Tag: design

Spring Hats Evoke Another Era to Me

When I was visiting the family in Ohio for an extended stay, one of the last days I was there we went to Von Maur, a lovely department store in Columbus at the Polaris Mall.

Maura and I saw all the elegant Spring/Easter hats on display.  She tried on a gray one that matched her Ohio State Swim shirt.  A gracious salesperson asked if we needed any help and of course, we did not. But she didn’t seem worried about trying on a hat.

(*see Men’s Hat Posts below the photos)

Growing up, almost all women in church wore hats.

.The Kentucky Derby, the first Saturday in May, is a place to wear a fashionable hat. Or a Derby party as you watch the race on TV.  You see Royal Wedding attendees sporting stylish hats.  I wish I’d looked inside the hats to see where they are made. Do you own a hat and on what occasion do you wear it?

Putting on a hat can change your whole persona, help you feel dressed to the nine.  The epitome of dressing up in style.

“To the nine” is an English idiom meaning “to perfection” or “to the highest degree” or to dress “buoyantly and high class”. In modern English usage, the phrase most commonly appears as “dressed to the nine” or “dressed up to the nine”.

 

*  And not to leave the men out of the hat post.

I posted Meyer the Hatter in New Orleans in 2009 

and the Bleecker Street Hat Shop in NYC post in 2012

 

by Categories: fashionTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 11 Comments

Interesting Finds at the Handmade Arcade

 

Dear Blog Followers/Readers

Thanks to all who have responded on the positioning of the photos when they view the blog.  It has been beyond annoying and frustrating, especially for those who get the photos sideways. 

Today I spent time rotating and saving and resizing the photos which were shot vertically.  If they are on their side, I hope you will inform me right away so I can go back to the drawing board.  When I look at them they look correct but not for all receiving them.  

I heard from a woman I photographed last week about the auto rotation of photos on various programs.  Here is the link to that information

I knew nothing about Exif Data    

Still working on the solution to proper orientation of photos no matter who views it on ALL devices. 

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post of the day-   

Handmade Arcade at  Pittsburgh’s David Lawrence Convention Center, Saturday afternoon.

This is Douglas of My Vinyl Resting Place  holding a vinyl record now shaped as a bowl

Deanna of Cleveland Street Glass

When I asked her how she got into this business she said she moved to Cleveland and in just a week her car was broken into.

Mr. Wise co-owner of Second Season packages a pair of Repurposed Redesigned Upcycled mittens made from used sweaters

by Categories: CraftsTags: , , , , , , , , , 13 Comments

McWalker Yarns Sweater Challenge Fashion Show

Saturday afternoon McWalker Yarns in Millvale PA hosted the November Sweater Challenge (NaKniSweMo) Fashion Show.

All of the sweaters were made with yarn from McW Y, had at least 50,000 stitches and were knit between 12:01 on 11/1 and midnight 11/30.

Knitters were to wear their sweaters if they knit them for themselves.

One sweater knitter had to be at work today and was unable to attend the fashion show but we’ll try to add a photo.

IMG_0747

Margaret “Maggie” Toth  brought her husband Chris who was modeling the sweater she knit for him – Berocco Man’s Sweater free pattern “Dan”.

She used Cascade ECO yarn– colorway Shire.

IMG_0706

Here’s Lauren Eicher modeling Jamestown Sweater knitty.com by Amy Christoffers 

Yarn Malabrigo Rios “Archangel”

IMG_0740

Christine’s niece Rebecca baked Gingerbread Men cookies sporting Holiday Sweaters IMG_0736

And here is Christine modeling her Free Range Kimono  Corner to Corner Crochet

Pattern by Jess Coppom    Yarn Cascade Wave “Nightshade”

IMG_0722

IMG_0752

Christine  standing by the display showing yarn she used for her Free Range Kimono

IMG_0758

Meet Barb McAbe modeling her Sideways sweater designed by Joji Locatelli in Laine Magazine #6  Autumn/Winter 2018    Wow, look at those cables!

She used Shepard’s Wool in the Mint Colorway

IMG_0762

IMG_0733

Here is Denise Kaliowski wearing her Kimono Cardigan by Linda DeRuiter

Yarn is Painted Mist in Misty Rainbow (6 skeins)  She made notes that it is very drapey and soft and she loves the colors.  We did too.

IMG_0735

IMG_0712

Amy McCall (owner of McWalker Yarns) knit Selenity by Annie Rowden Laine Magazine #6   Yarn  Scout Colorway Blue Heather

IMG_0727How about this detail?

IMG_0730Here I am sporting Humulus Sweater designed by Isabell Kraemer

Photographed by Amy McCall

Yarn-   Lore by The Fibre Company (Earthy colorway) and Sunflower Heather is by Scout 

IMG_0742

Aimee Benswanger cheered us all on as we modeled our sweaters and here she is with her Entrelac Scarf  www.frecklesandpurls.com  Berocco Remix  Colorway Pool

IMG_0739

Denise is working a baby hat

IMG_0738

Already onto the next sweater. Amy McCall inspired us to complete our November sweaters.  We had a fun afternoon. The challenge produced a lot of creativity and camaraderie.   Amy gave us all a sheet of Temporary Knitting Tattoos for participating.

