and another thing….

after work, a glass of wine, a Cadbury cream egg and a shower, we headed out for dinner. I was looking for the Italian restaurant where I had a great dinner last year in Chelsea, Pelicano. It was boarded up with a sign that said it was operating out of another location, but we decided to eat at the place next store, Elistano.

We made small talk with an older gentleman who was waiting for a friend--he told us about the neighborhood and local restaurants (this one he's been coming to for 20+ years)

Later on the best line we overheard from his table was from his companion, a younger woman. "You have a chauffeur, I do not."

Our dinner was excellent, paired with a Montepulciano and followed by a complimentary Limoncello. We both got the 2 course set dinner with fried cheese wrapped in prosciutto with mustard greens and very tasty cherry tomatoes.
We also shared a fried calamari appetizer.
I had spaghetti carbonara and Wayne had spaghetti marinara with mussels.
It was delicious, but so filling we couldn't finish.

After dinner we walked quite a bit around Chelsea and Kensington before heading back to the flat. I took some photos on our walk:

 

London Workday

I worked in the London office today after starting the day working from the flat. High speed WIFI is now officially on the "must-have" to rent list for apartments.

To catch up from last night, here's a pic of our half-eaten "cod and chips".

I like mine soaked in malt vinegar.

Leather jacket 

We decided when we started planning this trip that this would be our first meal in London. According to Malcolm (the gentleman who manages our flat), fish & chips are a bit "down market" for Knightsbridge, but found anyway, and only a few blocks from the flat.

 I don't remember what my ale was called, but Wayne's was "Hobgoblin".

I should have noted the shop name, but this caught my eye, and proved more interesting close up. It is leather/suede. The texture was achieved using leather lacing.

Our view.

Just to be clear: yes, we are staying in Knightsbridge, one of (or maybe THE) most expensive areas of London, but I got a deal (90GBP/night) and we are staying in a basement apartment. It is very nice and well equipped, but if you've watched "Upstairs, Downstairs", we are most definitely downstairs.

Tapas with the guys. (Thanks, Kumar!)

These guys are great! so good to see them again, even if only for a day. Manuela got back later than expected from Madrid, and I think Krishna was in a meeting.

From back left: Jon, Sarath, Me and Kumar

Most of the London QA team (and me)

Making my way back to the flat I experienced what I am calling the "London Crush""

'ello there!

Wayne and I made it to London earlier today. We took the British Airways direct flight from Austin to London. The incoming flight was late, so we departed late and arrived at 11am local time instead of 10am.
The plane was nice and new, and the double seats were nice (only 2 in our row)--lots of space between my seat and the fuselage to put stuff, but the seats were really narrow and the plane cold.
The flat in London is great--easy to get to (just a few blocks from Harrod's).
We walked around a bit after dropping off our bags--even spent some time in the Victoria & Albert, and we stumbled on a restaurant very close to the flat that serves fish & chips (apparently hard to find in this 'up-market' neighborhood.)

I took a selfie of me and Wayne on the tube, but we both looked horrible, so it has been deleted.

Saw George Clooney near the flat...

thought this was cool looking, then looked close at the photo

Some early indications of Spring

Bearing Gifts

The bags are (mostly) packed, the boarding passes printed out and the pet sitter bribed.
We leave tonight on the direct flight to London and I will be so happy to be cedar-free and miss the rest of SXSW.

We have quite a few friends over there, so, I take gifts. Here's what I've made for friends:

For Cedric's little flea.

For Jon's little ginger girl

For Sarath's little boy, due in June.

Mario the hedgehog for Miss Sophie Ann.

Socks for Momo

Dishcloths for various folks

Next stop, London!

Juliette

What a slacker!

I have been so bad about posting here--and about keeping on top of so many other things.

I blame the knitting.

I'm not sure I would have picked up sticks and strings if I knew how much of an obsession this would turn in to.

