Open House London

This past weekend was Open House London, a showcase for architecture and design throughout the city, and as my friend B, an architect, was here for the weekend visiting from Berlin, we went to see a lot of things. I wouldn't have known about it if she hadn't been here!

First, in my neighborhood, we went to this building which I had always assumed was offices; but no, it's a gallery space:



We also went to a design-y furniture on Curtain Road, the name of which I can't remember.

The next day, we met up in Notting Hill, on Portobello Road, and then walked and walked, til we came to a somewhat desolate looking street, where there were lots of little Portuguese cafés, and we had a lovely breakfast.



Behind us, we could see this 31-storey building, which I don't mind as part of the landscape, but I'm not sure I find it as amazing as the German architects did; they love it.



It's the Trellick Tower, by Hungarian emigré Ernö Goldfinger. It's a council estate, but apparently the uber-cool are buying up flats there. Inside, it looks very 1970s modernist, very much parts of East Berlin. Maybe this is why my German architect friends were so impressed by it? Here's the view from the 18th floor.



From here, in West London, we got onto the canal - a different part of the same canal that's in my neighborhood in East London. And we walked and walked. This part of the canal is called Little Venice:




Wrong turn:



Back on track, the canal meanders through Regents Park, and through the zoo that's in Regents Park. On one side, there were hyenas and warthogs (not together!), but I couldn't get a picture, they were running around, and refused to stand still long enough and / or in a spot where I could take a picture. On the other side, there was a gigantic cage with ibis:



Now I would like to go to the zoo for real.

And finally, my new project, the Harvest Mittens from vogue knitting. I really love them, the picture doesn't do them justice.



I finished the Luna Dress, it's drying in the kitchen, I'll post photos of it as soon as it's dry! I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the flouncy sleeves. I might have to rip them back and give them straight sleeves... We'll see.

One arm down...

Back from NYC and meme

Amanda tagged me for the "six random things about me" meme. I'm always very interested to read other peoples' lists, but I struggle a lot with mine.

Anyway, here are the rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you.
  
• Post the rules on your blog.
  
• Write six random things about yourself.
  
• Tag six people at the end of your post.
  
• Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
  
• Let the tagger know your entry is up.
  

Six random things about me:

1. Right now I'm hooked on Life on Mars.
2. I still can't do a headstand in yoga in the middle of the room (only against the wall).
3. I'm very shy
4. I can make a mean curry
5. I love kiwis even though I'm mildly allergic to them
6. My favourite compliment, from one of my students, was that I was "simultaneously the most laidback and the most strict" professor

I'm tagging:
Hormiga
Hoxton Handmade
Juicy Knits
Travel Knitter
Purl Pirate

I went to NYC for the weekend, to interview some artists for an article I'm writing. They're interested in how biology affects art; specifically, in how the biology of the eye shapes aesthetics. I love these interviews where they leave me with a lot of new things to think about.

Aside from that, I saw friends and family, and went to a gig on Saturday night. The band was supposed to go on at 11pm, but they didn't go on until 1:30am. I was so exhausted at that point that I was just leaning against Rog, and I fell asleep. Apparently I kept waking up and saying, "I think she's forgotten the lyrics." Needless to say, she hadn't forgotten the lyrics, it just seemed like it in my dreaming state.

Oh, and I finally gave the Secret Project - the Drops A Line Sweater - to my mother. She said she liked it, and I think it looked nice on her!

I didn't put her face in the pic, because I know she wouldn't like it.

I just have the sleeves left on my Luna Dress. I'm going to try to do them from the top down (rather than the cuffs), so as to avoid sewing. I got the go ahead from my pals at the hoxton knitting group yesterday, so I feel a bit more confident about straying from the pattern.

Thank you, procrastination

I have to say, the Luna Dress is knitting up very quickly, in great part due to the fact that I have a lot to do - like, for example, pack for my trip to New York. I have to write interview questions. The Secret Project has been blocked and is drying in the kitchen, hopefully it'll be dry in time for me to bring it with me.



Well, before I get to all I have to do, I figure I can at least knit up the cowl neck. Don't you agree?

