« January 2006 | Main | June 2006 »
February 12, 2006
Man Embroiders! Let's Call It Painting and Give Him a Solo Show!
Ooh, it makes me want to scream. This guy's work is gorgeous, and I definitely want to see it, but it's not painting, it's fiber art, or embroidery. It's stitching on fabric. You don't have to call it "painting" to make it art!
Posted by Rose at 11:51 PM | Comments (1)
February 11, 2006
So You Want to Sew! And Why Not?
I'm treading on Erin's toes a little by posting this instead of sending it to her to post (Hi, Erin!), but I don't think she'll mind.
I just bought Adele P. Margolis's terrific-looking sewing guide, The Dressmaking Book, which was published in 1967. Here's the fantastic back-cover copy, which I can only hope she wasn't responsible for:
What woman has not yearned to make herself as attractive as possible? What woman has not sought some means of expressing her creative talents? What woman doesn't love to feel she has made a great saving on some item, be it fur coat or bargain basement trinket? Where but in home sewing can she achieve all three--beauty, creativity, frugality?
Ah, the past. I raise a glass to the thought of my achieving these virtues by reading this book!
Posted by Rose at 01:50 PM | Comments (5)
February 03, 2006
Recreating the past
One of the first handmade presents I gave Francis was a boucle scarf I'd knitted for someone else (who never used it, because she was old and ill and eventually died) which he loved. I had a matching one (although we tended to try to not wear them at the same time). The yarn was lovely, a gray wool boucle that was completely shot through with bright colors. The effect was somehow both muted and intensely colorful. Unfortunately, he lost his scarf last year! He was heartbroken, but we still *had* a scarf, so I gave him mine.
This year, we discovered that five years of constant wear has taken its toll on the scarf. There might even have been some moth-depradation involved, too. But there are a few tiny holes in the scarf, and looked at dispassionately, it's starting to look kind of beaten-up. So I've been looking for a yarn with which to make a replacement scarf. Recently I found the perfect thing!
yarnmarket.com sells Cherry Tree Hill merino boucle that is incredibly gorgeous. Here's the color I picked, peacock.
I don't have a digital camera with me at the moment, but I'm several inches into the scarf, and I'm really enjoying the yarn. It's nubbly and cozy and fun. I learned something from the former scarf, too: the last scarf was made in seed stitch, because I wanted the fabric to seem plusher. In fact, though, it was impossible to tell that I'd knitted it in seed stitch, and it was a terrible pain in the butt. This scarf I'm knitting in garter stitch.
Posted by Rose at 04:22 PM | Comments (2)