Saturday, September 16, 2006

Dasmarca

I got a box from England filled with outrageous knit scarves from Dasmarca. They are outrageous because the designer, Bidyut Das, knits with ultra super mega bulky wool on needles basically the size of broomsticks. Knitting turned into a very kinetic and physical act! Despite the bulk the yarn squishes down very soft in your hands. I have got just a few fun styles in for the season, I'll get some photos up later but for now you can go to their website.

Also in are the 2007 Nikki McClure calendars which feature images in her cut-paper style. I also got a dozen clever mini-wallets or cardholders from Akemi Designs made from upholstery leather samples. Each is embossed with the color name and style number and they are soft and just $18. Each is one of a kind and thus only available in the store, sorry web shoppers!

Piggy bank update: these Pamela Barsky piggies are sure popular. I am down to white until more of the colored ones are made, there is a 2-3 week lead time for the pea green ones. You can come by the store for the white ones or order online.

Speaking of online, we just added a half-dozen items to Rare Picks, including a new Highway laptop-worthy tote, Poketo items, fabric-covered journals, a great glass carafe...and we'll be adding more this weekend, including a very limited ruby pendant by Laurice Curran, leather goods by Nava Design, and more this and that...

Friday, September 15, 2006

Elsewhere...

1. You can sign up for Post-Postcard 10 held at The Lab in San Francisco. The show itself is in December but you can submit your artwork now! This is the granddaddy of tiny affordable art shows, 10 years strong. Some of my favorite pieces of art in my house came from this show. Nothing over $30.

2. Carol has moved her Undesigned boutique and studio to Los Feliz and will have a grand opening party on October 1. Go to her site to see a beautiful short film that serves as the lookbook for her fall collection.

3. Renegade Craft Fair is in Chicago this weekend. Have fun everybody!!

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Poketo

Poketo is a great little company that is not abandoning its original direction but is expanding and pushing boundaries. We have some of their new products (besides the ever-popular wallets) including large hardcover journals and a really great bottle opener (!) that will be up on our site soon. Also I got some shirts with monsters, because I love monsters.

The Fall collection from House of Spy is here, a big soggy but no worse for wear. I seem to have focused on deep blue and plum this year...I have some dressy tops for going out, long-sleeved tunics with big button detail, and sweet pointelle sweaters.

Brand new for us are some cute cards from Apak Studio in Portland, OR. I bought one of Ayumi's cards in SF and was so obsessed with it that I had to hunt her down and get some for the shop. Apak had a gallery show in July - why do I always miss these things?

From Highway Bags in Manhattan are the new Fall bags, mostly tote shapes in nylon with patent leather trim. One design especially will have you eyeing your laptop to see if you can sneak it in there, it's so pretty.

We're also restocked on those Old School Stationers bird prints! Besides the cute red and blue birds, there are new prints with crows and owls on them. We'll have these on the website soon, too. You'll be seeing these prints in a holiday gift guide very soon so beat the demand and order now.

It's quite a damp day here, we've switched the music to Richard Buckner as it's the closest thing to bluegrass (that is to say, not very close at all) at the shop and there is a bluegrass jam in Brooklyn this weekend.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Wednesdays

Did you know Wednesdays are the new Mondays? That's right, when you have a little shop like Rare Device, Wednesday is the first day of the week after the weekend that you open, and all the packages you might have received on Monday and Tuesday show up (along with anything actually scheduled for Wednesday) and then you panic and have a messy time unpacking all day long. It is like Christmas both in the joy of opening boxes and the cleaning up of the mess. And I'm talking to you, packing peanuts!

Anyway, let's skip to the fun part. What did we receive today?

- latest issues of Kitchen Sink, Cabinet, Skyscraper, and Lemon
- great Japanese books on colors in nature, modern illustrators, and vintage American fabric
- a book about classic wooden toys and puzzles designed by Kurt Naef, beautiful book
- little boxes in various shapes, sizes and textures for trinkets and valuables
- fabulous stretchy lovely clothing by Kelly Lane of Pittsburgh
- restock of dottyspeck cloud necklaces
- restock of keyaki wood teacups
- restock of nylon passport cases
- restock of keishi lariats by Kristen McCloud
- restock of Deadly Squire sachets, potholders, coin purses, and new journals
- and there must be more, my memory is getting poorer every year

In the pipeline - calendars by Jill Bliss, Nikki McClure and maybe, maybe Camilla Engman. Stay tuned, they won't last very long I'm sure.

Music

It's funny when I'm in the shop all day. Sometimes I play the same CD over and over, sometimes I don't put anything on at all. I pulled one from the vaults, so to speak, and everyone asked what it was, which usually doesn't happen. And it was Sunny Day Real Estate from 1994 so I am really dating myself here.

Anyway! Goals for today are adding two more products to Rare Picks - one is a gorgeous hammered glass cup from Sugahara Glass, and the other are equally wonderful teacups with eerie, opalescent patterns running through them. For those of you who were wondering, Rare Picks is a subset of the collection at the Brooklyn store so you can see things in person if you live here (but if you are coming from a distance, call ahead to make sure things are in stock). Our current bestseller is the My Perennial "Initial" pillow with then handdrawn monogram that is silkscreened on the face that was mentioned in design*sponge last week. These are very sweet for you, a wedding couple, or maybe a baby's room.

New at the shop - hopefully my House of Spy clothing order will be here today. They went through customs and were bounced back as the labels were in the wrong location :P but now all is okay and they are on the way. We are planning another lookbook of Fall styles at the shop, again shot by the talented Youngna Park.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Nisa

One of the favorite local labels in San Francisco is Nisa, and I am happy to have received a bit of their fall line last week. The pieces are a light wool-blend jersey that are cut and seamed a bit above the basics level, though the shapes of course are Good For Layering (TM). My fave is a charcoal grey cardigan with a sexy V-dip at the back of the neck that is so surprising. There is also probably the girliest piece in the shop, an open knit overdress in grey w/ a bit of lurex that will be devastating over a bright colored top, with boots.

I got a visit from Until Monday, a new neighborhood blog. I think they will be back for a proper chat later on.

Speaking of the hood, I will be getting some lovely ceramic knitware coasters from Alyssa Ettinger (great to put your drink on while you fuss with that cable-knit sweater for your boyfriend) and some paper goods and elephants (!) from Wren Handmade. At the other end of the world (and design spectrum) I have my eye on Kbox, a sleek and modular jewelry box system in aluminum and wool felt, out of Australia.

Finally, local events - again, the Sodafine grand opening party in Williamsburg is Saturday night, and Sunday is the Atlantic Antic, which is a must-stop solely for my landlord's shawarma, the very best in the land and only available at the Antic! Yes, once a year! I'll be grabbing one on the way to the shop. See Oriental Pastry, across from and between Sahadi's and Eddie the Sheik's music tent. (That sounded really funny but yes, that is where I live.)

In my head: that Nouvelle Vague cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart that Laura introduced me to while driving around in her Beetle, looking for parking near Canteen in San Francisco. that was fun.