7 days of sun after 22 straight days of rain . . . getting out in the sun was the highest thing on the list this week. But I came in for a break and found some different Blue Skys . . . kind of a pricey set of needles, so then the question becomes: is the needle tin (plus the needles of course) worth the cost . . . hmmm, to be pondered.
I have been looking for the Perfect Bag, pretty much my whole life. The needs change, but the basic want remains the same: Many interior and exterior pockets, some with zippers so things won't fall out, some open for easy access; good depth, but not too too deep or things just completely disappear, never to be seen again; some good width so I can get a book, a sketch book, a sock in progress, some papers and anything else I need to leave the house with on any given morning. And lastly, I want it to look beautiful and feel special, so when I gaze at my beautiful bag, I will smile. Too much to ask? I think not. But let's see how I did.
I decided this weekend I would find the bag I wanted/needed, and move on to new things to mull over and research... I started with Haiku a great messenger bag with some serious pockets, and lots of space. Love it, except I think I don't want to go messenger bag, and have the over flap.
So I then found Bloom Bags, and this gorgeous tote with lots of pockets on the outside, and a beautiful spot of embroidery. But no photo of the inside... need to see the inside.
I also looked at Lexie Barnes bags, the tote in particular, but not enough inside pockets. One is just not enough.
And suddenly, I am on to the top being a zip close or a magnet snap close, and off to Etsy to look around:
There are 3 slip pockets inside, including a ”new and improved pocket design to hold bottles”. Ooo, someplace to keep my water bottle, now that's a cool thought.
Mackerilla Designs' Project Tote
They say it organizes a wide range of art and craft supplies , as well as folders, notebooks or a small laptop, for “on-the-go, project mobility”. Sounds good...
Now check out the inside of this baby from Sew Chic or Akberry by Ashley K.:
And that is when the realisation hit: My Perfect Bag is really a Diaper Bag.... not an artist's bag, not an "organizer" bag, not necessarily a messenger bag, but a Diaper Bag. Hmmm. Seems they have every pocket need covered AND an added bonus of sewn in elastic to hold a bottle (in my case water) now tht I know such a thing can exist. How cool, and since I don't have a baby, I just didn't know...
So now off to start the hunt again for more Diaper bags from which to choose.... I am accepting suggestions from near and far. Have you found that perfect bag that you want to keep with you forever?
I started taking photos of my studio yesterday so that i could show you all how much cleaning I have really accomplished in the last weeks. Looking at the photos though, it seems contrary to what I had been thinking. It really is not so spiffy neat and clean looking at all.
Granted I hadn't completely cleaned up my desk, since that was going to be the very last thing I did, so perhaps I took the photos too early.
huh, no matter that this photo is in focus, it goes out of focus everytime I put it in my post...
Nor, it seems, have I quite finished neatening up the Art Supply shelves. Though my reason there is, that I moved one of those big industrial type shelves from one side of the room to the other, making more of a mess than I started with.
But it seems that way with many things in life : Things are chaotic and messy : Make a Plan : Execute Plan : Unforseen Circumstances Come into Play While Plan is Being Executed : Make a larger mess than One started with : Feel like Progress has Been Made only to Witness the Truth of Photos : Keep Going with a New-er Plan : Shrug Shoulders, Pray or Curse a God or 4, and Begin Again
The Straw into Gold part? I have uncovered this little bit of white wall space, where I will be putting up some "floating shelves", perhaps 3, and I will put small amounts of things that I love to look at while designing, painting, winding a ball of yarn, making a bracelet, etc.
It will be the viewing wall, the inspirational things wall, my own gallery exhibit, and eventually the studio will be clean, for about a half a minute, before I mess it up again.
Thoughts:
things not quite done,
other things not nearly done,
some things merely contemplated,
and so many others, not yet conjured
all these things parade through my mind at the end of the year.
The quiet lull of cold nights and warm fires, talk, and laughter, friends and family gathering, toasting, planning, wishing and remembering. It's that time of year to plan for things to come, things to finish, things to leave behind and things which we do not even know of yet.
In the department of jewels:
2 new sources of inspiration. I made so many pearl pieces for christmas presents this year, and found myself remembering how much I love these little opalescent objects. Now, if I can only be brave enough to try a new wire wrapping style like Nina's. So free, so beautiful, so elegant, something to strive for.
In the department of colour and paints:
Some playing with watercolour pencils occurred this week. Such a wonderful medium, surprising and changeable and a pure source of un-ending inspiration.
On my Design Contemplation list is:
Fabric Design Courses, which includes dishware and ever so much more... hmmm could be a nice transition from the graphic design work...
And in the department of Knits:
Some Colour Convenes with: Dale, and Starmore, and Poetry.
