The World Exploded in Yarn

This Saturday is International Yarn Bombing Day!

Get out and blast em with your crafty projects!

Please Don't Stop the Music

*Note...all these pictures belong to Anthony Valadez and were borrowed so you could feel the love we felt at Little Temple on Saturday nights.

Way back in 2010. At Little Temple, everyone
was there to smile.

There has been a lot of heartbreak in my life recently but I feel like I've been handling it pretty ok.  There is just one situation that I am really torn up about and I feel like I need to just come on out and say it.  The relationship started in 2007. I was coming to LA to visit my then boyfriend.  (We were in a long-distance relationship.) One thing we loved to do was shake our booties to really good music.  A quick search on Yelp revealed a little hole-in-the-wall place called Little Temple.  The reviews were mixed but the bad ones read something like, "Not enough Top 40 or House.  Lots of hip hop."  To us, that was just the kind of bad review we liked to read.  We drove to this strange corner of LA where there seemed to only be the club, a 7-11, and a taco stand.  Perfection.  We hopped in and danced all night long. That is when I first started my love affair with Little Temple.

Fast forward to 2009.  I moved to LA "permanently" to be closer to that BF and it turns out Little Temple was in the same neighborhood of my new apartment.  What used to be a random street corner now became a local spot.  Silver Lake, an up-and-coming-tryingtobegentrified neighborhood of LA boasted a weekly Farmer's Market, lots of coffee shops, great shopping and restaurants, and my favorite dance spot. It seemed like we were at Little Temple every weekend.  They had a DJ (Anthony Valadez) who played an amazing mix of old school hip hop, some top 40, Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, even Jitterbug found a place in the mix...y'know, stuff you could really move to.  They had a second dance floor, the B room, where DJ Destroyer spun a lot of reggae and funky tunes.  Little Temple also boasted an amazing MC.  KG Superstar came on the stage on Saturday nights with Anthony and got the crowd moving, dancing, and laughing.   I brought all my friends there and started to recognize the faces of folks who came out every Saturday just like us...to get down. (Anthony and KG also do Friday nights at Zanzibar, which is fun, but Little Temple was a cozy little spot that felt like a big ol' hug while you danced.)

Jen and I...madly in love with Little Temple

What I loved most about Little Temple was that I could roll in and not be judged based on what I wore, what I looked like, or who I was with.  In a city that pays a lot of attention to those things it was nice to feel like I had a place where I belonged.  Just like they said in Cheers, sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name.  The family at Little Temple became a family to me.  Black, White, tall, short, big folk, tiny folk, gay, straight.  It didn't matter.  We were all welcome and we were all there for the same reason...to dance.  An added bonus was that the next day we could hop on to Anthony's blog and see our smiling faces dancing in his pictures from the night before. (ALL pictures here were posted on Anthony's fb and blog.)

Little Temple really became a home for me when I broke up with my BF.  I went there to dance the blues away, to feel like myself, and to heal.  I became friends with KG and he helped me focus on my own dreams.  It was KG who encouraged me to pursue my dreams of opening a bookstore and as he put it, "Become the best version of (me) I could be."  Where else can you go and create that kind of friendship with an MC??!!

Yes, my mom and sister getting down with all the
happy people.

I moved back to Boston shortly after the break-up and every Saturday night I missed the scene at Little Temple.  Sunday mornings I looked through the pictures and wished I could have been there shaking my ass.  There just wasn't a place like it anywhere else.  I won't lie, it is a small part of why I wanted to come back to LA.  This year, I moved back to LA and even closer to Little Temple, resuming my place on their dance floor on Saturday nights. Any friends from out of town came with me.  Two friends with Phds in Math broke it down, my best friends from college came and couldn't believe there was a spot like this. Even my mom came and got down with her bad self on the dance floor of Little Temple!

Alas, tragedy struck.  Little Temple had a shooting outside of the club last year and I guess it was only a matter of time before they decided to switch things up.  In the Spring of this year, Little Temple underwent a makeover and became, "The Virgil."  They put up pretty wall-paper, created classy cocktails, they got rid of the "B" room and DJ Destroyer and brought in a juke-box.  ("The best juke box ever, don't worry" assured the new bartender.)  The Virgil cleaned house of the staff.  The manager, the bartenders, DJ Destroyer, some bouncers...all let go.  However, they did keep Anthony and KG around on Saturday nights.  My first time in the drinks took 15 minutes to order but the music was great so I chalked it up to a new bar trying to get it's feet wet.

