avett brothers

it pays to be nice.

one of my favorite customers at the dripolator offered my an extra avett brothers ticket tonight!

i'm exhausted, and feeling under the weather, and should probably just go home and go to bed, butttttt, i'm not going to do that.

i've never seen them before. i can't wait!

i feel this song in my chest....

....when i'm feeling really deeply

pad thai

i am so over peanut sauce...



and even peanut butter is losing its luster. all is not right with the world!

i used to crave it! i needed it! i have stood in kitchens and cleaned out entire jars of peanut butter...jars that weren't even mine! i've had serious issues with peanut butter. it's like a drug. and then when you add other foods to it....like noodles....forGET about it!

and then all of a sudden the other night when i ordered pad thai, all i could think of was the red curry rice and vegetable dish my friend ordered. i choked down my peanut-covered noodles with disdain for the chalkiness and saltiness of the sauce. the noodles were sticky in my mouth. i hardly ate half.

my tastes are changing. it scares me a little. this aversion developed strikingly close to the appearance of my first gray hairs. what else could change? what other childhood favorites are going to suddenly begin leaving bad tastes in my mouth?

***

i haven't had a drink in almost three weeks.
the quitting smoking is taking a bit longer, and i've definitely been cheating, but i haven't had a cigarette in a couple of days, and i don't want one.

i've got that winter feeling

it's cold here. it's been snowing off and on for the last week. my windshield has been covered in ice almost every morning, and all i have to clean it off with is the flat blunt edge of a plastic comb my step-father must have left in the car years ago. i went out to buy winter snow boots and bought puma high-tops, which are definitely not waterproof, instead. i'm going to hot yoga, to keep myself warm, and eating good food. by good, i mean i ate two toaster pastries for breakfast, and a pb & j for lunch, and i'll probably have pizza for dinner.

i'm knitting a lot, filling all those custom orders...thanks 'big crafty!'

i've also been making time, like i promised myself i would do when i left school, for my friends...for the people i can call when i'm feeling low and say, "let's craft and eat cookies and cry," and i know that, weather permitting, they will come.

i feel strangely at ease in the middle of what i see as a great earthquake. seismic waves crashing through the earth and splitting it into sides. this side, that side. my side, your side. everything is changing, and aside from my job and close friendships, i don't feel like i can consider very much else constant or stable.

i'm going home for christmas for a couple of days, and i'm sure i'll be walking right into the perfect picture of denial. the cheese & sausage balls, the christmas tree, the family pets, the family of four, the faux-finished kitchen walls, and the polished wood. the laugh lines, the crow's feet, the gray hairs, full glasses and silence. and from what i'm told, the "plan" is to go to the mall, my mother sister and i, on christmas eve day, to pick out our presents.

fotos, classes, bridge-mending, and self-love

i love blogging. i love writing. just recording, in general. i used to think, a long time ago, that i kept journals in order to go back. so i could go back to that page where i began the poem that would put me on the map...so i could return to the dog-eared page that had a list of bands somebody referred to me, and look them all up...so would be able to share the events of my life with somebody years from now, in precise detail....so i could re-read and conjure up memories with the clarity of recency.

the truth is, i never re-read. my life is a ball that rolls, and there isn't any time to go back. it gathers momentum, and it gathers mass, and there's no time to add to the verses of a love poem whose subject is no longer even relevant, and whose pages have buckled with the moisture from my hands and the weight from the books it's been shoved between in various bags.

my life is dangerously compartmentalized, and that fact has become glaring, blinding, in the recent months. i have strings and years of exciting, life-changing, vision-altering friendships and relationships that fit into little boxes on little time-lines and fit even smaller into the weeks and months of my very elaborate calendar. something begins, and it feels like my life, and i enjoy it, and then it ends and something else begins. if i were to go back through one of those journals of mine, it would probably be filled with hundreds of entries that begin the exact same way: "this new person is great....this job is great....this is the plan....here's what's next....this didn't work....nothing lasts...."

