Dizzy Dragonfly

Found Roots

2008-04-12T15:20:00.002-05:00

At the beginning of the year I blogged about creating my own roots and that is finally starting to happen.

The hubby and I have found a house we would like to call home. We are under contract and if the next few weeks go smoothly we will be home owners by the end of May. For real and for true. If this works out that will be what I post about for some time and hopefully more crafty goodness.

My Flickr is filled with pics I should post about, but somehow I haven't managed to get the gumption to do so. My most recent finished project is the stroller blanket I knit for a dear friend's baby using the Mason Dixon Modern Log Cabin Blanket pattern.

She had a little girl at the end of February but my friend is not so excited about dousing her little girl in pink. The nursery decor is jungle/rainforest with the main colors are browns, light green and yellow. I choose to use Lion Brand Nature's Choice Organic Cotton yarn in Pistachio, Macadamia, Pecan, Walnut and a little bit of Strawberry to give it a wee bit of girly-ness. The browns, green and cream match other things that were purchased for them and the organic yarn will please my eco-conscious friend. It is super soft and the only worry I have is that the yarn appears to be a bit linty so I am hoping a nice wash will help with that.

I greatly over estimated the amount of yarn I needed so I will probably make some coordinating accessories...hats, sweaters, booties, another blanket! ;)

Japanese Craft Book

2008-02-19T15:35:00.004-05:00

This past weekend the hubby and I drove over to the Japanese market and bookstore in Edgewater, NJ. I had been their once before and the hubby had never been so it was a nice Sunday adventure.

From the market we picked up some edamame and shrimp shumai (yum!) and learned that in Bergen county you have to wait until 1pm to buy alcohol but there are no small appliance purchases allowed. Yup. A strange blue law. That aisle of the market was roped off with signs. Why I could not buy a rice cooker is beyond me!

From the bookstore I purchased a new Japanese sewing book. It is published by Ondori and the title is in Japanese but Google translate the title as "Hand out your grocery store is small cloth of (Japanese characters left untranslated )." Um, yeah. The ISBN number is 978-4-277-43117-0 in case you want to look for it.

Here are some pics of projects that I am considering...

The projects seem to focus on things for the home...of the organization variety. For some reason I am totally in love with the toilet paper wrap. I do not have a clothesline but when I someday do buy a house I want one just so I can make the clothespin holder. I could go on and on, but given the chance I would make it all!

Swap goddies finished!

2008-02-19T14:58:00.002-05:00

I just sent off my swap partner's package in Craftster's Typography Swap this afternoon and I am anxious for her to receive so I can post pics and talk about the fun new techniques and materials I tried out and ended up turning out quite well.

All I can say is there was some sewing, stenciling, and other crafty goodness that resulted in projects inspired by my partner's font interests. I can not wait to share...and I hope that she likes her package!

A Very Nasty Flu...

2008-02-09T19:09:00.000-05:00

This is not something I would wish on anyone. Not even someone who I was not fond of!

I have what my doctor called "a pretty classic case of the flu with the added bonus of a sinus cold." Great.

All I can say is this is the first day since Monday that I have felt somewhat like myself and even that is a stretch. I have had a fever (ranging from viscious to lo-grade) everyday since Tuesday that causes chills, hot flashes, aches and pains that will not go away, sniffles, cough, and general crappy feelings that are just plain miserable! I was out of school for a whole week. I actually wanted to go to school, but could not will my body to cooperate. It might not have been so bad if there was something to watch on TV during the day.

Ugh...here is to feeling human again soon!

A new year...in double digits!

2008-01-19T15:56:00.001-05:00

Since my birthday is so close to New Year's I always use the 17 days in between to reflect and come up with resolutions, observations and plans for the new year.

This year I turned 33...not a terribly exciting number other than the double threes. I know I am closer to 35 which feels much more monumental. I did go to work this year (a break from tradition) but I have to say the birthday wishes and hugs I received from many students was well worth it!

So what do I hope for this year? Well, the eternal quest to be healthy is in my mind, but no major resolutions about that other than make good use of my gym membership since I am paying for it. I would also like to get healthy in prep for the next major step I would like to make which is expanding our family. The hubby and I have not yet made plans to start, but the thought is on my mind and I am certainly not getting younger. Getting healthy in preparation seems like a good idea anyway.

I also hope to take another leap in to "grown up" life...buying our first house. Hubby and I have rented for a long time. Now that I am gainfully employed we can seriously consider a more permanent housing plan. We took a drive around our area to see the neighborhoods of a few house we could be interested in seeing internally.

I think this year will be about creating roots of my own. I have always had the roots of my family and home town that are a part of me, but I feel the need to settle in and establish new roots now that I am embarking on a new career, past the one year mark living in a new state and feel the desire to have a child (which has never been a strong priority). I feel that creatively I have already made art making, knitting and now sewing a constant in my life, now for the rest.

It will be interesting to look back in 2009 to see what roots took hold in 2008. Hmmm....I think I can use this root idea in some art.

Holiday Goodies

2007-12-17T14:17:00.000-05:00

I must apologize...my time has been whisked away by Ravelry. The blogging has suffered, but the knitting has continued at a pretty good pace. I have also squeezed in a little holiday sewing.

First up, the sewing project for a good friend that is part of her Xmas gift. The whole package has a cupcake theme...a cupcake cookbook, a cupcake carrier and a handmade apron with coordinating towel. The apron was assembled using two linen kitchen towels I found at Target.

There were two other coordinating towels, but only one matched well and it will also go in the package.

And the knitting...

1. Fetching fingerless mitts (pattern on Knitty)
2. Neckwarmer for Dad (my own experimental pattern)
3. Danica Scarf (pattern on Knitty)
4. Le Slouch (pattern by Knit and Tonic)
5. The Unoriginal HAt (pattern by Yarn Harlot)

Has it really been six years?

2007-09-12T20:20:00.000-05:00

I am still in shock that six years have slipped by since the tragedies of 9/11 occurred. It is as raw and shocking now as it was then. And I am fortunate in so many ways.

I was living in NYC and the people that I knew who were working at World Trade were still on their way to work when everything happened. I am most thankful that my best friend since kindergarten, who had worked in the Twin Towers for several years, had left the city to go to law school and was far away from the destruction. I am also thankful that the day before I was released from jury duty as the court house is a short walk away. I am sure I would have been fine, but I am grateful there was no reason for me to be anywhere close. I was home, just getting out of bed when the first plane hit. I looked out my window when I heard the news on the radio. At that time they were unsure what kind of plane had hit the first tower. I gravity of the situation had not hit until my husband (at that time we were only engaged) and I turned on the tv, where I stayed glued, un-showered, crying and stunned all day long.

My best friend called me at some point in the morning when she was finally able to get through (the phone lines were jammed with calls for hours) and just cried and asked me, "why?!? why would someone do this?!?" I had no answer then, and I had no answer today when discussing it with some of my 5th grade students.

Now that I am a teacher, I see students who were born AFTER 9/11...they do not know NYC before. They know what happened, but it is far into the past. It was actually watching children play that helped me process all that had happened and make me realize that life would go on. I can't recall if it was one or two days after, but I went for a walk just to get out of the house, away from the news reports and just try to do something normal.

Nothing was normal anymore really. I ended up in Washington Square Park near a playground. I sat for over an hour watching small children swing, go down the slide and most importantly...laugh. When I finally stood up, I had a feeling that if children can still laugh innocently, then perhaps things will be ok someday.

There was an email I wrote to friends and family in the days after, I can not locate it at the moment, but if I find it I will share it. I remember the community of sadness that I witnessed. Never before had I felt NYC to be so tightly linked. Those links have loosened in the years since. The feelings of shock and sadness are still there, just below the surface for me and many others. Even if we are living our lives as separate, there are still the emotional ties to that day that lonk all who remember.

Please remember...

What a week...

2007-08-17T09:40:00.000-05:00

Actually it has been several since I last posted. I have been less focused on crafting and more focused on finding a job...and I have! Yeah!!!

After another rejection last week I hit an emotional rock-bottom with the whole not-finding-a-job issue. I have had several interviews over the summer and it was only rejection after rejection. A girl can only take so much! I took a break and scored two more interviews this week in NYC. The one I had yesterday in Brooklyn offered me the job on the spot. Yeah! The principal is very war and welcoming, the school is nice, the art room is amazing. The only down side is the commute to Brooklyn. However, the positive's more than make up for the long haul. And hey...I can use a good 30-40 minutes of commute to plan, write lessons or take care of personal interests like knitting, reading, etc.

