Cold Weather No More?

I've been closely keeping a eye on the weather in Baton Rouge.  It's supposed to go up to 90 degrees there today, and that makes me nervous.  Why?  Not so much because I'm not really a hot weather person (though I'm not), but rather, because of the implications for my knitting.

Every knitter in a cold weather zone knows that fall is knitting season.  I start getting excited about knitting every July 4, when I bust out my poolside knitting for my family's annual Fourth of July picnic.  What follows is a rapid slide into sweater season... by the end of October, I've usually gotten at least one sweater and a couple of fun accessories off the needles.  By the time the really frigid weather comes in January and February, I'm more than prepared.  Knitting is not only fun, but practical, and a great skill to know in the face of the inevitable zombie apocalypse (or most other apocalypses that don't involve a plunge into extreme heat, I guess.)

So what does one knit in a town where it never snows and that boasts that the weather is warm all year long?  I guess I'll have to learn, because I know people who knit down south, and I've already located two yarn shops and at least one knitting group in Baton Rouge.  In the meantime, I've been knitting here in Pennsylvania, and have more or less tried to strike a balance with early fall accessories and lightweight sweater patterns.  We'll see how they go over in the Red Stick.  Here are a few that I've finished recently:

The Ireth Carnesîr Capelet

I may have mentioned the Ireth Carnesîr Capelet in an earlier blog post; either way, I know I mentioned designer The Jane Victoria earlier this fall.  This pattern was at the top of my knitting queue this season, and I knit it in Madeline Tosh Vintage, in the colorway "Kale," which is an awesome brownish plum color that I've been admiring since I first saw it in person last summer in Boston.  I accented the finished garment with handmade stamped muslin ribbon from my friend Alura (VampireGothChick) of Moonspell Crafts on Etsy - I'm kind of addicted to her hand-stamped ribbons and to her shop in general.

Lúthien Ar-Feiniel Opera-Length Fingerless Gloves

The Lúthien Ar-Feiniel Opera-Length Fingerless Gloves are another pattern from The Jane Victoria, and appeared on my Fall Fashion Wishlist earlier this fall.  I did these in Tosh Vintage as well.  The colorway was "Antique Lace," and once again, I finished the project with Alura's hand stamped ribbon.

Rippled

"Rippled" is a new pattern from Laura Nelkin that caught my eye right away.  It's a super quick knit that you can do in an evening, and she makes it even easier by making kits available in a couple of different colors.  I decided to try one out, and I must say that it was well worth the money.  The yarn was top quality, the color was great, and the kit came with all of the coordinating beads (the pattern requires two different types.)  The pattern is also available separately through Ravelry.  I enjoyed this little project so much that I may order a second kit in black.

So, which of these projects are going to fly in the deep south?  The necklace should be ok, but I hope I'm not resigning myself to a life of nothing but knitted jewelry.  I'm pretty sure the capelet will be useful temperature-wise, perhaps even more so that in the northeast, where it tends to get too cold for such things as soon as fall rolls around.  But will the style be too "cold weather" to wear in BR?  The gloves I'm simply not sure about... they're arm length and worsted weight, and might just be too warm for my new digs.

I guess I'll find out soon enough... as of next Sunday, I'll officially be a resident of Louisiana.  Life is such an adventure, LOL, right down to the potential overhaul of my knitting agenda.

My First Studio!

Hi friends! I am busily gearing up for my move to Baton Rouge, and I am so excited! Last week, I flew down there to "apartment hunt," check out more of the city, and meet once more with my future co-workers. I can't say that I really "hunted" for an apartment, however, because I ended up taking the first one that I saw. You guys, I'm completely in love with the apartment and the location! It's near campus, so I can walk to work, even though Baton Rouge is definitely a driving city - as a former New Yorker, being able to walk places is pretty critical to my happiness, so I'm thrilled with the location. But more importantly, it's a two bedroom apartment that costs about a third of the one bedroom I had in New York, and it's located in a complex with a pool, has a view of the lake, and, most importantly, has... wait for it... a washer and dryer IN THE UNIT! I know, right? Unheard of!

