Month: July 2018


Jul
2018

I Did A Thing, Vol. 8

categories: DIY

It’s been a hot minute since the last time I wrote about my crafting adventures, and you guys must be dying for an update. No, it’s okay, you don’t have to rush to affirm my suspicion. Imma go ahead and give you that update anyway.

I go through phases with crafting, as with reading. Lately, I’ve been on a knitting kick. As I’ve written before, I have struggled far more with learning how to knit than I did with embroidery; I don’t find it as intuitive. Because I’m a contrary sort of person, the challenge is making me double down on knitting in this case – as opposed to give up, which is an equally likely response on my part to recreational endeavours that don’t go the way I want them to. Anyway, I’m knitting all the time, and I am determined to eventually make a finished product with which I can be 100% satisfied. I’m not there yet, but I’m moving slowly in the right direction.

I have learned a few basic patterns/stitches in the meantime, including garter, stockinette, ribbing, seed, rice, moss, star stitch, and Chinese weave. In the course of my struggle with seed stitch, I finally learned how to read my stitches, which has been a tremendous help. I would like to experiment more with slip stitch patterns, but for now, I am focusing my energies on the aforementioned quest to make some sort of useful product.

I did make a striped scarf, which didn’t turn out too badly.

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Making one of sufficient size – I like my scarves to resemble blankets, really – takes a long time, but it’s not difficult. I could just stick to making these in perpetuity (there is an almost infinite number of colour combinations to pursue) but how many scarves does one woman – and her nearest and dearest – need? Finding simple patterns online for making non-scarf items has been challenging. I bought a book of patterns, but later realized that they were all either too advanced for me (all the ones I liked, basically) or not quite my style. There was an exception; I did use one of the easier patterns to make a very nice scarf for my husband.

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My own pattern-making skills are laughable, so I haven’t tried anything too adventurous. This was my first attempt at an envelope-style clutch:

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For the record, this was supposed to be done in seed stitch, but I messed up – which is what happens when you try to follow online instructions, and also don’t know how to read your knitting. Anyway, I think the rib stitch works just fine for this. I added a snap and a decorative brooch (an old beading project) and was not wholly displeased with the result.

My most recent attempt at a self-made pattern was an obi-style wrap belt. To back up, I learned a bit about increasing and decreasing by following a headband pattern I found online (this one). Here’s a pic of that project:

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I used a slightly modified approach to make my belt. On the ends, rather than increasing by one stitch every other row, I increased by 2 (one at each end of the row). The body of the belt was done using a star stitch pattern; I mostly eyeballed the width, and the nice thing about this type of design is that it can be customized pretty easily.

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The hardest parts to make were actually the ties; I braided them out of the same yarn as the rest of the belt, but then decided to get fancy and add beads at the end of each “tassel”. Threading them onto the yarn was a total pain in the you-know-what. Still, I think the result looked pretty good.

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That about sums up my recent knitting adventures. If you have easy (and free) patterns to recommend for my next project(s), leave me a comment!


Jul
2018

What I Watched & You Should Too!

categories: Books

I’m writing this post mostly because I just watched Hannah Gadsby’s Nanette special, and I felt the need to add my voice to the chorus of people telling you that you NEED to watch this, immediately. It’s rare that I feel such a visceral reaction to any show, much less a comedy special, but Nanette far transcends its genre. I’m giving it a few days to settle, then I plan on re-watching it because I am in awe of the way that Gadsby wrote and structured the show – it’s so brilliant, and it builds upon itself, layer by layer, to a perfect ending. It will devastate you, but in the best possible way. Seriously, “x” out of here and go watch it right now. Do it!

Did you watch it?

I hope so.

If you’re looking for more reccs, here are a few other things I read/watched recently.

This is not breaking news, but Hillbilly Elegy was a very interesting read. As a (white) immigrant from an “undesirable” European country, I’ve always felt like an outsider to the social class system here in the West, but reading Elegy re-framed my perspective on that to some extent. I have much less in common with the “hillbillies” that JD Vance writes about than I thought I did, largely because of education. I was poor growing up (particularly by Western standards) but everyone in my family, going back to both sets of grandparents, had post-secondary education and I grew up in an environment where academic success was highly valued (and, in fact, demanded). I don’t think I really understood before how much of a difference that makes, not necessarily in immediate economic terms, but in the mindset of a child and, ultimately, their long-term trajectory in life.

On a completely different note, I also really enjoyed browsing through The Cool Factor by Andrea Linnett, and was greatly inspired by it. I normally dislike style books that focus on “key pieces” (because everyone has different tastes, needs and lifestyles) but Linnett does so in a way that doesn’t feel prescriptive. For example, there is a chapter on how to incorporate leather into your wardrobe, and various options are included – from classic leather jackets, to skirts, pants, leggings, etc. Concepts are illustrated through outfits worn by different women (not models) with varying aesthetics, which I found very helpful. [I will say that, while there is some diversity among the women featured, there isn’t any real plus size representation in the book.] I wouldn’t say that there is anything particularly revolutionary about the book, but reading it sparked a renewed sense of excitement about exploring and expressing my own style – almost as if I had been busted out of a clothes rut I didn’t know I was in.