Before I dashed out the door yesterday I worked on my next Sunday Collage Challenge from A Girl and Her Journal (as seen above). I am pretty pleased with how this turned out. The scan of my sketchbook page does not do the color justice at all...but you get the idea!

As I was working the phrase that I wrote on the bottom kept passing through my head. I am not super thrilled with how I wrote it, but it sums up the idea of life, rebirth, change and not waiting for change to happen that is swirling around my life these days.

See you in Springfield...

2007-07-30T20:22:00.000-05:00

Hee hee!

I was fooling around on the web and found a site where you can "Simpsonize" yourself! I had to get my geek on and give it a try. Unlike the Avatar you can create on the Simpson's movie website on this site you upload a photo and customize the simpsonized version of yourself. This is a pretty decent likeness considering the new haircut don't you think?!?

Too funny!!!

(Now to go see the movie this weekend...)

Collage Challenge

2007-07-30T14:18:00.000-05:00

One of the blogs I have started reading recently, A Girl and Her Journal, put together a Sunday Collage Challenge. For some reason I was compelled by the images to give it a go. My sketchbook has been sadly neglected this past month so it was nice to pull it out and work on something. Here is what I came up with using several of the images provided...

I have a feeling I will work on this a bit more. I really was possessed by the need to put these images together which is often how my works of art begin...with an obsession. To see a better image it is in my flickr.

Berry Big!

2007-07-12T09:46:00.001-05:00

Not only have I found unusually large strawberries lately, but there have been big things going on here.

First being that I have been staying on task with a new eating plan to help me loose weight and lower my blood pressure (thus more fruit, albeit big fruit!) and combined with my fitness bootcamp things are going well!

Next on the list is big changes in hair! I have been growing out my locks for the last two years in order to donate my hair to Locks of Love. I was inspired by my Dad and my sister who came up with the idea. A few weeks ago I got 11" of donatable hair cut off and I am sure another inch or two lost in styling. Here are some before and after shots...

The crazy part of the hair cut was the wavy/curly action that happened once so much hair was cut off! I have always had straight hair that had fullness but not like this! Even when I had it short before this it would not take curl to save my life! Even perms barely worked. Crazy!!!

And the sewing is coming along well (the last big thing to report). I finished a reversible apron, a drawstring skirt, and a bag for a swap (which I will post after it has been received).

I love my skirt...especially the polka dot ribbon drawstring. How cute is that. I have another skirt or two I want to sew up, another bag and who knows what else! I heard that Rag Shop is going out of business so I am going to see if there is anything left at my local store. We shall see!

Keeping Cool...

2007-06-18T20:04:00.000-05:00

This weekend I went home to visit with my parents for Father's Day and see my 4 yr. old niece's first dance recital. I can't even begin to describe how cute (and hysterical) it was to see all of the little wee dancers perform for an audience of hundreds. Maximum cuteness factor!

Speaking of cute...my Dad acquired this cute little blue fan at a yard sale of people he knew growing up. He got a cowboy hat and they threw in the little fan. It works, but Dad had no interest in it. Me...love it! It does not oscillate or have multiple speeds, but it is a small fan that is perfect to have blowing on you while you are sewing, blogging, and that sort of thing. I want to see if I can take it apart to clean and oil it. It is a tad loud.

I just love the shape and more importantly the color of this little guy. It is inspiring a theme for my art & craft studio I hope to create someday. This fan coordinates nicely with the amazing stapler I got from my aunt's house after she passed away earlier this year which is from the same era. I thought I had already written about it, but apparently not. It is a sweet little red Swingline complete with original refill staples for 29 cents!

I figure the robin's egg blue and the rich red would be a great combo with perhaps antique white for my studio decor. I almost wish I had not made the sewing machine cover because I could have made a nice one using these colors. Perhaps later when I actually have a studio I will revisit the idea.

I still need to photograph my skirt and apron I finished...perhaps tomorrow.

Oooooh! Ahhhhh! Gee it is so nice!

2007-06-12T20:11:00.000-05:00

This is what I was able to pick up today at a Japanese bookstore I happened upon during a trip out with a friend today. I had gone with her to this Asian supermarket/food court to find out what she consumed last week to bring on an allergic reaction. Also in the same plaza was the bookstore.

Recognizing the chance to pick up a copy of a Japanese craft magazine I had been reading about I had to stop in and see what I could find. Yes indeed I did find one copy of Cotton & Paint there were a few others that looked like crochet magazines, but this made my day!

I have drooled over it a bit, but have decided to savor it a bit before I jump in and try to make something. There were definitely a few that looked promising!

Makin' Stuff

2007-06-10T20:11:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned before I finished the sewing machine cover and organizer pocket...they are working well so far. I just wish my sewing space was not the dining room table but that is a problem to solve another day.

Here is the gratuitous pics of my handiwork...the fabric ended up looking a little more country than is usually my style, but I love the color combo of the fabrics overall. I have a few more fat quarters I bought just in case so there may be more use in the future.

My favorite part...the handle. I made a stinkin' handle. Crazy! (Yes I am a little excited by all the new things I am learning)

The handy little organizer I made in the same fabric is the most useful. The padding makes a nice temporary pin cushion too. I do not quite have enough accessories/tools to fill the pockets but I love having a space to put anything I need right there while I am sewing.

Yesterday I also crafted a tasty dish to take to a roof garden party at a friend's apartment in NYC. This apartment would be my dream home if I was still in NYC. It was spacious, nicely decorated, and the roof garden was wonderful. But back to the food!

I started with some lovely tomatoes...

Cut them up into bit-size chunks, added some chopped cucumber and some Good Seasons Italian dressing and that is it. A simple, yummy summer time side dish. The longer it marinates the more the flavors blend and in my opinion the best way to eat it is at room temperature. Chilled in the fridge means alot of the flavor gets muted. After all there is nothing tastier than a sun-warmed tomato!

YUM!

Misson (almost) impossible...

2007-06-08T21:57:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I embarked on mission to find two fabric stores that, according to interweb resources, were in relative close proximity to my house. Either they are in a new place, no longer exist or mapquest and google maps have led me astray.

Now, I do have a mediocre Rag Shop within easy driving distance and a relatively far away JoAnn's Fabric. I have already made one trip to the Rag Shop and was not impressed. So today I was determined by yesterday's mission impossible to find this far off JoAnn's and procure fabric!

Not only did I find it but I spent two, maybe three hours wandering the aisles dreaming of future projects and seeking a few things to take home. I bought patterns for a skirt and a sewing machine cover & other sewing organizer type stuff and of course the fabric and supplies to complete these projects. I am pretty psyched! Granted this was not the mother of all JoAnn's (probably no where close) but it was a relatively easy drive and they had decent fabric. No complaints so far.

I did manage to bang out the sewing machine cover and a nifty little pocket organizer that the sits under my machine. They were pretty easy, although not exactly beginner projects with all of the padded interfacing, pockets, etc. Me...start with an easy pattern...nah! Even with knitting I jumped right into a sweater because knitting a garter stitch scarf was killing me. Actually that is not completely true...I did finish a ribbed scarf before I finished a sweater, but both were started around the time I abandoned my starter scarf I was taught to knit on.

Anywhoo...the sewing machine cover is a bit large and the pocket organizer is pretty good. I will take pics tomorrow. Not terrible for a beginner. I am just glad that the JoAnn's is decent and not a million miles away like it originally looked to be. How is it possible that the one on Staten Island is closer...maybe if I was a bird.

Green Gables in Blue

2007-06-06T17:12:00.002-05:00

Pattern: Green Gables by Zephyr Style
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Columbine Blossom

Hooray!

Another finished object to report...my Green Gables is done. I finished the sleeves and wove in my ends this morning. Since I worked around the house today I did not get to wear it out and about, but you know the next time I have to go any where it is the focal point of my outfit for that day!

More sewing!

2007-05-30T13:05:00.000-05:00

I love sewing! Yes, indeed, I am slowly starting to obsess about what I could sew next. This could be very dangerous.

When I made my first trip to the Rag Shop (the only place close that sells fabric and it is not all that great mind you) I picked up a few fat quarters to experiment with and I knew one of the things I wanted to make was an "on the go" knitting pouch. I wasn't entirely sure how to go about making it nor did I find a pattern at the Rag Shop that would work.

I then remembered a knitting blog I read posted a tutorial several months ago. After finally figuring out which blog it was I used Yarnmonster's fabulous tutorial to create a pouch for my knitting!

It is even reversible!

I even figured out how to make a drawstring since I did not have any ribbon to use as recommended! Go me!!! Here is my knitting pouch in action...

