lazy may

i had a lazy may in that i didn't go very far out of my way to take photos for my photo.a.day project. i mostly documented my daily life---crafts that i made; restaurants that i went to and the food and people that i saw in them; people, places, and things i saw during my commute. here are the results:

crochet
people
piggies
nature
misc
la
refashion
food

flickr set for month of may can be found here...

another tshirt dress and outdoor self-portrait experiments

i decided to make another tshirt dress by combining three tshirts. the first was one that a friend gave me but that i haven't worn in a long time---i left it intact since it fit well, and i modified the other two into a an asymmetrical drapey skirt, similar to the one i made last week but longer. the dress was inspired by the same book that i used last week, t-shirt makeovers by sistahs of harlem. i originally attached the skirt to another shirt but wasn't paying attention to the measurements and found the skirt wasn't wide enough---also, the shirt was a little too short-waisted, i thought it looked better with the longer top. after a lot of seam ripping, i came up with this...


Originally uploaded by cignoh

i haven't been that happy with the results that i'm getting photographing myself inside, so i decided to try shooting outside. i have a bunch of clothing projects that i made but didn't document since 2006 so i plan to experiment with taking photographs of myself wearing them. i even bought some reflectors today and was using them in the above photo, but i'm not sure if it's obvious since i'm so frontally lit (or maybe i put the reflector in the wrong place)...

below is a photo that i took earlier this week without using reflectors. it's a ruffled tshirt that i made, again from the same book. like i said, i really like the book... i thought the sunlight was too bright on the left side, and the shadow side a little too dark, so that's why i got the diffusor/reflectors, but when i went to take a photo in the same spot today, there was a car in the way, so i'll try again another day...

Originally uploaded by cignoh

tshirt dress

Originally uploaded by cignoh

i went shopping yesterday and was looking for spring/summery dresses, but didn't buy anything. instead, today i decided to make a tshirt dress out of an old braveland tshirt from my husband, some brown jersey material that i had for the skirt, and a strip of wool plaid from a skirt that i made before. the dress has a tie-neck collar that is kind of hard to see in the photo, and the skirt has extra fabric on the side for draping. i got the idea from a book called 't-shirt makeovers' by sistahs of harlem, carmia marshall and carmen webber (i love this book, btw) and followed the basic form but made some modifications---the instructions called for a mesh material for the belt, which i didn't have, so i substituted the wool plaid. also, the right hip was a little bumpy (also can't see in the photo, but on purpose) so i reshaped the lines around that part, and the arms/bust area didn't fit that well so i sewed a darts on either side. as a result, the shirt no longer says 'braveland' but 'd' 'upside down U' 'raveland'. i like it.

shabu shabu

last night, i had a korean-style shabu shabu meal. i haven't had shabu shabu in a long time, and usually when i do, it's either japanese- or chinese-style, but it was cool to try it it korean-style... there are some differences from what i'm used to. you cook the meats and veggies in broth (water?) like normal, but instead of eating them in a soup bowl, you eat them in lettuce wraps that have rice and shredded egg on top (not cheese!). there were a bunch of dipping sauces that i liked---a bean-like sauce that you add for the lettuce wraps, as well as a peanut and spicy sauce for meats and seafood and a dumpling sauce for dumplings and also some kim chee. after the meal, they prepared a kim chee rice porridge that was also yummy. finally, they serve a mochi dessert, along with a cinnamon drink that i've never had before---i liked it a lot and want to know where i can get more... it reminded me of goldschlager but without the gold sparkly bits, a lot less intensely cinnamon, and non-alcoholic. i think there were a couple of pine nuts in it too which i thought was a nice touch.

here are some pics, although they are very grainy because of the low light...

	dipping sauces
	boiling broth
	meat and veggies starting to cook
	lettuce wraps
	meats and seafood
	ingredients for kimchee rice porridge
	kimchee rice porridge
	mochi dessert and cinammon drink

Originally uploaded by cignoh

failed attempt to crochet a bullion circle

Originally uploaded by cignoh

i followed this tutorial that robinde sent me, but something went wrong... there are loops outside of my circle, but i don't think there are supposed to be... also, when i went back to close my circle, i couldn't find the 3rd chain stitch that i made from step 3 of the tutorial. help/suggestions?

* addendum: based on suggestions from robinde, i tried again, and like the results better. it definitely helped to pull on the loose yarn to tighten the bullions as i made them. also, i read the instructions more carefully and realized some stuff i did incorrectly the first time around:

finally! a crochet hyperbolic plane

Originally uploaded by cignoh

last fall, i discovered crochet hyperbolic planes and other work at The Institute for Figuring and decided that i really wanted to make them. i had taught myself how to crochet briefly but it had been a couple of years since i had made anything. in february, during thing a day, i attempted to crochet a hyperbolic plane, only to discover that i couldn't really remember how to crochet anymore. i got about halfway through my first row of single crochet (it's hard to make single crochet stitches into the chain!) but was making mistakes---i think i was getting confused with the stitches and crocheting multiple stitches into the same stitch or skipping stitches, etc. when i realized that i wouldn't be making a hyperbolic plane for my thing.a.day, i gave up and did something else that day, and then didn't touch it again since then.

a couple of days ago, on a plane ride, i decided to tackle it again and am proud to report that i was finally successful and have completed my first hyperbolic plane. in this one, i started out with about a 5 in chain and then after the first row, i increased once every three stitches. i used a rowan cork yarn (95% merino wool, 5% nylon) and was thinking of trying to felt it but i'm not sure---i don't have that much experience with felting. i actually made another plane before i made this one that was made of a bright blue cotton yarn where i increased one in every six stitches, but i think my needle was too big, and the overall result too floppy. plus, i started with too long of a chain and ran out of yarn, so it just turned out to be long, relatively flat and floppy. i might try that one again since i like the color of the yarn.

i hope to end up with an aquarium/shelf full of hyperbolic planes and other sea creations. i'd like to expand and try making tubes and other forms.