Dumbarton Oaks

our Memorial Day plans origionally included a trip to PA to see Longwood gardens but we canceled them in favor of a little r~n~r at home. to satifsy my garden itch i invited my mom to come along with me on Sunday to Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown. this is one of those places i've been meaning to visit forever! WOW was it worth it.

we had the most perfect weather, not hot, not cold, no clouds.

there were no crowds! i'm not sure if this was because it was a holiday weekend but i really don't care why the locals and tourists were not flocking to this garden~i hate crowds, i love gardens, more for me!


here we found Pan in a little hiden corner.

we timed the visit just right for the end of the peony blooms and the peak of the roses.

i have no idea what this thorny bramble bush is but these spikes were large (4-6") and the bushes were 8-12' tall.

although there are numerous "rooms" to the garden each with a different theme the overall feel was very Italian in style. this makes sense since the garden was bequeathed to Harvard mainly for Byzantine, garden and landscape studies (as well as other areas of study).

tagged, i am

Cici of sistahs that knit tagged me so here goes...

"The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer."


1) What was I doing 10 years ago?
i was graduating from SCAD, trying to find a job in the textile industry, preparing to move from ga back to md

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today?
work, blog, nia, cook, laundry, knit (okay that's 6)

3) Snacks I enjoy:
edamamme, french fries (weakness rarely indulged), fruit, pita chips & hummus, nuts-various other than peanuts & cheese

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
start my own company, donate, travel, help out family, invest, own a farm

5) Places I have lived:
Philippines, Maryland, Georgia, Kentucky, Virginia

6) Jobs I have had:
carpet designer, textile designer, retail sales (all sorts), manager of Mrs. Fields cookie store


7) Bloggers I am tagging who you will enjoy getting to know better (hope they won't mind):
Christina
Kara
Marley
Sarah
Betz

kitty alarm clock

this is to funny not to share, if you don't have cat's you probably won't understand.

ICFF Accessories

there were a lot of accessories being offered this year, many being additions to furniture or lighting lines and others companies with a focus on this category. below was an offering from a furniture company whom i presume was looking for a whimsical way of using up wood scraps. these blocks have wind up music makers with many melodies to choose from and they wobble around as they play. i can't find this company anywhere and apparently i didn't get a business card so let me know if you have additional info on this exhibitor.


Dwell Studio had a nice line up of linens and children's accessories and furniture shown. the designs focused on organic silhouettes, classic fretwork and more traditional renderings of organic subjects such as flowers, leaves, insects and birds.


there was a strong presence of British & UK design this year. this velcro wall system by Rachel O'Neill of northern Ireland, was another creative use of everyday materials. she also creates lighting and other accessories using velcro assembled in various ways.

British designer Lucy Renshaw's accessories are self described as "Bespoke Eco Furniture" which accurately identifies these accessories created using found textiles and other recycled objects in bright and funky color combinations.

there were a lot of black and white accessories with bright pop's of color. eco & green were the buzz words of the show this year with almost every exhibitor featuring products that were made from recycled materials, found objects, ecologically sustainable woods (FSC Certified) and other such materials. due to this there was a strong handmade presence or at least a visible "hand" in much of the work created.

ICFF Lighting

i am always drawn to lighting that is unique and uses new or unusual materials. this year at ICFF there were quite a few lighting vendors that caught my eye.

i don't have all the vendors names since i went for work and it was not my main focus but i do have some images to share.
from sparkles, to handmade papers, beautiful patterns and 3-d surface formations lighting is showing a strong presence and it's more creative than ever.
these feather pendant lights and handmade paper lamps were personal favorites of the show.

Josh Urso uses fabrics that have been formed and "frozen" in space. he also has a beautiful line of furniture using the same technique of molding and shaping fabric and rope into solid forms.

a very eclectic chandelier using found objects all unified by white.

Project Spectrum ~Earth WIP

here is my latest wip for the series of works i've been doing for project spectrum. the project will be shifing from the element earth (green, brown etc)to air at at the end of May. this simple, quick & free pattern for the
Lichen Cowl is fitting since Lolly founded Project Spectrum.

in planning for the next element, i did a yarn stash reorganization and inventory. while i had all (well not actually ALL!) of my yarn pulled out i was grouping them by color and decided to arrange it in a color wheel. this was really fun because it gave me a great overall sense of which colors i gravitate towards and i clearly like bright colors! i also have a LOT of natural undyed yarns from my days of working at Churchill Weavers. if you create a colorwheel with your yarn drop me a line and take a photo, i may need to create a flickr group for yarn colorwheels...

ICFF Students and Designboom

the idea behind these salt and pepper shakers is that you have to break them to use them. how clever is that? the more i thought about the idea the more i liked them, them are a simple and beautiful design from Mey & Boaz Kahn from Israel.

i forgot to include this fun trash filled chair by a student (Nick DeMarco)at the california college of the arts booth.