And yes, that is my Green Gable in hand...or my blue gable. It is coming along nicely as you can see...

It won't be long before I can count this is a finished object, just as soon as I get the body length to my specs. I will try it on again soon to be sure I like the length since the sizing is pretty good.

An Afternoon Well Spent

2007-05-24T19:04:00.000-05:00

This afternoon I got acquainted with my new sewing machine. I have had her since Christmas (a gift from my Mom) and have not had anytime to learn her particulars. She is a White W450 and works quite nicely. I fell like she should have a name and I can not get "Daisy" out of my head.

I haven't sewn anything on a sewing machine since high school...perhaps jr high. I got out my manual, my sewing machine and some fabric remnants I got at the Rag Shop the other day and got myself sewing. I practiced on some large index cards to get a feel for how the stitch length and different stitches work and then on to a mini-project!

Using this tutorial on Craftster I made myself an ipod cozy. It was re-sewn once or twice but that is all part of the learning curve!

Things I learned today:

1. Keep your manuals in places you will find them. (With your craft books is a good place)
2. Buy a pair of good scissors and a nice seam ripper.
3. Always read and re-read your instructions...be it for treading your sewing machine or a pattern.
4. Have fun!

A complete pair...

2007-05-24T10:02:00.000-05:00

Yes indeed...I finally finished my first pair of hand-knit socks. I am so excited!

These are the socks I mentioned that I started in this post using a skein of Cherry Tree Hill Superwash Merino in the "Foxy Lady: colorway. For a first pair they went pretty smoothly. They might be a tad big but I love them just the same. And now for more gratuitous sock-oggling!

There was a nice little ball of my Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn left. Hmmm...what to do with this little bit. I am not sure exactly how much I have left. This means I may need to get a nice little scale for such approximating. Oh how the knitting wish list grows (mental note: add swift and winder along with a scale, lots more sock yarn, etc.)!

Upon finishing my socks I picked up my green gable sweater that is still on the needles. I got to to try on point in the pattern and it fits soo much better this time around. Hooray! Finally...geez. I seem to have bizarro gauge issues with this sweater.

I am still trying to figure out what my Rowan Calmer wants to be since I have abandoned the Tempting II pattern. I was hoping that once I finish green gables this would be what I work with next but I have yet to make up my mind. It may want to be one of these...

Since I have yet to make up my mind I decided I will definitely be making a Picovoli out of some Lion Brand Microspun I picked up the other day in black. I have yet to use this yarn for anything, but it feels really soft, a similar guage to Cathay and umm cheap. Stay tuned!

Back on the needles...

2007-04-08T13:12:00.000-05:00

I have my second sock on the needles. I thought I might fall victim to the second sock syndrom, especially after 3 unsuccessful cast-ons, but my incentive to get both done was not allowing a finished photo of sock one only the finished pair. Since I haven't been commuting much lately due to spring break at school there hasn't been a huge amount of knitting on this wip.

However, I have been plodding away on my Green Gables sweater. I think (hope and pray) that I have my gauge right now. I am not far from the try-on spot in the pattern so we shall see. I am not confident, but I am going to trust myself for now.

In other areas of production, I have been working on my "idea book" for my teaching seminar. It is a book that we are asked to assemble a book of inspiration for our future teaching process. This includes traditional and non-traditional materials, processes and ideas. Creating my book has been fun so far. Right now I am working in the materials section. I have been adding bits of materials with notes on uses potential and characteristics. It is inspiring. I want to be able to use the materials I am sampling for a bigger project. There isn't time for all I would love to do and there may not be any time to finish if I do not get cracking. I have collected so many bits and pieces of art supplies. Plus there are so many ideas that pop-up that I do not have the materials I need. I may just need to make a trip to the art store! That would be a shame (note: heavy sarcasm).

Critical Mass

2007-04-02T12:07:00.000-05:00

Critical mass...the point at which I am completely unsatisfied with the way my clothing fits, how I look and how I feel. It is all inter-related and affects my mood. Of course I feel sluggish...I have not been creative, healthy or responsible for my actions that contribute to my mental health. It is imparative that I make some changes.

I am creating a plan this week to get my self on track in so many ways. Since I have a week of break I am going to initiate some good habits including (but not limited to):
- adding healthy activities to my day (i.e: fitness, eating better)
- taking my vitamins
- flossing daily
- drawing daily

In general I have noticed my artistic endeavors and healthy self have fallen to the side and need to be a more prominent part of my day. Of course they should be part of the bigger picture which is my life, but if I can focus on my daily existence first then inherently they will be part of my life. I am going to set small goals which will feel nearly effortless in order to progress to the bigger goals.

To get myself on track I have signed up for the Self Challenge (which I have yet to complete for one reason or another in the past) and my goal is to get through one week at a time. After all each week is part of one month and one month is 1/3 of the three month challenge. Baby steps! I am also inserting a 30 min. walk into each day this week. This starts my journey to the Self Challenge and adds time for me to explore the town I have been living in for the last 5 months.

For my birthday I received a copy of The Creative License by Danny Gregory. I have heard fabulous things about this book and how many people have used it to rediscovery their creativity. I know I am creative and I flex those mental muscles often as an art teacher (in training) but I rarely draw for myself. My goal is to read the book this week in daily one hour bites. I will read for a bit and draw for a bit in each one hour increment. I will also carry my mini sketchbook and one drawing instrument with me whenever I go out just in case I have a moment to draw. I will also carry my camera with me in order to "snap" things I find visually pleasing during my day. If I am taking photos I am going to print out at least one each day and add it in to my sketchbook.

The vitamins and flossing falls under the header of taking care of myself but I some how manage to let these easy little items slip through the cracks. I will keep track of how I do this week in order to start a routine.

Wish me health since luck has nothing to do with it!

New Header

2007-03-20T20:14:00.000-05:00

Hee Hee!

I did it! I was able to modify my header so that an image will show. I have been meaning to do that for a while but finally got it to work. The size needs adjusting but that will do for now!

:)

Schnuffle

2007-03-20T17:55:00.000-05:00

Schnuffle...the unfortunate noise my nose is making at the moment. I do not feel terribly sick, but I sound it. All of my favorite cold remedies are doing me no good whatsoever. (sigh) I think it is the extra strong kid germs I have been experiencing lately. I have been lucky until now considering how many of the elementary school children I come across every week are sniffly, sneazy and snotty.

On a less sick note, I am cruising through the cuff of my basic ribbed socks I started last week. Yeah! And I am anxious to start a bigger project as well. Since I frogged my Tempting II I am itching to start some sort of summery tee shirt sort of sweater with the Rowan Calmer. I saw a lace sleeved tee in a book not too long ago that could work except it was a raglan (not a top-down knit) and the lace pattern was so-so. I may just need to get my big girl pants on and design my own!

First, however, I am going to sort out my gauge issues with Green Gables and knit that up. I have a feeling that my yet-to-be-designed lace sleeve raglan will be greatly inspired by the shaping of by Green Gables if all goes well. I am also considering the Top-Down Raglan Calculator I saw mentioned on Craftster. But first, on to my gauge swatch!

Hee hee!

2007-03-17T20:04:00.000-05:00

I was out wandering the web and I discovered that my Iris Shawl Pattern has a few site mentions and links. It makes me giggle and think...hee hee, they like it! I had emailed a link to Knitting Pattern Central to see if it might get listed and sure enough it did. I am sure that helped but others are mentioning it. I even saw it mentioned on the Lime & Violet message boards and I quote L&V when I say "squeee!"

I must also give a squee and a hee hee to my latest and only project on the needles!

Yes...I have started my first pair of socks using Superwash Merino from Cherry Tree Hill in "Foxy Lady." It was a skein I picked up after two visits to Seaport Yarn and both times it called my name. I have been wanting to try knitting socks for a bit and thought that now was the time! The color really is more lovely in person and the yarn is oh so yummy! The colorway has beautiful pinks, magentas, teal and a neutral in-between-shade that is almost lavender.

The pattern I am using is the basic ribbed socks by Kate Atherly published in the online magazine Spun. I did not want to get too complicated on my first pair plus I am knitting them up with the magic loop method. I have a bit more (an inch or two) to go on the cuff and then down to business!

