Pansy Lane

Winnings From A Bag Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:31:00 +0000

I haven't been to a bag sale in ages, so when my old trusty favorite thrift shop announced it was having one, of course I had to give it a shot. I got there early, but there wasn't much to choose from because of the week-long half price sale that led up to it (boo).

I snagged a few of those '50s plastic and melamine dishes (in my favorite colors!) and an old GE clock radio that still works. And then there were the patterns. SO MANY PATTERNS! I felt like I was on Supermarket Sweep, just dumping them into my bag. I haven't been through them yet so I'm not sure how complete or cut-up they are, and I know a lot of them aren't even in my size, but I figured it was worth it to at least grab them and go through everything later. If the larger ones are in good enough shape I can always sell them on Etsy, so at least someone would get some use out of them!

Asheville Interlude

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:10:00 +0000

We spent the weekend in a cabin in Asheville, NC. It was my first time there, which always shocks everyone because it's full of vintage/antique shops and hippie-type people, both of which are my favorite things. The mountains were beautiful and the city seems very laid-back. I said on facebook that I felt like I cheated on Wilmington, and it's true-- I kind of want to move there now!

A friend gave us a few recommendations and we had breakfast at Early Girl Eatery, dinner at The Laughing Seed, and shopped for vintage house-things at Screen Door. At Screen Door I found a coconut purse in one of the booths (!) and a metal chair that folds out into a step stool, which is a must have for the kitchen because I'm short and can never reach anything. Sunday we picked up brownies at French Broad Chocolates.. I think I want to move there just because they have more than one fancy chocolate shop! Ahh!

It was cold so I forgot to take a proper outfit photo, but look! New coat! I found it at my favorite thrift shop-- or I should say the wonderful Ruth had it hiding it in the back-- and it was only ten bucks. It's made of sheep's wool and desperately needs to be dry cleaned because it's awfully yellowed, but its the warmest thing ever.

Coconut!

The Knitted Odd-bod Bunch

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:27:00 +0000

This is my current favorite pattern book-- The Knitted Odd-bod Bunch by Donna Wilson.

Well, I've never been compelled to actually buy pattern books until I saw this one, because the creatures are so weird and I realized that I need to make all of these things right away and give them to people and keep a bunch for myself and omgfun. For Christmas I got a little stack of hobby books, including a baby hat book (because I love to give those as gifts) bringing my total number of pattern books up to Two.

The style of the book is very homemade and oddball and reminds me a lot of Amy Sedaris's books (this would be right up her alley, really). Some of my favorites:

Love them. I'm in the middle of making the twins right now.

They're knitted flat on straight needles and then sewn together (or at least the twins are, I haven't tried anything else yet), and I forgot how little I knit on straights. I pretty much do everything on circulars. I would have used them for this but I don't have circs in a 4. I should really get some sort of set and just chuck all the straights out the window..

The Year In Outfits: 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:53:00 +0000

I've been looking forward to making this post because I always seem to forget about a lot of the photos from earlier in the year. It's left me feeling a little bittersweet, though, because it's painfully obvious that my posts became more sporadic and less fun once we moved back to NC, which is sad! I know the most boring thing in the world is for a blogger to promise to post more (as if you're on the edge of your seats!) but I really do want to get back on track for 2012. I also want to make my posts more fun and location-centered like they were in St. Louis and Albuquerque-- there are plenty of cities to visit around here, so that's what I'm going to do.

January: Leaving St. Loius. The last photos taken at Tower Grove Park, near the frozen lake.

February: Roswell & The Bottomless Lakes. Such a fun trip! We spent the day in Roswell and then spotted a sign for "The Bottomless Lakes" and decided to see what that was all about.

Runner up: Sepensortia. Rattlesnake Museum!

March: 10,378 ft. At the top of the mountain at Sandia Peak.

April: & Old Lace My 26th birthday photos!

May: The End of the Desert. The last photos at that gorgeous park in Albuquerque.

runner up: Tea Please! A fancy afternoon at the St. James Tea Room!

June: Greenfield Lake & Coming Home. Photos at the lake near our new place.

July: A Delicate Interest. A dainty and delicate old dress.

August: A Summer Uniform. Basically what I wore all summer. All hail those shorts!

