top ideas

Tonight was the finale of Top Design on Bravo. I wasn't, like, totally in love with this show - the whole season was kind of like flipping though a magazine that was okay to look at but didn't really want to make you stop and read the articles. But still, entertaining enough for Wednesday nights.

For the finale, three designers got to decorate an entire house each, and they did some cute stuff - but two points totally sparked my creativity in a big way.

First up was the use of black and white wallpaper. I have really, really, really been wanting to wallpaper a room in black and white, but I just can't get past the commitment factor of wallpaper. Even though it's so pretty and I love the retro flair that it instantly adds. (These two rooms were by Brooklyn-based contestant Ondine, whose style I just loved.)

However, in a recent stroke of pure genius I came up with a pretty good commitment-free alternative: wall stencils!

I ordered this beauty from the UK company Stencil Library about a month ago, planning to do the design in black paint over white walls. The stencil arrived and has been waiting patiently for me to get around to applying it. I am now resisting the urge to start those walls right now and stay up all night stenciling.

Exciting thing number two is this painting that winner Nathan made (the stripey piece on the left in the photo above). It looked like it took him all of 5 minutes to literally dump cans of paint onto the edge of the canvas while he held it at a 45-degree angle. I need a really large piece of artwork to go over the couch and I've been exploring DIY options, so this immediately piqued my interest.

But when he hung the painting so that the drip lines were horizontal, it was pure genius. Would I be a total loser for blatantly ripping him off?

broadcasting live from your computer

If you're looking for something yarny to listen to tonite, tune in to the Getting Loopy podcast, where Candi Jensen and I will be the guests! We'll be joining hostess with the mostest Mary Beth Temple to chat about the TV show and all things crochet.

The cool thing about this podcast is that it's broadcast live over the internet, and you can actually call in to ask questions on-air - just like a good old radio show (I love radio). So click here to tune in at 9:00pm eastern time, and give us a jingle!

If you miss the live broadcast, you can download the show and listen to it anytime!

happy baby throw

This little peanut inspired me to finish a long-hibernating project, the Graphic Granny Afghan from the Aug/Sept '06 issue of Crochet Today. Yep, you read that right - '06. I started crocheting these hexagons quite a while back, thinking I'd make a throw for myself. Since then I've moved apartments and I now have different afghan plans, and also, I kind of ran out of patience for making all the little hexagons. I thought baby Sophie might be able to put it to use as a stroller blanket now that the cold weather is creeping in, so I seamed all the motifs I'd made, added a border, and voila!


Hooray for finished projects! I think Sophie really liked it too. (Have you ever seen such a cute smile??)




And, good news - you can get this pattern for free here! I modified it by changing the yarn, colors and size - you can easily do the same since it will basically work out fine no matter what you change!