Canstruction

Check out this charity that constructs fantastic sculptures from cans of food Canstruction.

and the orchid....

Francis' photo.

I tried again

I borrowed a camera to get a photo of the new orchid flowers.

The battery is dead.

It's cold and rainy here, and we are getting ready to go out to some art openings. I hope we get parking close to the galleries.

YMMD awards

TheAmpuT has given me a You Make My Day award.
It did.
Many Thanks. So now it's my turn.
The Instructions: "give the award to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blogland. Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times."

AmpuTeeHee - It's not about being a mutual admiration society. I look forward to TheAmpuT's writing everyday. It's confident, with little self doubts creeping in from time to time. It's funny and thought provoking, and one day we'll sit down to a family meal. I love a good cook.

Rabbitch - I laugh out loud. I spit my coffee. I worry that rats might be moving into my house. Rabbitch is the cause of all this. A great open hearted person and fiber color artist with the best curse words.

Davis Studio - MaryAnne, I've known her for (shh i won't say) years. Always thinking always concerned. and I love her dinner ware.

Barefoot Cobbler - Carrie is someone with so much energy I sometimes need to sit down and rest after reading her blog.

itgirl - I might never know the lyrics, but I always read the blog. I think I was first caught when gov docs were mentioned. I thought that I was the only one who toiled cataloging these.

Rachael - The first blog I ever read. She makes me want to move back to California and take the dogs running on the beach.

Zoe Strauss - I love this work and it's impetus.

Anne - Anne keeps me thinking about food. I'm going to have to delurk now that I've linked to her.

now silly but 2 new bloggers (to me) that I've found since joining Ravelry

CubistLiterature - Where is this going to go? fun , funny, creative and smart.

WormSpit - There is something about a silkworm cowboy that I just couldn't resist.

The orchid is bloomimg

The camera is broken

Today I went shopping

I was in a yarn acquisition mood today, I've been feeling this way for a week.

So I went to Wilde Bros. a nearby spinning mill and bought a little bit of wool./ 8 lbs.

I had the brilliant idea that the 2-ply rug yarn would work in my machine (secret I'm working on some rugs) Ha, the texture was all wrong for the machine, not enough give and too bulky. --------I almost said too big and hard.

I like the roughness of the wool. So some type of hand knit will come out of this.

I was really hoping that the local would work. I get tired of ordering the jagger spun from maine all of the time.

This place had tons of roving and if I were a spinner I would have been tempted.

It was a very interesting, but sad place. Two buildings, the 1st one receives the wool, washes, cards, dyes(I think), and then the roving is sent to the second building were there are about uhm... I don't know it was one large room of industrial spinning machines. after the spinning it's skeined and sent to the next room for coning and then packed and shipped. The sad thing about Wilde's is that they are the last mill in Manayunk, pa. and they have their building up for sale and the equipment, too because they're closing down after 150 years of being a family business. They say they just can't produce cheaply enough to really compete.

I wanted to take over the factory and try to figure out if there wasn't some way to keep this last historical mill alive in Philadelphia. Just my craziness.
...an aside.....
Since being on Ravelry I've noticed some new readers.
Don't be shy, please leave comments.

because I could

stolen from TheAmpuT

You paid attention during 86% of high school!

 

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

?

So I guess you all hated the video. I can't believe there wasn't a single comment.

What about that pretentious title? Or the blue ceiling in the house.

and yes, I really do have that collection of beauty pagent video tapes. 1990-1998

I'm taking a chance

This film was made several years ago for a TV show, but never aired.

I no longer look like this, and I don't live in Woodstock anymore

Back from NYC

We're home.

The weekend was busy and I am still working on some of the followup business.

I was on the look out for public knitting this weekend. The only person I caught on film was Kaye from the finnegan gallery in Chicago

Kaye is blogless but I tried to encourage her to explore a little bit of the on-line knitting world.

........

The cold is back, I'm not so stuffy but I've got a sore throat and feel tired. I think that I somehow managed to push the cold and any idea of sickness away while we were doing the show. Now my body's giving in.

........

I'm now on Ravelry. Johnk.... to those who are interested.

