I'm am still feeling blocked about where the knitted things are going. Today I decided to put them all on a wall and work on figuring out what the final form will be.

I'm thinking that they should somehow become objects. So that's where I am at with the thinking on these.
What type of objects????
I don't know.

I think I am turning toward a garment related shape.

Oh, related in a way to garment. Twice in the past couple of weeks I have had it suggested to me to knit socks. I just might. Anybody know a pattern for a novice?
The very first thing I ever attempted to knit was a sock. It was unwearable but it looked sort of like a sock. I guess I shouldn't have tried to just make up the pattern. Or add text. So send any ideas, comments and suggestions.

It is spring here. The bears are around. They've been in the bird feeder and knocked over the trash. We haven't seen one, but the local paper had a photo of a young male hanging out on our street. Yep, bears.... I guess you can tell that I'm not doing any work. But I don't think the bear distraction is really working.

How about some Condi sightings? That distracted me. I especially like the Condoleezza Hairdo Alert System. Oh, goddess, I bet I'm under surveillance now.

Dusting and Sweeping

Today I'm back in the shop after being away for a week. Yesterday we managed to get everything unpacked and this morning I've just been trying to get it all in some sort of order so that it all looks good.

I keep walking past the knitting machine and thinking I should get some work going on it.

There is still cleaning to do around the store though so I'm not sure if any of my work will get done today.

It's time to work on some new imagery.

I'm thinking of using a lot of the knitted pieces I have done to make one large thing. I don't know what to call what I'm doing. Wall Hanging? Blanket? I'll just use Thing for the moment.

I'm getting excited about doing a collaborative project with Melissa. The deadline for the proposal is May 15th so we had better get moving on it. (hint to Melissa).

Back to the life of a shop keep. Where's my feather duster?

I had all of the work ready to embroider with me. But I did nothing on it.
I discovered that embroidery really isn't that good of a thing to take along on a trip. If you drop a needle in the van it just might fall somewhere in the seat and you may not discover that until early one morning when you're rushing to the show and find it by sitting on it. That could have happened.

It looks like I may be going back to the needles for travel. Maybe I will even take Rabbitch up on her suggestion and knit (oh my god) socks. I could probably have one toe done or a heel or something and then I could put it into the little box, well not that little, on my shelf along with all of the single mittens, started mittens, bits of hats etc...

I am not like the woman in this painting.

I thought I could use this image that I saw at the show to distract everyone from the fact that I did none of my art work on this trip. I don't know the artists name or the title of the work. It was painted in the teens and a gallery had it exhibited at the show. After I snuck a photo I went back to get the information but it had sold and was gone.

For us it's another day of unpacking from the show. And tomorrow to the shop to get the van unloaded and the place organized. That must be why I feel like taking a nap.

12 hours or more

I just got back from Chicago a huge long drive.( it was ok, thank you) .
I thought it would be a low stress night watching the tivoed programs. But NOOOOOOO
instead everything that was suppose to be tivoed is missing half of the show or just enough minutes to drive me nuts.
Anyway . I'm Back. I'm Tired . i am going to bed . Good night.

This will be it for a little more than a week. We leave in the morning to start the trip to Chicago.

Everything is nearly packed.

I'll leave you with a few places that I like to visit.

Slow Food,
The Food Museum online,
beehive collective,
And one of my favorites The Thylacine Museum, watch the films.

Have a great week.

I was tired before the day even started.

We packed the stuff for the show out of the store early this morning. Town's crowded with lookers, hopefully some buyers will come out too.

My mind is on the Spring/Passover/Easter dinner that Cyn and I are planning for tonight. The theme is..... Mexico. It seems like all of the theme dinners of late have been Mexico. Tonight I get to try some of the recipes from the Mayan cookbook I've been reading. A turkey mole? maybe, if we have that we'll also have to think up something for the veggies. Fran suggested a Tempe or tofu mole. I think I could do that. I bet the tempe will work best.

The idea is a Seder sort of dinner. With tortillas instead of matzo, and we'll have readings but not a haggadah. I think it's about exodus, changes and renewal. Writing it down makes it sound fancier than it will be.

So, I've got to go now and think about what the readings will be.

I realized today that I probably won't be knitting anything for about 10 days.
The weekend should be busy here and then we go to Chicago.

I am already packing things so that I can do some work on the imagery while on the road. It's funny I first started knitting because it was easy to transport and I could take it on these road trips, but now I'm working on the machine so I need another portable thing to do. That's going to be the embroidery.

I will still have a couple of posts before leaving but I think this is the only studio wall photo you'll see for a while.

The weather is so great today that I'm having a hard time concentrating. The knitting machine knows this and as soon as I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing it misses a row or breaks the yarn.

