To Do:

Ultra
Occupied
with
LIFE
this
week -
Cloth book made @1990

Glass Beach

We're Off

On a lark. To the Pacific Ocean. Back soon.

Book Club Tomorrow

& I haven't quite finished my reading.

These tiny books are made from one piece of paper. They're fun & easy & directions must be all over the internet. We're using them to list examples of Threadbare Excuses, Monsters of Ignorance, & Time-Wasting Tasks. They have their own pocket in the notebooks we're making.

My dodecahedron calendar is shown in the foreground. This ties in to The Phantom Tollbooth how? It looks very much like the character 'The Dodecahedron', except that he has a different facial expression on each of his twelve sides rather than a month. & he has arms & legs & a hat. But I found this pattern all ready to print here, & so. Behind my calendar are several one-eyed, or hairless, or mute characters I'd like to be fiddling with.



Next I'll have a snack.

Blanket Curator

This blanket appeared in the background of one of my pictures. Naturally it was noticed. I would not be overstating if I were to say that this blanket is on my top five of all time thrifted objects list. I would be exaggerating if I said that when I came upon it I gasped, but I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said that I mentally gasped. I don't remember what I paid for it; which is unusual. I generally remember the price on landmark thrift store aquisitions. I do know that I bought it before we entered the Thrift Store Price Inflation Phase that we're now in. I had to spend quite a while mending it. Quite a while. I need to spend some time doing that again. Isn't it pretty though?

I just know someone carefully chose the fabrics & yarn to trim the blanket with. The fabrics may have been from past sewing projects, but carefully selected trim colors tie it all together. The obvious time-investment is a big part of why I appreciate this blanket so much, but not the only reason. This blanket was made with cool materials & the creator took their time. Nice details. Unusual, not strange. It was a successful project. I wish that the person who made it could know that it is still loved.

Permalink

This is my portrait; painted by my daughter at six

I've learned something new & fixed what was undoubtedly a problem; I've learned what a permalink is. This lead to my discovery that my selected 'post-title font color' was the same color as the background. That clarified why I could never see my post titles on my blog & soon I figured out some more stuff, so now if one of my flickr pictures says 'blogged about here', the link will actually take you there.

Next:
-how to predict the appearance of text & photos in post?
-how to create a tutorial with a series of photos on another page?
-how to display a collection on a separate page? (ex. hat collection)

My Friend Colonel Sanders

This is from my grandmother's house. Not especially valuable, but it has sentimental value. Few are aware that I once met Colonel Sanders. We crossed paths long ago at the Louisville Airport. He was wearing a white double breasted suit (OK, I don't remember whether it was double-breasted or not). He had just given out his last balloon. These were special balloons; they had little ears & a face & cardboard feet! He asked whether I'd like him to retrieve a balloon for me from his suitcase. I thought this sounded fine. But it was polite to decline this offer - a five year-old does not pick up on subtler social cues...

A meeting with Colonel Sanders is probably considered trifling in terms of celebrity encounters, however; I've treasured gotten some mileage out of this memory.

A Way To Enjoy Sewing

Cutting up & restructuring a cast-off garment is much less intimidating than creating something without or even with a pattern. So much less intimidating that it's really fun. It's fun, & materials are plentiful in the form of thrifted garments. It's therefore cheap to practice & experiment with this sort of garment construction which leads to ever increasing ability to realize what I envision. I didn't anticipate this, because I've never felt quite so much freedom to whack clothing up & experiment. If the armsythe is too confining, next time I'll know to cut it deeper in back, etc. It's actually easier to fit someone this way than it is using a commercial pattern.

This isn't an entirely new concept - although the current reconstruction or recycling trend bears little resemblance to its previous incarnation. In the past, people used up their belongings. Garments frayed & worn at the edges were recycled into smaller garments using the remaining good yardage. I have an illustrated WWII pamphlet detailing how Americans could 'do their part' in the war effort by using old worn garments to create new clothing. The pamphlet shows several possible pattern layouts to ensure the least possible waste.

I've had several 'special' pieces of fabric for years. These are sizeable pieces intended for a basic garment; a special piece of wool, or linen. I cannot bring myself to cut into these. What if the garment doesn't fit well? I really have no desire to sew on these fabrics. Anything made with them would have to be essentially perfect. The margin for error is zero. That insures disaster, since disaster is anything shy of perfect . What is perfect? I have fewer disasters than I ever have, but 3 yards of black cashmere? That's stress. Cutting & sewing with my shoulders all crunched up & my jaw clenched? Pass. When my grandmother gave it to me, my mom said fabric like it couldn't be purchased anywhere now. Maybe I'll hang it on an empty wall.

I have approached many arts/crafts by working toward technical mastery. Read the instructions, find the 'best way', understand why, use the method, etc. There is a lot of value in technical mastery (control), but it can get pretty stagnant. The mushrooming interest in crafts in the last few years has really demonstrated the value of experimentation. Sometimes a very experimental approach distinctly lacks technical mastery - it is not tied to 'the method'. New ideas are developed. Being exposed to this creative energy & having access to varied & affordable materials really adds to the pleasure of making things. It has become less about affording materials & mastering technique. It's much more exciting to try to conceive a new & interesting use for something. Its just engaging my mind in a different direction.

Thrift Owl

-mystery fur.

Celebrating Mitten Day

Mitten Day has been expedited due to weather. It's just a bit overcast & chilly here today, so I'll jump on the opportunity to discuss cold weather gear.

Mitten Day will be a domestic holiday. Many very beautiful & remarkably complex mittens are created in Scandinavia, Latvia, Russia, Lapland & other countries around the world. Nevertheless; the simple, sturdy mittens traditionally knit in Maine & along the coastline of the northeastern U.S. are a favorite of mine for a few reasons.

• They last forever when knitted with the type of yarn traditionally used. An important characteristic of this type of wool is that it is not processed with chemicals so it retains some of the natural lanolin. The lanolin provides softness & weather resistance. Two great sources for this sort of wool are Bartlettyarns, Harmony, ME (since 1821) & Briggs & Little Woolen Mills, NB Canada ( since 1857).



• They are always warm - even when they're wet. The yarn used is approximately aran weight & mittens are usually knit on size 2 or 3 needles. The resulting mittens are very thick & water resistant.



• They're not so labor intensive that the loss of one results in some type of breakdown or outburst. I resist using special Nordic-style mittens with stars & leaves & squirrels & other patterns that took a long time to execute.



• These traditional mitten patterns have interesting stories attached to them. For great reading on this subject see Robin Hansen's Favorite Mittens - the best patterns from Fox, Geese & Fences, & Flying Geese & Partridge Feet. I have only flipped through this updated compilation, but I own the two original books printed in the 80s. Favorite Mittens retains quite a bit of the history contained in the earlier books. These books all include mittens in sizes for children & adults, & even some specialty mittens such as shooter's mittens & thrummed mittens (mittens lined with extra wool fleece)

Patterns from Fox, Geese & Fences: Chipman's Block, Sawtooth mittens, Partridge mittens

Like to see more mittens?

pirate mittens
miniature mittens

Empty Words

No. 2
4" tall.