The cast of the musical Fela rolled through to Little Temple

The second time I went, and sadly the last time, the new door guy asked me if I had ever been to the club before.  Ha!  I assured him I had been there before and the problem was that HE had not been there before.  He seemed friendly and went on to explain they wanted a new image.  "You know, less guys with tattoos on their faces."  My friend Jen looked him straight in the eye and said, "We liked those guys."

We walked in to the juke box room and sat down to have a drink.  The smiley-fresh new bartender welcomed us, again asked if we had ever been there before and then also explained how they were trying to change the scene.  The manager sat down and chatted us up.  Everyone seemed happy and friendly and we downed our cocktails and strutted our stuff to the dance floor.  I saw familiar faces, the music was amazing, and we had a great time.  It seemed like this might be ok.  Little Temple with nicer wallpaper but basically the same scene was something I could handle.

I guess I should have seen it coming.  I didn't.  Two weeks ago I found out that Anthony and KG had been let go.  On a Wednesday.  Over the phone.  They had no idea that the previous Saturday (oddly enough, KG's birthday) was their last time to grace the stage of Little Temple.  "We want to attract a (different) crowd."  No goodbye, no word to the Little Temple family, just pack your bags and have a nice life.  These men have been doing the Little Temple Saturday gig for 7 years and they were let go without the respect they deserved.

Last night Jen and I went in just to see what had become of our home away from home.  Empty.  Lonely DJ on the stage.  Hipsters gathered around the juke box.  The music wasn't the same.  The place seemed sad.  The only non-white folk worked at the bar. Everyone looked the same.  Their tattoos were appropriately placed on their arms.  We couldn't stand it.  We said goodbye to the one remaining employee from the Little Temple days, told him we appreciated all the fun we had, and left. We went to one of those places in Hollywood where young, drunk folk like to hit on you and getting your dance on is an after-thought.


I am heart-broken.  I am angry.  I am glad the hipsters have found a home in my beloved Silver Lake but I am sad. I understand it is business and they have a right to attract whomever they want.  However, there is a community in LA, and beyond, left without a place to feel welcome regardless of who you are or what you look like.  It was more than a bar where you could grab a drink.  At Little Temple, adversity was overcome through music and dancing.  Diversity was given a place to flourish.

KG and Anthony...thanks for all the LOVE!

To the family and friends I grew to know and love and appreciate at Little Temple, thank you for being there when I needed you.  I wish I could do the same.  Anthony and KG...we will wait for your new Saturday spot and we will follow you there.  Cheers gents, and thanks.

how ava got my groove back

a very special baby was recently born to one of my moms best friends. and while i haven't met her,  shes already taught me a lesson. sometimes life throws shit your way. but just like this adorable baby, who happens to kind of look like a monkey, you need to man up and power through.
it was this lesson that led me to the realization that I HAVE NOT CREATED ANYTHING in a really long time. like, really long. i know i attempted a quilt for a hot second. but after being told it looked kind of lame, i just ditched it. so there i was. a (wo)man who was an island.

so i decided to no longer be an island. because, as they say, no man is an island. (too many islands?).  so i looked through my many boxes of crafty stuff and came up with the following items. i like to consider these the debut looks for my Spring 2013 fashion line, which i have dubbed 'babies got back.'

so, to little baby Ava, thanks for helping me get my groove back.  now im off to make some dog tutus.

We Can Celebrate Being Born!

April marched into my life with a little bit of the blues.  Last year I celebrated my birthday with a bang...lots of friends, my favorite bar, Howe Girls with me, and a trip to Rome.  This year...yeah, parent conferences and dinner by myself.

My lovely little sister has a birthday just before mine, 9 days to be exact, and when we were little we celebrated almost all our birthdays together.  So this year, on my birthday, she received a weepy phone call saying how much I missed her and wished she were here to celebrate.  And what does the BEST SISTER EVER do??? She buys herself a one-way plane ticket to LA!  BOOM!  This is HOWE we do it!

Sadly, she did have to go back.  I did get her for over two weeks.  We wanted to knit, I swear we did.   And one night we managed to bust out the needles and yarn but ended up falling asleep before any progress was made.  Actually, that's not true.  I fell asleep.  She knit.  So what did we do??   Well....

We stalked children's book authors

We ate the bomb homemade ice cream sandwiches from Diddy Riese

Jessie made a sign...

...to take to the Dodgers Game...

...to try to get Matt Kemp to marry me!

