green olives design

7.1.11

follow me!

just give it a second, and you'll be redirected to my new blog!

5.8.10

for the past couple of months, i've been working on renaming green olives design. my lack of time hasn't made this easy, meaning it's been a really, really slow process. i decided on "garment house" back in april, but finally got around to setting up a new shop, blog and mailing list! so if you'd follow me, i'll give all the details and share some of my newest designs over on my new blog.

20.7.10

it's the simple things

a cup of tea, a beautiful sunset, neighbors waving us over to pick vegetables from their garden, little hands helping with dinner, simple desserts, surprise flowers from doug, enjoying a beautiful book... little moments i'm thankful for.

16.7.10

summer is WAY better with a list

after a couple days of losing our summer groove, and feeling sure we wouldn't be able to make it until school starts again, i decided it was time for a turnaround. with the help of mother extraordinaire sally shim, we headed outside with a blanket, a big piece of cardstock, a silver sharpie (best invention ever), and all our greatest ideas for some summer fun. sometimes just knowing the summer will be over before you know it isn't enough. it was time for us to get serious.

coming up with the list itself was such a fun activity for us, but taking the time to talk about what we'd like to do before school starts again has already paid off. here's a couple of the ideas we came up with:

picnic by the water
ride bikes
go camping
read at least five books a week
hike
visit both sets of families (halfway through this one)
go bowling
farmer's market
outdoor treasure hunt
make our own popsicles (check, my word, were they good!)
make ice cream in our camping ice cream maker
sidewalk chalk (check!)
have a day without electricity
make fresh lemonade
blow bubbles at the park
make a fort out of bedsheets (check!)
eat watermelon slices on porch (check, check!)
fly kites
postcards to loved ones
make sun tea (we do this about once a week, but why not add it too!)
finish reading fantastic mr. fox, then sit down and watch the movie together (check!)
get plenty of sun!

we were so excited about our list, that we ended up checking off four items right away! now, not everyone gets the chance to spend their summers with their kids, or maybe you don't even have children, but i'd still suggest making a summer list anyway. it can really make you appreciate the warmer weather and what little time you have before the schedule goes back to the regular lull of the cooler months.

11.7.10

lindsay and fitzhugh's beautiful park slope home

via the selby

both doug and i really loved the farmer's sink and all the natural wood. homes like these make me want to build my own.

10.7.10

summer nights

i'm not a huge fan of the summer heat. but having a front porch equipped with rocking chairs has drastically changed that. nothing feels better than enjoying the peace of the evening after a long, usually hot summer day. now you know why i haven't been able to set down my knitting. rocking chairs and knitting were truly meant for each other.

8.7.10

whaling sweater

whaling sweater in fisherman's wool

since doug just informed me that our daughter is outside, locked in our car, about to die from heatstroke (long story that child services would TOTALLY understand), i'll make this quick. while moving all my knitting projects to my new yarn basket from my parents, i was a little astonished to see just how close to finishing this sweater i was. there it sat, neglected since the winter. i finally took the couple hours i needed to finish up the neck, seam the underarms and weave in the ends. i'm sooo glad i did.

i used my ever favorite lion brand fisherman's wool, and kind of winged the pattern using pointers from elizabeth zimmermann's "knitting without tears" book. every knitter should own this book. it helped me to knit this sweater by size as opposed to pattern, and i couldn't be happier with the fit. i'll be wearing it whenever i can!

6.7.10

linen romper

if you haven't noticed already, summer break has pushed my sewing work onto the back burner. we've been a little caught up in taking advantage of the beautiful weather and spending some much needed time together, so i've been trying to just enjoy it while it lasts. the summer always goes to fast anyway.

even before the break, i felt like the business stuff was getting a little ahead of me. i felt a lot of pressure from myself to create, which just killed the beauty of creating itself. i needed to slow things down a bit and instead take some time to work on my skills. i decided to work on a project that would be a fun way for me to learn something new. being unsure of how i felt about the romper craze, i decided i should give making my own a try and see how it went. i finished it just before heading out east, but i finally got the chance to take a picture of it.

this project was a lot of fun to work on and it was nice to have the chance to tackle something where i was unsure what the outcome would be. it's amazing how much fun a project can be when you're not aiming to get it perfect on the first run, or perfect period! i think i did three versions of this romper, with the final being made out of this amazing gingham linen. there would still be some tweaking i'd do to this pattern if i'd ever plan on selling it, but i'm not sure i'd want to do that anyway. for myself, i still have to finish the edges of the sleeves and collar to really wear this one, but i think i might go for it! it's definitely cool and comfortable which will be all i'll want to wear by the end of the summer.

and on that note, i've got some more shop news and a fun announcement that i'll share as soon as i get the time!