There was a grand prize drawing for a $50 store credit and the ticket was drawn by a Sock Club member.  I was fortunate to win so am planning my next sweater to start AFTER Christmas.

by Categories: knitting, PhotographyTags: , , , , , , , , , , , 17 Comments

Peace, Love, Knit- An Early Gift

An early Christmas gift, created by Marlene (my DIL’s mom-we share four grandchildren). This year she and her husband hosted Thanksgiving Weekend in Hardy, Virginia.

Know you’ve seen me on the blog more times this week than the rest of the entire year but I wanted to show you her thoughtful and creative gift. Marlene’s Cricut machine skills are amazing. She purchases and downloads an SVG file from the computer, cuts it out of different colored vinyls, centers it, then uses a special machine to press it on thoroughly. I love how she made the heart a sparkly red.

Marlene knows I enjoy knitting so this design* was perfect.

Thanks Marlene. I can’t wait to wear it.

Photographed by Erika

*About the design- It’s from an Etsy Shop specializing in SVG files- Sammo from Vicksburg, Michigan

by Categories: knitting, PhotographyTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 10 Comments

Stained Glass Light by Guest Bloggers Team

Maura:
“Dad, we could be guest bloggers if this light idea works.”

(Photos by my son Mark- assisted by Michael and Maura )

I’d say the light idea worked just fine.

F1B99332-3E81-4CC5-A146-65DBD3FE9BE2

St. Patrick Church – Columbus, Ohio

 

by Categories: Family, PhotographyTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , 9 Comments

Aubergine Yarn Color in Two Lights

Aubergine yarn in two light- a great color name, isn’t it?

A friend gave me a sweater’s worth of Harrisville Designs Highland Yarn. Wooly warmth for next winter! I never worked with it before and it is nice to wind and knit. I’d like to finish it before summer’s full heat kicks in.

I used my iPhone to document progress of the sweater (pattern is Larch by Pam Allen, available on Ravelry).

I snapped the front, then the back. Ooops, the flash went off in the second shot.

Sweater in two lights

Available light-

Electronic Flash below –

some of you will want to pick off the little fuzzy lint in the photo There’s a bit of vegetative matter in this wonderful yarn

Watch this two minute video to see how wool is milled and spun into yarn – Harrisville, New Hampshire.

A Day in the Life of an American Woolen Mill

From their website-

“Highland is one of our flagship yarns, available in 64 tweedy, heathered, woolen spun colors. This yarn is perfect for a cozy New England sweater, or a favorite pair of mitts. The yarn was engineered to wear better and better with every wash. Don’t let the crunch fool you. After 10 years of constant wear, you’ll know why we spun it this way.”

by Categories: knitting, PhotographyTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 17 Comments

A Rabbit Babywearing

Michelle Weber challenges bloggers to show a photo of something unexpected this week- the word is unlikely

Wasn’t expecting a rabbit carrying a “baby” –

but it was Easter time.

Window display showing baby carriers for sale in Berlin.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/unlikely/

by Categories: Photography, Weekly Photo ChallengeTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 8 Comments

Penthouse and Condo Views from Empire on Liberty Pittsburgh Magazine’s Ultimate House

Here’s the Post-Gazette article by Patricia Sheridan that my friend sent the other morning. Last week V and I toured the Pittsburgh Magazine’s Ultimate House penthouse and two of the condos in the fully restored and renovated old furniture showroom and warehouse Empire on Liberty.

All proceeds were given to Children’s Hospital Free Care Fund.

Just today, I realized I bought a carpet in 1989 at the former Roth Carpet Showroom which is now the available first floor retail space.

http://www.post-gazette.com/life/Buying-Here/2018/04/27/Buying-Here-Bloomfield-Empire-on-Liberty-condos-penthouse-office-retail/stories/201804290015

An article from Pittsburgh Magazine about the Ultimate House renovation

http://www.pittsburghmagazine.com/Best-of-the-Burgh-Blogs/Nest/November-2017/First-Look-Ultimate-House-Returns-to-the-City-with-Empire-on-Liberty/

by Categories: PhotographyTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 5 Comments

Pittsburgh’s Indie Knit & Spin

You know how much I love different yarns and all the possibilities they inspire.

Last Saturday I went with a friend to the Ace Hotel in East Liberty to check out the Pittsburgh Indie Knit & Spinevent, held in the former YMCA gym.  The “boutique hotel” was hopping, serving lunch and drinks and coffee, while eager knitters perused the booths.

A vendor at one booth was wearing this pin.Two dinosaurs winding yarn!

Although the vendor preferred anonymity she was more than happy to share the story of her quirky and creative pin.  She told me to google Malojos   So fun. Meet the designer of the pin who lives in Chicago About Natalie Have you seen the 14K gold gauge rings she makes?

I limited myself to purchasing a single skein of sparkle yarn named “The Shire” ( my first sparkle yarn)  HandDyed by Trisha Eliason of Gypsy Stardust Yarn and Fiber Shop. 

Good Water and Co. is a mother-daughter team dedicated to bringing the world a better knitting bag. Based in central Pennsylvania, each Good Water and Co. bag is handcrafted from start to finish, with no two bags being exactly alike. We are dedicated to providing knitters and crocheters with funky and innovative solutions to everyday problems.  – from their Website

They had many great bags and had repurposed dresser scarves sewn into project bags to hold knitting projects or whatever else you might think of-

The Ace Hotel hosts Knitting in the Knook every third Tuesday, too. Offering tea and a cozy place to sit and knit.  My friend Ann and I went to knit in February and everyone was so nice. That’s how I learned about the Indie Knit & Spin Event.

by Categories: knitting, PhotographyTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 8 Comments