Sketches from Istanbul

I just saw this sketch from a reporter in Istanbul. Gorgeous!

Sending handknitted socks to Japan

I packed up 9 pairs of socks to send to Japan for earthquake survivors, these are all socks I knitted but have never (or rarely) worn. I am sending them to a group called Socks for Japan that I found on facebook.

Another fun craft fair at Ft. Mason

Yesterday, I went to another craft show at Ft. Mason. I was about to leave when I noticed that one of the vendor's names looked very familiar--it was Leslie Lawton, a writer who worked with me at McAnn-Erickson Advertising in Los Angeles, many years ago! She was selling some gorgeous jewelry, so of course I had to buy one of her bracelets. What a small world!

Paper dresses at the Legion of Honor

Today, I saw the exhibit "Pulp Fashion: The Art of Isabelle de Borchgrave". It is fascinating to see up close all these historical costumes made of hand painted paper. There is also an excellent book about the exhibition, but nothing substitutes for seeing the actual dresses. Another artist, Anandamayi Arnold, was making a paper dress as a demonstration of how it is done, so I snapped a picture of her (no photos allowed inside the Pulp Fashion exhibit, unfortunately.)

The other photo is one of my favorite pieces in the Legion's collection. I walked past it on the way to see the other excellent show that is on display there now, miniature paintings by Arthur Szyk. I saw the book about his work at the recent Antiquarian Book Festival in SF, but had not seen any of his paintings until today. It takes a magnifying glass to see all the marvelous detail in his paintings, they are full of symbolism and humorous details.

My crocheted flower

Last weekend, I test-crocheted a vintage potholder/trivet pattern. I liked it so much, I made this one using some cotton yarn with long color changes from my stash. I love how it came out! Wouldn't it be fun to make a bunch of these to decorate your table?

A groovy new yarn with my name on it!

At the recent Stitches West event, I discovered a lovely pink and green ribbon yarn called Marina! It came with a free pattern to knit a ruffled scarf with just one ball, so of course I had to buy it. It was not the easiest thing to knit, since I had to pull the ribbon out to find the hole for my knitting needle on every stitch, but I managed to finish the scarf on one day.