Abstracted

Think of an abstract concept - and put that word into Google images. Recently I tried "posture"; today for no particular reason (no reason, that is, apart from avoiding getting on with some urgent work) I tried "humour" - and landed on a chemistry site, which had this useful chart:

and, next, on someone's dissertation, which starts: "The following exploration follows from a concern that modern civilization is boring itself to death trying to manage change -- and compensating for its inadequacies with respect to the challenge by indulgence in distractions and substance abuse. There is a need for radical reframing -- of a playful nature. Essentially the argument is that "no play equals no engagement" -- at least of any sustainable form."

As you can see from the chart (click on it to enlarge), it gets serious:
Don't know where this blogger found this note, but it kinda makes sense:

Bags of fun

These velvet cosmetic bags are fun - and fairly quick - to make. (Warning: they are also addictive!) The pattern for the smaller one is here; after a bit of measuring, extrapolation, and guessing, a pattern for the larger one resulted. The zip pull is a couple of scraps of velvet machined together, then trimmed close to the stitching, then closely overcast with embroidery floss (next time I'll use buttonhole stitch). Next time, I'll use some wadding in the larger one, and cut the lining a bit smaller.
With this one, the only suitable zip on hand was a bit short, so I added a strip across the bottom end. Despite the photo, it's a richly purple velvet and has a lining of tie silk - little leaping hounds and rabbits. A few hand stitches holding the lining and bag seams together at the top make a difference. This zip pull is velvet ribbon knotted through the small hole in the zip and then satin ribbon handsewn to the inside, to make a bit of colour when the bag is closed.

Colour decision

The main colour is sage, the ribbing is darkish grey -- and for that stripe that adds the zing to this man's cardigan, the choice is between the tweedy green (is there enough?), the reddish brown (4ply, use double), or the expensive new wool.

Plan A is to knit all the ribbing - fronts, back, sleeves - and see if there's enough of the dark green tweedy stuff.

The pattern is in Classic Knits for Men - many enticing things to choose from. I used to make up my own patterns without a second thought, especially combinations of cables, but now it's great to have it all written down already, even the amount of wool needed -- though that often means there's 1 3/4 balls left over.

Knitted blood??

This hit my inbox along with some even grislier "extreme knitting" - lots of knitted "blood" oozing from unfortunate wounds, that sort of thing -
It brought to mind the subversive garments knit by Freddie Robins, like these gloves inspired by Struwwelpeter - the story of the boy who sucked his thumb until the scissors-man came and cut it off.
You can get the pattern for these on the V&A's website, which also has other knitting information. (Or, use red mohair to darn the holes in your existing gloves.)

Purely doing

"When you do an action how pure is that action? Do you just get on with it or are there all sorts of additional intentions which make the action more complicated than it needs to be?" asks business coach Mark Forster in his latest newsletter and on his blog. I had to read to the end of the post before the penny dropped: sometimes the reason it's hard to start -- or get on with -- a project is that we load it with so many other agendas and expectations that we get paralysed at the thought of failing in any or all of them.

A clear, simple goal is needed: just to DO it, not to worry about whether it will be the best ever, whether Teacher will like it, whether it will impress your friends. Get drawing, painting, sewing; carry on, finish. Enjoy the process, let the outcome take care of itself. Focus on the doing.

Hmm, what sort of picture shall we use for this? Water calligraphy?
... or, going with the flow?

Poiret

Paul Poiret, French fashion designer, is not to be confused with Hercule Poirot, fictional Belgian detective. There is no comparison! Poiret is one of my fashion heroes, along with Madeleine Vionnet. They stepped outside the bounds of couture and took it to a new level - not least by Poiret liberating women from constricting undergarments.

Mere hours after reading a review of the book accompanying the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Poiret show, I came across it in Samuel French's theatre bookshop on Warren Street -- not somewhere I usually go. So this was a minor manifestation of Destiny, obviously. (I'm sure I read the review in the Jan/Feb issue of Fiberarts, but it seems to have disappeared from the pages of that magazine...)
My favourite item in the book is this 1912 "duster" coat, used to protect clothes when driving along unpaved roads in open cars, based on a traditional desert garment, the abaya. Conflation of Western elements and non-Western dress is a strategy that Poiret used throughout his career, the book says.
Clothes by Oska, a company based in Germany, have this kind of draped, asymmetrical styling.

Bed of roses

Came across these brooches I was making at this time last year. The pattern is one that evolved, based on groups of single, double, treble, double, single crochets to make the "petals", done in a spiral. Beads and cords were added in the centres, and a safety pin sewn to the back. Some of these are obviously unfinished - if anyone wants one, as seen (thread tails and all!), email me on mcooter(at)bmj(dot)com and I'll pop it in the post to you.

If you want to make one, this pattern is similar. Watch out, it's addictive!

A word in your year

New year's resolutions don't have to start right on 1 January, do they? Any day is the start of a new year...  This post suggests choosing just one word for the year, and offers you a list if a word doesn't immediately fly into your mind. My word is "posture" - less of this -and more of this -

As for art goals -- my art goal for 2008 is just to keep going, keep trying ... and if it works, do it some more!