September: Peppermint Dream. The dreamiest color palette ever.

October: New Hair, Old Dress.. I went red! Even though you can't tell in the picture..

November: Adventures in Red Hair. There! Red!

December: Everything Fancy At the river-- probably the new default outfit photo location.

So yes-- more day trips! We've been talking about going to Charleston soon, and Asheville..

Happy New Year to everyone!

Christmas Dress

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:50:00 +0000

Just a quick outfit post re: my holiday dress for this year! We stopped by the river to snap these photos just before driving home on the 23rd-- the dogs were staring at us from the car wondering what on earth was going on.

I'm kind of obsessed with peachy colors and red hair together. This was the other Modcloth dress that I bought on sale around Thanksgiving.. I'm so happy with it, even though it kind of desperately needs to be steamed/ironed-in-a-careful-way and I couldn't find my iron in all the pre-trip hubbub, and I refused to stress out about it because I was already worrying about a zillion other things. I think it still looks nice!

How was your holiday? Eat anything yummy or wear anything fantastic? I haven't planned a New Year's Eve outfit yet but I suppose I should get on that..

Modcloth dress
F21 cardigan
Chinese Laundry tights
Seychelles heels
Bat bracelet c/o My Selvaged Life

Bonus George-amongst-Christmas-rubble photo:

What I'm Making: DIY Kitchen Chalkboard

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 18:47:00 +0000

One day when we own a house I will have a chalkboard wall in the kitchen, because that's just the best thing ever. But that day is not today and a normal sized one will have to do. I decided to make my own after trying and failing to find a school-like green one that didn't cost a fortune-- as it turns out, they're incredibly easy (and cheap!) to make at home. Yay!

I used the tutorial for a DIY Chalkboard Headboard and altered it to make a hanging board.

I'm terrible at remembering to take in-progress photos!

Materials:

chalkboard paint
four yardsticks
wood stain
heavy duty hooks
plywood cut to your dimensions (ours is 2" x 4")
3/4" nails

The whole thing took two days total, but that's just because we had to apply two coats of paint and let it dry overnight. Jeremy ended up doing pretty much the entire project, so I can't take much credit for it besides finding the tutorial (and helping to to hang it on the wall, because it's heavy).

(Desserts: gingerbread whoopie pies and snickerdoodles, nom.)

Now I finally have somewhere to write the menu for the week! Much prettier than my usual scribbled-on-the-grocery-list tactic.

Everything Fancy

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:43:00 +0000

The post title is the name of this Modcloth dress and I just thought it was kind of perfect. Look-- cats! Birdcages! Chandeliers! Very fancy indeed.

Obviously I'm addicted to these vintage photoshop filters, but here's an unfiltered photo so you can see what my hair looks like in real (non-photoshopped) life. So bright! I think I fixed my dramatic dark ends problem, or at least improved it well enough for now. I really like this color so far (L'Oreal Mega Reds from Sally's).

The dress is via Modcloth, although it's because I won a contest (yay) and there was a mixup with the dress I was supposed to win, so I received a gift certificate instead. I used it to buy two dresses that were on sale because I'm thrifty. I was sent the necklace c/o My Selvaged Life in exchange for photographing it-- I absolutely love this thing for winter! It reminds me of a snow globe. It's a holiday variation of her orb necklace and I highly recommend that you all go to her shop and buy gifts for people right away, because her jewelry is so unique and beautifully made (and she didn't tell me to say that!) I bought the original version for my sis-in-law's birthday and she loves it. It's easily one of my favorite strange necklaces.

Modcloth dress
Chinese Laundry Tights
Seychelles heels
necklace c/o My Selvaged Life

Adventures in Red Hair

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:26:00 +0000

I've been so terrible about posting lately.

The weather has been all over the place (warm, cool, warm, cool, warmwarmwarm) which discourages me from dressing up in lovely fall outfits and blogging about them, and I've learned from almost three years of outfit-posting that if I'm just not in the mood I shouldn't try to force it. But! I took these photos last week and even though I look kind of weird (apparently I've forgotten how to not look so awkward) I wanted to discuss my redhead situation!

