02.19.07
Posted in Fiber Artwork, Knitting, Lace Knitting at 4:49 pm by delipics
I’ve added photos or updated the following pages: Handspun Yarns and Finished Projects 2006. Looking at the photos was a good review of what I have accomplished and for making new goals and plans for this year. Here are my fiber hopes for 2007:
- I will work on becoming better at knitting sweaters and lace knitting.
- I will learn how to spin on a wheel.
- I hope to take a weekend fiber class. I’ve been looking at the Peter’s Valley fiber workshops.
- I will enter my fiber artwork in more competitions. This is a very daunting task for me. While I would love to have my work hanging in a gallery, the prospect of it is incredibly scary. Where does this fear come from?
The length of the Lace Shawl has reached 40 inches - about 20 more inches to go! At this point it’s like second sock syndrome. I’m trying to keep my motivation going. I have the urge to find a small project to work on as a break from the shawl. I know this is a case of startitis coming on. I will resist it!
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02.04.07
Posted in Fiber Artwork, Knitting, Lace Knitting, NYC, Photos, Spinning at 1:49 pm by delipics
I was hoping that the next time I posted my blog would be all fixed but I can’t wait that long. I hope to have it fixed this week.
I took a little break from the knitting world to catch up on some reading. I got tired of rereading the books in my personal library, although I do have some really good ones - several Jane Austen novels (personal fave - Persuasion), all the Barbara Kingsolvers, Roddy Doyle, A.S. Byatt, Jhumpa Lahiri, just to name a few. A couple weeks back I went to B&N and indulged myself; I bought four books: Never Let Me Go, The Jane Austen Book Club, The Blue Flower, and The Gate of Angels. I’ve been trying to make them last but I just finished Never Let Me Go and I only have the Blue Flower left. It’s been very satisfying having new books on my bedside table. I’m still processing the story from Never Let Me Go - I can’t get the characters and plot out of my head. Ishiguro is a beautiful writer; I’m going to have to read more books by him.
So now I’ve been trying to keep busy fiber wise. This incredible cold weather helps - below zero temps makes staying at home and knitting very easy. I’m about sixteen inches into my lace wrap. I’ve picked up the spindle again and I’m tackling fiber I bought from Rhinebeck. This is the knitting highlight of my week.
Here are three of my knitting friends (Diana - a very good KB@W, Maria, and the Sock Maven) at Sabrina Gschwandtner’s art piece at the Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting show at the Museum of Arts & Design. When we got there, Alex was already knitting the balaclava, which she basically finished but for the ribbing. Maria went for the slippers pattern, and Diana and I picked up the half-finished blanket squares. It was a very good night out - knitting, talking, seeing the show (I want to go back!), and then yummy Japanese ramen afterwards. Hey KB@W - remind me I’ve got your yarn that you left that night!
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10.15.06
Posted in Art, Fiber Artwork, NYC, Textile(s), Weaving at 10:37 am by delipics
The Sheila Hicks show, Weaving As Metaphor, was closing this weekend so I made it a point to hike up to the upper west side so as not to miss it.
This collection of her small works displays her weaving knowledge and experience over time. For me, I focused on her weaving structures. I wanted to learn how she created a specific shape or texture. I was also fascinated by the tools and materials she used. Stand-outs in my mind were the synthetic monofilament, stainless steel, and handmade paper she incorporated into her weaving. I was very drawn to the monofilament because I have tried experimenting with it, and I am pleased to see the possibilities of the materials via another artist.
The size of these weavings prompted me to think about small works in art. (Most of my work I consider to be small. Part of my size constraints come from not having a studio and from living in a space-challenged, Brooklyn apartment. I simple do not have the space to go any larger.) From my perspective, smallness is overlooked. We live in a very BIG art culture (i.e. big art=serious or authentic) - wall-sized paintings, site-specific installations, land art encompassing acres - and in what I would call our pop culture - big box stores, McMansions, SUV’s. Sheila Hicks work, while small in size, is large in content. It takes time to investigate the details and time to synthesize that information. Does an instant-gratification culture only want large sized art? Are we lazy art-consumers who don’t want to think past the obvious? Or will people take the time to appreciate the intimacy of the conversation between a small artwork and the viewer?