No Fever

I'm feeling better, the fever's gone but I'm still a little bit stuffy, not hot just stuffy.

This morning I stumbled across this, I thought you all would be interested. Why stop at socks?

oh, yes and make sure you check out the website.

http://ninabraun.net
lots more sneakers, and wool posters and more.

What have I been doing while ill?
not knitting

Knocked out

Wednesday afternoon - I was feeling good. I had messages from old and new friends, I read the copy of the text for "the book" and liked it, then.........

I felt a fever, I started sniffling.

BANG,

I've been out of it for a day and am only feeling slightly better at this moment.....

I think I'll have to take it slow today. I have to be recovered for the Big Show in NY , set up on Thursday.

What's going on?

Late at night I wake up in bed and have amazing things to write about.

I sit down at this computer in the morning and it is all a dim memory or even worse.... a blank.

My work has been like that too.

So thanks for bearing with me during my existential crisis.

Oh, but wait ... the absurdity of the previous group of video posts, maybe my whole use of the interwebs, mean the human condition is not to be alone in the world.

All of this is a long way of saying I am now on the Ravelry list, waiting.

I was just thinking

about Woodstock
and missing people.

Final post of 2007

This will be Philadelphia tommorrow.


Happy New Year everyone.

Or as the Philadelphians say

Happy Mummer's Day

Merry Xmas everybody

Still in the youtube mode.

Snow

Snow

Snow

Not here yet so we have to create some

Santa Claus is coming to town

video post 3

I'm lost in youtube land

Finally getting to the cookies

and thinking of vigilia.

enjoy

Christmas, getting closer

I have started shopping. I did a little bit on Tuesday with my sister and have family things pretty much done.

And I decorated the tree. (in the newly painted dining room)
dirty snowman to the right of the mouse king.
It looks much better in person.

The next thing will be making cookies, I've gotten all of the pizzelle ingredients. I think that will be Saturday.
Then a visit from Melissa and Nina.

Little bits are happening in the studio, I might even be making a sweater.

I secretly already knew this

Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.

Thanks Rabbitch

The dining room is painted.




(walls - green, very very light, trim light light lavender, and the ceiling an even paler violet) the effect is lots of white on white with variation in tone)

Ok. so this photo shows that it's not really done, That mustardy colored trim on the left, that's what everything in the house looked like, I'm trying to find a color to paint just this one wall of windows....... I'm thinking a slightly darker green hardly a green at all.

The fire place is working, and the house is a mess.

I know none of this post makes any sense...... It's just the mood here at the moment.

Post Thanksgiving

This year Thanksgiving felt very uneventful.

The food was good and we had fun. The only strangeness was the weather.

The rest of the week has been about me getting images of my work out to galleries. I think it's time for me to show. That's a statement that has been taking a long long time for me to say. Now I'm working on it.

Today I feel ..... Ho-Hum.

Time to paint the dining room ( you would think I would have had this done before people came for turkey).

Mary Walker Phillips 1923-2007

photo: Glenda Arentzen

I just want to note the passing of this fun and funny lady who probably influenced me more than either of us will ever know.

The Mitered Square

In between getting the house together and preparing for the shows this weekend, I've started a "thing" using mitered squares. I'm not sure what it will become, some type of blanket.

See I am still knitting. Oh, this week I managed to get my work table set up in the studio (I decided to leave The walls purple for now) I hope a decision I don't live to regret.

What have I been Doing?????

Moving moving and moving, and then there is the little bit of trying to make some money thrown in. As I was writing the previous post (weeks ago) Fran walked into the room and informed me that we could do a 5 day show a the UPenn archeology / anthropology museum. I said "Okay" and we immediately began running around like maniacs to get stuff together. What made the entire show really interesting(ironic) was that,
1. We were doing it at the last minute, and there would be a gala preview party, a "hard hat" preview party, and the show hours were 11-8 Fri-Sun..
2.We had to have our entire inventory out of the Connecticut shop, with no where to put it except the house.
3. Our plumbing at the house was backing up and the Sewer repairs guys were there ripping out the basement floor and digging out the front yard.
4. The chimney repair crew was at the house to restore the fireplace to it's original working condition.

