A new species of flower: florus chroshaydus

My friend Noreen and I made a date one night last year to have coffee and "swap talents." She crochets and I knit, so she taught me and, although I'm not the best teacher in the world, I did my best to teach her. Both of us commented on how weird it feels to hold the needles a certain way when you're used to something completely different. But we had lots of fun and it's a memory I treasure, since shortly afterwards she moved to another country. That night, she taught me single crochet and double crochet. I liked the double crochet much better because it knits (ha!) crochets up faster. I was so excited to finally be learning this, I went home and practiced and practiced. When I felt confident enough to start a simple project, I knit up a small baby blanket for a friend of mine who became new mom recently.

Not long after that, I finished a similar blanket for my new baby cousin. These were both made with Nature's Choice organic cotton - my new favorite yarn. It's soooo yummy!

I'm still feeling a little timid about doing anything complicated, but I decided this afternoon to attempt something with some shape. Starting small, and taking my time, I just finished my first flower! It is such a little thing to be so happy about, but in some ways this one flower is 15 or 20 years in-the-making. I'm kind of surprised I actaully finished it. I won't even tell you how long it took me. Haha.

 

Ok, it was like 30 minutes. The video I learned from is only 6 minutes long, so... :)

Anyway, this one will go on a hat for another baby friend who will be born later this year. (Must be baby season!) I think flowers will be a great thing to crochet up quickly for fun or to add onto other projects. And it's a neat way to use up little scraps of yarn! I feel like a whole new world is opening up for me - all those cute crochet patterns that I had dismissed before are now possible...

Is there something you have always wanted to learn? Or something new you've been meaning to try?

"Two of a Kind" Reduction Print

I met Lani Shapton when I was working at the cafe about six years ago. She was part of a group of co-workers who were studying art at Chico State. She's also buddies with Linda Lopez. We all kinda worked there around the same time.

Anyhoo. I got a message from her a few weeks ago. I hadn't seen her in a long time, so it was fun to connect a little bit. Apparently, she's lecturing at a college in Florida now (which is awesome) and while she was demonstrating "reductive woodcut" printmaking for her students, she decided to use the siamese sock monkey as a subject for her piece! Since the monkeys were kind of the brain child (or should I say brain children?)  of Linda and I, Lani said she thought of us during the project, and she was sweet enough to offer to send me a print!

She titled it "Two of a Kind" and informed me that it's a "5 color reductive woodcut." The five colors I see are brown, three shades of blue, and a little red. I had no idea what "reductive woodcut" means really, so I googled the process and found it wonderfully fascinating. In reductive prints, a medium (wood in this case) is carved away in very specific stages of color. And the artist needs to be very aware from the beginning what the layers of color will be and how many total prints they will want to make. Once they're done with the last layer, the wood will no longer be useful in making any more prints.

Here the best video I could find on the process of reductive printing, but it uses lino. Here is an example with wood, although he only uses one color.

What a wonderful and unique gift from my friend, Lani! It hangs in the living room now, just over my sewing corner. I sit under it... and make monkeys.  :)

a visit from the tiny things

A friend of mine is working on an art project. It involves tiny creatures, and I'm pretty sure that's all I can say. While talking about the project and life in general, he asked me if I had ever knit a sweater before and I told him about the Inishturk, and then I realized he might be scouting for some wardrobe so I offered to knit something up for his little friends. He actually tried to talk me out of it. Haha. He thought it might be too much to ask. But I was looking for a good distraction at that point in life and I was already brainstorming and designing things in my mind. So I said I would just knit something up and he could use it or not. No worries.

After a few fittings and alterations, I came up with these:

The first one is made with cotton-ease. I gave it a rough, tattered look by popping a few stitches out of stockinette here and there.

The second is made with the same wool I was using in the Inishturk. But I had to narrow the yarn down to two strands to make it more pliable.

They are both only 20 stitches around, so it was kind of hard to come up with any special patterns, but I did attempt a couple of cables in front of the wool one. You can just barely see them because they're only one stitch wide. teehee. So this would be like a teeny-tiny Aran sweater. :)

I really enjoyed the unique challenges of working in-the-small. It kind of has an eery look to it in a way, doesn't it? Can you imagine finding a tiny sweater like this in the wall of your house? You'd wonder what else the creatures have been wearing and building! Reminds me of the mice in Cinderella.

