i am not sure if you have ever read the book "garden of eden" by ernest hemingway, a story about an american writer and his bride honeymooning in the south of france and spain. it was a good story, provocative, but good.

when i was visiting hege last week. i thought of this book. how hemingway describes french riviera made me think of cape cod. it is like a fisherman's village. the quaintness is so new england.

i love the light houses, love the field of purple flower i saw in woods hole, and the beach. that place was so peaceful i could cry. sitting in the village, i can smell the sea.

it has been so long since i was surrounded by boats. cape cod has lots of beautiful sailboats and yachts. how typical can this be? a perfect scene.

i still remember the warmth of the sand on my toes, that day, it was just the two of us on the beach. we were embraced by the view of deep emerald sea, sporadic sail boats, sounds of the waves. i was floating in the sea, looking up to a cloudless sky. can you imagine?

i brought back memories. these little quartz rocks were shaped small enough for my pocket. they are out of their natural habitat. without the ocean, they lost their luster. i'm keeping them alive in water, which is the least i can do.

then of course, there was food. the lobster, the clambake, i can never have enough.

i have probably said it somewhere, it is always the people that made you think of a place fondly, i love cape cod because of hege.

posted by blossom at 03:10 PM | Comments (15)

knit project: rebecca 29 - conflower tunic (blue tunic dress)
difficulty (1-5): 1.5
size: smallest (32-34 in)
yarn: 100% linen yarn from joujouka
knitting specs: US 6 cir.

i love linen. it is quintessential for summer.

pattern for my cornflower tunic was a combination of rebecca 29's dress and the silk cami from LMKG. i wanted a sexy little slip-on that i can wear to the pool or sea side. perhaps with a cami, a pair of white, flare linen pants and leather, bohemic flats, too. corflower tunic has successfully fulfilled my desire for such wardrobe. bliss.

i have not washed the dress yet so hopefully the lousy grafting of these wispy straps won't fall off when i do.

come to think of it, my straw hat goes with the dress as well. when the time is right, everything seems to just match up perfectly.

fits wonderfully, too!

summer is soft hence sepia tone is much better than black & white

posted by blossom at 08:28 PM | Comments (31)

while i was at the DC meeting, i kept thinking why on earth have i not knit myself a light weight sweater like this, this or this... so can stay warm in the air conditioned room and still look business appropriate.

time, i need more of it. i have not been very productive as far as knitting goes. but really, i have great intentions to make some lovely looking tops this summer. like my butterfly, i did not touch it for almost six months. same with sewing, i now have all the fabrics and patterns to make several skirts and dresses, yet i am struggling to balance work, life, fun, cooking and exercise all in one little confined timeframe. aren't we all victims of not having enough time to do everything we want to.

still, though, there has been a period of my life when i was jobless. i had all the time in the world but my motivation to do anything other than being a couch potato was non-existent. it seems to me that life is all about having contrasts, a vacation is only attractive when it involves a job, a duty or a responsibility. a desire is only there when you can not freely explore life.

bleh, bleh, bleh... it is the third weekend in the row that i had to pop in the lab to handle my work. i'm off now to hang out with my girlfriend and then to the mall. if i do find a light weight sweater there please do not think that i've betrayed my knitting. thanks girls!

posted by blossom at 01:01 PM | Comments (7)

i was traveling to washington dc for business the past few days, what an exhausting trip! i did not have time to mix business with pleasure, only some obligatory scenes of the place:

an iron fence separating the lively demonstration on penn. avenue and the serene white house

capital hill can be an interesting place, wish i had more time to explore.

i was really happy to read all of the comments from you about my top. i've worn it to work already but nobody said anything, they probably think i bought it. this silence from others is really a compliment to me, strangely. i am glad that my friends no longer look at me and said "did you make this"!!

i thought i'd knit a lot during my trip, but i had only managed to cast on and knit the second lemon tree sock. my cornflower tunic is close to finish and it looks like i may be able to wear it to cape cod next week, as i had planned from the beginning. lovely!

posted by blossom at 09:02 AM | Comments (11)

pattern: butterick B4549
difficulty (1-5): 2.2
pattern size: 10
fabric: 1.25 yd of amy butler's charm fabric in creams king's fern, invisible zipper

a kimono style top in amy butler's charm fabric. amy calls her fabric creams king's fern. hence, i'm calling it my king's fern. the shirt can be a little revealing, so i wear it with a cami. but, it may be a bathing suit underneath if i'm heading towards the beach.

there is very likely to be a second top with this pattern. kaffe fassett's purple chrysanthemum print with green floral borders. possibilities are endless, and i can't have them all this summer.

oh i so adore this sewalong project.

i was initially a little apprehensive about the fit. then, after reading a couple reviews online, i decided to make it a size smaller and i think it turned out just right. also, after working on a series of butterick's patterns, i think their designs tend to run big with a lot of ease; height waisted, too, for pants and skirts.

modifications were very minute for this project, a major one being the facings for neckline and armholes. i did not follow the directions but instead i had created what seamstresses would called the biased binding for hems. i was quite confused with the instructions and had misunderstood initially. anyway, i liked it better this way. i had also installed the zipper for the entire left side of the bottom pieces instead of per instruction. not sure which way was better, but this is simply just a personal preference.

in this particular project, i had tried to be neat on seaming and sewing the lines straight. sewing is a true testament for craftsmanship, i need to warrant it more attention and patience.

overall, i love this top, and i love it even more with the help of these little clips. i will never be able to sew without you guys. really.

the best sewing notion of all times: cute little butterfly clips

and trust me... that bottle of spray glue, you will love it. especially when folding hemlines and such!

butterfly clips also came with the following:

a cross-stitched initial (me!) framed in the most luscious silver...

check and stripe's dotty linen fabrics and others...

a pattern of a cute shirt (which i'll make with the polka dot linen fabric)...

leather handles for my future bag projects...

all of these lovely things from a talented girl who lives in room101, flat b...

thank you. joujouka. you made my day!

posted by blossom at 10:49 PM | Comments (24)