So, what happened?
The show went well, we sold a few things and I even sold one of the knitted recipes I had done. The Parties had fabulous catered food and drinks and we hobnobbed with the Philly elite(well, the Main Liners anyway).
Fran made it to Connecticut and in the process changed his name back to Francis, We managed to unpack the van after the show hours and it sort of fits into the house.
The plumbers were great and it ended up that things weren't as bad as we had feared and the bill (while still a lot) was thousands of dollars less than we thought it would be.

and..... the fireplace, It's weeks later the guys are still here.

They have promised that it will all be finished today and ready to go. It seems they had ordered the wrong length of liner, forgot to order a top, oh, forgot to put in the damper, had to order a new cap since the first one ordered was the wrong one. We'll soon know if we have a working fireplace.

There has been some other stuff ... the new studio
Yes, it is purple, no I haven't unpacked things. The loom won't fit. It's an attic with sloped ceilings, I'm working on it.

I've done a teeny little bit of knitting. one hat and the start of a second. (I also bought a little bit of sock yarn) which I've hidden since I've told Francis I'm getting rid of most of the stash.
That's part of the last 2 weeks. To everyone I owe emails to...... soon really.

Oh, boy

I have been trying to get myself to sit down and write a little for.... well I guess it's been weeks.

Moving is taking it out of me. We still aren't settled in even though we're comfortable enough. We've already had a visit from the in-laws. and I have been painting and Fran's a spackling expert. This week the chimney is suppose to get restored and the roof is being redone. There has also been a little extra glitch... more money flowing out, the lines to the sewer are nearly or maybe they are collapsed so that is another big expense. I guess this must be the week for spending.

I have been feeling the need to get into the studio, but that doesn't really exist yet. I had a little bit of a freak out this morning when I realized that it's been one year since I dismantled the Hudson studio, and the machines still aren't set up.

It seems that business and money and moving are always there and the time for my own work isn't. To start getting back into it I've begun some small knitting. I started a sock, and a hat and some drawings for projects.

I think that for the past year I have been in a sort of depression. Life has revolved around money and trying to have enough to live on while still making art. and the art is losing out. evidence of that is this blog. It's suppose to be documenting what's happening in the studio and there hasn't been much of that, right?

We still have a few months of money and time juggling coming up. (the one store is closing and we won't have a new location until December (hopefully) but probably January) and the other shop is slowing down now that the season is over. The NYC shows seems very iffy, but we'll be doing 2 in November. Fran will have a regular booth set up and I am going to try a booth of "outsider" and anonymous art more of a gallery thing. Who know's what'll happen.

There are good things. I love the house and neighborhood in Philadelphia. We're in the Mt. Airy section and it is famously diverse and has worked at being that way since the 1950's. While I was thinking about diversity and the area and looking for interesting Mt. Airy things to link to I ran across this. The artist isn't from here, but somehow the work reminds me of Mt. Airy, and it's fun, too.

Yes, I am still here

What can I say, Moving takes a lot of time. We are in Philly, the house is great. It just needs some work, and a major cleaning.

Right now every room is just filled with boxes. and we're painting and cleaning around stuff. It all seems so boringly time consuming that I haven't posted about it.

No knitting, no photos.

To that certain someone who has asked in the comments twice about her room. - Back of the house third floor on the right is the guest suite.

I couldn't resist

You are Betty Grable

The ulitmate girl next door You're the perfect girl for most guys Pretty yet approachable. Beautiful yet real.

What Famous Pinup Are You?

I have no idea where I got this from. Sorry.


Anyway I thought I would be more of a Garbo,


How about you?

What have I been doing?

It's been busy around here with all of the house stuff. Packing packing packing and a quick trip to NYC to the Gift show to visit with Carole, who was exhibiting.

So the closing here is on Monday the 20th......

And we have an offer in on a place in Philadelphia......
With a few days of homelessness and then (fingers crossed everyone please) a move to this.