I'm still looking for the perfect red color. This is the second time I've dyed it since the original-- it looks bright in the photos but it's faded quite a lot since then, and I think I like the way this one is fading so far. The first color went brownish pretty quickly and this one (by Ion) is going more auburn. My goal is to have a natural, orangey-auburn color, but right now it's still uneven which is driving me nuts. I think I'm going to do a color remover this weekend and see if I can remove the dye from the ends, which are darker, and then try the whole thing again.

F21 sweaters
Thrifted skirt
Chinese Laundry sweater tights
Thrifted vintage boots (I've been wearing these every day. Love!)
Bow and bag made by me

Holiday Knitting Favorites

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:44:00 +0000

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN! Time to start frantically marathon-knitting in order to get everything done before Christmas, while watching episode after episode of something. Last year I had a Joss Whedon marathon and rewatched Buffy, Angel, Firefly and Dollhouse; this year I might do it again, but I'm probably just going to start over with Doctor Who, because I am predictable.

I have a long queue on Ravelry full of quick projects that I'm about to start for friends, so I thought I would share a few of my favorites. Handmade gifts are by far my favorite thing to give/receive, and I stand by the belief that people who don't like handmade presents are terrible and unworthy of my hard work and friendship in general. So! A list:

1. Mittens! I love everything by SpillyJane-- she wrote the pattern for last year's Piggy Mittens, which were ridiculously simple and crazy adorable. I don't know anyone who wouldn't be thrilled with a pair of handknit mittens.

Gnomes

Piggies

Swedish Fish

Persnickety

(All images except the piggies via SpillyJane Knits)

Also, these c at mittens via Jorid's Pattern Shop are gorgeous!

2. Reading Accessories

Okay, this is sort of an oddly-specific category, but if you have a friend who loves Doctor Who and has a kindle/nook/whatever, this is an awesome gift. I recently made this one for a friend away in Africa with the Peace Corps, and the little reminder of his favorite show was much appreciated! Although if you don't like Doctor Who (pfft) the basic pattern can easily be used with different colors.

TARDIS Kindle Case

3. Slippers

I have a sort of hate-hate relationship with actual socks. I've only made one pair, and they took forever and turned out pretty sad-looking. Slippers are another story! I made this pair last year for my mom-- she loved them and they only took an evening to finish.

Mary Jane Slippers (these are crochet!)

4. Baby Things/Adorable Toys!

If you're about my age, it probably seems like everyone either has a baby or is about to have one. This is GOOD NEWS for knitters! Baby knitting is quite possibly the best thing ever, because there are so many options and everything can be made relatively quickly. My favorite thing to make are hats and toys, although everyone should appreciate receiving a socktopus.

I just made this Cheery Scrap Cap for my nephew and it was super quick. The color changes are fun and it really does use up your scraps-- you can use small amounts of anything you have sitting around.

Obviously my love of the Socktopus is well documented, but I'll just leave this here because ADORABLE.

Elijah the Elephant and Dudley the Dinosaur (crochet) have also been pretty big hits!

Curly Purly Pattern (image via CurlyPurlyMarnie)

This is another super-specific pattern, but if you have friends who cloth diaper, wool soakers are a quick and easy gift that are worth doing a little research about. Wool has antibacterial properties and can absorb more than 1/3 of its weight before starting to feel damp, which makes them great for overnight.

Send me a link if you decide to make any of these!

House Updates

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:36:00 +0000

Just a few photos via my new friend Instagram..

We finally figured out a window-covering situation for the living room: bamboo shades! I love these things, they're so pretty with the wall color. They aren't super private at night, though, so we had to leave up the aluminum blinds (you can't see them behind the shades, so no big deal).

Various bookcase-things in my room .

Vintage salt & pepper shakers + spoons in the kitchen.

Porch!

Obviously we've been taking this whole home-design thing slowly-- we still haven't done anything to the bedroom and I have unfinished projects laying around everywhere. But! It's been lovely and I have no desire to rush through it.

Next up: a huge DIY chalkboard for the kitchen. Ahh!

Happy Halloween!

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:27:00 +0000

Love,

Weetzie the Unicorn & George the Monster

(Yes, we're those people. But aren't they adorable?)