We went horseback riding

I sat a lot

While Jessie and Nikolas James Pumpkinhead knit

We spotted Ryan Miller while out for sushi and got this amazing picture

And Jessie looked longingly after him when he left

We smoked cigars (thanks Dad!) and drank champagne on my roof at sunset

Yeah, it was a big ol' sister love fest.  Thanks Marmie and Papa Bear for giving me the fabulous birthday present of my little sister!  SMOOOOOCH!

Teach Me How to Knit, Teach Me How to Knit

Neil was like, "Hey Meg, can you teach me how to dougie knit?" And I said, "Yeah, know why? Cuz all the stitchers love me!"

Well, maybe that is not how things really got going, but there may have been dancing at some point. Regardless of the origins, this weekend I had a fantastic Neil-Meg Saturday Extravaganza.  Neil is a wonderful friend of mine and we go waaaayyy back.  Not only is he an amazing friend, but he also volunteers his time to help me at Stories in the Garden, a monthly gardening/story reading event at my local community garden. So obviously I was more than thrilled to spend time teaching Neil how to knit.

Neil reading The Carrot Seed to
the little gardeners

For those of you who have been following the blog for a long time, you will recall that I have only tried to teach someone how to knit once, and that was a few years ago.  However, I was trying to teach 20ish 3rd graders so I anticipated that a one-on-one session with Neil would be slightly easier.  Neil really wants to knit hats and toys and lots of cool stuff but I told him a scarf would be the best project to start with.  He is a super creative person, spending his days working at Family Guy and he even has his own art blog. I have no doubt that he will be knitting up really cool stuff soon.

Cast On, Bind Off

After a beautiful morning in the garden, we needed some nourishment so our pre-lesson meal was at this amazing restaurant in my neighborhood.  Forage has scrumptious food from local farmers.  If you live in the area and haven't been there, you are missing out!

Bellies full, we were ready to walk home and get to knittin'.  Neil went through my bundles of yarn and picked out his colors.  He decided to go with yellow and grey.  I decided size 8 needles would be good...not too big, not too small, or, as Goldilocks puts it, just right!

First row done!!!!

First things first, casting on.  Do you remember how awkward casting on was when you first started to knit?  I do!  So we took it one step at a time, first with a slip knot and then the method recommended by Stitch N' Bitch that I learned.  After row one of casting on, it was time to learn the knit stitch.  Neil is a fantastic student and caught on pretty quickly.  We did get a little help with the knitting poem, "In through the front door, run around back, hop through the window, off jumps jack."  This was just the ticket to help the first row of knit stitches make their way onto Neil's knitting needles!

Cheers Neil!  Welcome to
the world of knitters!

Since Neil was such a fast learner, I showed him how to purl and add some ribbing to his scarf.  Before I knew it, our time was up, so we had a quick lesson on binding off.  Neil left with a yellow strip of knitting that could be the grown-up version of a friendship bracelet.  Tons of fun, great conversations, and a new skill learned!  I can't wait to get together again and have our own knitting party!

Thanks Neil!!!

kiss me, im irish

or at least as much as everyone else is on st. patrick's day. and for some reason, i looooooove st. patty's day. i honestly have no idea where it came from. love of guinness? preference for green? day drinking? who knows. but what i do know is that for the past couple of years, it has played a significant role in my life.

first attempt

my first "big" st patty's celebration was a couple years ago. and friend and i decided to drive to boston, stay in a hostel and celebrate with the locals. lessons learned that year? 1. there is no such thing as too much green. 2. cute welsh doctors like older women. (oh snap!) 3. breathalyzers in a bar are amazing, and said friend will be above the legal limit before she drinks half a beer. 4. when someone offers you use of their house in southern california DON'T LOSE THEIR EMAIL.
fast forward many years, and here i am. gearing up for another festive holiday. the list of rules has grown, but one thing remains the same. i'm still a fool for st. patrick's day.
so what is a girl to do without any green accessories and no money to head to the store? knit, of course!! it wasn't that hard to decide what to make- i HATE condensation on my hands from holding a cold beer and i HATE my hands getting cold from holding said beer. so beer coozies were on.
it took a bit of experimentation, holding the koozie to see if it needed to be longer, if the coozie was too loose etc., but after i made the first one i was hooked. for some reason, i thought yellow was a st patty's day color. i was quickly corrected. so after switching up my yarns, i was off. i made a couple versions with shamrocks and got a bit annoyed with knitting the shamrocks. so i decided to make one based on the flag of Ireland. This one was my favorite, the only thing i would change would be to add a bottom to the coozie.