An actual single family house in the City of Philadelphia. Needs some work and updating, but it doesn't appear to be a money pit. I'm already seeing an English style cottage garden in the front.
So who knows how much I'll be writing here. There with be sporatic postings and then I hope back to the full Blog in mid September..... right before the trip to Mexico. This is what turning 50 did to me.

Things are moving along on the house front

No real news to report, but, we'll be in Philadelphia soon.

Maybe then I'll have the time to knit and blog about it. unti then
I thank Rabbitch for this non-thinking time waster.

I'm off to do some more packing (closing here August 20th).

Your Life Path Number is 7

Your purpose in life is to find truth and meaning You are very spiritual, and you are interested in the mysteries of life. You are quite analytical and a great thinker. You have many theories and insights. A life of solitude is perfect for you. You need time to think and do things your way. In love, you are quite charming. You attract many with your confidence and wit. While you enjoy being alone, sometimes you take it to an extreme. You can become too isolated, shutting out loved ones and friends. Express yourself a little bit more, and you'll be surprised where it takes you!

What Is Your Life Path Number?

What do you think?

This is the back of the house I like in Philly.

Another day another trip to Philadelphia

We're off to look at more houses. Last week we looked at ten and liked none. This week we have 13 scheduled, but first we're making a trip to the Hampton's shop to add some more inventory oh, and just to add another 3 1/2 hours to the driving.

So.... wish us luck, the closing on this house is August 15th, and we don't have a place to live, we haven't even started to pack. Is this what a breakdown feels like? or was the breakdown 2 days ago when I just layed down and before I knew it it was 6 hours later, or is the breakdown my calve muscle tearing and my leg swelling up to double the size and turning a nasty looking bluish yellow? If I was a certain Canadian Blogger ... you know who I mean , the one who sent you here, who I'm too lazy to link to ... I'd have a photo of the bruise up and I'd be swearing it was the exact shape of the former Soviet Union or Switzerland. But I've lost my creativity.........

So until who knows when.....

need a distraction?

You Are The Star

You represent the ultimate in truth and purity. Insightful and illuminating, you provide guidance for others. You also demonstrate unselfish, unconditional love. You posses many spiritual gifts, including the ability to heal. Your fortune: Your future is looking brighter by the day. The near future will be a time of both hope and healing. Luck is about to come your way, perhaps the best luck you have ever seen. Life is about to get a lot easier and much better!

What Tarot Card Are You?

Gay Boyfriend

O.K. I know this has been floating around the internets for a while, but I thought, well, a perfect summertime song.

I should be posting something

Stolen from the It Girl.

The rules: You go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday (day and month only). Then post three events, two births and one holiday that occurred on your birthday.

May 16

Three Events

1770 - 14-year old Marie Antoinette marries 15-year-old Louis-Auguste who later becomes king of France.
1929 - In Hollywood, California, the first Academy Awards are handed out.
1965 - Campbell Soup Company introduces SpaghettiOs under its Franco-American brand.

Two Births

1919 - Liberace, American pianist (d. 1987)
1973 - Tori Spelling, American actress

One Holiday

Middlesex Day.

We're off to Philly once again. This time we have a more serious sense of purpose..... the house is in the contract phase. So we need to find a place to live. Yikes!!
As a way of coping I'm imaging that I'm in Mexico, or moving there.

Oh, yes I'm also winding a giant yarn ball.

So far it's bigger than Chet,

Happy Pride

an image from Philadelphia's recent Pride ParadeSee we'll make lots of new friends

so so much

Be warned this is a link heavy, photo heavy post.

To refresh everyone's memory I was on my way to a Cranbrook Academy of Art reunion, and celebration of Gerhardt Knodel, and Jane Lackey as they leave the academy, with the opening of HotHouse : Expanding the Field of Fiber at Cranbrook.

Some of the folks who were also there. (links are to the websites, not the HotHouse exhibit pages)

Geary Jones, David Johnson, Hiroshi Jashiki, Arturo Sandoval, Lucille Tenazas, Lian Verhoeven, and I think I see Emiko Nagano,
Sonya Clark, Nick Cave,
Sandra Brownlee
Katarina Westlien, who just happened to be walking past as I photographed some graffiti
and Joan Livingstone - elusive.
There were so many others, Laura Foster Nicholson, Lucy Slivinski, Lisa Lockhart, Libby Kowalski just to name a few who I know from my time at Cranbrook.