What I'm Making: A Fall Rainbow Bag

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:29:00 +0000

My rainbow ruffle bag! I finally finished it. It's from the same pattern as the bag I made for my mom's birthday except this time around it took a bit longer to finish because I wasn't pressed for time. It's still a ridiculously easy pattern, though, and I highly recommend it! I used Knit Picks Palette because I preferred the way it felted over Wool of the Andes (I used both for my mom's bag) and I'm really glad I did-- it makes a much looser, more casually-felted bag (if that's even a thing) whereas WotA felts much stiffer and shrinks more. So instead of a structured bag I've ended up with a felted tote, which I love.

I'm afraid I don't have much to say about the outfit except that I've worn it (what feels like) a billion times since putting it together and just now managed to photograph it. I've been throwing this trench over everything. It's really only weather-appropriate for a little while so I should probably go ahead and tire myself of it (although really it was only usable for a little while in St. Louis last year-- I'm sure with our strange weather in NC I'll be able to wear it all winter.)

Forever 21 top
Modcloth skirt
Target tights
Seychelles heels
Tucker for Target trench
Bag- knit by me

PS: Make sure to enter my earrings giveaway -- it ends tomorrow!

New Hair, Old Dress & a GIVEAWAY!

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 04:39:00 +0000

The blogging hiatus of laziness is over now, promise!

And look-- new hair! I can't believe I finally grew out all that dark dye, which is a process, good heavens. It still isn't quite how I want it (there are some dark bits at the ends) but I'm so happy to finally have a red base to work with. Yay!

Yesterday we went to Oakdale Cemetery (the oldest in the city) to take a few creepy-ish Halloween photos, because apparently I have tons of old vintage dresses that look nice in cemeteries (remember this one?). They closed early and we had to finish up a few other shots at the park, but at least I got a chance to finally explore the place. It's huge and the oldest sections are both beautiful and heartbreaking, because there are so many children.

This dress was a thrifting find from ages ago, back when I had the most perfect source in the world for cheap vintage (RIP magical little thrift shop). The rhinestone detail on the bodice is so beautiful and the color combination is lovely-- it would look amazing with a crinoline, if only I had one.

Another reason for the graveyard visit was an attempt to show off the gorgeous vampire bat bracelet I received c/o My Selvaged Life on Etsy! She makes jewelry out of interesting pieces and vintage materials-- my beloved moth necklace is from there and she has an amazing selection (check out the Halloween collection, ahh!). I love all things bat-related so I adore this bracelet, and I especially like that it adds a dark vibe to an outfit while being so small and delicate.

Heather from My Selvaged Life has graciously offered to do a giveaway with my readers, so up for grabs is a pair of these gorgeous Cinnamon and Sea Salt earrings like the ones I'm wearing above! From the description:

These lovely dangles are made with vintage West German lucite tear drops to in a yummy cinnamon shade. Each is hugged by gorgeous ornate brass filigree bead caps that have been patinaed a deep teal green. Each hangs from brass leverback earwires approx. 55mm from earlobe.

I don't normally wear earrings, so I was a little nervous when she asked if I would model a pair for her shop-- but I've gotten so many compliments while wearing these that I really shouldn't have worried! They look amazing and it's my favorite color combination, so I can definitely see myself wearing these more. My giveaways are always pretty uncomplicated, so just comment below to be entered. You can earn a few additional entries by doing any of the following and leaving an extra comment telling me about it:

Blogging/tweeting about the giveaway with a link to this post
Becoming a follower of Pansy Lane and/or adding My Selvaged Life to your favorites on Etsy
Following myself and/or @Myselvagedlife on twitter

The giveaway is open worldwide until I choose a winner on Friday, October 28th via random.org. Good luck and thanks for reading!

Thrifted vintage dress
F21 cardigan
Bracelet and earrings c/o My Selvaged Life
Target tights
Seychelles heels

----
The winner is #18, Anna from Cinnamon & Coffee! I hope you love the earrings as much as I do!

Thanks to everyone who entered!

What I'm Making: Plywood Halloween Decorations

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:03:00 +0000

I totally forgot to take more progress photos!

Creepy Owl & Sassy Monocle Cat.

Neat, right?! I'm so happy with them!