there has been no continuity. i fill my life with business busyness, and make little room for any-thing/body else, so that when they fall away, there's little deep impact...or so i think. for the last few months, i have begun to realize that the terseness of my time with these people/projects, and the casual nature with which i wave off the idea of any potential deep-rooted heartbreak or disappointment, has great impact. the impact of absence is great. the absence of that continuity, has had great, deep, impact.

because of these realizations, and all the mornings i spent convincing myself to leave bed once i realized how many bridges i needed to get to work on, i have been writing letters. most of them are in their baby-stages, and who knows when i'll be brave enough to send them all, but i've sent one, and already good things have come. i feel good. i've been writing to people, and taking pictures of the things i think are beautiful, and i really haven't been writing, because writing about people doesn't make them stay. writing in my journal about hurt feelings and disappointment isn't a conversation. it does no good. and nobody sees it. feeling sorry isn't an apology. it may not seem like there's a direct connection, but i've started going to yoga, and working out a lot. taking care of yourself, and loving yourself, i've found, makes it so much easier to love others, and to let others love you.

i had to move my studio space recently, and that's also why i haven't been posting here, or updating my etsy...but writing here keeps me honest. it keeps me on top of all the little things in the background that need to be done.

today i planned and added knitting classes to the dry goods shop class calendar, but i still need to...

}organize receipts
}take work to hip replacements & atelier 24
}update this 'ole thing with all the photos i've been taking
}clean my room
}buy toothpaste--i just ran out
}ask off work for days in january

oh yes, and recover from the big crafty...still working on that...

big crafty, ready yourself...

paper earrings. lightweight, sweet photos

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where have i been?

i have been paring off...paring off...
quitting jobs, quitting school, and spending all of my time in the studio. now that i only have one job, and am focusing on projects, i can't believe i ever did it. i can't believe i haven't gone crazy yet. i can barely find time to clean the dishes!

i sold my first item on etsy, moved into a wonderful house with the best room-mate i've ever had, finished my barista training, am preparing to meet with a photographer in the next couple weeks to get my etsy page up to par...

i need to write here more.

to do list for the next week...
1. finish knitted tie
2. organize studio space better
3. make jewelry
4. write patterns for knitted ties and patterns
5. paint the dining room
6. sketch out website ideas

pumpkin carving party tonight at the studio!!!

get knitty with it!

between moving and work changes, i have totally neglected getting together knitting nights for all you lovely stitchers! so...here we go...

this sunday, october 10, from 630-830 i'll be hosting the usual saturday morning "knitting q & a". hopefully, those of you who are tired at 10 o'clock saturdays from debauched friday nights, will be ready to go on a relaxing sunday evening. feel free to bring food and "drink" for yourself, your favorite "mix tape" (ipod), and your needy project. this time is also great if you're just having a little trouble understanding a new pattern or figuring out where you left off. e-mail me at tangle.design@gmail.com if you have any questions. sliding fee $5-10.

tuesday, oct. 12: 630-830: "knit, tipple, & talk"
bring spirits, bring needles, bring fibers, and friends. this is just an opportunity to get together with friends and commune over our newly awakened fervor for warm winter knitting. no charge. just bring yourself and some vittles.

there will be more classes to come near the end of october, and november. keep your eyes open for: "mist-take no more," "master that gauge swatch," "write your own hat pattern," and more!

all classes held at the dry goods shop in west asheville.

free neckwarmer pattern

for the pdf, visit my etsy!
and to purchase the item, it's also on etsy and at the dry goods shop...

the pattern:

materials:
cascade “eco +” yarn
US 13 needles

instructions:
1. cast on 44 stitches
2. knit for 52”
3. weave in loose ends, leaving one long one for seaming
4. put a single twist in knitted fabric before seaming, to create
a “mobius” illusion
5. seam 9” of ends together, leaving a slit to fit over the
shoulder

back on etsy!

so after a long hiatus, i finally got back into the picture-taking mood, and took a bunch of my new wares along with some pretty vintage finds.

here's a few...