I mentioned this is currently the only project on the needles. I frogged quite a bit lately as I mentioned in a previous post. Unfortunately I made another visit with my nearly half done Tenpting II. Ugh! I was within 3-4 inches of the part in the pattern where you divide for the sleeves and decided I should weave in a few loose ends that were irritating me. While in the process of weaving ends in I discovered a nasty little hole at a point where I joined in a new ball of yarn. At first I thought maybe it was just a stretched bit that I could fanagle back but no...the more I fiddled the worse it looked. I think the real problem was a dropped stitch that somehow snuck in. There was no way I could see to fix it, got mad and frogged the whole thing.

Admittedly I started this project back when I was a relatively new knitter and then set it down for most of the winter. Looking back at how it was turning out I am glad I frogged it. My quality of knitting has greatly improved since I began my Tempting II and honestly I have fallen out of love with the garment. I think it is a beautiful pattern, just not one I think I would wear as often as I imagined. Now I have a bunch of Rowan Calmer that is in need of a new pattern.

Iris Shawl Pattern

2007-02-23T08:31:00.000-05:00

Iris Shawl
by Jessica Fong

Materials:

2 or 3 skeins of Noro Silver Thaw Color 2 (50% Wool, 25% Angora, 25% Nylon; 220m; 100g)

1 set of US #9 needles (straight or circular)

Tapestry needle

One button

Note:

Since this a shawl the gauge is not crucial. I used the recommended needle size and gauge on the yarn label to calculate the estimated number of stitches I would need for a shawl that would measure close to 20” x 54”.

Diagonal Eyelet Pattern:

Row 1 and all WS rows: Purl.
Row 2: K2, *k6, (k2tog, yo) twice; rep from *, end k2.
Row 4: k1, *k6, (k2tog, yo) twice; rep from *, end k3.
Row 6: K6, *(k2tog, yo) twice, k6; rep from *, end last rep k4.
Row 8: K5, *(k2tog, yo) twice, k6; rep from *, end last rep k5.
Row 10: K4, *(k2tog, yo) twice, k6; rep from * to end.
Row 12: K3, *(k2tog, yo) twice, k6, rep from *, end k1.
Row 14: K2, *(k2tog, yo) twice, k6; rep from *, end k2.
Row 16: K1, *(K2tog, yo) twice, k6; rep from *, end k3.
Row 18: K2, k2tog, yo, *k6, (k2tog, yo) twice; rep from *, end k6, k2tog, yo, k2.
Row 20: K1, k2tog, yo, *k6, (k2tog, yo) twice; rep from *, end k6, k2tog, yo, k3.
Repeat rows 1-20

Instructions:

- Cast on 84 st

- Knit diagonal eyelet pattern until one repeat short of the desired length.

- For the last set of repeated rows:

o Row 1-16: Knit diagonal eyelet pattern

o Row 17: Purl

o Row 18: K2, k2tog, yo, *k6, (k2tog, yo) twice; rep from *, end k10

o Row 19: Purl

o Row 20: K1, k2tog, yo, *k6, (k2tog, yo) twice; rep from *, end k10

- Bind of purlwise

Finishing:

Weave in all loose ends and block shawl. I recommend one gentle cycle in the wash to loosen free flying angora fibers. Sew a button on the bind off corner of end of the shawl (the pattern leaves out a few yarn-overs to give a small solid area of fabric for the button). The button should be large enough to fit through the yarn over easily but will not pull out.

To wear... configure folds and drape as desired then use the button in any eyelet to secure the shawl.

Coffee Power!

2007-02-22T21:46:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is the fuel that keeps me going. Since I have had this week off thanks to public schools being on mid-winter break a little home brew has gone a long way.

I have completed some knitting projects that I have been trudging through the last few months. Most of which were not on the "to-knit-list" but that's ok. To be fair there have been a few things that escaped photographing do to the last minute nature of holiday knitting.

Most recently I finished the shawl for my cooperating teacher and friend, Kate. I owe her an eternal debt of gratitude for giving me a wonderful high school student teaching experience. She is amazing so the least I could do was knit her something yummy.

She recieved a shawl of my of design which I affectionately call the Origami Shawl because you can wear it anyway you please and a little button keeps it in place. (Gotta love eyelets!!!)

Some other things I have finished include a tea cozy for the hubby's tea pot (from One Skein Wonders) in yarn retrieved after frogging my very first scarf (Lion Brand Wool-ease)

A "Jayne Cobb" hat from the sci-fi sereies Firefly for a friend (from one of the many patterns online, I'll have to look up which one I used) in Aussi Wool.

From the holiday knitting (mostly completed in December and January, but a few items linger)...
- Two Little Luxury Kimono sweaters (pattern by Lion Brand) in Lano Gatto Baby Soft one for my sister and one for a friend who are each expecting their second daughter this Spring
- One pair of fingerless gloves (pattern in One Skein Wonders) in Pattons SYS for my Mom
- Three scarves for my friends which are very belated x-mas gifts and stages of completion: a Branching Out scarf (via Knitty), a scarf using the lace pattern from Molly's Headband (via Interweave Knits) and a scarf using one lace panel from the Weekend Pullover (via Interweave Knits). All three are using Louisa Harding's Grace Wool & Silk...photos coming soon.

After my last round of frogging I re-evaluated my stash and I am purging some of the misc. yarn that I inherited from relatives, remnants of projects and stuff I do not think I will use anytime soon. What I have now is a bag full of yarn that will go to a rehabilitation program that teaches knit and crochet to it's clients. I heard about the program on Brenda Dayne's Cast On
and since the program is based in Philly and not too far away I thought I would send my extra stash to a place where it will be more appreciated. Now my stash is narrowed down to yarn on the "to-knit-list."

This leaves room for stash enhancement! I procured to skeins of Cherry Tree Hill Sock yarn as incentive to knit up some socks. I will do a practice sock first before I decide which sock pattern I should try. This could be dangerous!!!!

Ribbit Ribbit!

2007-02-02T14:20:00.000-05:00

I visited the frog pond with several items this week and have scheduled another visit this afternoon. Ugg!

I tried on my Green Gables the other day and it was gi-normous!!! Oh my lord! I know I have gained a little weight lately but not nearly enough to justify keeping this sweater as is (thank goodness!!!) so that was visit number one to the pond. Second was the unfinished scarf I started when I learned how to knit nearly a year ago. That was a bitter sweet frogging, but really I know that I will never wear my atrocious garter stitch scarf with all the accidental yarn-overs. Oh dear! I can use the grey Lionbrand wool-ease for something else and so yesterday I started a tea-cozy for the hubby's new tea pot. Of course I was nearly fished today and let the tea pot try on the tea-cozy and it was gi-normous in the same proportions as my Green Gable sweater. Dear me where has my guage gone! The tea-cozy will visit the frog pond next. All in all re-balling the yarn was a bit cathartic and/or medatative. As for the sweater and tea-cozy I will have to re-visit guage for Green Gables since I must make this sweater for myself and consider a different pattern for the cozy. I do like the pattern for the tea-cozy from One Skein Wonders it is just designed for a much larger tea pot. Maybe some tweaking can make it work but we shall see!!!

Hum Bugs...

2007-01-29T23:24:00.000-05:00

I seem to have a case of the humbugs since, oh, Decemeber. The holidays flew by and I was ho-hum. My birthday passed on by with more ho-hum. No apparent reason for this hum-bugging really. My student teaching is going well. Knitting is fun. Life is generally good.

I really feel like a teacher now...

2006-09-10T21:36:00.000-05:00

Too many times I have been plagued by doubt about what I am doing or if I am making the right choices. This is especially true career-wise. I just never felt like I was doing the right thing or that I was being a fraud and somehow would get "found out." I shall not delve in to this subject much further than to say that after four days of student teaching I could not be more sure and positive I have made the correct choice. Even when I went back to school and started taking my art education courses was I this sure.

How did this revelation come about? Well, the obvious trigger was stepping into my role as student teacher this week. I have an amazing cooperating teacher, Kate, who has gotten me in front of the classroom and teaching almost immediately. She is pushing me and challenging me and making sure I try. Even when I need rescuing, Kate is able to fill in my gaps in a truly supportive way and does not make it feel like a reprimand or mistake. We are the same age but she has 5 years of experience. And she rocks!

Now all this optimism should be tempered by reality (at least a little anyway). I am having fun and doing pretty well all things considered. But I am certainly not perfection! With Kate's guidance on lesson planning, gap-filling during class and general support I am able to minimally sputter, stall and grind to a halt. My best analogy is that it is like learning to drive standard...I know what I need to do, what I want to do and how to do it...I just need a lot of practice to make it all go smoothly!