My work didn't make it into the Museum but it was lurking around the academy.

Check out the link to the exhibit, and if you want to ... that is if anyone is still reading this crazy post..... here's the link to my page of the exhibit. I'm not awarding prizes for your stamina, but I'm happy to have been read.

I'm No Angel

Things seem to be moving quickly here. Any ideas on where to live in Philadelphia? I think we'll rent something first and get a feel for neighborhoods before deciding on a buy.

Off to Philly

We're off today for the initial hunt for a new place to live. Not much to post so I'll leave you with these pretty pictures.

some reasons for my absence

I have been trying to get photos of my stuff together. They've got to be good enough for publication (can't talk about the whys and where's of that yet but it's good). So far that part has felt a little bit unsuccessful.

We are also in a major life move type of mode. Fran and I have decided to put our house on the market and move to Philadelphia. The last few weeks have been filled with the craziness of getting all of our stuff organized and getting the house to look good, all while driving around to the shops and keeping the inventory up. In other words, we have been very very busy, there hasn't been a lot of private time.

Some really great stuff has been going on though, people from my past have been getting in touch. hi Anne, hi Addison, hi Stephanie. All of the reconnecting has been fun and a little bit exhausting. (playing catch-up).

I've also decided that I'm going to the Reunion thing even though I am not in the alumni show. Yesterday in a phone conversation Addison reminded me that I was never a part of that group, or even understood by them. Her suggestion, keep doing what you do. "you're the Grandpa of graffiti knitting".

I like that title, the grandpa thing doesn't even bother me, even though I rather just be the inspiration or the father, but somehow Grandpa fits my current mood.

Ho ho ho and it reminds me of the fiber bombs and little events that I began staging in the 70's. So now I'm ready for the reunion and I'll be sure to have some of my materials with me. (the pink rubber knitting hasn't been in vain)

posting may be sparse and I owe tons of emails.... later....

'nuff said

johnk -- [noun]: A person of questionable sanity who starts their own cult 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

I'm not sure where I got this.

I'm back and 50

Provincetown, what can I say about Provincetown. It's magic and always makes me feel better.

We got to town at about 3 pm on Tuesday afternoon. On the drive out we decided that we would grab a little to eat (at Clem and Ursie's) and then go right to Race Point Beach. The reason we wanted to get to Race Point was that we had heard that there were an amazing number (140) of right whales off of the point and we were hoping that maybe a one of them would be close enough to shore for us to see. Why is seeing the right whale so exciting? O.K. it's estimated that there are about 400 of the northern right whale. They are so rare The idea that about one third of the entire population was off of the Cape is mind boogling.

We get to the beach... we're looking and looking and hoping, fingers crossed, but we aren't seeing anything. Then we see a spout!!, and the whales back. There is one and we think it's probably a right whale, then we see more and MORE!!!! by the time we're done counting we guess that there were about 12-15 Right Whales just off shore. I can't tell you how excited I was, and how lucky and privileged I feel that I got to see that.

In the excitement I took no photos, To give you an idea of how close they were, look over my shoulder in this photo that Fran took about ten minutes before we started seeing the whales. Can you see the white wave looking thing very close to the horizon? Yep I do, I think that's the whale going under, we must have just missed seeing it. It's a 1/4 mile out, believe me, that is sooo close.

That was a great start to a great couple of days. More info on the Right Whales off of P'town at the Center for Coastal Studies site.

After all of that excitement we went back into town and checked into the hotel. It felt a little bit strange being in town and not seeing Thom and Mark. but, they're happy living in Mexico. We did miss them.

Any way, we check in and decide to take a walk on commercial street to go for coffee, and to see what's changed since January. So 1st to Joe's Coffee (I would link to the site, but they don't have one, [ahem ...hint to Scott]). From Joe's we walked to the length of Commercial St. and ended in the East End at PAAM. We wanted to go to the museum since we hadn't been in since the new renovations. Waa waa, it was closed and would also be closed on Wed. my birthday.