Now. I wonder if this will help get me motivated to finish the Inishturk. It only has about 60 hours left on it. :/ Naaah.

A cuppa java

Does anyone in the world (besides me) know that old song:
I love coffee, I love tea, I love the java jive and it loves me...
Coffee and tea and the java and me.
A cuppa cuppa cuppa cuppa cup.

Funny lyrics, I know. I've been singing them to myself the past few days. You probably think I'm a little crazy at this point. I grew up on AMC. So part of my soul is from the 40s. Maybe that explains it. ;)

Anyway... on a slightly related note:

My sweet husband wanted to surprise me last month. So he contacted my friend Linda, who is an artist currently living in PA. (Here is her website!) He asked her about the possibility of procuring one of her pieces and she said very kindly - I'll send something right over!

A few days later, a box arrived in the mail and inside was the most wonderful ceramic mug I think I've ever seen.

So whimsical and unique! I didn't want to drink out of it at first. Such a special thing - I was afraid of getting it dirty. But, I knew it was meant to be functional, and it would be ashame if it wasn't used. So eventually I got up the courage, and now I use it every day. It's My Cup.

The pattern is very cool. Kind of ...scaly. Knowing Linda it probably has something to do with intestinal villi. I like the fact that it's half glazed and not. That gives it more depth. I like the small handle. Surprisingly light in the hand. Very cool. I dig it. I think what I like most about it is how it reminds me of my friend... and I'm so honored she would share her art with me. Thanks Lopez!

 ...Oh look. I found it. Time for another little latte. :)

Sweetcream: Organically Delicious Skincare

I've been trying to be more aware of the things I put in my body - trying to eat more veggies, drink more water, exploring organic food and such. So when I found out my friend Lisa was launching her own line of organic skincare products (http://www.sweetcreamorganic.com/ ), I got pretty excited about it. Lisa has a passion for organics, and as I explored her new website and read her vision, she taught me about a little bit about the things I use daily on my skin:

"...We make choices everyday to take care of our internal organs. Our skin is our largest organ, and we often neglect its power and influence over the rest of our body. Think about it…. many medications are applied to the skin, such as hormone creams, nicotine patches, and birth control. These work well because our skin absorbs them quickly and carries the medication to our bloodstream and throughout our entire system.
"Did you know that commercially produced bath and body care products contain ingredients and compounds known to cause organ toxicity, neurotoxicity, hormonal imbalance, immunotoxicity, and even cancer?"

Lisa offers a wonderful alternative in her handmade organic skincare. She has a nice selection of bar soaps and cleansers, scrubs, moisturizers and lip balms, even a section of baby products. And she has exciting plans for even more products in the future!
"Hand made with care, sweetcream uses only the finest pure, organic and natural ingredients for the highest possible quality... sweetcream is hypo-allergenic and free from parabens, pthalates, sulfates (SLS), synthetic fragrances, and toxic chemicals. " I ordered some things for Christmas gifts last month, and then a little for myself. When the package arrived, it smelled divine. I found the Piña colada lip balm and toasted coconut soap particularly yummy. And they were packaged in totally cute black and white damask labels. Tre chic!

You can read more about why to choose organic here

I tried the shea butter spiced cider soap for myself. It smelled so nice (spicy - really just like apple cider!) and lathers up nicely on the loofah. I also treated myself to the citrus scrub. The scent on that one is almost intoxicating and I really felt like it exfoliated well. I used it especially on my forearms where I get alot of dry skin and some breakouts. The oils moisturized quite nicely without any residue. All in all I give Sweetcream Organic a big thumbs up! I think I'm gonna order one of her serums next!

Living more organically is a life-style change for me, but Lisa makes it easy with her delicious and beautifully wrapped products that feel so luxurious and help me feel better about what I put on my skin!

 

Photos from Sweetcream Organic: www.sweetcreamorganic.com

Just for fun...

A friend of mine just submitted a video to the Aflac 10 second challenge. I have to say, it's quite brilliant. If you are interested in quirky unique art, or in stop-motion video, or in ice-dancing badgers, you should probably check it out.

You should probably check it out anyway. Don't forget to vote! Today's the last day to do so...
http://apps.facebook.com/aflac_prod/promotions/view/?vid=411&ref=mf

Thanks for supporting indie film artists. Hehe.