Year: 2009

My Sister’s Invites

I recently had the honor of designing my sister’s invitations for her upcoming wedding, and I just saw the results in print for the first time!

sisinvites

We had them printed by Pinball, an excellent company whom I’d previously seen do a beautiful printing job on projects for CWC-i. The envelopes are from Jam Paper and are made of recycled Kraft paper.

It’s so exciting to see my design printed so nicely! It’s also exciting that my sister is getting married.

Meatballs

Update: I didn’t realize, but the the trailer is already out. I could probably watch computer animated food gloriously falling out of the sky for two hours, but it looks like most of it will be a not-so-interesting backstory.

This seems to be a big year for classic children’s books turned into movies. That is, I just heard about one more aside from Where the Wild Things Are, so I’m calling it a trend.

cloudymeatballs

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs was another one of my favorite books as a kid, and Sony Pictures is apparently releasing the computer animated movie this September. Unlike Wild Things, It looks like there isn’t an attempt to capture the fun visual style that makes the picture book so special, so that makes it less exiting. But my favorite Bill Hader of Saturday Night Live is in the cast, it seems, and that’s a big plus.

Stephin Merritt’s Coraline

Music-genius Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields just opened a new musical based on Neil Gaiman’s Coraline, with no relation to the recent movie.

smcoraline

The heroine has a bit of a more mature look in this version.

The New York Times review that came out earlier this week is a little mixed, but it made me think that I might like it for all its strangeness.

Coraline is playing at the MCC Theater in the West Village through July 5. I’ll be seeing it later this month!

New Jersey Transit Art

Yay another trip to Oklahoma today! It is one of my top 50 favorite states (in the US). And getting there is fun too, sometimes.

Anyone been to the fancy New Jersey Transit waiting room at Penn Station? I’ve taken the train to Newark Airport from there before but hadn’t seen the waiting room before this trip for some reason. It’s such an interesting atmosphere, combining the dinginess of contemporary American rail travel with what seems like an attempt to recapture the glamour of trains from the past. So homeless people nap and tinny classical music plays overhead. Also: an art installation!

njtart1

This is “New Jersey On Parade,” a piece by George Mossman Greenamyer that was commissioned by NJ Transit in 2002, according to a plaque on the wall. It’s actually a pretty neat display of New Jersey landmarks and icons made of steel suspended from a track and constantly in motion. You see, because of trains and stuff. And here is Mr. Peanut.

njtart2

The nostalgic style of the piece and the clicking mechanical sound it makes going around the tracks seems so very 1940s, I think, and strangely complements the old flickering monitors, the surly passengers, the piped-in classical music, and the smell of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels mixed with body odor.

Free Cross-Stitch Pattern: Stackable Cats

At long last, it’s the pattern for the Stackable Cats in cross-stitch!

stackablecats_stitch2

Click to download the PDF:

Stackable Cats Cross-Stitch Pattern

This is my first-ever cross-stitch pattern, so I would love any feedback on it from people who are nice enough to try it out.

If you’ve never cross-stitched before, it’s very easy! You can find some basic tips at the Yarntree website.

The finished size of the Stackable Cats cross-stitch is about 9 inches wide by 5.5 inches tall. You’ll need 14-count fabric and 5 colors of thread. (The DMC colors are specified in the pattern.)

birds_stitch

Update: Thank you to Whip Up and Natalie at the Craft blog for posting about my cross-stitch!

Picture-Perfect Pups

It turns out that Pile-able Pups come in more than one breed!

Grace of Kathryn Ivy whipped up a lovely set of neapolitan-flavored dogs…

pups_grace

She was nice enough to blog about the project in detail, with lots of wonderful photos.

Lisamarykay1 proved that a single Pile-able Pup can be just as cute on its own. Especially if it has some treats to keep it company!

pups_lisamarykay

This guy looks a little like a cross between a dog and a seal, no? So cute!

I say this a lot, but it’s always such a thrill to see other knitters’ results from my patterns. Can’t wait to see what other varieties of pups pop up!

Thank you to Grace, Lisa and Alice for your testing help!