Here's the thing: I can sew just about anything. I can turn hideous color fabric into something beautiful by dyeing it. I can alter the crap out of clothes that don't fit or flatter. But sweaters alluded me. I longed for beautiful and unique sweaters made of natural fibers. (yes, I live in Texas, but I can dream or just turn up the AC.)
Now that I've made a couple of sweaters and many pairs of socks, I'm hooked. A co-worker who just started to sew described it well after making her first purse: "I made something for the first time. I took a pile of stuff and made something from it. It is so empowering."
I've had that with sewing for most of my life, but this is new to me, and I think that is the true allure. It is magical to me.

Anyway, I've had a few folks ask if/when I would update my blog (yes, you are one of them, Mom.)
As some of you know, Wayne and I are headed to Europe in a few weeks (yikes, I have some sewing to do!)

I plan to update this blog regularly for my friends who want to live vicariously. Please feel free to post questions/requests if you'd like me to check something out--not making any promises, but I'll consider it.

This time we are taking a direct flight on British Airways from Austin to London.
I wasn't planning on spending time in London, but since Wayne hasn't been before we decided to spend a few days before heading to the South of France.
I work for HomeAway which offers a program where employees can work in foreign offices and not take vacation(DeskAway). Yes, we pay all the travel expenses, but I keep on top of my work and we can eat dinner in Paris and I get to know my excellent co-workers in other countries.
Since I work for HomeAway, and don't especially like hotels and like to fantasize about living in places we visit, we are staying in vacation rentals for the entire trip.
It can be more expensive, but all the places where we are staying have:

• full kitchens(breakfast can be crazy expensive and Wayne is completely non-functioning before a couple of cups of coffee and even in an amazing city, sometimes you want to eat in)
• washing machines(this means we can take fewer clothes, travel lighter and leave some room in our luggage to bring back more swag)
• wifi (let's face it, this is no longer a luxury but a necessity)

Aside from those features, vacation rentals tend to have more local character than hotel rooms since they are individually owned and operated.

More to come….

Juliette

The Right Stuff

One of the hardest parts of making a Chanel-style jacket for me is finding the right trims. Sometimes you find the right texture, but the color is all wrong. Sometimes you find the perfect color, but the trim is too big, too small or just not the right style for the jacket. Thank goodness I know how to dye stuff.

I thought I had finally got the right color but after it dried it lightened up, so I don't know, may need one more dip in the dye bath...and now that I look at the photo I'm thinking that it isn't the right color at all. Sigh. I'm often torn between "get on with it" and "get it right". Considering the cost of the fabric and the amount of time I've already invested, I think I'll go for the latter...so it's back to the dye bath for sure...

The dyed trim--still not quite right

Possible trim combo

I have been playing with combinations of trims--the photo to the right is my front-runner. It's a little hard to see, but there is self-fringe on the bottom of the stack.
I really like the texture if the linen-y trim, but now thinking the color is too light, so that might go back in the dye bath, too.

Maybe I should just go back to the Aran sweater that I've frogged 3 times. Or I could clean the house. Nah.

Juliette

Felting fun

I've been playing around with felting using yarn I've gotten at Tuesday Morning. If you don't know, felting is what happens when you submit natural wool yarn to heat, moisture and agitation. Most of us have unintentionally experienced this--the wool sweater that gets thrown in the wash and comes up doll-sized.
Believe it or not, sometimes people do this on purpose. According to Knitting: Fashion, Industry, Craft
some hats were made by knitting fabric pieces, felting the piece, then cutting out the shapes and sewing them together.
I've done a few samples, but this was my first finished project: the bag is knitted complete then felted (I've found the "sanitize" cycle on my front-load machine works great). After felting the bag is about 20% smaller, and the fabric is very sturdy and dense.

felted bags

So, how does this 'felting' work, you ask? (SOOO glad you did!) Untreated wool fibers have scales on them:

closeup of wool fiber

Those scales work like a cable tie--you know those plastic straps that you can pull tighter, but can't loosen? All those fibers criss-crossing keep getting pulled tighter, making the overall dimensions smaller, but the fabric itself thicker.

Washable wool doesn't do this because its been treated--either to coat the edges of the scales or to etch them away. 

Pretty cool, huh?

yeah, I'm a fiber nerd, and dang proud of it. :)

Juliette