Crocodylia!

So my first-ever published pattern has appeared on Knitty!
It's an exciting-but-strange sensation to see it up there, since I actually made and wrote the whole thing up quite a while ago...
David and Thom took these pictures in Maine in August. My original ones were shot in the Natural history museum in NYC, which made a terrific backdrop but required flash. I was upset because I had really liked the ones with the pterodactyl mural in the background and was really not sure WHAT I was going to find in coastal Maine in August that would be reminiscent of either "Deep Fall" or ancient reptiles.
The answer: caves.
on the shore line were these lovely, craggy red caves facing the sea.
So- I put on a jacket and gloves, Thom and David gamely got out the cameras and we trundled off to the shore. It was hot and wearing wool and leather was not much of a laugh, but I really lucked out. Both of them are wonderful photographers and I could not have asked for better images. I am not very comfortable in front of the camera and usually have to be surprised into a good photo, but candid shots often find me with my mouth awkwardly open or a crazed harassed look in my eye. They blithely evaded all of these hurdles to leave me where I am now: sitting pretty with my boa draped around my neck and nary a hair out of place!

Yarn theory is up and open!

Finally!
we opened on Saturday to a packed house.
I cannot tell you how hot and humid it was in the gallery- many spilled out onto the street to catch the cool air (thereby drawing even more people in)...
I think that must be a record number of visitors for PS122 gallery- usually the exhibits have fewer artists, so the draw isn't as wide....
I confess to being exhausted and glad when I got to curl into bed that night. Putting on exhibits is very rewarding, but quite a lot of work- I feel very responsible for all of the artists involved and want them all to be happy, their work to be beautifully displayed and safe, etc.
If one goes to visit the exhibit blog a PDF of the catalog is available for home printing. I am proud of what we were able to acheive on such a tiny budget-
this catalog being a prime example...
get your own at: http://ps122gallery.wordpress.com/

Yarn Theory!

I haven't posted in a while, partly because I've been travelling, but mostly because I've been in the throes of curating a show about knitted and crocheted sculpture!
Yarn Theory opens WAY too soon- April 25th- and features some really exciting work being done by artists, mathematicians and scientists. In addition to the exhibit, there are also a number of workshops, a performance and a guerrilla knitting project taking place on the buildings exterior!
we are blogging about the whole kit-and-caboodle here:

http://ps122gallery.wordpress.com/

So what am I making for this show?
I am trying to make a knitted version of Johannes Kepler's model of the solar system. He was very interested in platonic solids( hey, me too!), and attributed quasi-mystical characteristics to them. He also thought they showed the structure of the universe in some way. His model has them nesting inside each other to show the organizational perfection of our solar system's makeup.

His ORDER for nesting the shapes is eccentric- instead of starting with the shapes with the fewest faces and working outwards, or some other equally intuitive logic, they are arranged in a manner hard to suss indeed. This makes my job more complex than I initially thought.

Even more weird was his idea that the finished, bronze model would also double as a nice punchbowl- intriguing and strange. Was he really into parties?
Perhaps it was the expense to some patron to cast the model that sent him fishing for possible other (festive!) "uses" for the thing?

Anyway, after some amusing false starts I have developed a system for making my forms which "works". It invoves elastic and drinking straws as well as the glittering quick-silver yarn I bought in Venice. I knit around the straw- a bit like a knitting Jenny or, as they call it in the Uk, "French" knitting, where you use a spool with nails in it to make mostly useless knit tubes. In my case I NEED knit tubes, which has sent me on a variety of scavenger hunts throughout New Haven and NYC looking for straws of the correct circumferences.

2008 knitting in review!

As we put 2008 to rest, I thought I'd post pictures of my finished projects...

above:

sphere, Finally finished, stuffed, and given to my dad as a christmas present!

Below: "Flicca" , as modelled by a newly padded out Myrna, was knit in Elite Classic Duchess. I am really happy with how this turned out, despite my botching the short-rowed collar and ham-fistedly weaving in the ends. Some improvements to work on in 2009..

Here is my finished version of Teva Durham's Corrugated Vee neck. love the pattern, love the color, HATE the yarn. Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Bulky. it pills when you look at it. the sweater looks ok in this picture, but in reality looks like muppet fur. I was told it was hard-wearing and machine washable. what it was was EXPENSIVE.

Other draw-back- I made it too big- it stretches slinky-like and falls off of my shoulders. shoulda made it the size I originally though but was worried about being too small. live-and-learn.

Blue belle: in classic elite monteza alpaca. No complaints here- I love this sweater and wear it all the time!

it fits like a dream, best of all, I made it without a pattern, and learned all kinds of things including how to steek!

A detail of my gussets- the skirt swing flirtily and gives me a TINY waist!

Side view with belled sleeves and peplum!




Neck detail and slightly more accurate color-

I thought I'd mostly wear it zipped up high(wattle-hiding don't you know), but actually love it like this. The alpaca is a bit too warm otherwise!

I steeked(cut) the front after knitting it whole on circular needles, then put in a zipper and faced it with velevet trim. Yes, a lot of work, but I've barely taken it off since it came off the needles...

back view

I am well pleased all in all and may make another with a few variations!

radical knitter gets into trouble at Canadian Border!

Is there no story that escapes the hawk-like eye of Stephen Colbert?

knitting's subversive underbelly is explored in recent video!
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/212027/december-03-2008/nailed--em---radical-knitting

A more *ahem* serious article on the incident can be found here, at sew girls.com:

http://www.sewgirls.com/yarn/US-Customs-Detains-Citizen-Over-An-Art-Project-Sketch-25826-.htm

an example of Zemple's work, this crocheted tank for a project with the Gunk Foundation.

hopefully Us custom's and border control will go back to "the old normal" under the new administration

peruvian vampire cats in action!

Here is little H in her sweater!



Given as a baby shower gift, and posted here as a finished item on 2/17/08, she is finally big enough, and it is finally chilly enough for her to wear it!

I think she looks stunning, and am delighted with the fit, color etc. Little H has lovely large blue eyes that go very well indeed with the body color of the sweater.

The vampire cat design is one I made using an ancient peruvain textile as inspiration. Anyone wanting a copy of the design, graphed out, just contatc me and I will be happy to pass it along.

I am well pleased.

Here's hoping it washes well!

blue belle's arms...

Here, once again is the lovely Myrna showing off my progress so far.
The plunging stock markets, world wide economic crisis, and the bankruptcy of ICELAND have done wonders for my knitting. Now, more than ever, I need to knit.
The sleeves, hem and neck are not done yet. all of that has to happen before I get to the STEEKING!!!!

Here's a good view of the back gussets(with string looped through the stitches

- not very photogenic, I know).


I am very pleased so far- it's just working beautifully.
HOWEVER:
I have just been reading alarming and worrisome reports on other people's blogs about alpaca- it apparently stretches and sags like crazy, making all of my elegant shaping for naught.
here is hoping that MY alpaca will not behave that way????
not too happy about this- after my fiasco with the Debbie Bliss chunky cashmerino for Teva Durham's corrugated vee neck, am still feeling burned.
So much work, and It looks like a stretched heavy floppy pill-ed Muppet after only one washing!
Argh!