to my dad /  by jen geigley

My dad went off to the Army in 1967 at the age of 17. How he got there is a very long story, but the boy you see here was a combat medic in the Korean War.
He has shared stories with me over the years about what he endured there. Stories of enemy fire in the elephant grass, and how he came to the aid of fallen soldiers. He was quick and brave and smart and though I'll never know every single detail of what he did there, I do know that he did some pretty heroic things. And I am so thankful and proud that he is my dad. He is definitely my hero.
So on this Veteran's Day I thank my dad, Murray Berggren. I thank all veterans for your past, present and future service to our country. Thank you to the soldiers who came home and didn't get the homecoming you deserved. Thank you to the soldier in uniform who I saw from a distance in the grocery store last week. None of us would be where we are today without your dedication and sacrifice. Words cannot express the gratitude I feel. But thank you.

destroy my sweater = make it better /  by jen geigley

Yesterday, a friend told me about a project she saw on another friend's blog. Make It Better: A Craftalong for Sandy Relief.

Two New York-based crafty bloggers, Brett Bara from Manhattan Craft Room & Natalie Soud from A Dose of the Delightful, began to think about what they could do to help those Sandy victims without electricity, heat, or even proper shelter. They knew there had to be a way to harness the power of crafters to help–because if there’s anything knitters, crocheters and sewers are good at, it’s making warm things.

They decided to create Make It Better: A Craftalong for Sandy Relief. The goal? Rally crafters to make warm hats, scarves, blankets, mittens and socks – and deliver them to people in need as soon as possible.
So, last night I got to work. Using this tutorial from A Beautiful Mess, I made a stack of cozy mittens to send to the areas in and around New York City.
And then I gathered up a few hand-knit items that I had stashed away and got them ready to send off, too. (You can find the pattern for my hand-knit fingerless gloves on Ravelry – they're super quick and easy to knit.)
HOW TO HELP

MAKE IT. Simply knit, crochet or sew a warm garment or blanket–items most needed are hats, socks, gloves/mittens, scarves and blankets. Use one of the quick and easy free patterns we found below, or any pattern you like. If you’d like to include other small items to help the relief effort, feel free to donate another warm garment (new or gently used, please). We are hearing reports that general clothing is no longer needed, so please restrict your donations to warm winter items only.

SEND IT. Send your finished item to Natalie Soud, 310 West Broadway, New York, NY 10013 as soon as possible. We want to start distributing warm goods within a week or less, so stitch something quick and send it off! Our volunteers will deliver the items to various points in and around New York City. (Although we’ll start delivering immediately, we’ll be accepting donations for the near future, so free free to send projects whenever they’re complete.)

CRAFTALONG. Share what you’ve made and help spread the word! Please, please, please blog, Tweet, Facebook, Instagram, and Pin that you’re participating in the Sandy Craftalong as soon as you can (like today!) so that we can get as many hands stitching as possible. Then, when you finish your project, share what you’ve made by posting it on your own blog and on our Facebook page at facebook.com/sandycraftalong. Also remember to use the tags  #makeitbetter and #sandycraftalong

1. Socks (knitted) via Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller
2. Wool blanket (sewn) via Brett Bara for Design*Sponge
3. Easy bound fleece blanket (sewn) via See Kate Sew - we also found these easy fleece mitten and sock tutorials
4. Upcycled mittens (sewn from an old sweater) via A Beautiful Mess - there’s also an upcycled hat tutorial at the same link
5. Hat (knitted) via Kollabora
6. Scarf (crocheted) via Vickie Howell for Bernat – you just need a free account to view the pattern on the web, or here’s the PDF

(More info can be found here.)

you were there. /  by jen geigley

Someday, I will tell my kids about this election. I will tell them: You were there when history was made.
I will tell Lo that I carried her on my hip to the polls in 2008 to cast my vote. The vote that helped elect our nation's 44th President of the United States. The first African American to hold office. We voted, then we went to a doughnut shop that was giving out free doughnuts to voters. Here's what little Lo looked like back then.
I will remind her that in 2012, she was in kindergarten and that she voted for Obama in her classroom election, which resulted in a tie. The first time she got to see what voting felt like. I will tell Bowie about how we sat with him in our living room as we filled out our ballots early and mailed them in.
 