What's the scoop? Well, I am at the High School for Fashion Industries which is a magnet high school here in NYC (the students have to apply to attend). The students can major in art, fashion, and merchandising. There may be other majors but I am just getting to know the school. My teacher is responsible for a Senior Portfolio class and a Photography class (both are double periods or 90 min. long) and one grade 9 Intro to Art class. This is what she is having me teach. It is the last period of the day and is 45 min. long. The minutes zoom by so quickly! I have 34 students which seems like an enormous group, but really they are so quiet!!!! This will change I am sure, but for now they are terrified.

I can't wait for school tomorrow!

Another Finished Sweater!

2006-09-04T20:33:00.000-05:00

Hooray! I finished the button band for my cropped cardigan (finally). This is the first major project I started and although not the first finished, I am still pretty excited. I am loving the vintage mother of pearl buttons, the chunky ribs and the color. I can't wait for the weather to wear it.

I am not, however, loving the way the button holes turned out so I may re-do it at some point. Although truthfully I may just re-sew the buttons to see if that improves the line of the button band and button holes. Otherwise I will definitely need to rip out the band and try again. These button holes are horizontal rather than vertical and they were far more complicated than they need to be in my opinion (knitting each section around the button holes separately, breaking and joining yarn, etc.) I like the idea of binding off a one side of a button hole and doing a cable cast on for the other (no breaking & joining yarn). We shall see!

A Beach Weekend With The Girls!

2006-08-30T08:37:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I went to Cape May in New Jersey with two of my bestest friends, Kaylia and Deb. We had a wonderful, relaxing long weekend together. There are more pics here.

We had one fab beach day, one slightly cloudy day (ideal for shopping, meandering and observing the ocean with out fear of extreme sunburn) and generally pleasant weather. We lucked out and avoided major rain that hit everywhere around us. It would have been nice to have a bit more sun, but the company was what was made the vacation.

We stayed in a charming B&B barely a block from the beach. This seems to be the norm for where we were. So much so that the three of joked we should buy one that was up for sale and take up permanant residence. If it weren't for the impossible price tag we just might have thought about it more seriously. Of course the men in our lives might have something else in mind!

We did decide that this should be an annual affair...perhaps extended into a week of fun with a short time allotted for outsiders to visit (previously mentioned significant others and perhaps nieces and nephews). This was a fantastically relaxing weekend filled with lots of girl talk, celeb gossip mags, yummy dinners and a true sense of "getting away from it all." Even Calgon couldn't have done a better job.

Arriving back in NYC definitely caused the care-free feeling to quickly dissipate and made me realize that I do look forward to living out side of this place I call home. Don't get me wrong...I love the city but there are certain aspects I could do with out. And I do look forward to having a house and a lawn and a garden sometime soon. It is like a weird limbo...I want to be here and enjoy NYC's many wonders, but at the same time I am itching to start something new.

Oh yeah! Another finished project!

2006-08-17T20:04:00.000-05:00

Since I was finally able to send my felted purse to my swap partner I can post it! I blended a few designs from Pursenality Plus by Eva Wiechmann to get the right shape and handles. The main yarn I used was Knit Pick's Wool of the Andes in Chocolate and the pink details were knit from the leftover yarn I used for my ribbed scarf.

I used a magnetic snap to keep it closed. It is pretty cute and I hope my partner loves it. I must admit it was hard to send it off! I also really liked the way the yarn felted or fulled to be more techinically correct. The color stayed true to the pre-felting color and it was a nice wool to knit up.

On another note I think I may have another soon-to-be finished project! Yesterday I mentioned that I am waiting for buttons to finish my cropped cardi from Knit1. This past week I won two auctions on Ebay for potential button candidates. The first arrived yesterday...

They are a nice pinkish Lavender which looks nice against the Rose Heather yarn. These are also big...2 inches across. Did I mention I got 50 of them?!? I need three so I have a few (47) to spare.

My other win was this lot...

The mother of pearl buttons are 1 1/2 inches across and look nice. I also got a couple of slides. One of which will probably grace the shoulder of my Tempting II if all works out as planned.

I have to wait the second lot to arrive before I make a decision and even then it might involve input from outside sources.

Yarn Habit...

2006-08-16T21:05:00.000-05:00

Ok...I'll admit it. I am a yarn/knitting addict. I can't stop thinking about it! I officially have a stash and it is growing...probably too quickly. I am also developing a taste for the nicer yarns!

I started out with Lion Brand Wool-Ease. A nice yarn to be sure, but I have quickly moved on to Rowan Calmer, Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora and others. Granted many came from the sale bin at my new fav place to spend Friday afternoons...The Point. What could be better than a great cup of coffee, great yarn, wonderful knitters and me knitting!

In addition to the projects listed below I have a few other yarns in the stash. I have to figure out what to do with them but on to the good stuff! (Of course the pics are barely doing the colors justice but you get the idea)

So here is my list of WIPs:

1. Cropped Cardi from Knit1 (only waiting for the buttons to arrive so I can finish the button band)- Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Rose Heather

2. Tempting II from Knitty- Rowan Calmer in Blush

Soon-to-be WIPs:

1. Sizzle from Knit and Tonic- Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora in color #18 (a lavender purple)

2. Green Gables from Zephyrstyle- Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Columbine Blossom

3. Tzarina Wrap from Wrap Style- Adrienne Vittadini Nadia in Copper (#807)

Green with envy!

2006-08-16T15:24:00.000-05:00

I have my first wearable sweater...at last!!!

I knit the Shapely Tank from White Lies Designs using Knit Picks Shine in Grass. When the yarn arrived I could not believe how green it was. This is definitely the brightest thing in my wardrobe butapparently this is a good color for me. I got lots of compliments when I wore it last Friday. (Yes it has been done for almost a week...I just couldn't blog it until now.)

Apart from making the sleeve opening a tad small (should have knit another 1/2" or so) I think it looks pretty good. You can see the close fitting sleeve here...

This is a good pic of the over all fit...

And this is the closest I could get to the actual color (and it is a nice view of the side detail)...

Ack!

2006-08-05T21:02:00.000-05:00

That about sums up how I am feeling lately. Partially because of the heat (getting better) but also because my summer is almost over and not one thing has gone as planned.

I thought I would have a leisurely summer to work a few hours a week in the office, work on some projects and frequent the beach regularly. Ha! That plan fell apart when the newly hired secretary walked out one Friday in June never to be heard from. As the assistant I was asked to step up and fill her place until a replacement was found. This should have taken a weeks, but when I left on my pre-determined last day of employment on July 31st there was still no new secretary.

Needless to say very few fun projects have been completed...a few but not many. I did finish my "Fill-A-Purse" swap on Craftster. My swap partner should receive her package soon! I will post pics as soon as I know she has it!!!

The other major plan that completely back fired was my intention of going camping with my parents, my sister and her family and other friends that I used to camp with every summer growing up. This is the saddest part...I am not going because my husband's grandmother passed away. She had been ill so her passing was not shocking, but still sad. The funeral is in the middle of the camping week so it will be impossible to meet up with my family. I am where I need to be but I do lament not being able to be communing with nature.

On a more positive note...my studio class's art work has been transferred to Pearl Street Gallery in Brooklyn! The gallery site has not yet been updated, but I can say I have my first real show in NYC!!! I used a different selection and arrangement of pieces which seemed a little less contrived than the school show.

Now that I am done working I am hoping to get a little fun & productive time in before student teaching. We shall see!

What day of the week is it again?

2006-07-07T21:07:00.000-05:00

Right...Friday. Good. Can I sleep in tomorrow? Yes? Whew!

It has been a hectic June/July so far and I am so looking forward to having August off. Filling in for the secretary who walked out and left the office in shambles is more than I should have taken on. I am glad that I now only have my ceramics class and a project for my museum course to work on in July. I have crafting on the brain and not nearly enough time!

My show went up in the TC gallery...yeah! Here are some photos. The rest can be seen in my Flickr photos)

This was the culmination of my month-long Advanced Studio course. We were able to work on what ever we wanted to develop into a full studio project. I have been playing with photo transfers and wanted to take that process into my art work. The class worked around the theme of "Found in Transition" and it suited all of our very different projects (I still need to photo the rest of the show).

My focus became the deterioration that I found around my in NYC. There is a lot of it and although it is sad that beautiful ornamentation on buildings is falling apart, there is a unique and beautiful character to this dilapidation. I took lots of digital photos around where I live and school...lots of photos!

I explored three ways of presenting these images. The first was prints of some of the photos. I kept them small and chose a few that did not become transfer prints and displayed them in a box I found in the studio that matched my focus. It was an old wooded planter with a water damaged inside. And check out this detail...

