An artist-naturalist splashes through streams of consciousness... often, it's even her own...
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Newest Project
Embroidery on a doily which was bordered in crocheted lace by my Great-Great Grandmother, Mira Marsh. This is a project almost 100 years in the making.
The embroidery thread is a cotton-rayon-nylon blend. The woven fabric is linen, which is bordered by crocheted lace in cotton.
It's been done for months, but I can publish it now because the magazine issue has been published. I would have done it sooner, but I forgot!
CLICK HERE to see the detailed instructions for how to make this at The AntiCraft.
This weekend was Bazaar Bizarre Cleveland, a craft fair for the quirky and artistically minded. We went, and it was ourfirst time. Verdict? AWESOME.
First, most of what we saw was top notch craftsmanship. The less high quality stuff would have been the highest quality at a church craft fair, so it wasn't bad at all!!
Another great thing about BazBiz was the sheer quantity of friends we saw. It was a startling number. Some I'd expected to see. Some were delightful surprizes. We also made some new friends. Quite a memorable day!
Oh-did I mention we actually got some Christmas shopping done?
Way to catch Homeland Security with their pants pooling about their ankles, Colbert Report!! There's nothing I love more than seeing tax dollars squandered on failing businesses, and NOW, apprehending passport-wielding, tax-paying, law-abiding American citizens.
>SNERK< As if I need to be asked twice. "Yarn" is the new "shiny".
Garfield Minus Garfield publishes daily. It was my sister-in-law Leonor who introduced me to this very zen webcomic.
Of course, this particular strip was sent (rather pointedly) to me by My Beloved, who is still waiting for his first sweater and the half-finished half pair of socks I still have on the needles.
Time for The AntiCraft to publish! It's a good one. Again. As usual.
Our theme this quarter is called "Broken Bones", and it celebrates the Latin American festival Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).
This is not a morbid day to wallow around in pathos and mourning. It's a day of bright colors and cheerful, festive music, generous food, family gathering, and celebration. It's a day to go and share the year's experiences at the gravesite of the people who have passed on, whether recently or long ago. In fact, sometimes it can go on for two days.
So click on the link and see what we have to say, craftwise, about celebrating the memories of the ones we love!
Thankful Thursdays: I'm Thankful for My Sense of Humor
This. Is Such. A. Hoot.
Little back story. Too many relationships have been ended over knitted articles that were received with less than the enthusiasm the knitter felt ought to have been lavished on the article by the recipient.
Example. "Oh, Sweetie, I saw how you were a little chilly a few months ago on that hay ride, so I knitted you this sweater. I hope you like it???" >thrusts sweater hopefully, batting eyelashes< "Erm... Sure, purple argyle is just... >deep exhalation< well, I-I-I I think I've got a t-shirt it'll go with, lemme try it on..."
Nevermind that the hayride was prob'ly in October, and the sweater may have taken until April to complete.
The knitter obviously didn't bother to check for color likes/dislikes when she started knitting a sweater for her boyfriend, so it's unlikely that she did anything about fit, either. The poor sweater gets tossed in the back of the closet, never to see the light of day again, the knitter begins a downward spiral of resentment which cues the deathknell for the relationship, which (plainly) was on rocky footing to begin with, as evidenced by their poor communication skills.
It's a common story. Lots of knitting books and blogs address the phenomenon; The AntiCraft has a great pattern called the Curse Your Boyfriend Sweater, which helps you expedite the end of a relationship deliberately via sweater-gift; in Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'N Bitch Nation (2004, Workman Publishing), she features a sweater/knitted goods-as-gift contract. It's on page 120 under the heading Pre-Knitual Agreement. (Go ahead and chuckle. I can't help how clever it is. ALL her books are like that.)
Here's a story via song that's just about 180 degrees from the curse. What happens when you've been found knitting for someone else???
Warning: old-school Country Western-style music ahead. If you object, replace the performers in your imagination with the Blues Brothers. That might be even funnier.
Part of what I love about it is that these women could easily be drag queens. Except they're so understated (not enough rhinestone, not enough boa feather) it's clear they're really women underneath all that makeup and hair.
"Maybe I just need a new project" is the best breakup line. EVER!!!
