See ya'all when I get back next weekend....aaahhh....time to rest.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

One of my favorite things to do in this world (beside make things of course!) is travel. I can find joy in almost anything when I'm traveling....whether its an old European cathedral, a jittery bus ride in Central America or just a farmers market in the midwest.

This past week was my one year anniversary living in San Francisco. It got me doing the old "what was I doing this time last year?" philosophical bit (did I mention that our TV broke? It's been a good thing as far as fueling reflections and such).

Well, this time last year, our honeymoon was coming to a close (in a physical sense...emotional honeymoon is still alive!). We were just arriving back into the U.S. and I was making the big move to the city.

I thought this would be a good time to start sharing some of the highlights of our trek. So, each week (I can't guarantee which day each week), I'm going to share with the blogosphere...and my new crafty friends, a page from our travel journal.

With a polaroid camera in tow, we backpacked across Indonesia with the pledge that we would take 2 polaroid pictures each day....one of someone that represented the day and one for the person we took a picture of. The polaroid would become the illustration in our journal.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

Journal Entry:

(Not word for word, of course. I like you guys too much to bore you like that). After our extremely tiring 3-day wedding (more on that another day), we set off for the Los Angeles airport. We were dropped off by my parents, Aunt and Godfather (shown in the polaroid - yes they got a copy polaroid of this shot!). Our wedding was the first time they had come to the U.S., and we were really really sad to have to say good-bye.

The folks of Northwest Airlines were pretty pissed off that we showed up "extremely late" (an hour & a half prior to departure - they have no idea what we're capable of)....and escorted us through security right to a couple of extremely roomy exit row seats. If this is the way they're going to "punish" us when we're late, then, well...you know....

Our cushy ride promptly ended with some motherly duties. Not my motherly duties, some other mother's duties. I'm not a mother...but...you get the point anyway. We'll call them that, but I've never experienced anything like it before. Now, I understand that I don't have kids, and I may not know what it means to have to respond to the call of duty. But the story that follows was like a re-occurring visit to bathroom bizarr-o.

So we're sitting there in the exit row trying our best to keep ourselves entertained on this excessively loooong flight. A woman and her 5 year old daughter march over to directly in front of us, and squats down. Let me help you picture this...by "directly in-front of"....I mean..."six to 12 inches in front of...". The woman pulls out a small bucket, sets it on the ground, lines it with a plastic bag. She then pulls her daughters pants down and prompts her to squat....and...take....a...well...shit. The little girl took a crap right in front of us.

We didn't actually "see" the #2, but trust me when I say that it was.

We had other ways of knowing.

After she was done, she pulled her pants up, tied the bag as if she had just walked her dog in the park, and discards it in the bathroom trash can.

Now. Am I like overly proper, or was that weird? I know that "age 5" is not too young to use the toilet. I know this because I used to babysit when I was 12. And it's not like there was a huge line outside of the bathroom stall, and the little girl couldn't hold it. Did she think that would be entertaining to us?

Were we on candid camera?

About 10 hours later we landed in Tokyo. I was still figuratively paralyzed from the unfortunate toileting experience, but managed to set it aside to enjoy the little slice of Japan that I could. We did our best to soak up as much of Tokyo as we could - considering we were there for an hour and not allowed to actually "leave" the airport. A little gift shop window shopping and a bowl of udon later...we were boarded and flying to next layover of Seoul, Korea.

....to be continued....

Photo courtesy of OilCloth.Com.

In seaching for some new inspiration & materials to work with, I discovered OILCLOTH.
This bright, interesting and ever so easy-to-clean substance has been the object of affection for mothers and messy children for generations. And now....I intend to exploit the hell out of it. I want to cover every surface of my house with it and drive my husband absolutely mad! He HATES oilcloth. It makes him feel like a child. Do you blame him? It's plastic fabric for crying out loud.

Look what Yvestown did with it! The possibilities for the stuff are endless and OilCloth.com offers lots and lots of ideas on how to turn this wipeable substance into everyday items....and all with a vintage flair.
Photo courtesy of Cath Kidston.

This little polka dot pretty is a bag sold on the Cath Kidston website. This website goes nuts with Oil Cloth stuff to decorate your kitchen and deck or patio. Have you seen a pattern that looks like this bag? Amy Butler has the Weekender Travel Bag that sorta looks like it....but I'm looking for more of a "blowling ball bag" design. Any ideas??

Oooh...speaking of ideas....check out Amy Butler's inspiration page, it has the most beautiful ideas for projects and all the pictures just grab you and force you to feel like your on vacation in the back county savannah of the south.

Before embarking on an oil cloth extravaganza....don't forget to check out these tips for pushing that sticking plastic through your sewing machine

OOOOh Travelling in the current state of affairs is boat loads of fun, isn't it though?
More on that later....

A few distractions - I'm currently evaluating a few books for my collection. Have you snuck a peak? What do you think?

The first one is In Stitches by Amy Butler. I'm a huge fan of Amy....and this book comes with a bag full of surprises.....so I imagine it's a good one....

The 2nd one is Sublime Stitching by Jenny Hart. This one has an Oct. release date and boasts pages and pages of iron-on embroidery designs. I have the Stitch it Kit but have yet to make anything from it....I just *dream* about subjecting my guests to kitchy crafted bed linens.



I'm half way through my 4 city tour....and taking a breather for the weekend in sunny Sacramento where I'll check out the infamous outdoor Antique Fair & The 60th Annual Japanese Food & Cultural Bazaar! Yuuuummm, what could be better then a weekend filled with vintage goodies and tempura udon?

Pics to come!
Have a lovely weekend everyone.....

XOXO

Photo courtesy of Sarah of Zephyr Style.

I am one. A Sweater Whore. Thanks to Stacy....I'm addicted. Damnit. Ooh well, I might as well embrace my fate and pick cute patterns right?

Yeah!! Zephyr girls Rachel and Sarah to the rescue! They were the ones that designed my first sweater project - Green Gable...remember? From like 3 days ago? I know...not much time has passed....and here I am...casting on with #2...pretty cool considering I have like 10 other projects that were waiting in que prior to this one. And damnit, I've become such a selfish knitter! So anyway.....here it is....I present to you: Rusted Root...what do you think?
Photo courtesy of Sarah of Zephyr Style.

The Zephyr grrrrlz are pretty talented....so make sure an' check 'em out ye hear? Hip designs with a vintage flair.....

I'm using Rowan ~ Rowanspun 4 ply in Hansel (how cute is that name, though?):

You have to trust me when I say that it's a lot less baby-poo green in real life. The gauge is too tight and I know the sweater is going to be too small (wait a second! maybe THAT'S why I'm the "sweater whore"....because I look like one when I wear them!). Enough with the self-hate talk (that's what my therapist calls it).

Can I admit something to you without fear of judgment? This is the first time I've ever knit with tweed...and....Rowan for that matter. There. I said it. Am I considered a knit-blogger outcast now? Do I need to learn intarsia to redeem myself?

....los angeles....boise.....sacramento....minneapolis....

Well....I'm going back on the road.....4 city tour in 11 days. Think I'll survive? We'll see I guess...considering I'm PMS-ing (big time)....have a cold. My husband lovingly referred to my voice as "manly"....and here I thought it was a sexy-raspy.....no...not sexy. Manly. Thanks for that babe.

Well, I may not have a sexy voice...but I do have my rusted root...and with that folks....I'll catch you on the flip side!