"Various levels of un-success"

The title of this post is a quote written by my new and amazing friend Kate.  She coined this term in an email a few weeks ago and I thought it was so fitting and clever, that I jotted it down in hopes to have a chance to use it. (She's brilliant, and she's online too.  You should see for yourself... here.)  August has been - and will likely continue to be - yielding various levels of un-success on the creative front.  It's good, these interruptions, in the sense that we had/have planned weekend visits to see family, house guests and work travel; but it's putting a serious dent in my ability to  generate good blog fodder.

My smaller and less creative victory of late included making it home from the East cost after two cancelled flights, one additional, unplanned night away, and three failed attempts at catching standby flights.  (Nothing makes home more appealing than a total inability to get back to it.)  My long awaited flight landed me at home a mere 45 minutes before the house guests arrived.  So the normal tidying and cleaning went on in parallel to their first couple days in residence. Thankfully my better half did all the essential stuff...

I did manage to finish two books while I was on the road.  (These were our book club picks for this month and last.)  The first was the "Tiger's Wife".  It was different but good; I found it to be thought provoking.  It was an interesting look at how community history morphs into epic lore over the passage of years and generations. I recommend it. The second book called "Look Again" was also good, but more in a quick and satisfying mystery-mind-candy kind of way.  It was the perfect fast paced read for trying to kill those slow minutes between my standby times.

Since I've been home, I've been working on turning that swatch idea into the first pass at the prototype for that child's sweater.  More Quince and Co. Chicadee in Lupine... isn't it lovely? It's working, I think... and I'm loving the charting... (sharp pencils and graph paper what could be better?)

Prototype in "Lupine"

So in the next week or two I hope to share with you more knitting, and maybe week four of Pages and Paint.  I haven't totally dropped the ball on that, but it's been abandoned momentarily.  More soon...

Swatching with Quince & Co.

I spent a night house sitting for my parents a few weekends ago and entertained the idea of lugging all my Pages and Paint workshop materials up and then thought better of it.  I decided instead to start a swatch for a child's knit sweater.

I had a hank of Quince and Co. Chickadee on hand and started working up my swatch and re-remembered how much I absolutely love this yarn.  This color way is called "Honey" and it reminds me of the color of the duck cloth jackets that are the perennial favorite of farmers and ranchers and the like.  The yarn itself is very consistent; good twist, good color consistency, great wear.  And it is really affordable.

Quince and Co. Chicadee in "Honey" swatch

Also if you are inspired by the opportunities to shop "locally" or help the businesses that are attempting to re-invigorate in the American fiber/textile industry, you need to go and read about Quince & Co.  They operate a mill in New England and are careful about their fiber sources and generate a fantastic product at a very reasonable price.  I've had nothing but positive experiences.

This little garment has yet to pass the gamut that is the transition from concept to viable thing.  But in my mind it will become a little half cabled bodice with a peplum of ribbing either a cardigan or pull over... haven't worked out those details yet.  Wish me luck.

Pages and Paint – Week Three

Week Three of Pages and Paint was a total blur.  I had another business trip smack in the middle of the week, and I couldn't seem to get my act together before or after that.  So I did cram in a little time over the weekend and came up with one sort of cutesy tiny canvas.  This is it (no drumroll necessary); this baby is a mere 4- by 4-inches in size.  I'm thinking that it might make a good wall hanging in the doll house that the Small Fry is going to inherit.  (She hasn't actually inherited it yet, because I'm not sure she wouldn't just dismantle it entirely... so we're waiting on that one.)

Buttons - Tiny Buttons

The fun thing is that I started with the paint and after it dried I was planning to add some of the details in pen.  My mind saw three moons.  And I was headed off in a direction totally different than what you see above.  But my girl took one look and said "Buttons".  And so we went with it.

I think she was right.  All these round shapes are buttons.  Shirt buttons, yellow buttons, and tiny blue baby buttons.  What a fun surprise.

The other exercise we did was a Two-Minute-Prompt game.  Sarah designed it to help launch us into the painting territory.  It was a little painful, but a success in the sense that I am now a little more comfortable with the acrylic paints.

Sarah had sent to us about a dozen prompts or directions and we were asked to start with a fresh board and a palette of color and a timer.  Then at each two minute mark we had to draw a new prompt and follow the directions.  The prompts were things like "paint with white paint", "use a stencil", "add a collage element" or "paint with your eyes closed".  It was a little hard for me to loosen up and just go with the flow and I found out that two minutes isn't a whole lot of time.