Now I'm going to have to jump ahead in the story. On Wednesday I really wanted to go to the museum in the evening so we walked up and I was planning on looking in the windows. But.... more magic was happening and there was an event at the museum and it was open. So we got to go in and see he show, and I guess I almost expected that would happen.

Ok. I'm sure you all are getting tired, and I'm feeling a little out of breathe, so I'll stop the tales here. It was all fun, I'm back and relaxed.

Not much knitting around here

We have been on the run. Flea markets, the shops, and just trying to maintain.

I've only knitting this pathetic little foam sample thing on the past 15 days, yikes.

Now I'm taking a few days off to go to Provincetown, it's the birthday celebration...... Next time you hear from me I'll be 50.

2 weeks later

We've been to Chicago and are back. The trip out there was long and the driving was difficult. We had snow to start out. It took 5 hours to drive what would normally be 2 1/2. That was it for the snow though, then the trip was rain. Fran drove and by the end he was wiped out.
Oddly, we got to Chicago earlier than we expected. That turned out to be a good thing and we unloaded the van the day before show set-up. Lucky for us, since the next day was chaotic , everyone trying to move in garden items and not much room to park. It was a mess....
The show was so so, it feels like it's been months, I've sort of forgotten about it......

The best thing about being in Chicago was getting to see my friend Lucy and visiting her studio (at midnight on a long show day but I'm not whining). Check out her work. I love it. Here is an example of another person who was overlooked for the Radical Lace... blah blah blah show.


Fast forward to us driving home... no problems and the weather was great. Remember that snow from the day we left?, well when we got home it was in the high 80's and everything was in bloomI've been back for a week, and we have been spending a lot of time running to the shops and getting the booths looking good. We really need to be making some money.

I've managed to work a little bit. I tried doing these woven things on a little frame loom. Good for the road trips. The idea is to add some growing plant material to this. I don't know, we'll see what happens. It's very in the percolating not articulated stage right now. So as a distraction I've been
Straightening up the studio. Chet's been there helping. (here he is pointing out a knitting machine and hinting that maybe 5 are just a little too many. I , of course, assure him that I need the extras for parts)
Chet is getting better. The thyroid supplements help with his appetite and attitude. He's still a Terrier - loves to growl.

And that concludes this little update..... I have a feeling that I've lost many readers and say thanks to everyone who has stuck around.

Why no posts?

I have been in the middle of an art meltdown, or freak out or ..... I don't know what to call it. It sort of began when I saw the Radical lace.... show, well really it began when people started contacting me and asking why I wasn't in the show. Yesterday I was asked twice. yikes, then there was the feeling of rejection ......

I'm still plugging away in the studio though.... today's wall, these are some giant knots made out of paper, hmmmm, we'll see where this goes. I also have the loom threaded and have been working on some double-cloth things incorporating newspaper.
O.K. I feel a little better just getting that out, thanks everyone for your tolerance.

What can I say about Philadelphia? The visit was very short but it was so great to see Melissa. The trip to the Fabric Workshop contributed a bit to the freak out though. I realized that I was an apprentice there in [ahem] 1980. It was great to see Melissa and I thought I would just pass on the good news - both she and Nina have been awarded Canada Council grants, that should make things a little easier for them in the studio work. oh , one last thing about Philly. There is good food in that city. We basically ate constantly for the 24 hours we were visiting.

The Chet update....
The Vet has been doing a series of blood tests. We are trying to get to the bottom of the seizures, anxiety, and aggression. Well, the tests show that he has hypothyroidism. He's on medication now to correct this imbalance and hopefully things will be improving.


We are also busy getting ready for the garden show in Chicago, it's a big deal and a ton of work. We'll be gone for a week and we're hoping to come home with some extra money.

I'm going to admit it.... part of my meltdown has to do with turning 50 in a month, I didn't think I was effected by that kind of thing, but it has me just evaluating and trying to figure out how to get to the place I want to be.

I'll try to get a post in before leaving for the trip but if that doesn't happen, updates will be in the last week of April.

