stitches

a little sneak peak of the things in my 'finishing' pile...



these sweet things are going to be neckwarmers. i think i need to keep one for myself to wear to the art show sunday evening.

today...

here is the breakdown, and i've got to stick to it.

}make magnets!
}finish drawings and frame them!!!!!
}make fabric neck-warmers and sew tags in, label them, etc
}put tags in knitted neck-warmers and prepare to take to atelier 24 &
}go by the dry goods shop and give leigh anne money for the book "is a boyfriend and a girlfriend" and pick up artist check
}pack up mannequin to take to elementality tomorrow
}make earrings
}call my bff, rachel burgess to talk some cross-continental gossip
}go to black mountain for some coffee and yarn
}hang with kate....possibly go hear some lit professors read at malaprops
}go see a band at bobo gallery
}oh yes, and explore the ins-and-outs of ravelry a bit more.

ok! go!

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.

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...







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#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)

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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for a friend.

reconnected with a friend just last week. a dear one to me. we didn't really spend much time together, or for long, but our interactions were shaping.

i made this for tie for him--the first one i've tried with fabric (from a vintage silk scarf). of course, i'm modeling it here...

the "un-tie"

new item on etsy.
this is the finished version of the thing i mentioned a few posts ago, the tie inspired by my great-grandmother's scarf. i know, i never took a picture of hers, but here is mine!

this is 100% hand-dyed wool yarn, fingering weight.

i love it because you don't even have to tie it; you just slip one end through the buttonhole on the other side!

elementality

the mini-motos are doing splendid at elementality. just finished a fingerless glove special order for an awesome customer of ours and when she came to pick them up, bought a neck-warmer as well!

jordana and donna took us all out for a late christmas/new year's celebration to a local restaurant where they completely surprised (me at least) when extremely generous and thoughtful gifts (pics to come). i'm so thankful to be working with people who really care about who i am in the workplace, but also who i am outside of work, and the things that are also important to me in the rest of my life. i've just started taking over the task of organizing and "running" the local artist aspect of the store, and am really excited about being involved with that process.

our first friday party in february is going to be called "vampire love."

knitting projects

things i made from the yarn i bought at Spinning Turtle...
i call these "mini moto" and you can do a variety of activities while wearing them, such as:
drinking a beer


cutting things


drawing a line with your finger


and you can hold hands


you can even type and play with buttons!



and how about a boho-style hat?

knitting and snowfall

i came to ohio to see my best friend, rachel, who is pretty much the only friend i have who connects me to a world outside of asheville and school and work. i feel so privileged to have somebody whose company is so fulfilling, the yearn for it forces me onto the road and across state lines to a place not much unlike my own except for the largeness of the college and continual snowfall.

we've spent most of our time working, but it's hard to call what we've been doing work when the company has been so great and the work so enjoyable. she's working on her dissertation, of which i am so lucky to hear little bits and pieces, and i'm working on knitting projects and letter-writing, and blog posting, and playtime with panda. living in a place like asheville where i am supposed to have so much opportunity for artistically enlightening experiences, an outpouring of community cultural projects, and great food, at times i begin feeling stunted. even though i never really go into town except for work, it feels like i've seen it all. of course, i haven't, but these feelings come anytime a person's really settled into a place. my time away, with rachel, has provided me with the intellectual and visual stimulation i've needed to re-inspire my projects and plans, and although i don't want to leave, i am ready to get back to a space where i can continue really working.

here are some pictures of my snow play with panda...

homage

i am knitting a tie-like, kerchief-ish neck accessory in homage to my great-grandmother, whose knitting i've still got some of. her designs were inspired and skills impeccable.

pictures to come.

rachel and i scavenged through an incredible vintage store in downtown athens today called athens underground and found everything from vintage "time magazines" to elbow-length gloves and cashmere scarves to gaudy hats. pictures...also...to come.

ohio

i just made it to ohio a couple of hours ago.
it was a beautiful, long, painful trip.
it was beautiful until i started driving through the coal towns in west virginia, where it was still beautiful, but the houses looked like matchboxes, singed around the edges, darkened by the air, and the water from the dirty river they stand beside.
it went by quickly until i passed these towns and the cars and lights and gas stations disappeared and my gas needle fell and it seemed like i was driving into a disaster...

but then i arrived, and rachel was roasting a chicken and garlic, thyme potatoes, and baking pumpkin pies, and the house was warm, and i was so glad to be in from the cold car.

i am spending my week here catching up on knitting--completing some custom orders--, walking my dog, taking pictures, writing letters, and eating.