iowa

Home
Let me come Home
Home is wherever I’m with you

bare feet in the grass, no bug bites :: my own roses :: flowers in my hair from the garden :: new/old bench bought from a yard sale :: wine and reading with my love in the sun porch :: bbq with new friends

new shoes around the studio

Sarkilahti and I ordered shoes from Beatrice Valenzuela, hers are on the left and mine are on the right.  I first became obsessed with the Tejido sandals when I saw them on Kathryn Bentley here and then later on the Ermie blog, and now they are mine.  Mwahahahahaha.  (I suppose the evil laughter is because buying new shoes always gives me a mix of exhilaration and guilty feelings all at once.)

dealtry + wiksten silk tank and dress

photography by Tara Donne

Here are the silk tank top and sundress that Helen and I collaborated on, modeled by the two of us.  Let me explain a little bit about our process.  First I gave Helen inspiration images and color swatches over the course of several design meetings.  After painting a few textile designs and discussing with me, she narrowed it down and scanned her choice into the computer.  Using Photoshop, she created a repeat and changed the color palette to a beautiful cerulean blue color with tiny pops of hot pink and neon yellow and orange.  We worked together on sourcing a company that could digitally print on our own silk crepe de chine fabric, and we found a printer here in the U.S.  Helen took care of the textile production side of things with her team at Woking Girl Designs while Wiksten took care of the garment design, patternmaking, cutting, and sewing.  Our end product is two garment designs that are totally easy, light as air, and joyous.  Perfect for a cheerful summer!

I'm in love with these colors because they're just so fun.  Of course there's the requisite Wiksten blue, but I'm so used to using muted colors that I wanted to do something a little brighter for a change.  The print looks floral from a distance, but up close it's an abstract painting.

You can pre-order here starting tomorrow.  Each garment will be made to order in your choice of S, M, or L.  (See size chart.)  These special pieces are limited edition.

dealtry + wiksten collaboration

top and bottom photos by Tara Donne

I'm excited to announce that Wiksten has been working on a fun new collaboration with Helen Dealtry, head designer at Woking Girl Designs.  Woking Girl is a company that designs textiles, and Helen paints many of the designs by hand before they are scanned into a computer and digitally printed on fabric. All of her work is gorgeous!  I'm so exited to have found Helen--she's incredibly talented, not to mention one of the most stylish ladies I know.  Check out the Woking blog here.  I can't wait to show you pictures tomorrow of what we designed together.

surpise craft

 photo by Caitlin

 

Lena is the sweetest friend.  She hosted a going away lunch for me a few days ago in her beautiful backyard.  After we ate some delicious homemade food, she pulled out a surprise craft project for us!  Potholder weaving.  Yep, that's definitely the way to my heart.  What's more awesome than that?  Almost nothing.  I'm going to miss these girls so much!

my new glasses

 It kind of took me a long time to decide on a pair, didn't it?  It was an almost unanimous vote from you guys and my friends and Joe, so I ended up getting the Prestons.  I am not sorry, I love them.  They fit me perfectly!  Warby Parker's customer service is amazing, and I'm very happy to have ordered from them.

shop update recap

All of the clothes in the shop update this morning sold out incredibly quickly, and I know that some of you were very disappointed.  I can understand your frustration.  Since everything I do is handmade and very time-consuming (especially the hand-dyed pieces), I don't have a large inventory.  I try my best but can't make everyone happy.  I'm so sorry if some of my customers feel like they missed out.  I needed to get rid of my inventory before I move in a few days, but as soon as I can get my studio unpacked in Iowa I plan on sewing more pieces so that those of you who are willing wait a couple of weeks can buy something too.

I still have a few of the MCMC fragrances left though, which is exactly why I'm carrying other products in my shop now.  I hate to have an empty shop with nothing for my dear customers.  I should also let you know that something super exciting is coming up in a few days!  I'm going to let you in on the details of an exciting Wiksten limited edition collaboration very soon, and there will be more garments to buy, I promise.

wiksten shop update tomorrow

Finally!  The Wiksten shop will be updated tomorrow morning (Thursday, June 23) with the new collection!  The short notice is due to the fact that my life is hectic because of the move.  I've also decided to start adding other products to my store that go along perfectly with what I make.  First up is fragrance from MCMC.  I'm selling Hunter and Maui in smaller and more affordable sizes than are available anywhere else--that way you can get two different scents for the price of one big one.  I wear Hunter every day, and I save Maui for days when I want something different.  Anne's perfumes are delicious and wonderful, and I'm obsessed with them even though I've never really liked perfume before.  They're so subtle and perfect for the girl who hates perfume but wants to smell awesome.  Ever since I started wearing them my husband mentions almost on a daily basis how good I smell.  I am completely won over by this stuff.  Hope you love it as much as I do.

