In-vestment

For M's sister's new arrival I thought it nice to create something a bit different. Seeing as I'd never cabled before, this appeared to be a good place to start.

Rowan Purelife Cotton was the obvious choice for this very environment-conscious mother, and it was surprisingly soft and pleasant to work with. Cabling was also thankfully easy one I got my head around it, and have now developed a rather unorthodox cabling-without-cable-needle technique after having left a certain key item at home when visiting my parents one weekend..
Hm, picking up stitches to do the edging is certainly not my forte, but I managed to fudge through and it looks acceptable.


Pearly buttons from the growing button stash:


And for comic effect:


Anyhow, it has now been sent off with M who is in Germany this weekend. Much more reliable than the current postal service I think.

Fascinating

I've wanted an excuse to make a fascinator for some time. The fact that I had no previous experience or skills to speak of was certainly secondary - I mean have I ever let that get in the way of previous craft projects? Certainly not.

L's wedding seemed the perfect opportunity to create something pretty, although the pressure was certainly on to make something wearable and suitable for such a sumptuous occasion on my first go.

So I sat down and surrounded myself with feathers, beads and glue to see what would evolve. After much ado, this happened:


I was keen to involve the birdy in some way, and in the end it obliged by hiding a glue splodge for me. Definitely need more co-ordination and care when it comes to attaching feathers in the future..


In the end I did wear my creation, and it managed to last through the day AND even survived the bouncy castle!

Bootie update!

M kindly sent some images of Lovisa kindly modeling the little booties, which I thought I should share.


Red is sooo her colour!


May they fit her for, oh, at least another week..

Can't beat the beige-sics

After my flirtation with mad multicolour combos, variegated colourways and funny textures I'm suddenly hankering for solids and neutrals. Basically, when it comes to yarn, bring on your finest grays and creams! Of course other solid colours are most welcome - that pink baby alpaca lurking in the stash is looovely - but I think variegated beauties are in the past for now (although I still love my very first Koigu socks).

I think it's just so that I'll have an excuse to cover the FO with buttons, ribbons, embroidery, beads etc etc and hence have more reason to purchase these type of lovelies. I think I may ask for this book for Christmas.

That of course does not stop me from pawing colorful yarn pretties, but it is a step in the right direction..

Here is my neutral-tastic haul from iKnit day:


It was lovely to meet up with the ladies, although it was harder than expected to stick with my neutrals policy. Especially with candyfloss-like roving on offer:


Is it just me, or does it remind you of My Little Ponies?

I managed to take a snap of someone trying on a 'funky' knitted dress. Hm. Looks like someone has been knitting with with neon pink intestines.


I guess the hat on the left is quite cool though.

Lovisa's booties

Heard the happy news that my Swedish friend M has finally had her baby! The baby was almost 3 weeks overdue and she was getting rather fed up of our 'tips' as to how to get things going e.g. walking up and down stairs and trampolining. She was not impressed.
Anyhow, any excuse for some booties, so little Lovisa is getting a pair of Saartje's super cute ones:


Hope they fit :)

Rather random

I rather enjoy carrying my camera with me everywhere nowadays. Even though my poor camera is looking more battered than ever..

Couldn't resist taking this pic on the way to M&S the other day. The dramatic light makes even my poor photographic skills seem ok.


Hoping for some scraps from Pont de la Tour.


M's 'installation' trying to make up for breaking one of our plates..


So prepare to have more randomness inflicted upon you at even more random intervals!

All in the mind

I had the pleasure of the company of M and S while pootling around the 'Walking in my Mind' exhibition at the Hayward Gallery last weekend. One of the more interesting installations I've been to in a long time, although I can't pretend to comprehend it fully.
Although I also appreciate 'traditional' art, there is something particularly exciting about truly immersing yourself in someone's ideas and physically having to explore 'novel' (read as 'crazy') environments.

Thomas Hirschhorn says: "To me, the cave is in your brain, the cave is in your mind... You have to build this cave in your mind and to struggle with what happens in this cave, in confronting it with the world."
This is 'the cave':


I'm not sure I understand his comments completely, but slipping around in the tape-covered den, taking in disembodied human forms, pages of text, heaps of drinks cans and explicit images of busty ladies stuck to the walls, it's actually quite easy to imagine that you are actually inside someone's cerebellum.


Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama's polka dot room has more or less become the face of this exhibition, and her floating red and white blobs are indeed intriguing. Unfortunately this room was closely monitored so I had to restrain myself from taking photos and suppress the urge to rugby tackle the spotty inflatables. The more solid dotty forms outside could be touched, but it was still prohibited to demean them by parking your bum on one.


Looks a bit like an alien invasion.


I really liked this 'Enternity Chamber' by Charles Avery:


Poke your head inside, like so..


..and you are faced with a seemingly endless number of reflections. Possibly not the most profound element of the exhibition, but I'm easily pleased.


Possibly my love of anything yarn-shaped, drew me to Chiharu Shiota's woven a web of black wool.


The overall feeling was of being trapped in the lair of some fashion-loving spider.


A very pleasant way to spend a Saturday afternoon!