Make It So - Redux

A few more things are added to the growing pile of things going to an art festival in the summer.  First up is a dress and hat combo.  The dress is made in such a way that as the little girl grows it can become a tunic, then a top.   Who knows what will happen with the hat?

 Next up are three of the many kids' hats I design and knit.  Each is unique, and I seem unable to make the same exact one twice.  Knitting/attention deficit syndrome????

A posy hat

Plum Pudding

Hat With Lizard and Toadstool Topping

Now for what the well-dressed frog will wear.  The frog doll was a bargain bin find at Ikea.  Her little dress was ripped so I made her new clothing. What do you mean, how do I know it's a girl frog?

Finally, here is a mess of small pictures; a couple of paintings and some icon/collages.

I love doing the work getting ready for shows, but I detest the transporting and setting up.  It is a royal pain.

However, there is no gain without some pain.  Last year I sold a few collages and a couple of paintings but ran right out of Birbies and hats.  Who knows what the going thing will be this year or if there will be any disposable income out there earmarked for original design and hand-making?  We shall see.   In the meantime I keep working away.

There are a number of things in the works now.  The painting muse has been nagging me so it will soon be time to haul out the canvases, tarps, and paint.  In addition, there are hip belts and Turkish vests to make and embellish for dance classes.

The table in the living room that I use to hold whatever I am working on is starting to get that cluttered and chaotic look.  It's time to finish a few things before I begin another, but I always get a great idea when I'm working on something else!

What Jean Luc Picard Said

"Make it so".  Since this whole blog thing is based on the fact that I am a person who makes stuff, I have devoted very little space to stuff I have made.

There is a good reason for that.  I didn't want to blather on without pictures and I couldn't seem to overcome my inertia to take some pictures.  Today I shrugged off the moorings and engaged the engines and that will about do it for the Trekkie references.

Although I usually have exhibited as a painter, I find that lately I have wanted to invent things in fiber, specifically in knitted goods.  Clothing, hats, preemie things, dolls, teddy garments, dressed up critters, and even some sweaters have been keeping me happily occupied.  All are of my own design or else they have begun as a pattern but my constitutional incapability of following instructions always ensures that I tweak and change things until the item undergoes a metamorphosis and becomes my very own.

First up are my best sellers, the Birbies.  A Birby is a flightless bird that has no wings or feet.  Birbies roll or are carried by their besotted companions.

A flock of Birbies

Next is a happy teddy with matching cardigan and hat, followed by a wardrobe of raglan sleeved pullovers.

 Sock yarn is great for critter clothing.

The pullovers cover Valentine's Day, Spooky moon for Halloween, potted flowers for spring, an autumn leaf, and a dressy red top with frilled lace trim.

Down we head to some of my favourites, the Flumps.  As yet they aren't named.  I just love making these and no two are ever alike although that can be said about everything that I make. 









Here are two well dressed girly frogs.  The frogs were purchased from Ikea but the clothing is designed by yours truly.

Last but not least for today is a plain muslin doll dressed up with a knitted wig, underpants, sweater, socks, shoes, felted satchel and teddy bear, and a hand-sewn skirt.

This is what keeps me from withering away with uselessness when the fibromyalgia symptoms of pain, depression, and exhaustion overwhelm me.  The creative spark is more necessary to me than vitamins! 

Out of Focus

I learned to knit when fairly young, about eleven or so.  At first I hated it.  Of course, we had the Home Economics Nazi as our teacher so it was easy to hate any and all sessions in her classes.   I had to knit at home to complete the projects because she would slap my hands and force them into the prescribed contortions which were impossible for my fingers.  Once I quit trying to manipulate the needles in the 'approved' manner and invented my own methods, I caught on to the skill and found it not quite so horrible.

A few years later when the look of a mohair sweater was all the fashion and my mother wouldn't go along with my taste, I purchased pink mohair out of my own meager summer money, a simple raglan sleeved pattern, and got to work.  I knit like a lunatic at every waking moment.  Other kids were splashing in the pool and there I was, hunkered over yarn while sitting under the willow trees, knitting and purling for dear life.

The finished sweater probably had lots of mistakes, but the fuzz and bloom of the mohair hid them beautifully.  It fit the way it was intended, and I could hardly wait for school to start to show it off.  I tried on the opening day of class but it was a very hot day and my parents had no wish to be called to the school to revive me if I should pass out from heat stroke, and made me change garments.  Dang.
However, this being Canada, the cold weather arrived soon enough and I wowed the crowd in my pink, fuzzy glory.  That sweater was the envy of many girls, and my bravery at making my own became inspirational.  In our little backwater corner of the world it became the rage to knit one's own mohair sweater and the cafeteria was a cacophony as knitting needles clicked and clacked throughout the lunch hours for the next month.  Soon, a veritable haze of mohair began to show up in the hallowed halls; aqua, pale blue, mint green, rose, yellow, and salmon colours were everywhere.  We looked like a herd of multi-hued yaks.

That was my last project until my mid twenties when my brother-in-law and a partner opened a boutique that featured hand made and designed clothing.  He prevailed upon me to dust off my skills and make a few things.

It turned out to be providential.  I had two small children and a horrible marriage along with what turned out to be severe clinical depression and what we now know is fibromyalgia.  I was always sore, exhausted, and hopeless.  I am convinced that knitting kept me alive.  As long as I had a project to finish, I had to keep going.  While I was at it, I made little skirts, sweaters, and dresses for my daughter out of the project leftovers, and I learned to knit mittens and socks.

Years later, when finally diagnosed and had begun treatment for the many lousy symptoms of fibro (at least, those that are treatable), I continued to knit now and then. Eventually, I discovered that unless I had a project or two on hand I was edgy, so I gave in and indulged the habit.  Even if I was on a painting jag, or was busy writing, I needed to have a few knitting projects in reserve to which I turned when stuck, or rattled, or bored, or whatever.

At any given moment there are at least five different knitting tasks on the needles so that no matter the place, time, or mood, I can pick up the needles and keep busy. For me, knitting is prayer, meditation, zen, and deep contemplation.  Knitting calms, clears, and soothes.  

Yes, I have developed a yarn addiction.  My stash groweth by the week and now occupies a few bins.  You never know.  There may be a world yarn shortage and I will need my reserve.  Lately, I've begun collecting luxurious yarns in merino, alpaca, and bamboo.  Every so often, like several times a day, I go to the stash and gloat, fondle, and plan.

As for the focus mentioned in the title, I don't buy enough yarn for one project, then focus on it until completed.  I work on many things and many kinds of things at the same time.  Either I have ADHD or else this is simply HOW I focus.

Nevertheless, the fact that knitting is enjoying an almost spiritual renaissance right now is a bonanza for all of us who are lifelong knitters. The internet is another bonus.  Anything we cannot find in our local shops, we can find and order online.  

My latest love is special and beautiful knitting needles.  I have quite a nice collection of Peace Fleece needles.  They aren't expensive, are a Russian/American cooperative product, and are pleasant to use.
Give them a try!    http://www.peacefleece.com/

Peace Fleece Knitting Needles