Happy Friday! I’ve had an unusually social couple of weeks with more events on the horizon, which means I can really feel the tug of my inner introvert imploring me to hibernate and recharge. Getting out and about is good for me, I must say, and last week I made a couple of Grainline Studio Linden tops that happened to match one of the events I attended this past Monday: Making Magazine’s Black & White trunk show at Drygoods Design.
You know, as someone who spends a lot of time alone squirreled away working on projects that don’t see the light of day for months on end, I often forget how scintillating it is to connect with people in real life. Online communication has its place and is a wondrous thing, but nothing beats a face-to-face conversation. I’ve been working with Carrie, Ashley, Cecily, Whitney and Lily of Making for over a year now but this was the first time we met in the flesh (ew, why does that sound so gross?). It’s such an uplifting feeling to discover that someone’s online persona perfectly matches the in-person personality. They are down-to-earth, easy to talk to, brimming with creativity and ideas and are just all-around wonderful. I had such a lovely time with them all! If you haven’t already, I highly encourage you to listen to the first episode of the Making podcast to learn more about Carrie and Ashley. They are so, so inspiring! And I’ve been shy about mentioning it, but I was interviewed a while back as well. You can find that podcast episode here.
Anyway, so caught up was I in blathering away, I forgot to snap photos, but I was excited to see that my little contribution to the Black & White issue was included in the trunk show. I made these guys:
They’re felted animal masks! And how stunning is this magazine cover by the awe-inducing Lisa Congdon??
I also had the privilege of meeting Sonya Phillips of 100 Acts of Sewing, who was teaching a class towards the end of the trunk show and that was a major treat too. She’s the real deal, folks. There’s an abundance of joy in her creations. Another all too brief encounter was with Kristin of Woolfolk Yarn. Oh my goodness, have you seen her website and Instagram feed? Pure gorgeousness. Kristin listened to my knitting woes and sagely assured me that I was ready, that I can absolutely knit. She has such a grounded, beautiful presence. My only wish was that I could have stayed longer to chat more with everyone.
The intrepid women of Making and Jen of Grainline Studio often collaborate together so it was doubly fitting that I wore a Linden top to the event. I chose the polka dot one, of course. Other than adding 2 inches to the bodice length, I didn’t make any changes to the pattern for this version. It’s a straight up size 6. I love the Linden so much. So quick, so easy, so versatile! I’ve made a gaggle of them in the past, and I’ve gotten over my former reluctance about sewing the same pattern over and over. There’s something very comforting about a familiar pattern.
For this black wool version, I tried out Jen’s tutorial for a flat bias neckline. However, I had already cut out the neckband as per pattern instructions, not on the bias — which I don’t think should have made too much of a difference for this stretchy wool knit — and for some reason, my neckline got very wavy. I don’t mind the waviness, though I’m sort of confused by this super awkward pose in the photo. What am I doing? I included it to remind myself that I’m ridiculous in so many ways. I made a few other changes to the pattern with this version: shaved off an inch for each sleeve and slimmed the bodice by about an inch as well. And I always add at least 2 inches to the bodice of any top pattern to account for my extra long torso. This wool feels luxurious, and I’m pretty sure I got it from Drygoods but for the life of me, I can’t remember where I got the polka dot sweater knit from. I adore this black top despite the less than perfect neckline (see the wavy bits below?). Nothin’ a good scarf can’t hide. That I will knit one day.
There’s not a lot to be said for the back view, but here it is:
As long as I’m mentioning patterns that I keep sewing repeatedly, I’m wearing my 5th pair of Ginger skinny jeans that I never blogged about. The thing with these jeans is that the denim doesn’t have a lot of stretch so they aren’t my most comfortable pair. They look pretty good though, don’t you think?
And there you have it. Lindens, crafty folks, connections, repetitive sewing.
Okay! I’m doing a school presentation this afternoon and then I’ll be participating in the Ballard Art Walk at Secret Garden Books on Saturday, November 10th, so come on by if you’ve got a few spare moments from 6-8pm. I’ll have some original illustrations from my books on display and will be doing some custom illustrations too!
I’m off to prepare for these two events and then I’ll be back to my solitary schedule for a few weeks. Ahhhhhh…that sounds nice.
I hope you have a delightful weekend in every way, my friends!
Sanae I love the last picture of you smiling. You look so sad in the first pictures. I hope life is ok right now. I’m glad you are getting out and about but I totally understand what you said about your inner introvert! I must also confess I’m a tad jealous or maybe in awe would be there right word? Jealous doesn’t really fit, but I don’t know which word to use, because you are meeting such amazing creative people. Happy for you!
Everything is okay, thanks for asking Tracy! I had no idea I looked sad — it’s funny to me because I was actually going for a subdued monochromatic vibe with the first image. It HAS been amazing to meet all the creative forces and truly inspiring!
I’m so glad it was in my imagination!
It is great that you have been getting out there and meeting other creative people. I have been doing a lot of knitting, but sewing has ground to a halt because of the cooler weather. I am thinking up idea for advent calendars, my kids are tired of having either none or the good old library books one. They want the home made element, but without a lot of time, I have to think of something good. Maybe a “make as you go” one. Like a scarf that we keep on knitting until December 24. We have been enjoying your Ba-chan book a lot too. It is nice to see you enjoying the showing off and sharing aspects of your work. I am a little awestruck by your tales of meeting these knitting and sewing celebs and sharing space with them. Good for you!
I’m awestruck that I get to meet these creative powerhouses too! They inject much-needed inspiration to improve my skills on all fronts. So lovely that you’re getting a lot of knitting done and the scarf advent idea is amazing!
Sanae-san – It was great to see you in person at Drygoods. I love Linden, too! I love it so much that I made 5 short sleeve version using woven fabric last summer!
How lucky that I had the chance to meet you Miwako-san! It was so fun to meet a giveaway recipient in person :). And yes, Lindens are the best!