My Tudor Roses has not even languished, it has not even been begun. Between decisions on colour and materials, it was stalled before it began. And, of course, in the meanwhile, I have changed my thinking... from the Kate to the Mary to the Anne.... my big sticking point with Kate is substituting the pink out of the colour mix, and I have not found the right substitutes yet.
I am thinking that I might go back to the Anne, as I can get a revised palette for that one together, and the Kate will wait for my moment of inspiration.
And then there is my Poetry moment:
or two:
and a Dale to finish:
and another to start:
And then there are the "other" Norwegians:
How can you not love that...
So it's looking like my new year will be full of colour, and probably a few more socks:
I got this little lovely, and will be hoping to try some of the harder patterns. A girl needs to move on from the ribbed sock at some point.
THEN, there are all the other knits in progress that need to be finished or ripped, but that list will be dealt with in the privacy of my own studio...
I wish everyone a beautiful new year, full of creativity, and inspiration and love and joy, and all things that make you feel happy to be alive...
One of my favorite winter poems, and I am off to finish tidying the house before the new year arrives:
The Garden
Late green day.
here's happiness with its edge of frost.
Winter's in.
The sky thins out.
The world tightens, like a walnut.
I can count most things.
The plum trees are taut on their hill,
the mornings bitten off, like a twig.
The earth will give and give.
–Nina Bogin
Happy New Year... thank you for this year of inspiration and thoughts and words and sharing of your work, and your lives and your creativity...
Father and Son Socks
Interweave Knits Fall 2006 by Mona Schmidt
Yarn: Brown Sheep Wildefoote in Blue and Red
The brother and nephew socks... both started, both progressing well, and I made it through another heel. So the current count is 3 socks started/none yet finished.
And a side-ways foray onto Lizard Ridge. I wanted to use this amazing pattern to make a baby blanket for a friend who is having her baby in February, but needed to find an alternate yarn, as the Noro is not machine washable, and anyone who has had a baby would probably concur that she doesn't want a blankie for the baby that can't go in the machine. SO, have been looking, have been experimenting with self striping machine washable items, AND, the fruits of experiment #1:
I did 3 squares with Lorna's Laces in 3 different colour palettes. Obviously it is not going to look like the Noro version because the colour repeats are shorter on the LL than the Noro, but the effect is kind of cool using the patterning that Laura developed for the Lizard Ridge.
Can anyone out there suggest a machine washable self striping yarn that has the long stretches of colour that the Kureyon does? I have seen a self striping one from Plymouth I think, but can't remember the name... I am gladly and gratefully taking suggestions for the next wee bit of time.... thoughts?
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And in November news: Deb over at Chappysmom is having a modified meme all about trying to find a calendar with a decent image for November. No dreary, grey, somnambulistic horrors. I am also a November baby and have spent an indecent amount of my life looking for calendars that have a good image for November. You know, when it's your birthday month you want to turn the page and look at "your" month and feel happy, feel honoured, feel like you can live with that image on your kitchen wall, or your desk wall, for the month where your birthday resides.
So I give you my studio calendar:
Imagine, artwork by Cynthia Louden, published by Brush Dance.
and our kitchen calendar
Simplicity, artwork by Deborah DeWit Marchant, published by Ronnie Sellers.
Maggie Taylor
An artist whose work I have long admired and loved - Maggie Taylor - she has been on my list of "Inspirations" for a long long time, and this past week I have seen her in a few unexpected places. I have wanted to start posting about artists and things I see and love and this seemed like a fortuitous place to start.
I have had her book, Maggie Taylor's Landscape of Dreams for a while, and it is one of my favorite inspirational items. When taking a moment to collect my thoughts while working on a project I will sometimes look at someone else's art to clear my head. I love getting lost in the worlds that she creates. Surreal, yes. But also, poignant and sentimental. They feel like small jewels captured in a snow globe, or saved in a secret box, to take out and look at in quiet moments.
A couple of weeks ago Janet at Twisted Knitter posted about Shawn Colvin's new album, and I went to buy it, and there on the cover is the ever so identifiable Maggie Taylor art. I was so, well just thrilled. It was kind of like the feeling of rooting for a sister or a best friend feeling. Silly, perhaps, since I don't know her, but after admiring her for so long, and not really seeing her work unless I hunted for it, it was wonderful...
Girl with a Bee Dress, Maggie Taylor
And then Friday night, after a long long week, I climbed into my cozy chair, and turned on the tv, and a show called The Ghost Whisperer was starting, opening credits rolling, and there is Maggie Taylor's art in a video montage for the beginning of the show. Wow, how cool. Didn't actually watch the show, just wanted to see that intro again and again...
Late, Maggie Taylor
Messenger, Maggie Taylor
I imagine her studio to be filled with drawers of old photos and artwork, and shelves with old toys and antique bicycles, bird wings and doll furniture. Treasures from lives long past, to be used to create new treasures filled with memories and thoughts of things yet to be. Her beautiful pieces are like moments suspended in time, poised to leap, and unfold, and open.
