I visited Livingston Mall two days before Christmas, and instead of buying anything, I had an unexpected photo shoot. I knew the mall was experiencing a decline, and while I wasn’t anticipating large crowds, I still found it jarring when I saw barely another soul in the whole place. It was dead quiet, and many of the stores were shuttered.
Read More: A Dead Mall Liminal Space
I thought you might like to hear about my latest obsession and see what I’ve been working on.
I recently found a new source for brass channel ring blanks, which gives me access to a much wider range of ring sizes than I had before, and has triggered a bit of an obsession on my part. If I could, I would sit at my clay table making rings all day every day. One for me, one for the shop. One for me, one for the shop. Two for me, one for the shop 🤣
I love these colorful little hunks of brass so much, I can’t even explain it.
Today’s blog post is a stream-of-consciousness brain dump about the hold that brass rings currently have on me. I talk about a few other things, too. Maybe click through and read the whole thing if you’ve got a few minutes? Maybe even post a comment and tell me, am I in good company? Or have I possibly gone a bit off the deep end where brass rings are concerned? 😁
Read More: Five (or more) Golden Rings 💍💍💍💍💍
I’ve just returned from Walgreens, where I got my flu shot in one arm, and my COVID shot in the other. I’m prone to fever and chills after a COVID booster, so before that happens, I’m hopping on here really quickly to tell you about my Small Business Saturday sale for 2024.
I know it’s Friday. It’s even a particular Friday known for sales and promotions, but I have never liked the idea of Black Friday. (Remember when it was just “the day after Thanksgiving?” Yeah. Me too.) Small Business Saturday, though, is something I can get behind. And not just because I have a small business of my own.
So, before I start shaking my fist and telling the young’uns to get off my lawn, let me just leave this coupon code here: SHOPSMALL24
Use that code to get 24% off of everything in the Polka Dot Cottage shop. That includes all handmade items and all patterns, tutorials, or other downloadables. The coupon is good until next Friday, but since I tend to make things in very small batches of one or two, you shouldn’t wait too long if you see something you like. It might not be there tomorrow!
Read More: Small Business Saturday, all week!
Last week I attended the first Polymer Claycation, an event that has risen up from the ashes of the old Clayathon. It happened at a different time of year, and at a different venue, but I saw many of the same familiar faces, and the make-whatever-you-like-to-make vibe was alive and well.
Read on to see everything I worked on, and to hear a little bit about the experience!
Read More: Polymer Claycation
I have two sweaters to show you! One of them I put the finishing touches on just this week, and the other one has been waiting for me to take pictures of it for roughly a YEAR.
The first cardigan is a pattern by Tin Can Knits and features a lovely cabled yoke. It was a bottom-up knit, which is not my favorite, but I enjoyed knitting the cables. And there’s something to be said for saving the interesting part for last.
The other cardigan is the Striped Yoke Cardigan, which is one of my own patterns. I made some significant changes to the yoke for a more customized fit, and I’ve worn it many times over the past year. This one was a top-down knit, which means you get to do the fun part right away, but then you’re stuck with the stockinette slog for the next few weeks until it’s done.
Both methods have their pros and cons.
Keep reading for more details, photos, and links to the patterns, yarns, and button-making instructions!
Read More: A Tale of Two Cardigans
I look out the window and all of the back yard trees are brilliant shades of orange and red. It’s lovely. A few weeks ago, when there was still some green to be seen, I treated myself to a roll of Lomochrome Purple so I could indulge in a bit of film photography with a fantasy color palette.
I also made a new playlist, and I called it Purple is a Fall Color. Despite the name and the cover image, the idea of “purple” doesn’t feature prominently in these songs. In fact, I am fairly sure the word “purple” does not appear in a single title or lyric of the 20-odd tracks. Sometimes a playlist cover is just a playlist cover.
Read on to see some of my favorite images from the roll, and to listen to some nice Autumnal music.
Read More: Purple is a Fall Color
Our home base during this trip to Scotland in August was Glasgow, We had train stations and bus stops within walking distance of our hotel, and wherever we wanted to go, there was a bus or a train to get us there. I took a thousand photos (no exaggeration) and earmarked 300 of them as “favorites” that I shared with family and friends. But I also chose 60 images that were my “favorite favorites” because 300 is a lot to digest.
Would you like to see? Read on for a link to my photo album and a playlist of short videos I made for each day of our trip!
Read More: Photos and Videos from Scotland
It’s hard to believe after thinking about a potential trip to Glasgow for five years, here we are on the other side, having been there and back already. We’ve been home for more than a month! I want to share some of my favorite photos from that trip, but I’m actually not finished telling you about the sewing and knitting I finished before we left. So how about we wrap that bit up today?
So, last I told you I had gone down a shirt-making rabbit hole. I thought I was finished with that, but it turns out, I had a few more in me. And I wanted to try my hand at making a dress to wear to the Hugo Awards, too.
I sewed one more top based on my Barefoot Summer Sheath pattern, and one more Simplicity 3835. Then I got all experimental and added sleeves to the Sheath pattern, resulting in a dress that was super comfortable and nice enough to wear to an awards ceremony.
I finished the squishy garter-stitch shawl I was working on a few months ago, and it was actually just right for the Scottish weather and my short-sleeved dress.
Read on for all of the details!
Read More: Three shirts, a dress, and a shawl
I have so many new things to share – more shirts and dresses sewn, a finished knit shawl, photos from Scotland – but the most overdue of them all is this Summer playlist. I compiled these songs together in late May and have listened to them ad nauseum since then. This is probably my favorite playlist that I’ve made in recent memory. Have a listen and tell me what you think!
Read More: Middle-Age Summer
Neil and I are going to Scotland in August, and I was thinking about what to wear on the trip. Jeans? Check. Funky colorful shoes? Check. A week’s worth of colorful handmade tops in colors that coordinate well with the funky shoes? Eh, not really.
So, I went shopping. Picked out three plaids and three florals, and sewed myself six new tops, using two tried-and-true patterns.
And then I had a photo shoot outside on a 90-degree day, and did six costume changes, including glasses and earrings, so that I could share these new lovelies on my blog. Come and see!
Read More: Vacation Sewing
Bangle Bracelets
$20.00 – $42.00
Barrettes
$30.00
Dangly Earrings
$30.00
Inlay Rings
$24.00 – $32.00
Crochet Hooks
$24.00
Stick Pens
$16.00
Seam Rippers
$28.00
Stud Earrings
$16.00 – $20.00
Focal Buttons
$8.00 – $10.00
Shawl Pins
$30.00