knitting q & a

tomorrow morning from 10-12 at the dry goods shop, we are having a knitting q & a session. it's just a $5-10 donation for two hours of "help" from me. Basically, you can bring in a trouble project you have questions about, get reminders about how to read patterns, get started on something, or just come in and knit with the assurance that if something goes wrong, i'm here to help!

if you have questions, e-mail me at tangle.design@gmail.com

also, atelier 24 is having an opening tomorrow night from 6ish-9ish (i think!). wine and snacks are provided, along with artist meet & greets. i'll be there the entire time to answer any questions about my work, classes, or just to talk.

i am planning on starting to post a free knitting pattern on here every other week. it will be posted here, and on the dry goods blog. to learn more, take a class!

exposure

here are some articles that have recently been written about the studio i started working in at the beginning of august:

wnc magazine

verve magazine, the article "good & plenty

i am teaching a knitting class there on tuesday morning from 10-12, and a knitting q & a the following saturday (sept. 11) from 10-12. for more details, visit the dry goods blog. if you're interested in signing up, just shoot me an e-mail at tangle.design@gmail.com , or e-mail leigh anne through the store blog.

see you soon!

i have SO MUCH news...

#1. yesterday, i set up at atelier 24 on lexington avenue! i had been debating about it pretty much all summer, and due to the season's business--what with the big crafty and bele chere, and relationship changes, moving across town and working like a madperson--i just never seemed to be able to take the time to consider ACTUALLY trying to set up a spot there. gabrielle must have known i needed the little extra push because after just a few e-mails throughout july and august, i made the jump.

i spent all last week field-tripping to hardware stores where i would stare dumbfoundedly at the aisles of nails and brackets and lumber, covering myself and my wardrobe in paint, and feverishly labeling, inventorying, and making new pieces. after all the build-up, i could hardly believe when it was finished. i have work in a few different stores, but i have never felt such a strong sense of accomplishment as i did when i finished my little wall, because i was really able to envision my goals for the future.

here are some pictures...







-------

#2. i have decided to stay at the dripolator! the wine bar has been great, but there's no place like home, and the dripolator definitely feels like that. i'll start the espresso training with scott next week, and i'll be behind the espresso machine in no time!



thanks to everybody here for being so incredible...

#3. KNITTING CLASSES! my next post will describe these in a bit more detail, but i am teaching them at the dry goods shop in west asheville. there's a calendar of events link on the right side of the blog page. check it out!

#4. School has started again. Two classes. They seem to be pretty easy, but without being uninteresting, SO, that's great!

(knitting post will be up later today)

this will last forever

this will last forever
Originally uploaded by tangleborn.

these are the first of my new "this will last forever" locket series.

i remember as a little girl having a locket with a picture of myself and my mother, and feeling really secure knowing those photos of us were right there. it's almost unheard of for people to have photo albums anymore, or at least to maintain/update them. everybody has digital albums.

i want to touch the photos. i want to really SEE them. i want to encourage people to keep their loved ones close to their hearts.

these will be just a couple of the pieces featured in my new space at the gallery Atelier 24 Lexington on lexington avenue in downtown asheville. i'm setting the space up on tuesday. i got a sweet little telephone table for the display and can't wait to put it all together and put my new work out!

hoop hoop

custom order for tammy at "customers boutique" in west asheville. the first of many of these gaudy beauties...

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studio-mate

i am now officially studio mates with jean potter


and leigh anne hilbert


at the dry goods shop in west asheville.

i'm really eager to get back to work, but setting up a new space takes time...although moving the workings of a studio is cumbersome, there's something so refreshing about re-configuring the wheres and the ways that you work. is it wrong to find bead organization thrilling? fabric folding, exciting? moving tables around and around and around, moving?

well, if it's wrong, then i don't want to be right.

hopefully, i will begin teaching knitting classes there soon. potential schedule to come!

changes

the only constant is change...
it seems like i have heard people say these words so many times that they have lost their meaning. in addition to the fact that it's a cliche whose using feels like beating a dead horse, i just don't think that it's true.