I obviously based them on my favorite Beistle designs from a couple posts ago. They were super quick and easy-- the most time consuming part of the entire project was having to run back and forth to buy extra paint and wood because I decided to do the pumpkins last minute. I had Lowe's cut the plywood into 4 x 4 pieces for the owl and cat, and the pumpkins were done on individual 2 x 2 squares that you can buy separately. My dad cut them out and Jeremy screwed them onto posts. I always feel like a Big Deal when my projects end up involving wood and power tools! The biggest thing to remember was to seal them with some sort of outdoor protectorate.. I've already put on a few coats, but I think I might do a few more just to be safe.

We're the only house around us with any decorations up, so I'm sure the neighbors are looking at us a bit strangely right now!

Old Favorites

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:34:00 +0000

I feel like I've been horribly neglectful of the blog lately, but I swear I haven't lost interest! It's silly because I have lots of post ideas but I've just been unusually busy with about five different projects, plus I'm still trying to figure out if it's worth it to do a Rocky Horror (Columbia) costume this year. I've been wanting to do a Columbia costume for years but I'm on a budget and won't be able to do the jacket properly, so I don't know. I don't know!

This outfit post is kind of sad, though, because it's the only picture I liked from last Saturday (it was taken at Riverfest here in Wilmington, and I'm kicking myself for not getting any photos of fall-fair-type-things). Also I'm wearing two things that I ALWAYS WEAR: mustard cardigan, Audrey tee. They have served me well.

I'm about 80% done with my plywood Halloween decorations so expect photos this weekend!

UO cardigan
Audrey tee, nola
F21 shorts
green tights, (?)
thrifted vintage boots

Vintage Beistle Halloween Decorations

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 00:05:00 +0000

As Part One of my do-all-the-Halloween-things mission I've been collecting pictures of vintage die-cut decorations from the Beistle company, because they are (obviously!) the best ever. They're all bright and simple and kind of weird, which I love. When I was little my dad used to buy those flimsy cardboard decorations and paint the design onto plywood to go in the front yard-- we had Dracula and a witch-- and I always thought it was such a good idea. This year I've decided to do a few of them for the deck because I've accidentally turned into Crazy Halloween Lady and I want the house to match my state of mind.

I'm almost done with the owl and next up is the monocle-cat (because everyone needs a fancy creepy cat in the yard). I wasn't planning on doing the pumpkins but I don't think I can resist those panicked/creeper expressions, and they would look really good nailed vertically to a post.

To summarize: Halloweenhalloweenhalloweenhalloweenhalloween--

Source:

roadsidepictures
riptheskull
bindlegrim

Fall Romanticism

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:10:00 +0000

Okay, how is it already the end of September? I'm suddenly terrified that fall is going to go by too quickly even though it hasn't properly begun yet. We had a few days of cool weather and now it's back in the low eighties, but still. I'm counting it.

I've been a bit obsessed lately with making a nice fall atmosphere in the house-- at the first hint of cool weather I rose the windows, and I've been baking lots of pumpkin spice-related things and keeping candles lit that remind me of fall. We've been taking lots of evening walks in the park near our house and soon I'm going to go on a flower binge and buy lots of mums for the flowerbox and it will be lovely.

Every year I go all drippy and romantic about fall, but I can't help it! It's perfect. What are you guys doing to create a fall atmosphere?

F21 cardigan from years ago
Target tank
F21 skirt
Hue tights
thrifted vintage boots
The Little Fox necklace

What I'm Making: Granny Square Pillow

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 23:19:00 +0000

Finally I put all those granny squares to good use!

This pillow was easy peasy to put together. I made a bunch of summer garden granny squares (32), added a cream border and connected them into two panels. Then I connected the panels and stuffed it with a pillow form. I bought a pillow form from Michael's this time because I was in a hurry to finish, but obviously the smartest thing is to pop over to a thrift shop and find an old couch pillow, which is what I'll do next time. These squares were originally intended for a future-throw, but they're made of wool and I realized duh, I have dogs and need to use something washable. Thus: pillow.

Also look: new sofa! I like it about a thousand times better than our old one, which was way too bulky for the new place. I'm really happy with how the pillow looks in the room-- eventually I'll make a throw for the couch, but until then I'm happy that it was easy enough to bring the look of granny squares to a room without spending ages on a project.

