Winter Reviews

It's going to be a slow week on the crafting front with so much holiday goodness coming up. God knows I'm not going to use my days off on embarking on some seriously creative project (besides last minute present-making and potluck-dish-baking). So here I give you my reviews on some things that are keeping me happy this winter (all awesome)


"I like you: Hospitality under the Influence" by Amy Sedaris

Quite simply the most enjoyable and useful homemaking book you will ever pick up! A humourous advice book as well as dead useful when you need to prepare food for a funeral in hurry, Sedaris teaches the masses what she does best with dry wit and endless flair. A slightly disorganized layout and relatively limited variety of recipes doesn't put this at the top of the list for reference tomes, but there are some mighty solid gems and major crowd-pleasers among these recipes- and it's entertaining enough to curl up with and read cover to cover!
The recipes are simple as hell- which might bore the chef looking for a challenge- but that is also the beauty of it: completely foolproof instructions and the use of full-fat, no-holds-barred flavorful ingrediants guarantees each dish to be delicious. Sure, some of them seem like no-brainers ("Root Beer Float"? "Baked Chicken Wings"?) - but for those of us who never actually learned how to cook, this book is an invaluable tool that actually makes cooking, entertaining and homemaking fun.
(ps: the amazing Li'l Smokey cheeseball present at the Haliblogospheremagonianmas2008 party was a recipe from this book- 'nuff said)

knit. 1 magazine

Search results describe this as a "knitting magazine targeting hip 18-35 year-old knitters" and boy, does it succeed. Not too cutesy or country-style like many craft magazines, and not as complex as Vogue knitting (gorgeous, but impossible) Knit.1 hits just the right combination of challenging and simple patterns. Hip, trendy items like funky hats and stockings clash with classic cabled sweaters and lacy shawls in every issue. There are always a few fun, fast-knit items that can be tried right away (instant gratification knitting!) and of course, there is the major advantage of a new issue every season! Perfect for those of us with a short attention span, and valuable reference material to collect to build up your pattern hoard.

Asumiko Nakamura

Okay, this is a person- a mangaka (manga artist) and illustration artist to be exact. She has only been published in Japan thus far and has very little online presence so it is difficult to expose others to her work. Her manga published in Kera magazine (a crazy/weird teen subculture fashion magazine made available to me by parents living overseas that would otherwise be an extravagant import) is where I first saw her.
Just when I thought manga art couldn't impress me anymore, Asumiko comes along to raise the bar! Her style is very flat and consists of extremely delicate ink lines, with particular attention to eye-catching pattern and embellishment. She also has a strong eye for fashion and seems to relish elongated, exaggerated forms and of course- super concentrated detail. Everything about her drawing screams the perfect fashion illustration for me.