I also learned a new binding off technique while working on the flag version. I finished knitting the coozie flat, but when i tried to sew it together, it was too short. i was annoyed. i didn't know what to do. i had previously learned to pick up stitches when i made something too short, so i decided that was what i had to do. i picked up stitches on each end of the flag and increased the amount that i decided was correct. for some reason the green side worked out perfectly, while the orange side has some weird twisting stitches thing going on. who knows. either way, when i finished adding rows, i was at a loss for how to sew the two edges together without taking a ton more time. my first option was to bind off each side and then sew them together. but in my head that would have added to much extra room and the coozie would have been too loose for the beer. so i turned to google. "how to knit two needles together." fail. "how to knit two ends together separate needles."  bingo. this magically lead me to find out that what i was actually looking for was a 3 needle bind off. which i must say is amazing. who knew this was out there? it was awesome! 

after knitting the coozies, i realized that my buffalo sabres st. patty's day shirt would not be enough to wear out. i decided i needed something orange to complete my ensemble. did you know that icords are an actual thing?? and that its not crocheted? because that's what i thought it was. and i don't crochet, so i thought i couldn't do it. but i was wrong. after about 45 minutes, i had this super cute headband all ready to go. boy i love knitting! (yes. i know. you can make fun of me.) after i finished up my last minute knitting, i headed downtown with my coozie for a st. patty's day bar crawl. below are some action shots of the koozies being used in action. so while i sit here and knit some more coozies, i hope you all have a great st. patrick's day!!! so raise your glass...

"Saint Patrick was a gentleman,
Who through strategy and stealth,
Drove all the snakes from Ireland,
Here’s a toasting to his health.
But not too many toastings
Lest you lose yourself and then
Forget the good Saint Patrick
And see all those snakes again."

btw. is it cooizie or kooize???

knitting maps, for friends

outer banks

one of the blogs i follow, Maps For Friends, is written by a good friend who, obviously, loves all things map related.  so it was no surprise when he requested some knitting that was also map related. after much contemplation, i settled on making a pot holder. in my head i was thinking this would be another "quick knit" to break up the monotony of the scarf i've been working on. i need to stop thinking i can "quick knit" anything.
my first issue was creating a pattern. a quick google search brought up tons of images of world maps, but as you might know, world maps are not perfect squares. so i found a picture that i thought would work, threw it into Knit Pro 2.0 and voila.

row of condemned, beachfront houses

then i had another problem. if i was just going to throw this together as a favor, i wasn't really going to take the time to drive all the way to the knitting store for new yarn, so i had planned on just using some of my stash. but when making a pot holder, can one use acrylic yarn or will it melt?? i googled some more, and couldn't find a consensus, so i opted to not try it. luckily i had some cotton yarn left over from my pathetic attempt at making a shirt.
so onwards and upwards. i decided how many stitches i wanted to cast on (45) and went over to ravelry to look for some hints. boy was i surprised. apparently there is this thing called double knitting that is used to make potholders which makes the project thicker and knits the design on both sides. well. after watching plenty of YouTube videos, i decided that was not for me. the plan was to knit one square with the pattern, and then knit a plain square and sew the two together.

5 balls of yarn at work!

the adventure began and it was taking forever. so when i was asked to head to the outer banks for a  weekend, i couldn't resist. finishing a travel related project on a weekend trip sounded perfect! well, that didn't happen. the weather was beautiful and i spent most of my time either walking on the beach or hanging out with the locals in a bar.
so it was back to dc to finish. once i actually settled in to work on it, the work didn't actually take that long. and once the front was done, the back only took a couple of hours, although i assume it takes much less time for a more polished knitter.  so here is the final product....

all done!

the colors seem a bit off, probably because it was taken at 1am when i finally finished it. to sew it together, i put the right sides together and started in one corner. once three sides were sewn, i flipped it right side out and stitched the two sides together in the middle, about every inch or so. my only concern when i decided to make 2 separate pieces was that they would be too floppy once put together. hopefully my stitches will stay together and keep the pot holder sturdier.

i tried to take a better picture with natural light to give a better sense of the true colors, but it was too bright for my camera w the shades open. it kind of shows a difference, although not as much as i would have hoped.
so all in all, pot holder success. if i make anymore of these, i will probably use a bigger needle and bulkier yarn, just to make the process go a bit faster. i imagine most knitters could whip this baby out in less than an hour. oh well. at least my work isn't pulling as much when i use two colors!!!

cuddle buddies

now time for an update. you may remember the post by meg about the Nikolas pillow i made and how he was scared to go near it. well, the tides have turned. Nikolas and pillow Nikolas have now bonded. and my work here is complete.