Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The Spine

I had a moment yesterday when I was looking at some sample scraps of tatting where I had the, 'Oh, that's perfect' thought. I grabbed the scrap, searched for the pattern I had written down and began to work on a new pair of barefoot sandals. Unlike my other two pairs, this one was born from a more subtle place. This pair would only reveal its celtic weaved detail upon closer inspection.

I present then, The Spine, barefoot sandals. The motif might look familiar as it is the same one that I used to construct my throat corset. It was adapted from a single shuttle pattern, which for the uninitiated, means that initially there were simply short bare thread connecting the rings together. To avoid that, I added chains between, but that wasn't quite right. The chain butted up against each other awkwardly, so I wove them around each other instead. That make this motif particularly strong as well as more interesting visually. The best part of this design is it's relatively quick to create. This also means that it will be the least expensive item in the footwear line. I'll get them listed later today and hopefully the design goes over well.

In other news, my husband and myself met with a realty agent yesterday who is also a friend of the family. That makes the whole process slightly less terrifying, but we're still on pins and needles around here. We made an impromptu trip to see a house we were curious about and we were smitten, to use my husbands word. A few things became abundantly clear quite quickly, first, waiting until now to take this plunge was accidentally the smartest thing we've ever done. Secondly, in a sea of beige boxes, this house was a Mac. It has style, form and function and is slightly more expensive than we had hoped for. I know that it is folly to fall too hard for the first house we see, so we'll go out looking some more and hopefully we'll find a few more Macs to add to the wish list to avoid inevitable disappointment. Hopefully this search won't dominate our lives completely, but I think it just might.

6 comments:

Artsnark said...

Love the new footwear! Good luck with the house :D

Eva said...

those are SO awesome!! can't wait to see them in your store... and beg someone to buy me a pair.

AJ said...

It's good to shop around, but my husband and I did eventually buy the first house that we looked at, too. Our agent just picked out the perfect place. We've been living here almost a year and it's been great.

Whether it's the first "Mac" that you saw or one farther down the line, I'm sure you guys will find the perfect home for your family!

mica said...

Buying a house is so much fun! We actually ended up buying one of the first houses we saw. I tried so hard to look at other houses objectively, but subconsciously I think I was comparing all others to our house! You just *know* when you find a house that's perfect. Walking into tthis house felt like coming home - something I never got with any of the other houses we looked at.

Valerie said...

this new pair is very pretty. less fanciful but decently attractive.

Metanoia said...

I bought the first house I saw too. It was only two doors up from my rental which made moving easy. In my opinion your first house is just a stepping stone anyway. Can't have everything all at once.

Tips: Check your budget and try to get something that you can pay more into than you are required to so if rates go up you don't have to panic... then pay it off as quickly as possible! My every spare cent goes into my mortgage and I am saving a tidy nest egg in the process meaning I am currently 6 months ahead incase I lose my job, have an illness, or breathing room if the rates go up or I need money quickly.

Also. I am starting to make your mask instructable, however on step 2, I can make the first clover, but I am unsure where to go from there as going back to the start of the round won't work. Could you give me a tip please if you have time?