The shop door is open and that seems to be an invitation to everyone to walk in. Mostly I think it's people waiting for a table at the restaurant next store, Today is one of those days when the studio in the shop does not seem to be a good idea.

Hint to people out browsing. at least keep your mouths closed. And try not to gasp at the price tags.

Back to knitting

Things are better now. I think that I was just a little itsy bit too tense to knit earlier today.
I have calmed down.

I managed to get this off of the machine. I think the bugs might work. I know that you can't read my mind, but I'm seeing these in combination with embroidered imagery.

The photos of those will have to wait though. The plan is to take the stuff with me to Chicago and work on embroidery while traveling.

Looked like a good day

I got to the studio a little late today. I wasn't sure I was coming in, the weather is so great and I thought that I should maybe do some garden work. Then I thought , hey I'm going to be away from the studio all next week so I had better get in and work on some things. Then I can take them along on the trip to Chicago.

I was getting ready to knit when I heard a drip. At first I couldn't figure out where it was coming from, but I knew it was from the bar upstairs. Then I figured it out. Right over the most expensive item in the shop the pipe was leaking. I jumped up pulled stuff off of the walls and away from the water. I called upstairs. They came down right away. and helped me move more things. Shit, it's the toilet upstairs and some how while they were cleaning this morning It came loose. ???

So they are suppose to get a plumber in this afternoon to fix it. The store's a wreck but there is, luckily no damage. O.K. I can deal with this. Just have to wait for the plumber.

I go to the knitting machine and It isn't cooperating. Yarns break. So there will be no studio wall photo today. I have to go and make nice to the knitting machine and get it back on my side.

I guess I'm glad I came in today. If I wasn't here during the leak it might have really been a disaster. Before going to knit though I think I will sit down, read the paper, have a cup of coffee and then with me all nice and calm I'll knit a few panels.

Some days are strange

There are times around here, it's unpredictable, when I just can't get into the studio to do any work.

It might have to do with the weather. These nice sunny days draw a lot of people so it seems busy.

Melissa found this and brought it as a gift.

I apologize to anyone who might have come here to look at the latest work. Take your time and peruse the archive. Later in the week I will have some photos of the latest things.

The finger is feeling better

Thanks everybody. I'm taking a break from knitting today to let the finger heal up a little bit more.

And I'm getting ready for Melissa and Nina's visit. Today crochet is in the air.



The never to be completed brain/blob is on the wall.

I thought that I would get to the studio early today and get some knitting done. I'm working out some ideas combining the portraits and insects. So I go back to the machine and...

...I should back up a little....

....Last night I was throwing together a little dinner for us and friends. One in particular was having a bad day. I was going to make it simple. Fran had already made a spicy Mexican influenced cole slaw and had bought some fish. So I thought I'd make some beans and do a crispy sauted fish and I got started. I was cutting the onion when, yep, I did, I sliced the hell out of my finger. I felt it hit the bone. I thought I'd have to get stitches, but I wasn't in the mood for an emergency room visit. Fran went out and got bandages and we wrapped it up. I finished cooking and drank a little wine, well, a (quite a) few glasses. Everything went well. I went to sleep while everyone else was watching Brokeback Mountain.
This morning I got up, the finger was feeling o.k.

I thought that I would get to the studio early today and get some knitting done. I'm working out some ideas combining the portraits and insects. So I go back to the machine and I get it all set up and ready to go. Then I hit my finger on a needle, OUCH, and it's bleeding and it looks like I won't be knitting today.

So after resting a little I am now starting to add to the knitted imagery. This is the first one. And while the entire state of Texas might not gasp I have a feeling that Dallas might.

I hope she's laughing.

Country Mouse and I take a trip

The Country Mouse and I try to take a trip to the city for non-business related stuff once a month. Often we'll just spend the day wandering through the Met. This time we had an Agenda.

We both wanted to see Kara Walker at the Met : After the Deluge. I wanted to see The Indonesian Textile show and we both want to get over to the Whitney to take in the Biennial.

Ambitious visual day, but worth it.

First we saw the Ikats. It was a small show with an amazing group of textiles from the Met's collection. What can I say about them... I've always been drawn to the Indonesian clothes. Primarily because of the dense visual language in them. This time I was especially interested to see the use of surface embellishments on the already complex and integrated dyed cloth structures. I felt a little bit like I was giving myself permission to add the embroidery to my stuff. Yes, I twisted it around to me. There was a technique that I hadn't noticed before where the cloth is woven with slits and it's all planned out for future dyeing. Technically I'm in awe,

Wandering, wandering, wandering through the Met slowly working our way to the Kara Walker.