The Wiksten collection catalog blog as well as the webshop have both been updated in case you want to browse before tomorrow.  Happy shopping!

more about moving

We will be in Iowa City for the next five years.

Joe has a friend in Iowa who told him about a job opening in his Urology program, and since Joe is unhappy with his program here he was super interested but left the choice up to me.  Initially I said no since I have a very happy and full life here, but then I got my act together and actually thought about Joe.  He does not have a happy and full life here.  All he does is work, and he doesn't particularly care for the place he works and feels like he isn't learning as much as he could.  (He scrambled into the program here in the first place, and it wasn't really what he would have chosen otherwise.)  I want us to have a happy and full life together I realized.  Iowa gives us that chance.  They have an excellent program.  We went through months of agony over the process because once we'd made the decision to go for it we had no idea if he'd even get the job since there were quite a few applicants.  We had no clue what our future would be.  He sent an application and we waited, then he had an interview and we waited some more.  Finally he was offered the job, and we felt such excitement mixed with "what the hell are we doing?!"  

We went out there for a trip to apartment hunt, and yes, I visited Anna Allen, who is 30 minutes away (but is sadly moving away soon, boo).  More on that another time, including photos.  We found a 3 bedroom house to rent that is a FOUR MINUTE walk to the hospital!!!  Oh joy of joys, you don't know what this means for our lives!  Home call for Joe, instead of spending nights at the hospital.  We will be on a normal schedule from now on.  No crazy weeks of working at night and sleeping during the day.  Just regular work days with one night of being on call at home per weekend.  And the year after this Joe will have a year off for writing research papers, which means we can live abroad or try to have a kid or at least something awesome that we didn't have the opportunity to do before.

This is a wonderful, happy thing.  We are overjoyed for this opportunity and feel so lucky.  Iowa City is very cute, and I'm sure we'll feel at home there.  However, right now all of this is mixed together with stress over moving and sadness at leaving my friends and life here.  It's a complicated mix of feelings, there's no black and white.  After the last move I've become more comfortable with change, but the adjustment will still be a bit rough at first I'm sure.  Moving is never easy, is it?  I'm terrible at saying goodbyes and feel pretty emotional at leaving all I've built for myself here.  All in all, the last two years have been a magical time in my life and I feel grateful to have had the experience.  But I think I'm starting to feel ready to embrace the good and bad that comes with this change in our lives.

So look out, Iowa.  I already have plans for you.  I've been there exactly twice and only know two people there, so I'm not totally sure what to expect.  However, I'm already looking forward to: buying a hammock for the yard and slowing down my pace, planting a garden, spending Saturdays at the library, attending football games in the fall, going to the farmer's markets and cooking dinner every night instead of takeout, decorating the house, taking ceramics classes at the university.

Now all I have to do is pack.  We are leaving in one week and I've been too busy to even start!  Wish me luck.

renegade craft fair

top photo from Juliet Gorman, bottom left photo from Wren Handmade, bottom right photo from Clam Lab

Decked out in my rain gear and sporting some seriously frizzy hair, I walked the Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair last weekend.  It was at McCarren Park, which is conveniently located right between my home and my studio.  What a great time, folks.  I got to meet some talented designers and bumped into some friends along the way.  I finally got to buy this necklace from Juliet Gorman that I've had my eye on.  I also got some cards, crocheted barrettes, and paper garlands from Wren Handmade by Laura Normandin.  I can't wait to decorate my new studio in Iowa with paper garlands!  Meeting Laura was exciting for me--I had admired her work for a long time but had never seen it in person.  She was so cool.  And last but not least, I stocked up on some Clam Lab pottery by Clair Catillaz for my new home.

moving

photo by Jennifer Sarkilahti

Ok, so you might have seen this and been like, "What the heck?"  Yes, dear people, I am moving.  Moving out of Brooklyn and very soon.  I'm leaving my dearly beloved studio space that I share with Sarkilahti and Anne.  I've been putting off blogging about this because I'm extremely sad about it.  To the point that when I came home to my husband boxing up our belongings the other night I felt like I'd been punched in the gut.  Even though I knew it was coming.  I don't really feel like talking about it, to be honest.  However, I will give you the details when I'm ready.  You needn't worry, great things are in store for me.  It's just hard to say goodbye.