The reason that I'm extra excited about this place is that I'm planning to turn the second bedroom into... you guessed it... my very first studio! Or craft room, to put it less pretentiously, I guess. This is where my yarn stash and spinning wheel will live, and it's where I'll do my metalwork (it even has a window through which to vent the fumes from the E6000.) It'll be so nice to have a separate space for all of those things, rather than having it all over my living space. Until now, my "studio" has always consisted of a spot on the floor in front of the television... but now, I'll have a real craft room, and hopefully be inspired to create more (and more consistently!)

I don't have any pictures of the apartment yet, but I will definitely try to post some as I get things set up. For now, here's a picture of University Lake as taken from campus. My building is on the other side... if you look to the left of the photo, near the bridge, that's where I'll be!

My Fall Fashion Wishlist

Want to know what I'm eyeing up for fall? Well, maybe it's all the time I've spent with the Time Travelers Team this summer, but I'm really feeling anything with a bit of a steampunk edge. I'm looking at browns, reds, gold, brass and copper. I'm also knitting up a couple pairs of fingerless mitts with a Neo-Victorian feel and vintage embellishments, and I've ordered a few gothy accessories in basic black from some of my favorite Etsy sellers.

Here's a peak at some of the things that I've bought or am planning to buy for fall.



I want to highlight some particularly amazing shops that are included in this list; I LOVE shopping, and when I find a brand I like, I tend to be an extremely loyal customer. First, let me draw your attention to two outstanding knitwear designers: NeuroticKnitterz and The Jane Victoria. Both have patterns readily available in PDF format in their Etsy shop (I LOVE PDF patterns because they offer an immediate solution to the knitter's syndrome commonly known as "startitis.") NeuroticKnitterz seems to draw inspiration from a variety of sources, and I've already purchased a few of her patterns. I'm planning to knit her Last of the Sky Pirates mitts later this fall in a fabulous brown sock yarn, and I've already ordered the antique buttons to go with them. The Jane Victoria has a distinctly Neo-Victorian aesthetic that can be made goth or steampunk depending on the knitter's choice of colors. I am currently knitting her Lúthien Ar-Feiniel Opera-Length Fingerless Gloves out of Madeline Tosh Vintage in the colorway "Antique Lace." I must say that I am enjoying the pattern immensely... it moves quickly, is easy to follow and memorize, and looks amazing. My experience with the designer is that she is very helpful and quick to respond to questions about her patterns, so I would highly recommend any of them, even if you think they might be a challenge.

For those without an inclination toward the fiber arts, check out ScarletRabbit for ready-made crocheted accessories that will fit into your steampunk, goth, or chic urban wardrobe. I recently purchased a large collar and matching wristlets for early fall, and I was blown away by the quality and craftsmanship of the items. This is another designer whom I highly recommend.

Finally, I have included two absolutely outstanding perfume designers on my Fall Fashion Wishlist: Catrianna of Deep Midnight Bathery, and Sara of Sarawen Perfume Art. I've recently begun wearing more natural perfume oils and fewer commercial products, and have become seriously addicted to both of these gals' fragrances. I now own two from Sara and three from Cat, not to mention the 17 sample vials I have floating around. Of course, it's hard to describe fragrance in a blog post, especially when you don't know jack about perfume design to begin with. However, I find that Sara's fragrances are deep and rich with a few clearly recognizable notes, while Cat's are complex, with subtleties that will make you think "what IS that unusual smell?" as the perfume dries and changes throughout the day. Of course, the best way to check out any fragrance is by sampling it; luckily, both of these ladies offer sample vials in their shops. I would highly recommend going and getting lost in their stores... their photos and descriptions will have you dying to sample every one of their creations!

Oh, glorious shopping. Don't you just love it? I have really enjoyed writing up this post, and I hope you've enjoyed it too. We all know that fall is the best season for fashion and for changing up your wardrobe... I hope you've enjoyed my recommendations, and I'd love to hear some of yours as well!

Halloween - I am so ready!

...because I have a purple felted Halloween witch hat!

OK, honestly, how cute is that?  I knitted this as a test knit for Cyn, the knitwear designer at www.everywitchway.etsy.com.  She has the pattern available for sale, as well as at least one ready to wear witch hat.  And the quilting patterns are to die for - I already bought the Samhain pattern, and am planning to buy the Yule one later on.

