Cold, Cold, Getting Warm, Warmer!

I can't take credit for this, but it is amazing No? I found it on the blog of J. Rothman.
My hold up is that I can't find a spider that I like. I can't draw worth a crap and I really prefer it to be metal. HMMMMMMm of AnNoYANce!


However, this image by Shane Waltener is pretty to look at and quite toasty.

Oh What a Tangled Web we Weave....

I have been thinking a lot lately (Nothing unusual there) and have been encouraged by a fellow Raveler to resurrect my blog. You see, I have lots and lots of projects going on all the time but have completely neglected writing about them.

On the topic of Itsy Knitsies, I have been recently inspired by the Spider. I sincerely hope not to knit a "tangled" web per-say and it will definitely be free of deception. Ironically, deception is exactly what spider webs are all about. Not really my cup of tea however and I think I have concluded a non-painful outlet for my tiny interest. Itsy Knitsies should be Itty Bitty! Duh?! I think I kinda screwed my ambition over the first time by making something relatively large for the scale I was working at. Yes, yes - it was for a MOST IMPORTANT contest but seriously, that was a bit much for a first go-round.

Second, what to do with an itty bitty FO? I am thinking in terms of abstract swatches which are good for nothing and are usually the ground work for larger works. All these ideas congealed quite nicely into a most literal translation of the aforementioned. TeeHee. If you haven't guessed - well I'm not telling. This idea is definitely a mole hill and suspense will at least slightly turn it into a mountain. ;)

P.S. Did you know aforementioned was one word? I typed afore by itself and was slapped on the wrist by spellcheck. The correct spelling seems to be very strange and long.

Picture: "Spider Woman" by Susan Seddon Boulet

New Project: Pysanky

I am on the hunt for an electric kistka. I found this video to be interesting. Although Pysanky is most often associated with Easter it was originally a pagan art. I have been researching patterns from many different cultures and hope to become proficient at pysanky.

Disgustingly Beautiful

I absolutely become repulsed by the killing of animals for fashion. Its just the epitome of frivolous massacre and torture. I am however, intrigued by the furniture below. My imagination is swept away to a land far far away in a time long ago. In my mind these creations were used by tribal royalty. However, they have actually been formed in the here and now and its just disgusting. The aligator skins are not attractive to me at all, even ignoring the cruelty factor. The tails thrown in here and there just look out of place. Creativity wise, these things are very extreme.





More can be seen here.

Tiny Bubbles.....or errrr Costumes?

In a random fit of googling through ancient costume images I found modern day miniature costume creator Serena Partridge. Too cool!

I have been working on my next itsy project for a week now. I finally found some decent threads. I wish I had special ordered them for that contest but I still would not have won. Truly I did not have a good concept to go with my work. The work itself was enough for me. My goal was to make something tiny and extremely difficult. I like nothing more than challenging myself. Eventually I will be able to work past figuring out a new skill and move into the realm of meaning.

I have put about 8-10 hours into this new project and will post a picture later. After it was about an inch long on the needles, I actually dropped a stitch! WHAAAA??? It fell about 5 rows down before I found it. Luckily it was a collumn of just kniting unlike two stitches to the left or right which involved S2K1psso every other row. If I had dropped one of those! Omg, I can't even imagine the mental pain and suffering. To avoid mistakes, I have been working only when I am wide awake and not bored. I can only work 1-2 hours at a time with my current setup. I don't think its very good for my eyes to work much longer on something to small for more than 2 hours at a time.

To distract myself from it, I have been learning to cook new recipes. Tonight I will cook one of my favorite dishes. I have not made it before myself but have had it for years and my Persian friend's house. Her Mom is the best!!

Persian Cooking - How to make Tadig Rice from Macaela VanderMost on Vimeo.

Follow Up - Itsy Bitsy Knitsy

Soooooo! I am so excited that I managed to finish that darn thing and submit it for review. I didn't win, or even get an honorable mention but I DO HAVE THIS!

The contest was to win one of the most beautiful dolls in the world by Marina. They can be seen on her website: www.enchanteddoll.com

Evidence! It is actually touching a doll - AND - despite not having a dolly of my own, it came out just the right size. I had to knit by the seat of my pants according to online measurements.



It has been MONTHS since I mailed that darn thing and I haven't had the heard to knit since. It took hundreds of hours. Literally, it was my very first attempt to do something so small. I totally screwed up my fist little swatch and had to restart. The discarded piece was only 1 cm long but because I wasn't used to the needles, that first bit took two weeks to finish. I almost had a heart attack. But I did it!

And now I'm ready to start another one. "Psycho"