of course, change is always happening. it happens so fast that there's almost no before & after sometimes, but i believe that some things are constant. the context of my love for somebody might change, but the love never really leaves. i might stop painting, but my passion for art hasn't gone anywhere; i will find something else to create. i might not go out in the world very much anymore, but my desire for making connections with people is still strong.

i wish home was constant right now. i think i've moved my furniture around 5 times in the last month and a half. it's as if i believe that if i move it around enough, everything will fall right into place and the space will be mine and i will be ready to put pictures on the walls and call it my own and settle in.

once everything gets all settled, i will FINALLY be able to have the time to get my etsy shop up and running again, and start making! i'm a little wiped out from bele chere and haven't had much of a chance to recoup that lost energy, but it's going to happen soon!

funny girl

my page in verve magazine...

the shoot was SO much fun!

jess was wonderful to work with.

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from the big crafty

a preview for bele chere:

hatpins, neckwarmers, hairclips, gift tags...



neckwarmers...


there's a nikki in there...

bele chere preparations

just working on some last minute projects to fill up the sace with more than just jewely. the hip replacementa booths will be featuring work from margart goodson and i, as well as other artists in the store, sunglasses, asheville grown t-shirts, and more. we will be on the corner of lexington and college st.

i will have...
{jewelry} made from sterling, brass, stainless steel, leather, fabric, vintage chain, beads, and semi-precious stones
{cuffs} made from fa ric and leathee
{bobby pins} made with upcycled magazine images sold.on sweet home-made gift tags
{magnets} from glass stones and upycled mag. images
{gift tags} with a variety of images and hand-stamped 'to & from'
{knitted} neckwarmers, cowls, and wristwarmers

pictures to come tomorrow!

hope to see lots of friends there xxx

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i dream of photography

dream last night:

i was living in two houses--one with a room-mate and one with my family. everybody from both houses left. i was suddenly responsible for two leases and two rents. i tried to rent rooms in the large house out as studio spaces because of the floors and lighting and quiet area. in the process of moving furniture around and making arrangements, i found an old polaroid camera of mine (one i actually have but that does not work) and began taking pictures in and around the house. it seemed as if the camera had endless amounts of film. each photograph was beautiful, deeply saturated, and captured what i could not see for myself. through the photographs, my situation seemed less a catastrophe and more an opportunity. everything around me was beautiful.

and then the last photograph pulled and i went into the backyard. it met up with industrial wasteland that stretched for miles and i discovered that there was a shanty distillery at the crest of the hill of the yard that met up with the miles of trash and emptiness. there were 5 types of nectary fruit infused vodkas brewing. the liquid felt as thin as water and the taste was like nothing i'd ever had.

the end.

THE BIG CRAFTY

so, it's on!
less than a week from today.
sunday 11-6 pm.
one day only.

so many many many wonderful artists will be there with their handmade wares, alongside local musicians, great local food, free beer.


i will have picture soon, but so far i plan on having...
<>neck-warmers & knitted cowls galore (lots of new designs)
<>necklaces::::::from long and elegant with multiple strands, to bright and fun
<>earrings--paper, stone, brass, silver, you name it.
<>and miscellaneous other treaties.



my friend, nikki sova, will also be joining me. she specializes in a variety of feather earrings and necklaces with filigree findings and lots of brass & copper.

it's going to be fun!

and if you don't care about jewelry, that's fine. come to support everybody else.


<3 ryan-ashley

dry goods

meeting at the dry goods shop this morning!
it's right at the crest of the hill in west asheville where the exits for 240 are.

grand opening on july 3rd!

maybe i'll be consigning there..........?