Ben's prints

The recent show of Ben Nicholson's prints included several of the his copper plates, in irregular shapes - here they are below the prints, luring you into the Alan Cristea gallery on Cork Street.Most surprising thing in the show was the blocks for his linocut Princess -- they were done on lineoleum used on floors:One of my favourites is Number, a linocut printed on cloth:Small etchings were priced from £3000. Fortunately they are also accessible in catalogues and books! Here are a couple of Italian scenes:Their mysterious quality belies their simplicity - and complexity. Many years ago I tried to copy one in black stitched lines on white fabric - it didn't turn out well. Now, it would be good to be in a clear space, thinking about these, and seeing what would come out of that. A project for "later".

Happy New Year

This year I'm a bit slow with getting the New Year cards mailed out. If your smailmail isn't in my address book and you don't get one of these little "origami" books in the post, you may want to fill in your answers under the headings - and perhaps act on them -

Reasons to leap out of bed

Books to read and films to see

Fun things to do without a screen or monitor

Unusual places to go

Nice things to think about

Habits to make, or to break

Interesting people to get in touch with

The folded books are based on Paul Johnson's creative book-making projects for children, and can be found on page 6 here. Some more folded books are shown here - have fun!

"Takes a little effort"

This "yule log" looked good in the magazine! I did read the whole recipe before starting, but the bit about it taking 10 minutes of beating to get the eggs and sugar trebled in volume didn't sink in. I don't have an electric beater, so it took rather longer - had to stop and rest quite often. After the eggs are voluminous, you carefully fold in a very little flour, some cocoa, and ground almonds. And the filling is made with mascarpone, melted chocolate, icing sugar, and liqueur. "Serves 12" - it's very rich and sweet.

O Tannenbaum

Xmas trees for sale at my local greengrocer -The big tree set up in Queens Park -
And the little one at home, with traditional candles burning briefly -

Fabric houses

"Red mailbox " is part of Jeanelle McCall's First Street Series. You can see the rest of the street here.It sent me hunting for more fabric houses.

This one is by Jane LaFazio - it includes lemon rind buttons and punched tin.
Tonya has done a Hallowe'en quilt with various imaginative wonky houses; you can see the whole quilt on her website:
And there are all the quilt block patterns showing houses. If you google "house quilt" you'll see a huge variety; I do prefer the non-standard layouts, rather than repetitions of a block. This one by Kristin Pollen is made of Japanese fabrics:
Or how about a block of the month house sampler? Several are available here:
Schoolhouses are popular; the history of this historical "quilt of the month" is given on the Quilt Study Centre website:
Judi Gunter teaches a workshop on how to make this miniature schoolhouse quilt:
Even bird houses can be represented in fabric:
This birdhouse quilt is a jolly variation of log cabin:

Seasonal greenery

The xmas trees appear early in December. Here on Stroud Green Road, N4, both the florist and the greengrocer are in the xmas tree business. It's a little forest -- but alas, doesn't smell anything like a forest.When the trees first arrived, there was a heap of discarded branches waiting for the binmen - I took some home and put them on the landing
Sue said that, as the branches were salvaged and recyled, the decorations should be salvaged and recycled too. These fabric knots are made from scraps too small to use in patchwork - less than 1/2" wide - but even they have their uses!

Golden soup

I always think of Rita when I make Golden Soup - we made this a lot when we were in library school, while our preschool boys played "police brothers" and other games.Peel and chop the onion, potatoes, and carrots. Melt the butter in a big pan, and add the chopped veg - let it get a bit soft, giving it the occasional stir. Add the thyme (use a bit more than shown here - this was all that my windowbox could come up with!) and water to cover. Simmer till veg are cooked. Whizz it all up with a stick thing, or put it into the blender. Reheat, adding salt and pepper to taste, and enough milk to make it the consistency you like.

Dinner Party

November's journal quilt represents a gathering of the "senoritas" - Julia did a yummy mushroom starter, the main was a vegetable gratin, Mary brought baklava and other goodies (on those fancy plastic plates the bakeries use for packing them) for dessert, and Linda brought the flowers (alstromeria that lasted for weeks). Wine and conversation flowed freely.
I pinned it up in my work space, next to the Klimt landscape torn from a calendar and a changing display of Winifred Nicholson postcards. The beloved mug came from Fenny Lodge Gallery, which is right on the canal (near Milton Keynes), and the chinese fruit bowl came to me via Rita's mother-in-law, in Halifax, NS. Everything has a story - even the stapler.

Drawing sounds

It's a small class - perhaps the title is off-putting - but what fun to use charcoal and big sheets of paper on easels, to music. Different people obviously get different results with the same music, Miles Davis in this case.
My response to marimbas (Steve Reich?)In the second week, more and different music, trying to get textures:
I simply can't remember what the music for these was.
At the end of the class, Gershwin's "Rhapsody in blue"
One more session to come. This is so much fun!

Hoardings

Jolly hoardings round a building site on the Bayswater Road.

Quiltlet du jour

This 12" square is called Be Like That Then! and is made from African fabric that Karol-Ann sent along a few months ago. It just fell together -- but the binding, which is floppy satiny fabric, took ages. However I did manage to figure out how to do those "perfect" mitred corners -- getting to actual perfection may take a bit of practice, but in theory....