blurriness.
The show was held at a very glamorous undisclosed location. I was allowed to futz with the dress backstage and had a minor feather emergency that was solved with a barrette and some eyelash glue. Then they kicked me out. I wandered around purposelessly (is that a word?) and sat down in the cheap seats to watch the run-through. Yes, I sat in the back of a fashion show I was in. I didn't have a spare $95 to pay for front-row. Although even that seems like a good deal beside the dude who paid $2000 for a couple of auctioned parking tickets. Hey, it goes to charity. :)
The show began with school uniforms through the ages. It makes me almost grateful for ours. Basically from the 50s to the 80s they went overboard with color and had pastel dresses in every color of the pastel rainbow. Then they sobered up, fired the people who designed the Easter egg uniforms (I hope....) and banned all color.
Exhibit A: the minty green blur

since I was in the back you couldn't see it all....but it was a midcalf-length shirtdress.

Exhibit B: the pastel purple blur

This terrible picture makes the model look like Casper the Friendly Easter Ghost. Same idea, shorter dress.

AND ZEN.....
MAI DRESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!

see that whitish blur? that's her! gahh cameraaaa

A less than flattering pic of her backside. You can't even see the feathers! 

I did get some paparazzi shots with the model backstage :D they're still  blurryish though.

FINALLY! DRESS IN ALL ITS FEATHERY GLORY!

YAAAAY! YAAAAAY! DRESS! ITS THE FIRST DRESS I'VE EVER MADE IN MY LIFE! sorry I'm being really hyper and happy right now--even though I didn't win! I did get a blurryish shot of the design that did win:

it had vertical ruffles

and now back to mine

her model glam pose

weehoo! more pics coming soon
<3 kai


wheehoo!

apologies

apologies for not posting for a while....family issues going on.

project: water bottle cozy

oh, coziness. don't you just love waking up in the winter and seeing the freezing cold snow outside, while you're warm and cozy in your bathrobe or sweater or scarf? 

(this kitten agrees)

so why shouldn't your water bottle have the same feeling? It's a hard life, being a water bottle. I mean, you're filled with water and ice cubes every day and you freeze your butt off and you get dropped on the ground all the time (guilty) and banged up and scratched and you don't even have a sweater to make you feel better (and to save the owner's hands from frostbite)! well I was pondering this one day, and I decided to take matters into my own hands.
thus, the water bottle cozy was born!
This is really easy to knit, even for beginners like me. Cast on eighteen stitches, depending on how wide you want your cozy to be, and plain old regular knit until you can wrap your cozy around the bottle and the ends overlap an inch or two. Cast off and sew on a couple buttons. You are going to shove your buttons through the spaces in the stitches, so be sure they aren't too big.
and ta-da! a lovely warm cozy for your water bottle.

my water bottle thanks me! (and yes, I put it on the piano bench. what can I say? the table is messy and strewn with stray feathers from the dress project).

close up of the latest bottle fashions. straight from Paris!

happy knitting!
<3 kai

sneak peak!

know how I said I would give you a sneak peak of the dress I'm making? well here it is! (and guess what? the camera's working again!!)
I finished the shoe doodads and the hair pin. Here they are in their 20s glory:

le snazzy!

close-up of the feather decorations

 Now, these are not my shoes--they belong to CB, my model/friend. Therefore I was not allowed to hot-glue anything to them. If you want to spice up your shoes but want the option of removing the decorations later, barrettes are your best friend. I glued the feathers to a matching-color barrette and clipped it to the shoe. Easy-peasy! (I guess that was my tutorial right there)

A matching pin!!

 For the pin I was a little bolder: more feathers plus some rhinestones and a confetti star left over from  our Oscars party decorations (did anyone watch the Oscars? Did anyone see Hillary Swank copy my feather skirt idea? I feel so famous and inspirational). The feathers on the shoes and pin ARE the ones I'm using for my dress! I love them. They turn all sorts of gorgeous colors in the light.

This is the well of creation, AKA the bag I use to carry my pattern and dress too and from my sewing classes. It's very messy. Wadded up in a pile by the barfing bag of pattern pieces is my dress.

Little shop of sewing goodies

 

 

close-up of the fabric!!

And this is the beloved fabric that I love so much, oh fabric may I marry you? I'll stop obsessing now.
Woohoo! So excited and nervous.
hope you enjoyed!
<3 kai

a shout out to my friend

This is a shout out to my friend who watches my blog! She was feeling misunderstood and unloved today:

and decided to paint swirls on her eyelids. and wear red lipstick. and lots of eyeliner. Me and my other friends decided to cheer her up before it was too late,  and we gave her a present:

But she was depressed because she lost the other shoe.
So we gave her some highlighters:

But she used them as nose pickers. SO we chose yet another gift.

She was really excited and thought she would finally be a polygamist:

Unfortunately, we broke the news to her that we weren't going to marry her. She proposed to my other friend and when she was waiting for an answer she ran out and got the most beautiful wedding dress:

Our prayers are with her....she is still waiting for an answer. Comment with suggestions and advice! The next chapter is coming sometime next week.

I finished the hat!

remember the hat I wrote about when I was sick (like a month ago)....well, I FINALLY FINISHED IT! Yeah, I'm a slow knitter. Here's the hat (its slightly largeish)!!!!!
The camera wasn't working very well so I resorted to photobooth. 

Wearing it with my school uniform is a great look, no?

 And then of course I had to have some fun with the settings!

The name's Beaniehat. James Beaniehat. (no wonder spies and detectives wear fedoras)

This is a totally awesome face. How flattering.

I will post again showing people how to add some spice to a plain hat like this one!
go forth and knit!
<3 kai