The hat pattern calls for Lamb's Pride Bulky, but I used KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Bulky with great success.  I've felted with both brands before, and while I generally like LP for felted bags, I think that the KP worked especially well for the hat, since it felted more slowly, giving me more control over the felting process, and formed a sturdier felted fabric than I have usually experienced with LP.

Speaking of Halloween, I recently posted these earrings for sale in my Etsy shop:

Aren't they cute?  You may or may not know this, but tomorrow (Wednesday, August 17) is Black Cat Appreciation Day.  Black cats have the lowest rate of adoption in the U.S. because of the superstitious and totally false belief that they bring bad luck.  They are less than half as likely to be adopted than cats of any other color.  In other countries, however, black cats are believed to bring GOOD luck!  As someone who happens to be owned by two black cats, I can safely say that black cats bring the best luck ever.  That's why I've decided that between now and midnight tomorrow night, $5.00 from each sale of these black cat lace earrings will be donated to the Black Cat Rescue in Boston, MA.  I have already raised $10.00 and would love to raise a lot more.  So please consider purchasing this listing and supporting this cause that is so near and dear to my heart!  >^.^<

NaNo Fail

I'm supposed to be doing NaNoWriMo right now.

For anyone who doesn't know, NaNoWriMo stands for "National Novel Writing Month." It happens every November, and the goal is to write an entire novel in one month. It's pretty popular... there's even a website through which you can arrange local meetups and chat with other writers about your ideas. It's a big crazy writing party, basically... at least, from what I've heard. I tried to do it in 2008, and wrote about 15,000 words of a crappy vampire novel before I got totally overwhelmed and quit. Every year since then, I've promised myself that I would participate again, and every year something (Christmas knitting? Final exams?) has happened to prevent me from doing so.

This year, the powers behind NaNo decided, quite rightly, that November was a pretty craptacular month to have to write a book. So, for people like me, they set up "Camp NaNoWriMo," to take place during the entire month of August. I got really excited about this, thinking I'd have plenty of time to write, and I contacted a friend and we agreed that we would both participate. Fast forward to yesterday, when I realized that it was three days into August, and I had never even signed up.

The sucky part is that I actually feel guilty about this, even though it will probably have absolutely no impact on my life. I could still start, of course, and try to make up for the lost time. I also have what I would consider to be more important things to do... job hunting, managing my Etsy shop, and bringing my cholesterol down, among others. But I feel like I'm letting myself down by not doing NaNo yet again. When will I get around to this? Will it become like the enormous stash closet of yarn that I will never knit up because it so far exceeds my life expectancy? Or the "to read" list that still includes unread titles from 18 years ago?

Arg.

Anyway... I don't know what I'll be doing about that, but having gotten that vent out of the way, let me focus on a few things that I HAVE been doing.

First of all, the Glee Cast Knit Project seems to be a go. If you haven't visited the Rav group yet, then definitely check it out. It seems that one of the team leaders has been in touch with someone from the costume department and is photographing all of the items before sending them on. Whether or not my scarf ends up on the show, my dream is for Naya to tweet about it. Everyone should be following her at @NayaRivera on Twitter, because she's just fantastic.

From the scarf, I moved onto a couple of new projects. I'm actually knitting for MYSELF for a change. I'm working on an Amiga cardigan, the pattern for which can be found in the spring/summer issue of Knitty.  I'm also test knitting a really cute felted witch hat pattern for everywitchway on Etsy... check out their store to see the pattern, as well as a lot of adorable Pagan-esque quilting patterns (they will appeal to non-Pagans as well; for example, the "Samhain" pattern will easily fit in with anyone's Halloween decor.)  They have an awesome shop, and I'm excited to be trying out one of their patterns.

