the granny square blanket = finished (mostly!)

seems like it's been ages since i posted anything i've created!
remember the granny square blanket i started way back in june? well, i finished it sometime around the end of august. my memory is a bit hazy as to the exact date of completion, but i'm pretty sure i put it all together sometime right before we moved to our new place. which would mean late august, if my post project calculations are right.
here it 'tis:

the bedroom area

i was intending to felt it, but i don't have a top-loader washing machine available (all the ones in our new building are front loaders...shucks!). so i may just leave it be. it's seen here on our bed, which was it's intended destination from the beginning. i am planning on making some pillow-sham type things for some of the pillows and adding a few more bargello pillows, maybe this jonathan adler one. i like how everything else it pretty modern in the area (the bed frame, the quilt, the shelf), with all these hand-wrought touches about. a tried and true to me visual juxtaposition.
overall, i am really happy with how it turned out...and that i had the patience to stick with it and finish the whole thing. actually, admittedly, i was chomping at the bit to finish the damn thing, so obsessed, that any potential procrastination really didn't figure into the granny-square blanket project at all, okay? OKAY?? (yes, i am a bit type-a.)

favorites...and stuff.

fave-a-rites

***

the new apartment is glorious, and slowly coming together...we are now officially on our way to getting it all settled and it's starting to feel more like a real home, rather than a repository for boxes! i spent a lot of last week moving furniture about, trying to put little decorative items in their place (though, admittedly, maybe not in their most permanent place, as is the way with things in a home...they are fun to move around). my studio is actually pretty much put away, which is the most wonderful thing in my world. i remember it taking ages for me to get around to doing such in our previous apartment...mostly because i was unhappy in that apartment and had recently made a move i was less than happy about. but oh, how times have changed. i couldn't WAIT to get my studio in order so i could start creating!
ah, still no camera (goodness, how i MISS it!), and still busy as a bee (working, settling)! so, hence the slowness. please forgive. i'm thinking everyone has probably disappeared. anyone even bother reading this anymore? haha!

***

anyway, some things i am obsessing over or that i am loving at the momento:
-high-waisted skirts and pants. i've been wearing and making such (just started putting together a high-waisted skirt in a few free moments i had yesterday)...and i have, as previously alluded to in a post a while back, been pleasantly surprised that such actually looks decent on me! it's also proof positive that i can, on occasion, give in a little to a trend. or give in a lot. :P
-riding my bike to the grocery store! oh god, it's so cool to be able to do that now. something about that just seems so right. you live so close you can ride there, and you only get what you need, rather than filling your gas-guzzler to the hilt to stock up for a longer haul (a week or more...of things you might not even have time to eat in said time period). one more reason i believe that the suburbs are missing the point! (i'm convinced i'm allergic to suburbs, btw.)
-ripple stitch patterns! i have a sick amount of random balls of yarn that need to be used up and i think this might be the answer. sort of a continuation of the aesthetic of that zig-zag scarf i made ages ago, perhaps-a-mundo.
-the superb outfits that miss sherbet tone (who posts to wardrobe_remix) dons. she's got an amazing eye for stylish discards and puts everything together with panache. she's the type of person i feel i created wardrobe_remix for, when it gets down to brass tacks.
-the cat eye. galadarling and the coveted have recently covered/paid homage to the allure and execution of such maquillage in recent days. i used to wear said look years back, and have started playing around with again of late. fun!

***

say, what's inspiring YOU right now? chime in if you please.

more (used) stuff

found this past week and weekend (most of it at the alameda antiques and collectibles fair, on alameda, in the east bay).

***

couldn't resist the orange spangliness!

orange beaded brooch

***

mmm, my favorite colors:

bright bowls and cups

***

decanter and shot glasses, from france:

french decanter and shot glasses

(now i just need a cool bar cart to set it on!)

***

though i don't smoke, i was entranced by the mod, simple, boldness of this ashtray (which can just as easily be put to use as a bowl for keys or candy, natch):

70s red ashtray

***

just pretty and loud and thus irresistible to the likes of me:

60s fabric

***

and the best find of the weekend, my birthday present...this danish teak dining table.

danish teak table

danish teak table

***

now we just need chairs for that table! these brightly colored bertoia chairs are nice. expensive, but nice. :)

and a bigger apartment might help too. ha!

perhaps someday...on both fronts!