Made

After several weeks and a marathon day today, I have weaved in the last ends of Homebound - Who We Are which I am exhibiting at Tramway (artistic nudity - possibly NSFW - them - not me!) next week. I will write more about my actual piece and take plenty of photos once the exhibition opens, but right now I'm just rather happy to have finished making it. Today has been a ten-hour odyssey of adding-editing-adding-editing and some more editing (I'm a big fan of less is more).

Leisure knitting, sewing, and blogging are all on the agenda for the next few days. I have signed up for a quilting course alongside some familiar faces which should be fun (although the quilting tutor might not agree after being subjected to us!). I have been practising the lace pattern for Fancy and I think I have cracked the secret code. I also have a halfway-done muslin for my Simplicity 2501 top which I am itching to finish..

.. maybe I shall start by having a quiet night off from making things.

It's Not Rocket Science - On Knitting & Difficulty

I'm having a very busy day trying to finish my piece for that Loop exhibition next week, so I'm just going to link a VERY interesting blog post about knitting/crochet and the idea of "difficulty". Take it away, Orata.

(I'll post my response later in the week. I constantly encounter this question about "difficulty" in my work and have a few things to say about it)

Knit Like Fury

Get involved. There is still time for you to knit a square and send it in to Janssen & Jetson. If you are in Glasgow, why not volunteer? You can help stitch the blanket together, you can donate your time and ushering skills, or you can help spread the good word.

Clip My Wings

Pause, rewind. Sewing is a different process to knitting. So far I have traced the pattern, worked up a toile (muslin) and discovered that I need to move the bust darts higher as well as doing a FBA. It is sort of a pre-process prior to making the actual garment out of the fancy fabric. Had this been knitting, I would have swatched using the actual yarn and probably be well under way making the actual thing itself.

Different processes. It's interesting.

Anyway. Random selection of linky bits: + The George Hotel, Glasgow. If you like urban decay, faded glamour or Trainspotting (the film, not the activity) + Is Denmark Breaching Human Rights? The other reason why I left Denmark. Even if D has a so-called "correct" skin tone and is an EU citizen, he would still get so much flak. No way would I put him through that. + BBC4 - The Beauty of Books. For a programme series apparently about the materiality of books, it does boast a suspicious amount of textual critics and biblical scholars. I was not impressed but I'm not exactly a layman. You might like it? + 100 Young Adult Books For the Feminist Reader. I spot certain omissions (such as this and this) but everyone's got opinions and it's a handy list. + Are you a knitter of the literary persuasion? Why not give the Beowulf socks a go?

Finally, I've derived great enjoyment from this video tonight.. Enjoy!

Fashion Query For Fashionistas

"For an island look choose a pareo or sarong which can be easily wrapped around your waist.. Find the perfect swimsuit to get ready for the beach or pool parties. Purchase a versatile cover-up that can take you to the pool and lunch." But how does normal, sane women dress for summer?

A long-term goal of mine is to refashion my wardrobe through sewing a lot of it myself. Figuring out The Summer Wardrobe is one of my first hurdles. Every summer I end up looking through my wardrobe and struggling to find anything to wear. My natural inclination is to hide as much skin as I can which leaves me feeling and looking positively Victorian every year. I'm slightly fortunate that I live in Scotland, so I do not have to cope with constant sunshine and high temperatures, but even Scotland has the occasional summery day during which I cannot wear jeans and a long-sleeved tee.

But what do I wear then? If I were to define my personal style it would be along the lines of "minimalist librarian chic with a retro feel" (even if that makes me feel all pretentious and such). How do I get away from tweed skirts, leather boots, and woolly cardigans into something I can wear at the height of summer - and not feel completely exposed or like I'm playing dress-up?

Garterstitch 100

Garterstitch100 seeks to celebrate the centenary of International Women's Day - and you as a knitter can help. The artists are hoping to make a blanket consisting of 100 million stitches. They need you to knit them a square or set up a public knitting station where knitters can come and knit. There are a myriad other ways that you can help out. I'll be lending a hand - will you?