The only photo from Philadelphia, taken by Fran.
Lamb cakes in the case at Termini's Bakery

Lots of driving

We have been on the road a lot lately.

And I leave for Philadelphia tomorrow, It's a short overnight trip. We'll be gallery hopping and visiting the Fabric Workshop and I hope the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Blogging on my return,

I'd better remember to bring the camera.

Finally Spring

Today is the first day the crocus are blooming. Most of the snow is melted and we have the windows open.

an update

1st a Chet update.

There hasn't been another seizure. The Vet did blood tests and then went away on vacation, so I haven't heard from him. He is suppose to be back tomorrow and call me.
So until then we're assuming that it is a form of epilepsy of unknown origin. Since there was only one seizure and it was fairly short it will probably be a OK with out any type of medication, we'll just have to watch him. The Vet did say that it would be unusual if this developed at his age, so if it is epilepsy the people who gave him up most likely knew about it, that's the vet's suspicion at the moment.

In the rest of my life.....

We're trying to get enough stuff together so we can sell it and make some money. Funny that the hard part is finding the objects that use to be fairly simple.

I have been doing little bits in the studio, but today , gosh..... I'm feeling deflated. or maybe defeated..... There is a fiber alumni show at Cranbrook. Everyone was asked to submit images etc... for a show at the museum and there's a book project connected with it. anyway - long story short, I wasn't picked for the show, they picked 60 out of the 200 who responded.
Now I'm really wondering if I should continuing trying to make stuff.

I'm not going to whine on about this, but it just feels sucky.

Oh, yea, there was a little knitting going on with some crazy novelty yarn from the dollar store.... not anything except a ??????

Chet Models

U.S. readers

Please go here

and send an electronic postcard to Congress demanding immediate action to solve the climate crisis.

A real post from me later today

Ups and Downs

Sunday we went to the Hamptons to spruce up the shop and move some new things in and Fran wanted to go to the beach to take some photos. We get there (the month in both locations has been slow) get the room in order and drive over to the beach. It's our fist time with Chet at beach and it's a warm beautiful day. We walk along, Fran has his Holga out and all of the plastic toys and is working on the new series. I look up and see - how strange is this - someone I know. Any one who has spent time with me will know that I run into people everywhere, In mexico, in the UK, going to a quiet little dinner, it just happens. So there is this someone, and he's with his dog and a friend with a dog and they come over and ask about Chet, Chet doesn't mind the little dog but the friend's dog is a young portuguese water spaniel and a little bit hyper, Chet growls, tries to snap, we say our good byes, I think that the spaniel was also a little bit of a problem so they knew to just walk away, that's good. In the meantime, a woman (uber rich looking blonde hampton's type) comes on to the beach with 3 dachhounds and they are wild, crazy runnning around trying to nip other dogs , Chet decides not to even look at them and they don't come too close just about 10 feet yapping and yapping. all in all a good day at the beach even though it was short (the time on the beach) and three and a half hours from our house. The good part no snow there.

Monday is a day of the studio and just doing work , here's one of the sewn knitted things and the $ store glove.Tuesday is a roller coaster kind of day. Fran is in a mood and you can't tell if you might just say the wrong thing and set him off on a tirade. This can be about anything. money . politics, antiques, who knows. By the end of the day he's calmer and things are ,well, just normal.

We're sitting aroung watching tv it's about 10:30 , Chet is laying on the couch with us near my feet. He crawls up to me, whimpers and then goes totally stiff. I freak out + jump up. He looks dead, his head is tilted and his legs are stretched straight out, I go to the phone and start looking up the emergency animal hospital number, and I start looking around for everything for a rush to the vet's. Some where in there I moved Chet to his bed. While I'm doing all that Chet wakes up, and sits with Fran looking scared. I come in and he attaches himself to my leg. This lasts about 15 minutes.

We have had experience with dogs and seizures, but this one was different not so convulsive more of just a stillness. We go to the Vet today at noon, They say not to worry unless a pattern of seizures develops,

man that was scary, I'll let you know how the appointment goes.

What am I doing?