So.....there's a studio space available!  Would you like to take my spot?  Going to work at the Dobbin Mews every day has been an absolute dream come true.  In fact, it's been one of the best things that ever happened to me.  Having a dedicated work space to go to everyday with other creative people changed my life in that I'd never been so inspired nor so productive before.  The space and atmosphere are unique and beautiful.  The people are amazing.  And I mean amazing.  Everyone there welcomed me with open arms and showed me extraordinary kindness.  You couldn't share a space with any people more lovely, talented, and exceptional.  Ok, I will stop gushing before I cry.

Read the ad for the space here.  I would love it if someone wonderful took my place so that it will be even more fun when I come back to visit!

hand knit socks

I don't know if you remember this yarn I bought way back when, but it's finally been made into socks!  Just in time for the summer heat, oops.  Well maybe it'll give me a reason to look forward to winter, right?  I've scrapped the traditional sock pattern that I usually use in favor of following this awesome technique for the heel and toe.  I'm still doing top down on double pointed needles, and then after I do the toe I graft the sock together at the top of the foot.  These are constructed much like commercial socks that you buy at the store.  They're so much more comfortable to me than what I was doing before.  After my first pair using my new pattern, I changed it again by making the toe a little wider.  The knitting process is so stimulating for me--skills are always evolving and new things being learned by trial and error.

mark + june

photo by Jennifer Sarkilahti

How cute are they?  My older brother and his wife finally came to visit me in New York last week!  It was so fun, I love them.  June had never been to New York and is studying architecture and furniture design, so she was interested in everything the city had to offer in museums and buildings, etc.  I loved talking about making furniture with her.  (I would like to do some of that some day!)  More than that though, I enjoyed introducing them to my friends, who they really hit it off with.  Sarkilahti snapped this photo of them at Fay's garden birthday party.  Everyone noticed how "Gordy" Mark was since we have a lot of similar mannerisms and expressions.  Mark calls his wife "Junie", and since it sounds like "Jenny" she and I always answer him at the same time!  Funny.

sewing pattern summer sale

I'm clearing out my inventory of Tank and Tova patterns, and there are a few left in the shop here.  They're $10 cheaper, first come first serve.  They will be available for about another week only.  I won't be selling these again for another season or two while I work on new things.

shelter island wedding part 2

Shannon was one of the most beautiful, happy, and in-love brides I've ever seen!  Can't you see her just glowing?  And her hair, veil, and dress?  Insanely awesome.  Wish I would have gotten a better picture of the bottom of the dress because it was amazing.  Our studio neighbor Nicolette really outdid herself on the flowers, and I loved the old-timey music the band played.  A perfect wedding.

shelter island wedding

Over the weekend I attended the most beautiful wedding I've ever been to.  It was Shannon South's 1920's themed wedding on Shelter Island.  A night filled with stylish people, champagne-fueled Charleston dancing, and delicious food.  I pretty much stood next to the oyster table for a good hour refilling my plate.  Beyond that, I'm so lucky to have been able to witness how happy Shannon and Ed are, not to mention how much love their families have for them.  Don't worry, I'll post more pictures tomorrow!  Aren't you dying to see the bride?

*I wore my new Lissa Dress, and it was so comfortable!  If only my high heels hadn't been torture.  I think I spent half the night barefoot.*

catching up with the times

photo by Lena Corwin

If you would "like" Wiksten on Facebook here, I would be ever so grateful!

gus

return

After a two week vacation in Turkey and Greece, Sarkilahti is finally back in the studio.  Yay!  We missed her.  Check out her blog throughout the next week for gorgeous travel photos.

erin considine + pour porter

Images from Pour Porter

I bought the Pyramidalis necklace from Erin Considine at the Mociun pop-up shop designer sale last weekend.  Got to chat with her a bit, and she's lovely. 

Have you seen Pour Porter's new website?  They're having a 20% off sale on Erin Considine jewelry for one week.  Score.  And isn't their new lookbook beautiful?