Twilight Swim, Maggie Taylor
There is a depth to her stories, a playfulness, a keen eye for detail and a lyrical, musical feeling to most of her work. They are like dreams lived in real life.
Woman with Swan, Maggie Taylor
Wouldn't you love to take your swan for a walk? Or wear a dress made from gentle bees? See a half man, half bird peddling across the grass?
Fading Away, Maggie Taylor
Or catch memories, dreams, or thoughts in a butterfly net, while fading into the greenery....
I took lots of photos of projects that I am still working on - near completing - no where near done - and the such like. Above the Cable and Lace Cardigan from Harrisville, I now have the back and both sleeves done, and have started on one of the fronts, yay.
And I made it almost to the end of this sleeve, only to realise that I had not done the increases correctly and so, it is ripped back to the quasi-seed stitch cuff. Ah well.
I had all these great plans: finish cleaning up the loom and get a warp on it, go for a good long hike, knit that cardigan, and then, as life is want to do sometimes, it threw us a curve ball, pulled the rug out, and all the endless other aphorisms that we say to ourselves and each other when life takes a bad turn.
Our little foundling kitty who arrived on our doorstep almost 2 years ago, in the middle of a fall storm, passed away. He had been on his own for quite a few years, and it took a long long time for him to trust us, to count on us, and then to love us.
We named him Bebo (bee-boh) which he responded to immediately, and we had a wonderful couple of years with him in our lives. He had been recently diagnosed with a hyper-thyroid and possible kidney issues - our vet thought the thyroid condition had been going on for quite a while (she guessed that he was probably about 8 years old), and we just hoped that the medication would help him, and he'd be with us for a long time, but it weren't to be.
I will not list all the gorey details of this last week, and I hesitated to even write about this, but since it is just about all I can think about this weekend, and since this is the weekend that we often associate with the end of summer, the end of the long summer days, it seemed appropriate.
Bebo remained true to his wild self, and came in to eat and hang out and play, but rarely slept inside at night, I think he slept inside maybe 3 times in his whole life with us. He was afraid of loud noises, and the tv, and music had to be played low when he was inside, and no sudden movements from us, or he'd be under a chair, and streaking for the door. He was also afraid of cameras, I think he got a flash in his face, and that was that, if you pulled a camera out and he saw it, he'd be gone like a streak, and so we have far too few photos of him. We were talking last night about how we had made all those adjustments for him, so easily, and fit his quirky and feral-like personality traits into the rhythm of our own lives without really noticing that we had done it. Now tiptoeing down the hallway to the kitchen and taking off my flip flops so the sound of them hitting my feet as I walk won't freak him out seems, somehow silly.
One of his favorite things was to sleep on the driveway in the late afternoon/early evening after it had soaked up sun all day.
And his next favorite spot was in the garden near the lavendar.
He was our Buddy Boy, and loved sitting in a lap out on the porch, loved to spy on the goings on down on the street through the porch railings and then turn around to tell us all about what was happening, he loved to play with yarn, and his catnip mouse, and when he was very hungry he made a funny creaky, duck-like meow. He had a funny little black half moustache, and the sweetest white whiskers in his black forehead, and the softest fur, and the most delicate little pink feet.
Our home feels empty and quiet, and being out on the porch is the hardest thing, as we keep thinking he will come around the corner from sleeping in the tall grass, and jump up on a lap. We have spent much of the weekend wandering around wondering what to do, wondering when the empty feeling in our chests will recede, wondering if perhaps he really will come around the corner or up the driveway one more time, and feeling the tangible meaning of the saying "we are beside ourselves" because truely I feel like I am standing beside myself in disbelief that this precious boy will not be in our lives the way he has been for 2 years.
I have been thinking today about friends and family, and blogging friends that have lost animals and family members and people in their lives, and I so hope that when I have spoken or typed to them, that I have not been cavalier with their sad feelings, that I have said things that have made them smile just a little, or comforted them in some small way, I hope that I have understood and felt the depth of the sadness that just takes time and then more time to dissipate. We have not told a whole lot of friends and family because we got a couple of quick remarks from some of the few that we did tell that were along the lines of, well, you didn't have him that long, or you should go to the pound and get another cat really soon. Hmmm, good intentions that I wished I hadn't had to hear, and all the while I felt like screaming that I never wanted another cat in my whole life again, cuz another cat would never be Bebo. But time will pass, and the empty feeling will fill again, and hopefully, at the right time, another furry creature will wander into our lives again.