I have started sewing, obsessively on the knitted images, and I'm leaving pockets unsewn - those I'm stuffing - sort of ragdoll -ish.
I'm not too happy with the work , it has me feeling insane but,
I've decided that I just have to push through even if the work looks like it totally sucks ass.I've managed to cut fingers on both of my hands. That is making it a bit difficult to work on the knitted newspaper, String keeps catching in the cuts and reopening them. So.... I got some weird knitted work gloves at the dollar store and have been trying to wear them while working.

Maybe I am now officially insane.

It's just my opinion ....

I have managed to do some work in the studio this week. I've finished a little of the newspaper knitting and I've been sewing like mad on these knit images.

Today's studio wall
and a very bad/dark photo.

So far I was only in the courthouse for one day of jury duty. I was lucky and didn't get picked for the first trial, and my # hasn't been called for any others this week.

Has anyone been to NYC to see the radical lace & subversive knitting show at the Museum of Art and Design?

Over all I thought the show was a disappointment. I'm not sure if it was the installation or the ambitious/ambiguous agenda of the curator that killed it. I walked away with a very bad feeling about knitting + lace as art and a really terrible feeling about the state of "Fiber Art" in general.
but I have got to say....
There were artists who's work seemed to overcome the limitation of the show.

*link heavy area ahead*

Piper Shepard - is it radical? is it subversive? I don't think so - what it is is good design and an extremely interesting take on the process of cloth making vs. art making.

Sabrina Gschwandtner - What can I say, I love her approach to knitting and the way she keeps broadening the definition. Sabrina, if you read this post I'd love to hear from you with thoughts on the show. You have my email.

Cat Mazza - Everyone who reads my yakkity yak knows that I have nothing but good will towards Cat, I've linked to her since I started the blog. I think her projects at MicroRevolt are radical and subversive. Her work is so accessible, I almost would categorize it as trans formative, both to the genre and to a larger audience.

Anne Wilson - please watch the video excerpt and then explore her site, lots of process going on there.

Yoshiki Hishinuma - I love the industrial applications stretched and manipulated to make us think ... handmade.

So there it is a little bit of my opinion.

Jury Duty Today

I'm hoping to have a post on the latest shows that we saw in NYC this weekend, for now though I've got to get ready for jury duty.

knitting and looking at art

I have been working on the knitted newspaper, All the while Chet stays nearby. Yep, it's true, he is developing separation issues. He gets anxious if we leave, even if it's just to check the mail. We're trying to train him to a crate (lots of "accidents" if he is just left to run around the house if we go). Any body have suggestions to help him get over this anxious state. I'm sure it has something to do with being in a kennel for 3 months so maybe the answer is just time.
Bad photo, i know, but that's him laying next to the newspaper I'm knitting.

....We got into the city on Friday for the Armory Show. I don't really remember specific pieces of work , but the feeling there was very "buzzy" it felt like the place to be. Galleries were selling and all the NY art world seemed to be there. kinda crazy kinda fun.

Being in the art sphere set off a crisis of sorts with me. I developed a terrific headache, and felt pressure pressure pressure to have my work out there. All of this culminated in me sending off some feelers to a couple of galleries. I think it really is time that I do this instead of hiding out here in the woods in my studio making things that never are seen.

I'll keep you all updated. - The headache is gone.

on a knitting break

I just saw this and even though it's been floating around for a while I thought I'd share it
BjorkDiddy.

That's my knitting break.

snow day

A 12 inch tall dog walking on top of 12 inches of snow.

and his own cleared path.

idle day

We do love Chet.
I admit it, I have pulled out the pattern books and maybe I'm considering knitting a doggie sweater.

I have also been trying to get some work going. The studio wall has been changing but creatively I'm feeling so so flat.

I keep forgetting that I wanted to link to this site, Pandora, created by the Music Genome Project. I've been using it to personalized the music I stream. Today I'm listening to Wax Tailor. Now I'm off to get some work done.

Chet has 2 Daddies

I haven't made the new dog sweater, yet.

But Fran and I are fighting over who get's to wear this hat. It says " Chet's Dad"

Dog Blogging

We have a name.

Chet.
There will be more photos.