I've also been doing quite a lot of metal collage and assemblage work.  I'm probably going to do a post about metal collage at some point, but for now I'll just say that I've gotten some awesome things up in my shop, and am working on getting a few placed at a local gallery (because I really think that metal collage pieces look a lot more spectacular in person.)  Here are a few of my newer listings:

I sent in my contribution for the August Phat Fiber box, the theme of which is Bollywood.  To be honest, I wasn't nearly as into this theme as I was with the Art Nouveau one last month.  I'm not crazy about Bollywood, so I didn't take any particular film as inspiration; I just sort of conjured up some Bollywood type colorways and sent in a variety of samples:

Even though the theme wasn't really my thing, I am thoroughly enjoying these contributions.  I'm definitely going to continue with this... the September theme is "Enchanted Forest," which is a bit more appealing to me, so I'm already thinking over some potential colorways.

Finally, I am seriously gearing up for Halloween!  Though I appreciate the idyllic summer I've been having here in the countryside of Pennsylvania (last summer I was doing an internship in Boston and sleeping on the floor in an unfurnished apartment with no air conditioning), I always get antsy for Halloween around this time of year.  The Time Travelers Team on Etsy held a big surprise Halloween event on Monday night, and it was a raging success.  I think people are getting ready for fall, and I'm excited to start putting up more yarn and knitwear and other cold weather stuff, not to mention knit myself some fall sweaters.  What do you guys think... are you ready for fall?

And I wonder why I don't have time for NaNoWriMo!  This blog post probably has enough words to make up my daily installment and then some!  Ah, well, you can't please all of the people all of the time (or even yourself for that matter.)  Perhaps I'll start late, perhaps I'll wait until November, but either way, I can't say that I haven't been busy.  :)

Getting Phat

Check out my new fish tank ---------------->

I think that is so cool.

So one of the things I've been wanting to do for the past couple of years is contribute to the Phat Fiber Sampler box.  Those of you who are on Ravelry and who are serious knitters or spinners know what Phat Fiber is.  For everyone else, it's basically a sample box of yarn and spinning fiber that comes out every month.  It's gotten extremely popular, so it's gotten very hard to snag a box... necessitating timed "box drops," a secret email list, and detailed instructions on the home page of the Phat website on how to score a box once it drops (seriously, they literally disappear within seconds.)

Anyway, I remember when the Phat Fiber box was first introduced, about three or four years ago.  Back in those days (let's call them the "days of old"), you had between ten and twenty minutes to get a box before they all sold out, so I managed to get my hands on the first few boxes.  It was pretty fab.  A big over-sized shoe box type package would come in the mail, and when you opened it up it would be packed full of beautiful spinning fiber and handspun and hand dyed yarn from all different Etsy, Artfire, and other kinds of shops.  I swore that if I ever decided to open up shop, I'd contribute to the box, thus becoming a "Phattie."

Cut to this year... if you've looked in my shop, you know that it's full of jewelry.  Nonetheless, I am also very serious about the Spinning of Yarn (much like the Naming of Cats, it isn't just one of your holiday games.)  I fully intended to stock some yarn at some point and eventually follow through with my goal of getting Phat.  But I figured I had time... maybe I'd contribute in September or October, when my schedule wasn't quite so full.

Then they announced the theme for July.  It was... wait for it... Art Nouveau.  I know.  Right?  How could I not contribute to an Art Nouveau box when I go on and on about Joris-Karl Huysman and market myself under the name Decadent Delusion???  So, toward the end of June (pretty late in the game, actually), I signed right on up, and here's what I did:

“In A Silver Charger”

Based on Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations
for the play “Salome,” by Oscar Wilde

Merino, Suri Silk Threads, Wool Locks, Angelina, Silver Thread

"It is for mine own pleasure that I ask the head of Jokanaan in a silver charger."

 “Salome”

Based on Aubrey Beardsley’s illustrations
for the play “Salome,” by Oscar Wilde

Alpaca, Merino, Silk, Angora, Silver Thread

"How pale the Princess is!  Never have I seen her so pale.  She is like the shadow of a white rose in a mirror of silver."

Here's the gruesome illustration on which "In A Silver Charger" is based:

BWAHAHAHAHA!  I couldn't resist.  I just love Beardsley... he's so twisted.

Anyway, here are all my little samples before they went out:

The box "dropped" on Sunday, and people are starting to receive them and post pictures on Ravelry.  I've glimpsed my samples in one or two pictures already, and it's kind of a rush.  This has been such a fun project!  I'll definitely be contributing again next month... see you in Bollywood!  ;)

A little bit less pretention, a little more action.

