Microhouse and edible mushrooms

These are a couple of links I want to bookmark but you might find interesting, too.

1. The $200 Microhouse

2. Composting with Edible Mushrooms

“Handcrafted to Delight the Toes” – NYT article

Before I went to Italy, I heard people mention Italian leather, and even though I had a vague idea that I should look for good deals while I was there, I came away with only a small change purse that was stamped with gold scroll work and some flowers. I went to Venice, but didn’t take note of any hand crafted shoe stores.

After reading this article, I would approach my visit differently! It talks about three hand crafters, all women, that currently operate in slow-paced Venice, which is, of course, also a great place for walking, since there are no vehicles to speak of. And, it notes an intriguing historical trend of platform shoes taking off amongst the general population after being prescribed for courtesans in the 16th century to discourage “street walking.”

The comment I most appreciate comes from Gabriele Gmeiner, who says:

The fact that there are no cars slows down the pace of life, so that it fits in with the tempi of traditional crafts.

The article also mentions the average price range of these handcrafted shoes, which is anywhere from 700-1500 euros. To me, this says that although handcrafting shoes (or other) won’t make one rich, there is a clientele out there that appreciates the artisanry and is willing to pay for it.

Only one link mentioned in the article gives an idea of the shoes these women create, that of Gabriele Gmeiner, who has several other interesting projects described in photos on her site, including children’s boots made by Venetian prisoners.

You’ll have to follow the link to see these delightful creations.

Here’s an example on Flickr of Giovanna Zanella’s shoes, and a blog link with more info on this artisan.

Handmade

Guess what! This Thursday is going to be the inaugural meeting of the Kinshasa SnB! I can’t wait! I don’t know that we have many knitters, but I have two more friends interested in learning, and it should be educational to have other types of stitchers there, too.

I meant to do some photography over the weekend to update some of my Ravelry project descriptions, but, well, I guess I worked on knitting instead. And I was talking to one of my non-knitter friends about knitting, and I got so excited I pulled out a plastic bin of knitted goods, and we took every one out of the bin and tried it on. That would have been a photo opp, socks on hands, hats and scarves and sweaters piled on.

She said, you have a LOT of knitted things.

We sat in the AC with sweaters on and drank tea and talked about Shetland yarn (she’s Scottish), and I knitted. It almost felt like fall on the east coast.

These photos are from the Fells Point fest in Baltimore the weekend of October 3rd, some other types of handmade items instead of my own.

Is it a bonobo?

Who else was obsessed with these 20yrs ago?

Makes me want to buy some eggs

Also, thanks WordPress, I hadn’t used the “caption” function before but I like it.