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.

after: spring cleaning

Originally uploaded by cignoh

as promised, here is an 'after' spring cleaning picture (before). there is still a lot of stuff, i know, but at least almost everything is in a logical place and semi-easily locatable. there are also still individual areas that need to be addressed (kitchen cabinets, a few more boxes of paper/photos/stuff to sort through) but i'll tackle these a little at a time, not necessarily immediately.

spring cleaning and more

Originally uploaded by cignoh

i haven't been crafting as much as i wanted to, but am still taking a photo.a.day and spent much of the week doing some spring cleaning. i'm very much a pack rat, it's so hard for me to throw things away and/or stay organized and be able to find stuff when i need to, but i think i'm getting a little better (probably hard to tell from the photographs!). it actually looks much better now than what you see in the photo, and i hope to post an after picture soon. i think the process of taking photos of my stuff before i throw them out or put them away helps me.

also, here are some miscellaneous photos from the past week:

psychics	thai new year
rice cooker cartoon	bus stop
salton sea	mint lemonade

they include pics from a thai new year festival and a day trip to the salton sea (links to sets).

youngme / nowme

youngme / nowme
Originally uploaded by cignoh

for my photo.a.day today, i decided to participate in the youngme/nowme photo contest. the idea is to start with a photo of yourself as a young child and try to recreate the same photo, but of yourself now. the most important factors should be your pose and facial expression, but other things to consider are clothing, colors, lighting, environment, props, composition, etc.

i was unable to mimic my surroundings exactly since my patio looks nothing like the one from the original photograph and also couldn't recreate the composition of the original photo because my patio was too small to place the camera anywhere else and still fit myself in the photo. i also didn't have clothes that looked similar, so i just wore my current day choice of lounge/sleepwear. the colors were pretty different/distracting, so made both photos black and white, adjusted the levels a little, and added some grain to the new one to try to match the original better.

veggie and rice soup

Originally uploaded by cignoh

i made some soup for dinner last night. i sauteed chopped onions, carrots, and celery until the onions were clear, then added chicken broth and rice and boiled everything for about 20 minutes. then i added some frozen (fresh would be fine too, probably better) baby spinach at the end with a little salt and pepper to taste. it was very simple, but tasted yummy and healthy too...

portraits, piggie, palm trees, and bottles

Originally uploaded by cignoh

i'm continuing to try to take a photo a day. it's hard to keep up---some days i feel like doing it more than other days. i ordered a camera bag to replace my purse and plan to carry my camera with me most of the time... i hope that will make it easier...

fancy ham n cheese sandwiches

mmmm...
Originally uploaded by cignoh

my friend told me about these awesome ham and cheese sandwiches from a restaurant in pasadena---they are made with ham, gruyere (my favorite!) and pineapple, and then served on homemade hawaiian rolls. we tried them, and they are as good as they sound. i'd like to try to make some soon...

this odd little piggie

Originally uploaded by cignoh

today i made a stuffed pig. it's the 2nd stuffed animal/object that i've made, the first being a football. i think that i have a hard time picturing what something will look like in 3d as the piggie turned out to be very oddly-shaped and not at all like i pictured---supposed to be a round ball w/ 4 feet sticking on the bottom, and a tail behind him. instead, he is a little angular, lopsided, and oddly proportioned, but that's ok, i like him anyway. he will eventually be attached to a baby mobile (other people will be making other animals/shapes) and will be given as a gift to a friend who is expecting in june. he is about 4"Wx3"Lx4"D.

cooking by internet

mini quiches
Originally uploaded by cignoh

yesterday, i had afternoon tea with some friends. we each made one or two dishes, the menu was:

* scones (orange pecan and date)
* clotted cream and jam/jelly
* banana chiffon cake
* matcha cupcakes
* chicken salad sandwiches
* cucumber dill cream cheese sandwiches
* egg salad sandwiches
* sesame squares
* strawberries, plain and chocolate dipped
* meat buns
* mini quiches (mushroom and spinach)

yummy!

i made mini quiches and egg salad sandwiches by combining recipes that i found online:

****** mini quiches ******

from this recipe, i found advice on making mini quiches in the comments section:
Reviewed on Oct. 12, 2004 by hope03
These might be okay appetizers, but these are not quiches. To make PERFECT mini quiches, use the Cream Cheese Tart Shells recipe on this site and also the Basic Quiche by Shelley. Use a mini muffin tin. I placed a tiny cube of pepper jack cheese, a tiny piece of canned mushroom and a tiny tear of frozen spinach (defrosted) in each cup, then filled with the egg mixture. Baked at 350 for 15-20 minutes until edges were beginning to get golden. Ah, they looked and tasted very professional!

here are the recipes that she refers to:
recipe: cream cheese tart shells
recipe: basic quiche filling

i pretty much followed hope's instructions, but i added tiny cubes of pepper jack, havarti, and mozzarella cheese instead of just pepper jack. i also used baby chopped spinach. i think i added the specified amount of salt to the quiche mix, but it maybe could've used a tiny bit more... i baked them for longer than 20 min, more like 25-30 min.

****** egg salad sandwiches ******

i combined these 2 recipes:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Egg-Salad-I/Detail.aspx?prop31=3
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Egg-Salad-III/Detail.aspx?prop31=5

and added the following:

8 eggs
2 T country dijon mustard (a little bit sweet)
4 T mayonnaise
1 t dill weed
1 t paprika
1 T minced red onion
1 celery stalk chopped
1 T pimento stuffed green olives chopped
salt/pepper to taste

i think i added a little too much salt but was otherwise happy with the egg salad. also, i followed these instructions to boil the eggs---a couple of them cracked a little, but it seemed ok otherwise. does anyone have better/different advice?

week of photos with focus on bcam

here's a week's worth of photos:

	subway
	mandarin fetus
	ganesh
	jars
	bike rack
	bcam
	date scones

and a focus on the broad contemporary art museum (bcam) at the lacma (more photos here):