03.10.08
Posted in Knitting, Photos, Spinning, Techniques, Textile(s), Yarn at 7:25 pm by delipics
I spied a little skein of hand spun Peruvian wool on my shelf from my lounging position on the couch. Something shifted internally and I could feel my lack of motivation moving gradually about an inch (visualize a large concrete block). I spun this yarn in July 2006 when Caroline still taught spinning at The Yarn Tree. (She’s teaching a class here this May.) I always wondered what this would look like knitted.
Voice in my head,” I’m going to knit this baby up and see what happens.” Voila . . .
It has been a long time since I have knit for knitting’s sake. No planning, no agonizing over a pattern, no swatches, no decisions, just knit. I grabbed the first needles I found, cast on and let myself enjoy the process of knitting - one loop through another loop, sliding the stitch over from one needle to the other needle, finishing the row. Each row, in fact, was a discovery - what it was going to look like as I used up the yarn? I looked at the yarn as it made its way onto the needles - a thick section or a thin section of the yarn could produce such different results.
I took the time to look at my knitting - from the micro - how the stitches and rows were different from each other - to the overall effect of the knitted fabric. I remembered how much I like garter stitch. I think garter stitch gets over looked too often, as if it is too basic. It is one of the building blocks of knitting - yin to purl’s yang. I took my time knitting this yarn; there was not much yarn to begin with and I wanted the experience to last as long as it could.
I felt many things when I was done: proud, pleased, joy, curious, peaceful.
This knitted piece is what it is - the spaces between the stitches, the random slubs, the twist in the knitted fabric that resulted from being over-spun, the wonderfully uneven texture - all from two sticks and some string.
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10.31.07
Posted in Art, NYC, Textile(s), Weaving, fashion at 4:36 pm by delipics
Last Sunday I went to see Tapestry in the Baroque: Threads of Splendor
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The fiber-artist in me felt it was an obligatory pilgrimage. The tapestries are massive. I am amazed at the craftsmanship and time that went into each piece. When I looked closely at a tapestry, my mind was staggered at the level detail and complexity of the design. This is a show that deserves a second visit.
What stands out the most for me is the history connected to the art. I only thought of creativity and craft with the tapestries but there was much, much more: war, upset economies, intrigue, royalty, religion and the art market. Knowing all that background information only makes the art work more interesting.
Another show that’s worth the trip is the Luxury exhibit at FIT. Hurry because it is closing November 10th. After making your way through Luxury, go downstairs to see Chicago Chic. These are my two favorites from Luxury - Chanel and Rodarte. Why are beautiful clothes so satisfying?
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07.04.07
Posted in Photos, Textile(s), fashion at 2:34 pm by delipics
One of things I’ve been fooling around with since I can’t knit.
I find it to be a bit amazing that Yahoo is culturally sensitive and has Filipino clothing and backgrounds for selection. I wonder how it was decided to design these Filipino avatar elements. Did they get emails requesting it? Is there an influential Asian executive who insisted on it? Was it the marketing department who looked at demographics and saw a mass of people who like to shop? And why lavender for this dress? This dress should have embroidery or beading - I’ve never seen a Filipino formal dress this simple.
This background is the Philippine Vigan town. (Type “vigan town” on Google to see many links about it.) I also could have chosen from rice terraces, Philippine bay walk, Jeepney background or Philippine nipa huts. I was feeling literal at the time and just couldn’t see my avatar in this gorgeous outfit strolling along the rice terraces or in traffic with jeepneys speeding by. So here she is, all dressed up with a flirty flower in her hair - maybe she’s going to a festival.
Yahoo called this the “tagalog dress”. I have never heard this dress called a tagalog dress. When I was a little girl, I always knew it as the butterfly dress because of the sleeves. A quick search on Google again and I learned this dress is called a terno. I also found a possible inspiration for the style of the dress here.
This is my one dress from the Philippines, but I’m not sure if this is called a terno. It’s not as formal but it is dressy.
I remember my mother used to have beautiful ternos when I was still a little girl. I always wondered what happened to those dresses.
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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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10.10.06
Posted in Photos, Spinning, Textile(s), Travel at 6:46 pm by delipics
A quick field trip to the American Textile History Museum.
While visiting a friend in MA, we had only about an hour to drop by the museum, so of course the first thing I did was try out the spinning wheel. The second photo is me just trying to get the hang of working the treadle. The docent had me singing a song to get the rhythm right. How did I do? Let’s just say I’ll still be spinning on my spindle for a while.
I had a quick run through the the museum, but there was not enough time to really take it all in. I will be back. I have a little Lowell fantasy going - move to Lowell, live downtown, get a job at the museum, handle textiles all day, do my fiber work at home - sigh!
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