It's also a source of blissful distraction. I am dangerously keen on knitting socks, now, and even argyle socks, especiallyargyle socks with a skull, are probably not outside of my skill level. God help me. All I need is the yarn. God help us all.
It's Ravelry's nod to the 2008 Olympics, and the fact that people who knit, crochet, and spin can't sit in front of the tv without something to do with their hands. Ravelry, of course, being a social network for people (ahem) addicted to the aforementioned habits.
Here's the button that proclaims my participation:
Hooray!! Let the knitting and crocheting begin... er, I've already begun...
Well????
The rules CLEARLY state we can start as soon as the Opening Ceremonies start. I started almost 24 hours later.
And that's about right. I'm knitting and crocheting for Team Angstylvania.
Click that whole paragraph if you want to see. It's worth it.
Also? And this is a little scary, so maybe you don't want to keep reading. (Ok, that wasn't fair, was it? He heh heh.)
My Beloved inspired me to check into whether there might be recipes for deep-fried cookie dough. Was I lucky?
Is this not the Home of the Brave? And, apparently, the iron-stomached.
LORDY. According to Google, 70,800 results were found that matched my search criteria (that would be "fried cookie dough recipe"), and said search was executed in 0.35 seconds. I didn't check to see if ALL 70,800 were actually recipes for this specific delicacy. In fact, my gob-smacked mind could barely make it down the page.
I guess I hit the jackpot, if that's what you can call it, though I'll stick to traditional cookies, thank you very much!! It certainly is county fair season!
We have more training to do. That's the easy part. That's fun and social. There is a lot of money to raise. In this economy, that's the scary part. That can be fun and social, too, though.
Meh. We can do it. It's time to crank it up a gear or so!
Another of my projects/recipes is published! See it here.
Yes, it's on The AntiCraft. Yes, I am an editor. No, this doesn't give me an extra 'in' with my projects. A staff submission has to be scrutinized and vetted every bit as carefully and with as picky an eye as for a non-staff submission.
As a matter of pride, I would have to say that even more scrutiny goes into a staff project, because it would be embarassing for our submissions to be subpar. If we, the judges, were to display a project less wonderful than those projects we accept and reject, our credibility would be forfeit.
I submitted 4 projects for this issue. I am pleased that 2 were accepted. One of the non-accepted (?) recipes is further down the blog (Steampunked Burger Meister Meisterburgers), and everyone who has tried them has really enjoyed them. I have another recipe to share, and I will eventually. There was a lot of interest for this theme! It was amazing how much interest there was surrounding BACON.
Another editing project well under way. Some of these projects are downright adictive; some, I can't wait to see the backside of. It's the nature of vetting someone else's work. THIS issue, however, will not only be well-edited, but strong, design-wise. I am happy to say that I have truly enjoyed each project I've been assigned.
Published. AND I got linked on Slashfood. How cool is that?????
(Really, the spotlight is on co-editor Carin's Baconhenge. And kudos to her, for devising a recipe that takes advantage of the season during which our magazine gets published. That's completely brilliant.)(Not only brilliant, it's delicious.)
Yeah, um. And I really want to talk about what I'm knitting. Or why I'm knitting with telephone wire, but I'm afraid The Guardian has first dibs. YES. THATThe Guardian.
More info once it hits the stands in London. I hope I get a copy.
Oh. I can say this: there's a Time Lord involved. So there are a couple very catchy ear worms running through my head right now... particularly the Gary Glitter send-up... (I sure do wish we had cable, but all I have is cable needles.)
I'm deliriously, happily married to Rick. We have a basenji named Cleopatra and 3 manic (as a result of the dog) cats. They all appear on the blog regularly, as does the garden. On occasion, you may mistake this for the local Ag Report, but I assure you I am an artist, and eventually my work will make an appearance.
In the meantime, I find enjoyment in life's daily distractions.
We work to be part of the solution in Cleveland as members of a giving circle called The Cleveland Colectivo, giving microgrants to grassroots neighborhood projects throughout Cleveland and the inner-ring suburbs.
Rick and I are avid bike riders, and we captain a BikeMS team called Patti's Paladins. Visit our team website pattispaladins.com to learn how you can help us fight Multiple Sclerosis. Join us for a ride!
