slow and detailed

{on the happiness of making rough wood lay flat}

Measuring, cutting, sifting through heaps of lath; measuring, cutting, searching through piles of lath again. It's a repetitive sport, this thing I do. But I've been learning to be more selective, to pay more attention to detail, to work slower. I've now started spending more time with each strip of wood, deciding where it should go, where it feels right. I started hand-planing the back and sides of every piece, getting them straighter, making them more even. It's a heck-of-a-lot more tedious, sure, but now my surfaces are smoother and level, and the seams and cracks are getting tighter or disappearing completely.

It's interesting -- to slow down. Normally, I feel like at this point I should be speeding up, working faster, making more. But with this new slowness in me, I'm teaching myself, and it's a wonderful feeling to still know you can learn. I can always get better, and that makes me want to keep going.

And speaking of slow things, on the exact opposite end of that I've now joined something rather fast: Yes, yes indeed, I am now doing the Instagramy Thingy. Hooray! I know some have said it was about damn time I got a fancy phone. Well, I held out long enough, and the pull of the immediate has finally caught me. And the thing is... I love it! I love seeing everyone's photographs and I've been happily flooding the internet with a stream of pretty little squares just like an over zealous newbie should.

Find those little squares @arielealasko.

the big one

{my monster of a table top, also known as holy cow that's huge, or, is that gonna fit in the elevator?}

Hello people, it's been a while. How are you? I've been happily busy, and now you know why. Yes, yes, I just finished the pattern on the biggest table I've ever built, weighing in at a whopping who-knows-how-heavy-and-I'm-not-eager-to-find-out, and measuring a solid ten feet long and six feet wide. If this table were a boat, it would be a ship. If this table were in my house, I couldn't fit in there with it. And yes, it's two inches shy of not being able to fit in the elevator, diagonally, so it's going to be a bit of a squeeze. Though lifting the thing will be hard enough, considering that four sheets of 3/4 inch plywood went into it, laminated beneath all that lath -- Yikes. Sturdy? Yes. Fun? Yes!

I love it I love it I love it.

So, take a look below kiddies, I do believe my lovely boyfriendy whipped up a silent stop-motion film for you all. You know, no big thing, turning two-weeks of grueling work into forty seconds. Why not?



Brooklyn to West - The Big Table from Ariele Alasko on Vimeo.


Thanks to Nina, who designed the beautiful pattern; Amelie, who helps me always; and Zay, who made the amazing film for me -- without you it would just be a million pointless photos sitting in my computer. Thank you thank you. You are the best. Now let's go out to celebrate.

on the black wall

There are a few really cool things going on in here in front of this black wall -- I mean, things other than these roadside Queen Anne's that we totally illegally parked to snag, yanking some out by their roots as we hurried to get an armful or two. When you see flowers in Brooklyn that aren't growing from someone's yard, you gotta take 'em just for the rarity of the thing. Summer flowers aren't patient and before I know it I'll have looked up and missed 'em, so I'm just happy that I got at least one bouquet out of the deal. And speaking of deals, and patience, I'm gonna have to make you wait a little longer for the goodstuff that's coming -- the bigstuff, the stuff I'm super proud of. I can hardly wait!