Notice how the shadow lines up with the angle in the photo. This was a complete fluke...I lit the piece the night I hung the work, came back the next morning to take pics and afterwards noticed this line...talk about crazy! A subtle detail which no one would notice unless I pointed it out, but how crazy is that!?!

My second was an exploration of one image I was fond of...the black door. I love this photo! I printed the photo on design vellum and found that the light coming through the transparent image was quite nice. The old light box in the studio looked a little worse for wear and complemented my over-all focus (yeah!). The prints above it are a clear transparency, a vellum print and a photo transfer. I like the "transition" between the materials and how it affects the image.

And lastly my photo transfers! A labor of love. I have three groupings of images...one of rust, one of peeling paint and one of cracked wood. In each group there are three images that fall in to the group heading. I did a double transfer for each piece. One transfer of the photo and one of the text. The text is a passage I pulled from the web about each process of deterioration that is also printed and displayed with each print. The paper the passage is printed on was soaked in water and crumpled to add to the character. Not sure how successful that addition was, but it was fun creating them!

All in all I am pleased...I hung my art, set the lighting and only relied on my classmates for springboards for my ideas.

Found in Transition

2006-06-18T18:28:00.000-05:00

I have been a busy bee working on a series of works that combine digital photography, photo transfers and painting for my advanced studio class I am taking this summer. I am pretty happy with the process, I am just struggling making sure that my hand and artistry is in each piece...not just my technical process. I love the photos I have been able to take and the transfer process. This week I need to focus on making it my artwork.

We are getting ready for the show and I have my walls picked out, the flyer is ready...all I have to do now is finish my pieces and install them next weekend. Here is the flyer for the show!

There is a possibility of taking our work to a gallery in Brooklyn that is associated with some people at school. Other than the exhibits at the school gallery this would be my first public show. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Color Catch Up...

2006-06-18T18:02:00.000-05:00

This week has been insanity! So I am a little late with the rest of my color posts because I have a show to finish art works for in 8 days, a group project for my month long Museum of Modern Art Roundtable course, the program secretary at school quit suddenly (with out notice) and as the assistant I get to fill in until a replacement is found and last but not least I needed to get my friend's wedding invitations finished (I crafted them for her). Whew!

So here are my last three color photos...

Black
(a faded black door...part of my upcoming art show and not a b&w photo)

Blue

And Red & Pink

Now that the invitations are done (I'll post about those later...I was in a rush and didn't get a chance to scan/photo them) I can focus on my art work for the show and my lesson plans for my musuem class.

Brown Tuesday...

2006-06-13T22:11:00.000-05:00

And here are the browns...

White Monday (Better late than never)...

2006-06-13T22:03:00.000-05:00

The wonderful idea of posting color themed pictures has popped up again this week (credit here). There was a round of this a little while ago so I am happy to do this again...especially since I am taking photos for my advanced studio project. Many of the photos I'll post this week are from my source photos. There will be more on the projects later!

Here are my whites...

Not Exactly Scarf Weather...

2006-05-28T16:13:00.000-05:00

I finished my scarf using that yarn I was drooling over in this post. I know I won't be able to wear this creation for quite some time...especially since the weather in NYC is hazy, hot and summery.

Walking in Brooklyn

2006-05-27T22:44:00.000-05:00

Yes, I love to walk. This time it was group fun.

My Advanced Studio class made a trip to the Dumbo section of Brooklyn to visit a small gallery that we very well may have an exhibit of our work at the end of the summer. That is a story for later when the details have been confirmed, but what I really want to share is some of the pics that I took while we wandered.

This is a piece of art created by one of my instructors. He creates pieces of art that are placed outside somewhere. They tend to disappear before too long, but he documents them and checks in every know and again. This particular piece sits in a second floor arch way of an old warehouse in Dumbo. It is a little hard to see, but is a back view of a woman and her spine is a violin. A real violin I might add...

I am not sure if this was a piece of art, a poster or what not, but it looks quite intersting in its current state...

This was another architectural detail that caught my eye. Like others that stop me in my tracks this one is a littel decrepit, but the pealing paint adds character. This sort of thing might be the inspiration for my next set of art works...

And to close this post...these are the feet that carried me around (sporting my snazzy red mary jane mules).

Floral Goodness...

2006-05-25T22:21:00.000-05:00

The last two days have been gorgeous! It took me quite a while to get to work yesterday only because I was distracted by all of the flowers that suddenly exploded around my apartment complex. I just had to stop adn take pictures...I just couldn't resist!!!

The two areas that seemed to be the most photogenic were the roses and the irises (along with other purple flowers of an unknown name).

Lovely!

2006-05-20T23:46:00.000-05:00

I decided that it was time to try some new knitting projects last week. I picked up a copy of the Summer Knit.1 and was excited about some of the sweaters I saw. They may be a bit advanced for me, but a girl's gotta learn sometime, right?!?

I decided to try the green cropped cardigan (for anyone who has seen the mag, you probably know exactly which one I am talking about). It seemed more challenging than what I have done so far, but not so complicated I was afraid of trying. I picked up a nice pink yarn for it, but not the one you see above...that is something else entirely!

While I was browsing (a store that sells the standard yarn manufacturers...not a shmancy lys) I found this lovely spun yarn by Kramer Yarns called Mauch Chunky. That is what you see in the photo above. The color is titled "Rhubarb" and the photo does not do it justice in any way. I fell in love with the color. It was a bit pricey for my budget (Approx. $5 a skein) so I only bought 2 skeins. I had no idea at the time what I would do, but on my walk home I figured my best bet was a scarf (another one) but I would do something that would not overwhelm the color and texture of this nice yarn. I found a post somewhere with a pic of a simple scarf (knit 3, purl 3) and decided to do a thin scarf (24 st across) and make it quite long. I just started and I love it. Such a thick, chunky ribbing for a luscious rhubarb yarn.

Not that this yarn captivating me isn't enough, but the very end of one skein looks like a five pointed star...which is shown in my photo. To top it off there is a swirl in the middle...could it be more perfect!!!

Ok...I'll stop with the yarn lust now!

And now for something completely different!

2006-05-15T16:14:00.000-05:00

I have no idea if anyone actually comes back to see this little blog o' mine but if you do you will probably notice I am trying to change things up a bit. I want this to be a space of my own... and be a better reflecion of my style. The blogger templates are a little limiting so I am trying to find a free template elsewhere or gather enough saavy to customize one to suit my fancy. It is a bit of a headache but could to be quite nice once all is said and done.

I did want to post pics from two seperate walks I took over the weekend. I always see neat little nooks and crannies all over NYC that (unitl now) I would pass by with a memory picture. Now that I have my sweet little Canon PowerShot with me I can actually make a record of what I see. Love it!!!

So with out further ado, here are my latest snappies...

There are so many wonderful architectural details scattered about the city. Many go unnoticed because they are not in the best of condition or attached to buildings you wouldn't suspect would have such treasures. Take for example the colorful ceramic tile work- that is on a narrow section of wall between Burlington Coat Factory's storefront windows. In some spots it looks like there is some sort of compound that held some other covering overtop of the tile work. This happened alot in the 80's when antique or vintage was not in vogue. I am glad that is no longer hidden!

The face with the peeling paint, although in disrepair, has so much character. Although he could ue some love, I think that he is quite wonderful as is.

Ack! Too many crafty ideas not enough time!

2006-04-22T15:34:00.000-05:00

The semester is starting to wind down which means lots of work to finish! On top of all of the work I am doing I have a million and two craft ideas that I want to try.

My knitting is coming along...I am having the problem of the occasional dropped stitch but all in all it is going well. I have a project I want to try (which I won't mention in detail just in case my swap partner is reading) and it invloves felting! I have never tried this so it could go horribly wrong. We shall see!

I have been researching felting and I have all sorts of things working against me. Living in NYC generally means you have to use public laundry machines either at a laundry mat or a laundry room in your building. I do have a laundry room, which greatly reduces the public aspect, but our machines are front loading. Wouldn't it figure that a top loader is recommended for felting. Go figure! I have been brainstorming a few ideas to increase the friction and agitation that will give me good felting results.

First- friction. There are recomendations all over the place for using a bag to control fibers that could ruin the machine plus recommendations for including towels for friction and agitation assistance. So I think I am going to fashion a towel bag to control stray fibers AND add extra friction directly to the item to be felted.

Sencond- agitation. I definitely do not want to put too much in the washer so that there is as much movement as possible. I do want to include some heavy items to help out though. Jeans seem to be prefered. I am thinking one pair of jeans and a towel or two. I also imagine a couple of washings will be needed. When time comes to felt I will post my progress and techniques.