Room Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 22:21:00 +0000

A new use for the coat rack!

Pullip dolls & textbooks.

Thrifted Lucy book & Janis Joplin quote painting.

It's still quite bare but this is what I have so far. The green chair is the same one from our last apartment that I temporarily recovered, but the original fabric is so far gone that it really needs to be professionally reupholstered (it has lots of bare spots and the seat is hardly padded at all). For now I've just thrown a blanket over it-- ta-dah! It's a Streit Slumber Chair that belonged to my grandpa-- it's adjustable with a funny little bar in the back, so you can either recline all the way or sit straight up. The ottoman opens up for storage. Everyone else seems to hate this thing but I really love it, despite it being so old and beaten up.

I was so happy to finally unpack my dolls! I haven't seen them in over a year. I have several more but they won't have a home until I buy a new bookcase. They're Pullips, if interested-- I used to be obsessed with them!

Peppermint Dream

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 17:11:00 +0000

I bought this dress from Modcloth a few weeks ago and have already worn it about four times. We went to dinner with friends Saturday night and I realized that I was wearing the exact same thing I wore the last time we went to that restaurant-- which is silly because it's not like any of the servers would notice-- but it becomes one of those things that I'm hyper-aware of when I wear certain outfits a lot. I just love the colors, though! I wish I had more things with this color scheme. Mustard and gray/pink/mint. Love.

I wish I had some sort of grand plans for Labor Day that I could post about, but it looks like it's going to rain later so I think I'll just stay in and read. I'm so glad it's finally September-- fall is just around the corner and we're still on a Quest for Bicycles, because I really want as many excuses as possible to be outside once the weather cools down.

Oh, also! I posted these on twitter and facebook because they're just so pretty, and normally my cupcake-decorating skills leave something to be desired, but look!

Vegan almond joy cupcakes. Chocolate cake and ganache with coconut buttercream and toasted coconut and almonds on top. The recipe is from here. (Note: the cake recipe is now my absolute go to recipe for vegan chocolate cake. It's so moist and I'm about 90% sure it will blow your mind.)

Morning Music Dress from Modcloth
UO cardigan
Seychelles heels
moth necklace, My Selvaged Life

The Snuggles Project

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 18:48:00 +0000

I've wanted to do some charity knitting for a while, and with the recent hurricane and influx of news stories about homeless animals I thought it would be a great time to participate in The Snuggles Project. I discovered this organization via Ravelry-- it encourages people to knit or crochet (very quick, easy) blankets and donate them to a local shelter to comfort homeless dogs and cats. Most shelters hardly have enough money for the basics, so animals usually have to live in bare cages without any sort of bed or blanket. The point of a Snuggle is to offer a little comfort to a shelter animal while it's waiting to be adopted. A dog/cat security blanket, if you will! From the website:

The Snuggles Project is well-known as a multi-beneficial project. The first, and most important, benefit is to the animals. After being given a Snuggle, a frightened and/or difficult to handle animal is able become calm. This calming effect gives the animal and the caregiver time to learn how to handle the situation.We believe that this calming effect has saved the lives of many newly sheltered animals.

Making a donation is easy, just go to this list and find a participating shelter in your city. If you're in the Wilmington/New Hanover County area and want to help with my donation, the New Hanover Humane Society accepts Snuggles and I'm hoping to have enough to donate by October (I'm not sure how many, but I'd like to have more than ten). You can email me (pansylanelove@gmail) if interested and we'll donate them together.

Caron Simply Soft, size 10 needles

I'll be knitting these throughout September and posting about it periodically, so if you'd like to participate in a knit-a-long just email me photos as you progress! I'm always getting comments from people who don't knit/crochet but would love to learn, and this is honestly the perfect starting project for you guys. The patterns are really simple and shelter animals won't care if you make mistakes!*

Resources/Guidelines

Knit/Crochet pattern library. You can go as simple or complex as you want. I'm doing a very easy P2, K2 pattern with a 10st border, just to keep from getting bored. For beginners I would recommend casting on about 60st and knitting every stitch. It's excellent practice and by the end you'll have it down!

