YAY!

WOW!
I received so many cool gifts for my birthday this year, I mean, really cool. I am so lucky to have neat friends that make special things. This is all very exciting. I love giving and receiving presents, and now I am going to talk about all of the COOL things in my life now.



1). A special mixed tape made by Aaron Anderson. That is a drawing of me on the front cover.
2). Real stickers from Vietnam, hand delivered by my mother.




3). This is so cool! A 1999 Swatch watch from ETC. It even has the symbols from the Chinese calendar along the wristband, I'm a boar. I believe this is number 15 in the collection.
4). Handmade banana earrings from Brett Smith! They are HUGE!




5). For my feet! HAPPY SOCKS! These are from Lindsay Noble, she pays attention.
6). New hands from Erin Smith. The hands ashtray is a relic from New York and the miniature red hand is a charm made by Erin, hand-crafted, of course.




7). Lasers did it! So cool laser cut rings from Celestine Pueringer. Do you see what I see? There are HATS in there! I am in love.
8). Lasers did it! The creme de la creme, folks.



I wish I had some images of the dessert spread, but I don't so I will just tell you instead. First, we had a chocolate cake with a purple and yellow smiley face from the Cake Eater Bakery. I was very pleased with this cake, it was my first purchase from this bakery. It was delicious and beautiful. Later, a pan of Scotch-a-Roos arrived, cut out to feature my name and a large number 27, WITH squiggly candles! I've never seen squiggly candles before. Even later, three boxes of gourmet macaroons arrived, delicious and beautiful. And even later, a Ding-Dong-Dome showed up, a Brett Smith classic (meaning, a semi-edible cake that looks better than everyone elses). It was lined with pudding cups.

27

Today is my birthday!
Here I am celebrating in 1986, 1990, and 1991. It doesn't look so much like I am celebrating in 1986, but it was my first American birthday and I didn't know where I was. Later on you can see I adapted to U.S. birthday traditions just fine, it didn't take too long!

For the Kitchen

I know it's not even November yet, but I can't get holiday gifting out of my mind. I don't know what is wrong with me, trust me when I say that this is way out of character. I do take gift-giving very seriously, but I'm usually a bit more last minute. I think it must be a combination of remembering this time of year at Target and how much emphasis retailers place on gift-giving, but also because it's my birthday next week and I'm thinking about presents! (he he he)

Last year I made packages of hand-made dish towels for moms, friends, bakers, and so on. I had a lot of fun making them, they reminded me of so many different things. It was one of those rare instances where the piece coming off the machine felt old, even though it was brand new. I cherish that sort of natural introduction into the world, it ends up being the type of thing that fits in just perfectly with everything already in your kitchen (which, if you're like me is filled with a million pieces I love, collected over the years). So this year, I am going to be experimenting with some new colors and packaging 3 at a time to sell in the ALL Shop. I am using a different cotton yarn this year and they are knit up in a tuck stitch so they are extra cushy. I went straight to the sink after I knit the first prototype and tested it out. They are divine, and available soon.

How About a Hat?

There's a whole new pile of hats in the ALL Shop!
I had so much fun making these hats. Part of the fun was being able to collaborate with Crystal Quinn, who is making all of the pom-poms for this group of accessories. She is making all of them by hand in small batches and handing them off to me to assign to the different hats. Each one is special. I love to pair the poms with the hats, it's a fun exercise, and it's nice to see how much the hat and pom depend on each other. Crystal lives upstairs from me.

But there was even more fun, I convinced five of my friends to be hat models! These are precious friends, and so good together. They are ready for winter! Visit the HAT GUIDE to learn more about the different styles. Be warm!







Modeled by Aaron Anderson, Timothy Hudson, Celestine Pueringer, Lindsay Noble, and Eric Carlson

Official!

I received a few packages I have been expecting earlier this week. Over the past months I have been slowly adding bits and pieces to my "professional identity." So, being the non-graphic designer that I am, I took a few days to design this hang-tag and spent some extra time trying to source some happy safety pins. After a long hunt, I finally found some multi-colored metal versions on Etsy, 400 for $9.00. Done, and done. I've always preferred the 3/4" safety pin to the swift-tack, it's less...plastic, and in this case, more colorful! What could be better?

A New Day

It's a new day for the Coney Box Top! I was recently notified that the red yarn I use will be on back-order for at least four weeks until the supplier can dye more cones. I tried a number of places on the web, but there isn't a cone of red out there anywhere. I don't stock any of my colors too deep since I can usually have them delivered pretty quickly, so my stash of red is on extra-extra-reserve at the moment. In light of this news, I had to come up with a secondary colorway for one of the most popular red-centric sweaters I sell, the Coney Box Top. These are being sent to Australia, where summer is on the way, an even lighter and brighter version than the original. I like the off-white at the top, I think it looks nice with the peach and lime.



Hopefully the yarn will be available in a few weeks, and I don't think it should affect too much since my first fall collection was pretty sparse with red. If a situation arises we can talk out the options on a case-by-case basis. Generating a whole new colorway is the most fun way to deal with the issue, and if you have wanted to order the Coney Box Top but hated the colorway, now might be the perfect time for you!

In other news, I will be releasing a small group of winter accessories next week! We have been lucky to experience an extended summer here in Minneapolis, but the weather has to turn for most of us, eventually. When it does, just ask yourself this simple question...

"How about a hat?"

Pom Wonderful!

E.R. Butler & Co.

I received these images from Lauren today!
This is the window display at E.R. Butler & Co. in New York City, showcasing Litill terrariums resting upon and hanging from knit wares I contributed. The display was up for about five weeks and came down a few weeks ago. I have never seen the terrariums in real life, but I can only imagine they are perfect. The piece in the last window, slumping over the edge of that huge bronze sculpture is extra cool. I love the mixture of the E.R. Butler bronze pieces in with the display, the amount of texture is incredible, an odd combination of materials that work together...







All photographs taken professionally by Lauren Coleman.

Top to Bottom

I scored a new pom-pom recently, an improved version for the hair with an elastic band built sturdily into the center. I will have more to share in pom news very soon, some special bobbers are on the way! I have been knitting non-stop since I've been back from Paris and this Fall is looking to be spiced up with a few special projects to keep things lively. Besides the shopping frenzy I have been plagued with recently, my life has been pretty mellow. I wake up in the morning, make my coffee, do my work, repeat, repeat, repeat. Maybe it sounds boring, but it's not...it's the best.

Swank Dollar

What does this even mean?
The name Swank Dollar was adopted for use for the first time in late 2007, for a show at the Soo Visual Arts Center in Minneapolis. I started this blog right around the same time. Here we are at that show, backstage. My pals were sent down the runway with slices of pizza, dancing, encouraging the front row guests to take a bite. Yes, there is a time and place for everything...



The name came about during a trip to New York earlier that same year, where Lindsay and I found ourselves in a very nice looking bar that offered any drink for one dollar for a generous period of time every evening. I can't remember what the real name of the bar was, but we started calling it the Swank Dollar. That's it! That's the story. I stole the name from a bar in New York, but it wasn't even the name of that bar because we made it up. So that's where the name of this blog comes from. Now, I am trying to stick to a more simple formula with branding, my initials, which also invite a whole family of puns, like..."All ALL, All the Time!" This must have been one of the last trips I bought a disposable camera for. Everything is different now.