I haven't had a lot of time for ATC production the last few weeks (with the holiday and all) so I made three last week. The theme of "God" is still in progress but I stretched it a little to include "goddess" as well. Here is what I came up with...

New ATC Theme for April

2006-04-08T16:51:00.000-05:00

This week was a little slow on the ATC front...our organizer for the Craftster thread is on vacation and didn't get to post the new theme right away. This was probably a good thing since I had a relatively busy week.

The new theme is "God"...it can be open to whatever we interpret that to mean. I went with my first impulse and copied the definition from the dictionary. I then found an image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art that fit my non-denominational definition (in my opinion anyway). We only needed to do one card this week. I think other weeks I will try to use ancient Gods & Goddesses. So here is my ATC for this week...

A Warm Color on a Drab Day...

2006-04-08T16:20:00.000-05:00

Red is my favorite color...I am not at all like the emotional association for this color like fiery, hot tempered, spicy or anything like that! Maybe I wish I was though.

These photos are a corner of a door jam at school, a knob for a very old fire hose rigging (also at school), and an architectural motif on a building on the Upper Westside (near school).

Better late than never!

2006-04-08T16:09:00.000-05:00

Yeah it is Saturday alrady...but I did take these photos yesterday! I started the transfer process from one PC to another so it is taking a little fanagling to get everything running the way it should.

Technically I did not get another new toy...just the hubby's hand-me-downs. Daron got a new gaming pc a little while back and I get his old one. Of course the computer I was using prior to this one was the previous hand-me-down. I can't complain really. I get a machine that is capable of doing all that I need it too...probably even more so since the gaming pc's are designed with great processors and video cards. This makes running my Adobe programs a dream!

I had a wonderful afternoon running around the Upper Westside of NYC taking photos with my new camera! Flowers are blooming, the corner stores have lovely displays of fruit, veg & flowers. It was kind of a gray afternoon so seeking out color was sooo refreshing! So much so that I have a double dose of orange!

1st Group: Oranges at Garden of Eden, tulips at a flower shop and gerber daisies at a corner deli.

2nd Group: Wonderful paper in the office where I work, my necklace from Lin Glass on Etsy, and a few Prismacolor pencils.

I did it!

2006-04-06T22:06:00.000-05:00

Yes...I went out and got that little Canon PowerShot I was lusting after. I love her!!! I took all of the above photos with her. I think there is a huge difference already...but the hubby couldn't tell. Maybe the difference is really in me. I have a sweet little camera that I love to use and therefore take pics I love. It could all be psychosomatic...but I am happy!!!

All of the above pictures were taken at school...either inside or in the immediate area. The photos in the top left and bottom right are motifs from an old elevator shaft. It reminds me of the one they describe in The Timetraveler's Wife (a very cool book btw). I love it for the motifs and definitely not the dust whici makes the wrought iron look white/gray. The other two photos are a corner of a door jam and a good ole' NYC sewer manhole cover. It is one of the few I have seen that does not have that horrible looking insulating coating. I understand that coating serves a purpose, but man is it ugly!

Well these are my black/white/brown photos for Thursday. Tomorrow is orange...that should be fun. I am so excited to tote my new little snappy with me.

Spring Greenin'

2006-04-05T15:50:00.000-05:00

I never think of my apartment as very colorful. I guess that is one of the reasons I am so excited about this color day process. I see color everywhere now! Granted the newness of Spring certainly helps, but I have been focusing on what I have inside since it is a little harder to find. I am so anxious to get a new digital camera to replace my crappy clunker. My Kodak has served my well, but the size and quality no longer suit my needs...and it feels like it may just gie up on me any dayy. It will be a well loved back-up for sure.

I am lusting after the new Canon PowerShot SD600 (shh...don't tell my Kodak). It is small and has sooo many more megapixels than my current camera. I have been pretty restrained about buying it...but I don't think I can hold out much longer.

Oh yeah...my pics today (from top left to bottom) are my rescued jade plant, my shiny new bag I bought from SugarLust on Etsy, and Boylan's ginger ale bottles waiting to be recycled.

I love my little jade plant. I have been wanting to get one forever and I found this in the hallway near the trash shoot. Why would someone toss this lovely little plant!!! My Mom had one when I was growing up that grew to the size of a small shrub and took up the whole front picture window until it caught a parasite or mites. I was so sad that it went from a luscious (giant) plant to a sickly mess. Hopefully mine does not have some wierd disease and that is why it was trashed. If it lasts for a few weeks I will upgrade it's ugly copper pot so it can grow bigger and bigger. I want my little jade to rival that of my Mom's!

Yes, it must be the colors!

2006-04-04T21:46:00.000-05:00

I found a lovely blog (Mecozy) that suggested a color focus for each day of the week! A few other blogs that I peruse are in on the fun and I want to play too...it is a nice way to see things around you in a new light (or should I say color!) and capture that vision so others can share.

Since I just stumbled upon this fun little challenge I snapped pics of things around my apartment...(from top left to bottom right) a lid from a ceramic container a friend brought me from Mexico, a party hat from New Year's Eve '05/'06, a detail of my niece's fingerpainting she gave me for Christmas (she'll be 3 in May!) and two bead bracelets.

The last ATCs for March...

2006-03-31T23:36:00.000-05:00

This wraps up the theme for this month. I am anxious to see what is next for this ATC-a-long. Each month the theme never ceases to amaze...there are so many fabulous posts from my fellow craftsters. Check them out on this thread on Craftster.org.

The two I made for this week are inspired by the idea "take off expectations." The first one I used an image I found on the web pasted onto a background I drew with Prismacolor markers.

The second one is another one in watercolor...my little lass appears again. The quote beneath her is "Let me listen to me and not them" by Gertrude Stein.

Knit One

2006-03-30T00:16:00.000-05:00

So this week I started a community knitting class at school. It is one of the community-building activities they started last semester.

On Monday I learned how to cast-on and the basic knit stitch. After many "do-overs: from dropped stiches and that sort of thing I finally am getting some where! I am sure there are little boo-boos here and there, but no major holes!

Yeah!

A Sense of Self

2006-03-24T13:35:00.000-05:00

So this is me...ok actually it is a self portrait I painted in me painting class last semester. It is the first self portrait I have done in years! It was one of the last paintings I worked on in class so it was a nice culmination of the experience of painting again. I had only dabbled in the past, but it certainly reminded my why I enjoyed it so much.

I brought it home recently and Daron feels like the eyes watch him where ever he stands in front of it. He is not so artsy so I take that as a huge compliment! Of course living with it for a little while and seeing it everyday makes me notice the little details that I would tweak or change.

No fixing...just changes. Fixing implies an error. There are no mistakes in art, only changes in direction. I love that quote! We had a guest lecturer in class last night since our prof is at the NAEA conference in Chicago this week. The guest is a high school AP art teacher in one of the nicer schools in the Westchester area of NY state. She had some fabulous examples of her student's art work and lesson ideas. It actually made me reconsider my phobia of teaching art at the high school level.

There are no mistakes in art, only changes in direction. What a fabulous thought!

She also shared her process journals which are basically sketchbooks filled with experiementation and exploration. I took a class last semester called Processes and Structures and that was the sum of the class...exploration and experimentation with materials combined with thinking about how this might relate to our lessons we teach. I am going to give this a try as well...it was too good of a notion to pass up! It reminded me a lot of a book I have been thumbing through called Painting from the Source.

Wow...that was a huge tangent. I really need to work on my paper for Artistic Development of Adolescents. No more procrastinating today...ok, well, I'll eat some lunch first and then work on my paper!

Ooo la la!

2006-03-24T00:45:00.000-05:00

This week I pushed all sorts of limits with one of my ATC's! It is a little racy, a little taboo and certainly not something I would ordinarily make. But first I will show you one I would normally make! If you find female nudity disturbing, inappropriate or distasteful you probably shouldn't read on...otherwise consider yourself warned!!!

I played with a sketch and watercolor for this one...oh yeah no nudity in this ATC. I had the phrase "With the sale of this painting her career really started to take off." Perhaps it is my wishful thinking! I have been creating a lot more art lately and thought of selling some of it. I am not sure I could or how I would go about it...but a girl can always dream! The ironic part is I have never really had any desire to sell my work. I have no idea where these thoughts and feelings are coming from. I have had a number of atypical thoughts (for me) lately...perplexing.