Washable acrylic or cotton worsted weight yarn held double. I'm using Caron Simply Soft because I had a few skeins of it leftover from when I first learned to knit. Beginners can use Caron or Red Heart-- it's super cheap and available everywhere.

14" x 14" for cats and small animals

24" x 24" for cats and small to medium dogs

36" x 36" for medium to large dogs

* If you're a beginner and interested in learning for this project, email me if you have questions or get stuck and I'll do my best to help. Also, make sure to check thrift shops if you're just starting out-- all of my straight aluminum needles were thrifted in a bundle for $1!

For more information about the Snuggles Project,
visit www.snugglesproject.org or
contact Hugs for Homeless Animals (www.h4ha.org)

Living Room Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:16:00 +0000

The living/dining room is done for now-- or as "done" as a room ever is, I suppose-- and I finally got around to taking photos today! We still have to do something with the windows (maybe these shades?) and replace our sofa, but I'm happy with everything for now. It definitely feels very home-y. Right now we're working on the porch and my room, so hopefully I'll have more photos to share in a couple of weeks.

Skirt: Acquired.

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 13:53:00 +0000

This skirt has been on my Modcloth wishlist for months and was sold out every time I tried to buy it. I finally got it last week. Love! It fits wonderfully (buttons up front, elastic in back), it's a great length and has pockets. I can see it being a favorite this fall. The top is a reconstructed tee from Etsy-- I bought it reconstructed from a large shirt, but it's still pretty loose and I need to make some adjustments when I set up my sewing machine.

I've been so boring lately, you guys! I've just been doing the same old things, with a lot of Doctor Who marathoning mixed in, and apparently it's going to rain every day for the rest of the summer which is nice when I want to stay in but not so much on other days. Although I suppose it's better than being in a drought again so I should probably not complain. I don't even have any new knitting projects to share because I'm still trying to get the last of my commissions done, but I really need to hurry if I'm going to get a head start on fall projects (and really, fall knitting is the best thing ever).

Modcloth skirt
Etsy tee
H&M flats

Craft Room Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:28:00 +0000

I'm about to start painting and organizing what will soon be my craft room, so I thought I would share a few favorites from my inspiration folder. It's really going to be a kind of craft room/closet/place for my collections, because I always need extra closet space and have a lot of yarn and dolls and toys and things. Since we moved in I've been using it as a Things I Don't Want To Deal With At The Moment room which means I have some serious cleaning up ahead of me, ahh! (FYI: Never do that, you're only hurting yourself.)

I love the thought of displaying my yarn openly like in #1, and of lots of open shelving like #3, and the last photo is positively dreamy. Also, the rake-head-as-necklace-holder is a brilliant idea and I might have to steal it! Right now I don't really have a clear plan for the room, I just know that I'm painting it Martha Stewart's Ballet Slipper Pink and I want it to feel very cozy and warm. I have very limited shelving at the moment (don't I always?!) so it's going to take a while to get everything together, but I'm so excited about eventually having my own little area in the house.

**All images (except #2 from Bits & Bobbins) taken from Apartment Therapy.

A Summer Uniform

noreply@blogger.com (Pansy Lane) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 05:17:00 +0000

I know, every blogger makes at least one post per season about the importance of a summer/winter uniform, but with good reason-- there comes a time (especially in summer) when new outfits are incredibly hard to come by because it's far too hot and uncomfortable or cold and ridiculous to bother with it anymore. My summer uniform has consisted of loose dresses and shorts paired with slip-on flats and tucked-in tops. Simple, but without making me feel like I've given up (which is very important in 100+ degree heat). These oxfords are especially nice and summer-y because they're very good walking shoes, which is particularly useful for when I decide to stop being a hermit and walk the dogs or go downtown.

I seem to be coping with the heat much better than usual, by the way, but I've lost my patience with it and have started really looking forward to fall! It'll be interesting to see fall in Wilmington; I didn't pay attention to it when I lived here before and last year I was in St. Louis, which has the most perfect fall ever. It'll be kind of impossible to beat St. Louis and Tower Grove Park, but since autumn is super short here anyway I'll have to make a conscious effort to appreciate it.

Thrifted top and shorts
Thrifted vintage oxford flats and bag