This is what I came up with. It's messy and devoid of a theme or any compelling composition, but it was a fun exercise and was a good way to relieve some of the angst that comes with using new media.

Painting prompts game

So, we're currently in Week Four and I'm desperately trying to generate something nice that looks finished before this workshop comes to a close. So stay tuned for more acrylic experimentation and hopefully some new knitting.

Pages and Paint - Week Two

So we're cruising right along in the Pages and Paint class.  It's been fun and inspiring to see the work of the other students and to watch Sarah's videos and learn about her process.  I would be lying if I didn't admit that I was having trouble keeping up with the pace of the class.  Two weeks ago was week two and we worked on larger spreads in our sketch books and started collage-ing things into them as well.  It is really a fun process and I am fairly happy with what I came up with.

She sent us prompts for one of the exercises.  My prompts were: "bubblegum pink, lines and dots, seaside and joy."  What a nice collection of things, right?  And what I generated from those prompts is something that I'm relatively happy with.  The only thing that is missing is a photograph that lives in an album at my parents house.

Growing up in Illinois, our "seaside" was the sandy creek that ran through the farm.  We spent hours there splashing in the water, building sand castles and collecting tiny fossils and what we referred to as "jellybean rocks" ... super smooth in pastel colors. We used to fill Noni's (my grandmother) flower garden with them. Here is my sketchbook spread:

Full page sketchbook spread.

And the photo that I would have added to the sketchbook, had I been able to get my hands on it prior to posting my photo for the class was this one:

Summer Sunday afternoon - 1985

It was taken in the summer of 1985, on a Sunday afternoon.  One of those days that Mom piled all the girls from Sunday school into the car and we headed home to enjoy a quick lunch and an afternoon spent playing in the creek.  The creek at the crossing was (and is still) wide and sandy. And the spring-fed creek was always clean and clear and full of minnows and water bugs.  We weren't squeamish girls growing up.

It must have been a rainy spring for all those trees and logs to have been deposited in our "beach".  It's funny that I notice that now.  I'm sure I didn't think a thing of it at the time.  We were probably just glad for the bridge and the jumping platform.  That's me in the purple suit, probably planning to join my sister in the plunge.  She's the one in mid jump holding her nose, in preparation for a depth of surely no more than two feet or so.  I laugh at this now.  Those were some really good times and made some really nice memories.

And it's a nice surprise to find that this online art workshop helped me dig this up.  Enjoy!

Re-reading: My Antonia

Last week some friends of mine were circulating book recommendations via email and I happened to be sifting through some of my favorite books for memorable passages for the pages and paint class. I wrote to them about my favorite book after I dusted it off to find the excerpt I was looking for. I thought I would share it here too.

Books become favorites for a myriad number of reasons: different tastes, life experiences and moods. So I'll preface my recommendation by saying I think that this book and author are my favorite because Willa Cather writes about the lives of pioneering plains people.  Her stories take place in wide open spaces; they are honest, unvarnished tales of those people: their celebrations and losses, and the friendships that span those events.  The  backdrop to this story is an agricultural one.  The underlying themes of planting, harvesting and honest labor – the kind that leaves dirt under your fingernails and guarantees restful sleep – feels familiar to me. 

The book is My Antonia, by Willa Cather. I loved it the first time I read it, about 15 years ago. And then read everything else written by her that I could find a copy of. I think it's the parallels between my upbringing and the backdrop to this story that make it feel like home. I grew up in the flat land of southern Illinois in a community of farming and mining families who were richer in friendship and life experiences than in material things.

The whole book is amazing. But the last two chapters get me every time. The thing that resonates most is the strength of character of Antonia and that she creates an indelible impression on, and bond with the people who have the opportunity to know her. I'm in love with the idea that the passage of time and loss of people doesn't necessarily diminish their presence in your life.

Below is my favorite excerpt from the book; it is a description of Antonia as told by her childhood friend – reacquainted after twenty years absence.

    “She lent herself to immemorial human attitudes which we recognize by instinct as universal and true.  I had not been mistaken.  She was a battered woman now, not a lovely girl; but she still had that something which fires the imagination, could still stop one's breath for a moment by a look or gesture that somehow revealed the meaning in common things. She had only to stand in the orchard, to put her hand on a little crab tree and look up at the apples to make you feel the goodness of planting and tending and harvesting at last. All the strong things of her heart came out in her body that had been so tireless in serving generous emotions.

     It was no wonder that her sons stood tall and straight.  She was a rich mine of life, like the founders of early races.”