Anyway, I digress...here is the first ATC:

And now for the naughty one! This one was inspired by a few fun vintage pin-up girl pictures I have seen recently. Not very feminist of me I know...on the other hand it could be a political charged statement about the objectification of women. Yeah...that's it! That and it was fun! Actually I do have to add that this pin-up was created by Pearl Frush- perhaps one of the few women who created these images. There...a nod to Women's History Month. I knew there was something deeper in it for me!

To create this card I actually used layers of transparency film over top of the actual card Which was a combo of watercolor and a photoshopped pin-up girl. I actually took off clothing in order to add it back with my layers...go figure! Here are the individual views of the layers...I call this ATC "Don't be shy."

All layers in place...

One layer in place...
(her bikini is actually gold...it didn't scan well)

And lastly...no layers on!!!

Oh yeah...this is the source for this pin-up girl if you want to see what she looked like "before" or are looking for images like this.

So that is what I have for this Friday! These ATCs were fun. I am certainly playing with my rules and ideas with in the boundaries of this month's challenge. This is perplexing and thought provoking for me. I think I need to go ponder it further...

Swapping Goodness...

2006-03-20T23:21:00.000-05:00

swap_goodies
Originally uploaded by jesssf.

I received a package from my Swap partner in the "Accessorize Me" swap on Craftster. Lally sent me all sort of great things like a tote, two clutches, two belts and a beaded ring. You can see the details here. I can't wait to wear/carry these!

Unfortunately I neglected to take very good pics of what I sent to LuckyLally...oh well! She did post some pretty good pics though on the forum. Oh well! This was my first swap and I will do better next time.

A Hidden Treasure...

2006-03-18T15:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was looking for a quote and I pulled a book off the shelf that I hadn't looked at in a very long time. It was The Quotable Women (a fun book) and out fell a few mini-postcards my best friend gave me our senior year of college and this print that a friend from the art department had given me. I had almost forgotten about the print and the friend.

I had gotten to know this girl in my printmaking studio my junior year. She was a year or two older than I, married (which was a foreign concept at the time), and nice to be around. I can't say that we got to know each other really well...but I always thought we could have. We chatted about printmaking, she challenged my ideas and we had fun...not wild, crazy, partying fun. Just good conversation fun. The only other person that I can easily say I had this sort of relationship with is my very bestest friend from kindergarten, Makaylia.

So why is she a nearly forgotten friend? Well, sadly she is a faded memory. I can't even remember her name! I think it was Kate, but I am not 100% sure. I am pretty sure that her last name is Whitemere...only because she signed the back of the print. But even then it is a little hard to read. So how did we fall out of touch? I went to Manchester, England the next semester through our study abroad program. Kate (that is what I'll call her from now on) moved with her husband. I think I sent her a postcard from England...but I am sure I never heard back from her. Who knows if she even got it!

It makes me sad to have lost a potential friend...but things happen that are beyond our control. I do however have this little print (its 3 1/2" x 4") and another teeny tiny one somewhere (I need to find that one too!) that will remind me. Now I need to get it framed properly!!!

So here are the details of this rediscovered gem...it is a watercolor monoprint which (if I remember correctly) is part of a larger print that was done. Kate liked to do large monoprints and find the best parts compositionally and tear it apart. It is signed on the back and titled "under Glass."

Crazy Amaryllis...

2006-03-17T23:57:00.000-05:00

I almost forgot to post this! My crazy plant is finally blossoming!

My Mom gave me this amaryllis for Christmas about 5 years ago. I knew it was an odd plant beacuse what I actually recevied was the bulb kit...something you might find at a store and when I got the box home and opened it my crazy plant was already growing! Mind you it was in a box, gift wrapped and under the Christmas tree. And who knows how long it had been in the box.

Anywhoo...this bulb had already started growing and was nearly white and curled up inside the box. Crazy I tell you! I finally got it in the soil, near light and it bloomed! I was so excited. Unfortunately that was the last time I saw flowers...until now...five whole years later.

Believe me, I followed the instructions, kept it dormant off and on for a few years. I finally gave up on it ever blooming again so I just let it grow. When the leaves got too tall (about 3 foot high or so) I would cut them off and start again. This has lasted for about three years. Recently I noticed it did not grow back quite as fast. And then when it did grow back...low and behold there was a bud. Holy cow! So now the flowers are starting to open and it looks like I will have three giant crimson trumpets. Only two are open now, but the third is on its way.

All I can say is...I am stunned. I am not sure why it is flowering now, but hey, it is lovely! I'll try the directions again. Hopefully I won't have to wait another five years for this crazy amaryllis to bloom.

Really Digging ATCs

2006-03-17T22:54:00.000-05:00

I have been a little swamped with school work lately, but I have a minute so I will post my ATC's created for the weekly posting on Craftster. I am still working on the theme of "take off" for March.

These are the two I created for last week (not my favorites but oh well)...They are titled "take off your coat and stay a while" and "the last five."

Here are the ones I created for this week. I really like these. They are "take off from reality" and "can't take my eyes off you."

I had fun working with my watercolors. In the process I discovered that the color pencils I use can act as a resist to the watercolors...very cool!

I am also in the process of working on a large collage self-portrait. I do not want to say too much becuase I plan on explaining it all done and I post it. It is pretty crazy though!!!

Lists

2006-03-04T19:16:00.000-05:00

Last year was my 30th birthday. Unlike many people, I was super excited about turning 30. Everyone who has walked their path had life changing experiences and really "came in to their own" after this mystical birthday had passes. My Mom deeply believes that after you pass through a decade your personal slate is wiped clean and you may re-create yourself anew. A decade old phoenix if you will.

As part of my hopeful expoloration entering my thirtieth year of existance I created thrity lists of thirty things. The first list outlined the 29 other lists I would write but each had its own purpose and reason for being...just like me!

Well, a year has passed and I wanted to re-visit my lists and see what I had done and what I still needed to look into doing. I will post all of my lists on my other blog here

To get started here is my list of lists...list #1...a preview of the other lists!

My List of 30 Lists

1. A list of lists
2. Long Term Goals
3. Short Term Goals
4. Books to Read
5. Movies to See
6. Places to Visit in NYC
7. Things to Learn
8. Ways to Improve Body/Health
9. Ways to Improve Emotionally
10. Things I Would Like to Do
11. Museums to Visit
12. People to Connect With
13. Places to Visit in USA
14. Places to Visit on Earth
15. My Personality Traits
16. Things I Have Accomplished
17. Things to be Grateful for
18. Things I love about Daron (my hubby)
19. Things I dislike about myself (and want to change/accept)
20. Ways to Appreciate Myself
21. People to thank
22. Ways to Improve Work
23. Things I like about Candor (where I grew up)
24. Things I like about NYC (where I live now)
25. Lessons learned from my Parents
26. Favorite Things
27. Ways to Express Creativity
28. Ideas for Artwork
29. Favorite Moments in my Personal History
30. Ways to Celebrate Me!

More ATC's

2006-03-04T18:58:00.000-05:00

I have been able to keep up with the weekly ATC challenges so far. Now that it is March we have a new theme...Take Off!!!

Here are the first two I created. I was instantly inspired by things that take off and I wanted to do something that related to children's imagination. I have another idea that I will try to do for next week that might convey my idea in a different way.

I also wanted to use my Prismacolor pencils. I have not used them in quite some time and I forgot what great color I can get from them. Of course the scans do not quite do these cards justice, but you get a good idea...

Artist Trading Cards

2006-02-17T12:28:00.000-05:00

I have wanted to try ATC's for sometime, but wasn't sure about the best way to go about them or what to do with them once I made them.

After seeing a crft-a-long post on Craftster I decided to give them a shot. This craft-a-long requests weekly posting of your ATC's (2 posted every Friday) and has a monthly theme. I was snagged by the theme for February which is chance. I had two ideas and could barely keep from posting my creations right away. I got more excited than I thought!

These are the first two I created. The first was inspired by Abba (not obvious is it?!?) and the second was inspired by me looking up the definition of chance in the dictionary (that is a photocopy of the definition behind the fairy).

The second two I created were inspired by my love of famous quotations and February being Black History Month...

New to the Bloggin Thang...

2006-01-11T21:33:00.000-05:00

So I am trying to get this blog a rolling. Ha- blog rolling. Puns are just evil.

Anywhoo... I am trying to create a space where I can pull my thoughts together, vent my school stress, show off what I am doing and just in general make my mark on the web. Hopefully I will learn enough to make this place pretty and someplace that is enjoyable to visit.

There are so many templates out there! Of course none I have found so far suit me and want I want to do. I need to start doing some research. Learning how to create my own template or add-ons or something would be so nice!

Well, I better get crackin' on the research.