Kamis, 11 September 2008

THEY'RE MAKING THEM THEMSELVES

Weird beards

Nothing says "Check me out, I’m jolly trendy” more than experimental facial hair. However, not everyone is endowed with the neccessary equipment to 'grow their own', so alternatives have always popular. You may have seen this in the good weekend a couple of weeks ago, but we liked it so much we had to do a little more investigating and thought some of you may have missed it - so here it is... the beard cap.

Vik Prjónsdóttir are an Icelandic collective making super cool high-concept knitted designs in a weeny village in southern iceland with an equally eccentric knitting mill... and isnt it just like those crazy icelanders to come up with range of products that would include such genius as the beard cap... all the fun of the neo-folk facial fuzz but with added removable convenience - go hairy for the weekend then head back into the office on Monday clean as a whistle. Alongside the beard cap the collection includes a brilliant knitted Sealpelt jumpsuit above that makes you look like a giant baby seal in a psychedelic beanbag which is just what we're both after at the moment.

And then there's the Regional and Sea blanket's, each resplendant in their respective oversized bold topographic and anchor patterning and the Twosome above - a sofa-sized snuggle blanket with double ended hoods especially handy for watching those northern lights that draws on the icelandic tradition of sharing beds during the coldest winter nights. Yes these are definately our kind of people.

The Beard Cap comes in grey, brown and black in two lengths - although you might have to make a special order if you want the full ZZ-Top hillbilly length number. The design was apparently inspired by a traditional farmer’s balaclava... except of course those didn’t have the moustaches attached. At the moment their gear is only available outside Iceland from one shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn... so you know it's super hip. Personally we'd like to see some seapelts out there on high street before spring really kicks in with the warmer weather, but we'd be just as happy with a couple of beard caps at High Vibes in a couple of weeks.

Rabu, 10 September 2008

CRAFT FINDS OF THE WEEK

A stitch in time...
And its a handmade hat's off to the fabulous cover girls of the English 1950's ladies home journal Stitchcraft. An excellent little periodical providing everyone in the village with deliciously nipped waist knit patterns, hot tips on jacobean screen embroidery, how to's for cheval cut work and teneriffe lace, 'contemporary' quilting techniques and testimonials on the benefits of worcestershire sauce as a super flavour boost for winter soups. We think Stitchcraft was undoubtedly the golden hands of it's day- and probably staple reading mothers of the boys own annual era (featured recently on Miss PenPen's Cottage Industry). We picked up these treasures at a ridiculously cheap 10 cents a pop on a recent pre-baby road trip... which of course involved an absolutely wizard picnic on an tartan wool blanket with cold ham sandwiches and lashings of ginger beer.

Selasa, 09 September 2008

I MADE IT MYSELF

pretty in pink It would seem that this year there are many small people in the world of HML. Of course Max has already arrived and Thom is just 8 weeks away but there also seems to be a gaggle of girls ranging in age 1- 14! Some of them are getting an extra little something to hang on the tree and mark the occasion this year. Their names are painted on the back (always exciting). Sometimes the best things come in small packages anyway! Like kids...

Minggu, 07 September 2008

SHOW/S OF THE WEEK

paper or plastic?

The ladies of HML are really only visiting shows in the virtual world as time seems to be the enemy of late. For those of you with more freedom of movement we'd love you to go to Sutton gallery to see this work by Elizabeth Gower that's part of her Paris Project and inspired by snatches of wallpaper seen on her travels. Looks delicious...
And who can resist a dork in x-ray specs - not us that's for sure and we do need to make the effort to support the independently run space Until Never (in Hosier Lane just opposite Fed Square). Who is this Jesse Hogan and is it too super cool for us or in fact ultra daggy? Those in the know tell it's waaaay cool. So get along if you dare and let us know...

Kamis, 04 September 2008

FILM FESTIVAL OF THE WEEK

popcorn and pakora's

Usually this time of year sees us stuck to our chairs in the Nova cinema - which is about the only time you'll find us there, because let's just say... its not our favourite cinema, although the location that allows brunetti stops, trawling through bookstores and ti-amo across the road for a mid festival feed does have its charms!

This year sees have a retrospective of brilliant humanist auter Satyajit Ray as part of the festival as well - which adds a whole new 'highbrow' dimension to the spice fest that is the usual fair of delicious dancing, drama, and diva's. Pick of the festival is Om Shanti Om which for ours is about as good as it gets - all nods and winks to the genre which spawned it, including half of the film in 70's flashback mode, and an uber buffed Shah Ruhk doing his best Hrithik in a fireman dance scene that has to be seen to be believed. Genius.
Unfortunately it will be festivus interuptus for us this year as it appears that our young one and young one to be are having some scheduling trouble of their own!

Bollywood at Cinema Nova Septmember 2-17...
a festival that's well worth putting up with the crappola service and dodgy seating.
Full breakdown of times and titles are available online here.

Rabu, 03 September 2008

I MADE (some of) IT MYSELF

Spring has sprung!
Ramona has used this chunky lace pattern from and old issue of Vogue Knitting for about 5 scarves. One day she'll have the $200 spare to by the 8 cashemere silk balls to knit up the wrap in the photo - but for now the trusty cleckheatons washable merino will have to do.
Maybe she should give it to her neighbour who caught her snipping a bit of her blossom off in the back lane - She was very nice about it but now Ramona is racked with guilt (of course).
Also finished this commisioned painting for the lovely Miss M - who missed out on purchasing the drawing version of this crazy girl on a dog at Ramona's show last month. Slowly ticking things off the list...

Senin, 01 September 2008

Craft craziness of the week

sidewalk surreal

The ladies of HML hear that these images of 3-D sidewalk chalk art have been circulating the net for ages but in case you're like us and you delete all those joke emails we thought we'd show you these freaky non permanent artworks from around the world.
Kind of the urban cousin of the sand sculpture these extraordinary optical illusions will be gone with the first rain shower. We hope the artists put out their hats before the work dissapeared
Oh lordy there's Santa. better get back to work...

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