-                                                                                                                                                                                                               -Willa Cather, My Antonia

You should run out and read this book.  I'm sure your library has a copy.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

February Baby Sweater Ensemble

It's a finished project!  And in time for the baby shower. This little sweater was the third February baby sweater that I've knit.  My niece, my girlie and now my cousin's daughter will all have versions of this sweater.  I also just learned that a first cousin's baby is a first cousin once removed - thanks Kate! (Oh, and by the way, I think she's going to be a Kate too - funny coincidence.)

All we need now is a 6-12 month sized babe.

I knit this in Louet Gems fingering weight wool. If I had to estimate I would guess that the final sweater is a smallish 6-12 month size. The pattern directions and garment construction are really efficient.  There is nothing fussy about it. The sweater is knit from the neck down and the only seaming are the arm seams. It's also a great way to get started with lace if you are interested in that kind of thing. The lace pattern is a four row repeat and you purl across rows two and four = easy to memorize. It's raveled here.

The only oops on this project was using the remnants from one ball of yarn before adding the full skein of what I thought was the same dye lot. It turns out that it isn’t the same and, the color shift is noticeable if you know where to look.  After blocking and hanging over the patterned blouse it seems to be less noticeable.  I don't have enough yarn to fix the whole thing, so it is what it is.

Love, love, love covered buttons.

The blouse is a pattern by Liesl Gibson of Oliver + S called the Class Picnic Blouse blouse.  I'm crazy about this pattern.  The Small Fry has several versions of this blouse, it's so simple and pretty.  And I love that it doesn't require any buttons or zippers.

A little note about Oliver + S patterns: I am by no means an accomplished seamstress.  The basics, I can handle, but beyond that I'm out of my depth.  Liesl's patterns are beautifully written, and the quality of the patterns themselves is fantastic.  There is no newsprint or flimsy, filmy pattern paper.  The Oliver + S patterns are quality.  The attention to detail in the garment construction is really high also.  The neckline seam allowances are sewn down to facings, hems are carefully measured and sewn and the finished products really reflect that attention to detail. 

I completed the gift by purchasing a tiny pair of Gap jeans and an equally tiny pair of pink ballet flats.  The shoes for a baby are completely ridiculous, and I know that.  But even knowing full well that the likelihood that these will stay on or even be worn is terrible, I couldn't stop myself.  I'm a sucker for clothing in miniature... what can I say? Cheers friends, I hope you have great weekends!

Pages and Paint – Week One

This post was really meant to tell you about my Pages and Paint week one, but it morphed into something more meandering...

Over the weekend, Sarah asked us each to carve out a little time - an hour or so - to do something inspiring, bring the sketchbook along and capture what we could.  Most of my weekend consisted of the normal catching up... laundry, grocery shopping and the like; but I did make some time with the sketchbook.  

The weekend creativity was centered around the Small Fry, not surprisingly.  It seems that her doll, the one she refers to as Naked Baby needed some clothing.  She's a favorite for taking on strolls around the neighborhood, and I'm getting a vibe from Belle, the super sitter, that it might be nice if Naked Baby had some clothes. Mind you, Naked Baby came with clothes but the Small Fry isn't fond of those clothes.  So we sketched a little pattern, dug up some fabric and Naked Baby is now sporting a skirt and shirt.  For the record, designing sleeves for a body with a 4-inch inseam and 10-inch waist holds no romance for me... so, sleeveless it was.

The sketch and my muses

The subject of my Pages and Paint assignment ended up being all about the time spent with the Small Fry and Naked Baby.  It involved the creation of a very simplistic pattern, some minor embroidery, an intermission (or two) for coloring and an audience of playmobil "guys". 

The sketching was really enjoyable, for both of us. It seems that my love for fresh sketchpads and uber sharp pencils has not waned since childhood. The Small Fry got her very own page and uber sharp pencil (requiring some supervision to prevent stabbing of inanimate objects or herself) and I sketched away for an hour or so. I unearthed an old Koh-i-noor Rapidomatic mechanical pencil that was loaded with 0.3 mm lead (be still my beating heart).  It is the sharpest and finest pencil ever, and it makes me want to draw miles of fine lines.

Closeup of my embroidery sketch

My sketch is too tight, I think.  Somehow I reverted back to near-technical illustration; I'm sure that pencil had some influence.  But this is my first attempt at drawing in years, and I'm kind of stymied by the idea of it. I'm hoping to loosen up over time.  Sarah's work is so sunny and ethereal, I'm not sure what she's going to think of me... but I'm hoping she won't give up entirely.

It was fun to get those creative juices flowing.  And although sketches of doll clothes and playmobil toys aren't likely to go down in the annals of history, we don't care.  We had a good time.