LOL - small art works prompt big art ideas.
Afterwards, inspired by the show, I took these photos.
The world is made up of warp and weft. (That’s a whole other post - duality in structure - like knit and purl.)
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09.28.06
Posted in Crochet, Fiber Artwork, Photos at 5:51 pm by delipics
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07.24.06
Posted in Fiber Artwork, Spinning at 5:51 pm by delipics
I’ve been furiously cleaning my house tonight for a visit from a very good friend and her little boy. In the process I discovered my veggie bin needed a serious scrub - yuck. Everything looks very tidy, but no fibery work has been done. At least the weather has been pleasant, which means I can work with the warm fibers. Last night I started spinning my merino / tencel blend. I have been working on improving my over-the-fold technique, and it’s getting better.
The other good thing is after work I finally picked up the slides of my 2-D work from Paul. (We were going to meet last week but it was so damn hot!) You know how you live with something for a while and you kind of get sick of it? After a while, I do not want to look at the artwork. What is really happening is I am letting the work go. Some of the best advice I have received from art professors and other artists is to let the artwork exists separately from myself. I made it and now it has to be on its own.
Sometimes this letting-go can get in the way of my creative process. I will start a piece and I have to let it sit for a while. I have to allow my thoughts about it simmer quietly on a back burner. I have learned if I “watch the pot,” it is a hindrance to my process. Other times, the creative process is boiling over and I can’t keep up.
Since these gouaches have been away and are back, it is like they are completely new. The work is different and I am liking the what I made again. It is like the art and I are becoming reacquainted. There are sections of the work I did not notice before and other parts that are wonderfully familiar. I look at them and I think, “Hey, these are good. I am gooood.” It is very rejuvenating.
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07.16.06
Posted in Fiber Artwork, Photos, Spinning, Subway, Yarn at 6:09 pm by delipics
I’ve been religiously watching Miss Marple on Mystery these past Sundays nights. It has the most charming knitting-themed opening to the show during the titles/credits. Love Miss Marple - she pops into the yarn shop to purchase a bit of wool in between her sleuthing adventures - even when she’s interviewing a suspect she is winding a ball of yarn - and she must knit while she reveals the murderer.
I’ve got that wonderful been-to-the-beach sleepy feeling. (The NYC subway system is remarkable. I can take mass-transit to the beach!) My muscles are tired and I feel sun-soaked. I thought about bringing my Sweet Pea Shawl to be beach, but I did not - actually a good thing because it was sweltering - too hot to crochet. I would sit for about 15 - 20 minutes then run back into the ocean to cool off. It was too hot to even take a nap.
Saturday was my fiber day. I started making another fiber artwork piece. I haven’t crocheted in a while so I took breaks to spin, which is how I finished spinning the fine mohair top.
The skein on the top was hand-carded with my dog brush. The skein on the bottom went through the drum carder. Definitely the bottom skein is more even, but I like the experience of hand-carding, even though it does take longer. At last week’s Spinning I class we learned how to use all these different tools - the drum carder, the hackles, and the English comb. Here is how the fine mohair top looked before it was spun.
I could get addicted to the drum carder - blending different fibers together or blending different colors of fiber - one of these days I’ll have the extra cash and the space to do it.
I also put in half of my merino / tencel blend into the drum carder. The other half I will hand-card.
I did one more yarn-related task. A while ago I decided to recycle a sleeveless turtleneck DKNY top that I never wore anymore. A bit of a disaster - on the right is some of the yarn that is horribly tangled. But the rest of it I finally washed and hung out to dry, using a metal spatula and slotted spoon as weights.
Will I ever de-tangle the rest? Well . . .
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07.14.06
Posted in Fiber Artwork, Yarn at 8:42 am by delipics
Back then, I did not want to refer why I did it, but I’ll tell you now. It was for my first try to get into a juried art show. I did not expect to get in, which I did not, but that was okay because when I decided to do this, my focus was for the experience. Now that I have done this once, I know I can do it again.
[Mental Note to Self TO DO: Need to get these slides scanned to CD so I can post professional shots of my work on this blog.]
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