...A bright bowl of brass is beautiful to the Lord. Bright polished brass like the cymbals...

i recently ordered some beautiful stamped brass findings, and spent quite a bit of time last night making new pieces out of them. i've gotten into this habit of renting seinfeld episodes to put on while jeweling. it's sort of...become an obsession. i started at the very beginning and slowly but surely i am making my way through (i just made it through season 1). i think i am probably spending far more money on seinfeld episodes than on food, and i could save if i would just get netflix or something, but there's nothing like starting out a night of jewelry-making with a long walk or bike ride to the video store, handling the scrappy old boxes of dvd's and feeling the excitement upon discovering that they're "in!" my heart almost skips a beat each time i open the thin plastic containers at orbit to discover the little piece of paper which means it's not been checked out yet. so, with the help of the seinfeld crew...

here's what i've been working on for the big crafty:







and for hip replacements:

tangle rose

new paper earrings at custom in west asheville! check them out! they're all made from molly rose freeman designs.

molly rose freeman

the big crafty is coming up soon.
i'm getting ready with new neck-warmer designs, new paper earrings, cuffs, necklaces, and tons more accessories. i'll be posting some sneak-peak pictures tomorrow or the next day.

in the meannntimmmmmme, molly rose freman and i have been conjuring up some new designs through some fun collaborations. it's always a plus when you're favorite people can also be your favorite artists. her new, neon, pattern-inspired designs are mesmerizing.

soo...what better way to get some new pictures in my earrings and get her art out there in a wearable way than to make paper earrings out of them! i'll be submitting some of these to customin a couple of days and will have tons more for the big crafty.

here they are!





and some of miss molly's originals...

kettle-dyed

this has been a busy, busy, two weeks.
working tons at hip replacements,
finishing artist inventory at elementality,
stocking stores up with earrings before visiting home,


visiting home...
i'm out of asheville, the etsy shop is on vacation, and i'm here hanging out with the family. it's so strange visiting home for anything other than a holiday, but apparently 8th grade graduation is an important occasion. my lil 'sis is growing up!

aside from beginning my senior comps study guide and spending time with my sister, i have been DROWNING in new, beautiful yarn!

as soon as i got to town yesterday, i stopped at bella filati to stock up on yarn since i rarely visit home and, well, no other yarn shop compares! here's what i scored:





i will be turning these into beautiful new neckwarmers and scarves to sell at the big crafty!

rainstorm

it's sunny this afternoon, really perfect weather. the sky started out gray this morning, and poured sheets of rain. the sun came out. and just a few minutes ago, the rain started falling again. it always feels like such a surreal experience, to get caught in the rain on a sunny day...as if on the set of a movie where the tech. got all his timing wrong and showered the actors in the middle of a beach scene...or the middle of a living room.

it reminds me of the summers before middle school, before i got too cool to run around half-naked in the back yard. all we could do to stay cool in that dusty, rural town, in the middle of those blistering summers was to run the sprinklers and the hoses constantly. it was biting cold, but so damn refreshing.

thinking back, it makes me sad to think about all the water we wasted but also appreciative of the level of abandon most of us had at that age, when all we could worry about was staying cool.

i found this here
and thought it was really beautiful

edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros

my new favorite song.
i love these guys.
and they love each other...

forever

it feels like...
i haven't written on this in forever.

so many things have been happening.

bele chere is on! and i am supposedly steadily building stock for the show. (un)fortunately the jewelry has been going so well at hip replacements and elementality that i really haven't had very much time to make downstock for etsy OR the show. this week i am definitely planning on cracking down.

by the end of the month i have to...
-begin studying for the comprehensive exams in the fall
-continue to make downstock (this part i like!)
-begin the reading list i must have completed by august
-work on poetry for my creative thesis proposal/packet

weekly/daily:
-work out-boot camp with my closest friends!
-read!
-clean
-remind myself to go out into the world once in a while so i don't forget how to socialize after deeply creative hibernation
-tell myself that definitive statements ("yes" and "do") aren't as difficult as they seem

school ended two weeks ago, and if i don't start studying for my last semester soon, i am definitely going to lose steam.


there are lots of new things happening to distract me, though! for example....i have been distracted by...
my new HAIRCUT



new room-mate...



new piercing...


new earrings/jewelry!


l'arc...




the yolaine:




this summer is going to be BUSYBUSYBUSY!
but
i am really excited about it, especially because i really feel like i'm surrounded by the best friends of my life.