So this weekend of big plans and many things to be checked off the to-do list became a weekend of sitting still and noticing the breeze ruffling through the trees, and tears, and memories, and more sitting and staring, and then all the if I had only done more, or done this, maybe he'd still be here. It was a weekend to stop and notice the things in my life that I love, and the things that I simultaneously take for granted; the things that are beautiful and tangible and the people that are beautiful and tangible; the rolling rhythm of a life and all the things that come and go and make that life complete, full and rounded as well as slightly scarred and sometimes wobbly.
So I have now seen multiple posts announcing the start of a new collaborative creative blog – Whip Up.
Jane from Yarnstorm (one of my favorite blogs) will be a contributor – and a lot of other great folks from around the creative blog world are on the contributors list.
They are launching 1 February, so check it out, looks to be a very innovative and informational spot – the new spot to see!
And of course, now all I can hear in my head is that Devo song... won't sing it here.
violet n 1 a : any of a genus (Viola of the family Violaceae, the violet family of herbs or subshrubs with alternate stipulate leaves and bot aeria and cleistogamous flowers; esp : one with smaller usu. solid-coloured flowers as distinguished from the usu. larger flowered violas and pansies b : any of several plants of gnera other than that of the violet – compare DOGTOOTH VIOLET 2 : any of a group of colours of reddish blue hue, low lightness and medium saturation -Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
Since this wasn't nearly expletive enough (though what in hell cleistogamous* means.... will have to look that up later) I am moving on to Purple.
purple n 1 a : (1) TYRIAN PURPLE (2) any of vaarious colours that fall about midway between red and blue in hue b : (1) cloth dyed purple (2) a garment of such colour; esp: a purple robe worn as an emblem of rank or authority c : (1) a mollusk (as of the genus Purpura) yielding a purple dye and esp. the Tyrian purple of ancinet times (2) a pigment or dye that colours purple 2 a : imperial or regal rank or power b : high rank or station -Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
Purple is a glorious yet complex color, preferred by very creative and eccentric types. It is something of an enigma; both sensual and spiritual – a blend of the excitement and sexuality of red and the tranquility of blue – often conflicting forces which have to be handled with care and a certain sense of daring. -Communicating with Colour
Composed of equal proportions of red and blue, violet is the colour of temperance, clarity of mind, deliberate action, of balance between Heaven and Earth, senses and spirit, passion and reason, love and wisdom. –Penguin Dictionary of Symbols
Tyrian purple, educated Victorians knew, was made from shellfish found in the eastern Mediterranean. But which ones, and how they were processed, was not known in the mauve days of the 1850s. The old time dyers had disappeared with the storming of Constantinople in 1453 and they had not left any records of their secrets. Nor was anyone quite sure what their finished product looked like either. - Colour: A Natural History of the Palette
A colour associated symbolically with red or violet, genuine purple, derived from porphura, a shellfish yielding purple dye, was reserved for the clothing of kings and priests due to its costliness; hence it was a symbol of power and honour, Later it was generally regarded – especially among Romans – as a sign of muxury and prosperity. –Herder Dictionary of Symbols
Purple, violet, any shade any variation makes me happy, makes me full, makes me feel calm and centered. Violet, the last colour of the spectrum, and purple, somewhere shining in amongst the violet rays are my utmost favorites.
UPDATE: Thanks to Laura at Sugar Bunny Boulevard, the definition for *cleistogamous: small closed self-polinating flower. Her guess was "without a stamen", pretty close. After defining the word tho, we both decided that we wouldn't be using it in a conversation any time soon.
indigo n 1 a : a blue vat dye obtained from plants (as indigo plants) b : the principalcoloring matter of natural indigo usu. synthesized as a blue powder witha coppery luster c : any of several blue vat dyes derived rom or closely related to indigo 2 : a variable colour averaging a dark greyish blue 3 : INDIGO PLANT -Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary
"Indigo" is a word like "ultramarine" – it refers to where the colour historically comes from, rather than what the substance actually is. So, just as ultramarine is a translation of the Italian for "from beyond the seas," indigo is derived from the Greek term meaning "from India." - Colour: A Natural History of the Palette
A fugitive, medium to dark blue originally obtained from the woad plant but largely replaced by Asian Indigo, also called Indian Blue, which has roughly thirty times the amount of the actual dyeing substance indicum. Until the discovery of an analine blue dye in 1896, indigo was the only blue dye available for wide use. Synthetic indigo, which fades as easily as the natural version, is now used for blue jeans. -Living Colours
"The magic of indigo is that the blue colour only appears after the object being dyed (whether it is a textile or an arm - as in Celtic warriors) is taken out of the pot, and meets the air again." - Colour: A Natural History of the Palette
Indigo is associated with the higher mind or the soul, and is related to spiritual fulfillment. -The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols
Indigo has always felt like a mysterious colour to me. Not quite blue, not quite black, and yet kind of green too. Though blue jeans were originally called indigo they are more blue than the indigo I think of in the colour spectrum.