The installation of this show was what I first noticed. It made me want to walk in and start exploring. There was so much to think about here. Narrative, identity, art history, time, I'm still processing it. It carried you through and dropped you and picked you up again and challenged and lulled and did all kinds of things with a power that was very much like the power of water.
I think I need to go back and see this again.

After the experience of the Kara Walker exhibit we were both a bit reluctant to go to the Whitney.
That and it was raining/snowing/sleeting outside, But we decided we should.

I always feel a little bit queasy about large group shows like the Biennial. There's stuff I love and stuff I hate and then there is the whole show.

It was crowded with people and art and that felt like a good thing. So many people looking at art.
I wondered about the surface quality of a lot of the work. It all seemed to be so loud and wanting attention, without any idea of why. So much of the work seemed to speak to history. Looking at history because it was/is lost and the history was an anchor. There was a feeling of "Hollywood" and wanting to be a star, too.

There was the underground bunker of early 20th century art (Duchamp) ideas by Sturtevant. I laughed out loud. There were the pastoral videos referencing 19th c. landscape painting by Michael Snow. There were works that looked at the sixties and ones from the sixties. Many things had a"hand made" quality. I felt a lot of ideas were presented but I guess I was really questioning whether the execution allowed for the ideas to be more than one liners.

I think that I wanted to be more "affected" by the show. shown something, not yelled at. I was glad to leave the noise of it all and get some lunch.

We did a little bit more wandering and stumbled on a little show at the Met with coptic textiles.

I just enjoyed looking at them. Too much thinking in too few hours.

And then the drive home.

Adding to an existing fabric

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog to bring you...

I was just reading Rabbitch , for the second time today. I think that she really is hitting on something. That's why I love reading her. The wedding story and rant and a boob shot.

And congratulations to Rachael and Lala hope you're enjoying the honeymoon.

... Now back to your regular blog reading...

When we were in Mexico I bought an amazing embroidered shirt. This shows just a little of the imagery. It also has goats and coyotes and more bugs. I love it!


I've kept it in the closet on a hanger until today, while I have been contemplating embroidery...

On ...

the..

knitting...


This is a little of the first attempt. I wish that I could get what I'm thinking into words. When I look back it sure seems all jumbled up.

That's why I'm always glad for comments. It seems that working in a vacuum isn't how things should be for anyone.

Oh, reminds me. Remember the knitPro show that Cat did? Well, I got an email from her today and ... click here.

I love seeing what the jurors had to say.

edges / finishes

Some days there seems to be too much going on to get any machine knitting done. Boring things like the dentist and doing laundry.

And then there is the little matter of sewing up the edges of a lot of the panels. I just don't like how the cast off edge looks for these. It's too containing or something. It doesn't allow for the possibility of the knitted fabric having a place beyond it's edge. O.K. Anyway I'm sewing them.

I've been cleaning up the guest room, too, because Miss - Melissa - Melissa and Nina are going to stop by the house at the end of the week, I think Friday as they go on to NYC.

I am already trying to come up with a fun and good late night supper.


Melissa is the person I have been friends with longer than anyone. We have been through much stuff together. Wow, and now that she's in Toronto I rarely get to see her. I'm excited.

She did a great interview with me for the final issue of surfacing journal. I can't link you to them since their site is now down. You'll have to contact a Canadian friend or maybe you can get a copy through the Ontario Craft Council or the Textile Museum of Canada.

It's back to cleaning for me.

Flashing stash

I've noticed some stash flashing around the knitter blogs. I don't think I'll flash mine.

But...

I'll let you know that in the fall I donated over 250 cones of yarn ,all of them 1 pound or more, to a local materials recycling program, and that wasn't even half of the stash. When I moved the studio there was a van load. Oh, and I bought more to make up for what I was missing.

It's not just the yarn stash that I've been thinking about this morning....

There are a lot of knitted panels. I try to make a new one every day. Converted stash.

And there is the little matter of the packing crate of needles. Doesn't everyone need every type of needle in every size with a few extras?

Looking around the studio, what else is here, a few knitting machines (counting the ones hidden at home under the bed, 6 and 2 ribbers) ..... I won't mention the looms.

Time to go to a diversion... Stardoll.

Same as yesterday different color

The first part of my day today was spent struggling with the machine. I still haven't figured out what's going wrong. I think I just had a button in the incorrect position.

So I managed to knit this.

Well. really the first part of my day was spent sweeping the sidewalk. It may seem like a good thing to some, you know who you are, to have a bar right above the store. I'm here to say. "it's not".

Today while there were no beer bottles on the doorstep there was broken glass, and the usual array of cigarette butts. I just swept it all into the street. The owner offered apologies and offered me a drink, this is at 10 in the morning. I asked that they keep the noise level low until I close at 5. Yea, same day different color.