I will tell them that they were there when our President visited Des Moines in September.
They stood here amongst this massive crowd on a sunny day in Iowa.
I will say: You heard his voice, you heard him speak. Your daddy took you to see him.
I will tell them that I saw our President give his last campaign speech ever, the night before the 2012 election.
I will tell them about how I put them to bed and then sped off to the East Village. About how I spent 30 minutes looking for a parking spot and then hooked up with friends who pushed me up to the very front of the massive crowd, just in time to see Bruce Springsteen.
The whole nation watched on television. Downtown, in our very own city. And I was there to see it.
I will say: You were there, and you sat on our laps and watched the election results come in. On our couch, in our living room. Until it was time for bed. I'll tell them that Iowa was a major swing state, and our state came through.
I will tell them: We did this for you, for your future. You may remember it; you may not. But you were there. And we did it.

**Regardless of your political views or mine, I figured I needed to record this for posterity. I'm a sucker for memories and stories and such. I am the keeper of the stickers and posters and ticket stubs. This election presented me with a series of events and photos and memories I wanted to pass on and share, no matter the outcome. This blog has become my space, my scrapbook. Our lives were touched by this campaign, and sometimes living in Iowa has its perks. I respect and love you for however you voted yesterday and however you feel about last night's results today. (The end!)

two shows, two days /  by jen geigley

Last weekend was crazy, especially considering that I'm no longer in the game. Sometimes, I like to trick myself into thinking I'm still cool. And I might be a little bit cool, but mostly I don't have time for cool. I'm a mom of a kindergartener and a baby. I no longer go to concerts any and every night of the week, followed by beers and after parties and slices of greasy pizza at 3 a.m. No! But I remember that girl. I do. And after a week of shows and costume parties I'll admit that I feel a tiny bit more balanced. Weird but true. It must have been time to break out of comfort of the mom-zone, swap out the hoodie and for a leather jacket and just ... go.

So I did. Last Saturday night, I ventured out to Wooly's with my friend Erin to see Sleigh Bells. Oh, how I had anticipated this show – I was so excited when I found out they were making a stop here and could not wait to see them. After blaring their albums in the car until even my kid knew all of the words, this was such a fun band to see live.

They hit hard with those (infinity) guitars and heavy heavy bass. And Alexis Krauss is, well ... she's hot. She busted out the lyrics in that sweet voice of hers and even did some crowd surfing and I honestly loved every single minute of it. If you want to see that crowd surfing, check the Rill Rill video below. (Just beware of the tiny f-bomb.)
The very next evening, I found myself right back at the same venue with Bo to see Stone Sour's sold-out CD release show. They sounded super tight and it's always a whole lot of fun to watch Josh Rand and Jim Root play. Corey Taylor is such a phenomenal front-man, too. I've got a lot of respect for those guys – you can tell they work hard.
Sometimes living in Des Moines has its perks and this was one of them, because this was kind of a hometown show, just for us. It was pretty fantastic.

 Here's some video if you're interested. Gosh, it was fun.

 
Infinity Guitars.
 
Rill Rill with crowd surfing. (Might be a tiny bit of swearing.)
 
Through the Glass.
30/30-150.

for the boys: Jeffrey Sebelia/La Miniatura /  by jen geigley

I'm in love with the La Miniatura boys' line, designed by one of my favorite Project Runway alums/winners, Jeffrey Sebelia. (He's my second all-time fave, just after Leanne Marshall.) For anyone who complains that there just aren't that many cool clothes out there for boys, this is for you. Even more exciting is that La Miniatura is 50% off at Hautelook this weekend only. Check it before it's all gone. (I'm snagging a few things for Bowie right away!)

Yoda /  by jen geigley

Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm?
  I am a knitter, so I had to knit a baby Yoda hat for Bowie's first Halloween.
I made a little flannel robe and belt, too. My sewing is a little rough so don't look too closely. But I'm happy with how the hat turned out. I couldn't find the exact Yoda knitting pattern I was hoping for so I totally made this up on the fly and was stoked when it turned out to be the right size (ears and all) on the first try. It was a knitting miracle.
(Do, or do not. There is no try.)

Über: duly noted /  by jen geigley

(photo from JamaicaMakes)

Jamaica, my friend and most favorite paper hoarder has hacked up the remainder of her most fantastical, magical notebooks/paper stash and is making the best of the best available (one last time) for sale in her shop. This collection contains 6 prints from a specialty house in Portugal, micrographs from Korea, long discontinued prints and some of the best of the best from her favorite companies. Paper lovers ... you might want to check this out.