Time flies...

My sister reminded me today that I hadn't posted in almost a month.

We went to Devon for a weekend, and when I came back, I didn't feel like posting about the trip, even though there were lots of great things to write about: it was absolutely beautiful and I had a great time with my niece, Lily.




We built sandcastles and went on long walks, and went beachcombing. We found lots of cool stuff.










One day, I went in to the sea with Lily, just the two of us. Rog and Cardie watched from the beach, wrapped up in their warm clothes. Lily's 6, and she is very brave and swims like a little fish. She didn't want to get out! But that's when my hands started turning blue, and I couldn't feel my skin anymore, so we had to. Swimming in such cold water is addictive, it feels so good. I don't think it's colder than swimming in Maine was last summer, but in Maine, the sun was shining and it was quite warm weather.

Lily loves her uncle Rog (and he loves her too!):


Some other pictures:






I finally finished the Secret Project, but I can't unveil it here til it reaches its recipient - a few more weeks! And I've started my Luna Dress. I'm happy with it so far, but I haven't gotten that far, so we'll see what happens.


We're totally addicted to watching Spooks. We downloaded the last two series from itunes. We realized we can't watch it too late at night because then I'm too scared to sleep and/or I have spy dreams, where I'm getting chased. So stressful!

Summer time

First, I'd like to say that Amanda gave me a Brillante Weblog award - this is so sweet! Especially the part where she said why. And one day soon, I will come up with my 7 people to pass it on to. And can I say? I'd nominate Amanda right back :)

It has been so chilly in London - I've been wearing boots, and sweaters. Today I went out and wished I had put a jacket on top of my sweater! So, this made me think back to my dreams of making the Luna Dress.

Since the wool it calls for is $25 / skein, I have little choice but to sub in something else. I went to John Lewis to pick up some more noro, and see what kinds of tweeds I could find. I was looking at some Debbie Bliss, when a girl passed by and in a conspiratorial stage whisper told me that she had found that same wool for half the price - £1.65!!! Needless to say, I did not buy all the yarn there!

I just bought one skein to swatch and see if it was really what I wanted:




I think it's exactly what I want. It's a little stiff - I'm knitting it doubled up. I might just try to do all the math and knit it singly instead.

Anyway, here's the website where I got my half-price yarn, they don't have tons and tons of choice, but if they happen to have what you're looking for, it's a great find. Also, the woman who runs it actually called me this morning to tell me she didn't have as many skeins as I wanted and to make sure it was okay, and to let me know that I'd have it tomorrow!

Secret project update:
Well, I ran out of my noro stash, and they no longer make the colorway I was using! So, I went and got some that was somewhat close. Somewhat. Anyone spot the new color?



I quite like the blue, and almost wish the whole thing had been in that set of colors. Luckily, I had enough of the old color to make the entire body, so just the sleeves will be different, and I think it might work out!

Aside from this, I had a nice week, except for a slight falling out with a friend of a friend's, who called me a puritan because I try to live within my means (well, to be fair, he doesn't know about the yarn habit). This from a 52-year old man whose father still supports him in large part. He barely works, yet he has a lovely flat, a fancy car, and has a cleaning lady - all paid for by his father. He thought he should reward himself because he's come up with a business plan; I wondered aloud if dinner with friends, where we were that night, and his upcoming trip to Scotland (his second this summer) wasn't enough? This is when I got called a puritan. I guess I got upset because I wouldn't expect to be rewarded for something I - and most people in the world - must do: work. I don't want to be asked to collude in his fake world where he pretends he has to work and thinks it's really interesting.

What? You want me to tell you what I really think?

Secret Project & Life Update

I'm actually ahead of time on this piece. I hadn't expected to finish it for another two months, but it looks like it'll get done this month. Unless I run out of yarn, which I definitely will, I only have one skein left and more than one skein's worth of work to do.

Part of the reason I've gotten so far ahead is that we finally have a knitting group in Shoreditch! It's really nice to sit around and knit with other people, especially such nice other people. And we go to this cute little cafe / bar, that I have to say is so East Village circa the late 1990s (a good thing).