That's right, I'm channeling the Man from Memphis.  Pre-drug addiction and subsequent vampire conversion, of course.

I just wanted to take a break from all the introductory stuff, as well as all the pretentious art talk, and share something FUN that I'm actually working on!  As for getting to know me, well... all in good time.

First of all, anyone who knows me also knows that I've been knitting since I was about four years old.  Sometime in 2007, I joined the rest of the knitting and crochet community on Ravelry, the now ubiquitous social networking site for fiber artists (if you're a knitter and you're not on there, for shame!)  From the time I joined, I was incredibly active in a few of the groups, one of those being the Lost Knitters.  From 2007 until 2010, when Lost (RIP) went off the air, I spent much of my down time dissecting the episodes and characters, and researching quantum physics so that I could come up with elaborate theories about time travel, alternate realities, and free will.  Good times were had by all.

Alas, Lost ended approximately one year ago, and I needed something to fill the void.  What did I do?  Well, I turned to a show that had already been airing during the Lost time slot... Glee.  I spent last summer catching up, and by the end of July, I was no longer a wannabe physicist, but a full-blown, crazy-ass, iTunes-downloading, musical-listening Gleek.

So that brings me to what I'm working on right now... the Glee Cast Knits project, sponsored by the Glee group on Ravelry.  I, of course, signed up to knit for Santana, which will also not come as a surprise to those who know me well... I am a Santana FIEND (I'm sure you'll get to hear more about that later.)  I chose a yarn from my stash... a crazy, edgy, hot pink and camouflage colored sock yarn from Hazel Knits, and an awesome one row scarf pattern available from Turvid's Design.  And that is what I'm working on right now.

I think this will be perfect for Santana!  And I hope that Naya Rivera, the actress who portrays her, will love it as much as I do!  We've gotten the go-ahead to send this stuff in to the casting department, so all of the projects are due by the end of the month, and we're hoping that at least some of them will appear on the show.  If you're on Ravelry and want to read more about the project, then visit the Glee group there and check out the project thread!

The second thing that I wanted to share is that I had my first blog feature today, on a wonderful blog called EBN Art Studio.  She has been running a series on artists who take some of their inspiration from the ocean - I did the interview a few weeks ago, and she did a fabulous job with the feature!  So check out the link to read the interview and learn a bit more about me, as well as for a nice coupon that you can use on anything in my shop.

Well, I think that's it for tonight... a bit on the lighter side, no?  Until next time, four or five followers... Gleek Out!

Introduction...?

Well, here I am... blogging.  As far as I know, I have no followers... hence the title of this post.  I have to be honest, I've never really like the idea of blogging.  It's time consuming, I have nothing to say, blah blah blah.

Recently, however, I've come to realize that I may have more to say than I thought I did.  See, I recently opened an Etsy shop.  I'm not going to pretend that I'm some "great artist" - I just do what I enjoy.  I have been making jewelry, knitting, and spinning yarn for years now, and my space finally got so overwhelmed with finished projects and stashed supplies that I had to start selling it off.

When you start up an Etsy shop, you get inundated with newsletters full of marketing tips.  Most of them are filled with gorgeous photos and featured artists and pretty much just make you feel inadequate.  However, one of the many tips that they offer over and over (along with great pictures, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account) is to start a blog and talk about your shop.

Again I say, "blah blah blah."  Still I resisted.  The whole idea seemed self-indulgent, and frankly, I wasn't convinced that my shop would last for more than a couple of weeks.  I did, however, set up a Facebook page for my shop, and finally got with the program and learned how to Tweet.

And that's when I noticed something surprising... after awhile, my Facebook posts started getting longer.  I wanted to share everyday stuff with my shop followers in the same way that I do with my friends.  What song am I listening to today?  What fabulous new Chanel nail polish has caught my eye?  What does everyone think of that new translation of Anna Karenina? Who else watches Pretty Little Liars, and are you as obsessed with Aria's wardrobe as I am?

So this is the result.  Me, sitting here in bed with my laptop in the middle of the night... blogging to myself.  I suppose I'll have to publicize my blog at some point... blah blah blah.  In the meantime, if there's anyone out there... enjoy.