Lastly, I recently watched Thor: Ragnarok and was completely charmed by it. I attribute this 100% to the involvement of Taika Waititi; I have not seen any previous Thor movies, and Chris Hemsworth is not a Chris I get excited about. Ragnarok was just a lot of fun – and really funny! Afterwards, I promptly re-watched What We Do In the Shadows (a must if you haven’t seen it), and then checked out Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which I also enjoyed a lot. It’s funny and sweet (but not cloying in the least), and the performances are spot on. I was actually sad when the movie ended, because I wanted to watch more of Ricky and Hec’s bush adventures. It’s a good antidote if you’re feeling down – and, let’s face it, there are lots of reasons these days why you might be.


Jul
2018

The Great Fragrance Search of 2018

categories: Beauty products

I have been happily wearing Hanae Mori’s Butterfly for about three years. It’s a lovely perfume – floral but not too sweet, not very ubiquitous. The latter consideration is more than simple vanity; it feels weird to me to wear a perfume that I associate with someone else, so there are certain perfumes which I would have to avoid because they remind me of people I know. My relationship with scents is complicated all around. I find scents to be strongly linked to memories and moods, which means that they can have a huge impact on my day-to-day. On the other hand, I absolutely hate spending money on perfumes which is unfortunate because (a) see above, and (b) they are expensive. A search for a new fragrance is a very fraught exercise for me. Nevertheless, earlier this year, I embarked on precisely that quest. It felt like time for a change – not coincidentally, I’m sure, around the same time when my aesthetic preferences underwent their own evolution.

I have been a lover of floral scents for a long time, but this time around, I have noticed by preferences shifting away from the sweet end of the spectrum. One of the first scents that stood out to me was Jo Malone’s Earl Grey and Cucumber. The unexpected combination hooked me, but I also liked that it had a crispness to it. What didn’t hook me was the price; about $185CAD for a small bottle of eau de toilette. After switching to eau de parfum with Hanae Mori, I became cognizant of the better staying power of the latter, which means that one can use less (and get better value for money, typically). I couldn’t commit to Jo Malone, so I kept looking.

I’ll skip over some of the less inspiring options I tried, to jump straight to my most recent trials because this is where I’ve had the most success. After running into several articles on Le Labo and their hipster-beloved scents, I decided to take advantage of their sample option and see what the fuss was about. For a fairly reasonable $27CAD (including shipping), I got three 1.5 mL samples: Santal 33, Rose 31, and Iris 39. Santal 33 is the one that all the cool kids wear, it seems. I picked the other two based on the descriptions on the Le Labo website. (They arrived quickly, which is always a nice surprise with international shipping.) The samples are mini sprays, so they are easy to apply; I would estimate that there is enough perfume in each sample for at least a solid two-week trial.

Right off the bat, I was intrigued by Santal. It is extremely different than any other perfume I’ve ever worn, but I quickly became obsessed with its smokiness. To me, it feels like a bit of an enigma, a mood that is hard to pin down. (I hasten to add that, as popular as it may be in other parts of the world, I’ve never smelled this on anyone locally, and it’s not worn by anyone in my immediate circle. No scent associations!) In contrast, I found Iris to be almost too clean and crisp; still pleasant but not as memorable. Rose was lovely, but too straightforwardly sweet, though I kinda liked the result of layering it over Santal.

After about a week, I was more or less ready to pull the trigger on Santal, but as soon as I went back to the Le Labo website, I started having second thoughts. The price is $205CAD for 50 mL. I just couldn’t talk myself into it, but I also didn’t want to give up the scent (no pun intended). I started researching “dupes” and made a list of possible contenders. These included Commodity’s Book, Sarah Jessica Parker’s Splash SPJ, and Maison Louis Marie No. 4 Bois de Balincourt. In the process, I also discovered that one of my old favourite perfumes, Stella McCartney In Two Peony, which was discontinued years ago, was recently reissued. Armed with my list, I decided to head to Sephora.

After a headache-inducing hour of smelling approximately a bazillion fragrances, I walked out with 2 Commodity mini perfumes: the aforementioned Book as well as Velvet, each $30CAD plus tax (10 mL). First, the good: I love both a lot. Book has similar sandalwood notes to Santal 33, but smells fresher/less smoky to me. Velvet, in my opinion, is also something of a dupe for Santal 33, though it hits different notes than Book; it has the same smokiness as Santal, with a slightly sweeter edge. I preferred it over Maison Margiela Replica By the Fireplace, which is also similar but, frankly, a bit too close to the fire, as it were.

Both Book and Velvet are perfect scents for the more androgynous side of my aesthetic. With that said, the bad: neither of these has huge lasting power, even compared to Santal 33 (which itself has less than Butterfly). One spray on the wrist is initially quite strong, but it fades within 3-4 hours to the point that I can only get a faint whiff if I vigorously sniff my wrist. In particular, with Velvet, the smoky notes fade first, leaving behind a lovely (but more bland) floral scent. As a result, I’m in two minds about whether I would re-purchase either, or keep looking for other alternatives.

At Sephora, I also tried Stella Peony, and found it to be very similar if not identical to the way I remember the original perfume. However, whereas in the past, I recall thinking it was a spicier fragrance than my usual florals (it has notes of pepper in it), this time I thought it was definitely on the sweet side as compared to something like Santal 33. I think it would be a good match for the more femme side of my aesthetic; like my Artist style avatar, Peony is soft but not without its edges. It’s going on my short-list as a possible buy. I have typically only had one “signature” perfume at a time, but with the way my style has evolved, it would make sense for my perfume library to expand a bit.

So that is where my search has currently brought me. If you’ve been experimenting with fragrances recently, tell me all about it – especially if you have the inside track on other possible dupes for Santal 33.